CHAPTER TWO
K ade was dressed all in black as he leaned against the counter of the kitchen, crossing his ankles as he took a big gulp from his matching flask with a messy skull on display that he had carved into it. His eyes drifted over the sea of bodies that had managed to squeeze themselves into their small apartment when some random girl connected her phone to the speakers and started taking requests.
Well, it wasn’t that small.
It had three bedrooms and was an open-concept design, so the kitchen was connected to the large living room and dining room area. The dining room table was currently being used as a beer pong table while the furniture in the living room had been pushed to all corners of the room, allowing the guests some space to dance. Dance Monkey by Tones and I started blaring from the speakers next to their wall-mounted television, and the girls were shouting along and writhing with the music while the guys tried to insert themselves into their circle.
Kade rolled his eyes behind his silver-toned mask and took another drink from his flask, hoping to drown out the music or make the night more bearable.
How predatory can you be? Kade mused.
“Come here often?” A small voice asked next to him.
Kade turned his head to look at the figure beside him. She wore a sexy black dress, and the fabric almost looked wet with its shine against her skin. It seemed to move over her chest as she breathed, just like water. The girl had a short black bob and stood next to him, but her gaze was pointed ahead at the chaos in his living room.
He exhaled loudly while scanning the room for a reason to escape, but the only other individual in the kitchen with him was the girl next to him. He could see the edge of her black mask, adorned with an intricate red pattern almost like lace.
“I guess so. I live here,” Kade said simply, a light shrug lifting his shoulders.
“I know,” the feminine voice said, lifting a red velvet flask to her lips. Kade looked over at her again in confusion.
He didn’t socialize much; his circle of friends was small enough, and he didn’t think he’d ever met this girl. He cleared his throat and scanned the crowd again, noticing Alison with Chris. She pressed him against the doorway leading to the hall connecting the bedrooms from the living room. She wrapped her arms around his neck and whispered things in his ear that had the man’s face almost matching the color of Madison’s flaming hair.
Madison.
He thought the siren must be around somewhere by now as his eyes darted frantically from the entrance to the living room. Alison and Madison traveled as a pair most of the time, and Kade doubted tonight would have been any different.
But after last night, the last thing she’d want to do is see you, his mind taunted.
“Are you looking for someone?” She raised her voice over the music, which had turned to some slow song he didn’t know. Kade’s attention was caught by Jesse, who was trying to dance with a beautiful dark-skinned woman with pink hair, clearly Camille.
Kade liked Camille; she was always kind to him growing up since they both were born into the Rebel family. He watched as she pushed Jesse away laughing and went back to dancing with a pretty thing wearing blue lipstick that had her arm wrapped around her waist, and Kade let out a small chuckle at his persistence. He’d had a slight crush on her for a couple of years when he was younger, and she got stuck babysitting him while his dad took care of things with the gang. That was until he tried to flirt with her one night. His 12-year-old self got brave and tried to kiss her—she grabbed his face in her hands and said firmly, “I love you, buddy, but boys give me the ick.”
“Yeah,” he said, waving a hand toward the crowd in front of them. “I was hoping a friend of mine would show up, but it doesn’t look like she’s coming.”
“Maybe she already did,” the voice said next to him so quietly he barely heard her. Kade snapped his head towards the girl beside him and stared down at her, finally giving her his full attention. She turned her head toward him and lifted her gaze to his, her bright green eyes dancing behind long black lashes.
Madison , his mind whispered in disbelief. What the fuck is she wearing?
He trailed his eyes over her body, this time with renewed interest.
“Hey, Kade,” Madison smiled sheepishly, her red lips looking absolutely delicious as she continued. “I just wanted to apologize for yesterday—for last night, I mean.”
She cleared her throat when he just stared at her.
“So, yeah, I’m sorry. Like, super duper sorry you had to see that.”
At this point, she started to slur her words a bit, and Kade looked at the flask in her hand and began to wonder how much she had to drink to get up the courage to come talk to him willingly after last night’s events.
“I just got carried away, and I thought I was alone. I never would have—I’ve never done anything like that before, just so you know. I want to make that clear. And it’s not—it isn’t totally my fault, I mean. It’s not like you don’t try and rile me up,” she finally finished.
