Keeping Kennedy: A Chaos MC Novel (MC Chaos Book 4)

by Cameron Hart

  She tilts her head and stares at me. I feel like an idiot. Of course I know who she is. Like I could ever forget her. I just can’t seem to form any words other than You. Me. Fuck. Now.

  And I have a feeling she would not appreciate those particular words.

  I clear my throat and will my raging hard dick to stand down. “Yeah, yeah, Kennedy. Hey,” I ramble like a fool.

  “Do you need to finish your show, or can we get to work?” She sasses.

  “If I said I wanted to finish the show, would you curl up next to me and keep me company?” I smirk.

  She glares at me, making me chuckle.

  “Yeah, that’s what I thought,” I sigh dramatically.

  I follow Kennedy into the same meeting room we were in last time. I swear, I really am trying to think with the head on my shoulders. It’s screaming, that ass tho.

  “Does that work for you?”

  My head snaps up just as she’s turning around. Shit. She was saying something. I open my mouth to ask her to repeat herself, but then I notice dark, angry bruises on her forearm.

  “What the hell happened?” I bark out at her, all traces of flirting and good mood gone.

  Kennedy jerks her head back as I storm towards her. I know I should back the hell down, but the thought of anyone hurting her has me feeling all sorts of out of control.

  “What are you talking about?” She asks, totally shocked at my reaction. I am, too, but I can’t stop.

  I loop my fingers around her small wrist and hold her arm out in front of me, carefully tracing her bruised skin with the fingers of my other hand.

  “Oh,” she scoffs. “You should see the other guy.” Kennedy fucking winks at me like it’s no big deal.

  “Who is he?” I grunt.

  “Just a perp, Slash. I arrested him last week while closing out my open cases. He resisted arrest, got a little flighty, and I took him down. He’s in jail now. It’s part of the job, you know?” She shrugs and slips her wrist out of my grip, as if that answer would pacify me. On some level, I know it should. She’s a cop. A sexy cop, yeah, but a cop who sees violence and takes out bad guys nonetheless.

  “I don’t like it.” I grumble.

  This gets her attention. When her eyes snap up to mine, there’s a fire burning in her stare. I think a part of me needed to see that fight in her, to make sure she still had it. I know that’s ridiculous, but I really fucking hate the idea of anyone hurting her, cop or not.

  “Oh yeah? Well, too bad,” she snips. “I refuse to let the fact that I’m small or that I’m a woman disqualify me from going on the dangerous calls. I’m every bit as tough as the men on the force. I train just as hard. It’s not like I’m a total idiot who just runs into the middle of a fight with no idea what I’m doing. I know my strengths and weaknesses and use them to my advantage.”

  Kennedy is really worked up. It’s sexy as fuck, but goddamn I did not realize the landmine I was stepping on.

  “You wouldn’t be too concerned if a male cop had some inconsequential bruising on his arms, right?” She rages on. “And if he told you he took down a perp who had sixty-five pounds on him, you’d slap him on the back and give him the old ‘atta boy, right? Right?”

  She’s shaking with anger, her hands balled up at her sides, muscles tense. We’re only a few feet apart and I can practically feel the force her pushing air in and out of her nostrils. Fucking beautiful.

  “I see the point you’re trying to make, but I would never slap a cop on the back and say, ‘atta boy,” I deadpan. I’m not sure how the joke will land, Kennedy is a bit of a wildcard. Though, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t looking forward to another slap.

  Instead, her gorgeous brown eyes go soft right before she throws her head back in laughter. God, I love that sound. Her laugh is deep and rich as it rolls over my skin, wiping away the worry I had just a few moments ago. Her anger and passion are a storm of beauty, but her laughter… her laughter is the sun.

  Jesus, listen to me. What the fuck is this woman doing to me?

  “Ok, ok,” she says as she tries to control her breathing. “That was pretty good.” Kennedy smiles up at me. “You’re right, I absolutely cannot picture you getting chummy with a police officer.

  “Oh, I don’t know. We’re pretty chummy, right, partner?” I raise an eye brow up in question.

  “Careful, now. I might have to show you exactly how I drop a six foot wall of muscle such as yourself,” she smirks.

