Fall: Montgomery Men #3

by Harms, C. A.

  I don’t even give her a response, only tug her along toward the front doors as she laughs at my rush to get her out of there.

  * * *

  “I don’t want to ever talk about the details of that night.” Tinley is curled up on my couch, her body mostly hidden beneath a fleece throw blanket she gathered around her. “I think I need for you to remain oblivious.”

  The eye contact at that point is minimal, but I don’t push. I understand, though I really need her to look at me and to understand how much none of this changes or could ever change my feelings for her. I adore her.

  “I think I’m okay with talking about any other time in my life, except that one. I know you want to know me, the me before I came here to the city and I understand that.” She finally looks up and our eyes meet. “I need you to always see me the way you see me now.”

  “I will.” I slide my body closer to hers and touch her cheek with my fingertip, trailing it along the bone before cupping her jaw. “Trust that I will always see you as the amazing woman you are. I need you to let me in.”

  “I just don’t think I could take it if I looked at you and found you watching me with pity in your eyes.”

  Kinsley was right about Tinley’s fears.

  “I’m in awe of you.” She seems surprised. “You’ve been through so much yet here you are, so strong. You came here alone to start over. You left everyone you loved behind to escape the aftermath of what some man inflicted on you. That doesn’t make you weak and it sure as hell does not make you a victim. You amaze me, beautiful, you are amazing. None of this changes a thing.”

  “Okay.” She nods and for the first time in weeks I feel relieved. It’s been hard not reaching out to her, not going to her and doing everything I could to convince her to let me in. I am not good at waiting for anything. Now here we are, together.

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Tinley

  I leave my apartment and walk toward my car, smiling when I see the red rose pinned beneath my windshield wiper. Picking it up, I bring it to my nose and breathe in the sweet smell. Instantly I wonder when Knoxville had the time to place it but I’m not surprised he did.

  My phone chirps with an incoming message and I hurry to read it. It is the third one from Lexington, my new friend, telling me to “hurry my cute ass up,” his words.

  The girls are all waiting at Shanelle and Beckett’s, and Lex had shown up with a limo, compliments of Ashton. It apparently would be carting us around from place to place. I reply, letting them know that I am on my way to Knoxville’s to leave my car and will be waiting in the lobby for them to pick me up. I need my car to be there because I have an early morning shift at the diner. I am sure I will dread the morning.

  I toss my bag into the passenger seat, place the rose onto the center console, and start the car. Singing along to the radio, I make my way to Knox’s, and I’m not surprised when I pull up to find him leaning against the fender of his car, next to the empty parking space that has quickly become mine.

  With a smile he pushes off the car and begins walking around the front of mine. Grabbing my bag, I hold out my hand and allow him to pull me into his arms.

  “Is tonight truly necessary? You could fake a headache and stay here with me.” The palm of his hand roams over my lower back before cupping my backside. “This is entirely too short.” He is speaking of my skirt, though I ignore him. I think he’d rather I dress like a nun and only show my face.

  “I feel like part of the gang,” I confess. It is nice to have friends. Not that I don’t have a small group of them from school, but this is different. The ladies know Knox, they are easy to talk to, and Lexington, well he is absolutely hysterical and so much fun.

  “I’d rather keep you to myself.” With that he dips lower and begins running his hand beneath the back of my skirt. “Are you sure that you don’t want to just stay in?”

  I close my eyes as he makes contact with the crease of my leg and begins teasing me. Tracing over the edge of my panties, he smirks when I began to lightly pant with anticipation for what is about to happen. Somehow when he touches me, I always manage to forget my strength, to forget where I am, or any plans that I may have had. That combined with his confident demeanor and devastating good looks…how could I not lose my damned mind?

  I can feel his hardness pressing against me and am two seconds from asking him to take me on the hood of my car when my phone chirps again in my bag. I am jerked out of the Knoxville haze and he practically growls his annoyance.

  “They’re here.” I’ll admit I am a little disappointed myself that it is time to leave him.

  “You should just ignore them, fake a headache, or I could just hide you out and they’d never get past the doorman.” I can hear the humor in his voice, but I know had I agreed, he would have done just that.

  “I think we both know that if I don’t meet them outside in the next five minutes, Lexington with make your life a living hell for keeping me hostage.”

  “All I need is four minutes, and Lexington already makes my life a living hell. He’s responsible for taking you away from me tonight.” Knox actually pouts.

  “First off, let me just say you most definitely do not need just four minutes,” I challenge him with a look and he only smiles wider. “Second, you all act as though Lex gets on your nerves, but I think you all secretly adore him just as much as the girls. Without him life would be boring.” I barely know the guy and I already love him.

  Again my phone chirps, only this time it is almost simultaneous with a constant rapid fire of about five more that follow. Looking at my phone I see not only is Lex messaging me, but also Shanelle and Kinsley. I laugh when I read one of Lexington’s lines about crawling out from beneath my yummy hunk of a man and get my lucky ass downstairs.

  Suddenly the phone is out of my hands and Knoxville’s fingers are tapping out a message faster than I can stop him.

  “There now we have time to finish what we started.”

  “What did you do?” He smiles at me and holds out my phone.