Madison seemed proud of her little speech and glad she had already downed most of her flask before arriving at the party. She wanted to get this whole thing over with and die in the comfort of her bedroom now. That’s why it was an easy decision when Kade just continued to stare at her without saying a word. With a deep breath, Madison took the silence as her chance to start her journey toward the front door because it was time to go.
Without thinking, Kade reached towards her and grabbed the top of her dress in the back, effectively unlatching the zipper up top and pulling it down a few inches.
The whiskey in her flask certainly didn’t give her any self-preservation skills because Madison froze. She just stood there, feeling his warm hand on her back as he closed the distance between them and pressed himself against her.
He dropped his head down to rest his chin on her shoulder and whispered in her ear, “I don’t accept.”
Her eyes closed momentarily, her brain foggy from the alcohol, the anxiety of the whole situation turning her into a pretty little statue. And now there was the feeling of Kade’s warm breath against her neck. How was she supposed to move away from that?
“What?” She asked after a few seconds of collecting herself before her fingers reached down until they were clutching the hem of her black dress.
Madison had felt so confident when she showed up at the apartment in her revealing outfit—not at all like her usual attire, and that confidence only grew with the warmth in her belly from god knows how many shots she had already downed. She donned the black wig that she liked to wear sometimes in her room when she wanted to feel a little darker than her perfect Madison McRae persona. Pretending to be someone else for a few minutes, even in this setting, should have been easy enough. No one except Alison knew it was her and that allowed her to relax and enjoy herself for a while. And then she’d finally gotten up the courage to approach him just to apologize and hopefully never speak of it again. That should have been it.
“I said: I don’t accept your apology, Maddie,” Kade replied. His voice was low and husky, and his mouth was teasing her ear. Her heart was suddenly a rhythmic gymnast and she tried to stop herself from shivering or give herself away. He nipped at her earlobe before straightening up behind her but moved his hands to her waist so she wouldn’t step away from him.
“Why not?” She squeaked out. The liquid courage she had in her was starting to wear off fast due to the panic she felt taking its place.
Shit, shit, shit, shit–
“Because I don’t want to forget the vision of you sprawled out on that chair moaning my name,” he said as he started to pull the zipper that dangled between her thighs up next, effectively unzipping her dress from the bottom up until he reached the swell of her ass. Madison let out a low gasp and looked around, trying to see if anyone was watching them. They were still in the kitchen, safely in front of the black counter, and the kitchen island was high enough to separate them from the waist down to the partygoers in the room. Her eyes darted towards the crowd nervously as he placed a kiss on her neck. She tried to reach behind her to pull her zipper back down, but strong fingers curled around her wrist and brought it up to her waist with a slight force that had her arm pinned behind her.
“Why’s that?” She asked breathlessly as she felt his fingertips trail up her inner thighs to hook his finger around the string of the thong he found nestled between the globes of her ass.
“Because,” Kade whispered as he toyed with the string. “It was the most erotic thing I’ve ever seen in my life.”
He pulled the thong sharply, eliciting a yelp from deep in Madison’s throat at the sensation of her clit being strangled by the scrap of fabric between her legs.
Kade pulled once more on the thong and bent down to whisper in her ear, “You like that , don’t you? Of course, you do; your body is practically vibrating. I can feel the heat radiating from this pretty cunt and,” Madison’s whimper cut him off, causing him to tighten his grip on the wrist still pinned to her lower back, and he reached between her thighs where her wetness was starting to escape her smooth pussy.
Jesus fucking Christ.
What was he doing?
He should stop, right? She was trying to move past this whole thing so they could go back to being friends. Or whatever they were before. And he was practically pouncing on her in the kitchen during a party.
Where someone could see them at any second.
Fuck it.
Kade took a deep breath and continued, “I know you can’t stop thinking about it. And I know you’re so fucking wet for me already, Maddie.”
Madison’s head dropped back onto his shoulder behind her, and she stared at the ceiling where the party lights danced across the surface, praying her legs wouldn’t give out and pushing herself backward into his hand. She just wanted him to touch her, put his fingers deep in her pussy, run his tongue along her slit and coat his mouth with her arousal.
