by Ryan Michele
Corey’s hand came to my arm. “Cut the shit, Ellie. Your house was shot up. Hank over there”—she pointed her finger to the man in question at the other end of the bar—“heard it over the police band. So what happened?”
I sighed deep and told her. Not exactly everything, though, because what Bri told us about Khloe was under wraps, according to Killian. Since I didn’t want to get shot at again, it would stay under wraps. I trusted Corey, but my patience to get into all the details was wearing thin.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” Corey asked, ever the great friend.
The answer to that question was damn complicated. Okay, it was relative at this point. I was pissed as hell we were shot at, and my place was torn up. Then I felt fear that whoever did this would strike again, and the next time someone would get the bullet. The confusion of sleeping next to Killian and it feeling so damn good … I was a bit scared about that too. I was worried about Khloe and Bri. Then I was happy about the kickass orgasms last night.
Just put every emotion in a blender, fire it up, and that was the feelings rolling through me.
Pretty much fucked up.
“Killian’s working on it. And Diesel is my bud. He’ll take care of me.”
My eyes darted over to the man in question, and his brow was raised.
“How in the hell can you hear us?”
He smirked, and I swore the room stopped for a moment. That small movement changed his entire face from badass scary guy, to hot as hell badass scary guy. It took me a moment to process this.
Diesel tapped his finger to his ear, and I still had no idea how he heard us. I sighed deep. “Anyway. We’re gettin’ it worked out.” I hoped.
“What about your house?”
I grabbed the papers up off the bar and tapped them, getting them straight. “That is a problem for another day. I’m not going there. I can’t deal with it right now. Killian said he’d have his guys board it up.”
“And you’re staying with him?” she asked cautiously.
“Yeah. For a couple of days until I get shit figured out.”
“You need anything, I’m here for ya.” Corey reached over and squeezed my hand. She’d been there through a lot, and it was nice to see she was there through this as well. One could never have enough genuine friends. She gave me her biggest smile. “Oh. And I want to hear how Killian is in bed.”
I glanced over at Diesel. He shook his head and his brows knit, giving off the don’t even think about it vibe. This made me smile for the first time in what felt like days.
Therefore, I said, “He’s a monster…” That was when I heard the growl. It was low, but it rumbled through the space. Diesel was making his way to the bar, and he wasn’t happy. This made me burst out laughing.
I might not have had control over much these days, but to bring a beast of a man to a growl felt damn good to my sarcastic soul.
Later on that night, I found myself in the office crunching the numbers from yesterday. Normally, I liked to keep a running total to keep the bar stocked and figure out what promotions worked and what didn’t. I thought mindless work like budgets and orders would calm me down.
Luckily, the bar was doing great because I’d need the money to fix up my house. I should’ve called my insurance guy today, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. It made the situation more real, and I surely didn’t want to go and see the destruction.
The office door opened. Killian entered, his eyes laser focusing on me. He appeared to be looking up and down my body, sending shivers along his path. The door shut, Killian locked it, then he was prowling to me. Yes.
Prowling like a black panther ready to make a kill.
It made me rise from my chair and take a step back. Unfortunately, that meant my back was against the wall, and there was nowhere else to go.
He got right in my space, his hands gripping the sides of my face, and he kissed me. He literally stole the breath from my lungs, and I had to grip onto him because I knew I was going to fall if I didn’t. He had that effect on me, the weak in the knees schoolgirl crap I thought had left me a long time ago.
Guessed that was wrong.
Killian was on fire. Before I could get my brain to start functioning again, he swiped everything from the desk causing it to fly everywhere. Even the laptop went for a ride. He had me on my back on the desk and undid my jeans. He released himself, pulled down my underwear, and slid inside of me. There was no preamble. No words spoken.
The only thing we had was the connection our eyes wouldn’t release us from. The more he moved, the higher I climbed. It was building and right there on the cusp.
