One Taste

by Cari Quinn

  She choked out a sob of frustration. He filled her, ramped up the need, but the pace was killing her. He leaned back, pulling out of her until just the tip of his cock teased her entrance. Before she could move, he hooked his arm under her other knee, turning her onto her side. She clutched the pillow-top mattress edge as he folded her knees together and pushed them up.

  She turned her mouth into the bunched sheets and screamed. The angle made him feel even bigger. He slammed into her again and again. Her body shattered around his, accepted the invasion of this man who had the power to change her whole world inside this room and out of it.

  Spots danced behind closed lids, and sweat dripped from every inch of her skin. She spasmed and cried as her body shook with aftershocks she couldn’t control. He smoothed his hand from hip to thigh as his strokes slowed, and her limbs collapsed under her. She pressed her cheek into the mattress and sucked in gasping breaths. He pulled away and stood. She brought her knees up the rest of the way to her chest.

  Surely she was going to fly apart.

  In the conference room, she understood the sex there. That was anger and frustration needing an outlet. This—no, this didn’t make sense. She rolled until she was sitting upright. Her entire body felt like an open wound. Her thighs shook as she stood to gather her clothes.

  The room was silent save for the high tide roaring outside. The thought of the stretchy fabric on her skin right now was too much to take. She set her bundle of clothes on the desk and leaned on the sturdy chair. The glass was still there. Maybe alcohol would settle her jangling nerves. The smooth burn chased the lump down her throat as she unhooked his dress shirt from the back of the chair and slipped it on, buttoning it enough to stay closed.

  She turned, and her heart slammed. He stood in the bathroom doorway wearing only his boxer briefs.

  “Fuck, you’re beautiful.”

  His coarse voice and words were like a slow stroke down her back. Again nothing seemed to make sense when it came to this confusing man. Closed off one moment, stretching her open and demanding everything the next, and now this. She tucked her hands into the overlong sleeves of his shirt.

  Thank you didn’t seem to fit. Instead, she followed instinct and went to him. It was the only thing she could trust right now. Silvery moonlight highlighted his cheekbone and kiss-swollen mouth, leaving the rest of his face in shadow. His shoulders and torso were a fascinating terrain of dips and valleys that made the pads of her fingers buzz. She brushed her knuckles over his belly. The muscles of his abs bunched and tightened under her touch. Some of her nerves settled. Maybe he was just as affected as she was.

  She cupped the cross of his rosary in her palm. The back of her hand tingled at the soft brush of his chest hair. “Are you religious?”

  “My mother was. She always had it with her.”

  She traced the Madonna medal in the center. He pushed away a lock of her hair that had fallen forward, but then stepped back. The smooth beads slid from her hand.

  “I think you should stay here with Kain while I get some things settled.”

  Suddenly cold, she curled her fingers around the gap in his dress shirt. “What?”

  “There’s nothing here for me in Monterey. I need to take care of a few things.”

  She frowned. “I thought we were going to do this together.”

  “I have to talk to Jonas and sell whatever I can. Most of my money was wrapped up in Justice Construction, so that’s gone now. I have to figure out a way to get us back to New York.”

  “I…” She took a step back. She what? She was dependent on this man, and he was going to go off and do God knew what alone. Had the orgasms short-circuited her brain? Kendall painstakingly made sure not to rely on anyone, and she was completely at his mercy. She’d allowed herself to be. God dammit, how fucking stupid was she?

  One of a half dozen mistakes she’d made since getting off the plane.

  Damn her mother for blazing through their emergency money with this blasted trip. For what? To come in person and see for herself that her entire world was going to change thanks to an amendment in Lawrence Justice’s will? At least in Winchester Falls she was on her own turf. She could rely on the one person who always got things done.

  Herself.

  She turned away and grabbed the yoga pants off the desk and stepped into them. She could feel him behind her but couldn’t look at him. With shaking fingers she unbuttoned his shirt and let it drop. She dragged on her tank top and went to the door.

