Chapter 8

Teddy

Days later and I still couldn’t stop thinking about how hard and tempting Tate felt in my hand, and I knew I was in trouble. I wanted him; specifically, I wanted his big, hard muscled body pressing against mine. His big hard cock sinking into my wet, willing body. His soft lips nibbling on my neck. I kept thinking about it even though we’d both agreed it would be a bad idea.

Terrible.

But...would it?

I wasn’t looking for love or marriage or any kind of long-term relationship. I wasn’t even sure I’d ever want that at all. Ever. But I knew I didn’t want it now. What I wanted though, was a long, hard fuck. And I wanted it from Tate.

But he’d made his position clear and I didn’t chase after men, so I spent an extra half hour in the pool, cutting through the water to get rid of my sexual tension — or frustration. Between my sudden desire for Tate and this weirdo leaving creepy gifts at my house, I probably needed intense yoga and kickboxing. Every damn day.

By the time I got to the office, I felt cranky and pissed off, and in no mood to work. Of course, two minutes after I arrived, a very pissed off Kip Riley showed up. Without his camera crew. “What the fuck, Teddy?”

I glared up at him and stood to give myself a height advantage. “I should be asking you that, Kip.”

He sucked in a deep breath and let it out as he sat on the other side of my desk. “The cops came to my house last night. Luckily Gillian had taken an Ambien or I’d be in some deep shit.”

“Well you should have thought about that when you sent those creepy gifts to my house.” I would never back down from these kind of sleazy guys.

“I sent you flowers, Teddy. Sure, it was out of line considering you’re planning my wedding, but flowers and chocolate don’t warrant the friggin’ cops.” He huffed and raked a hand through his model perfect hair. “That’s taking it a little far, don’t you think?”

“You mean you didn’t send the sliced up lingerie or the cleaver through my headshot, or any of that other creepy shit?”

He sat up, blue eyes wide with shock. “No. Fuck, I’d never do that. I’m trying to ride this reality gravy train until I’m a millionaire. I wouldn’t fuck that up even for a hottie like you.”

Shit. And I believed him. “Good to know, and I’m sorry. They asked and since you admitted you sent the flowers...shit. Just tell me you can prove it, because I’d hate to get an innocent man in trouble.”

Kip grinned. “I just came from the police station with the footage of me nearly every hour of the day for the past six weeks.”

My shoulders relaxed. “Good. But maybe wait until after the wedding to create the infidelity drama. And sign a prenup,” I added with more than a hint of bitterness.

Kip laughed. “You’re pretty cool when you take that stick out of your ass, you know.”

“Yeah, I know, but I don’t enjoy having cameras around all the time.”

“Weird.” He stared for a beat and then laughed. “You weren’t always that way. I can still see you in that white Guess bikini,” he said, closing his eyes and licking his lips like a lecherous teenage boy.

“Well back then it was my job. Now my job is to plan events.” And I could admit I hated Kip a lot less now than I did when he and Gillian had walked into my office a few weeks ago. And then it occurred to me, it wasn’t Kip but that didn’t mean it couldn’t be Gillian. “You should just stop all the flirting, though, to be safe.”

He frowned. “Why?”

I couldn’t tell him the truth, but one thing I learned in foster care and then modeling, is how to lie. “Because there will be hours of footage of you flirting and me pushing you away. If this becomes a thing, which it pretty much has, it won’t matter that you’re innocent.”

It scared him just as I knew it would. Kip jumped up and smiled. “Thanks for being so cool, Teddy. I, uhm, hope this ends up okay for you.”

“Thanks, Kip. See you and Gillian soon.” He waved and left a trail of dust as he couldn’t leave my office fast enough. One problem solved, too bad it wasn’t the biggest problem on my plate.

The tone sounded above the door as a delivery man walked in, face hidden by the large bouquet that didn’t make me as happy as he thought it would. “Delivery,” he said with a bright smile I normally enjoyed.

“Thanks,” I told him, though my words were half-hearted as he set the vase down on a nearby table. Black dahlias and black tulips with baby’s breath, because we had to keep it classy, apparently. As soon as he was gone, I took the flowers to the dumpster out back and left them there.

This fucking day could not end soon enough.

***

“Oh my God, Jana, these ribs are so good. I hope you have leftovers.” I licked my lips as I ate more ribs than a woman should, especially considering Max and Tate were looking at me like I was a science experiment. I didn’t care though, not after Kip and the flowers, the useless cops and the sexual tension. Cannot forget the sexual fucking tension. Especially with Tate sitting beside me, his body emanating enough heat to melt the ice in my glass.

