His arousal showed through his boxers, and within seconds, he was pulling me to the end of the table and toward him. I spread my legs, kissing him, dragging my fingernails down his back as he took his cock and teased me with it. I was sitting right on the edge, waiting for him, needing him.
Trip pushed himself inside me, stepping forward and giving me his full length. I let out a loud gasp, letting him spread me, filling me completely. He pushed himself inside and held himself there for a moment, his hands wrapped around my body and on my ass, pulling me onto him.
Then, he started pumping himself into me, thrusting in and out with a hunger that I’d only felt the last time we’d fucked. There was something so feral, so primal about him, it was hotter than I’d ever had before. I moaned, pulling him toward me, letting his body ride over mind on the table.
I was so wet, it was easy for him to slide in and out. We were moving fast and heavy, taking each other, enjoying each other. I sank my teeth lightly into his pec, causing him to growl in a low rumble. He put his hands on my lower back, supporting me as I leaned back on the table.
My tits bounced up and down with each thrust, and I let my head fall back, my eyes closed and my mouth slightly open, taking the pounding, relishing in every second of it. I couldn’t get enough of him, and I knew he felt the same for me.
In and out, in and out. He was pushing me toward climax. Closer and closer I got until I couldn’t take it any longer. Then, with one final cry of pleasure, the waves let loose throughout my body. It was electric, exploding out from my very core.
My body felt on fire yet relaxed as utter ecstasy washed through me. At nearly the same time, Trip also came hard. He let out a cry of his own as his cock pulsed inside me, filling me with his load, spreading a new warmth through me. Nothing compared to the feeling of his cock coming inside my pussy, giving me all that he had.
I stayed at the end of the table, keeping him inside me for as long as I could. I knew he’d pull out, but I didn’t want that to happen. Just like before, I wanted to stay in his arms, forgetting the rest of the world, letting life pass by while we held each other.
There was no need to part. There wasn’t any need to face the real world. We had each other, and we were happy in the moment, so why do anything else?
But that was nothing more than a fantasy. I knew he had to go, and only moments after he came, Trip pulled out of me.
“I’ll be right back,” he muttered, quickly heading for his bedroom. He closed the door behind him, and I merely smiled to myself, easing down off the table and grabbing my clothes from the floor. I was sure the night would continue as we always did.
He’d have a beer or finish the wine, I’d settle in with some water or tea and we’d watch a movie. We’d pretend that it wasn’t as domestic as it was, or that we didn’t care for each other nearly as much as we truly did, but I knew there wasn’t any hiding the facts.
He fucked me like he cared about me. It wasn’t just sex, there was a connection there, and I didn’t have any doubt in my mind what it really was. He might not want to admit it. Hell, he might openly deny it, but I couldn’t. Not anymore.
There was no changing my mind now. I might not say it out loud, and I was sure I’d argue with myself about it later.
But deep down inside, I knew I was falling in love with Trip Parker.
19
Trip
I woke to the sunlight pouring in around the drapes in my room and stared up at the ceiling, a storm of emotions stirring deep within me. There were so many things that I felt, I didn’t know where to begin. Often, when I was dealing with shit like that, I would do the one thing I found easiest: I’d ignore it.
It had been four days since I’d hooked up with Megan the second time, and I didn’t know what to do with myself. Common sense, life, and what I wanted were all clashing with each other inside me, and I didn’t know how to deal with any of it.
I wished Mercedes was still alive. If there was anyone who would have the answer as to what I should do, it would be her. She had always been the one for a good, honest talk. She’d not sugar coat anything, but she was always kind in the way she presented her advice.
She could point me in the right direction, all the while not bending on what she thought was right, and I responded to it better than I thought possible. Hell, if there was one person on this planet who could get me to do anything, it was her.
I tried to see a bit of my sister in most people. But, the fact of the matter was that most people didn’t have any of the same qualities Mercedes had possessed. They were selfish, they were greedy, they didn’t care who they hurt, and they were always looking out for themselves.
It was a sad way to live life, and there were times I feared that I’d turned into one of those very people.
Hell, I could slap myself upside the head for what I was doing with Meg. I genuinely liked spending time with her and there was nothing in the world like being inside her. She fit me like a glove and the way I filled her body was unlike anything I’d ever known before.
But it was destined to end. Wasn’t it? She was my worst enemy’s little sister and Cutter would cut my balls off and shove them in my mouth before he slit my throat if he knew I was fucking her.
Not to mention, even if she wasn’t Cutter’s sister, she had a life down in Barstow that she wanted to get back to. As soon as this bullshit with Cuter and his crew was dealt with, she’d be gone, and where would that leave me? Holding my heart in one hand and my dick in the other. It was a no-win situation.
So I ran. I told her that I would be right back, but I didn’t return after going into my room for the night. I had a tv in there, so I merely settled into bed and didn’t head back out into the living room until long after I knew she was asleep.
She hadn’t said anything about it to me since. She didn’t seem to be angry about it at all. Quite the opposite, in fact.
