Lush (The King Cousins Book 1) (The King Brothers 4)

by K. D. Elizabeth

  “Yeah, okay, sure. Go take a shower.”

  I watch him head for the bathroom, shaking my head at the sheer … normalcy of the moment. It feels as though I’ve lived here for months, not days. Like mere hours and yet also years have passed since I came to Ovid. How has my life changed this quickly?

  And Nathan looked so sad when he told me about Harry. It must be crazy to have a famous model for a brother and yet not have seen him in seven years. The last time he lived in Ovid, Harry was still a teenager. How much must he have changed in that time? And with Nathan being the closest to him, it’s almost like he, too, has lost a brother.

  Unlike me, he deals with that by maintaining his sense of humor. I shut down, blocking out almost all emotion, only giving myself the permission to laugh when watching actual stand-up.

  But Nathan? He chooses to be the comedy.

  And he isn’t alone because of it. Not like me. I suspect Nathan could never be like me, cold and impersonal. Or maybe, I could never be like him, being a source of happiness to the people around me.

  Perhaps my time in Ovid has been important for more than just my impending promotion.

  Nathan finishes in the shower and barrels back into the kitchen, spinning me around and planting one hell of a kiss on my lips. Kissing him back, I let him back me up against the counter and lift me on top of it. Wrapping my legs around him, I sweep my tongue into his mouth.

  We kiss leisurely, our tongues sliding against each other until my phone suddenly beeps.

  I tear my mouth away. “I knew I’d need that alarm.”

  “Huh?” says Nathan, staring at my mouth. His head descends for another kiss, but I press a finger to his lips. Nate’s tongue darts out and he tries to nip it, but I jerk my finger away.

  “That’s my warning alarm. The call starts in five minutes. Surprise, surprise, I knew we’d nearly miss it. Thus the alarm.”

  Nathan chuckles. “Seductively smart and beautiful to boot. What did I do to deserve this great fortune?”

  “I honestly haven’t the slightest idea.”

  We head down into the bar’s meeting room, setting up the computer for the video call. When we dial in, however, there’s nothing but a blank screen.

  “Charles? Are you there?” I say.

  The screen stays black for another few seconds. Then Northwood says, “Yes! We’re here. Having some connection problems with our camera.”

  “Who all is there?” I ask, confused.

  “Oh, just the lawyers and my assistant. No one, really. Let’s get into that update.”

  “Sure,” says Nathan.

  “Can you see us, though?” I ask.

  “Yes, of course. You’re coming in fine. We’ll just have audio on our end. You’re the one presenting, anyway. Let’s jump into it. Jude, you emailed that you’d toured the distillery Nate uses?”

  “Yes,” I say, hating the sensation of being watched without seeing the observer, “It was a little over a week or two ago.”

  “Excellent. Nathan, son, why don’t you tell me what the setup’s like?”

  “Sure,” says Nathan. “It’s pretty standard. John owns a 3000 l.p.a. distillery a few hours from me. We’ve been friends for a few years now.”

  “Uh huh. And he lets you distill onsite?”

  “Yes. Usually a couple times a quarter while he’s bottling or barreling.”

  “How much of his capacity would you say you have access to on a yearly basis?”

  Nathan shrugs. “Not much. I’m still a small outfit.”

  “Can you put it in percentage terms?”

  He shrugs again. “I don’t know. Ten percent? Fifteen? He’s got his own outfit to run.”

  “Right, of course. Of course.”

  There’s a pause and the sound of shuffling papers comes through the line. My sense of unease stirs again. This is weird. Their video should be working. We have conference calls in that room all the time with no problem.

  Should I say something? Doubt my boss outright in front of Nathan? Northwood would shit a brick if I questioned his line about the malfunctioning video feed. When he gives his employees an explanation, they’re expected to believe it.

  No, I better not say anything. Now isn’t the time to create drama, especially when I’m not sure if I’m overreacting yet. If I piss off Northwood, he’ll take it out on Nathan by dissolving this potential partnership. And then he’ll yank the promotion from me. Better to keep watching until I have a better sense of all the forces at work here. I have no intention of letting this promotion fall through for me.