  Back the fuck off and give me some silence with my woman.

  “Nice.” I roll my eyes and he grabs me, pulling me in closer.

  “Now, where were we?” His mouth covers mine and for a minute, okay maybe two, I am lost in the way he kisses me. Lost how with just a kiss he is able to make me feel like the most beautiful and desired woman in the world.

  “I really should go,” I mumble around his lips as he goes in for more.

  “Are you sure?” Knoxville pushes his pelvis further into me, and the fact he is turned on is obvious. “Because I think there are more exploitive things we could do with our time, like—” He cups my breast and pinches my nipple beneath the silk before rolling it between his fingers. “And maybe a little of this—” The hand he had on my hip finds its way lower and slips just beneath the hem of my dress. Before I have the chance to register his movements, the top of his finger sneaks below the edge of my panties. “See, you’d much rather being doing this than—”

  “It’s like porn.” My body jerks back like I’d been shocked and I stumble to regain my composure. Looking to the left I see Lex, Shanelle, and Kinsley standing only a few feet away, smiling widely. “Really hot porn,” Kinsley practically growls, and I feel my cheeks heat.

  “I used to love you girls.” Knoxville sounds irritated.

  “Oh, please.” Shanelle waves her hand and I notice how cute she looks with her tiny baby bump beneath the form-fitting dress she wears. “You’ll always love us. You’re just experiencing that pent-up testosterone rush you get when you’re interrupted. Call Beck and maybe the two of you can complain about it over a few drinks.”

  I look at Lexington and see him smiling proudly. “You Montgomery men are insatiable, but in my defense, I set a time for a reason. You all should have timed your naughty times better.”

  Naughty times. I laugh then quickly cover my mouth. Shifting my gaze to Knox, I can practically see the aggravation rollin
g off him. I quickly move back to him and kiss him along the jaw. Instantly his hands wrap around me possessively, and I feel that familiar sense of home wash over me.

  “A few hours,” I whisper near his ear, “then I’ll be back here with you. We can pick this up where we left off and lock ourselves away from the rest of the world. Promise.” He tilts his head downward and when our eyes connect, I can see the want hidden there.

  “A few hours,” he repeats, “then I’m coming for you.”

  I have no doubt that he’ll hold true to his words.

  * * *

  “I bet he’s good.” My eyes widen and I try to hide behind my glass. “Not just good,” Lexington practically moans the words, “but I mean really, really good. All that strong muscle, that tasty ass, and those hands, oh those hands.”

  “Do you need a little time alone with your Knoxville fantasy?” Shanelle teases him. “Maybe some quiet time in the men’s room with an image of him.”

  Somehow my guy has become the topic of the night. We are going on the second hour of our night out and I’ve been questioned by each one of them on Knoxville’s bedroom skills. Apparently finding us dry humping in the garage earlier triggered a whole line of questions from curious minds.

  “All I know is that it was hellahot.” Kinsley slurs her speech. Normally she is reserved, not so much that she is stuffy, but I picture her as one of the silent thought types, where it’s all going on inside her head but rarely does she speak them out loud. I think it is the alcohol talking. “Ashton is like that.” She reaches for her fruity drink and tries more than twice to grasp the straw between her lips. We all wait silently, Lexington more than Shanelle and me, because he is all about the insight on the guys. “He’s so sensual, yet take charge. And the way he moves his—”

  “There are only some things I can hear without making things awkward at future family functions. The sexual antics of the brothers of the man I am dating are not some of those things.” I try to keep a straight face, but I am also feely entirely too cheery.

  We are having an amazing time. I haven’t felt this light in so long.

  We’ve been carted around to a few bars by a limousine, all compliments of Mr. Moneybags, Ashton, himself. I know it is more so that all three of the guys can in their way, keep us safe and know where we are at all times. That would have freaked me out a few months ago, it would have made me consider running, but with Knoxville it all seems different. He wants to protect me, not control me. He isn’t anything like Rob, and I know he never will be.

  “I need to dance.” Shanelle stands from her chair and does a little shimmy. “In a few months I won’t be able to see my own feet, so while I can I want to use them.”

  She doesn’t wait for us to agree, instead she walks toward the dance floor and begins shaking her hips. She is the only one of us sober, but you’d never know that by her weird moves.

  “It is most definitely not her dance moves that captured Beckett,” I say before I think it through. Suddenly Kinsley and Lexington started laughing.

  “Come on, let’s go rescue her.” Kinsley hooks my arm and the three of us joined Shanelle, losing ourselves in the music.

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Knoxville

  “They’re gonna be pissed off,” Beckett assures me as he follows closely behind. He wants to act as though he disagrees with us crashing the girls’ night, but he didn’t even hesitate a second when Ashton and I showed up at his place to pick him up.

  “First off, I think we all know the only one that’s gonna be pissed is Lexington.” I offer the doorman a fifty to take care of our cover charges and look back over my shoulder at my brothers. “Which is why I brought him.” I nod to Greg, who stands just behind Ashton and Beckett.

  “So I’m here to offer interference?” Had he not been smiling I may have thought he was bothered by that.

