CHAPTER TWELVE
Smoke
I DIDN’T WANT to move. I wanted to stay there, my head turned in to her neck, inhaling the musky scent of aroused Cat and sex, with my dick buried so deep inside her I felt like I was part of her. She was panting, her body shaking, her legs wrapped tight around my waist, and I simply held her there, losing myself in the smell and feel of her.
I’d fantasised about her for years, and yet all those fantasies hadn’t even come close to the reality. To the pressure of her mouth as she’d sucked me. To the tight, wet heat of her pussy around my cock. To the salty taste of her skin as I’d bitten her neck. So fucking good. So fucking intense.
I couldn’t remember the last time I’d come so hard, and even now, two orgasms later, I was already getting hard for her again. But I didn’t want to do anything more here in the clubhouse. I wanted to get her back to a bed, where I could take my time, undress her, taste every inch of her delicious body before sinking into her again. Fucking her slow, fucking her fast. Driving us both insane.
This was going to happen again, and soon, and I wasn’t going to take no for answer. Not now that I’d felt how wet she’d been or heard her scream my name in my ear as she’d come.
Her hands pushed at my chest and, reluctantly, I slid out of her, letting her down onto the floor. She was shaky on her feet and had to keep her hands braced on my chest, which was fucking satisfying.
It was all so fucking satisfying.
For so many years she hadn’t even noticed the fact that I was a man, and yet tonight, when she’d come to a stop in the hallway and turned to face me, I’d known that she’d noticed. That she’d run from what was happening around the bonfire was because she’d noticed. Which had made my decision real simple.
She’d gone down on her knees when I’d asked her to. Begged for my cock when I’d ordered her to. And then she’d come, screaming, exactly when I’d told her to.
She’d wanted it, whether she liked it or not. She’d wanted it. She’d wanted me.
Her head was bent, her dark hair hiding her face, but I didn’t make her look at me—not yet. Instead I dealt with the condom in a nearby wastebasket and tucked myself back into my jeans. Then I pulled down her skirt, smoothing it over her thighs, covering her up.
She tried batting away my hands, but I ignored that bullshit. She was mine now, and if I wanted to take care of her I was going to take care of her—no goddamn arguments.
‘Smoke...’
My name sounded all husky and raw.
‘Can we just—’
‘No,’ I interrupted. ‘Don’t say another fucking word, Cat.’
Sliding a finger beneath her chin, I tipped her head up so she had to look at me. Her cheeks were deeply flushed, her green eyes dark, tendrils of black hair sticking to her forehead and neck. She looked shell-shocked, and I was asshole enough to get a kick out of it.
‘I’m taking you back home. Now.’
Her mouth opened, but I put a finger on her soft lips, silencing her.
‘What did I say about another fucking word?’
A muscle flexed in her jaw but she remained silent. Good girl.
I made sure our clothing was all good, then I took her hand and held it tight, turning and heading back down the corridor towards the club’s exit.
Christ, I couldn’t stop thinking about it. About her mouth and the feel of her body against mine. The little movements she’d made and her soft, desperate sounds of pleasure. I glanced down at her as we walked, watching the ebb and flow of colour in her cheeks, and I knew she was thinking the same thing.
But she didn’t look back at me, which told me everything I needed to know about her feelings: she regretted it and it was obvious.
My chest tightened but I ignored it. If she thought we were going back to nothing but friendship, she was shit out of luck. She was mine. She was my property and I was going to have her every way I could.
Nothing about this was going to be pretend—not any more.
A couple of people asked where we were going, but I ignored them, too.
Outside, I put her on my bike and we left the club, riding through the dark city streets. Her arms around my waist were a special kind of torture, as was the feel of her heat against my back, and by the time we rolled up outside her apartment I was hard enough to hammer nails.
But I’d decided I was going to give her space tonight. Just one night to let what had happened between us sink in. Because tomorrow I had plans. And they sure as shit didn’t include keeping my distance.
