Rival

Her br**sts bounced back and forth as I moved in and out of her harder and harder.

Her nails dug into my chest. “More, Madoc. It feels so good.”

I stood up straight, pulled her back down to the edge of the hood, and hooked the back of her knees over my arms. “Tell me you missed this.”

She blinked and swallowed. “Yes.” She nodded, her whisper coming out shaky. “I missed it.”

Me, too.

I entered her again and pounded into her like there was no tomorrow.

Her back arched, her tits went wild, and she moaned long and loud. “Yes . . . oh, my God!”

She tightened around my dick, her stomach shaking with shallow breaths, and her eyes squeezed shut as she came all over me.

The fire in my c**k spread through my thighs and burned to the tip. I pulled out, gasping and stroking until I came all over her stomach.

My throat was dry, and my heart was trying to punch a hole through my chest. I dropped my head down between her br**sts and closed my eyes, feeling her chest rise and fall under me.

No coherent thoughts formed in my head. Just words.

Awesome.

Hot.

Damn.

Shit.

I had no clue what I was supposed to do now, and her silence told me she was just as baffled as I was. I was about to get off of her when she started running her fingers through my drenched hair.

Frozen, I just lay there and let her.

And then I winced, realizing I hadn’t used a condom.

Shit. Really, dude? You have them in your glove compartment. Why hadn’t I even thought about it? I had always used them, except with Fallon once or twice when we were younger.

“I never said those things to our parents.” She spoke up, breaking me out of my thoughts.

Our parents? She was bringing them up now?

“Never said what?” I kept my chin to her chest but looked up at her.

“They lied to you.” She stroked my hair and looked up to the sky. “I never complained about what we were doing, Madoc. They just found out and shipped me off.”

I narrowed my eyes, pushing myself up and placing both hands on either side of her head. “You’re telling me you never wanted to leave me?”

CHAPTER 10

FALLON

What was I doing?

What the hell was I doing?

So the parents lied to him. Told him I wanted to leave. That hurt him. Good! That worked for me. Madoc deserved that and more, and while he wasn’t on my hit list to the extreme the parents were, he was still on it.

But in my post-orgasmic bliss, I wanted to protect his heart. I wanted to keep the memory safe. I wanted to believe that he never used me.

But he did. He used me good and forgot about me.

Sleeping with him now was part of my plan. This was all going according to plan, I told myself. It happened sooner than I thought it would and with a lot more wanton behavior on my part, but it had been so long since I’d had sex. It was harder to resist him than I’d anticipated.

Madoc and I were crazy at sixteen. Way too young to be doing what we were doing, but we were learning together.

Now he was a man, and we both had a lot more confidence. Madoc was good. Very good. I felt guilty that I wanted more of him.

And his piercing? Holy hell.

I looked away and sat up, pushing him off me. “No, Madoc. I didn’t want to leave.”

He backed up, but I could feel his eyes on me. I knelt down and retrieved my soaked clothes and then turned away, using my tank top to clean off my stomach.

“How did they find out?”

“What does it matter?” I said softly. “We were too young. What we were doing was wrong. They knew it. Sending me away was for the best.”

I tried wiggling back into my underwear and shorts, but they were so cold from the rain that still poured down on us. A shiver shot down my arms.

“But they lied to me.” He stood there, naked. “All these years I thought—”

“We survived, Madoc,” I interrupted, and avoided his eyes as I put on my bra. “I moved on, and so did you, right?”

• • •

I thought for sure it would have taken me a zillion years to pass out that night, but I fell asleep within seconds. I didn’t even remember lying in bed, trying to get myself to relax. After dealing with Madoc, Addie, the party, and then the “rain,” I’d closed my eyes and woken up in pretty much the same position I fell asleep in.

But as soon as I opened my eyes, I was bombarded with thought after thought, worry after worry, all charging like a storm of elephants through my head.

I sucked in a breath. Shit. I slept with Madoc!

That’s okay. It was part of the plan.

But you liked it. No, I loved it.

That’s okay. You haven’t had sex in two years. You were horny.

You told Madoc that the parents lied?

Okay, so I didn’t want him to believe that I would have said anything like that. I shouldn’t have cared. A minor hiccup that upset nothing in the overall plan. Relax.

But he’ll confront his dad! His dad will come home. . . .

So? I want Mr. Caruthers home. My plan would come to fruition in a few days anyway.

Everything was on schedule.

I inhaled a cool breath and exhaled a shaky one.

So why wasn’t I happy?

The first year I’d spent away I was too confused—too numb—to make sense out of everything that had happened, much less get my ducks in a row. But for the past year all I’d fantasized about was seeking my revenge and seeing them hurt. Each one of them. Seeing their worlds turned upside down like mine had been.

But now my mind just kept traveling back to last night.

How Madoc’s lips had felt on my neck. How he looked at every inch of my body like he was seeing me for the first time. How much his hot eyes and possessive hands had made me feel like he wanted me.

He might be a spoiled brat and a self-absorbed ass**le, but he’d blown my mind.

I needed to remember that just because someone was good in bed didn’t mean anything beyond that.

