Nailed Down

by Chelle Bliss

  “He had his hands all over you!” I told her, shooting a middle finger at one of the guys’ friends when he picked up the kid from the floor. I spared half a glance at them both, then felt like shit when I spotted the kid’s face. He couldn’t have been more than eighteen and might have been a hundred and twenty-five pounds soaking wet.

  “You didn’t have to do that, asshole,” his friend said, holding the guy around the shoulder.

  “This will be bad if it gets out,” Bill said, head shaking as he jumped from the stage and followed the kids across the bar as they left.

  “Kane, what the hell is your problem?” Kit asked, tugging me off stage with a death grip on my wrist.

  I couldn’t keep my gaze from the kids across the bar and Bill’s frantic gestures as he seemed to be trying to control the potential shitstorm.

  “Kane?”

  “I…I don’t know,” I told her, finally looking down at Kit’s heart-shaped face. The tension in my shoulders went rigid, and I still felt that prickling sensation in my gut, only now it burned me with worry.

  This was what I feared on the off times I thought about Kit and me together. Drama. Irrational reactions, all mine. Fucking complications.

  “I don’t know,” I told her again, stepping out of her reach when she tried taking my arm. I waited for Bill to return, let him get halfway through the crowd before I finally shook my head, eyes squeezed tight. “I’m sorry. About…this,” I said, waving toward the crowd before I looked at her again. “I’m sorry about fucking everything up.” She knew what I meant. The disappointment came quick and sharpened her features. “I’ll…see you in the morning,” I told Kit, walking away from her just as Bill returned to her side.

  There were groups of kids cloistered around the exits, all drunk and calling me an asshole as I moved through the crowd and out into the parking lot. Our hotel was only a block away, and I took that small walk to try to get the guilt I felt squashed down deep. It could go right next to the disappointment and worry I had any time I thought about Kit and me and how things had been before that damn list. Before that damn kiss.

  No. That was a lie, I thought, just as I cleared the hotel’s parking garage. I’d been twisted up about Kit for way longer than that. The kiss only made things worse, in the best possible way.

  I leaned against the elevator door when it shut, head back, trying and failing to clear the look on Kit’s face when I pushed that kid. Disappointment. Insult. I’d gone all caveman, despite anything I tried to tell myself about who I really was. Hell, I’d done that before we ever left for this fucking trip. My mom would whip my ass if she saw me.

  “Shit,” I said to the empty hallway when I left the elevator. My mom would whip my ass. I’d already ignored several messages from her about the video in the bar and me and Kit. I’d managed to put her off by claiming to be busy, and she’d been satisfied, only because I’d sent her a picture of Kit and me with the president and first lady. Mom was a little bit of a fangirl. But if anyone had caught me on film roughing up that poor kid and posted it… Five feet two or not, Mom would whip my ass.

  Hell, everyone would. How bad would this be? I dropped my keys and wallet on the lounge table when I made it into my room, ready to drown myself in a shower by the time another round of guilt and pointless questions shot into my head.

  Had Bill smoothed things over?

  Worse still…had Kit gone to his room?

  “Fuck!”

  I stood under that steaming spray for a good twenty minutes, doing my best to let the stinging water punish me, wipe clear the bullshit mucking up my head, but it didn’t work. Nothing would. Not unless I could apologize to Kit, something I considered as I slipped on my shorts and ran a towel over my wet hair.

  Would she listen? Had I fucked things up for good?

  Would Kit…

  The thunder of knocking on my hotel room door paused my train of thought, and I stepped to the door, forgetting I was half naked. Forgetting everything at all when I glimpsed the top of Kit’s head through the peephole.

  I threw open the door, resting my arms on the trim as I looked down at her, trying to ignore the sharp heat I swore I could feel as Kit moved her gaze all over my body. Just that look alone got to me. Each shift of her eyes over my thighs, up my stomach, to my chest and arms and back again, felt like a kiss, something hot and wet and sweet that I wanted from her. From only her.

  But would that ever happen now?