  “Kendall.”

  She stopped with her hand on the doorknob. “You’re right. We have a lot of things to take care of. I’ll need you to take me back with you in the morning so I can get my rental car.”

  “I’ll return it.”

  She shook her head. “I’m not going to be reliant on Kain to drive me around.” She couldn’t afford more than another day’s rental on the little coupe. Not if she had to find her way back across the country.

  “Kain has a fleet of cars in his garage.”

  Incredulous, she let her hand slide limply to her side. “I’m sure Kain would appreciate you dumping me on him.”

  “I’m fairly sure that Kain would love it.”

  She turned at his low, dangerous voice. “You think that I’d even…” Pride and astonishment clogging her ability to form a sentence. “After—”

  “After what, babe? This was just fucking. I don’t have any hold on you.”

  Stunned, she got her voice back. “Congratulations on the upgrade. You’re a fucking asshole. That fits better.” She opened the door, then slammed it behind her.

  Chapter Five

  “It’s pretty impressive to get laid and have the woman slam the door in your face within the same hour.”

  “Fuck off, Kain.”

  “If you don’t want me to comment, then don’t have sex in my house. Especially loud sex I can hear over my headphones.”

  Shane’s grip tightened on his dress shirt. He hadn’t been able to put it on after she’d worn it. Just a few minutes against her skin, and it smelled like her. Apples and sex. Two things that shouldn’t go together, but as usual the dichotomy was what made him sit up and pay attention.

  He knew the difference between losing himself in sex and losing himself in a woman. Twice in the same day was more than scratching an itch. Twice with the same woman who left him wrecked and lashing out at her, that was the capper.

  He balled up his shirt.

  “Shane, this doesn’t have to be a cluster fuck. Just let me help you guys get to New York. It’s the least I can do.”

  Shane looked up at his friend. Kain was one of the few people he actually had to look up at. Even with all the gargantuan guys he’d worked with on construction sites over the years, no one was quite as holy-fuck-huge as Kain. “I think you’ve done enough.”

  Kain’s eyes flattened.

  Shane held up a hand. “No, not like that. I appreciate you taking over our employees and making sure the jobs get done. I just can’t let you bail me out of this too.”

  Kain dipped his hands into his pockets. “It’s just money.”

  “It’s just your money.”

  “And I decide how I want to use it.”

  Shane held out his hand. “I know it, but this I need to do alone.” It was more than time for him to stand on his own. Avery Furniture had started with a backup. He didn’t want Larry’s name and influence involved, but he hadn’t taken the plunge without the safety net of Justice Construction. He needed to know he could do this by himself.

  The training wheels had to go into the garage sometime.

  Kain grasped his forearm, and Shane did the same before breaking the contact.

  “You know I’ll do anything you need,” Kain said.

  “Good, because I need you to babysit Kendall.”

  Kain’s brow rose. “I’m pretty sure she’s a grown-up. The gymnastics upstairs certainly settled that discussion.”

  Shane scratched along the few days�
� growth of beard at his neck. “I’d rather not talk about that.”

  “I got it. You’re interested in her. I didn’t really need a sound track as proof.”

  The moment Kendall had come into that room, there had been nothing on his mind but her. Kain might be a charming son of a bitch, but he was loyal beyond definition. As young as his best friend was, there was an old-world shadow that rode behind him. Honor was important, and he’d never poach.

  “I don’t know what‘s going on with Kendall. I have to focus on the future, not getting her naked. And that’s why I need a few days away from her.”

  He didn’t trust himself not to get wrapped up in her. The minute he got near her, there was a hunger that precluded all sense. Attraction he understood, but not this gnawing hunger to strip back all her defenses and take everything he could from her.

  The numbness he’d felt since Larry had his heart attack two weeks before and through the hospital visits and finally his death—all that faded the moment he got his hands on her. The fact that it came back, double time, made her more addiction than cure.

