Chapter 9
Axe
What in the hell was I doing?
Touching a woman who didn’t belong to me and never would. Would some consider it ridiculous I’d held onto the pledge I’d made to an old friend? Maybe, but as terrible a man as some might think me, I did have honor.
At least somewhere deep inside.
Why should I walk away, locking myself into another room?
For some sense of doing the right thing?
Or loyalty? Yes, which would sound strange to some, but that’s the way of cowboys.
A pledge made to my best friend, a man I barely spent any time with any longer.
How strange. A promise made first when we’d both noticed some guy we’d both considered a jerk suddenly interested in Kenzie.
Then he’d made the cardinal mistake of hitting on her.
Yeah, he’d also learned a valuable lesson.
An oath made over a shot of tequila. A cowboy’s pledge, a fable passed down through generations.
We’d been taught as boys that certain promises, undertakings of honor were not to be fucked with.
And what was I doing?
Fucking with it.
Destroying the tether I’d once thought easy to maintain. Even when challenged, my oath had won over my dick.
Years had passed and I’d believed myself to be rid of the hunger that had kept me awake nights long after she’d left town. Fuck. I had to ask again why karma hated me so damn much. She was testing me and I was already failing.
Oops.
Maybe later I’d tell myself that I’d lost my mind. Or perhaps I’d make promises that I’d never do something so stupid or reckless again.
I’d certainly have difficulty looking Kenzie in the eyes again. She already didn’t trust me and my rude behavior certainly wasn’t going to win her over even after sex.
Yet with the first taste of her there was nothing I could do to stop my actions. Her pussy was that sweet, the nectar of the gods.
So I wrapped my arms around her long legs, keeping her spread wide open. She jerked up from the granite’s surface, arching her back. Every moan slipping past those lush lips of hers was enough to drive a man into madness.
I couldn’t think about what I was doing or somewhere in the darkest, furthest reaches of my mind, I would try to stop myself from moving forward.
And sweet Lord, that wasn’t something I wanted to do.
I dragged the tip of my tongue around her tiny clit, taking my time to entice and tease.
Barely two minutes later, the tiny nub had swollen to twice the size.
I pulled the tender tissue into my mouth, sucking while she tossed her head back and forth.
I’d never tasted anything so sweet, peaches on a hot summer day. I could barely contain myself, lapping her cream while she writhed on the counter. All I could think about was her writhing underneath me.
That would come soon enough.
She’d touched more than just my body.
McKenzie Sterling had seen the pain and wrapped her small, shaking hand around the raw emotion, holding it as if it belonged to her.
I’d never let anyone in, at least other than Will. Which was why the moment was so damn cathartic.
Kenzie wiggled in my hold, just like she’d done when I’d taken her up on her dare years ago, and I enjoyed watched the slight struggle.
Just as I had all those years ago.
Every sound she made invigorated my senses. I was fucking electrified from her touch alone. She truly had no idea how stunning of a woman she’d grown into.
She was all voluptuous, rounded curves in all the right places. She’d likely complain she wasn’t thin enough, something she’d done years before, but she was utterly perfect in my mind. Her breasts fit my hands as if made for them.
I craved her long legs wrapped around me tightly as I fucked her.
Her hips? Oh, sweet Jesus. Soon I’d grab a handful while fucking her from behind. Every man’s dream.
What I adored the most was the fire in her luminous eyes. At least the years hadn’t stolen the rebellion from her.
She dared shift again while I was lost in the past, almost kneeing me in the chest. How in the hell had she managed to do that?
“Nice try, Palomino Girl.” The term just came to me and seemed to shock us both.
She’d hated the nickname with a passion, even though her favorite horse and the one she’d had since she’d been a little girl had been a stunning palomino.
I’d told her she bucked like a wild horse, like her horse and the nickname had stuck.
“I’m not that girl any longer,” she muttered, throwing the term in my face.
“Oh, yes, you are.”
I yanked her down to the edge of the counter, spreading her even more wide open. She knew exactly how best to challenge a man with her smile and her eyes, with the wave of her hand and the toss of hair over her shoulder.
She’d always believed she had control and in truth, she had. Of every freaking inch of me.
Well, no longer.
If she thought she could get away from me, she was dead wrong. I would tie her down if necessary. I continued my feast, driving both my tongue and my fingers into her pussy. Jesus Christ, she was tight, so fucking tight I wondered what in the hell was wrong with the dude she’d spent time with.