  “Kane?” Kit said, inhaling, small pink tongue sliding over her bottom lip like she wanted a taste of something that wasn’t hers.

  “Yeah?” I managed, unable to say more, that look she gave me taking up most of my attention.

  “Let me…let me in,” she said, stepping over the threshold. I couldn’t move. It felt too good to have Kit so close, to feel the slip of her fingers against my chest as she touched me, likely trying to get me to step out of her way. “Let me in,” she said again, and this time, her voice was low and sweet and fucking sinful. “There’s something I want from you.”

  17

  Kit

  A girl could only take so much. This game was old, and I was tired of waiting for Kane to make a move. Little chickenshit Kit was gone, that much I was sure about the second I caught Kane’s darkened eyes when he barely moved as I pushed my way into his room.

  He stared down at me, and I wondered if he realized what message I’d tried to send him with this stupid plan. Hell, I’d been obvious. The song at the bar was very obvious too. “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around”? I mean, come on! I’d picked it to grab Kane’s attention, and he knew I sang every word to him. The way he’d stalked toward the stage, eyes on me and the guys with the grabby hands, had my blood pumping and my heart pounding. I wasn’t happy he’d practically pushed the kid off the stage, but I knew his heart was in the right place.

  “What’s wrong?” Kane stood before me wearing only a pair of thin shorts, tiny beads of water covering his chiseled chest. “Did I hurt the kid?”

  “Fuck that kid, Kane. He was a punk. I’m not here to talk about him.”

  “Oh,” he said and dragged his hands through his damp, messy hair.

  That small movement caught my gaze, and I shifted it right to his chest. Maybe my stare lingered a little too long not to be noticeable as those muscles flexed with his movement. I’d seen Kane shirtless hundreds of times before, but tonight, in his room, knowing how he tasted, had me unable to stop what came out of my mouth next.

  I swallowed once, inhaling to bring in the sweet, seductive scent of his body, and it bolstered me. I went for it.

  “I’m done playing games, Kane. I thought you wanted me as much as I want you, but clearly, I’ve been wrong. I can’t keep…”

  He stalked forward, his eyes growing narrower with each step, but I held my ground, needing to say the speech I practiced on the way over here.

  “I can’t keep doing this.”

  Kane moved toward me like it was habit, some customary gesture that seemed comfortable and right. I wasn’t nervous when he leaned forward, didn’t shake or tremble when he placed his hand on my hip, his fingers digging into the skin just above my waistband.

  “This?” he asked, that deep voice sounding like sex and sin in the quiet room.

  “Pretending,” I said, my voice a little breathless and definitely needier from the contact.

  Kane didn’t smile as he watched me, as he slid his hand around my waist before he flattened his palm on the middle of my lower back. “I’ve never pretended.” He damn sure wasn’t then, pulling me closer so our hips came together, close enough that I felt how hard, how heavy he was pressed against my stomach.

  Back and forth. Yes and no. Fuck, but this man was confusing. He wanted me. I wasn’t blind, but one minute he’d kiss me, act like a jealous fool when I mentioned someone else having me, the next he’d promise we’d never be good together. It all made me a little motion sick, and I jerked a glare up at him, angry and turned on, trying not to rub a
gainst him like a cat in heat.

  “One minute you’re kissing me, with your fingers deep and teasing, giving me the best damn orgasm of my life, and the next…”

  He didn’t let me finish, leaning forward, breath hot and sweet against my mouth. Kane tilted my head up, looking down at me like he wanted everything and all of me and didn’t care that he’d left me confused. He watched me with half-lidded black eyes, sucking in his bottom lip like there was a small hesitation he needed to get rid of. I made a sound, something deep, hungry, and Kane flared his nostrils, licking his lips one last time before he stole my words and my breath with his kiss.

  At first, it was gentle, a small graze of skin against skin. Sweet, actually. Then Kane curled his fingers in my hair, moaning low when I flicked my tongue against his lip, and he reached down, grabbing my ass with the hand that had been resting on my back seconds ago.

  My reaction was instantaneous—hands on his forearms, fingertips inching up the rock-hard muscles before I gripped his biceps, curling around and tethering myself to him.

