by L. P. Maxa
“Oh wow. What is that amazing smell?” Keller rounded the corner to the kitchen and stopped dead in his tracks. “You look so damn hot, darlin’.” She looked down at what she was wearing. Love really must be blind because she was sporting ripped cut-off shorts and an oversized white t-shirt.
“I cooked.” Molly sat her wine glass down when Keller walked over and placed his hands on her hips.
“Is that chicken-fried steak? That’s my favorite food. Ever.”
“I’m glad. I thought it seemed like something a Texas boy would enjoy.”
Keller moved his hands down a couple inches and rested them on her bare thighs. “These shorts are sinful.” He rounded his hands to the back of her legs, lifting her and setting her on the counter. He placed his hard dick at the apex of her thighs. “I’ve missed you, all day.” He rubbed his palms up and down the tops of her legs. Each time he went up, he got a little closer to the edge of her shorts and her pulse threaded a little faster. “I’ve wanted to touch you, all day.” He leaned down and ran the tip of his tongue along her lower lip.
Molly arched her back, grinding shamelessly against him. He put his hands under her shirt, lifting it off in one smooth motion. He scattered small kisses on the tops of her breast. She fisted her hands in his hair, holding him to her. Now that he was here and in front of her, touching her, teasing her, she had to have him. “Keller, please...” When he didn’t move to leave her breasts and give her what she really wanted, she tightened her hold on his hair, pulling him up until they were eye to eye. “Keller. Now.”
“Yes ma’am.” Keller unbuttoned her shorts and pulled them off along with her lacy white panties while she pushed his workout shorts to the ground, letting them pool at his feet. He reached between her thighs, running his fingers through her folds. “You ready for me, darlin’? This is going to have to be hard and fast. We’re already on borrowed time. Everyone should be here soon.”
She bit her lip in response, wrapping her legs tighter around his waist and pulling him forward.
He chuckled at her urgency as he placed the head of his cock at her core, his tongue entering her mouth the same moment as his cock entered her pussy. Molly moaned into his mouth. She loved it when he did that.
She reached around and placed her hands on Keller’s tight, toned ass and pulled. For some reason, right now, she ached for him. She needed him to fuck her. To own her. “More. Please.” She couldn’t even seem to form complete sentences.
Keller splayed his hand at the small of her back, holding her in place, and then drove into her over and over, relentlessly. He ran his tongue down the side of her neck. “Is this what you want, Molly? You want to be fucked? Be dominated?”
She nodded her head, panting in his ear.
He licked the other side of her neck. “You’re mine.” He kept his punishing pace and she loved every second of it. This was exactly what she’d wanted, what she needed.
“Oh god, Keller. Just like that. Please. Don’t. Stop.” Molly felt her orgasm start to build, and she leaned her head farther back, giving Keller unobstructed access to her neck and collarbone.
“I don’t know how much longer I can last, darlin’. My scent on you, your tight pussy…it’s too fucking perfect.”
“I’m so close, don’t stop.” She fisted her hands in his hair and he complied. He drove into her, again and again and again. “Yes—”
Suddenly there was a knock at the door and Keller stilled inside her, making her want to cry in frustration. “Baby…uh…”
Molly grabbed Keller’s ass, using her hands to make him start moving inside her again. “Don’t you dare stop. They can wait.” She wouldn’t survive if they stopped now; she needed him. She needed to be filled with him; she needed to possess him just as much as he did her.
She felt Keller’s grin against her neck. “I fucking love you.” He picked up the pace, thrusting into her over and over, each time burying himself to the hilt. “God, Molly, you feel so good, so wet for me baby. Come for me, Molly.” She could hear his friends at the door, could feel his cell vibrating on the counter beside her. None of it mattered.
“Don’t stop, Keller, oh my god.” She threw her head back, her orgasm finally washing over her. Bathing her body in pleasure from head to toe. A few seconds later Keller used her neck to muffle the sounds of his own release.
They both started to laugh as Keller calmly reached over and grabbed his cell phone, Linc’s face lighting up the screen. “Hello.”
“Uh, hello? Dude, we are all standing on you front porch. The fucking door is locked, are you home?”