He’d hurt her and because of that, I wanted to hurt him.
Since he wasn’t here and the beautiful woman he tossed aside was, I shifted my energy to pleasing her the way women deserved.
“Oh…” she moaned as soon as I added another finger, pumping several times. As soon as I flexed them open, even curling the tips, she jerked up onto her forearms, staring at me with side eyes. “You are…”
I licked her furiously, alternating with sucking on her clit and her swollen folds. How many times had I envisioned doing this? Enough I planned on taking my time enjoying every damn second. For now, she was my captive and why not take full advantage.
Who was I to toss aside a gift provided by Mother Nature?
I stopped being gentle, using my mouth and tongue as well as every finger to drive her absolutely insane. Including my thumb, which I drove just inside her tight butthole. As soon as I did, she let out a wild screech, her body shaking as an orgasm swept through her.
Neither one of us had been prepared for the moment, but I made certain I lapped up every drop of cream.
“Oh… You are so bad. So… bad.” Her words were soft and airy, barely audible yet I heard every word. And I wasn’t interested in stopping, enjoying every moment of the way her body reacted to what I was doing.
She moaned and undulated her hips, snapping her fingers around my hair. “I’m too sensitive. It’s just too much.”
I responded by sucking on her clit as I’d done before, enjoying her scent as well as the blush crowding her cheeks. I couldn’t seem to get enough, crazed for more of her. When I buried my entire face, she bucked harder.
“I can’t. Not a chance. You have to stop. You just…” Her eyes were crazed, her mouth twisted as she ripped at my hair.
“Is that what you really want?”
“Uh-huh. Yes. I’m certain.” Panting, she rubbed her arm across her mouth. Two beads of perspiration had formed on her forehead, slowly trickling down her face.
“Alright. Fine.” I rose to my full height, inhaling the scent of her. She had no idea how intoxicating her natural perfume had become.
Her stare leveled me, drilling me into the ground. Even when she’d been her most annoying self, she’d managed to use the same technique to drive me crazy. It had worked then and was doing so again.
My brother’s death had almost ruined me. While everyone else, including members of my family and extended smokejumper family had consoled and prodded me, telling me to get on with my life, she’d been the one to break through my thick defense.
I’d spent far too much time being haunted by her after she’d left. Here she was in my house. In my arms. Soon to be in my bed. Talk about a cathartic act.
I wasn’t into playing games any longer. She’d unknowingly awakened something that I’d ignored until a few weeks ago and shoved aside after Will’s death.
Now, the hunger was something that had to be dealt with. But I wasn’t finished enjoying the taste of her yet. When I grabbed her hand, she peered at me quizzically. When I yanked her onto her feet and into my arms, she took several deep breaths. I needed her to know how truly sweet she tasted.
When I captured her mouth, she stiffened.
Had no one ever done this with her before?
I held her lips almost closed for several seconds while she shifted in my arms. When I slipped my tongue inside, she inhaled deeply before darting hers across mine.
The move was almost delicate, more so than I’d expected from her.
She crawled her fingers over my shoulder and I sensed she was uncertain how all this would work out. Take a number. Nothing good would come of it.
I fisted her hair, holding her in place. Why was it I had some innate fear she’d walk out that damn door and I’d never see her again?
The kiss became as rough and needy until she forcefully pushed me away, her eyes darting back and forth.
Maybe being with her had reminded me of the man I’d been a hell of a long time ago. I spun her around without thinking, lifting and tossing her over the edge of the counter.
“What are you doing?” I adored the way she demanded everything of me.
“I wasn’t finished yet, Palomino Girl.”
She was surprised when I spread her open again but stopped fighting me as soon as I lifted her pelvis. “Oh, my God. You’re crazy. You’re just crazy.”
Yeah, I was. I dragged my tongue up and down the length of her pussy. I craved having her come again. I needed her to respond to me in a way that indicated she was as undone by what I was doing to her as I was with what she did to me.
She tried to push up, but as I drove my tongue deep inside, she rested her cheek on the counter, no longer struggling. With the exaggerated rise and fall of her chest, I could tell the moment she was ready to come again.
Her muscles tensed and she stopped moving altogether. But every sound was a clear indication that she enjoyed what I was doing to her.