  “Pretending?” he grunted, biting my bottom lip, groping my ass rougher and grinding his cock against me, which earned him another, louder moan I couldn’t hold back.

  He didn’t need a response, and I kept a smartass reply to myself just then, so turned on when whatever clicked in Kane’s brain or was some stupid response to the dumb “Make Kane Jealous” plan. I didn’t give a shit what it was. I only knew I was finally getting Kane to touch me like I wanted. Like I damn well needed.

  Kane swept his tongue across my bottom lip, and I opened for him, mouth dropped, body electrified by the sensation he kindled in me. Our breaths matched, pants filled with moans, with pleased sounds I hoped would only get louder, more eager. He moved his tongue deeper inside, fingers tightening as he tipped my head sideways, making way for him to deepen the kiss and have my knees wobbling in one quick move.

  I slid my hand over his arm, kneading the muscles underneath before I curled my arms around his neck. I was drunk on him. A single kiss, the briefest desperate touch, his cock throbbing against my stomach, and I was already spent, turned on, worked up, and this wasn’t even the most we’d done before. It just felt like the best.

  As the kiss deepened, Kane trailed a path down my spine, the pressure of his fingertips growing more intense until his palm rested on my other ass cheek. I moaned my appreciation, almost begging him for more as I pushed myself against his hard-on, wanting so badly for him to be inside me.

  I could have climbed him like a tree, I was that desperate, that greedy to be wrapped around him. I started to move, pushing my leg up, but Kane tucked his thumbs into the waistband of my pants and yanked them down to my ankles, palming my skin, skimming his fingers over my hips, around my ass before he squeezed me there, tight, needy. I broke our kiss for half a second, long enough to haul my shirt over my head and fling it to the floor. One glance at his face, at the tightening clench of his jaw, and I held my breath, ready for whatever he wanted to do to me. Kane grunted again, this time, sounding hungry, famished for me.

  His hardened stare and ragged breathing faltered as he swept a gaze across my chest, to the black lace of my bra, over my stomach and the matching thong before he shot his focus back to my face. Kane breathed through his nose, reminding me of a bull ready to charge. Just the glint of hunger in his eyes and the way he moved close, pushing me against the wall, caging me with those massive arms, made my pussy throb with need.

  “You wanna…” I exhaled, trying to get my breathing back to normal, loving the expression of dark need on his face. “You wanna fuck me, Kane?”

  He didn’t answer, but I caught the fists he made with his hands and shuddered when he moved his head in a long, slow nod. I stepped out of my pants and gasped when Kane pulled on the strap of my thong, slipping it down my legs, his mouth against my thighs, inhaling with each patch of skin he touched before he stood.

  I licked my lips and reached for his shorts, expecting him to finally call things off. We’d never gotten his far.

  Yeah, he’d had his fingers buried inside me, but we’d never been undressed in front of each other before and this close to having sex. My insides rejoiced, buzzing with excitement at the thought of Kane on top of me, driving me toward an orgasm unlike any other.

  But Kane’s eyes stayed locked on mine as I curled my fingers inside the elastic waistband of his black shorts. His expression was nothing short of unfettered need as the backs of my fingers slid against his warm skin. I went slow, liking the power I felt barely touching him, making his chest rise, making this big, strong alpha tighten his eyes as he moved his head, growling like a purring panther the more I teased his heavy cock.

  “Kit…” His voice was lethal, sinister, a warning I took before I moved his shorts down, catching them with my toe to pull them off and drop them onto the floor behind us. I gasped as his cock sprang free, bobbing against my stomach, when Kane grabbed me, tugging off my bra, nibbling against my collarbone, then my shoulder.

  My mouth watered at the contact, at the feel of our naked skin brushing together, the scent and sights overwhelming my senses and making the dull throb between my legs become almost painful.

  I glanced up, taking in his entire body. The planes of his stomach were lined with more than a six-pack, which I’d never even realized was possible until now. His hard length waved again, teasing, promising how good he’d feel, giving me proof that all his alpha attitude wasn’t because Kane was overcompensating for any shortcomings. No way this man and that long, thick cock were anything other than perfect.