  “So, Jude, tell me about this peach orchard,” Northwood suddenly says, bringing me back to the conversation. “I hear it’s quite the thing?”

  Oh, yeah. But not for the reason you’re thinking. “Yeah, it’s gorgeous. Shame about the fire, but—”

  “What’s this?” Northwood interrupts. “What fire? Were you hurt, Jude?”

  Sensing Nathan’s sudden gaze on me, I say, “No, sir. We weren’t there at the time. We just visited a few days later.”

  “What happened, exactly?”

  “One of the employees had an accident with his cigarette butt,” says Nathan. “They weren’t able to put it out before it spread to some of the trees.”

  Northwood emits a noise of concern. “A terrible shame. Everyone was all right, though?”

  “Yes, no one was injured, thankfully.”

  “Will this affect your production?”

  Shit. As an employee of NBI, I pretty much have a fiduciary duty to tell Northwood that the fire will at best force Nathan to purchase peaches elsewhere instead of getting them for free from his brother, and at worst prevent him from production entirely.

  But as Nate’s … what, exactly? Friend? Hookup? Whatever I am to him, I just can’t force myself to sell him out to my boss. I can hide behind the fact that we’ve never discussed it outright. Technically, I don’t know what this will do to Nate’s business. But logic dictates it will affect him in some capacity.

  Which do I choose? My career or my feelings for a man? I don’t like having to make a choice at all. In fact, I loathe it. For this reason, I don’t get involved with men from my industry. But everything about this deal from the beginning has been atypical.

  “I don’t expect that to be an issue,” Nathan says, saving me from having to answer.

  Hmm. Interesting. Maybe I was wrong. Or maybe that’s wishful thinking on my part. Nathan could be saying that to keep Northwood from probing deeper. But the confidence with which Nathan says it has me hoping it’s the truth.

  “I’m surprised you didn’t send this to me in one of your reports, Jude,” says Northwood.

  “I, uh, forgot,” I say, which is true. After we made love in the orchard and had the confrontation with Axel, writing to ol’ Northwood about the fire was the furthest thing from my mind.

  But now I’m going to pay for that oversight.

  “Not like you to forget something like that,” Northwood muses. My stomach clenches at the soft tone of his voice. The tone he always uses when trying to lull an adversary into a false sense of security.

  “There’s still a lot of peaches, Charles,” I say dismissively, hoping he’ll accept that at face value. It’s not a lie; there’s still a shitload of peaches on that farm.

  Thankfully, Northwood doesn’t pursue the topic further. He asks a few more questions about who Nathan has lined up for bottling and what he expects his MSRP will be. After Nathan supplies those answers and then states his expected profit margin, Northwood says he has everything he needs.

  “I have to say, I’m impressed, Nathan.”

  Nathan smiles. “Happy to hear that, sir.”

  “You’ve really got something here.”

  “Yes, I think so, too.”

  “We’ll just need to have you get a better idea of what capacity John MacGregor is willing to rent you, really tighten up those capacity numbers so that we know your likely production. But apart from that, I think this
just might be a done deal.”

  Nathan’s smile widens, but his voice remains calm as he says, “I’m happy to hear that, sir.”

  “Jude, you stay in Ovid for another two weeks. I want you to do a land survey of the orchard where the fire happened and get more conclusive figures on what yield Mr. King can expect for the peaches he needs. I assume it must be less after this fire. I’d like to know how much less. After I return for your final presentation, I want you back here so we can start working on things on our end. Final numbers, etc. I need you here for that.”

  “I’ll do that,” I say, a little stunned.

  We say our goodbyes, and then Northwood ends the call. For a moment, Nathan and I just stare at each other. Then he lets out a great whoop and sweeps me off my chair.

  Spinning me around, he exclaims, “Did we just make a deal?”

  I laugh. “We might have.”

  But have we really?

  Should I tell Nate that Northwood was acting weird? He has a right to know, but I also don’t want to needlessly worry him. Nathan grins at me, smile widening as he works my shirttail out of the waistband of my skirt.