This was a game to Madoc—but it was a war to me.

I rolled over and sat up, swinging my legs off the edge of the bed, but then I immediately dropped my head and blew out a breath.

Damn.

My insides felt stretched, and the muscles below my belly were sore. I was sore everywhere.

Standing up, I tiptoed on wobbly legs across my room and cracked the door open. I heard a vacuum cleaner’s vroom somewhere in the house and knew Addie was awake. Slipping out my door, I sprinted across the hall to the bathroom.

Madoc’s bedroom had a bathroom. Not mine. I didn’t rate high enough.

“You’re up!” a loud voice hollered. “Awesome for me.”

I twisted to my left and saw Madoc closing his bedroom door and running straight for me.

A knot lodged in my throat. What the—

He charged at me like a linebacker, swooped me up by the waist, and threw me over his shoulder.

“Madoc! Put me down!”

“Shhh . . .” He pushed us through the bathroom door, kicked it shut and planted my ass on the bathroom counter.

“Madoc—”

But I was cut off. He snatched up my lips, wrapping his strong arms around me and nearly suffocating me with how much pressure he was putting on my mouth. Every time he took a breath, I did the same, because he came back in for more within a heartbeat. His lips moved over mine, fast and urgent, needy and ready. Both of his hands pushed up under my T-shirt, kneading my br**sts, and I couldn’t help myself. My hands slid down his black pajama pants, grabbing his perfectly smooth ass and pulling him in between my legs.

“I’m going to apologize for my lack of coolness right now,” he gasped out, trying to yank my shirt over my head, but I kept pulling it back down. “I’m hornier than a motherfucker.”

“Oh, is it a morning thing?” I crossed my arms over my chest to keep my shirt down.

“Morning?” He started jabbing me in the stomach, tickling me to get my arms to release the shirt. “I’ve been up all f**king night torturing myself. I should never have told you to lock your door last night.”

He’d walked me to my room last night, ordering me to lock my door. Apparently, he didn’t always know everyone who partied at his house, and he wasn’t sure who all of the people were passed out around the place. I had only seen three bodies when I’d walked through the house, but there could’ve been more.

“You were trying to protect me from ra**sts,” I pointed out, biting my lip to keep myself from giggling.

“Yeah, slick move that was.” He smiled down at me, jabbing me continually in the stomach. “I couldn’t get at you, either.”

He grabbed my face with both hands and slid his tongue into my mouth, devouring me again. Little needles sprang up over my skin, and I shivered, heat pooling between my legs like a furnace. I grabbed his face too, kissing him back.

He took that opportunity to pull the T-shirt over my head in one fell swoop like a magician that pulls out a tablecloth from underneath a fully set table.

“Madoc, no,” I commanded pathetically, folding my arms over my chest. “I’m sore from last night.”

He pinched his eyebrows together and arched a lip. “Sore? From me? That. Is. Awesome.”

Idiot. I shouldn’t have told him that. Now he was feeling like the man.

“Well, then . . .” He sighed and pulled me down off the counter. “You’re safe. For now.”

Whatever. I blinked slow and hard. I’m in control. I’m in control. I’m in control.

Everything was moving in the wrong direction. He made me smile. He made me forget. We had to slow down.

We have to stop.

He tipped my chin up and his mouth came down on mine. I let him kiss me, not making any effort to return it, but I still couldn’t help breathing in his rich, clean scent. Damn, I loved the way he smelled.

He leaned back, smirking down at me. “It’s good to have you back, Fallon.” And then he walked out like he had everything he wanted in the palm of his hand.

Damn him.

Damn him!

I kicked the door shut behind him and whisper-yelled a bunch of words that I’d only ever heard my father’s dockworkers spew. I didn’t emerge from the bathroom for another half hour as I tried to get my head on straight again.

Things in Madoc’s life were too easy. He made it too simple to fall back into the fun. His relaxed smile, his carelessness about everything, and the way he was just . . . him!

There were problems in this world. Problems in families. Problems in my family and his. Our history was a problem. Why did he always appear as if he didn’t have a care in the world?

We’d had hot, angry sex last night after we’d insulted and upset each other. Apparently he didn’t care what had led us there, only that he got his reward.

Shit. I scratched my head and closed my eyes as I stood in front of my floor-length mirror. I needed some alone time.

Time to think.

A nice walk. A good run, maybe.

But Madoc was like a whirlwind of activity. I’d almost forgotten.

After I dressed in some short white shorts and a Hurley T-shirt, he’d told me to march my ass back into my room and change. After flipping him off and pouring myself some cereal he’d explained that we were going to the lake with his friends, and I needed to get in a swimsuit. When I told him to go screw himself, that he didn’t make decisions for me, he walked around the counter where I stood eating and stuck his hand down the back of my shorts, continuing to smile and talk to Addie with her none the wiser.

With my heart missing every other beat and sweat breaking across my forehead, I’d relented, realizing he wouldn’t stop harassing me until I said yes.

Anyway, Tate was going to be there, so I looked at that as a plus. We’d also be in public, so I could count on him not to try anything.

Or so I thought.

• • •