  My cock stands at attention with the idea of Kennedy dropping me.

  “I’ll wrestle with you right here, right now, sweetheart,” I grin.

  “Hmm…” she says while tapping a finger on her cute little chin. “Nope.” She pops the “p” and I swear to Christ I’m leaking precum in my pants. Her look turns devious, almost pulling a groan out of me. “But I’ll get you when you least expect it.”

  I didn’t realize how close we had gotten during that exchange. My hand reaches out to sweep a few stray locks of hair behind her ear. To my surprise, she lets me.

  “Believe me, I never expected you, Kennedy,” I whisper. My hand can’t seem to move away from her face. My fingers wind their way around the side of her neck while my thumb strokes across her jawline. I feel her small hand cover mine, but she’s not pulling me away. She’s just laying her sweet softness on top of me, and it’s inexplicably erotic and tender.

  We stare at each other, breathing the same air. There’s no way she’s not feeling this too, right? What even is this? I’ve never experienced anything like it and I’m barely touching her. Those eyes. I can’t look away. I’m trapped, but I find I don’t want to be anywhere else.

  And then I feel her fingers stab the pressure point on the back of my hand as she wrenches it from her face. In one swift and practiced move, Kennedy twists my arm behind my back and kicks the back of my knees, forcing me to the ground. I feel her knee dig into my lower back as her elbow stabs me between the shoulder blades, laying me out flat, face first, on the ground.

  Fuck, that’s hot.

  “Ok, ok, ease up, sweetheart,” I laugh.

  “What did you say?” She says in mock anger, digging her elbow in a little deeper, causing me to flinch.

  “I said if you let me get up, I’ll gladly remove my balls and hand them to you.”

  I feel her small body shake with laughter as she loosens her grip. I take the opportunity to roll onto my back, knocking her off balance. I grab her hips and pull her back down on top of me. Kennedy straddles my abs and falls forward, catching herself by placing her hands on either side of my head.

  We’re both breathing hard and waiting for the other person to make the first move. My hands are anchored at her hips, holding her close while I slowly lift my head up. Kennedy closes her eyes, giving me the green light.

  But I don’t go for her lips. It’s too obvious. Instead, I ghost my nose up and down her throat. She tilts her head to the side, giving me better access to her sweet-smelling skin. I trail my lips up and down her slender column and nip at her pulse point. Kennedy’s breath catches in her throat, and I feel her thighs twitch and squeeze ever so slightly when I do it again.

  I’m about to go in for the kill, but then her eyes snap open. Shock, fear, anger, disappointment, and unbelief all flash across those brown irises right before she pushes herself up and scrambles to stand.

  I follow her lead and stand next to her, feeling like I need to do something to make it better. I thought she was with me, but I realize we’re both kind of in uncharted territory here. Or at least I am.

  “Slash, I’m, I think… I’m going to the bathroom,” she mumbles before rushing out of the room.

  “Kennedy, wait…”

  She looks at me over her shoulder, giving me such a conflicted look. “I’m sorry,” she says quietly before turning down the hall towards the bathrooms.

  Well, shit. I’m sure as fuck not sorry. I have no idea what to do. I want to storm after her and demand her to tell me what the hell i
s wrong. I want to make her cum on my fingers and tongue and then twice on my dick. I want to hold her and tell her she’s safe with me.

  What the fuck?!

  How can I want those things with her? The fucking, sure, I get. But wanting her to tell me her problems? Wanting to hold her? Wanting her to know I’ll… I’ll, what, protect her? Who am I right now?

  Maybe it’s for the best that she walked out. I need to get my shit together.

  Chapter 5

  Kennedy

  “Well, shit,” I say to myself after splashing some cold water on my face in the bathroom. That was… that was… wrong. It was unprofessional on pretty much every level, not to mention it probably jeopardized the case.

  It was also fucking hot.

  God, I mean how the hell did we even get into that position? I’m actively ignoring the fact that now I’m thinking of all the positions I want Slash in. The positions I want him to put me in. Shit.