  I’d have to be as unfeeling as a rock not to get that he’s elated over how the call went. I don’t want to take that from him. This should be a celebration. At the very least, we’re nearly at the end. Once we get these last figures for Northwood’s presentation, I can begin working on definite terms back in Portland—and also figure out whether Northwood has something else up his sleeve.

  This is a huge step for any fledgling distiller. I’m not going to be the person to rain on Nate’s parade. Not yet.

  So, no. I’m not going to tell him. I’ll give it some more time, wait to head back to Oregon before doing anything. I need hard proof before I ruin Nathan’s entire dream. And I won’t self-sabotage my promotion now that I’m so close to getting it, either.

  Not even if a cloud of uncertainty suddenly hangs over this deal.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Nathan

  After our successful call with Northwood, the days pass quickly, and soon it’s been nearly three weeks since Jude arrived. It feels like a lifetime. Just a week ago I was still freaking out about the broken condom. Now it’s like that happened to another person. So much has changed, and yet everything is still the same.

  Today’s a slow day at the bar. Jude and I are alone, she with a bunch of papers spread out at the end of the bar, and me behind it, polishing already spotless glasses. The adult thing to do would be to leave her to her work, but I’m barely an adult on my best day.

  I stalk down the bar.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Hmm? Getting ahead on some upcoming work. Other accounts, stuff like that,” she says absently.

  I lean across the bar in front of her, remembering the night we met. I’m pretty sure she sat right on this stool, actually. Is this her favorite spot? Does she sit here because she remembers what happened on it the first time? That’s adorable.

  “Is it terribly important?” I say.

  She glances up at me, then does a double take at the heat in my eyes. “Maybe … maybe not. I could only be tempted by an irresistible proposal.”

  “Is that so?” I say, licking my lips.

  Her gaze drops to my mouth. “Oh, yes. I’d really have to be convinced. Convinced real hard.”

  “You know, I think that could be arranged,” I say. “If I put my head to it.”

  “Oh, your head, huh?”

  “Mhm. I find my head is super convincing.”

  “I don’t believe you,” she says. “You’ll have to show me.”

  “Get off that stool and come back here,” I order.

  Her eyes widen in mock surprise. “Are you saying I get to come behind the bar?”

  I laugh. “Oh, yeah, sweetheart. You’re definitely coming behind the bar.”

  She stalks around it, her eyes never leaving mine. My pulse picks up, my dick already hardening inside my jeans. My body knows exactly where this is going, and like the last two weeks, it can’t get enough of it.

  Jude halts in front of me. I want to touch her, stroke every inch of her body, but I deny myself, knowing it’ll be better the longer I wait.

  “Get rid of your outfit,” I say.

  “You want us to take off our clothes?” she squeals.

  “Yep.”

  “But someone could see us!”

  “Double yep.”

  “Nate—”

  “I don’t seem to recall you caring in the orchard,” I say.

  Jude straightens to her full height, eyes blazing. Then she peels her shirt off and tosses it on the floor like a dare. Pulse pounding, I remove my own shirt and add it to hers. She kicks off her shoes. I remove my boots and socks. Jude wiggles her tight skirt over her hips deliberately slowly, letting it fall to the floor and then kicking it to the growing pile of clothing.

  She stands there in a matching white bra and panty set. The material is so sheer, I can see her tight nipples through the fabric. Throat suddenly dry, I loosen my belt, unbutton my jeans, and then ease the zipper down over my straining cock. My pants hit the floor.

  Jude smirks at me. “Looks like you only have one article left to my two. I win.”

  Without waiting for her turn, I shuck my briefs down my legs, stepping out of them and standing before her without a stitch of clothing. Her cheeks turn red with desire, her teeth sinking into her bottom lip as a soft moan escapes her.

  Stalking up to her, I grab a fist of her hair and jerk her head back, forcing her to look up at me as I slowly slide my free hand from a breast to the waistline of her panties. I slide inside, my finger circling her sensitive clit. Jude shudders, clutching my shoulders for balance.

