Chapter Sixteen
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
MCKINSEY
I t’s not safe for me here.
I’ve never felt truly safe at the clubhouse, but the type of danger I’m sensing now is completely different.
And with the way Draven was acting a second ago—all bedroom eyes and bitten lips—coupled with him hinting at the high likelihood that Royce and Delilah are off screwing, I’m more at risk than ever.
“Well… I should get going, then.” Turning from him, I walk to the sink. Lifting the glass to my lips, I slowly finish the rest of my water.
I imagine Draven stalking over to me, pressing his chest against my back like when he was crushing his body into mine at my front door yesterday.
My blood quickens, the sound of it rushing through me loud in my ears.
Am I lingering here because I’m waiting for him to do it again?
Needing it?
Craving it?
Do I want him to bend me over the counter and have his way with me just like I wanted him to bend me over my car the first night we met?
Shit… Am I certifiable? Seriously, who the fuck gave me a medical degree?
I hesitate just a second longer before surrendering my glass to the empty sink, trying to convince myself I’m not doing it purposefully.
With no action from Draven.
I turn back to him and realize he’s not even looking at me now.
What the fuck?
And why am I mad about it?
When his eyes finally meet mine again, he narrows them in thought as he puckers his lips.
“Do you want to go for a walk?”
Well, that’s certainly not the proposition I was fantasizing over a moment ago. Narrowing my eyes, I look from him to the blackened window next to me.
“Um, I think it’s a little dark to go for a walk.”
He flashes me a mischievous grin. “Don’t worry, Doc. There’s nothing and no one out there who will bother you as long as you’re with me.”
“I … don’t know…” I smile nervously.
“Come on, Kins.” I fucking melt as he tilts his head toward the French doors. “Live a little. We can even call it my next appointment, and you can get an hour back to yourself on Thursday.”
I think about it for a split second.
“I’ll go with you on two conditions.”
“Which are?” He lifts an eyebrow.
“The appointment stays. And don’t bring up my mother.”
“You have my word.” He looks at me like he’d be crazy to bring up that topic again, which isn’t a surprise since I all but threw him out of my house last time.
Winking, he holds his hand out to me, and I take it. His palm feels good pressed against mine, but unfortunately, he lets go the moment we’re outside. Standing on the back deck, I look out over their property, grateful for the full moon overhead.
Its bright light shines over the vast property, alleviating my trepidation of an unknown threat hiding in the shadows. But it shaves off only a fraction of my fear of being alone with Draven again though.
Running my hand through my hair, I push through the lust I can’t seem to get away from.
“It’s so quiet and peaceful. You’d never know so many other people live here.”
“Oh, you’d find out pretty quickly.” Draven laughs, obviously knowing something I don’t. “They’re abnormally quiet tonight. I think everyone is still a little shocked over the scuffle between Maggie and Delilah.”
“Ah.” I nod. “So where are we walking to, Draven?”
“Just to the garage.”
I’m beginning to sink into the fear I carry around with me that the club will want to dispose of me at any given moment—whether prompted or not. Draven must notice the apprehension on my face.
“What? Remember what I said. You’re safe with me.”
How ironic that I’ve never felt safe with a guy until now. When I’m alone, in the dark, with a guy I barely know but who I think may have killed at least one person before and who I literally picked up from jail.
But Draven has this air about him. It was there the first night we met—it’s what allowed me to get into my car with him then. It was there when I fell asleep a few nights ago and left him sleeping on my couch. And it was there yesterday when he looked straight into my soul as he filled me so completely that I’m afraid I’ll never feel whole without him again.
“Lead the way…”
There are several cars parked in the garage including a large, black truck, an old mustang, and Draven’s Trans-Am.
“You asked me what I like to do for fun the other day.” He walks toward his car with his hands out in front of him, gesturing toward it. “I figured it may be okay to give you at least one straight answer you don’t need to fight for.”
“Yes, honesty usually yields better, quicker results while in therapy.” I mock roll my eyes. “But what do I know? I’m only the doctor.”
My sarcasm pulls a genuine smile from Draven. It’s the same one he shared with me yesterday, and like then, the sight of it warms me from the inside out.
He places his hands on the hood of the car before running them up the frame of the windshield and along the roof’s edge over the driver’s side door.
I recognize his movements, the graceful way his fingers glide over the surface.
It was the same way he ran his hands over my body yesterday. The strong, smooth paths he traced across my skin, igniting the blood as it rushed through my veins. Like it’s beginning to do again, now.
Get a fucking grip, McK. Quit acting like a sex-crazed kitten.
When Draven’s eyes meet mine, I can barely be bothered to make it appear as though I wasn’t just thinking about him. I can do this. I used to have willpower, I just need to find where the hell I put it.
I like the way he looks at his car with pride when he speaks, but I miss the warmth I feel in my bones when he’s looking at me.
“My dad and I always wanted to build a car together. We found this one about a week before he died. It sat in the garage on my family’s farm for almost a decade before I was able to even think about restoring it. In my free time, I like restoring things. Cars, bikes, houses… Anything, really.”
Without warning, he turns his stare back to me, his next words catapulting pleasure through me.
“I like working with my hands.” His eyes ignite brighter with each word.
I feel his admiration for the hobby he cherishes, but I also understand the deeper meaning to what he says. Suddenly—almost like I’m in a trance–my feet move, propelling me forward.