His thrusts became feverish, each one moving the desk an inch or so more across the room. The moans escaped as my orgasm was about to wash over me.
He tilted my hips just a bit more to him, hitting the right spot both inside and out. It was the only time I lost eye contact with him, and my body shook as warmth flowed all over my skin. Yes. He was amazing at this.
It was only a few moments later when he pushed himself into the root and spilled inside of me.
My body was completely sagged, spent, and sated. Yes. He was by far the best lover I’d ever had.
“What was that?” I finally asked when my breathing started to even out.
He smirked that devilish smirk, twisting my insides. That damn smirk should be encased in gold and put on display. Just the sight of it would have women begging for more.
Well, maybe I didn’t want that. I liked that it was just for me. At least for now.
“Just fucked you, babe. Don’t think I gotta explain it.” He slowly and deliciously pulled out of me. Killian looked down and pressed my knees to my chest. I knew what he was looking at, his come seeping out of my channel. This was something I’d never done before in my life, having a man watch his sperm come out of my body. In the recesses of my mind, the thoughts of how wrong or gross this was kept trying to invade.
The one that stood out above all the rest, though, was how damn hot it was. Seeing the hungry look in Killian’s intense gaze, watching his cock twitch and his nose flair. “Just fucked you and wanna do it again.”
“I…” My mouth instantly shut, and he did exactly as he said. Fucked me again on my desk. And I should add, he fucked me senseless.
“You do know you’re going to buy me a new laptop if that’s broken. You’re in luck I save everything on the cloud, or you would have to lose that beautiful dick of yours,” I said, cleaning myself up with some Kleenex and pulling my jeans on. Yes, I had effectively come down from two sensational orgasms, but business was business, and the man was lucky I auto-saved all my shit. Orgasms or not, I’d have to hurt him. All Killian had to do was button his jeans. He didn’t go far out of his way to take me.
There was one small area on the denim that had come on it. I should’ve been the bigger person and told him, but I liked my mark on him. Sure, it was his come, but it was mine too. That shit mixes—trust me. I found myself proud to have this piece of us on him.
“Babe,” was all he responded.
“Is that supposed to be an answer?”
“Yep,” he replied as I bent down to pick up everything that was thrown to the floor. Getting this sorted and organized was going to be a bitch, but it was worth it. I’d love for him to do it again and soon. Although, my pussy still throbbed, so I wasn’t ready right this minute.
“Whatever. Did you find out anything?”
“Yeah,” he answered, and I waited. When he didn’t say anything, I looked up at him.
“And…” I encouraged.
“Later.”
“No, now,” I retorted, standing up and plopping the papers, pens, folders and the stapler onto the desk.
“Do I need to fuck you again?”
Yes. I so wanted him to fuck me again. “No.” I lied.
His smirk returned as he pulled me into his body, his lips coming to mine. Those lips were magic, in a good way and a bad. Good because it felt magnificent and w
as the softest, determined kiss I’d ever had in my life. Bad because of the same thing. I couldn’t get lost in Killian.
He wasn’t a one-woman kind of man. He’d see Bri and I through this, then the fun would be gone. I had to make sure my heart was locked up tight.
So many times women mistook sex for love. When in reality, the two were completely on opposite ends of the scale. Some men didn’t see it as a bonding experience, just a way to get off.
There were so many rumors about Killian banging randoms whenever he wanted. I needed to always remember that. When the thrill was gone, he would be too, and getting my heart involved was absolutely not gonna happen.
“What I’ve got isn’t much. When I get the bigger picture, we’ll talk.”
“So this means you’re not going to tell me.” My hands went on my hips in smackdown mode. Yes, this was an actual mode. It was right before the hip hitch. The smackdown was a definite escalation in the matter.
“Right. You ready to go home?”
Home? I moved my wrist and looked at the time on my watch. It was eleven. I’d been here all day and hadn’t even realized it.
My stomach growled, and Killian chuckled. “Guess you forgot to eat?”
