FURIOUS

by Honey Palomino

  “What did they fight about?”

  “Her business, mainly. She wanted to name the diner after herself and he fought her tooth-and-nail the whole way. Eventually, he gave in and she would never say what she did to change his mind, but she was eventually the first business in town not to have ‘Green’ in the name.”

  “Impressive,” he said.

  “She was amazing,” I said. “When she retired, she signed over the business to my mom, Jane, who worked there since she was a teenager. And then Mom left it to me when she died.”

  “I see, that’s great,” he said. “And this house?”

  “My grandpa built it,” I nodded.

  “Must be great to have such deep roots,” he said.

  “It is,” she said. “It’s a gift. I’m grateful for it all.”

  “I know you don’t like him, but this might be a good time to tell you that I got a job with Green today.”

  “What, really?” I asked, my gut churning with dread.

  “I heard he was the only person in town hiring,” he shrugged.

  “What will you be doing?”

  “Security,” he said. “He’s had a few break-ins recently.”

  “Well, I’m sure he deserved it, the prick,” I said, shaking my head. “Just be careful. He destroys everyone he touches.”

  “I’m not very easy to destroy,” he said, winking, the wrinkles around his eyes deepening. I was struck by his handsomeness. Underneath all those tattoos, the gruff voice, the larger-than-life frame, he was classically handsome, his square jaw and high cheekbones prominently dominating his features. His dark eyes smoldered each time he turned them on me, like a flame of heat he blew my way.

  “Tell me about your life,” I said, suddenly wanting to know everything about him.

  He shrugged, looking away.

  “Not much to tell,” he said.

  “Come on,” I urged.

  “I told you I grew up in Salem.”

  “Where’s your family?” I asked.

  He cringed, his eyes slamming shut.

  “Still in Salem,” he shrugged. “I don’t really see them. They haven’t been a part of my life for a long time.”

  “Oh,” I said. “Why not?”

  “I don’t really talk about them,” he said. “My real family is a different story. My two best friends are brothers and their family took me in pretty early, around the sixth grade, I guess.”

  “Tell me about your friends,” I said.

  “Eli and Nate?” he asked, his eyes lighting up. “They’re two of the best dudes you’ll ever meet. Great guys. Great friends. And their father was more like a dad to me than my own old man.”

  “What was his name?”

  “Asher.”

  “He’s still with us?”

  He paused, a slight hesitation that told me there was much more to the story.

  “He’s still alive,” he nodded.

  I nodded, trying to piece it all together, but his vague details and his obvious discomfort told me something wasn’t quite right. I had a feeling under that sexy exterior, there was a huge story lurking in his past. I couldn’t expect him to spill it all immediately, so I didn’t press any further. Getting to know someone takes time, and I know men take a long time to open up. I was happy to give him all the time he needed.

  “Are you ready for dessert?” I asked.

  His eyes lit up again. He nodded gleefully, and I couldn’t help but smile. His joyful expression gave me a glimpse of what he might have looked like as a little boy and my heart melted.

  “Lemon meringue pie, coming right up!” I said, standing up and clearing away the dinner plates, which allowed me to move closer to him. My stomach fluttered, my fingers trembling as I carried the plates to the kitchen, the heat of his intense gaze following me as I put the dishes in the sink and walked to the fridge, turning away from him for a few moments.

  I opened the door, leaning down to pull the pie from the shelf. I froze as I felt his arms slide around my waist, his body pressing against mine. I leaned back into his chest, the pie in my hands. Bending his head, he pressed his lips against my neck, sending sparks of electricity through my entire body. My knees weakened and I sighed, letting my head fall to the side as his lips slid over my skin.

  His palm was on my belly, pulling my body into him, his fingers gripping me tightly as he pressed me into his hardness. My hips moved into him and a growl sounded in his throat as he turned me around, his lips crashing onto mine.

