by C. R. Jane
Bending, his large frame loomed against me, he spread my legs with his strong hands, “Is that what you want, little angel? You want me to fuck you? Maybe I should make you beg for it.”
“Fuck…” I gasped, closing my eyes against the sheer decadence of his dominance.
“Is that a no? You don’t think I should make you beg?” he questioned, sliding his fingers along my soaked core, gliding with ease.
“No!”
“Then tell me who you belong to,” he ordered, his tone firm and sexy as he slid his fingers inside me, pressing deeply against my g-spot.
“You!” I screamed in absolute frustration and need, gripping his wrist in an attempt to push his fingers deeper, my body bowing with desire.
I was his. His, and his alone.
“You’re fucking right, you do,” he growled, pulling his fingers from my depths, moving between my widespread legs to thrust himself fluidly inside. He owned me in that moment—in every ridge, every ripple I felt against my sensitive nerves. I throbbed and pulsed around him. I would never tire of the feel of him. Never stop wanting him. Never stop loving him.
He pulled himself marginally from my core, plunging back inside as I mewled into his kiss. My hips met his thrusts measure for measure, needing him so deep inside me that I’d never survive otherwise. Our coupling was frenetic in our need for each other.
Pulling his lips from mine, he placed suckling kisses along my jaw, my collarbone. His hand slid beneath my back, pulling me upwards to arch my body towards him, my head falling back in abandon. I released a crazed whimper at the sensation, my body throbbing around his hardness, my climax imminent.
“Mmmm…yes, baby. You’re so close. I want to feel you come around me. Fall for me.” His words were my undoing. The sexy timber of his voice, combined with the steady tempo of his thrusts sent me plummeting over the precipice. I moaned his name in release as I slid my hands in his hair, gripping hard, riding the overwhelming waves of pleasure, convulsing uncontrollably. His thrusts pounded relentlessly as I rode the waves, in and out, deeper and deeper into my clutching depths, before he finally stilled against me and spilled his desire inside me as he released a delicious groan into my neck.
Harsh breaths amid the grasp of each other’s arms, we awaited the slowing of our rapid heartbeats in silence. Sliding himself out of me, he chuckled darkly at my elicited whimper. He slowly brought me back to the ground, steadying me when I wavered.
It took a minute. But then everything came crashing down around me. We’d had sex. Unprotected sex. In a bathroom while I was on my first date with another man. I was on birth control, but that was beside the point. I had no idea where he’d been the last two years.
He had a date out there waiting for him. Why had I done this?
He was playing with my broken heart, cruelly implying that all of the torture and heartache was nothing more than a temporary time break.
And I was letting him.
“I’ve got to get back to my date,” I said stiffly as I pushed him away from me with all my might. After quickly yanking up my panties before pulling down my dress, I ran my fingers through my hair, skirted around him, and ran out of the bathroom back towards my booth, where Landry was still waiting. I needed to get out of here. I needed to get away from him.
“Everly, wait,” he called after me, sounding pissed. He caught up to me before I got to the end of the hallway that led back into the dining area of the restaurant and grabbed my arm. “Leave me alone, Jackson,” I pleaded with him, feeling like I was about to fall apart. I pulled away from him again and rushed to my table.
“I’m sorry. I need to leave.” I rushed out an apology to Landry as he stood in alarm, his gaze ricocheting between me and Jackson who approached our table, his hair tousled and his clothes wrinkled from our session.
I turned for the door.
“Everly…”
“Let her go, Jackson,” Landry growled at him.
“The hell I will,” he spewed, quickly on my tail at the front doors. “Dammit, Everly, stop.”
“Leave me the hell alone,” I cried making my way to the curb to flag a taxi.
“Let me take you back.”
“Are you serious?” I lashed out, spinning around to face him dead on, the motion throwing me off kilter. He reached to steady me, and I tore my arm from his supportive grip. “Don’t. Touch. Me.” The order was firm, and my eyes screamed a clear warning. Raising his hands in a sign of surrender, he backed away, his eyes a storm I could drown in.