This was so not like me. I loved food. It was my comfort all the time. The fact I hadn’t eaten since an early lunch was wrong on so many levels. “Guess so.”
“Come on. Let’s feed you.”
He grabbed my hand and pulled me to the door. A huge apology to Corey would come tomorrow, and hopefully, she wouldn’t quit on me. I should have at least bleached down the desk. I made a mental note to send her a text. Hopefully, before she actually sat down at it.
Killian waved to someone as we made our way through the bar, but I didn’t see who it was. I was too preoccupied looking for Corey, who gave me a chin lift when her eyes met mine. I pointed to the office door and shook my head no, and she gave me a thumbs-up. She was awesome and could not sit at sex desk. Yep. That was what I was calling it now. The sex desk.
Lord help me.
10
Ellie
Killian held my hand in his grasp the entire ride to his house. I didn’t read anything into it, but it felt so damn nice. Just having someone there for support. It had been a really long time since I’d had that.
Bri greeted us when we walked in. She was curled up in a ball on the couch. Her wave was timid, but I was simply thankful she was safe. When your life was thrown into the upheaval mine had been, the little things were what mattered most.
“What’s wrong?” I moved in front of her, kneeling on the carpet.
Food would need to wait. I had bigger fish to fry.
“Just everything, Ellie,” she poured out. “How did all of this get so fucked up?”
I shrugged. “That I don’t know, but I think it’s been going on longer than anyone realized. It’s too much to have it all coming at once.”
“You think?”
“Only thing I can come up with. Rolled it around my head a million times, and I don’t think it started when I came and got you that night. I could totally be talking out of my ass, but it’s something I want to figure out.”
“Yeah. Your house.” A tear welled in her eye. “I brought you into a mess that I didn’t even know was happening. You should totally unfriend me.”
“No tears. Shit happens, Bri. The only thing that meant anything in that house was you. Everything else can be replaced.” There were a few things that couldn’t, but Bri was the important one. “You coming out of that breathing was all I needed.”
She sat up and wrapped me in her arms, her body softly shaking. I hated that whoever was screwing with us had made Bri cry. She felt unsafe. That just wasn’t right.
A gun. I was going out tomorrow and getting a gun. End of discussion.
She pulled back. “I can’t keep staying here, Ellie. I appreciate that Killian has let me, but I need my own space. You two are great together, and I’m not good at being the third wheel,” she rambled. “Where could I go for that? What could I do? My parents’ house? I don’t want any bullets in them. I don’t know what to do. Everything I touch falls apart, it seems. Where can I go where someone else won’t get hurt? What curse has hexed me?”
“Let’s worry about that tomorrow. This just happened yesterday. We need a breather.”
“You need a breather,” she fired back. “I’ve been sitting here all day trying to come up with a plan, but nothing I come up with works.”
“Like I said. We’ll deal with it in the morning.”
Pots clunking in the kitchen had me turning to it.
Killian was cooking. For me. Big, strong alpha male Killian was cooking. I had no idea he cooked. This was a surprise. I thought maybe he’d go out with a bow and shoot his dinner or something, but never actually cook. Crazy.
Turning back to my friend, she had a small smile playing on her lips. “He’s a good guy, Ellie,” she whispered, “You should give him a shot.”
I wanted to laugh but held it back. “Right. The notorious playboy is going to become a one-woman kind of man, all for me. That’s virtually impossible. No man changes for a woman.”
“Just because he was that way in the past, doesn’t mean he’ll be it today.”
“Bullshit. You watch too much Dr. Phil.”
She smiled as we both said, “Past behavior predicts future behavior,” then burst out in a fit of giggles.
“We watch too much television.”
It was nice to see the smile on Bri’s face. That was what I wanted for her. A lifetime of this. Happiness.
“Yeah. But those housewives. Those take the cake.” We had a few guilty obsessions, and this was one. It was horrible because we didn’t like watching it on television. We’d rather stream it so we could binge-watch.