  His kiss was a thunderous wave of passion, full of longing and lust, my body instantly coming alive. I kissed him back, meeting his desire with my own, still cradling the pie in my palm. He leaned down, scooping me up in his arms without breaking the kiss. Quickly, he carried me over to the dining table, pushing away the remaining glasses and dishes as he placed me on top. I laid the pie to the side and he hovered over me, gently pushing me backwards until I was half-lying on the table, staring up at him.

  His eyes flashed with hunger and his lips crashed into mine once more, breaking away and sliding down to my throat, his warm kisses brushing against my skin like rough silk. Arching my back, I pressed my breasts up towards him, opening my thighs for him to slide between.

  His hardness pressed against me, my entire body quivering with yearning for him. My hands ran over his back as he kissed me deeply, his tongue sliding between my lips and searching for the same connection I was starving for.

  I pushed his shirt over his head, my skin itching for contact. I gasped as his body came into view. Slathered in tattoos and rippling muscles, he was a sculpted fantasy of virility, a sex dream come true.

  Quickly, he pulled off my dress, leaving me staring up at him, my breasts threatening to spill from the lacy push-up bra I was wearing. His lips descended to the tops of them, sending sharp flickering flames shooting through me as I arched my back, my fingers sinking into his soft black hair, pulling him closer.

  His tongue darted out, sliding along the edge of the lace, breaking through the imagined barrier and slithering under my bra to search out my nipple. I arched my back harder, my breasts escaping from the fabric, allowing him to fully engulf my hardened bud.

  Echoing through the house, my moans soared above us, a testament to his touch. Sliding around one nipple, then the next, his tongue worked against my shivering skin until I was trembling uncontrollably. He pulled away, his lips finding mine again, his body pressing hard between my thighs. I pressed up to meet him, shuddering at the passion flowing between us. He broke away from me again, his eyes peering deeply into mine, as if he was trying to break clean through to my soul.

  “Jackie, you’re the most beautiful fucking woman I’ve ever seen,” he said, shaking his head in disbelief. “I want you so badly.”

  Speechless with desire, I licked my lips, tasting him as I pressed up into his hardness again.

  “Please, Fury…” I whispered, the only words I could muster.

  He smiled down at me, a slow, sexy grin that spread across his face like wildfire, his eyes blazing with lust. He reached down, unhooking the front clasp of my bra, his lips finding my nipples once more. Trailing down my ribcage, his kisses fluttered against me, gently nibbling at the skin, his tongue sliding against me deliciously as he moved down to my belly.

  “Fury, Fury…”

  He paused when he reached my panties, his breath hot against my skin as he hooked his fingers into the sides and pulled them over my thighs with a devilish gleam in his smoldering eyes. Brushing his lips against the sensitive sides of my hips, I gasped, my breath catching in my throat. Trailing kisses down the side of my thighs and back up the middle, I trembled with painful anticipation.

  Finally, the sweet sensation of his white-hot breath hit my center, my thighs open and welcoming him into my warmth. His full lips covered my mound, his tongue darting out to claim me, sliding between my folds and tasting my flowing desire for him.

  I sunk my fingers in his hair again, pulling him in closer.
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  “Yessss,” I sighed, my strength abandoning me as I fell back onto the table, submitting to his delicious assault. His tongue worked against me, pulling waves of pleasure from the depths of my body, reminding me how amazing it was to be a woman, to be wanted by a man, to be lost in the passionate dance that could only be found in a dreamy connection like this.

  A thunderous storm of ecstasy rolled over me, leaving me gasping and gripping at his shoulders as he sent me crashing over the edge, his fingers firmly digging into my hips as he held me still. Afterwards, I lay panting and spent, weak as a kitten, as he lifted himself over me, his kiss now hard and urgent as he reached down, the sound of his buckle and zipper a delicious promise of everything I’d been waiting for.

  I sat up, looking down just in time to see his cock burst from its confines, hard and beautiful and smooth. I reached for him, hot and throbbing in my palm as I wrapped my fingers around him possessively. He moaned deeply, his eyes flashing a silent warning of no return.

  “Jackie,” he growled.

  I smiled, my eyes begging for him to take me.