“Whatever, Everly. That was a mistake anyway,” he swore before striding back into the restaurant without a glance back.
An oncoming taxi pulled up to the curb.
I cried the whole way back to the dorm.
I was doomed to repeat the same mistakes over and over again.
CHAPTER TWELVE
THEN
Summer arrived, and somehow, I had found myself dating Caiden Parker.
Growing up, I'd thought about what it would be like to date one of them. It wasn't until later that those thoughts had grown into full-blown crushes...mostly aimed at Jackson.
It wasn't like I thought it would be.
He wasn't how I thought he would be.
He eased me into dating him. I didn't even really know it was happening until after.
At first, he was the Caiden that he'd always been...just more touchy-feely.
But something happened after those first couple of weeks. Somehow the desperation that had originally pushed me into the whole thing started to burrow its way into his heart.
That desperation became something dark...something ugly.
Something wrong.
Caiden pulled up to the curb of my house and honked. My mother walked through the foyer in her bathrobe right at that moment, already drunk for the day.
"Where do you think you're going?" she grunted, slurring her words.
"Out," I responded succinctly.
"I don't think so—" she began, but I'd already opened the door and walked out, slamming the door on whatever she'd been about to say. She’d used and abused me for years but this last year, as the drinking had ramped up, she'd lost the ability to control me as much as she had before. I would probably suffer the consequences of what I'd just done when I got home.
But I wasn't going to worry about that right now.
Caiden got out of the Jeep and rounded the car to open the door for me. Before I could get in, he wrapped his arms around my waist and moved in to give me a kiss.
I couldn't help it. I flinched.
"What the fuck was that?" he asked, his voice coming out sharper than he’d ever used before with me. I hated the sound of his disappointment.
“It's just my mom. She didn't want me to come. Sorry, I know she's watching," I explained, and the anger on his face faded.
"Let's get to the lake. You can forget all about her there," he said softly, becoming the Caiden that I knew and loved.
I got into the Jeep and off we went. "Who all is going to be there?" I asked as Caiden drove out of my neighborhood.
"Just some guys from the team and a few of the girls they're interested in. That okay?"
"Yeah," I responded, already starting to dread the outing. His teammates only put up with me because of him and Jackson.
Speaking of Jackson…
"Is your brother going to be there?" I asked, proud of myself for managing to keep my voice level.
It had been three weeks since he said anything other than hello to me. He hadn't hung out with us once, and if we were over at their house, he left immediately.
It was hell.
But this was what he wanted, right?
"Yeah, he's bringing the boat. I can't haul it in the Jeep. I think he's bringing a date," Caiden responded casually, and I was glad that he wasn't looking at me because just the thought of Jackson dating someone made me want to be sick.
I was a hypocritical bitch.
My stomach felt like it was full of
rocks as Caiden pulled into the parking lot by the lake. Some of Caiden's teammates were loading a massive wakeboard boat into the water, and some people were already out on jet skis.
Just then, I heard a rumble and looked over to see Jackson pulling in to the parking lot in his truck, pulling the twin's parents' boat. Sure enough, Veronica Hollingsworth was perched in the seat next to him.
"Looks like Veronica's making strides," Caiden said with a laugh, unaware he was driving a knife into my heart.
I wanted to leave. But that was stupid. I waited for Caiden to walk around and open the door. As he helped me out, he made sure I slid down the front of him as I got out.
It made me feel a little sick inside.
What was wrong with me? Caiden was just as much of my best friend as Jackson was...or had been. Caiden was beautiful. He resembled some sort of dark prince with his tan skin, his almost black hair, and those dark, fathomless, brown eyes. Any girl would be lucky to have his attention. And I definitely had his attention. As he pulled his navy blue tank top off with one hand, like all hot guys seemed to have mastered, he showcased a pair of washboard abs that almost looked airbrushed, they were so perfect. Football definitely had blessed the Parker twins.