Keller looked down; he had yet to pull out of her body. “Oh, I’m home.” He smiled when she started to giggle. “Give me like two minutes, I’ll come unlock the door.” He ended the call and took a small step back, leaving her body. She felt his absence, and she didn’t like it. “Could you be any more perfect? I come home, you look like sin on a stick standing in my kitchen, which is full of food you cooked. And then you beg me to nail you, let me mark you, and don’t let me stop doing either even though our friends are waiting on the porch. I mean, holy shit. I. Fucking. Love. You.”
“And I love you.”
He kissed her lips and then dipped down to pick up her shorts, handing them to her. “Go change in the bedroom. Don’t come back out wearing those shorts.”
Molly cocked her head to the side, sure she’d heard him wrong. “Excuse me?” She hopped off the stool and put on said shorts. “What’s wrong with these shorts?”
“They are way too damn short and sexy.” Keller headed toward the living room to unlock the door, calling over his shoulder, “I don’t need Linc staring at your ass all night.”
She rolled her eyes, even though his back was to her once again. “Not gonna happen, Byrne. I enjoy it when you get possessive and dominating when we are making love, but unless your dick is inside me, don’t think you can boss me around.” She slapped his ass as she walked by him, opening the front door herself.
Keller just stood there, mouth hanging open. Linc walked up and snapped his fingers in front of his face.
“Uh, Kel? You okay, man?”
Keller blinked and looked over at Molly. She winked at him. “Fan-fucking-tastic, bro.”
Linc cocked his head to one side and narrowed his eyes on Molly. “Wow. Nice shorts, Miss Molly.”
Molly snorted when she saw Keller bare his teeth to his friend, pointing a menacing finger in his face. “Don’t start with me, Linc.”
Corey walked in and popped Linc on the back of the head. “Don’t be a jackass.”
Baze wrinkled his nose like he smelled something he didn’t like. “Keller, stop snarling. You have marked Molly to high heaven. Everyone in a ten-mile radius knows who she belongs to.”
“I don’t smell anything.” Molly sniffed her shirt, her brow furrowed. “I guess I smell kind of like Keller’s cologne.”
Keller walked up behind her and rested his chin on her shoulder, wrapping his arms around her midsection. “I don’t wear cologne—that’s my scent.”
Molly smelled her shirt again. “Oh. Well, can you guys really all smell it? Is it that strong? Should I go change?” She didn’t want to sit through dinner with a group of people who thought she smelled bad. Talk about ruining their appetites.
Dom opened a bottle of water and passed it to Corey. “It’s stupid strong.” He glanced across the room. “Keller, ease up, man.”
Molly tilted her head back, watching as Keller made a face at Dom. “Oh right, like you wouldn’t mark Coop if she would let you.”
“Let me?” Dom scoffed like that was the most ridiculous thing he’d ever heard. “I’ve never even tried. I know she’s mine. I don’t need to cover her in my scent. I’m secure.”
“Dom doesn’t mark me with his scent.” Corey laughed, winking at Dom playfully. “Because he bites me instead.”
Molly’s eyes went wide. “What?” If someone would have told her two weeks ago that she would be standing
in her new kitchen talking to her best friend about which ways their mates marked them, she’d have had them committed. But this was her life now. And god help her, she loved it.
“Every. Time.” Corey moved her tank to the side to show Molly a small shiny bite mark on her neck. “I’m pretty sure it’s a scar by now.”
Linc shook his head in mock disappointment. “What are we going to do with the two of you? Marking and disfiguring your women. You should be ashamed.”
Dom shrugged. “Yeah, I’m not.”
Keller grinned as he walked up behind Molly and licked her neck one more time. “Me neither.”
Chapter Thirty
Keller
After everyone had loaded their plates and sat down at the table, Keller cleared his throat. “All right, Coop, why don’t you go ahead and tell everyone what happened today with the Feds.”
She sighed, like having this discussing was the last thing she wanted to do. “I went in there ready to be a total bitch and Brooks started the meeting off by apologizing for questioning my commitment to the students. Then they asked me about Franklin, said that a few different students had brought him up. I told them that he was a monster and that I believed wholeheartedly that he could have played a part in this.”