“Thanks, and yeah there are leftovers.”

“No, there aren’t,” Max insisted with a frown, a bone sticking halfway out of his mouth. He flashed a smile at me. “Let’s see where we are when the evening is over.”

I laughed at Max, shaking my head at his foolishness. “I’ve been promised leftovers, Max. Deal with it. You get to eat this way every day.”

He grunted and I couldn’t tell if it was acceptance or refusal, but I knew Jana would hook me up. “There’s already some set aside for you, Teddy.”

“Damn, mama, I love you so hard right now.”

She beamed a smile at me, probably feeling overwhelmed with emotions again, judging by the watery look in her eyes. “You’re welcome.” Her expression changed and I felt the hairs on the back of neck rise. “So, a meat cleaver, huh?”

I sucked in a breath and glared at Tate. “Seriously? You told her?”

He looked unapologetic as he crossed his arms and nodded, chin daring me to challenge him. “It was a damn meat cleaver, Teddy!”

“Yeah, I know. I recognized the face it cut right through,” I told him, circling my face sarcastically. “Look, Jana, it’s fine. I’m fine. At least I will be, if the cops do their job.”

Tate turned to me. “What about that reality TV guy?”

I sighed. “They talked to him but he’s been cleared, and he only sent the flowers.”

“You can’t go back there,” Jana insisted.

“It’s my home and I won’t let some freaky-ass weirdo scare me away. I’ll be fine, or I won’t. Either way, you have more important things to worry about,” I told her with a quick glance at her belly.

“Dammit, Teddy! I’m going to teach you some damn self-defense.” Tate stood and grabbed my arm, “We can do it here or back at Max’s place.”

I looked up at him, hating that even at my height, the man towered over me. “Don’t tell me what to do.”

“My place it is,” he said with a grin and tugged me out the door.

“Wait. I need my ribs, dammit!”

Max and Jana laughed, but my best friend didn’t let me down, she brought me a plastic container filled with her delicious ribs and another with some potato salad. “There you go. Let Tate help you, please.”

“Ugh, fine. Come on, Golden Boy, teach me to kill a man with my pinky.” We stopped at my place so I could change, and thankfully, there were no gifts waiting for me. The drive to Max and Tate’s house was mostly silent, except a few instances of me bitching about his high-handed ways. “Just because we’re friends doesn’t mean you can boss me around.”

“I’m trying to make sure you can defend yourself,” he said angrily and then scoffed. “Like that makes me such an asshole.”

“Glad we’re in agreement,” I told him as we stepped from my car. He tried to get me to leave it at Jana’s place, but I was too paranoid someone was following my car — or worse — tracking it.

He flipped me a smug grin. “You’re a big ass ball of happy right now, aren’t ya?”

I brushed past him to put my food in his fridge. I wasn’t risking some asshole breaking in and poisoning it. “Yep. Come on, teacher. Teach me.”

He rolled his eyes and removed his kutte and his long-sleeve shirt, leaving him in nothing but a very tight, and nearly see-through, t-shirt.

“Okay. Let’s see what you can do.”

He lunged forward and I kicked him in the balls, or I tried, but he deflected that quickly. Pretty damn quickly.

“Good try, but most men are prepared for that.”

I nodded. “Okay. Again.” All he did was lunge forward and I tried everything I could think of, first his face, which he avoided by a quick sideways move. Then his throat, his stomach and yes, his nuts. Again. Finally, in what I can only describe as a fit of annoyance, I stepped on his foot.

“Shit!” He lifted his foot, frowning even as his lips turned up into a grin. “Okay, well eventually something will work. But by then,” he flipped me around so my back was flush against his front, “he could have a knife in you, several bullets, or just a tranquilizer to knock you out and take you wherever he wants.”

“Crap!” His feet swept mine and a second later I was on the floor with his big body on top of me. Not a bad position in my opinion, but, “Cheap shot.”

“This ain’t UFC, Teddy. There are no rules. Fight dirty, do whatever you have to do to get free. And be smart about it.” His breath smelled of beer and barbecue sauce, and dammit, I liked it. “See if you can get me off of you.”

I bucked my hips against him a few times but the man was built like a goddamn tank. He wouldn’t move until he was good and ready. I wiggled back and forth to no avail. My attempts at head-butting him only made him lean back. “I’m basically fuckin’ dead, then.” Which kind of sucked, considering how hard I’d worked to make something of myself. Twice.