She was so tired of being good and perfect all the time.
Let me have this , her body begged.
Just this once , her mind agreed.
“Please, Kade,” she begged, and his fingers barely brushed her as he slipped his finger under the small triangle of the fabric of her thong.
“Please, what?” He asked, still not touching her.
“ Please , I need you to touch me.”
Kade turned slightly so that Madison was facing the crowd, and her front was pressed against the island in the middle of the kitchen. He dropped her wrist, and she winced at the loss of his hand wrapped around it, the blood rushing quickly to her fingers that she didn’t realize was being held back until the gentle throb began.
“Brace yourself against the countertop, Madison,” Kade whispered in her ear.
Madison tried to look over her shoulder at him, her eyes wide, but her head snapped forward towards the crowd as he finally shoved two fingers deep inside her silky heat. Her eyes closed tight as she gripped onto the countertop. She tried desperately not to moan at the feeling of him pressing his long fingers inside her, the fingertips curling upward to hook up against the most incredible place she’d never been able to reach with her own.
He’s going to kill me , she thought.
She tried to focus on her breathing and relax her face, knowing one look at her would give them away.
“How does that feel?” He growled between clenched teeth.
When he heard her whimper in response, he dropped his head a bit to lean against her shoulder. He had one hand braced on the counter next to hers, his body angled in towards her as his other hand worked its magic between her thighs. He prayed it looked like they were merely having a very intense discussion to any onlookers. Between the way he saw her spread out for him last night and several shots of whiskey, Kade felt like he was drowning in her instead of the alcohol.
Every little gasp he pulled from her lips was like a reward as his pace increased, her arousal coating his hand. He wished the music wasn’t so loud so he could hear how wet she was. When she rocked her hips back onto his hand, finding a new spot for him to reach–he just about lost it, the emotions she was holding back were practically radiating off her in waves.
“Hey, man!”
Suddenly, a drunk Jesse appeared on the other side of the island, tossing his flask on the countertop.
Madison yelled and jumped, effectively slamming Kade’s fingers so deep inside her that white sparks blurred her vision for a second, and she clutched at the countertop beneath her.
“Why are there no girls,” Jesse whined and poked his finger at his flask, effectively pushing it down the expanse of space in front of him. His face was red and sweaty, and his shirt was soaked from all the dancing.
Kade never liked Jesse all that much, but he really hated him at that moment.
“Jess, there’s plenty of girls here. Just look around,” Kade replied and gestured with his free hand to the tons of girls behind him. He kept the other one nestled between Madison’s thighs, although his movements had stalled for the time being. “Or, I don’t know, maybe get some sleep.”
Jesse looked at him like he was out of his mind to even suggest the latter, and then he took in the pretty raven-haired beauty that Kade was with.
“Who is your friend, Wilder? I could take her off your hands,” Jesse smiled, his eyes glazed over as he started to reach out to her.
Madison kept her eyes forward, refusing to meet Jesse’s as Kade’s hand twitched, forcing his middle and ring fingers to jolt inside her even further. He curled his fingers with purpose against that fleshy part inside her and she twitched. There was no way Kade was letting this asshole take her off his hands. And besides, she seemed to like being perched there just fine.
“Thanks, but no thanks,” Madison cried out suddenly.
Kade nodded in approval at her quick response to Jesse’s advances, and it earned her a very determined pointer finger circling her clit.
“S-Sabrina,” Madison gasped. “My friend Sabrina is here, and you’d like her! Look for a pink headband,” she finished, desperately trying not to come undone in front of Jesse.
Jesse’s eyebrows shot up in excitement, and he turned away, quickly heading back into the crowd without another word, leaving his flask behind. Which, you know–thank god for small favors since he didn’t need any more to drink.
Kade pressed his erection against the swell of her ass as his hand continued to bring her to the brink. “What’s wrong? You didn’t like our audience?” He whispered in her ear. “After last night, I figured that might be a thing for you. The thrill of being caught.”
Madison could feel herself gushing over his fingers and palm as he continued to finger her, and she knew she was about to cum all over him like a sex-crazed maniac, but she didn’t care.