  “From where I stand,” I growl, thrusting slowly inside her, “I could fuck you with or without you wearing these panties.”

  “Maybe,” she pants, voice raspy, “you should do it instead of talking about it.”

  I tear her panties away as she unhooks her bra. We groan as I draw her up against me. I take her mouth with mine, tongue delving into her as I bring us down to the floor. Kissing down her body, I spread her legs wide and lift them over my shoulders. Dropping my head, I blow gently against her, smiling wickedly when she moans and her back bows off the floor.

  “Now this is an excellent view,” I say, then lick her.

  Jude cries out, fingers threading through my hair and tugging me against her. Still smiling, I add a finger, thrusting in and out of her slowly while I lap and suck her clit. She thrusts against my mouth shamelessly, riding my face to take her pleasure.

  Her thrusts turn desperate as I drive her higher. Just before she breaks, I tear my mouth away and thrust my cock inside her, groaning as her wet heat clenches my shaft.

  “Christ, you feel good,” I say, hips driving into her over and over.

  “Mmm, don’t stop.”

  “Like I could ever.”

  “Faster, Nate.”

  I oblige, groaning in approval when she wraps her legs around my hips and squeezes tightly.

  She bites my neck, nails digging into my back. They’re both going to leave marks, and I savagely love it, love that she’s marked me as hers. My head drops, biting her neck myself as I drive into her, hard. She screams, exploding around me. I follow a moment later, thrusting a final time as I release deep inside her. I change our positions, rolling her onto my chest and tucking her under my chin.

  “Well, that rocked,” I say.

  She laughs. “I definitely enjoyed myself.”

  Drowsiness creeps over me. Whenever I experience a killer orgasm, I drift off within seconds. Being with Jude only exacerbates that. Not that I’m complaining.

  I lazily stroke a hand down her back and say, “Let me nap for a bit and then I’ll take you again real quick before the night crowd arrives.”

  Jude snickers, the puff of air tickling my throat. “I just fucked you into oblivion, didn’t I?”

  I smile
softly, eyes closed. “You definitely did, sweetheart.”

  The door bangs open. Aw hell.

  “Nate? You in here?”

  Aw double hell.

  “Is that Noah?” Jude whispers.

  I nod.

  “What is it with your brothers walking in on us naked?” she snickers against my skin.

  “I don’t know, but any more of it and I’m going to beat their asses,” I grumble, sliding her off me and rolling over in search of my clothes.

  “Nate? The door was unlocked. I know you’re in here. Is Jude—”

  “I’m right here,” I snap, popping up behind the bar. I’ve managed to drag my briefs on and am still struggling with my jeans. Another snicker drifts up from the floor. I send her a withering glare as I succeed in pulling my pants up to my hips.

  Lifting my gaze, I discover Noah staring at me in surprise. Normally I’d celebrate the fact that I’ve managed to shock the unshockable Noah King, but with still Jude naked on the floor, I’m not into it.

  His eyes flick to the bar, then move lower. He manages to close his jaw.

  I drag my shirt over my head. “One word and I’ll kill you.”

  Noah’s gaze snaps to mine. “I need a word with you. Why don’t we step outside and let her get dressed?”

  “How do you know I wasn’t napping down there?” I snap, stalking out from behind the bar.

  He rolls his eyes. “The bite mark on your neck implies otherwise.”

  Damn it. Two minutes ago I loved it, and now it’s already giving me trouble. Jerking my head toward the door, I follow Noah outside. Once it slams shut behind us, I pivot to face him.

  We stare at each other. For once, I’m not going to be the first one to break. He’ll have to say whatever it is he came here to say. Judging by our last conversation, I doubt it’s going to go well.

  “I see you didn’t stop at fucking just a couple times,” he mutters.

  “Do I look like I intend to have this conversation with you? If you came here to insult us, you can just leave.”

  Noah shoves a hand through his hair. “How can you say that? I’m your brother. Your twin, for fuck’s sake. Do you think I like doing this?”