Dom reached over and took Coop’s hand in his. “Dammit, baby, that’s exactly the kind of danger I was talking about. If Franklin finds out you were talking about him to the Feds…” He shook his head sadly. “I don’t even want to think about what he’d do.”
“I know, I know. But, I thought about it long and hard before I answered. I hesitated at first, but then I pictured Jasper bleeding and unconscious on our couch. I thought of all the conversations I’ve had with Jace, all the pain and suffering he went through as a child. I just couldn’t keep my mouth shut. It wouldn’t have been right.” Keller knew she was telling the truth; he’d seen the indecision play across her face before she’d answered Brooks and Grimes.
“I know why you did it, I just don’t like that you did it.” Dom took a deep breath, like he was trying to calm himself. “We’ll figure it out. I won’t let anything happen to you. Ever.” Dom leaned over and kissed his mate.
Baze took a big bite of chicken-fried steak. “Anything else?”
Coop had just shoveled a spoonful of mashed potatoes in her mouth; she had to swallow before she could answer. “Nah, I straight up asked Brooks what his issue with Keller was and he just told me to have a good day. I called him a prick. That man is like a vault. The only person he loses control around is Keller.”
Dom turned to Coop, his eyes incredulous. “You called him a prick? Corey, for the love of god.”
She shrugged. “He is a prick. He seemed okay with it.”
“And Riley, right?” Linc looked over at Riley. “Didn’t he fire personal questions at you, give you a hard time?”
Riley nodded. “Yeah, he asked me questions about Molly and Corey. Like how they met you guys, were they close, that sort of thing.”
Baze rubbed his temples with his fingertips. “Maybe he just figured Riley was the weak link? The one most likely to talk because he’s a kid?”
Dom washed down his roll with a pull off his beer bottle. “Could be. I mean, he doesn’t know that Riley is close with all of us. Maybe he just figured Riley would have no problem answering a Fed’s questions, no matter what they were.”
***
“Molly, dinner was amazing, thank you so much for cooking.” Coop wiped her mouth with her napkin and stood to put her plate in the sink.
“Corey, sit down, don’t worry about clearing the table. And you’re welcome. I actually really enjoy cooking. It’s relaxing.” Molly smiled over at Keller and his heart soared. “Would you mind helping me with the dishes?”
Keller was stuffed; he had eaten his weight in mashed potatoes. All he really wanted to do was not move, but if his girl wanted help, she’d get help. “Not at all, darlin’. You cooked. We’ll clean.” He motioned for Linc and Baze to get up and help him.
Linc looked at Keller like he’d lost his mind. “Why doesn’t Dom or Riley have to help?”
Keller nodded in Coop’s direction. “Dom is rubbing Coop’s back and Riley is trying to study. Stop being such a damn baby.” He laughed when Riley stuck his tongue out at Linc and Linc flipped Dom off.
“Okay, while we’re doing the dishes, Molly, you fill everyone in on your date with Brooks this morning.” Keller grabbed her plate and kissed the top of her head.
“Uh, first of all, not a date. Second of all, there’s not much to tell really. He was more than happy to have breakfast with me, but not real forthcoming with any personal information. He said they were close to being finished here at St. Leasing. He lives in Boulder, he grew up in Texas, and he’s married to his work with no personal life to speak of.” Molly shrugged her shoulders. “Not much dirt there I’m afraid.”
Baze walked closer to the table, drying a plate as he spoke. “Where in Texas is he from? Maybe that’s the connection?”
Molly took a sip of wine before answering, “He wasn’t specific, just said west Texas.”
Baze looked back at Keller, eyebrows raised in question. “You sure you’ve never met him before?”
Keller shook his head, rinsing off a plate in the sink. “Yeah, man. Nothing about him is familiar. You have to remember, Texas is a really big state.”
Keller watched as Molly took another, larger, sip of her wine. “Well, uh, we’re having breakfast again tomorrow, so I’ll try again.”