She pressed back against his arousal and tilted her chin towards his face to reply “It might be one of many things I enjoy, but Jesse near any part of my fantasies is most definitely NOT.”
Kade chuckled at that, but it quickly turned into a moan of his own when he felt her pussy clamp around his fingers.
She was right there.
So close .
He started to pull his fingers out of her right when she started to push faster against him, nearing that beautiful release he was promising her with every twist of his wrist. He still withdrew them so he could frantically rub four fingers against the top of her cunt, the engorged flesh of her clit being tortured so exquisitely that Kade didn’t think he’d ever feel a pussy react to his this way again for the rest of his life.
Madison arched her back and gasped out, “No! Too much– Don’t st –” but her words were lost as his fingers pushed into her harder than he had all night. Her hand flew to her mouth to cover her scream as his pinky and forefinger pressed alongside her clit, pinching it between them as his thumb teased her asshole, pushing against her tight pucker but not quite going inside. It was all too much and just what she needed as her pussy clenched in waves as her release washed over her.
“Jesus, Mads ,” Kade groaned as she splashed against his palm while he hammered his fingers against her walls through her orgasm, his thumb pressing fully inside her ass as she pushed back against him suddenly making her climax even stronger.
“Are you fucking squirting right now?” He growled in her ear, but there was no mistaking it. Madison had squirted all over his hand, down her legs, and onto the kitchen floor.
“Fuck .”
Kade wrapped his lips around the pulse in her throat to keep himself from crying out alongside her because that experience… had him cumming in his pants like a 15-year-old boy and not the 22-year-old man he was.
Well, usually was.
Christ, what the fuck was wrong with him?
Madison , he thought, Madison’s going to fucking ruin me for every girl from here on out. That’s what’s wrong with me.
Kade slowed his ministrations, and Madison’s head dropped to rest on her forearms, which were folded over the counter.
Oh, my god, Madison thought with a grimace. Did I–did that–did we just do that?
Vaguely she could hear the bass of the music around them. It was still dark except for the colored strobe lights set up in the corner. She was still trying to catch her breath and wrap her mind around what happened when she felt something soft between her legs and nearly jumped out of her skin.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you,” Kade whispered as he carefully used a kitchen towel to clean her up. Madison’s head snapped up, and she finally turned to look at him.
“Kade.” Her mouth barely moved as she whispered his name.
Kade’s eyes were dark behind his mask as he stared back into hers. The feeling of the towel on her thighs stilled, and she opened her mouth to speak again when Sabrina came over.
She interrupted their moment with a loud “Hey! I need a drink. Can I get back there?”
Madison looked over across the island at Sabrina in surprise but thankful it wasn’t someone she didn’t know. And it looked like the crowd was still clueless to what had transpired right in front of them.
Kade remained calm as he secretly pulled the cloth away from her, slid her thong back into place, and zipped the bottom half of her dress back down.
“Hey, Sab, the kitchen’s closed for a minute. We had a bottle spill back here.”
He lifted the kitchen towel up before stepping backward, careful to hide the stain in the front of his pants from his own orgasm behind Madison’s figure. “If you wait a minute, I’ll clean this up and run over to my room. I have the good stuff in there anyway.”
Sabrina rolled her eyes at him as she looked at the dark-haired girl before her. She was trying desperately not to look at her face and seemed to stare at the ceiling like it was about to cave in on them.
“Okay… just hurry. I am not drunk enough to deal with these guys tonight, especially some guy named Jesse.” She shuddered and looked back towards the crowd.
Kade dropped to his knees and swiftly wiped up Madison’s happy accident from the floor before taking in the sinful heels with a blood-red sole on them and kissing her ankle. Madison gasped in surprise and Sabrina looked at her strangely for a moment before Kade was on his feet again. He threw the towel into the sink and walked toward the hall where his bedroom was.
“Be back in a minute!” He tossed over his shoulder, rushing as quickly as he could between the crowd.