  He needed to know he could walk away.

  For himself and for her.

  “I’ll wine and dine her. Keep her occupied.”

  Shane’s spine straightened. “As long as it’s occupied, not romanced.”

  Kain grinned. “I can’t help it if I’m more charming than you.” His smile faded. “That wasn’t always the case.”

  It felt like that part of him was behind Plexiglas. He could see it but didn’t know how to reach it. He wasn’t sure he’d ever be that person again. He was pretty sure his laughter had gone into the ground with his father.

  “Just take care of her.”

  It took all his willpower to walk to the door. Kendall was right; he was a fucking asshole. And she didn’t need him in her life right now. Even if losing himself in her arms was the sweetest thing he’d known in too many years to count.

  He pulled out of Kain’s drive and pushed Kendall to the back of his mind. He had a lot of work to do and not much time to do it in. The quiet, winding road gave him plenty of room to think. By the time he made it to his father’s house, he had a half plan formed.

  Now he just had to make sure the money worked.

  Kendall pushed the door from the garage open into Kain’s small mudroom. “I can’t believe you did that.”

  “You’re the one who dared the personal shopper from Chanel to go with you to Target. Who does that?”

  She dropped two huge shopping bags on the counter. “I was playing your wingman. You got her phone number, didn’t you?”

  Kain grinned down at her. “I did. You still should have let me pay for the clothes.”

  Kendall laughed. “Maxing out my Target card was worth it for the look on Monica’s face. Especially when I saw her try on two pairs of those dress pants in her size when she thought I wasn’t looking.”

  But now she had clothes for the trip home and a few extras that she probably shouldn’t have bought. She had a problem with bras. The only good thing about being a B-cup was the ability to buy cheap bras. Her girls were small, but they were always dressed pretty.

  Her phone buzzed in her pocket. She held up a finger to Kain and answered. “Hey, Mom.”

  “Any idea when you’re coming home, sweetie?”

  Her mother had called and asked the same question twice a day, but it was now day three, and Shane hadn’t contacted her once. Kain was playing the perfect host, yet she hated to just sit here and do nothing. “Still working out the specifics.”

  “I can’t believe that will is so complicated.”

  Kendall winced. She hated to lie to her mother. How was she supposed to tell her that everything was going to change when she was over three thousand miles away? “As soon as I know more, I promise I’ll let you know.” Kain tucked groceries into the fridge. She leaned heavily on the counter. Her good mood evaporated.

  “Sweetie, I know you’re not telling me something. I wish you didn’t think you have to take care of me all the time. I’m the mother, you know.”

  She smiled and dipped her head until her forehead touched granite. “I don’t want to worry you. Are you sure you can handle the Heron without me?”

  “Bells has been stopping by to take me to the store every night. We only have one group of men here, and they are repeat guests. They don’t need you to be here to show them all the good fishing spots.”

  From a monetary standpoint, that news sucked, but she was glad it would be an easy week. “You have—”

  “Sweetheart, I have Bells’s phone numbers. You know this is a slow time of year. Thanksgiving is right around the corner.”

  “I know.” Kendall hoped to God she’d be home before that.

  “Just come home as soon as you can. And stop keeping me in the dark. At least say you’ll think about it. You’re as stubborn as your father was.” She could hear the tears in her mother’s voice. The news of Larry’s death had hit Lily hard. As if the man hadn’t abandoned them twenty-two years ago. Kendall felt a prick of her own tears in sympathy for her mother. Her mother was so strong about everything except that blasted man.

  “It’s about damn time.”

  Kendall looked up at Kain’s voice. Her gaze followed his to the kitchen doorway through to the dining room.

  “I’d say the same thing. It’s about fucking time you two got back.”

  “Mom, I gotta go.”

  “Who was that?”

  Oh, no one. Just the son of the woman who was more important than we were. “No one important.”

