Chapter 28
KNOX
No one moves, but I can see on their faces that even if they have concerns about what I’m doing here, they trust me enough to roll with it.
The air in the garage hangs thick with tension that rises above the scene of oil, blood, and sweat. There’s something electric about it that hasn’t settled since my fist first connected with Pax’s jaw.
It’s gotten worse since Maren came to stand in front of me like the queen she could be.
Should be.
Pax lies unconscious on the floor, breathing the last few breaths of oxygen.
Because what Sunny found him doing was enough to convince me the man should be wiped from the earth.
The two men had gotten away, but Sunny and Ridge had managed to grab Pax.
They’d burst into his house and found him looking at the kind of illegal shit a grown man shouldn’t be looking for.
For that alone, concrete will be tied to his ankles, and then, Havoc will take him out to open water and drop him way too far from shore for anyone to worry about him ever being found.
And Maren hasn’t stood back from any of it. She hasn’t flinched at the way I’m holding her in front of my men. Even as I run my thumb over the curve of her breast and feel the hard nub of her nipple beneath her T-shirt.
My hand tightens slightly where it rests at her throat. It won’t be enough to hurt but will certainly be enough for her to feel it.
I press my lips close to her ear so only she can hear. “If I wanted to fuck you right here, would you let me?”
“In theory, yes,” she says, and the corners of my lips turn up in a smile.
Something in my chest shifts, at that. She trusts me to take her to places that I’m thinking she hasn’t been before. And it’s hot as hell that there’s a wilder and darker side to her sexual preferences we haven’t even begun to explore.
Yet, I can tell there’s a piece of her that wants to keep it for the two of us.
I hear one of the guys shift their weight.
One of them exhales.
Good.
The feeling inside my chest gets bigger as I consider whether Maren and I arouse them as much as we do each other.
I slide my hand down her throat, slow enough that it builds anticipation. I wonder just how far Maren will let me go before she stops me.
I drag my fingers over her collarbone, then dip my hand beneath the vee of her shirt.
“Did you know what you were walking into when you came down here?” I ask. My lips brush against her ear, and she shivers at the contact.
Her breath catches. “I want to say no.”
“In answer to the question, or this?”
I slip my palm into her bra and cup her breast. Her thighs rub together, so I place my foot between her feet, encouraging her to spread her legs.
“You don’t get to make yourself feel good, sweetheart. Not when I’m here to do it for you.” I let my hand drift down her flat stomach and dip into the hem of her drawstring pants.
She stiffens.
“Easy, sweetheart. Remember, all you have to say is Knox, stop. You got that?”
Maren nods.
I glance past her, once, catching Vandal’s eye. He’s grinning like the bastard he is.
My fingers dip beneath the waistband of her panties, over the narrow strip of hair, and between her lips as I bite her neck.
“Fuck, you’re drenched.”
My cock aches so thoroughly, I can feel the beat of my pulse in it.
Maren’s head dips forward. I move my hand from her breast to grip her around the waist, pull her back against my cock. The presence of my men stops me from grinding her like a hapless teen incapable of any kind of control.
“Knox.” Maren’s word comes out in a mix of a gasp and a sob.
But I also hear the confusion. The indecision. Wanting to be what everyone expects versus wanting to be the sexual being she is.
“Such a good girl letting me touch you in front of my men,” I soothe. “Letting me show them what you’ll take for me. It’ll be impossible for them to not respect you when you show them how beautiful you are when you come.”
She grips my wrist of the hand that’s buried inside her, but she doesn’t pull me away. Instead, she moves against my hand. A small but involuntary sound escapes her, and it goes straight through me.
“Still good?” I ask, breaking my own rule by checking in on her.
She nods, but it’s not enough.
“Use your words, Maren.”
“Yes.”
“Kiss me,” I instruct. And when she lifts her head, I’m dead. Her cheeks are pink, her eyes wide and bright, but it’s the look of sheer trust and need that sends me reeling.
When our lips touch, everyone else in the room disappears for the two of us. There’s only me and this woman, and I can’t help but think the loss and loneliness we’ve endured end here. Because she’s mine.