Ever since we’d fucked again, it was blatantly obvious to me how she felt. She had taken to flirting with me openly – not only through text or when we were at the apartment, but when we were at the shop, too. She would pay me compliments for many of the things that I did, and she didn’t complain about anything.
Hell, she had changed a lot from the woman that she was when she first came, but in all the ways that I would have asked. She still had the fire, still had the independence, but without the bitchiness or negativity as before.
And it was driving me crazy.
My alarm started blaring on the night stand, and I sighed, letting my arm fall to hit the snooze button. Shortly after, I heard her out in the living room, getting up and getting ready for the day. She had gotten settled right into her work at the shelter with Amanda, and she loved going there when I was at the shop.
There were a couple days a week when Amanda didn’t need her and she’d come with me, but I was glad today was a shelter day for her. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to see her.
It was the fact that all I wanted to do was see her. And I knew that had to come to an end if we were going to get through this without either of us getting hurt.
I stared at the tattoo on my wrist, once more wondering what my sister would do. Then, I sighed. Who was I kidding? She’d tell me that I had to do the right thing, even if it hurt to do it. I knew that was true. Hell, it was the single biggest piece of advice she had given me when we were teenagers, and it was the one piece of advice I would give women who came to me about their relationships.
It didn’t matter how much it hurt. If the relationship wasn’t right, then it was time to move on and do what was right for everyone involved. And, that might be far from easy. Hell, I knew it was going to crush me, and from the looks of it, her too.
But I couldn’t stay in bed all day and ignore it. I had to get to the shop, and first I had to get Megan down to the shelter.
So, I dragged myself out of bed and got dressed, then I put on a straight face to head out into the living room. I tried my hardest not to do anything t
o encourage her and it was damn hard. My voice stayed even, my face stayed impassive, and I physically steered clear of her as much as I could.
I got my things together in the living room, glad Megan was still in the bathroom putting on her makeup. It was the other thing she had started doing since the last time we hooked up. She often wore her makeup minimal and light.
But since then, she had been taking the time every day to put on both eyeliner and mascara – neither of which I saw much point to her wearing. She was beautiful without it, so why paint it on? With my need to pull back from her, however, I kept my mouth shut.
I couldn’t give her feedback one way or another, or she was going to feel encouraged to keep doing it; to keep coming for me.
“Are you ready?” I asked when she came out of the bathroom.
“Yeah,” she said. She gave me the warm smile she always did in the morning – the smile that made me want to throw her up against the wall and have my way with her like I did on the table. But I only gave her a small, distant one in return.
Hers faded slightly, killing me in the process, but I knew it had to be that way. It was life, and life wasn’t always pleasant.
“Alright, let’s go,” I said. She grabbed her purse and both lunches out of the fridge, then she followed me out the door. Her lunch she slipped into her purse on the way to the bike. Mine she put into one of the saddle bags for me to take out later.
We rode along to the shelter, and I was glad for the silence. It was hard to talk at all when we were on the bike, but that worked to my advantage now. Her hands were wrapped around my body, holding on as we rode easily along. Just her touch alone was enough to get me aroused, but I refused to let my brain go there.
I refused to think of anything remotely sexual toward her at all, though time after time I caught myself doing that very thing. It was impossible to be around her without the desire to fuck her coming up. I wanted even more than that. I wanted all of her. I wanted her in my life. I never wanted her to go back to Barstow, and I really didn’t want her to go back to her brother.
Hell, I couldn’t even think of the two of us being friends after this. It would be far too painful to see her move on with her life when I wanted her so desperately. But, the thought of saying goodbye to her was also one that killed me. The entire situation was growing so painful, I almost wondered if it would be better to ask one of my men to take her in for a while.
But that would only serve to make matters worse. She’d see it for the sorry excuse it was and know that I was trying to deny feelings I had for her. Short of me actually skipping town for a while, she’d see right through it.
Not to mention, if I did that, I wouldn’t be able to keep an eye on her. Though I trusted my brothers with my life, I didn’t want anyone else responsible for Megan. It was also the deal I’d made with Cutter and I was a man of my word. I would not go back on it now just because I’d caught feelings. I’d have to learn to live with it until the bullshit was over and she was safe to go home. Then I could go about the painful business of putting it, and her, behind me.
I shook my head slightly, not even enough for her to detect behind me. The whole thing really had become a shit show. A shit show of my own making. Now what? Now I was going to have to fix it, even though I knew I’d break her heart in the process.
Fuck, I was going to break my own heart in the process.
We pulled up in front of the shelter, and she slid off the back of the bike, handing me my helmet.
“Thanks for the ride, I hope you have a good day,” she said sweetly.
“Thanks, you too,” I added the second part as an afterthought. She looked at me, and I could see she knew there was something wrong, but she didn’t know how to bring it up.
That makes two of us.
Without another word, I turned the bike in the street and sped off, leaving her standing in front of the shelter. I had been waiting for her to go inside before I left, but now, I just drove off. She could do it herself. She was an adult. Hell, there was a time not too long ago when she would have preferred to walk rather than get a ride from me.