The babysitter—a friend of Red’s old lady—was surprised to see us and no wonder. We were probably way earlier than she was expecting. But I paid her for the whole night, and apparently Annie had been good, so everyone was happy.
Cat disappeared into Annie’s room as I paid the babysitter and didn’t come out after the woman had left. Probably didn’t want to face me after what had happened in the hallway and, hell, I couldn’t blame her. She hadn’t been expecting it. Unluckily for her, I didn’t have any problem with dealing with the fallout.
Closing the door after the babysitter, I went down the narrow hallway to Annie’s bedroom and stood in the doorway. Sure enough, Cat was sitting on Annie’s bed, stroking her hair. The nightlight threw shadows everywhere, its shade with cut-outs scattering stars onto the ceiling, and the only sound was Annie’s gentle, deep breathing.
It was a peaceful picture. A beautiful one. It made the tightness in my chest get even tighter—because this was mine. This was my family. One I never thought I’d ever have, never thought I’d even want.
After the shit had gone down with my father—after he’d made my mother’s life and mine a living hell—I’d decided I didn’t want a wife. Didn’t want kids. Didn’t want a family. But it had been Cat who’d showed me that a family didn’t have to be about fists and shouting. That it could be about respect, about love.
Until you took him out.
Yeah, there was that. My soul wasn’t clean and I knew it. Yet somehow, clean soul or not, I had a family right here. A woman I would have moved heaven and earth for and a kid who wasn’t mine and yet I’d lay down my life for her.
I wasn’t going to give this up for anything. And if anyone tried to take Annie and Cat away from me, they’d have to prise them from my cold, dead hands.
Maybe she sensed me standing there, because Cat turned her head and her eyes met mine. I said nothing, just leaned against the doorframe, my hands in my pockets. Letting her know that I wasn’t going anywhere in a hurry and that she couldn’t escape me.
She flushed and turned away, leaning over to give Annie a kiss before rising to her feet. Giving her daughter one last look, she came towards me, and I could tell she was gathering her courage because her chin came up and her green eyes didn’t flicker away from mine.
She said nothing as she went past me and didn’t stop, heading out into the hall, so I followed on behind, watching the sway of her butt in that tight-fitting pencil skirt. Fuck, what had I been thinking about keeping my distance tonight? I wanted to bend her over the nearest hard surface, shove that goddamn skirt out of my way and bury myself so deep in her pussy she’d feel me for days.
But I knew Cat. I knew she was going to need at least a night to get her head around this. A night for her body to understand what it needed.
Me.
In the lounge she turned to face me, folding her arms, all defensive, but I didn’t stop. There weren’t going to be any damn lectures about how we needed to forget all about this, put it behind us, make like it didn’t happen. No—fuck that. She was my property now, and that meant I got to call the shots.
‘Smoke—’ she began.
But I walked straight up to her, grabbing her hips and pulling her in nice and tight, feeling the heat of her perfect little pussy against my aching dick.
‘No,’ I said. ‘Don’t speak. Don’t say a fucking word.’
Her jaw tensed and her mouth settled into a hard line. But she didn’t talk.
‘Here’s what’s going to happen,’ I went on, pressing my fingers against her hips, feeling her warmth and softness, letting myself enjoy it. ‘I’ll leave you to sleep alone tonight and I’ll take the couch. But tomorrow you’re taking the day off, and after Annie’s gone to school, you and me are going to have a little talk.’
She didn’t try to pull away, but neither did she soften against me. Her whole body was tense. She was holding herself rigid.
‘And I guess when you say “little talk” you mean...?’
‘Fucking, Cat.’ No point in mincing words or pretending otherwise. ‘You and I will be fucking.’
Her cheeks flamed. ‘Well, I guess that’s clear.’ Her voice was heavy with sarcasm. ‘Nothing like reducing it to the level of a porno.’
