Chapter 8
CHAPTER 8
KAI
S weat drips down my face as the pounding of my feet on the treadmill fills the gym. The music blasting through the speakers doesn’t dim the sound of my sneakers thudding on the belt, running nowhere fast. I look over at Nico, who’s hitting the punching bag, his headphones pressed hard into his ears.
Carter’s house is fucking insane. Five bedrooms, seven bathrooms, including one in the gym. The massive gym takes up the entire basement. His kitchen is a dream, with modern appliances and a six-range burner. It looks wholly unused, so I’ve taken it over, cooking dinner almost every night and meal prepping for me and Nico.
He has a pool in the backyard with an inset bar and hot tub attached. I’m sure he uses none of it, judging by the way it’s all so pristine and I know Carter doesn’t trust anyone enough to throw a party to get any mileage out of it.
All of this gym equipment is top of the line, new and expensive. Of everything in this mausoleum he calls a house, this is the only place that looks well used. Judging from the state of his body, I can tell Carter puts the gym to good use.
Snarling, I step off the quickly moving treadmill belt, putting my feet to the side of the running belt so I can catch my breath. I slam my hand on the emergency stop button, then lean my head on my arms.
Fucking Carter. I despise him, but thinking about him holding me down and fucking me into a mattress has been the object of my fantasies for the past few weeks. It’s only made worse with how he held me on our wedding day and forced his bloodied tongue into my mouth. Tasting him like that sent a need burning through me that is undeniable. I won’t act on it, but my hand is getting a workout all its own.
I wipe my face with the towel I snagged from beside the door of the gym and blow out a long breath. I’ve been trying to work off some excess energy, but it doesn’t always work.
Hopping off the treadmill, I walk over to Nico and hold the bag. He up nods me, then goes back to hitting it. I plant my feet so the bag doesn’t move too much.
After a few more hits, he bumps one of his earbuds from his ear with his shoulder. “What’s the plan for today?” he asks, going back to hitting the bag.
“I have to go check out St. Clair’s Construction today, see if that contract we wanted for that bar was granted.”
St. Clair’s Construction was my first acquisition when I was old enough to understand business. There will always be a need for construction, so it will always turn a profit. Greasing the right palms and paying for contracts helped get my company off the ground. Now word of mouth and good business in the past help keep my company in the black. In fact, I’m thinking about expanding.
I pause to allow him a few more punches. Nico is strong as shit. It’s all I can do to hold the bag steady. “Then I want to go to The Devil’s Den.”
Nico stops mid punch and looks at me. “You think that’s smart?”
I raise an eyebrow. “Why wouldn’t it be?”
He looks down at my wedding band, which I haven’t taken off since I got married. “Because you’re Mr. St. Clair-Whitlock now.”
“Two things. One,” I say, holding up my index finger, “no one knows who I am down at The Devil’s Den. And two,” I aim my middle finger at him this time, flipping him off, “I’m not really married.” I drop my hand. “I’m going out of my fucking mind here, man. He fucked up my last outing when I went. He won’t fuck it up this time.”
Nico shrugs and holds his hands out to me. I unlace his gloves and he tosses them in the basket by the free weights. “I’m going to use the rowing machine before I head up. Are you sticking around or are you done for the day?”
“I’m done. I’m going to shower and wait for you upstairs. We’ll be out most of the day working at the construction company.”
He nods as he pulls on the rowing machine, getting into the workout quickly.
I trot up the stairs, ready to eat one of my prepped meals so I can shower the grime of the workout away. I’m sweaty and sticky and hungry.
When I round the corner for the kitchen, I scowl. Carter is standing at the kitchen counter with a container in front of him, shoveling food into his mouth.
“What the fuck,” I growl, rushing over to him. I push him away from my food and snatch it towards me, putting the top on it. “This is my food.”
“I didn’t see your name on it,” he says around a mouth of chicken and rice.
“You knew you didn’t cook it, so it’s obviously not yours.” I know I’m being petty, but I prepped my meals so I didn’t have to cook after a long workout. If he wanted food, he should have made some. “Not like you use this kitchen anyway.”
“Aw come on, dear husband,” Carter says in a sarcastic tone, wrapping his arms around my waist. I push him off without hesitation. “Ain’t it your duty to make sure your husband is fed?”
“Fuck off, Carter,” I spit at him, tossing the food back at him and storming off.
