Chapter 4 #2
I don’t know what it was about him but he stirred things in me that I’d never had before and yes, I was fully aware that eventually it was going to be a problem.
We were in a good place, especially after my moody spinout yesterday, and I liked how easy it was to be with him so why would I feel the need to make it awkward by ogling the guy when all he wanted to do was work out?
Back in Belfast, I would never befriend a guy.
I knew he’d be too intimidated by my father and brothers so I just stuck to my own corner of the clubhouse and made my own fun.
I’d come close once or twice, sneaking out to the warehouse to make out but ultimately, my brothers were too big of a motivator for them to want to risk their lives.
I liked thinking of Rebel as my friend though, even if he never thought of me as one and I was just a job, I could lie to myself and say he liked me back.
He didn’t hide away in his room, he sat with me, fed me, made sure I had everything I needed and he made my birthday morning even better than I’d ever had before.
I slowed the treadmill down and jumped off, stretching my limbs for a few minutes before I moved over to the cross trainer in the corner.
“You good?” he asked, without pausing.
“Yep, just don’t want to get sore.”
He nodded before he jumped off the machine and laid down on the mat.
When he proceeded to start doing sit ups, I felt my lower belly clench as I saw every muscle tighten with his movements.
He had a sheen of sweat on his forehead and his arms. I was sweaty too, but when I got sweaty, I turned pink and my hair clung to my face and made me irritable.
He just looked like he’d been prepped for a goddamn photo shoot.
Jumping on the cross trainer, which of course had to be facing him while he did his wet dream inducing routine, I tried everything not to watch how his muscles tensed when he came up, his torso was ripped without an ounce of fat on him and I could see every dip and curve of his abs every time he came up.
Pushing back the inappropriateness of my ogling, I forced myself to look at the monitor of the machine as I climbed, my thighs burning.
I lived for the burn. I’d always used working out as a way to let off anger at my situation, at my brothers, at life, but right now it was pushing all those nasty thoughts in my head away so I could function like a human.
I chanced a glance up as he stopped and took a drink from his bottle of water.
His lips wrapped around the opening of the plastic bottle and I wondered, not for the first time, what it would feel like to have those lips pressed against mine.
My brain decided to go haywire and continue thinking of his arms wrapping around my waist and holding me close, how he would feel as he kissed down my neck and how his hands would feel as he cupped my breasts.
Jesus, Darby, get a fucking grip.
I ignored his royal hotness as he moved to the rowing machine and continued to work out until my legs felt like jelly and I could barely hold myself up. I felt great, high on the endorphins and ready for a good night.
I think…
Today was one of the best I’d ever had. I couldn’t stop smiling as Rebel made everything I ever wanted, even down to the cake he presented after dinner. It was delicious, just like everything else he did.
“I don’t think you’re ready for this,” he called out over the sound of the blender.
We’d already tried the easy cocktails in the book but he was so sure of himself that he thought he would master the trickier ones.
I didn’t dare tell him I knew how to make it already.
I’d been responsible for my own cocktails since I was thirteen when everyone was too drunk to notice the kid girl behind the bar, mixing liquors. It was why I wasn’t a lightweight.
To my surprise, Rebel had drank with me, even downing the pretty pink cocktails with gusto and then surprise would filter over his face at how damn good it was.
He didn’t drink as much as me though, and I knew that had to be because he wasn’t a big drinker.
I’d never seen him drink at all since we were here but I knew he did. There was always beer in the fridge.
The slight buzz pinging in my brain told me I should probably stop soon but I was having too much fun with him.
It was like a light had switched off and he could finally be himself.
He was smiling more, and genuinely having a good time.
I wondered how long it had been since he’d truly enjoyed himself.
“Here,” I laughed as I saw him struggle with the glasses and the blender jug of frozen margarita type concoction.
I held the glasses firm as he tossed the icy contents into them.
A huge glob of it ran down my fingers and I quickly pulled them up to suck the cold drink off them before I squealed from the coolness on my skin.
I looked up at him then only to see the fiery expression on his face as he watched me slip my fingers back out of my mouth with a pop.
