Falling Under

by Lauren Dane

  “I get the feeling Carmella and I had a similar upbringing,” Asa said. Duke’s friend had come up rough. Though his mother was amazing and protective, they didn’t always have a lot. “When she tells you stuff, that’s a big deal. She’s probably pretty used to keeping secrets.”

  It hit Duke then, that of course that’s what Carmella’s mother had done. Forced her daughter to keep her fucking secrets. At Carmella’s expense.

  “It makes me crazy.” He started to pace. “She should be cherished and adored.” But Asa was right. It was a big deal that Carm shared with him and he needed to keep remembering that. This was about her, and when he let his anger get in the way, it made it about him.

  He was glad they were all getting together that night at the gym. No racing that night. Instead of bare knuckles outside, they were going to do some boxing. He could burn off the violent energy so he could save all his sensual energy for her.

  “She should have been back already. I’m going to give her another half an hour and then I’m calling her.”

  Asa clapped his shoulder. “Good.” And walked back inside before Duke could thank him. Typical of his buddy.

  He walked around the building rather than go back through to the shop, wanting that bit of privacy to get his shit back together before going back to work.

  Carmella sat stone-faced in her car outside her mom’s place.

  “Can’t you ask your uncle for the money? You have this new job, you always look nice. Don’t tell me you don’t have a little stashed away for a rainy day,” Virgie said. “Most kids want their parents to get back together. This would help that happen.”

  “I don’t have it. I was unemployed for a few months and had to live off savings. He can find a job, Mom. Save up. I know he’s living with you so it’s not like he’s paying any rent.”

  “How can he get to work if he doesn’t have a car? It’s not like he’s spending it on a vacation or anything.”

  Carmella lost that blank mask at those words. “By the time I was nine, I knew the bus schedule. If a nine-year-old can figure out how to use mass transit, I’m sure an adult can do it. There’s a bus stop three blocks from your front door. He’ll do just fine if that’s really what he means to do. I have to get back to work.”

  “You won’t just be happy for me. He said it might be like this. That you’d suspect his motives and that he didn’t blame you. But I do. I do because you’re hardening your heart against him when he needs you. When I need you.”

  No matter how much Carmella knew she shouldn’t let it, those words hurt like hell.

  “You want him to leave again so you can have me all to yourself!” Virgie exclaimed.

  Carmella knew her mother said it to lash out, but it made her angry anyway. “I need you to get out of my car right this moment because I’m going to say something I regret if I have to be with you another moment.”

  “Just say it!” her mother shouted.

  “Get out. I’m not one of your friends down at the bar. You can’t play me for sympathy. If he wants to turn his life around, he can do it. He doesn’t need money I don’t have for a car and I don’t need to listen to you treat me like shit because you’re having a temper tantrum.”

  Virgie scrambled from the truck and slammed the door, storming off.

  “Thanks, Carmella, for taking hours out of your day to run my ungrateful ass to the doctor when my unemployed asshat of a whatever the hell he is sits on his. You’re welcome, Mom.” Carmella drove off, annoyed as hell but undeniably relieved to be away from Virgie and her stream of lovesick drivel about Steven.

  Once she was back at work, no one was angry with her for taking longer than she thought it would take. Duke made sure she ate a snack later that afternoon and kept an eye on her, thinking she wouldn’t notice.

  But she did and it mattered that someone seemed to give a crap.

  At quitting time, she headed out after a quick good-bye and reminder to everyone that timesheets were due the following day if they wanted to be paid. Lottie apparently had been a lot nicer and let them get away with turning things in at the very last minute.

  But that made way more work for everyone, so Carmella had trained them all to get the sheets to her or any hours turned in after the deadline wouldn’t be paid until the following pay period. Even the worst offender only tested her twice.

  Duke walked her out to her truck. “I want to hear how everything went today. You were later coming back than you thought you’d be.”