  Gently, I pulled him towards my center, guiding him until he was pressed against me. His lips parted slightly, his eyes widening as he slid inside of me, inch by inch, until an exquisitely gratifying sensation of satisfaction rippled through me.

  I lay back again, my hands over my head, my body offered to him in complete submission.

  “I’m all yours,” I whispered, as he gripped my hips once more, his fingers digging into the softest part, pulling me closer, his cock sliding deeper and deeper until he was all mine.

  My thighs wrapped around his hips as he leaned down and kissed me hard, his cock buried inside of me as he began to move, his growls and moans vibrating into my mouth. Harder and harder, he slid into me, his thrusts deepening with each delicious slide, heat rolling off his naked body onto mine as we collided.

  It was the best ride of my life.

  His muscles rippled under my fingertips, my body quivering as he took me, his hardness pounding into me over and over until my entire body seized, every inch of my skin tingling with pleasure as I crashed over the edge with him, his heat swelling inside of me, my center gripping him in waves of release as we cried out together in lustful, animalistic bliss.

  Throbbing and wet, he stayed pressed inside of me, his kisses returning, soft and gentle now, yet even deeper than before, the connection we’d searched for now forged in invisible steel. His hand cradled my cheek as he pulled away, his gaze so soft, so open.

  “That was amazing,” I whispered, my voice thick with lust and awe.

  He leaned down, brushing against my lips once more, before pulling back and nodding.

  “You’re amazing, Jackie,” he replied, his low voice gruff.

  I smiled up at him, my thighs still firmly wrapped around his hips.

  “We didn’t have dessert,” I said, teasingly. “I worked on that pie for hours.”

  “Oh, yeah?” he replied, cocking his head to the side. “Hmm…”

  He reached over and sank three fingers into the pie, slicing through the meringue and scooping out the bright yellow center. Bringing his fingers to his lips, he tasted the pie and shook his head.

  “Not bad, but I think it’s missing something,” he said.

  “Missing something?” I asked. “That pie is perfect. What’s it missing?”

  He smiled a mischievous smile and smeared the pie on my left nipple, then my right. I burst out laughing as he lowered his head, licking the pie from my nipples slowly, his tongue trailing around them firmly and removing all traces of the sweet, sticky filling from my skin.

  “Much better,” he growled, his cock growing inside of me again as his hips started moving again. I wrapped my thighs tighter around his hips and pulled him deeper.

  “More?” he asked, his eyes filling with lust again.

  “Always.”

  CHAPTER 20

  JACKIE

  “So, was it beautiful?” Tara asked, as soon as she burst through the door.

  “We had a lovely evening,” I said, my entire body still tingling from Fury’s touch.

  “I’m not talking about your evening,” she shook her head, looking at me like I was as dumb as a post.

  “What then?”

  “Oh, please,” she said, rolling her eyes. “His cock. His Johnson. The anaconda in his pants!”

  “Jesus, Tara,” I turned away, unable to suppress a smile.

  “Well?” she demanded. “I did my part. I covered for you. Did you forget your pinky swear?”

  “No, I didn’t forget,” I said, grateful nobody else had arrived yet to overhear her. I was always the first to arrive and she followed quickly after. Soon, the kitchen would be alive with activity, with Jim and Brandon, the cook and dishwasher, bustling around like a couple of busy ants. The diner would fill up with the usual suspects shortly after, with what sometimes seemed like half the town that I was responsible for feeding, including Bodhi Green himself.

  As he’d done since I could remember, he’d claim the corner booth before anyone else could, holding court like a king, his voice bellowing over the other customers as if they weren’t even there. I’d learned to tolerate his loud, demanding demeanor by mostly ignoring his brashness and only adhering to his culinary needs and brushing off everything else.

  Some days were easier to take than others. Luckily, he never stayed too long.

  Today, I knew I would be able to breeze right through my morning and would likely lose myself in memories of last night. For now, I was grateful I had some time alone with my best friend.

  “Everything — and I mean everything — was beautiful,” I said, grinning like a possum.

