22. Austin
Austin
“ A re you mad at me?” McKenna’s voice—smaller than I’d ever wanted to hear it—seeped into my soul and tore out the anger, the frustration, and replaced it with?—
“No, I’m not mad at you,” I gritted out.
Her gaze turned skeptical, eyes narrowed from where she stood against the wall in my hallway.
She’d dragged me up the stairs and down the hall as soon as we got here.
I’d barely let her make it halfway to my room before I stopped her and demanded to know what she needed to tell me.
And yes, I assumed she wanted to speak and not fuck because apparently, she only had the guts to sleep with me while I literally slept.
I would’ve demanded we go back to her place after the store so we could talk about this privately, but Brynne’s Friendsgiving was tonight.
She raised a hand to my cheek, tracing the line of my jaw. “Your teeth might crack, cowboy.” The nickname was a whisper .
“If yours haven’t from all that gum chewing, I think I’m safe.” I could barely focus on anything but the feel of her fingers on me.
“Gum is soft. Your jaw is hard,” she retorted. “That’s hardly a comparison.” Then she proceeded to tell me what had happened.
“Did he touch you?” My voice was gravel, every gritted word fueled by the thought of a man’s eyes on her without me there. I needed to know if his hands had been on her, too. If I should sharpen my knives and ditch dinner.
She blinked, like she wasn’t expecting that.
I’d been holding back asking, hoping that if the man in the grocery store had touched her, she would tell me.
But when she didn’t mention if he did or not, my fists clenched and my eyes saw red.
She was probably right—I might break. Not because I was weak, but because the thought of someone doing something to her made me fucking insane.
“No,” she admitted.
Then where was the bite in her words? Where was the taunting McKenna, constantly pushing back at me?
I wanted the war between us to start anew, for her to scowl at me, kiss me out of hatred, and let me bring her to the brink of orgasm so I could see those perfect lips form an O .
I wanted to wrench my name from her mouth like it was my most important mission.
Wanted to see every part of McKenna besides this one—the one that curled up into a ball and looked defeated.
Like she would’ve held this information from me if it weren’t for the fear hidden deep beneath her blue gaze.
“Tell me again what he said.” I enunciated each word carefully, slowly .
“He was talking about cherries—” she started, but I plastered both hands on the wall beside her head, caging her in.
“ Exactly what he said.”
Her eyes darted to my mouth, lingering for a second before she wrapped a hand around my forearm. I sucked in a breath, wanting nothing more than to close the distance and kiss the shit out of her. But that had to wait.
“Brynne and I were talking about the filling for the pie,” she said, repeating what she’d told me not five minutes ago.
Rage had taken over, and I needed to make sure I hadn’t missed a single detail.
“He came up behind us and told us we should do cherry.” She swallowed, lifting her chin higher.
“That we can never go wrong with cherry. I told him it was boring”—she visibly noted the way my jaw clenched harder over the fact that she’d spoken to him—“and he said they were sweet. That everyone likes sweet.”
The innuendo behind his statement had me seeing nothing past the rage clouding my vision. Hearing nothing but the pounding of my heart as I ached to find the man and choke the life out of him. Even if he wasn’t the same one who’d run her off the road, I’d kill him.
A hand on my chest pulled me from my stupor.
I looked down to find McKenna trailing a palm up my black button-up shirt.
The top button was undone and the sleeves were rolled to my elbows.
When her fingers brushed the sliver of my exposed chest, a chill shot down my spine.
She dragged her entrancing touch to my neck, tugging me closer.
My gaze fell to the top of her white dress.
Tiny strawberries were printed all over the fabric, and it clung to her figure like it was made specifically for her.
Her breasts were pressed together, cleavage on full display, and my tongue went dry at the thought of tugging it down and drawing her nipple into my mouth.
I let her pull me closer, one hand gripped on my forearm, the other looped around the back of my neck like I was keeping her grounded in this moment. I wasn’t sure how I could be a stable anchor as I was currently way the fuck above cloud nine, lying in the goddamn heavens with her hands on me.
It was a hell of a lot better than the paralyzing anger that had coursed through me moments ago.
She opened her mouth to speak, but quickly snapped her lips shut. I grabbed her chin between my thumb and forefinger, angling her head up.