"Ready?" Caiden asked, holding out his hand for me to grab. I'd never felt more self-conscious as I walked hand in hand to where most of their friends were gathered.
Jackson expertly backed their boat into the water, and some of his teammates maneuvered it to be tied to the dock so it wouldn't float away while he was parking.
I couldn’t not steal glances as Jackson parked the truck and walked over to the group with Veronica.
They were not holding hands.
Caiden let go of my hand and wrapped his arm around my waist. Jackson tracked the movement, a slight tick in his cheek. He looked at me just then for the first time since that day, and I had to hold in a gasp at the pain I saw in them.
I quickly looked away, unable to handle his emotions on top of my own.
Jackson slapped a few of his friends' hands and then headed to his and Caiden's boat without a word to us. Caiden seemed to deliberate for a moment before he started walking over, pulling me behind him.
"You don't want to ride with Kenneth?" I asked, my voice rising a little at the end, sounding hysterical to my ears.
Caiden looked at me, a calculated look in his eye. "I like our boat. And besides, I loaded snacks and drinks in there earlier, and with sober Jackson driving, I plan on taking advantage."
I felt a little desperate.
"You'll have to drive me home," I reminded him, for some reason not looking forward to a drunk Caiden, something I'd never had a problem with before.
Caiden swiped a kiss on my forehead. "I'll make sure to sober up before then," he said reassuringly.
Veronica frowned as I got into the boat, but quickly lost that frown when Caiden said hello to her. She wouldn’t say anything nasty as long as the guys were around. I peeked at Jackson out of the corner of my eye as he gave a heavy sigh. Caiden walked over to him to help get out the life jackets.
Two more couples joined us, and away we went. The boat cut through the water and even with everything going on, I couldn't help but smile. It startled me when I realized that both Caiden and Jackson were watching me intensely, and my smile dropped. Jackson drove the boat out a little ways into a separate lagoon where we'd come many times before to swim and wakeboard. The water was calmer here, and not many other boats ventured in.
Jackson stood up and took off his t-shirt. And although Caiden's body was almost as impressive, my body had a much more intense reaction to the sight.
I had to suppress a groan, not even bothering to lie to myself that it wasn't from the sight of Jackson Parker's bare chest. My nipples beaded, brushing painfully against the thin cloth of my swimsuit. Why did he have to be freaking sexy? I followed the chiseled line of his jaw and the prominent muscles that I had the inane urge to lick…
I didn't stop drooling fast enough because once again, Jackson caught me looking at him. The pain present earlier had melted into heat. He looked at me like he wanted to eat me alive.
His reaction and my reaction to him just made me angry, so I stood up and bitterly yanked off my top, showcasing the cherry red bikini I'd found at Old Navy for a steal the week before.
Caiden was by my side in a flash. "I'm afraid you're going to get burnt, why don't you keep your shirt on?" he suggested, blocking me in so that no one else on the boat could really see me.
"I need to get a tan, and it's hot out. So I'm good," I responded, giving him a weird glance. He was chewing on his lip and almost looked mad.
"Do you not like my suit?" I asked, suddenly feeling self-conscious. He groaned and seemed to debate something in his head before he straightened up.
"Everything's good, babe," he said, taking a seat next to me and throwing his arm around my shoulders possessively. But the way he said it sounded like everything was not good.
We played around in the water for the next hour or so, taking turns wakeboarding while others swam in the shallower lagoon. Victoria didn't leave Jackson's side, and Jackson drove the boat the whole time so I made Caiden spend a lot of time swimming with me and one of the other couples. Dave and Lacey had been dating for the past year. Dave was one of Caiden's teammates that had never gone out of his way to be mean to me, and Lacy had always said hello to me in the halls, so I didn't mind hanging out with them.