You’re such an asshole. This needs to stop before it even starts. Don’t be a coward and run from her. Man up and tell her the truth. She knows how it goes, and so do you.
But I knew it would be the hardest thing I’d ever done.
20
Megan
I walked back and forth in the apartment. My mind was spinning, and there was a knot in the pit of my stomach. It was getting close to the time when Trip would get back from work, but right now, the minutes were dragging, and I was going crazy waiting for him. If he hadn’t made it clear I was to stay here unless I was with someone, I would have gone to the shop myself to talk to him.
Amanda didn’t need me down at the shelter that day, and Trip hadn’t even asked me if I wanted to come down to the shop with him. He always asked when I wasn’t at the shelter, but today, he’d just gotten ready and slipped out while I was in the shower.
It had hurt my feelings at first, but I calmed myself down, telling myself that something was wrong, and it probably had nothing to do with me. But then, there was that part of me that had to admit something was off the past several days.
Trip had been acting so strange since the dinner I made, and I wasn’t sure what had happened. He had seemed so happy with the food, and the sex that we’d had right after was better than anything I could hope to describe. But he said he was going to be right back when we’d finished, and he never came out from his bedroom.
Of course, I brushed it off. He was tired. It was the end of a long week, and he needed rest. I didn’t blame him for all the things that he did in a week. Then again, I had to admit that it was a little hurtful that he didn’t even say goodnight.
But I wasn’t going to let it get to me. He had a good dinner, good sex, and a long week, why not let him go to his room and chill out for a while? God knew he was going through a lot for me, and I wasn’t going to be the needy one asking for his attention all the time.
Hell no, if he’d dealt with that in the past, I’d make sure I was different.
Then, things got worse. He wasn’t nearly as outgoing and flirty with me as he had been. It seemed like he’d done a complete one-eighty from where we had been, and now he didn’t want much to do with me at all. For as abrasive as I had been in the beginning, and how much he showed me he cared, we suddenly seemed to have switched roles.
Sure, he was still giving me a ride to the shelter every day, and he was there to pick me up when I left after my shift, but he was different. It was hard for me to put a finger on exactly how, because we hadn’t really been close before.
Maybe I was simply overthinking things. I needed to chill. I was turning into someone I didn’t really like much on the inside. I was feeling needy and insecure and I hated it.
It was no secret that I sucked at dating. I was often too demanding and put too many restrictions on how and who I would date. I wasn’t a prude by any stretch of the imagination, I just knew what I wanted. Or at least I thought I did. I had some pretty high expectations and I’d never really thought there was anything wrong with it.
I thought about all the times Kate tried to get me to hook up with a guy, and all the times she got mad at me because I wouldn’t. But I just had no interest in random hookups, and I had yet to meet a guy who caught my attention.
I wanted someone who was fierce, wild, untamed, good, kind, loved me – a guy I didn’t think existed before I met Trip. Hell, he had been all those things and more. And I let myself fall for him.
And I could have sworn that he’d felt something for me too. But had I seen only what I wanted to? I knew the whole situation was fucked up. My brother hated him, and the feeling was mutual. Their clubs had had battle after bloody battle in the past few years and it had been ingrained in me to think the worst of him and his crew. Maybe it was the same for Trip. Maybe he just sat back for a minute and realized who I was.
&nb
sp; But that didn’t sound like the man I’d come to know. He gave people a chance, despite their circumstances. He’d never have agreed to protect his sworn enemy’s sister if not. And he’d treated me with nothing but decency, care, and concern. We’d started building a friendship and then more. But suddenly it had all gone to shit.
I needed to know why. For no other reason than simply that. To know. I hated being kept in the dark and the not knowing was driving me bat shit crazy. I needed to talk to him, to ask. I needed answers if I were going to be able to let it go.
I thought long and hard about what I was going to say to Trip about it when he got home. I didn’t want to ambush or attack him, but at the same time, I was going to let him know how I felt. Then again, I was the one who had come onto him both times that we’d fucked. He hadn’t asked for it. Sure, he hadn’t said no, but I couldn’t blame him for that. If he wanted it and I was offering, then why not sleep with me when he had the chance?
It wasn’t fair for me to offer, then to wonder why that was all he wanted.
I sighed. I wished something in my brain would make sense, and it took me a long time to come up with what I wanted to tell him.
Then, there was a knock at the door.
Trip had given me explicit direction not to answer the door when he wasn’t there. He didn’t care if it was a pizza deliveryman or someone trying to drop off a package. If he wasn’t there, then I was to keep the door closed.
When the knock didn’t repeat, however, I couldn’t contain my curiosity. Even with the doubts I was experiencing, I was still me, my same stubborn self. The knocker was gone, and even if it wasn’t safe to leave the apartment, there was no harm in simply peeking out.
I crept over, listening. I hadn’t heard anyone in the hall walking to the door in the first place, so it seemed strange that there was a knock. Then, I didn’t hear anyone leaving. I worried whoever it was might be waiting for me to look through, or to grab me as soon as the door was unlocked.
Protecting Her: An Enemies to Lovers Romance Page 11