24. Hudson
HUDSON
Kavi
I fail to see how that’s your problem. In any case, yes, I’ve had quite the lovely conversation with him. He even asked me to dinner and then to go home with him. And since I have nothing tying me down . . .
My hand tightens over my phone, threatening to crack it as my head lifts to find her smiling back at me. It’s a smile unlike any I’ve ever seen from her—reckless and full of innuendo. And while my brain tells me I should reign in the rising tide inside me, my dick is hardening inside my tux.
She knows exactly what she’s doing. She knows she’s pushing my buttons, but what she doesn’t know is those buttons are wired to set off an explosion she’s not ready for.
Leaving my empty glass on the bar and my friends and brother chatting, I will my feet not to stomp as I march over to where the asshole, who looks like a Ken doll, takes a bite of his food, eyeing Kavi like she painted the fucking sky.
I’ve watched him all evening—sitting a little too close, speaking a little too softly, breathing a little too much—and I’ve decided I’ve held back enough.
It’s been an emotional day, having to officially give away my daughter, and I’m glad to have held my tongue, but I can only hold it in so much.
Sliding my hands into my pockets to hide my fists, I greet Belinda and Greg before asking them about the baby. They’ve left her home with Greg’s mother, and Belinda thanks me for the gifts I had delivered.
I then turn my gaze to Kavi, ignoring the idiot sitting next to her. I won’t look at him because doing so could lead to me lifting him by his collar and throwing him out. My desires aside, my daughter and her new bride don’t need the drama.
Kavi brings her wineglass to her lips, hiding her goading smile behind it. Glad someone thinks this is funny, but it’s certainly not me.
“I need to speak with you, privately.”
She bats her long lashes in response to my demand. “Is it work-related because, like I said, I’m off the clock right now, Mr. Case. Plus, I don’t want to miss Madison and Brie’s cake cutting.”
“That’s my girl. You tell him, Kavi.” Belinda high-fives Kavi before wincing when she sees my unamused face. “Sorry, boss.”
My molars grind. “It’s . . . everything-related, and we should be back before the cake cutting. I wouldn’t want to miss it, either.”
Kavi throws her napkin onto her plate, making a show of how inconvenienced she feels, and I want to slap her delectable ass right the fuck here. She is on my last nerve, but fuck, what I’d do to get her on my dick, too.
She excuses herself, walking in front of me, when I hear Ken doll behind me, speaking to Belinda. “Wait, is Madison’s dad also Captain CrankyDick from Kavi’s phone?”
Belinda chortles. “Yep, that’s him.”
My eyes stay fixed ahead, resting on the woman who’s walking fairly straight, given she practically chugged two healthy glasses of wine over the course of thirty minutes. She entered me as Captain CrankyDick on her phone? I suppose that’s not too far off, given my dick has been cranky since the night it was inside her and couldn’t be again.
Kavi weaves through the bustling waitstaff, traipsing toward the backdoor of my ranch house. She affords me the small mercy of following my directions in the text, climbing the stairs to my bedroom, and I trail a few feet behind her.
Perhaps I should be worried about sneaking into my bedroom with my admin. Maybe I’d be smarter to conceal the green-eyed monster rising inside me. But at this very moment, when I’m feeling both reckless and alive, I can’t seem to give a shit.
Yes, Maddy could find out and ask. Yes, Belinda is probably wondering what I needed to speak to Kavi about so urgently. But I’ll cross both bridges when I need to.
Right now, my priority is to figure out why I even asked Kavi to meet me here in the first place. All I knew was I had to get her away from that blonde-tipped asshole before he made the mistake of touching her again. He’s lucky it’s my daughter’s wedding day and I couldn’t make a spectacle when he had the audacity to touch her lips.
Lips that belong to me.
A smile that belongs to me and only me.
Jealousy courses through my blood and throbs in my temples. I’ve never been a jealous man. I’ve always worked hard for what I’ve wanted and gotten the fruits of my labor. But Kavi? Kavi’s the forbidden fruit I never should have laid eyes on. Or better yet, never should have tasted.
Hands folded over her chest, she struts into my master bedroom. I follow her, locking the door behind me. Thankfully, the noise downstairs will keep our conversation private.