More than anyone ever has been.
I’ll make these men respect her to repay her for choosing me, even when she shouldn’t. Hell, she’s showing them now. Putting herself in this position to prove what she’d do for me. To convince them to trust her.
Nothing about me is worthy of her, but it doesn’t matter.
She’s here with me anyway.
Her tongue brushes mine as her body jerks in response to me circling her clit firmly. She dips away from the intensity, pushing her ass up against my cock.
“Look at you,” I mutter, heat and roughness creeping into my voice. “So willing to show them how much you trust me with your body. You want to know why?”
“Why?”
“Because you’re mine, Maren.” The words are unexpected. Initially, I wasn’t ever going to claim her. But how could I not, when she trusts me like this. So, I don’t dishonor her by backtracking now.
I’m claiming Maren Caldwell as my old lady, and the rest of the world better get with the program. Because I’ll kill anyone who doesn’t.
“Oh, God,” Maren cries.
Her hand tightens on my wrist.
Her head falls back against my shoulder.
Her cunt clenches around my fingers.
And I feel the rush of wetness as her knees go weak. I band my arm around her hips, holding her up while she jerkily rides out the rest of her orgasm.
“Keep your head down, for a second, sweetheart,” I mutter as I ease my strokes to something soft and gentle.
Call me a protective bastard, but while I had zero problems with them watching me make Maren come, I don’t want them to see her face when it’s at its softest, and most loving and connected.
I’m the only man who gets to see that.
From the corner of my eye, I see Havoc rearrange his dick in his denim.
“Out,” I snap. “And deal with him.”
Low mutters and the sound of boots on concrete, and the dragging of a body, disappear into silence. When I look around, there is only the two of us in the dim light.
I slide my fingers from her and turn her around to face me. “They’re gone. You can look up, now.”
When she does, she bites down on her lower lip. I search her face for signs of regret, convinced I’ll find them there.
But what I do see undoes me. I’m not worth the trust I see in her eyes, but I sure as hell want to be.
She cups my cheeks, steps up onto her toes, and kisses me.
It’s messy and wanton and the kind that makes a man loyal to one woman for the rest of his life, just so he gets to kiss her like that every fucking day.
Once I’m sure we’re alone, I reach for the waistband of her pants and panties and shove both down her legs. It’s imperative I fuck her and fuck her right now.
When the clothes on her lower body are removed, I undo my belt and throw it to the ground. Then, I lift her, one palm on her ass, the other behind her head as I slam her into the wall. Her thighs tighten around me; my cock pressed snugly against her cunt before I grind against her.
“Fuck, I’ve wanted to do that the whole time.”.
Given how wet her pussy is, I bet she’s leaving smears of cream on my denim. I reach between us and fight the button and zipper to free my cock.
It takes a second to shove my jeans down far enough, but without hesitation, I line the two of us up and thrust into her. It takes a few attempts to bury myself in her because of my size and the chokehold of her pussy, but finally, I’m driving all the way home in one tight but smooth slide.
“Fuck, Maren,” I yell.
I don’t care who hears. I don’t care who watches as I shift the way I kiss her so all they’ll see is the side of my head and not her face if they do try to watch.
My mouth crashes against her in a rough claiming that leaves no space for interpretation. I’m dying to fuck this woman because I love her.
Love.
Fuck, I’ll only ever love her.
There can’t be another cunt as perfect for my cock as this one is.
And there’s something about Maren’s squeezed and bruised heart buried beneath a cavalier attitude that makes me want to wrap her up and keep her safe forever.
I want her to feel so safe with me that she’ll show me that raw and tender vulnerability of hers, knowing I’ll never damage it.
That I’ll try to heal it, if she’ll let me.
My knees ache and shake as I thrust into her. It feels so damn good, I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to get deep enough or far enough into her. I want more.
I want it all.
“Jesus fucking Christ,” I mutter as I dance on the verge of orgasm.
At some point, I stop kissing her and press my forehead to hers. But I hold her tightly to me, like I’m scared the world is going to creep in and take her away from me.