  He was all alpha.

  Kane wrapped his arms around my waist, pulling me against his warm skin, only inches separating us as we stared at each other. He was giving me an out, I knew it. It was clear from how he watched me, moving his head to catch my gaze, sliding me against his dick to emphasize what was about to go down.

  When I only smiled, shifting my hips so that my wet pussy lips slid against his cock, Kane crushed his lips to mine, rougher than before. He released a strangled grunt before he pushed me against the wall, lifting my body with his arm tucked under my ass. The painful pinch of the drywall at my back did nothing to slow the desire that had gone beyond the point of a slow simmer.

  I flattened my spine against the wall and gripped his shoulders as I thrust my pussy forward, begging for more of his touch. The memories of the truck, his fingers pumping into me, had played on repeat in my mind, fueling every fantasy I’d had since. His grip tightened under my ass as he used his body as my support and pressed his palm against my stomach. I dug my fingernails into his skin and remembered the words he’d spoken to me. I’m generous, but I’m not gentle. Fuck, I hoped he was about to show me just how generous he could be. I could handle rough, as long as it was Kane dishing it out.

  He kissed me, teasing me with the brush of his hard cock, breath heavy against my neck, tongue in my mouth, consuming me, and I couldn’t take it for another second. Kane stilled when I wrapped my legs around his middle, pulling his cock closer to my center, silently begging him with a jerk of my hips. I wanted his roughness.

  Who wanted gentle in a moment like this? Not me. I wasn’t breakable, and I wanted to feel him deep inside, owned by the man who had been my best friend for years.

  “I need you,” I whispered against his lips, watching him closely, hoping he could see everything I felt in my features.

  He grunted a response, slipping his hand down my middle and cupping my pussy in his palm. “This is mine.” He curled his fingers, gripping me, possessing me. “No one else’s. No more games.”

  I nodded, unable to speak, too overcome with emotion and need to trust my voice enough to form words.

  My back bowed off the wall as Kane thrust two thick fingers deep inside me. I felt full, tight, and that warning he’d given me about not being gentle came to the front of my mind. He wasn’t gentle. His movements were demanding, controlling, but felt fucking unreal. I wasn’t leaving this ro
om until Kane had more than fingers inside me.

  He slid his tongue across mine, the rhythm matching the harsh strokes of his long, broad fingers as he pulled out before plunging them back, deeper and harder.

  I inched my fingers up his shoulders before sliding them into the back of his hair, yanking at the silky strands between my fingertips. I lost my breath as he pressed a palm against my clit, the friction so delicious and rough with each thrust of his hand. My insides tightened around his fingers, the orgasm building quickly as his fingers swept against my G-spot.

  I was about to come, everything inside my body tensed, when Kane pulled his hand away, leaving me completely empty and panting.

  My eyes flew open, and anger flooded me. “What the fuck, Kane?” The rage was almost out of control from the orgasm that was about to break free. I gripped his hair with both hands, yanking back as hard as I could.

  Had he changed his mind? Was he fucking with my head again? Christ, I’d kill him if he was backing out on the one thing we both knew we wanted.

  I couldn’t have been more wrong.

  In one quick movement, Kane pulled me down on top of his length, spearing my body with his cock and rendering me stupid. I gasped, breath halted as he filled me so completely there wasn’t even room for air in my lungs.

  My grip on his hair loosened as he pressed his lips against my neck, licking the skin near my collarbone. His hands gripped my hips, pulling me down before lifting me back up, repeatedly pounding into me as our bodies collided. My tits bounced, scraping my nipples against the hardness of his chest.

  I flattened my palms against the wall, steadying myself even though I knew Kane had complete control of my body. My breasts jutted out, pushing against his chest as my back bowed farther off the wall.

  I blinked, head arching as I thought about what he was doing to me, smiling when I realized Kane was fucking me silly. All I could do was mumble as if I were doing an incantation and speaking in a foreign language only I knew how to translate.