  “You’re so very pretty, but even that face can’t persuade me to go into my day in this parking lot right now.”

  He hugged her and she let him, needing it. “You know there’s no racing tonight. If you want to see me fight, we’ll be at the gym I pointed out to you when we got Indian food the other day. Remember?”

  Carmella nodded, increasingly curious.

  “Seven. We’ll be there until nine or so.”

  That might be exactly what she needed. To see Duke, sweaty and muscly, bouncing around and fighting. It didn’t matter how weird it might have sounded. She only knew by that point that the idea made her wet, and after her day, that was pretty much a win.

  “All right. It’s cool that I come, though? Like you’re not violating some code?” Carmella asked.

  “It’s not like Fight Club. We don’t advertise on TV or have business cards with the info on them. But we’re not doing anything illegal. Everyone is a legal adult. We’re all past the point where we think girls have cooties.”

  That made her smile. “You’re so full of it.”

  “I totally am. I’ll make you pancakes at my house afterward. I have a soup bone for Ginger too.”

  That he thought of her dog made her want to jump him right then and there.

  “All right, all right. I’ll be there between seven and nine. Stop being so perfect.”

  He kissed her until she was only capable of hanging on to keep from falling over. Damn, the man was good.

  After getting dressed and changing four times, Carmella headed out to the gym. It was eight so maybe he’d already fought. She hoped not, but she hadn’t wanted to arrive too early either.

  It wasn’t like there was an etiquette book for these situations.

  She took the side door like he’d suggested. Easy to find as the words SIDE DOOR had been painted on the wall in two-foot-high letters. Inside it smelled like sweat, dirty socks, leather, vinyl, and sneakers.

  And in one far corner was a raised fighting ring with two men inside it. Asa was one of them and Duane, one of the mechanics at the shop, was the other.

  Carmella made her way over to watch, looking for Duke and not wanting to make a spectacle of herself so she kept quiet.

  Even if she hadn’t, no one would have heard her over the shouts from the spectators.

  PJ’s hair was bright blue as she stood next to a few of their friends. “It’s handy to be able to find you so easily in a crowd,” Carmella said as she approached.

  “Totally. I’m glad to see you. Duke fought earlier but he’ll be up again soon. For now, watch my honey deliver a beat down. I can’t believe I resisted watching this stuff for so long.”

  Carmella lost herself in the ritualized violence in the ring. In the oddly beautiful grace of it. PJ shouted her encouragement to Asa, but Carmella remained silent. Waiting.

  Duke saw her before she noticed him. Her gaze skimmed over the crowd, looking for him. Pride bloomed in his chest as she turned and saw him, smiling. She gave him two thumbs up as he climbed into the ring.

  Mick and Asa were in a different class than he was. They were beefy and muscular while Duke was leaner. He was also lighting quick, with a hard head and a high pain tolerance. His opponent was a really good fighter with great instincts who’d give Duke a run for his money. He might even be better than Duke. But that didn’t matter because Duke was going to win. He would win as a present to Carmella.

  Once the bell rang, all his attention flowed to the fight. Where his hands a
nd feet were. Where his opponent was. He kept his movements fluid and tried to remember to trust his body and training.

  Even so, the punches the guy landed would leave some bruises. Duke pushed the pain away and redoubled his focus. His strikes continued to land until the bell rang. Once more and a very lucky punch sent Duke’s opponent to the mat.

  Once the match was called in his favor, he headed straight to Carmella. He wanted to hug her and kiss every bit of her, but he was bloody and sweaty so he resisted.

  “Congratulations!” Her smile sent a shiver through him.

  “I’m sweaty, don’t hug me. I’ll be cleaned up in a few minutes.” She ignored him, throwing herself into his arms. “I’ll hug you if I want.”

  “I’m all stinky, though, and you’re gorgeous and smell good.”

  She looked up, her gaze to his. “I know.”

  Oh. It was like that. Well, okay then. He could handle that.

