37. McCarthy
MCCARTHY
J enna turns in her seat then whirls back around when a man with a parrot on his shoulder scans the brewery’s oversized dining room.
“I can’t believe this is who you thought you were going to replace me with. Cupcake, this guy looks like he’s going to make a suit out of your skin.”
Parrot Boy seems upset when he stomps over to the table.
I lean forward in the chair.
Jenna’s babbling at him. “I… He just showed up here. I obviously wanted our date to happen. I was looking forward to it. I—”
“You lied to me.”
“This isn’t what it looks like. He’s not anything to me,” Jenna assures her date.
There are feathers littering his shoulders. “You did this to humiliate me!” he’s yelling at her. “You planned this. You women are all the same.”
The parrot starts screeching along with his ranting.
Parrot Guy’s eyes widen when I stand up. I’m a good foot taller than him, though I’m about eye to eye with the parrot on his head.
I address the parrot. “Sometimes this is how it goes. You really can’t trust online dating. I got here first. Therefore, she’s mine. Show up on time.”
I drop a twenty on the table. “Buy yourself a drink. Cupcake, let’s go.”
“…ever been so humiliated. You ruin everything!” Jenna’s yelling at me as I drag her through the tower lobby.
“I ruin everything?” I finally lose it in the elevator.
“I had to listen to you in the car for the last twenty minutes berate me for actually taking action and not letting the shitty males you keep scraping up ruin your life. Meanwhile, I am the only man in this city who actually gives a damn about you. I’m the only person taking your stalker problem seriously,” I snarl at her.
“And I bet the only decent dates you’ve ever had were with me. ”
“We are not dating. I will never date you.” Jenna slams her hand on the elevator button. “You burnt down a building. That’s freaking insane; that’s psychopathic.”
“Psychopathic is running around with all those parrots.”
“This isn’t a joke!” she yells when I push her into my penthouse .
“Trust me.” My jaw is tight. “I spent quite a lot of time, energy, and money on this endeavor. It’s not cheap to burn down a ten-story building like that, you know.”
“Gosh, I wish I’d never met you.” She’s sniffling. It’s driving me crazy.
“Stop crying,” I finally snap. “This is your fault.”
“Your shitty actions are not my fault,” Jenna sobs out.
“So you did read those self-help books after all. You’re just not going to apply it to any of the men that actually pose a threat to you. Just to me.”
Jenna stumbles as I haul her into the living room. She’s sobbing in front of me.
“Admit it!” she cries. Her tears are an ice pick to the brain. “You just like to scare me, to lord your power and strength over me, to make other people feel small so that you can be strong. I know exactly the type of man you are.”
“Fuck you, Jenna.” I slam her back against the wall.
“You think I’ve been threatening you? I’m scaring you?
” I force her chin up, making her look at me.
“I’ve shown considerable restraint. You’re out there collecting stalkers like Pokémon Go .
I take care of one, and three more pop up in his place.
Your dog has moved in here because he’s sick of your shit.
You get to flaunt your little independent-woman shtick with me because you know, deep down, that I actually care about you. ”
“You don’t.”
I grab her hair, force her head back. “You have no idea what I’d do to you if I didn’t care. Maybe you want me to show you, huh?” I growl at her.
I crush our mouths together. Her nails scrape at my throat .
“That what you want me to do? Tie you up, use you, demean you?” My teeth scrape the underside of her jaw. “I want to treat you like a princess, but I can treat you like a prisoner if you make me. I like to play with my food before I eat it. That what you want?”
I grab her wrists and pin them up on the wall over her head, and the scent of her makes me even crazier. She tries to turn her head away from me then gives in, her mouth slack as I kiss her like I own her. My tongue slides in to claim her, and the taste of her shoots straight through my body.
My dick is hard in my pants.
“You want me to treat you like my own personal little come slut.” I grab her chin, and she shudders as I nip her bottom lip, puffy from where I’ve been sucking on it. “You want to be like those other girls? Want me to use you, use you up?”
Her arms drop to my shoulders. I hike her up against the wall.
“Word of warning, I don’t actually go down on those girls. I do, however, fuck them in the ass.”
“You’re such…” She moans as I suck on her breast, freed from the stretchy purple top. “A dick.”
“What’s that? You want my cock?”
I slam my hips into hers, earning a whimper. I grind her against the wall, wrapping her legs around me.
She gasps as I pull down my zipper while still sucking on her neck, her mouth.
“I’m not letting you fuck me.” She moans.
“You sure about that?”
She’s grinding against the hand I have in her panties, her mouth slack, half open .
I pull the condom on, wincing at the touch.