‘I don’t recall you having a problem with it when I had you screaming in my ear in the damn hallway.’
She flushed even deeper, biting her lip and looking away.
I knew what was going on. She was doing what she always did when she was scared, which was to get snarky and defensive. Sadly, I wasn’t going to be putting up with that bullshit.
‘I’m not going to let you push me away.’ I moved my thumbs back and forth over her hips, stroking her, keeping up that physical contact. ‘Not any more. This is how it’s going to be—starting tomorrow. You and me. Together.’
A lock of silky black hair fell over her face, hiding her expression as she looked down at her feet. ‘I thought... I thought all this was supposed to be pretend.’
‘It was supposed to be.’ I didn’t want to hide the truth from her—not now that we’d crossed the line. ‘Then I changed my mind.’
‘Why?’ She still wouldn’t look at me. ‘Since when did things change?’
I looked down at the light glossing her black hair, at her lashes dark against her cheeks like splashes of black ink. Christ, I was turning into a fucking poet.
‘They never changed. Not for me. I’ve always wanted you, kitten. Always.’
Her head came up sharply, her eyes wide, the look in them shocked as hell. ‘What? But...’ She blinked, the shock giving way to confusion. ‘Really? You never said anything... I mean, I never got the impression that...’ She stopped. ‘Seriously, Smoke?’
But I was done for the night, and I suspected so was she. We could have all this out in the morning, when the shock had worn off.
‘Tomorrow,’ I said shortly. ‘We’ll talk about this tomorrow.’
A spark of green temper flared in her gaze. ‘In between all the fucking, you mean?’
She was such brat... Jesus Christ.
I lifted my hand, took her little chin in between my thumb and forefinger, holding her still. ‘Maybe.’ I kept my voice quiet. ‘But only if you’re a very good girl and do exactly as you’re told.’
She snorted, like she was still my friend and we were kidding around with each other. But it was time she stopped thinking that shit, so I bent my head and kissed her hard, pushing my tongue into her hot mouth, silencing her.
A tremble shook her and she made a soft, desperate noise. Then she tipped her head back further, letting me kiss her deeper, her tongue meeting mine and sliding along it. It was a taste and a tease and a taunt all in one. Her hands were pressed against my chest, there was the scent of musk and Cat filling my senses, and suddenly I didn’t want to wait till morning. I wanted her again—right the fuck now.
But she’d been leading me around by my dick for years and I was sick of it. It didn’t matter that she hadn’t known I wanted her. I didn’t give a fuck how unfair or otherwise that was. I was the one in charge from now on and that was how it would stay.
I lifted my head, ignoring her soft moan of protest, and with my stupid fucking cock aching like it hadn’t been inside her only an hour ago, I stepped back and away from her. ‘Time for bed, kitten.’
An expression I couldn’t read flashed over her face, then it was gone. She lifted a shoulder like she didn’t give a shit—which made her a damn liar, considering her cheeks were flushed and her mouth looked full and swollen.
‘I’ll get you a pillow and a blanket,’ she muttered, and turned away, heading out of the lounge.
A minute or two later she was back, a pillow in one hand, a blanket in the other, and going over to the couch, making a production of putting the pillow down and laying the blanket out flat.
Once she’d finished she made an awkward gesture towards the couch. ‘There. It’s done.’
A silence fell and I let it hang, because I was being a prick and enjoying the way the tension between us made her blush even more. Another sign that our friendship really was dead and gone.
Maybe I should have felt regret about that, but I didn’t. Our friendship had been built on lies anyway—or at least for me it had been. The lie that I didn’t want to make her mine in every way that counted.
Yeah, I was risking everything on this. But, then again, how much of a risk could it truly be? I wasn’t going to let her go. Not now. Not ever.
Pushing my hands into my pockets, I met her gaze. ‘Goodnight, Cat.’
She held it. ‘Goodnight, Dane.’
Then she turned around and walked out.