  “Give me five minutes. I just need to grab my stuff and I’ll meet you back at my house. Remember, I’m making pancakes.”

  “After you make me come,” she whispered in his ear.

  “As you command, my lady.”

  Hot damn.

  CHAPTER

  Nineteen

  She headed home after managing to extricate herself from PJ and their friends. It was nice to visit and all, but she had some sex to do with a hot man. He’d been on fire in the ring. Steady, feral, he moved like the predator he was.

  The sweatier and more brutal he’d gotten, fists flying, ducking and weaving, the hotter it had made her for the Duke that lived just beneath the cool veneer.

  By the time she rolled up, his car was in his driveway and he leaned against the trunk.

  Shirtless.

  A neck of a beer dangling between two fingers as he waited for her.

  Every single dirty bad-boy fuck fantasy anyone ever had was living and breathing just a few feet away.

  “Hi,” she said because suddenly she was fourteen and tongue-tied as she walked past the cool boys.

  “Hey yourself. C’mere and kiss me because my lips are one of the few parts of me that isn’t sore.”

  She used the low wall that made up his drive, which put her face-to-face with him. “Does this hurt?” She indicated the beginnings of a bruise on his cheek.

  “Yes. I’ll ice it later.”

  She leaned in and kissed it gently. And then to the cut where his temple and eyebrow met.

  He groaned, sliding an arm around her waist to stabilize her balance.

  She kissed other parts of his face before taking his free hand from her waist and kissing over his knuckles. These would be sore, she knew. Gloves didn’t prevent that.

  Duke’s life was full of punches and fast machines. Fast people. Sometimes if you didn’t slow down, you missed the tenderness.

  She didn’t have a lot of anything when it came to money or property, but tenderness toward him was easily given.

  “We should go inside. I have a few other places you could kiss and make better,” he murmured, and she tracked her way back to his mouth.

  “I suppose the neighbors might frown on me kissing your cock right here in the driveway,” she teased.

  “Probably. You want to grab Ginger first?” He tipped his chin toward her house. That’s when she noticed something taped to the door.

  “After,” she replied, distracted. Things stuck on doors were usually junk, but they could be eviction notices and other legal trouble. She didn’t want to deal with any of that right then.

  “I’m so glad you said that.” He led her to his place, where the moment he closed and locked the front door, she found herself backed to the wall, his body pressing tight to hers.

  All the breath left her lungs as he was everything she could see and feel.

  “What’s a nice girl like you doing with her pussy pressed up against my cock? Hm?”

  She swallowed hard, licking her lips.

  “Your eyes, so big, just waiting for me to do whatever I want. Isn’t that right?”

  Suddenly feeling a little tipsy, she nodded.

  “I’m sweaty and sticky and I smell like cigarettes and violence.” His words held more than one meaning, and though she knew she should pretend not to see that, she couldn’t.

  “I know.” Carmella licked up the side of his neck. “And you taste like a man who likes to fuck nice girls.”

  He snarled, turning to meet her mouth with his own. Kissing her in a gnash of teeth and tongue. He ran his hands all over her, yanking her shirt up and her bra down.

  Those hands knew just what to do. Just how hard to tug her nipples, how long to squeeze them to make her even wetter.

  He jammed his thigh between hers, pressing it to her until a ripple of pleasure burst through her.

  “Nice girls with dirty imaginations.”

  He brought it out in her. He made her this way. Made it safe to be this way.

  He kissed her neck as he pressed his thigh against her clit. “Do you think you can come this way?” Duke asked, his voice a dark invitation.

  Could she? Who the fuck knew? It felt good and he’d addled her brains so she nodded like she was sure.

  “All right. Ride me then. Take your pleasure and then I’m going to fuck you right here.”

  Yeah, that worked.

  She gasped as he worked some sort of sex magic on her nipples with his mouth.

  The neighbor across the street must have come home because suddenly a slow beat blared through the air. Carmella latched on to the rhythm because she’d made a promise that she could come after all. And she wasn’t a quitter.