He chuckles. “Someone is testy.” Then he raises his voice, sounding more serious now. “I need to see your books for your construction company to see how much money it’s bleeding every month.”
I stop in my tracks. “What did you say?”
“I said I need to see your books. I’m an accountant, so I can see where your money is going and where you’re fucking up.”
Rage singing in my veins, I march back over to him, getting in his face. “There’s nothing wrong with my company. And I don’t need you to check shit out. I know what the fuck I’m doing.”
Carter’s face reddens as he pushes me away from him. I stumble back, my feet slipping in the food I tossed at him. “You need to back the fuck up. I’m sick of your shit, Kai. I’m trying to help you from running your fucking business into the ground. Just like your dad said you were.”
Anger surges through me and on a roar, I deck Carter in the face. He holds his mouth, looking stunned for a moment. “My pop don’t know shit!” I yell, all the irritation I feel for Charlie St. Clair and how he shits on my company exploding out of me. Then I charge at him.
But Carter ducks and I fly over his back, landing on the dining room table. I curse, my back arching off the surface. He has some place settings there that he doesn’t use and my back digs into the forks and knives and the saucers that didn’t break under my weight.
He grabs me by my shirt and drags me to the floor, pulling items off the table as he does. A swift kick lands in my gut, and I wheeze. Before he can land another, I grab his foot and pull quickly, bringing him to the ground with me. A ‘oomph’ leaves his lips when his back hits the floor.
I roll on top of him, punching him in the mouth once, twice. Before I can land a third punch, he pushes me away, my hand landing on the floor beside his head. I hiss as pain jolts up my arm. Carter bucks me off him and I tumble over, sliding on the food and other debris that litters the floor.
Carter gets on top of me and puts his hand to my throat. He brings his face to mine, snarling. “There are only so many times I’ll allow you to put your hands on me, Kai.”
Grinning at him through a bloodied mouth, I say, “Fuck you,” then headbutt him.
He curses and lets me go, holding his nose. I scramble up and pull him to his feet, twisting my hands in his shirt as I shove him against the pantry door. I bring him closer to me, until our noses are practically touching. “Don’t you ever talk about my company again. You don’t know shit.”
We stand like this for a second, trading heavy bursts of air. Then our lips are pressed together, kissing frantically. Carter’s hand threads through my loose hair and my hands slide up his back, gripping the muscles there. God, he’s strong, and so hard.
Then I’m on flipped around, my back pressed hard to the door as he presses a thigh between my leg, but I couldn’t give a fuck less about the change of position. Carter settles his chest against mine, rubbing his hard length against me as he attacks my mouth. His kisses are hard and brutal, and I soak them up, needing more.
It’s wrong, wanting the man I’ve hated for years so strongly, but fuck, I can’t stop. I want to pull away, but it’s like my mouth is tethered to his, the only way I can survive is if he kisses me until I don’t know my fucking name.
My head swims from lack of oxygen, but there’s no way I’ll break this kiss. Carter’s tongue is in my mouth, with his hands all over me, and it sets my fucking soul alight. He pulls harder on my hair, the motion stinging my scalp. It only makes me kiss him harder, my fingers sinking into his flesh. I’m sure I leave behind scratch marks.
Someone clearing their throats has us breaking apart, snatching our lips away from each other. My face heating, I push Carter away and meet the gaze of Nico, whose eyebrows are up to his hairline as he takes in the scene in front of him.
I glare over at Carter, his kiss swollen lips still wet. It takes all the power in my body not to draw that plump bottom lip into my mouth and suck at him. But I refrain, anger surging back into me when I think about what led to our fight.
Carter doesn’t need to check behind me. Listening to Pop about my business is where he fucked up. For years, Pop has been trying to get his hands on my books, to check them over for himself. I’ve had to hire accountants that aren’t a part of the family, so he wasn’t privy to my earnings. For some reason, he’s dead set on getting his hands on the company I poured my blood, sweat and tears into. I won’t allow it, and I won’t allow Carter to help him do it.
Not bothering to keep the disdain from my tone, I say, “You’re not going anywhere near my books. Mind your fucking business, husband .” With that, I storm off, brushing past Nico, who follows closely behind me.
When we get to the second-floor landing, he jogs to catch up to me. “I take it the trip to The Devil’s Den is out?”