There were a couple of them, and we’d just watched the reunion show and got all the gossip from there. It made it a very quick season.
“Yeah. Do you want to eat whatever macho man in there is bangin’ around cookin’?”
Bri smiled once again. She liked the idea of us together. That was something else to figure out when I wasn’t exhausted and hungry. “Do you think he went out and cut up a pig or something?”
My laughter was so loud that Killian had to raise his voice. “Nah, killed a cow. Makin’ spaghetti with meat sauce.”
My stomach rumbled. I really needed to remember to eat during the day. Part of me felt horrible that he was cooking so late at night for me, while the other was starving.
Bri leaned into me. “Woman, he’s hot. He cooks. He takes care of you. He protects you. You fuck this up, I’m calling in the straight-jackets.”
I lowered my voice. “Bri, don’t get your hopes up. I don’t want to see you crushed when it doesn’t turn out that way.”
“Go,” she ordered, getting up from the couch. “I’m heading to bed.” Bri hugged me then took off to her room. With nothing else to do, I went into the kitchen where Killian stood at the stove. There were three pots in front of him, all steaming hot. The smells were unbelievable.
“So you cook too? Is there anything you can’t do?” I asked, sitting at the kitchen island and watching him work.
“Nope.”
This made me grin inside. “Since you’re so handy and all, you can work on all my windows and doors, and get everything back in place at my house,” I teased.
Killian turned around. “Already had the boys board and secure the house. Everything inside is good, but we’ll need to go and get your stuff, so you can move in here.” With that punch, he turned around, stuck a wooden spoon in the sauce, then held it to his lips and tasted it. Holy hell. Did he make that from scratch?
“Did you make that from scratch?”
“Sure did. While a low and slow simmer all day truly brings out all the herbs, this will do.”
“Who taught you how to cook?”
“My grandmother.”
I wanted to know more, but I had to back up and rewind her
e. His culinary expertise was intriguing, but I had more important questions that needed immediate attention. “What do you mean, move in with you? I’m only staying for a couple of days until I figure out what my next move is. I’m thinking of staying with Elliot.”
Killian stopped what he was doing and turned around, prowling to the counter. He leaned down so we were nose to nose. “You’re stayin’ here. You don’t like it, tough shit. You like bein’ here just as much as I like havin’ ya.”
Even with his anger and frustration, something needed to be put straight. “Look, Killian. I know everything is fucked up, and I appreciate you trying to fix it, but I know you. Everyone talks about you and who you’ve been with. Which reminds me—we need to start using condoms.”
“Fuck no. I go in bare.”
“Umm … sorry, but I’m not sharing with others.” There I said it!
His eyes narrowed. “You think I’d even look at another woman when you’re in my bed?”
“How many women have been in that bed?” I closed my eyes. I knew better than to ask a question I was in no way prepared to deal with the answer to. “Never…”
“Nowhere near as many that is going through that brain of yours. That’s for damn sure.” His hands gripped the countertop like he was trying to hold himself back, probably from throttling me. “You don’t want to know that shit. I’m a man, not a saint, not a fuckin’ choir boy. That said, I’m a fuckin’ good man, Ellie, and I wouldn’t do that shit; not to you. Fact is, you just want a reason to push me away and, babe, I ain’t goin’ anywhere.”
I rolled my eyes to the ceiling. I found myself doing this a lot when it came to Killian. Even with the action, though, patience never came. “Killian, I don’t share.”
His eyes narrowed. “Neither do I. Let me just toss it out there so you can get some shit in check. You didn't catch me kissin’ another man, now did ya?”
“You kissed a man? When? How’d I miss that?” Sarcasm was this chick’s best friend.
Killian was pissed, but I saw the tic in his jaw, the one that said he wanted to laugh but was too damn stubborn to make it through. That was fine. It was funny, and this conversation needed a little lightheartedness before I went ape-shit.