  But I’m still reeling from the roller coaster of emotions. First he pissed me off, which I’ve come to expect by now. Then he took me completely by surprise and made me laugh. Like, actually belly laugh. I don’t even know how that happened. I was so worked up, yelling at him from my little soapbox, and then he just… dismantled all of my anger. His little joke should have pissed me off more, but somehow it didn’t.

  And when he tucked my hair back? And gently touched my face? I’ve never been handled with such care before. It was completely unexpected from a guy like Slash, which is the only explanation for why I let him do it. Well, up until I didn’t. It was too much. His gaze was intense, piercing, and making my lady parts tingle.

  So, I made good on my promise to take him down. Fuck, that was a good moment for me. I felt powerful, which was a nice change of dynamic between us. He just has this annoying way of getting to me in the best and worst ways possible, so, yeah. Taking him by surprise and dominating him for once felt pretty goddamn amazing.

  But then he went and pulled that stunt that landed me straddling his hard, irresistible body. I felt his muscles coil and tense underneath my thighs and where my pussy was rubbing up against him. Fuck, I feel a new wave of wetness hit my panties just thinking about it.

  I can’t. We can’t. We won’t.

  “Get it together, woman. You don’t need no man, especially Slash, goddamnit.”

  There’s nothing I want more in the world than to rush out to my car and get the fuck out of here, but I need to make some headway in this case. I square my shoulders and hold my head up high. I can do this. I can be professional.

  When I walk back into the meeting room, Slash has his laptop set up and won’t even look me in the eye. We discuss strategies for gathering information, and I relay the kind of evidence we need to arrest the members of the Devil’s Knights. The whole time, Slash keeps his distance and won’t look at me or joke with me.

  I know it’s for the best, but I can’t help feeling a little disappointed. Which is stupid. An hour later, I’m walking out to my car with a few leads. We both have some tasks to complete before our next meeting in a few days.

  Back at the motel, I try to decompress after the crazy afternoon. I take a shower, watch some bad TV, order take out, and then settle into a good book. But nothing works. I swear the skin on my neck still burns where he ran his lips up and down. My hand instinctively goes up to touch the area, my fingers tickling the skin in the same rhythm of his lips.

  Closing my eyes, I picture what would have happened if I didn’t bolt. If I let him kiss me. If I let him…

  My dirty thoughts are interrupted by the ding of a text message on my phone. Checking the screen, I see it’s from Celia, a foster kid I met while working a case on her foster dad. He’s a piece of shit who slipped through our fingers. We almost had him nailed on drug charges, but some evidence was mishandled. I couldn’t bear the thought of leaving Celia with him. I fought for her to be placed in a different home, tried pulling rank with her case worker, but I got shut down. I left Celia my number though, along with a burner phone.

  Celia: Hey Kennedy. Are you still up?

  Me: Hi Celia. Yeah, what’s going on? Are you ok?

  Celia: Not really.

  Me: Are you hurt? Do you need me to call the cops? Did Tim lay his hands on you?

  Celia: No, no. He’s making us deal.

  Me: Drugs?

  Celia: Yeah.

  Me: How many of you?

  Celia: There are four foster kids here now.

  Me: Where’s Mary?

  Mary is Tim’s wife. She’s a pushover, definitely lets Tim have his way, but she at least seemed to care about the foster kids.

  Celia: She took off a few weeks ago. Not sure what happened.

  Me: Have you told your caseworker?

  Celia: Tim explained to her that she left town to take care of her mother, but I know both of her parents are dead.

  Shit. I don’t like the sound of that. And I really hate that those kids are left alone with Tim. That motherfucker is making them deal drugs for him? Jesus.

  Me: I’m so sorry you’ve been alone with Tim for so long.

  Celia: It’s ok. Peter, one of the older foster kids, he’s been really nice. He looks out for me.

  Me: That’s good. I’m glad you have him.

  Me: Listen, Celia. I’m going to look into this, ok? Do you know if he’s planning on having you guys go out any time soon? I can meet up with you, we can take him down together.

  Celia: No, please don’t come see me. He knows you, he’ll know I said something.

  Me: I won’t let anything bad happen, I promise. I just need something to go off of.

  Celia: No.

  Me: Celia, you can trust me, remember?