  “Spill it!” she demanded, sitting on a folding chair in my back office.

  “Well, we had dinner and I made a pie,” I said, feeling a blush creep up my cheeks.

  “Did he like it?” she asked.

  “I think so,” I said, trying not to melt into the floor as the memory of Fury licking pie from my nipples flashed in my head.

  “Did you fuck?” Tara asked bluntly.

  I bit my lip, smiling over my desk at her and nodded, my hands trembling as I remembered the feel of him inside of me.

  “Fuck yeah!” she cried, throwing a fist in the air. “Good for you!”

  “It was fucking amazing, Tara,” I said, shaking my head. “He’s…just…incredible. His body, oh my god, and his mouth and his…wow, just wow.”

  “Huge?”

  “Huge.”

  “Dammit!” she cried.

  “What?”

  “I’m jealous!” she said. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy for you, but it’s been weeks since Jimmy banged me. I’m dying. It’s not fair!”

  “It’s just sex,” I said, mentally laughing at my words, because after experiencing last night’s mind-blowing paradise, I no longer believed sex was just sex. I just wanted to make Tara feel better. She saw right through me, though.

  “Fuck you,” she said, teasingly. “You look like you’ve been rubbed raw, girl. That man exfoliated you!”

  “Jesus, Tara, the analogies you use sometimes,” I said, shaking my head. “You can be so crude. Maybe that’s why Jimmy’s turned off. Maybe he needs a softer approach.”

  “Nope, I’ve tried everything,” she said. “I’ve been the nice girl, the bad girl, the dirty girl, the innocent girl, everything I can think of. Hell, I even ordered this black rubber outfit from the internet — with whips and handcuffs and ball gags, even! — and he still wasn’t having it.”

  “Maybe it’s a medical problem,” I said. “Low testosterone or something?”

  “I don’t know,” she shrugged. “Whatever it is, it’s boring. I bet Fury isn’t low on testosterone.”

  “No, I don’t think so,” I said, shaking my head vehemently.

  “So he was really good, huh?”

  “The best.”

  “Better than Jared? Hank?”

 
“Any one is better than Hank,” I said, rolling my eyes. “And I barely remember Jared. He was like a ghost. I’m not even sure he really existed.”

  “Oh, he existed. Just like Fury exists. When are you going to see him again?”

  “I’m not sure,” I said. “Soon, probably.”

  “Hard to miss a man like that in this town,” she said. “Maybe he’ll come in this morning.”

  “Maybe,” I said. “He’s going to start working for Green.”

  “Poor dude, he’s that hard up for a job?”

  “I guess,” I shrugged.

  “So he’s staying for a while then?”

  “I suppose. Not sure how long. We didn’t do a whole lot of talking,” I said, laughing.

  “Now, that’s my kind of date!” she said, smiling at me. “I’m glad you got some good dick, babygirl.”

  “God, Tara!”

  “What?” She said, feigning innocence.

  “Just stop. He’s a nice guy. There’s more to it than sex.”

  “There is?” she asked, cocking her head.

  “Well, I mean, I don’t know that for sure,” I said, stumbling over the words. “Hell, I don’t know what it is. It just is what it is and that’s all. Just don’t be so lewd.”

  “It’s Jimmy’s fault, I’m telling you. So did Fury go down —.”

  Luckily, I was saved from further interrogation when Jim walked in.

  “Morning, Jim,” I said, as he punched in and started up the grill. Tara gave me a sly smile and went about her prep work, graciously leaving me to my own thoughts.

  My phone buzzed in my apron and I pulled it out to see I’d received a text message from Hank, which was odd because it was before dawn and he never woke up this early because he was usually nursing a hangover. It took me a second, but I figured he’d probably just not gone to bed at all yet.

  I figured that was my fault, or at least he thought it was, but surprisingly, the usual pang of guilt was absent this morning. I read his text message and groaned.

  “I’m sorry about yesterday. I just got carried away. I hate the thought of you being with anyone else, Jackie. I miss you. Can’t we start over? I’ll be a good man, I promise.”