She whips around, her wide eyes assessing me. “What’s this about, Hudson? What could be so important that you needed to speak to me right now?”
My heart beats erratically in my chest. “I won’t make a habit of watching men flirt with you.”
She tilts her head, perplexed. “What? What do you—”
“First Corbin, and now this asshole. You might allow them to flirt with you, but I won’t.”
Kavi’s mouth drops open and, honestly, I stare in astonishment at my own words. I can’t decide if I’m more surprised because they’re finally out or because I’ve never felt this strange possessiveness before.
She takes a step forward, incredulity and tension evident in her posture. “What do you mean, you won’t allow it? Last I checked, you didn’t dictate who flirted with me. Last I checked, you couldn’t control who I flirted back with.” She stands toe-to-toe with me, placing a finger on the middle of my chest. “You know why, Mr. Case?”
My breath falters as she rises on her toes, bringing her face inches from mine. She’s pure seduction and all the reasons I’m spiraling out of control.
Her eyes blaze with intensity and irritation, a deep gaze as endless as an abyss. “Because you made the decision not to.”
My nostrils flare. “I made the decision I had to. The only decision that fucking made sense.”
Her finger digs deeper into my chest. “Then what’s the problem? Why are we even having this discussion?”
That’s the million-dollar question, isn’t it? What is the damn problem?
I wrap my hand around her wrist. “The problem is, I can’t fucking stand it.”
“What can’t you stand?” she asks breathlessly. “I don’t crack codes and speak in riddles for a living, Hudson. I need you to be clear. What can’t you stand? That a couple of men flirted with me and you’ve had to watch, or that I flirted back because I’m free to do so?”
“Yes,” I rasp, dipping my head to connect our eyes.
She pauses at my admission, the sharpness in her gaze giving way slightly, but her eyes are still shuttered. “This is what you wanted.”
“I know,” I retort.
“You haven’t spoken a single word to me about that night since—”
“I know.” I grip her wrist tighter, pulling her closer. My pulse races as the scent of lemons and vanilla penetrates my senses.
“You said it would be one night, one time—”
“I lied.”
She blinks in shock. “What?”
“I fucking lied, Kav. I lied to you and to myself.” I grasp her stubborn chin, my eyes dipping to that stud over her lip that I love so fucking much.
Her pupils dilate. “About what?”
“About not wanting you day in and out. About thinking I would only need one night, one time—” I take in a stuttered breath, cupping her cheeks. “I won’t watch random assholes speak to you like they stand a chance with you, like they deserve your time.”
“Do you deserve my time?” she asks with a haughty tilt of her head.
“No,” I answer sincerely. “But I want it, anyway.”
Her eyes search mine. “So this is about you being jealous? Is that it?”
“Yes. Yes, I’m fucking jealous,” I declare, feeling lighter having let my words free.
“No.” She shakes her head, her fingers wrapping around my forearms to pull my hands from her face. “I’m sorry, Hudson, but that’s not good enough for me.”
She steps away and my body leans forward, immediately chasing her warmth.
“I need more than your macho declarations, claiming me only when you feel threatened. I need something real.” A rueful smile tips the side of her mouth. “I don’t want someone who thinks he can erase me from his system after one night—”
“I couldn’t erase you if I tried,” I cut in, leaning against the wall behind me and dropping my hands against my thighs. “Don’t you see that? Don’t you fucking see that even when I am trying my best to stay away, I can’t?”
I stare at her, waiting for her to grasp my admission before coming clean with another. “I didn’t need you on the RCS account, Kav. Personnel changes weren’t part of the contract; they happen all the time, and I could have pulled in any temp to cover the admin position for a few weeks.”
She blinks, a jigsaw coming into place. “You made up a salary I couldn’t say no to, a reason why I had to move in with you . . .”
“I’m not ashamed of it, and I’d do it again.”
“Why? Why would you do that?”
I lift both my hands and then drop them again, along with all my restraint. It’s rare for me to let myself be vulnerable, but with Kavi, no other choice exists. The gates have to be wide open or reinforced with titanium.