"It's our turn," Caiden finally said, dragging me after him towards the boat. I usually loved to wakeboard, so it had kind of been killing me to avoid it all day. I hoisted myself onto the boat while Caiden swam out to where the board was floating.
After Caiden was on it, Jackson started the boat, and we watched Caiden do an assortment of tricks that I never in a million years could do. After Caiden rode for about twenty minutes straight, he finally crashed into the water, signaling that it was my turn.
I stepped onto the back steps of the boat that led into the water and slipped, banging the side of my foot onto one of the parts sticking out in the water and sending screaming pain throughout it.
"Crap," I hissed as I quickly sat down to take pressure off my now aching foot.
Caiden hadn't noticed that I fell, but Jackson was by my side in an instant, cradling my foot between his hands.
Suddenly, the pain didn't seem so bad.
“Careful,” he warned, when I tried to move. "Let me just make sure it's not broken." I closed my eyes because he was too near. His warm mouth and the curves of his face and his unforgiving jaw make me feel slightly unhinged when he was this close. The pad of his thumb pressed to my skin. He stopped when I winced in pain, holding his hand there, waiting for me. He continued, and just the brush of his skin against mine awakened other things. Things I wasn’t supposed to feel. My eyes opened of their own accord and locked with his. One of his hands moved to my face, his mouth slightly ajar as he looked at mine, both of us breathing quickly. I wanted him to kiss me. I wanted him to kiss me so badly that my blood started to sing, and all logic went rushing from my brain. It sat between us, quicksand that dragged us under so fast that fighting it seems impossible. He leaned toward me, for just a second, before his hands fell away suddenly, and he practically jumped backward.
“What’s going on?” asked Caiden suspiciously as he swam up to us.
"I just fell," I explained guiltily. Had I really just almost kissed Jackson in front of everyone? What the fuck was wrong with me? "But I don't think I can board. My foot is killing me."
Caiden was still looking at Jackson. Caiden glared at Jackson like he...almost hated him.
"Can you help me back to my seat?" I asked, trying to interrupt whatever was going on between the twins.
"Sure," Caiden said sullenly, picking me up roughly suddenly and practically throwing me on one of the bench seats. He settled next to me, his hand possessively on my leg. He was holding me tightly, too tightly actually, and I moved my leg in discomfort. H
e squeezed tighter for a second more until I was sure that I was going to have bruises before he suddenly let go.
I stared at him shocked, but he was already in a conversation with one of the guys, his face lit up in a smile like nothing had happened.
I didn't say a word for the rest of the boat ride...and neither did Jackson.
When we got back on shore, it was time to start barbecuing. The group in the other boat had gotten back before us, and they'd already fired up the grills and started a game of sand volleyball.
My foot was feeling better, so I thought it would be fun to join the game. "Let's go play," I urged Caiden who usually loved sand volleyball.
He looked over to the group of his friends playing and frowned. "You should probably put your shirt back on to play," he commented.
"Why?" I asked with a frown, glancing over to where several of the girls were playing in just their bikinis. I'd slipped on my pair of faded denim shorts, so I would be more covered up than they were.
"Bikinis aren't for everyone..." he stated calmly. Shock crashed over me at his cruel words. Was he telling me that I didn't look good in my bathing suit? He'd had his hands all over me all day. A rush of embarrassment flooded over me. He’d acted like he loved my suit at their birthday party, but I guess that other one did cover more. Had Jackson been embarrassed to be seen with me all day, too?
Confidence had never been my strong suit, so when he handed me my shirt, not saying anything else, I put it on without a fight, not really wanting to play anymore.
I played a couple of rounds, but my heart wasn’t really into it. When everyone walked over to the grills, I grabbed a single breast of chicken even though the burger was calling my name. I picked at my food while everyone stuffed themselves silly around me. Caiden chowed down on a burger, looking almost excited about what I’d chosen to eat.