Madison still refused to meet Sabrina’s gaze even after what felt like an eternity, although it was probably five seconds. Sabrina was a nice girl, but she was a gossip nonetheless. Madison didn’t want to take any chances with her classmate finding out she wasn’t holed up in her room studying like she said she would be this morning, when she wanted to know if she’d be there tonight. Because the truth of her getting finger-banged while wearing a disguise instead of working on her journalism piece for finals would probably make her sink through the floor.
So, why not do the sane thing and run away?
Madison turned on her heels and marched quickly to the front door.
As she slipped away, she did not lose sight of the fact that she was doing the same thing to Kade as he had done to her the night before.
Sabrina was still looking off in the direction Madison went and thought it was odd that the top of the girl’s dress wasn’t zippered up all the way when Kade returned with half a bottle of Jameson and placed it on the counter. He looked around for Madison, but Sabrina’s voice pulled his attention back towards her.
“If you’re looking for your friend, she bolted the second you left,” Sabrina offered as she twisted the cap off her flask and poured the Jameson inside.
Kade groaned and slammed his fist on the counter, “God fucking damn it!”
Sabrina didn’t flinch from his outburst and took a sip from her flask as she took in his frustrated appearance.
“Weren’t you wearing black pants a minute ago?”
Kade wiped a hand over his face, then exhaled sharply as Madison’s scent was still fresh on his fingers from moments ago. “They got wet.”
It wasn’t a lie.
Did I just make this whole situation worse? Should I call her? Should I–
Jesse interrupted his thoughts for the second time that evening.
“Sabrina, where’d ya go? I’ve been lookin’ for ya all over!” Jesse cried as he almost knocked Sabrina over, trying to wrap an arm around her shoulder.
“Ugh, get a handle on yourself,” she mumbled as she straightened out her pink mask and matching pink velvet long-sleeved party dress before looking at Kade for help. He sighed and wrapped an arm around Jesse, transferring his weight onto him instead of Sabrina.
“Come on, let’s get you to bed,” Kade said as he started to drag him from Sabrina’s side.
With what could only be called a look of overwhelming gratitude, Sabrina bowed her head and mouthed, “Thank you,” before rushing back into the crowd of people and out of sight.
“Aw, man, come on! I was totes gonna score!” Jessie pleaded in the most pathetic voice Kade had heard in probably forever. He couldn’t help but laugh at him.
“I promise you, you were not.”
After Jessie was safely in bed, sound asleep and drooling on his pillow, Kade made his way to his room. Chris was out with the guests again, after having spent most of the night in his room with Alison. He could hear them trying to get everyone out of the apartment before it got too late which was appreciated. He sat down on his bed and rested his head in his hands.
Looks like another night without sleep , Kade surmised while thinking back on the night’s events. Or rather, the last two nights.
A soft knock had his head turning toward the door as it opened slightly, and Alison peeked her head through.
“How did your talk go? Madison didn’t stay as long as I hoped, but you did get to talk with her, right?” She asked but made no move to come into his room.
Kade looked at her with wide eyes. “Did you know about what happened?”
Alison rolled her eyes and placed a hand over her chest in mock offense, “I’m the best friend. Of course, I did. Besides, who do you think dressed her up for you?”
Kade actually blushed, feeling embarrassed about the event all over again. “It went good, I guess,” he offered, unsure what to say or how to explain their time together in the kitchen.
“God, you’re both so infuriating. You guys clearly like each other, and this sexual tension,” Alison waved her hand towards him. “That you have is palpable. I heard people were scared to go into the kitchen for a good bit while you two were over there looking like you were gonna fuck right on the counter.”
Kade closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose.
It seems they weren’t as stealthy as he hoped.
“Look, Kade,” Alison said quietly. “I’m just trying to help two of my good friends get past this little hump. And actually, get to the humping part.”
She giggled at her joke, and Kade stared at her like he thought she might be high. She totally could have been, since Chris was high most of the time. And he had the good shit–Kade would know. He was the one who got it for him thanks to his dad’s connections.
Alison caught his judgmental gaze and scoffed at him.
“Seriously! Just imagine how fun our double dates would be,” she grinned and started to leave.
Kade couldn’t help but smile at that. What a world it would be if that could become a reality for him. “Goodnight, Ali Cat. Go help Chris with the drunks. I’ll talk to Madison tomorrow.”