My breathing is heavier than it should be.
So is Maren’s.
“Fuck, Maren. I need to feel you come on my cock. You got another one in you, sweetheart?”
Her hands tighten around me. “I’m close. Like this.”
It’s a tricky balance. I keep going just as I am because it’s what she needs, but I’m so close to coming that even the thought of what happened tonight can’t slow the freight train hurtling down my spine.
“Give me your fingers.” She does as I ask, and I spit on them. “Work your clit however you need it.”
She dips them between us and touches herself. “Knox, oh, shit.” The last word comes out on a gasp.
Her body starts to shake in my arms. I can feel the quick gasps of breath she’s taking against the side of my neck, and then, they stop as she comes.
“Oh, Knox,” she cries finally, sucking in air.
“Yeah,” I grunt. “Fuck. I feel that.”
And I want to be a part of it.
Maybe my eyes roll back in my head, but regardless, it’s the closest thing I’ve had to an out-of-body experience. I come so hard, and it feels so rarely and uniquely good, that it doesn’t pass quickly.
There’s wave after wave of pressure down my cock, lasting an eternity.
Maren’s forehead drops to my shoulder as she clings on tight. And I slide both hands beneath her ass to hold her in place as I work through the rest of my shudders.
Even when it’s over, I keep fucking her, thrusting into her, because it feels so damn good, I don’t want it to end.
Finally, I brush my thumb along her jaw. “Such a brave little thing,” I say. “Are you mad?”
“I’m sure I probably should be,” she says, the words muffled against my shoulder. Then, she lifts her head so we’re eye to eye. “I might be a bit embarrassed and may never be able to make eye contact with your men ever again, but it felt unstoppable.”
I chuckle at that. “You just earned your right to stay.”
“Did I just get hazed?”
I smile as I kiss her, feeling satisfaction deep my bones. “No. You just proved what you’d take for me. If there was any doubt in their mind about who you are and what your intentions are, you just blew them out of the water. That means you can totally make eye contact with any of them.”
In a gesture I’m embarrassed to say is adorable, she kisses the tip of my nose. “Will it make things safer for me in the clubhouse?”
“Undoubtedly.”
I reach between us and guide myself out of her pussy, and my hand is soaked.
At first, I’m confused.
Fuck.
“I didn’t use a condom,” I admit. “Wasn’t thinking. I’m sorry.” I tuck a lock of hair behind her ear, then grab a paper towel from the roll on the bench. “Best I can do for clean up until I get you into my shower.”
I gently wipe us both down, then grab her panties and the loose pants she was wearing and put them both back on her.
“What do you want and need to do to fix that?” I ask.
“Tomorrow, we go get tested,” Maren says pragmatically.
“We can do that. Are you on the pill?”
Maren shakes her head. “I’m not. So, I guess the question is, do you want kids?”
Jesus. I only just mentally admitted I love Maren. Haven’t even said the words out loud. But kids?
As soon as I think that, an image pops into my head of me piling kids, multiples of them, and Maren, onto our boat for a day out on the water.
I think of making love to Maren with the pregnant swell of her stomach in my hands.
And sure enough, my cock, which shriveled at the thought I fucked everything up going without a condom, stirs.
“With you? Yes. They take my name, though. None of this double-barrel bullshit. Can’t have my brother’s nephew having the same name as the man who killed him.”
“I agree.”
I scrub a hand over my face. “Jesus. I’m gonna be in my sixties before they get to college. And that’s just the first one, if we assume we just made one.”
Maren chuckles. “Good job I’m so young, then. I’ll be able to keep up with their running around.”
“Hey. I’m not that fucking old.”
“There will be more than one. One of my biggest fantasies is sex that leads to getting pregnant, assuming both of us can.”
I groan as I kiss her neck. “Can’t be talking to me like that.”
She smiles and then looks around the garage. “A lot has shifted in the last hour.”
“For good or for bad?” I ask.
“I’m starting to think forever.”
And when Maren looks back at me, I think she might be right.