“Your orange boots? Your fruit-shaped earrings? Your humming while you bake?” I take a breath, though my heart feels like it’s going to rocket out of my chest. “Your paintings, your nightlights, or that diamond over your lip?”
I give us both a moment to absorb my words. A moment where Kavi stares at me, dumbfounded and stunned.
I shrug. “The way hum while you bake. Your orange fingernails, your button nose, or the Dr. Seuss clock on your nightstand.”
I give her a tentative smile; tentative and uncertain, when I’ve never felt either. But it’s what this woman does to me.
“I couldn’t pick just one,” I finish.
After what feels like an eon—like she’s just awakened from the stupor she was in—Kavi steps toward me. Her eyes are soft and searching, like she can finally see inside and wants to follow me.
I hold her gaze. “I can’t shake you, Kav. I’ve fucking tried, but I can’t.”
Her hands cup my face and mine drop to her hips as she makes her way between my splayed legs. “Then don’t.”
My entire body warms as she lifts on her toes once again, but instead of placing her lips on mine, she sticks her tongue out and runs it over my scruffed jaw. My hands fist momentarily before I palm her ass and pull her against my hardened cock.
I look down at her pillowy breasts, practically spilling from the top of her pink strapless dress, and a low growl shatters in my chest. I bet her nipples are pebbled underneath. Kavi’s lips drag down to my neck, where she sucks and nips at my skin, soft but sure.
I press forward, giving her a full indication of my need while my large palms knead her ass encouragingly.
She unbuttons my jacket, shoving it off my shoulders, as she trails her lips to my earlobe. Her warm tongue laves it gently before she pulls it between her teeth.
Goading, urging, provoking.
Knowing full well she’s drawing out an untamed beast she’ll never be able to get back into his cage.
“You gave me all those truths,” she whispers, stoking embers inside me, making me so rock-hard, I’m threatening to detonate. “Now it’s time you hear a few of mine.”
Her heart thunders, rattling my ribcage.
“Your plush, unsmiling lips, your storm-colored eyes . . .” she dusts her thumb over my stubble as she whispers, “and this scruff that drives me insane.”
Her breaths come out in spurts as she lays a hand over my heart. “The heart you guard. The way you kiss. The way you touch. The way you smell.” Her eyes bounce against mine. “I can’t shake you, either, Hudson, nor do I want to.”
Our mouths collide like crashing waves.
Turbulent and explosive, intense and urgent.
Kavi’s fingers work fast, unfastening my bowtie and unbuttoning my shirt, as I walk her backward to my bed. Our tongues entangle and thrust as our moans crash between us. There’s a ferocity in our kiss and our movements, a need to own and possess. It’s not gentle or slow, not sweet and soft. It’s untamed and vicious, just like the primal desire inside us. One that’s finally been set free.
I’m fevered and delirious as my hands make their way to her breasts. I can’t get a good handful with her dress’s stiff bodice in the way. She notices, quickly unzipping the side and pulling her dress down. It pools on the floor at her ankles, exposing miles of her skin with nothing but a triangle of pink fabric between her thighs.
“Fuck,” I rasp, grabbing handfuls of her perky tits and rolling her nipples between my fingers.
She moans in my mouth, her short fingernails scraping down my chest.
I don’t let our lips untangle, my appetite for her intensifying with each drag of my tongue against hers. She tastes just like the first time we kissed, with an added note of wine—delicious and addictive.
“Are you on the pill?” I ask huskily against her mouth.
“Yes.”
“Good. Then get your ass on the bed for me,” I order, tilting my head to the bed behind her. “First, I need your pussy on my tongue, then I need it to swallow my cock.”
Even as she shakes her head, as if resisting my demand, she scoots down the bed, flicking her eyes to the clock on my nightstand. “We don’t have time, Hudson. They’ll be cutting the cake in less than fifteen minutes.”
I lick my lips. “Then you better come fast and hard, because we’re not leaving until my tongue is covered with you.” I look down at her heaving chest, loving the way her skin glistens, even though I’ve barely touched her. Trailing my fingertips down her stomach, watching her clench and whimper, I brush them over the elastic of her panties. “Open your knees. I can fucking smell you from here. Fuck, I can even taste you from here.”