  She dug her fingers through his belt loops for purchase as she undulated, closer and closer.

  Yes. Yes. Yes.

  At some point she realized she was saying it over and over until finally that spark caught and orgasm burst through her gut. Only Duke’s hand at the back of her head kept her from the goose egg she’d surely have gained when she arched and whacked the door.

  “Don’t lose focus now. Pants off so I can get inside you.” Duke’s voice pulled her back from that blissful post-climax place and she realized he’d pulled his jeans open, had his cock out, and had just finished rolling the condom on.

  “Fuck yeah,” she managed to say while she nearly fell over getting her jeans and panties down and off.

  Duke felt like he’d been hit in the head a lot more than he had. She was so fucking hot. So beautiful and carnal and open to him.

  Carnal, yes, the perfect word. He hadn’t expected her reaction to his post-fight state, but once he’d taken in her eyes, the way her breath hitched when he teased, well, he was all in.

  She was disheveled, the gloss of a recent orgasm on her lips and in her gaze. And when she saw his cock and gave him her fuck yeah, it was all he could do not to dive into her pussy and never leave.

  Though she was short, she was strong, so it wasn’t as hard as it might have been to lift her up and then down onto his dick as she wrapped her legs around his waist.

  He was driven to fuck her. Driven to mark her. To possess her and the trust he’d shaken up before.

  “Slow down, baby. I want this to last.”

  She shook her head, leaning the top part of her body away, against the door at her back.

  “Now. I want all of you right now.”

  How could he refuse such a request?

  He let her writhe when he slid his cock against that spot inside her. Each time he pressed deep, he stroked it. Soon, her breath was a hiccup of sound, pleasure, and need all bound up, tied to his pace.

  With her he didn’t have to hide this part of him. The darker, feral man inside who spoke with his fists hadn’t even earned a batted eye from her. More, she’d dug it. Begged for more.

  What else in life could measure up to someone who accepted the darkest parts of you and wanted more?

  He was so, so very close and each little gaspy breath she made pulled him even closer.

  “Hands a
re full of gorgeous woman. Gonna need you to make yourself come in my stead,” he managed to say.

  Her laugh was equally shaky. But she obeyed and he loved it. Loved the feel of her between them, her fingers on her clit, playing with it. Making herself come because he told her to.

  “Hurry,” he urged.

  She made a sound, a frustrated little grunt, and then the muscles in her forearm corded and her pussy tightened all around him as she began to come.

  That was all he needed, pleasure making him blind as he thrust in so deep his vision grayed at the edges for a moment as climax hit.

  “I’m beginning to feel like I should pull a chair into the entry or something,” he said. “If we can’t get any further than the front hall, we might need something comfortable sometimes.”

  He put her to her feet and she began to gather her clothes, still smiling. “Sometimes a little pain makes the pleasure all the sweeter.”

  Talk about hidden depths.

  “Let’s go get your dog. She saw you pull up through the front window so she’s going to be mad.”

  Carmella snorted. “At you.”

  “What? Why me?”

  “Because she loves me. She just has a crush on you. It’s cool, you don’t need to come with me. I’ll grab Ginger while you shower.”

  “I want to come with you.” He opened the door and they spilled out onto the porch.

  “Your pants are unzipped, and you don’t have on a shirt or shoes.”

  “You liked that just fine a few minutes ago.”

  She paused to give him an affectionately annoyed face.

  “What? Am I lying?”

  Carmella snorted and headed to her front porch, snatching something off the door quickly.

  “Is that the lawn aeration people again? They leave so much shit on my door I want to hunt them down and drown them in it all.”

  “Wow, that’s um … okay then.” She unlocked and Ginger waited for them. Just like Carmella had said, after a brief sniff of annoyance at her human, she gave in and let Carmella pet her and give her love. Duke got the doggie version of side-eye.