“You’re a pain in my ass,” I mutter to him, slamming my door in his face. His dark chuckle greets me from the other side of the door.
I strip off my sweaty clothes and drop them in the hamper, then pad to my bathroom naked. My cock is still hard from kissing Carter. My lips still tingle from how his felt on mine. His taste lingers on my tongue.
Stepping under the hot spray, I immediately grab the lube that I’ve stashed in there and drizzle some in my hand and onto my fingers.
A hiss leaves my lips when my hand wraps around my cock. I stroke quickly, the memory of Carter touching and kissing me fresh in my mind. I stuff two fingers, then three, into my hole, fucking myself against my digits.
Anger still simmers just below my skin at the thought of the one person I shouldn’t want being the one that does it for me. I’ve never been close to coming from a kiss. I’ve never thought about someone holding me down and fucking me so hard I scream their name like I think about Carter. His hard, hot hands on my body, so possessive and holding me with such ownership. I’ve never had anyone touch me like that before.
I drop my head, moaning as I jerk and fuck myself faster. The thought of Carter’s hand on me, gripping me with such possession. His mouth owning me, not giving me the chance to even breathe from his closeness. All of it culminates to an earth-shattering orgasm that has my back bowing and a loud groan tearing from my lips. My hole clinches around my fingers, fluttering as I try to impale myself further.
White ropes of my spunk spray over the wall and I look at it in shame. Fuck, why does Carter fucking Whitlock have my head all fucked up?
I snap my washcloth up, cleaning myself roughly. My hands are almost violent in my hair as I wash it, my fingers pulling at the strands without regard. It feels nothing like how Carter did, when he gripped the tresses.
Clean and still pissed off—even after an amazing orgasm—I get out of the shower and get dressed in a fitted suit. I think about how Carter rarely wears suits—cargo pants, fitted shirts and combat boots his outfit of choice. He looks good in both. But he looks unbelievable in a suit. His dark hair and all those tattoos contrast so sharply with their perfect fit. Over the years, anytime I caught him in one, I’d get one hell of a boner. It hasn’t stopped now.
The entire time we were standing in front of all those people we didn’t know in that stupid fucking wedding hall, my cock was half hard as I stared at my husband.
Before I can think more about what I want Carter to do to me, I pull my door open and head out. Nico opens his door at the same time, stepping into the hallway with me. His room is right next to mine and the walls aren’t too thick, so I’m sure he heard me coming my brains out. Whatever. In all the years he’s been my right-hand man and my closest friend, as well as my bodyguard, I’m sure he’s heard worse.
“To the construction company?” Nico asks a little too innocently.
“Yeah. Gotta call Pop to see if he’s heard anything on the streets about these threats. I’ve gotten fuck all from my contacts.”
Nico says, “I’ve been checking in with Jared,” my father’s main bodyguard who Nico has been working closely with for years, “and he said things are quiet. Too quiet.”
Carter steps out of his room just before we hit the stairs. His cheeks turn red when he looks at me, but his eyes are steady. Fuck, he’s feeling it too. My heart thumps against my rib cage as I stare at him.
Against my better judgement, my eyes drop to his mouth, and I can’t stop thinking about how they feel.
Fuck it. We’re married. We’re stuck in this house together and I want to fuck him. I don’t have to like him to get off.
“Nico, I’ll meet you downstairs. I need a word with my husband.”
Thankfully, my friend dips his head and walks away.
Carter’s eyes are guarded as he looks at me. “What?”
I push past him and step into his office. After a few beats, he walks in behind me and shuts the door. I turn around and take long strides over to him. Carter holds his hands up as if thinks I’ll fight him. Yeah, that’s good foreplay, but we’ve already done that.
Batting his hands away, I step into his space and kiss him hard.
Carter freezes initially, then snaps out of it, wrapping one arm around me and thrusting the other hand into my hair. He walks me backwards until the backs of my legs hit his desk. He pushes his tongue into my mouth, dragging it along mine in a rough, teasing way. I moan in his mouth, arching into him.
Breaking the kiss, Carter spins me around and plants my hands on his desk. He reaches around to the front of my pants, undoing them quickly. Fuck yes. He wants it too.
“Just because I want to fuck your ass,” he says, pressing his hard cock against me, “doesn’t mean anything. You’re still the bane of my fucking existence.”
“Don’t care,” I pant. “Just fuck me already.”