“I’d send her something tonight if I were you. A text, at least. I know she’s wide awake in our apartment, just overthinking like the professional worrier she is.”
When Kade reluctantly nodded, Alison waved a hand through the door crack and called out a quick, “Night, Kade!” before closing the door behind her.
After the door was shut he sighed and fell back against the pile of pillows on his bed. He liked to keep his room pretty minimal with just the basics in black furniture and a few electronics. He refused to skimp on the pillows, though.
He turned towards the black iron nightstand that supported a small reading lamp and grabbed his phone. He swiped his finger over the screen to wake it up and was about to text Madison when he saw that one from his brother had come through in the last hour:
Jagger:
Care to explain why I’m missing about $400 worth of alcohol?
Kade:
I’m surprised you didn’t ask about the kegs.
Jagger:
I gave Camille permission to take the kegs. I didn’t give you permission for shit.
Kade:
Fair point. I’ll pay you back when I have another job lined up.
Jagger:
Kade.
Jagger:
How many times have I told you to stop doing jobs for Dad? You have your whole life ahead of you. Don’t fuck it up.
There were a lot of things that Kade did that Jagger disapproved of, but doing shady shit for their father and the Renegade Rebels was at the top of the list. Granted, Jagger took on almost all of the heat when they were growing up, seeing how he was a few years older, but now that he was busy with the bar and his new fiancé, Sadie—Well, the middle-of-the-night calls were his responsibility.
Kade:
My future will be just fine. And in case you’ve forgotten, you went to school off of blood money yourself.
Jagger:
You can work it off next weekend. We are having a private event at The Serpent Pit, and I could use the extra help. Don’t tell your friends, this party is for the adults.
Kade scoffed when he read ‘adults’ since his brother was only—what? Twenty-five now? What a joke.
Kade:
Fine with me.
Thoroughly aggravated, Kade finally went into his contacts and pulled up Madison’s information. But, just as he was about to send her a message, another one came through.
Maddie:
Are you still awake?
Taking a deep breath, he considered calling her. The truth was, he didn’t know what to say… because what did you say after having a night like they just had? How could their quiet little friendship go from nothing to everything in such a short amount of time? He knew he was in college, but fuck. He was used to taking girls home from the bar since he was sixteen and feeling like a god with a fake ID, but he didn’t care about them. There was too much pain in his past thanks to the only woman he ever loved and he’d be damned if he got too close to one now.
Kade stared at the screen, seeing her chat bubbles grace the rectangular piece of technology before disappearing almost a dozen times. He started to sweat, worrying about what she was about to say to him. He clenched a fist. Unclenched it. Bit his bottom lip.
Is she mad? Is she disgusted? Are we no longer friends ?
For all his talk about not giving a shit, he couldn’t lie to himself that he did.
He knew Madison. He knew her as a beautiful young woman, inside and out. She was the first one to hand in an assignment and there on a scholarship to pursue journalism because she believed so firmly in the power of truth and helping others. There wasn’t a mean bone in her tight little five-foot-nothing body. She handled his hectic schedule with grace and flexibility when they worked on the school paper and studied for their classes the last year.
The real truth was that Kade liked her.
He was studying to be a Mechanical Engineer and used his electives on writing courses and joined the paper to be close to her, for Christ’s sake. All because he saw her at The Serpent Pit for her 21st birthday that first week he’d moved back to Jersey so he could finish getting his degree a year late and she’d been the most incredible human he’d ever seen. He flirted with her all night, complimented her every time he got to make her a drink instead of Sadie. When he found out that he’d be attending the same college as her that upcoming semester thanks to her tipsy oversharing of information she gave him all night–he, for lack of a better word, had stalked her. Found out her schedule. Became friends with her friends. Inserted himself into her life.
This was what he had craved as an outcome so why the sudden panic?
Because he didn’t think it would actually happen, that’s why.
After ten minutes of staring at the screen, he placed the phone by his side. Almost immediately, a text notification sound filled the room. He brought the phone up so quickly that he almost dropped it on his face and looked at her reply in shock several times before it clicked.
This was not the text he was expecting.
Maddie:
Want to come over?