  Celia: I’m sorry, Kennedy. I won’t tell you where I’ll be dealing. Please, if you care at all, please don’t come by the house either.

  Me: Ok, ok. I’ll do what I can on my end. Thank you for telling me. Are you sure you’re safe?

  Celia: Yeah, for now. I’m just scared I’m going to get arrested.

  Me: I’m going to put Tim in prison. He’s going to go away for a very long time. Just let me worry about this, ok? Let me take care of this.

  Celia: Ok.

  Fuck. I know she doesn’t trust me, not really. I remember what it was like to hear adults make promises, only to never follow through. Her caseworker is a real piece of work. She’s totally burnt out and refuses to do anything other than the bare minimum, which means she doesn’t want to ruffle feathers by fighting for the kids she represents.

  Me: Trust me, Celia. And let me know if things get worse.

  Celia: Sure, Kennedy.

  I know that’s about as good as I’m going to get with her. I throw my phone down on the bed and rub my temples. Fucking Tim. The greasy bastard is going to get what’s coming to him.

  I send an email off to Amanda explaining the situation. I have to choose my words wisely with how I got the tip, seeing as giving out my personal phone number to minors I met during an investigation isn’t exactly protocol, but I think I was able to finesse my way into reopening the case on Tim and his drug deals.

  What a fucking day. Thoughts of Slash, Celia, and my days in foster care swirl in my head as I drift off to sleep.

  ✽✽✽

  I grip the steering wheel and take a deep breath as I brace myself for another meeting with Slash. I’ve been working with Chaos for two weeks now, and we’re making some progress with the case.

  Nothing else has happened between Slash and I, not since that day. We steal glances every once in a while, but we’ve managed to keep things focused on the case. That doesn’t mean I don’t wake up sweating every night from dirty dreams I have of him, or that my tummy doesn’t do little flips every time I’m about to go to a meeting with him.

  Which makes it all the more important to wrap things up with the Devil’s Knights. The sooner I can get away from Slash, the better. Out of sight, out of mind, right? Though I have a feeling that won’t be true with Sl
ash.

  “Hey girl, hey!” Mia greets me when I step into the clubhouse. I met her last week after one of my meetings with the guys. She’s super sweet and even though I don’t have any friends, I’d like to think if I did they’d be like Mia.

  “Hey Mia. How are you?”

  “Pregnant and horny.”

  I have to laugh at her honesty.

  “How are you?” She asks.

  “Good,” I respond all too quickly.

  She raises an eyebrow. “Mmhmm. And how’s Slash?”

  “What?” I snip. Does she know?

  “You know, Slash? They guy you’ve been working with, the one with the googly eyes for you?”

  “No, no it’s not like that,” I assure her as much as myself.

  “Yeah, that’s what he said too. You’re about as convincing as he is though. Which is to say, not at all,” she smirks.

  I clear my throat. “So, I need to get to my meeting. Gotta take down the bad guys and what not.”

  Mia just smiles, not buying my bullshit at all. “Sure. Take ‘em down. Just so you know, the guys at Chaos are the good guys. And Slash is a good man. Annoying, to be sure. But he’s loyal and kind underneath all of that bravado of his.”

  “Well, thanks for that irrelevant information,” I grumble. I hate being short with her, but she’s really got to stop selling me on Slash. I’m having a hard enough time as it is.

  “Right. My bad,” she winks, not offended in the least. “Have a good meeting,” she wags her eyebrows, which pulls a smile from me despite my best efforts.

  I turn on my heel and head towards our usual room.

  As per usual, Slash already has stuff set up, ready to show me the surveillance footage he and the guys have been collecting. Hopefully it lines up with some info I recently got.

  “Slash,” I greet him.

  He just nods at me. I hate how much I hate that. I secretly want him to make an inappropriate joke or at least look at me with even the barest amount of interest like he did before.

  “Did you get anything on the location? Or Victoria?”

  He nods and then plays a marked off section of the video. Two of the members of the Devil’s Knights are discussing their latest “shipment.” They are saying that the queen sent over three honey bees that need to be taken to the hive. We’ve discovered that the “queen” is a codename for Victoria, and “honey bees” are the women being sold.