Keller dropped the plate in his hands and it landed with a loud clatter in the stainless steel sink. “I’m sorry, I must have heard you wrong. You didn’t actually say you are having breakfast with him again, did you? Those words couldn’t have possibly left your lips.”
Coop’s gaze darted between them two of them, a wince on her face. “Oh here we go…”
“That’s exactly what I said.” His girl wasn’t going to back down—he could tell by the lift to her chin. And the way her gaze dared him to fight her on it. “I want to try again. I am going to try again.”
Keller walked around the bar, dishes forgotten, and stood in front of his mate. His heart was racing. “He didn’t give you any information we could use. It’s over. We’ll figure something else out. I let you meet with him once. I’m not letting you do it again, Molly.”
“You won’t…let me? Did you seriously just say those words to me?” Molly stood up, moving closer as she looked him square in the eye. “You are not the boss of me. You are my mate. You are my boyfriend, but you are not the be-all, end-all decision maker in this relationship.”
“You belong to me, darlin’.” The room went deadly silent. Keller wasn’t sure what had made him say those words out loud.
Dom cringed.
Linc’s face broke out into a big grin.
Coop shook her head slowly, her eyes as big around as saucers.
Riley’s bitch ass scooted closer to Coop.
Molly took a deep breath and reared back on her heels, like she was about to let loose every cuss word she could think of, when Baze suddenly stood up next to her.
“Okay, time out. You are both upset, rightfully so, but screaming at each other isn’t going to solve anything. Keller, let’s go for a run, man. We’ll all go. It’s a nice night. Corey and Molly can stay here and, uh, talk. I think we all need a little space.” Baze looked from Keller to Molly, waiting for one of them to answer him.
Keller nodded slowly, his eyes never leaving his mate’s. “I think that sounds like a good idea. Molly, are you okay with that decision? See how that works?”
Baze grabbed Keller by the shoulder and steered him toward the back door before he could say anything else to get himself in trouble. “All right, yup, let’s go.” Baze shoved him out the door and held it open as Linc, Dom, and Riley filed out. Then he turned back around to the girls. “We’ll just be in the woods up the road, not far at all.” He waited for them to both nod in approval. “Come lock this
door behind me.”
Keller was already at the tree line; he had shed his shirt and his shoes. He knew he had crossed a line with Molly. He was mad at himself, and he was mad at her. What the hell was she thinking? Did she think he would be okay with her spending more time with Brooks?
Dom jogged to keep up with his friend, “Hey, Kel, come on man, slow down. And stop taking your damn clothes off. The Feds could still be on campus. Kel!”
Keller answered without turning around, “I’m two seconds away from losing it, Dom. I’m just trying to make it to the woods.” A few more strides and he was in the thick cover of the trees. He pulled off the rest of his clothes and shifted. He paced in circles waiting for the others to do the same before he took off running as fast as he possibly could.
Chapter Thirty-One
Molly
Corey leaned back in her chair, rubbing her belly. “Molly, you have every right to be mad. Keller was being a controlling dickhead. He handled things badly. But you had to know that you meeting with Brooks again was going to elicit that kind of reaction. Right?”
Molly sat down and pushed her hands through her hair. “I did. That’s why I didn’t tell him earlier today.” She lifted her eyes to look at her friend. “I can’t get used to being bossed around like that. It sets my teeth on edge.”
Corey threw her head back, chuckling humorlessly. “Don’t I know it? Look, you don’t have to get used to it. You don’t have to approve of it or condone it. All you have to do is know it’s coming and learn the best way to deal with it. Keller isn’t going to change. That part of him is engraved in his DNA—it’s instinctual. His first thought is always going to be your safety, and his second is always going to be territorial.”
“Where do love and compromise come in?”
“After he’s calmed down. After you’ve let him huff and puff and get out all his big bad wolf behavior.” Corey took a deep breath then let it out. “Believe me, I have had my fair share of epic fights with Dom over this exact same thing. After the yelling and the battle of wills is over, he always calms down and we always come to an agreement.” Corey reached over and poured Molly another glass of wine. “Let them go run it out. It’ll clear his head. When comes home, he’ll be sorry and apologetic. Don’t rub it in his face. Just talk to him.”