Carter roughly pulls my pants down and spits against my hole. When he stuffs two fingers inside me, he chuckles gruffly. “Did you get yourself ready for me, dear husband?”
“Fuck you.” I didn’t, but it’s a stroke of luck that I fingered myself in the shower. “Your cock, Carter. Give me what I want.”
He stands and presses his body to mine, his hand drifting up to my throat. “So needy. Have you always been like this? Something I don’t know about you, St. Clair?”
“Carter, I swear to god,” I grumble, pushing my ass back against his groin. I reach back and spear my hands in his hair, gripping tight. “Take your dick out and fuck me. I need to get you out of my system.”
For once, he does what I say without complaint, fumbling in his pants with his free hand. He spits again between us, getting saliva on the top of my crack. He runs his cockhead through it, then drags it down to my hole.
In one swift motion, he pushes into me, only stopping when he’s balls deep in my ass. “Fuck,” we groan together. My back arches as I push back against him. I’ve never felt so fucking full. Never felt like I’d be split apart so thoroughly.
Carter’s hand tightens around my throat as he pulls back and slams forward into my aching hole hard. Over and over, he pumps into me, his heavy balls slapping against mine.
I clamp my lips shut, not wanting to give him the satisfaction of knowing just what he’s doing to me, but Carter is having none of it. “Let me hear you, Kai. You have so much to say any other time.”
I hum as he pounds into me, holding back as much as I can.
Then he stops his frantic pounding and rolls his hips, fucking me slow. It’s so unexpected that my breath shoots from my lungs, the urge to beg him to keep fucking me like this on the tip of my tongue.
Then he says, “Come on, Kai. Moan for me, baby.”
My body jerks, a hard shudder rolling through me. No one has called me baby while we were fucking and actually sounded like they meant it. Usually, it’s that bullshit sex talk that was meaningless, but hot as fuck in the moment. Hearing it from Carter? Fuck, it’s almost too much.
My control fucking snaps and my lips part, a loud groan sounding in the room. Carter chuckles darkly and I would feel embarrassed if he didn’t feel so fucking good. “Just like that. So fucking good when you listen.” He grips my hip hard, plowing into my hole like he owns me. “Fuck, Kai. Squeeze that tight fucking hole around my dick.” I do what he tells me, trying to strangle his cock. “I’m close. You’d better come before I do.”
He doesn’t need to give me directions in that area. With how he’s pegging my prostate, it’ll only take?—
His teeth sink down hard into my shoulder and the bite of pain shoots pleasure down my spine to the head of my dick. “Carter, I’m coming. Fuck, keep fucking me like that. Like…that….fucccccccck!”
My cock kicks off, spraying my cum all over the desk. My body shudders from the force of my orgasm. Hands down, it’s the best orgasm of my life and I came hands free. It’s the first time that’s ever happened.
With a long growl, Carter stills behind me, and I can feel his hot cum spraying against my walls. He rests his head between my shoulder blades, breathing in deeply. Almost as if he’s taking in my scent.
This shouldn’t feel so good. Not the sex, but this bit that not even air can pass between us, it’s everything.
What the fuck is going on? Why, of all people, is Carter the one to make me feel whole? After sex, I usually felt like I wanted to get away as quickly as possible, to be by myself to come down from my orgasm high.
Now? I don’t want to move. What is wrong with me?
Carter pulls his dick out of me and replaces it with two fingers in my ass, shoving his cum in deeper. I groan hoarsely, my voice gone from all the moaning and babbling. “I want you to walk around with my cum in you all day. You’ll smell like me. You’ll feel me. Everyone will know I fucking own you.”
“I hate you,” I say with another groan.
He chuckles and nips my shoulder once more. “Doesn’t mean I don’t fucking own you.” He removes his fingers and stuffs them in my mouth. I suck on his fingers greedily, dragging my tongue over his digits to collect all of his taste. When they’re clean of his spunk, he pulls his fingers roughly from my mouth and slaps my ass hard. “Now get out of my office. I have shit to do today that doesn’t include you.”
The sting of his dismissal shouldn’t resonate so deeply in me, but I know he felt that connection between us. I know because of how reluctant he was to remove his hand from around my waist and lift his head from my shoulders.
But fuck him. All I needed was his cock once to get him out of my system. Now that I got what I wanted, we can go back to what we were before: enemies that happen to be married.