“No, you’re not. Be smart.”

Is it wrong that I heard him say be a smart ass? I started to wiggle my body again, this time with more purpose. More focus on a central part of his body that slowly came to life behind his zipper. “Is that smart?”

He groaned. “Probably not smart of me to challenge you,” he gritted out.

And just for shits and giggles, and because the man felt divine between my legs, I did it again. His breaths came faster, shallower than before as I wiggled. “Or it’s the smartest thing you’ve done in a while,” I said and wrapped my legs around his waist so he was pressed right where I throbbed. A moan slipped out.

“Teddy. Bad idea, remember?”

I nodded. “I do, but I’ve been thinking about it and it doesn’t have to be. I’m not looking to be wifed up, Tate. I’m looking for a fucking orgasm. That’s it.” There was pause and I could tell he was thinking it over, considering it because I knew he wanted me as bad as I wanted him.

“You sure?”

I grinned. “See for yourself.”

He rolled to my side, one hand propping up his head while the other slid easily into my workout pants and panties, finding me wet and slippery. “Fuck me,” he groaned.

“That’s the plan.”

A deep chuckle sounded but two fingers slid into me the moment his mouth touched mine, pulling a moan from me. His fingers were thick and blunt as they slid deep, stretching me out. I didn’t know where to focus, his delicious mouth, strong and firm, kissing me hungrily while his fingers brought me closer and closer to what I hoped would be my first orgasm of the night. “Fuck,” he grunted as he broke the kiss.

“Yes,” I moaned and gripped his shoulders, letting my hands roam freely over his big, hard body. He was all heat and muscles, all man. His fingers pumped harder into me and before I could slide my hand down to the bulge in his jeans, an orgasm ripped through me. “Fuck yeah...Tate!”

“Now that we’ve gotten that one out of the way,” he began as he slid my pants and shoes off, staring at the wet spot on my panties, “I can take my time with you.”

I sat up and removed my shirt. And bra. “Let’s take our time later. Right now, let’s go hard and fast.” My hands were already at his waistband, tugging on the zipper when his hand stopped my own. “What?”

“It’s been a while.”

Oh right. Prison for six years. “Got it.” I pushed him down on his back and undressed him like his clothes were on fire. But it was me, burning up with lust. My pussy dripped, pulsed and clenched with need for the hard prick that had been pressed against me. “You are a whole lot of man, Tate.”

“Aww, you say the sweetest things.”

“I do, don’t I?” His words were cut off when I began kissing my way down his chest, partially for him but mostly for me. He was built with a capital ‘B’ and right now he was laid out like the perfect man buffet and I wasn’t sure where to start first, those bulging tattooed biceps, the pecs with the dark pink nipples or my personal favorite, the rock hard abs I knew would be slightly salty from his sweat. In the end, I was a greedy bitch and tasted every inch as I made my way to the hard cock cradled between my breasts.

I looked up at Tate who watched with gray-blue eyes, teasing him with my smile. I didn’t take him in my hand, not right away, instead I crouched down and licked him from the underside of his sac to the slit at the tip of his cock.

“Oh, fuck,” he said on a long, guttural groan. I did it again and again, finally taking him in my mouth when his hips began to buck against me. “Fuck,” he said, over and over as I sucked his big cock, swirling my tongue around it and using my lips to create more friction. He tasted good and his cock was perfect, long and thick and straight. My pussy grew wetter just anticipating having all that man meat thrusting inside my body.

“Teddy,” he warned, but he didn’t need to, I felt his cock harden and I felt his come working its way out under my fingers and I sucked even harder as that first salty drop hit my tongue. I sucked it all down while he grunted and thrust up, going deep and turning me on.

I moaned when he grabbed a handful of my hair, slowly sliding in and out of my mouth as he worked out the last of his orgasm. When his body went limp, I licked the last little drop and grinned. “Now I think we can go hard and fast.”

He chuckled. “Thanks for the vote of confidence, but I’m gonna need a few minutes to recover.”

I grinned. “That’s okay because I have an idea how we can speed it along.”

“Oh yeah?”

I nodded and kissed my way up his body, damn near sitting on his chest. “I want to grab all this hair while I ride your face. Hard and fast. Cool?”

He growled and smacked my ass. “More than. Come on, Cover Girl, don’t be shy.”

Even if I was shy, which I wasn’t, I was too turned on, too eager to test his oral skills to worry about it. I slid into position and looked down with a smile. “Make me scream, Golden Boy.”