She drops her knees on the bed, laying back on the pillow behind her, and I pull her to the edge of the bed. Kneeling in front of her, I run the tip of my finger over the flimsy damp fabric against her center. Pulling it to one side, I use my other hand to run another finger through her slit, gathering her juices.
Kavi whimpers, seizing her bottom lip between her teeth just as she grasps the linen on my bed between her fists.
“You like that, baby girl?” I croak.
She makes me feel barbaric, uncivilized and inhuman. I’ve never felt a hunger like this before, a yearning so fucking deep, it threatens to brand my soul. Yes, I want to own her, possess her in a way I’ve never done before, but more than that, I want to surrender and lose myself to her, too.
Hell yes, I want to call her mine, but that desire wanes in comparison to the need to be hers. Only hers.
“Mm-hmm,” she hums, gasping
I tug on the flimsy fabric, pulling it taut until it’s practically tearing before letting it go like a rubber band against her needy center. Kavi hisses, her hips jumping up at the contact, eyes alight with lust and anger, when I do it again. The fabric snaps roughly against her slit, but this time, she mewls.
I don’t have to touch her pussy to know it’s dripping for me.
“Hudson,” she pants.
Chuckling and knowing I don’t have much time to play with her the way I want to, I tug the fabric hard, ripping it in the center. Placing my hands on her thick thighs, I lay kisses over her center. My fingertips press into her skin as I alternate kissing and blowing over her dripping center.
Kavi thrashes under me, reaching for the back of my head, a throaty plea escaping through her gritted teeth. “Please, Hudson. I need you.”
Her fingers find purchase in my hair and I release another throaty chuckle at how demanding and needy she is for me. She pulls me to her, urging, begging, practically screaming.
And while I’m aware we’re limited on time, I have no intention of hurrying through this part.
I run the tip of my tongue up her slit, tasting her once more the way I did on my desk. My cock thickens at the memory of fucking her that day, the way I’m about to today. The woman is nothing I could have predicted, nor seen coming. She’s beautiful, no doubt, but where her beauty hooked me from day one, it’s her heart, her mind, and her sass that have me ensnared. And I don’t want to be let loose.
Kavi squirms under me, her hip chasing my mouth. “Yes. Yes, please,” she breathes. “Ooh.”
Pressing her legs down on the bed, I open her up like a flower, running my flattened tongue up her center again. Collecting her juices on my tongue, I taste every drop she gives me. She’s delicious, her scent heady and so uniquely her that I want to bathe in it.
Focusing on her clit, I pull and suck it into my mouth, slurping at her like a parched traveler at an oasis. I flick and roll it with my tongue, releasing a few grunts over her wet mound. I ravage her with my tongue before sinking the tip inside her entrance.
Kavi’s fingernails bite my scalp and her moan echoes inside the room. Her thighs shudder under my hands, begging to be released, and when I finally let them go, they seize my face. My entire head is clasped in her grasp, and even though I can barely breathe, I’ve never been this turned on. I’d die a happy man right here if I could, doing the thing I love the most—eating out my girl.
My hands clasps her outer thighs as I increase my speed, working her with my tongue to the sounds of her gasps and squeals. When I add my fingers inside her, pumping her with two digits as I continue to suckle her center, she’s lost, ready to surrender to her body’s bidding.
She lifts her hips, grinding her pussy against my fingers and tongue, using me to chase her pleasure, and I happily oblige.
Lick, moan. Suck, whimper. Lap, squeal. Thrust, gasp.
We repeat the process until her thighs are quivering around me; her screams an octave louder as she comes hard on my tongue. Fisting my hair between her fingers, she unravels and uncoils, sending waves of pride and satisfaction rolling through me.
And before she’s even done taking her next breath, I’ve unbuckled my belt and dropped my pants and boxers.
Her hooded eyes roam over my tattooed chest peeking out from my unbuttoned shirt. “God, are you carved from stone, Hudson Case? You’re the most gorgeous man I’ve ever met.”
I’ve never vied for compliments, but it takes my ego to unparalleled heights that she likes what she sees. I drop to hover above her, one hand next to her head and the other stroking my cock. I slide my tip through her slit, making her squirm. “You know what saying things like that will make me do to you, don’t you?”