  Shane leaned on the doorjamb with his arms crossed over his chest. A dark green thermal Henley pulled tight along his shoulders and biceps, bringing out the gold flecks of his hazel eyes. He hadn’t shaved since she’d seen him last. A beard darkened his handsome features, accenting the rough-around-the-edges man she’d missed. She hated that one look at him kicked her heart rate into high gear.

  Son of a bitch.

  “Mom, some answers just walked in. I’ll call you tomorrow morning, okay?”

  “All right. I love you, sweetie.”

  She looked away from Shane. “I love you too, Mom.” She shoved her phone into her back pocket. “Nice of you to show up.”

  Shane crossed one booted foot over the other. “Glad you missed me, babe. Wouldn’t want you to get too comfy with Kain.” His body language said relaxed, but he was just as wound up as she was. And she had missed him. Kain had been attentive and charming, generous to a fault, but all she’d wanted was Mr. Surly. And right now, him calling her babe made her want to slap the almost smile right off his face. The twitch of his fingers on his forearm echoed in the fluttering of her belly. Damn him for looking so good.

  Kain rolled his eyes and opened the fridge. He pulled out three beers and slid them on the island. “If we’re done with the flirting?”

  Kendall took a beer and snicked off the top, then bounced it on the counter until it spun in front of Shane’s beer.

  His eyebrow rose as he walked in and took his beer. “Where were you two?”

  “I think the better question is where were you, pal? You left me here without a car for three goddamn days.” The only reason she knew he’d taken her rental car back was because she got a text from the rental place thanking her for the car being dropped off. “Kain was the perfect host. Even showed me around Monterey.”

  “I know. I told him to.”

  She snapped the bottle down on the counter. “Excuse me? I’m not some dog you dropped off at the kennel, you as—”

  “I know, asshole. Is this asshole with or without the adjective?”

  She clicked her molars together. Swearing wasn’t going to solve anything, but the man brought it out in her like no other.

  Kain leaned on the fridge and sipped his beer.

  Rein it in. She took a slow breath and lifted the bottle to her lips again. Shane did the same, and she forced herself to look away from his strong neck muscles pulling a
s he swallowed. Her hormones had been happily in a box for months. This man had to be the game changer?

  “Are you done now?” Shane asked.

  Not trusting herself, she simply nodded.

  “We’ll be heading out in the morning.”

  “Pardon me?”

  “Pack up all the new goodies Kain bought for you.”

  “I bought them myself, thanks.”

  “Wasting trip money, babe?”

  The bottle shook in her hand from holding it so hard, so she put it down. “First of all, I missed a perfectly comfy flight to stay and figure this out. A flight you asked me to skip so we could go back to New York together.” Okay, so the flight was economy and about as comfortable as sitting in a bumper car for eight hours, but goddamn that man.

  He shrugged. “I trust you about as much as you trust me.”

  “It was your bright idea to wait. So tell me, hotshot. How are you getting us back to New York?”

  “We’re driving.”

  “Driving?” Her jaw dropped. “That has to be three thousand miles.”

  “A bit more, actually, but yeah.”

  She couldn’t read a damn thing on his face. He couldn’t be serious. She couldn’t be trapped in a car with him for days on end. “This is your grand plan?”

  “I sold off everything I could and shipped what I could to the Heron. The rest is in my truck, including you.”

  Like she was luggage? “And you didn’t think to pick up the phone or come over here and discuss that with me?”

  “What’s to discuss? All we have is the Heron. We’re in the same pile of shit, babe. While you were wining and dining with Kain, I was taking care of business.”

  “So you’re just pulling up stakes?” Kain asked. His quiet voice dried up all the venom she was tempted to spew.

  For the first time, a hint of emotion touched Shane’s face. “I don’t have a choice, brother.” He grinned, and his whole face changed. It softened him, and his eyes actually crinkled at the corners. “You’ll just have to make sure to come visit me, Daddy Warbucks.”