The smile was gone and in its place was an expression I could only figure was barely holding on.
Did he have the same feelings I did?
Did he want to lick the drink off my fingers himself?
“It’s really good,” I said, breaking the tension. “Do you want to try?”
He raised his glass to his lips and I watched as he took a sip, his eyes on me the entire time. I could feel the tension coming off him in waves and my pussy clenched at the way his dark eyes held mine. A dance of torment between us.
“It’s good,” he said, downing the rest of the contents and putting the glass down. “Did you enjoy your birthday?”
“I did, thank you, Kendrick.”
He smiled a little when I used his name. I don’t think he’d heard it in a while and I was reminding him of who he was without the club. I liked to see him smile.
“Can I ask one more thing?” I ventured, hoping he wouldn’t think I was dumb and ruin the rest of my night. Fuck, maybe I shouldn’t ask…too much of a good thing was bad right?
“Of course.”
“There’s one thing that I always wanted on my birthday, one thing that I never got because of my overprotective family…can you…fuck…maybe I shouldn’t ask.”
He leaned against the counter and crossed his arms over his chest. “Ask.”
“Will you give me a birthday kiss?”
A few beats went by and I realised I had probably just ruined a good thing between us. I felt all the good vibes drain out of me and braced myself for the rejection. Why the hell did I have to go and fuck this up? We were finally in a good place and I had to go and ruin it just like that.
“You don’t want me to kiss you,” he said, his voice deeper than it had been moments before. “You want someone you like to kiss you on your birthday. Sorry, princess.”
“I just want to be kissed on my birthday,” I said, almost like a whimper. I felt like I was going to cry. This had been so stupid. “Don’t worry about it.”
I made a move to leave when I felt his hands on my hips, turning me toward him. I felt all the air leave my body as one hand stayed on my hip, his fingers digging into my flesh a little and the other hand cupped the side of my face. His eyes moved to my lips and back to my eyes.
“You don’t want this…”
“I really think I do…”
My voice was barely a whisper as I saw his head move to the side and his lips brushed across mine.
They were soft yet the kiss was firm. I couldn’t help it, I moaned when I felt his fingers dig into my skin and he pushed me up against the kitchen wall, the kiss turning from gentle to passionate.
His tongue breached my lips and they happily parted for him.
His tongue clashing with my own, had us going past a friendly, birthday kiss to something more… primal.
He groaned as I moved my hand up under his shirt, my skin on his skin.
I clung to him like I was dependent on him to survive, because at this point, I was.
He’d become my whole world the last few weeks so maybe this attraction was the universe trying to say we needed to procreate or whatever chemical hormone shit did to a woman’s brain to keep the race going, but I chose to believe it was because I really liked him…
because I did and I truly believed he liked me back.
He ground against me, his hard cock pushing against my stomach. I wanted him. I wanted him more than I had ever wanted anything before and it felt like he wanted me just as bad.
A loud knock landed and we broke apart, both of us panting. His eyes were wild as he looked toward the hall near the door.
“Stay here.”
His voice was barely there, deep but broken from our encounter. He grabbed a gun from a drawer in the hall and headed down the tiled walkway to the front door. I waited, on tenterhooks, my lips still felt like they had him on them. I touched them and smiled at the memory.
If whoever hadn’t knocked, I knew without a shadow of a doubt that it would have continued and now I felt unbridled rage at whoever had interrupted us. Foe or not.
“Why didn’t you tell me you were coming?” I heard Rebel’s voice say which told me it was someone from the club. The air left my lungs and I knew that whatever we’d had was over.
Fuck.
Shona rounded the corner into the kitchen with a big smile. “We’re here to give you something to take your mind off the doldrum that is otherwise known as Rebel.”
“Hey, Shona.”
I tried to suppress my disappointment. She was here to celebrate my birthday. There was no way she knew she just cockblocked me from something I’d been dreaming about for days.
“Birthday girl!”
After she came into the living area, I saw Morena, Ryleigh, Shauna and a few of the club girls as well as Savage, Viper and Fury follow them. Damn…so the night had only just begun.