She shakes her head, reaching up to meet my lips, tugging my bottom lip in between her teeth. “Tell me.”
“No, I’ll show you.”
Lining myself up at her entrance, I thrust inside her in one go. Our groans collide between us, our eyes rolling to the back as I feel her stretch around me as she takes me fully into her body. The feeling is almost too much and not enough at the same time.
I find her mouth again, kissing her as I pull out and push back in, going so deep, I’m not sure I’ll find my way back out. She widens her knees and I drive into her again, my biceps quivering from holding my weight. My jaw tightens as I piston into her, and I take as much as I give, fucking her with abandon.
Kavi moans against my mouth, feeling my balls slap the bottom of her pussy. “So fucking good.”
Her hands roam over my chest, lingering on the tattoos she loves, before finding my bare back under my shirt. Her fingernails drag down my spine, and I increase my pace instinctively. She’s creating a wild frenzy inside me, brewing a storm in the depths of my soul.
“Fuck, yes.” I lean on one elbow and gently wrap my hand around her throat, feeling perfectly certifiable with my need for her. “God, I love this pussy so much,” I pant, looking down between us where my cock bucks against her. “It’s my pussy to fuck and eat. You got that?”
“Yes,” Kavi hisses, fisting the pillow behind her, shoving her head back and giving me more of her neck.
“Tell me it’s mine, baby girl. Tell me you’re mine.”
“Head to toe, Hudson,” she answers without hesitation. “I’m yours.”
We’re fucking on my bed, only feet away from my daughter’s wedding, but all I can think about is ruining this woman under me for any other man. I want to drench her with me so every inch of her remembers the way I felt. I want to course through her bloodstream and possess her soul.
I hadn’t expected today to play out this way.
Yes, I’ve wanted her since the moment I saw her, sitting at my admin’s desk in my office all those weeks ago. Hell, if I’m honest, I wanted her before that. But that today would end up with me confessing shit I hadn’t even processed myself? I definitely hadn’t seen that coming.
I tried so hard to stay away from her, convincing myself we had no future. But it was just a foolish attempt to outrun time, thinking I could avoid her and keep things friendly until she left. I still have no idea where this leads.
Long-term, short-term, my terms, her terms . . . who the fuck knows?
I should feel sick to my stomach, terrified of not knowing. I’m a man who thrives on control, and not having it feels like trying to maintain balance over shifting sand. I should walk away from this, rescind all the ties and accept the reality that comes at the end of this summer. I should put back all that armor and re-erect all my walls, because in the end, I know she’ll shatter what’s behind them in a way I’ll never be able to put back together.
But I can’t seem to.
As if by an undetectable thread I can’t seem to cut, I feel bound to her, tangled in a way I’ve never been before.
And at this moment, that feels okay.
At this moment, being entangled is the only thing that feels freeing.
Tightening my hold on her neck, I drive into her with punishing strokes, feeling my cock swell and the electricity buzz at the base of my spine. “You ready to come for me, sweet girl?”
“Yes.” Kavi wraps her arms around my neck, and I drag my hand down to her clit, working it while I jackhammer into her. My mouth drops to her neck and I drag my tongue over her soft, fevered skin, nipping and sucking it.
A few more long thrusts, with the taste of her sweet skin on my lips and our hearts slamming against the other, and I feel her fracture. Her walls quiver around my cock as she sucks me in deeper before a guttural moan erupts through her lips.
My release begins soon after, and I groan into her neck, coating her insides with my cum.
We’re both a tangle of shuddering breaths and sweaty limbs for several long moments until we’ve both caught our breaths. Her hand is buried in my hair and mine cups her breast. With my face still pressed against her neck, I flick her nipple with my thumb and make her giggle.
“Well, that was quite something.” I can hear the smile in her voice.
Releasing her breast, I pull back to look at her, not feeling an ounce of guilt for my part in her disheveled state. “What do you say we do that again tonight?”
She runs the back of her fingernails against my stubble. She wasn’t lying when she said she loved it. “I’d say that sounds like the best plan you’ve ever had. But first . . .”
“Cake,” we say at the same time, chuckling.