I walk to the car and place my hand where Draven’s just was, tracing the same path up the hood but stopping about a foot away from him. Getting a closer look at the car, and knowing Draven rebuilt the entire thing, gives me a brand new appreciation for it.
“It’s beautiful.”
I drop all pretenses that I’d ever disliked his car, despite telling him so several times in the past. Locking onto his stare again, this man looks straight into my soul, holding me captive and rooting me to the place where I stand before speaking his next words.
“I have a deep appreciation for beautiful things.”
My breath leaves me with an audible gasp. Willpower vanished. I hope my eyes convey my wish for him to take me in his arms and kiss me. To hold me close and allow me to feel him inside of me again.
Why him?
Why not him?
I’ve managed to find something wrong with every man who has ever shown the slightest interest in me. A fault of mine I’ve never admitted to anyone. Not even Marissa, though she’s so good at what she does, she probably already identified it in me.
Am I truly afraid of being close to him because he’s in the club?
Or am I scared because I’ve always been this way? Afraid to let someone in. There’s a reason I push people away before they get the chance to hurt me first.
“Draven…” His name comes out in a whisper, the intense way he’s looking at me stealing my voice.
“I know.” He closes his eyes in disappointment, misunderstanding my meaning. “You should go. I’ll walk you to your car.”
When he moves to step around me, my hand reaches out and captures his. Almost as though we’re in slow motion, he turns his head, looking down at our joined hands. He lifts his gaze to mine, seeking consent from me. When my breath hitches in my throat, he loses control.
Pressing my body against the side of his car, he crushes his lips to mine, eliciting a moan from me. I can feel his smile form against my lips as the sound hits his ears. His hands roam my body from my hips up my sides before he cups my breasts in his palms.
“Draven…” Panting, my words vibrate between our joined lips.
“What?” He’s breathing just as hard as I am.
“I have a confession to make…”
Our chests rise and fall together as he opens his eyes, waiting for what I’m about to say.
“I actually love your car. I always have. I think it’s sexy… Like you.”
Before I know what’s happening, he grips my blouse and tears it open. Buttons fly in every direction as adrenaline floods my system. Draven removes his lips from mine to kiss a delicious path down my body. Kneeling before me, he catches my stare as he unbuttons my jeans. I gently kick my shoes off while pinned under his hungry and possessive glare.
It makes me feel both weak and strong all at once.
It makes me want to give myself over to him completely, to bend to his will. Yet I feel like the one with all the power when he looks at me as though he will never tire of worshiping my body.
The slow heat that’s been simmering within me since we were in the kitchen ignites to a roaring blaze. He makes quick work of my jeans, holding my hips steady as I step out of them. Tearing his eyes from mine, he narrows his gaze on the spot where my thighs meet. Reverently, he runs his fingers over the fabric of my panties, cocking an eyebrow when his fingertip meets the wet spot that has gathered on the front.
With one hand on each of my thighs, he carefully parts my legs before pulling my panties to the side. He glances my way once more before his tongue slowly reaches out and slides through my parted lips. The groan that hits my ears and the way he licks at my slit causes goose bumps to break out all over my skin.
“Fuck, Kins…” My name leaves his lips in a whispered ache I’ve never heard come from any man before him. As though he will die without another taste of me.
Draven both cures my hunger and intensifies my thirst.
It’s all he says before he parts me with his fingers and sucks my clit between his lips. I cry out in pleasure, spurring him on. Groaning, he picks up speed as he flicks my clit with the tip of his tongue, already luring a quick and intense climax from me.
“ Shit. Draven.” On trembling legs, my hand dives into his hair, gripping it tightly in my fist. “Don’t stop. I-I’m going to come…”
No sooner do I get the words out does my free hand fly to my mouth, covering it to try to contain my scream as an orgasm rips through me. I see stars as Draven continues flicking and lapping away at my clit relentlessly. He doesn’t let up until my muscles relax once more, and I feel as though I may fall over.
Finally, he releases me, sitting back on his heels to look up at me. I blush when I see how much the lower half of his face glistens with my arousal covering it. Removing his shirt, he uses it to clean me off of him while I stand here blushing, still flushed from orgasmic exertion.
Slinging the shirt over his shoulder, he stands, towering over me. His stare never falters. It electrifies my veins, holding me steady against the car with just a look. Bringing his arms up, he boxes me in against the driver’s side door.
I think he’s going to say something, but he doesn’t.
We don’t need words. Everything we could possibly have to say to one another we can say with our bodies.
Leaning in, he kisses me. It’s sweet, the kind I would normally melt into. But right now, when I’m still buzzing with powerful aftershocks from my release, I require things from him that leave me questioning whether I can still consider myself a lady or not.
Gripping his biceps, I force his hands from the car, giving me room to throw my arms around his neck. The upward motion pulls my body against his, and he grips my ass, instantly understanding what I need from him. Lifting me, my core pulses with need as he carries me to the front of the car.
Laying me on the hood, his hand dives between us and underneath my panties again. His fingers slither inside as he slides his tongue through my lips. I moan into his open mouth as he culls another orgasm from me.
“That’s it, Kins. Come for me. Baptize my car in the nectar of a goddess.”
What the actual fuck?
I should not enjoy that. There were way too many cringey words strung together. If I were with anyone else, I think I would’ve dried up and throat punched the dumb ass.
But in the next breath, I explode around his fingers, squashing any question regarding how his words made me feel.