“Say it,” I murmured, needing to hear whatever it was.
She shut her eyes for a moment, silent as ever, and when she finally opened them and laid them on me, my knees went weak. “I want you.”
The sigh I let out was earth-shattering. “I thought I’d never hear you say the words.”
Without wasting any time, I grabbed the backs of her thighs and lifted her up.
Her legs instantly wrapped around my waist, her dress hiking up to expose her ass.
My fingers brushed the satiny flesh as her mouth crashed to mine.
Hunger, desire, hatred, love—it all melded together into one consequential kiss.
McKenna was kissing me, and it felt like the earth itself was shifting.
Molding us into something we—she—had been fighting for too long.
McKenna’s tongue slipped in, and I wrapped my lips around it and sucked. The taste of strawberry gum sparked my senses alive, and I whimpered. Her hands tangled in my hair, and when I finally popped my mouth off her, I set her on the floor.
My hands moved behind her back, grasping at the two strings that held the bodice of the dress together.
I tugged, the bow coming undone. My fingers gripped the front and tugged it down, exposing her bare breasts.
I groaned, nearly falling to the floor simply to worship the woman before me. “Fuck, McKenna.”
She didn’t speak as she pulled on my hair, guiding my mouth to her breasts. I shoved my face between them, breathing her in like she was a goddamn drug. And she was. I think I was overdosing.
Her head fell back against the wall, and I dragged my mouth across her soft flesh.
Once my starved tongue found her nipple, I circled the bud, watching as her skin glistened under the warm lights.
Forcing myself to part from her, I let a trail of saliva fall from my mouth to land right on her puckered nipple.
She looked down at me, her lips parted. And with my eyes on her, I stuck out my tongue and lapped it up.
She shivered, fingers digging into my scalp, and then she was forcing my mouth to her breast.
Teeth clamped down on her flesh, and she gasped. My tongue soothed the area before I sucked. And sucked. And fucking died. Because McKenna’s breast was in my mouth and she was allowing me to have her and all my life’s wishes were officially granted.
Most men wanted fast cars, money, and all the girls in the world panting at their feet.
I wanted her .
I wanted to be the one on my knees before her, begging for even one touch. My obsession with her had grown out of control but I didn’t care. I’d worship the ground she walked on for the rest of my life and be happy .
My mouth popped off her breast, moving to the other, giving it equal amounts of attention. A breathy moan passed her lips and I groaned in response. I could listen to her do that for the rest of my days and be the happiest man on this planet.
At the end of the hall, a door creaked open, and I covered her breast with my hand, standing to block her from whoever the fuck dared interrupt us.
“In the hall, guys? Really?” Henley said, not looking in our direction after I assumed he’d already seen what was happening. His eyes were on the doorframe as he stood there.
“I thought you weren’t here tonight.” He’d told Booker and me weeks ago that he would be with Aubree tonight, so the whole Friendsgiving dinner could go on without him.
He shifted his gaze to his boots. “Change of plans.”
“We’ll make you a plate,” McKenna piped in as she adjusted her dress back over her breasts.
Henley blinked a few times and I couldn’t help but notice he seemed…sad. “Thanks.”
“Is Aubree coming?” McKenna asked, her hands now awkwardly behind her back. I watched the movement, brows scrunched, before I grabbed her shoulders and spun her around. She glared up at me, which I ignored as I got to work retying her corset.
“No. We broke up,” Henley confessed.
“I’m sorry.”
I barely heard her apology as I focused on the smooth skin stretched over her shoulder blades. I wanted to be taking the dress off, not lacing it back up.
“Don’t be,” Henley said, making his way down the hall now that she was modest. “I broke up with her.”
He disappeared around the corner before either of us could press the subject further. Aubree and Henley had been on and off for a while—more off than on—so it wasn’t a major shock. Just sucked that it happened right before the holidays.
Once the strings were tied in a perfect bow, I brushed her hair to the side and set my palms on her shoulders.
Leaning in, my lips brushed the shell of her ear.
“This isn’t over, kitten.” One of my hands slid down her arm, tracing the curve of her waist until my fingers disappeared under her dress and pinched her ass.
Her lips lifted in a seductive smile, looking over her shoulder at me. “I’d hope not. That’d be pretty disappointing if it was.”