I’m so fucking hard for her. I don’t even bother pulling off her panties, just push them to the side and slam inside of her, making her arch back and scream, “McCarthy, fuck,” while one hand tries to grab for purchase on the wall and the other scrapes on my shoulder.
“Oh, you’re so fucking big.”
“You took me up the ass. You can handle this.”
She lets out a low moan as I slam into her tight cunt, the tight, wet heat of her making me rabid.
“Oh God,” she sobs out as I take her, forcefully, violently, needily, carving out a space in her that I can crawl into.
She jerks against the wall, her moans turning into whimpers of pleasure as my cock pounds into her. She arches against me, my length rubbing against her clit as I fuck her, making her take every thick inch over and over.
I’m close. Jenna’s practically sobbing against my neck.
“That it? You want me to chain you up and fuck you when I feel like it, huh? Fuck you just like this whenever I want, slap your ass when you don’t say thank you when I drop you on the floor, my come leaking out of you?” I grunt. “Take it. There’s my good girl. Take it .”
She comes with a sob as I come, spilling in her, feeling her shudder and pulse around me.
I pull out of her too fast and catch her when she lands awkwardly on her feet, one of her heels missing.
“Is this what you want?” I demand.
Her teeth clack when I shake her.
“I asked you a fucking question. Jenna, you want to be mine, be my little—”
“Stop, McCarthy, stop.” She’s whimpering. “You’re scaring me. Please. ”
“Fuck.”
She sinks down on the floor, crying, and buries her head in her arms.
“Jenna.” I reach for her.
She flinches.
“Jenna, please, I’m sorry, Jenna. Jenna. ” I slide on the floor to sit next to her. I rest my head against her shoulder. “Jenna, I fucked up, and I’m sorry.”
“You’re the worst man I’ve ever met,” she sobs out.
“I know, I know, I am. I’m sorry. Just… I didn’t mean to hurt you,” I beg.
“You didn’t.” She wipes at her face. “That was the best fucking sex of my entire life. Every time with you is so freaking amazing, and it’s not fair because you’re an awful person and you’ve ruined me for when I do find my soulmate.”
I want to promise her then and there that I’m it—I’m her soulmate—I’m who she’s been waiting for her entire life.
The only reason I feel that desire is because she’s crying—something about endorphins or oxytocin or something when you have sex like that.
“I’ll make it up to you, Jenna. Let me make it up to you.”
“You can’t.”
“Anything. I’ll do anything, give you anything in the world you want,” I plead. “A house, a boat, a plane. I’ll take you to the moon.”
Her eyes rise.
“Diamonds, money, jewelry, anything you want. You want me to drop a billion dollars on a dog rescue park? I’ll do it. Jenna, please, just don’t look at me like that. ”
I reach out slowly, waiting for her to flinch. She doesn’t, so I wipe my thumb under her eyes, catching the tears shimmering on her cheeks.
“Anything.” I whisper the promise to her. “I’ll follow the plan. I’ll say what you want me to say. Shit, Jenna, I’ll marry you, give you the wedding of your dreams—babies, puppies, everything.” I sound whiny. My older brothers would tell me I sound whiny. “Just don’t hate me. Not for real, anyway.”
“I don’t hate you.” The whisper is hoarse.
“Anything you want,” I repeat and kiss her cheeks, which are salty like she’s come out of the ocean.
She looks at me, eyes red. “Anything?”
I nod, kiss her hands.
“I don’t want money or expensive presents, McCarthy.” Her tongue darts out.
“What do you want?” I whisper.
She clears her throat. “I want you to answer a question.”
“A question.” I jerk back. “What kind of question?”
“An open-ended question. No yes-or-no answers.”
“Can’t I just fly you to Paris?” I ask desperately.
“No.”
“No?”
“That’s too easy. You might as well take me to Target.”
I scowl at her as she blinks up at me. “Fine. Ask it.”
“Have you ever loved anything—”
“Of course. My brothers.”
“Not done. Did you ever love anything then lose it?”
“Why don’t I buy you a house?”
She’s shaking her head slowly.
“Okay.” I look toward the expanse of glass separating us from the foggy skyline. “Okay, yeah… I have.”
“I know you know how to answer a question.” Her mouth is stubborn. “In this five-paragraph essay, McCarthy will discuss…”
“All right, all right. Fuck. Yeah. A dog.” I hate the memories that flood me.
“He was the goofiest dog you ever saw. At the compound—it wasn’t like the one you grew up on—people would dump dogs out in the desert instead of finding them new homes.
Got him as a puppy.” I try to keep the edge of desperation out of my voice.
“Just appeared one day. A mix—maybe corgi and pit bull or something. Big chest, stubby legs. Two of his front teeth didn’t come in. ” I mime with my fingers.