  “We miss our women, Greg.” Ashton was the first one to respond. “It was bring you or be forced to pawn Lexington off on some other willing party.”

  “Well, then thanks, I guess.”

  It doesn’t take us very long to spot them gathered on the dance floor. The dress that Tinley wears makes her legs seem even longer, like they go on for miles, and I’m not the only one to notice. A few guys are standing aside, drinks in hands as they watch our ladies dance, but thankfully Lexington was giving off a territorial stance as if he dared them to even try. In that moment, I respect the guy just a little more.

  “Is Shanelle doing the sprinkler?” Ashton chuckles and of course Beckett smiles as if he couldn’t have been prouder. With every little jerk of her hips, the tiny bump at her waist becomes more noticeable. Beckett’s eyes look glazed over as he watches his future wife.

  “If you’ll excuse me, I need to go dance with my hot fiancée.” He is off, marching through the crowd, and like she could feel him coming her way, she turns, and a huge smile covers her mouth. Suddenly she is in his arms and they are off in their own little world.

  Tinley and Kins turn and stop dancing. The second Tinley’s gaze locks on mine, I feel it through my entire body.

  Together Ashton and I move toward our ladies, and when Tinley is within reach, I grab her and pull her sweet body to me. I may have made it a point to show off a bit and to ensure that the guys who are watching know without a doubt she is taken.

  “I told you a few hours.” Tinley smiles up at me.

  “It’s been almost four, babe.” She seems surprised. I can sense she is feeling really good; her eyes are bloodshot. “I told you that I’d come and get you if you were gone longer.”

  “And here you are.”

  There is a tap on my shoulder and the way that Tinley is snickering confirms it is definitely Lexington coming over to voice his opinion. I don’t let go of her, because I just got my hands on her and I am not done showing every man here who she is with. Instead I peek over my shoulder. Without looking at Lex I jut out my chin in the direction of the bar. “Stop whining,” I tell him and instantly see his body shifting in my peripheral vision. “I brought something for you, too.”

  I don’t need to ask when he notices Greg leaning against the bar. The loud screech before he scurries off is answer enough.

  “You all pretend that Lexington drives you crazy.” I turn my body fully back to Tinley and find her smiling brightly. “But I don’t think any of you would know what to do without him. He’s part of your family, whether you say that out loud or not.”

  She is right, but like she also said, there is really no reason to say it out loud.

  “I’m parked outside. What would you say if I said that we should get out of here and leave the limo for the rest of them?” If the way her body is rubbing up on mine is any indication, I’ll have to say her answer is yes.

  “I was wondering what was taking you so long.”

  * * *

  Tinley’s beauty is striking. It was the very first time I saw her when she stepped up next to me at my brother’s wedding, and it still is today. Her bare back dipped at her waist just before rounding to form the perfect ass. She is heaven, my heaven.

  I stand in the doorway of my bedroom, watching as she brushes her hair, wearing only her panties. Her back is to me, and whether she knows I am there or not, she doesn’t show it. Maybe she is putting on a show for me, but I am just taking it all in.

  I have never been so in love with another person, so desperate for them just to be near me. Tinley is that for me, she is my person, I have no doubt. She is the woman I want to wake up with and she is the one I want to fight with over the remote on nights when we decide to just stay in. She is it for me.

  I’ve finally had enough of our distance; I need to touch her.

  Pushing off the wall I walk toward her. Stepping up behind her I place one hand on each of her hips and slide them around toward the front, splaying them out over her stomach. “You done yet?”

  “Why?” She pauses with the brush still in the tendrils of her hair. “Did you have something bet
ter in mind?”

  Leaning in I place a kiss on her shoulder and watch as she arches her neck to give me all the access I need. Gliding my hands upward, slowly, teasingly, I cup her breasts and feel them pebble beneath my palms. “I could think of a few things.” Whispering near her ear, I continue on my path, kissing her, tasting her. “They all involve this gorgeous body and my mouth.”

  Goose bumps cover her neck and shoulders, a shiver causing her to tremble against me.

  I love to see her fall apart, to let go and just feel what we offer to one another. To give in to the rush inside her and allow her body to demand more.

  “I’ll admit that sounds almost perfect.”

  “Almost?”

  I gently palm her breast and she practically pants her response. “I want to be able to reciprocate.”

  Smiling, I begin to walk her toward the reading chair only a few feet away. “I think we can arrange that.”

  When she reaches around and begins to loosen my pants, I allow her to. With shaking hands she undoes the belt, then the button, and lowers my zipper. When she reaches inside and fists me through my boxers, I swear I see fucking stars. My hips begin to move on their own accord, and I thrust forward, helping her, though I know from experience she doesn’t need the help.

  With each shift of her hand I grow hungrier, needing to be inside of her. Exploring her in exchange, I hook the side of her panties and begin lowering them slowly. As the lace pools at her feet I look her over, accepting the way she uses her ass to push back against me.

  My head grows hazy from the rush, my own hands trembling. Then suddenly it was as if something snaps inside both of us. I grip the back of her thigh and direct her to place it onto the arm of the chair, opening herself up further to me. Gliding my finger over her opening, I find her ready and practically weeping for me to take her.