Chapter Eighteen
Brooklyn
He’s at my car door as soon as we pull up to the cabin. He jerks the car door open and practically drags me out.
“What the hell were you thinking?” he yells.
“Let go of me,” I yell back, jerking my arm away. “I’m not yours, Kip. You don’t own me. I’m a grown woman. I can do whatever I want.”
“The hell you can.” He follows me into the house.
I stop and whirl around once we are inside. My hands are on my hips. “Men have been telling me my entire life what I can and can’t do. I’m sick of it. I’m my own person. I can make my own decisions.”
“Stupid fucking decisions.” His arms are crossed over his chest.
“My decisions,” I yell. “Mine.”
We just stare at each other for a moment.
“Someone was murdered in that house,” he says.
I close my eyes for a moment. I’m trying to push that thought away, but I can’t.
I can’t think about it. I can’t think about whose blood that was. I can’t think about whether I’m too late.
I can’t. I just can’t.
As I struggle to push away every dark thought that’s flooding my brain right now, I slump down to my knees.
Not now. Not now. Not now.
“Ginger.” I whip my head up. Kip’s yelling at me. He’s down on the floor beside me. I’ve curled myself into a ball. My head tucked down onto my knees.
“You have to talk to me,” he says. I just shake my head.
“Whatever that was - you’ve got to stay away. It’s dangerous.”
I’m still shaking my head. I can’t answer, and I just realized I’m sobbing. I wipe my eyes with the sleeves of my shirt. His hand is on my back.
“Please just talk to me.”
I take a shaky breath, stand up, and shuffle a few steps back. I need space. I feel like I can’t breathe.
“Why won’t you just tell me what’s going on?” He’s on his feet now too.
I wipe my face one more time. I can’t explain this to him. Not yet. Not now. “Why won’t you just drop it? We aren’t friends. We don’t really know each other. I’m just a stranger. Why do you even care?” I say.
He flinches. I’ve hit a nerve. He doesn’t respond immediately, and then he takes two steps toward me. Every fiber of my body lights up as he nears.
“We’re strangers, are we?” he says. His gaze is too intense. I have to cast my eyes away. “Look at me, Ginger.”
I can’t.
“Fucking look at me.”
I flick my eyes up to his, and he says, “Tell me we are strangers again.”
He steps forward again. I’m holding my breath.
“Tell me.”
He closes the distance between us.
“We didn’t seem like strangers this morning.” He’s slowly running his fingers down my neck until he reaches my shirt.
“That was just sex,” I whisper. I watch his hands unbutton my shirt.
“Was it?” he pulls my shirt open. He’s just watching my chest rise and fall.
“I hate you.” I pull his shirt over his head and then place my hands flat against his chest.
He snorts.
“I really hate you,” I spit out. I might hate him, but my body sure doesn’t. It’s that damn magnetic pull bringing me closer and closer to him.
“You hate me, huh?” He’s smirking.
“You’re a bully.” I dig my nails lightly into his skin, and I feel him tremble.
“Am I? It seems to me I keep saving your ass.”
“I don’t want you to save me. I can manage on my own.”
He laughs, and I want to slap him across the face. Instead I dig my nails a little deeper. He sucks in a quick breath.
“I’ve hated you since the moment I laid eyes on you,” I say.
“Likewise.”
“You’re a smug, arrogant jerk,” I say.
“You’re a stubborn pain in the ass,” he fires back.
With every insult, we’re drifting closer to each other. Our lips are almost touching. I’m not sure if he’s about to kiss me or kick me out. We both jump when we hear a knock at the door.
“For fuck’s sake,” Kip says, taking a step back. I follow behind, pulling my shirt closed.
“What do you want?” he says as soon as he opens the door.
“Busy?” Hawk says from the other side of the door.
“Yes.”
“Thought you were going to bring your girl in today for a statement,” Hawk says. I’m slinking away from the door.
“She’s not ready.” Kip barely has the door open. I’m standing right behind it where Hawk can’t see me.
“Tomorrow then.”
“If she’s ready,” Kip says.
“It’s important. I can’t hold him forever.”
“Weren’t there enough witnesses?”
“I need to know what happened before we came out.”
“Fine,” Kip growls. “She’ll be in tomorrow.”
He’s about to slam the door when Hawk says, “You have a package.”
My whole body tingles, and I hate myself for it.
“Thanks,” Kip says, taking it and slamming the door shut.
Neither of us moves or speaks for a moment.
“What's in the package?” I say.
His eyes flick up to mine. “Maybe we should talk...”
“What’s in the package, Kip?” I snatch it from his hands and rip it open.
He doesn’t move as I pull the box of condoms out of the box.
Our eyes lock. For two heartbeats we both just stare at each other - eyes heated, breathing ragged. I slowly lick my lips, his eyes following my every movement.
“What are you waiting for?” My voice is barely above a whisper. The words have hardly escaped my lips when his mouth is on mine. We stumble toward the bedroom.
He tears my clothes off and practically throws me on the bed. I’m lying on my back, watching him undress. Once he’s naked, his eyes float up to mine and then drift down to my body. My thighs are pressed together, and I allow one of them to fall open - giving him a glimpse of everything he desires.
“Jesus fucking Christ,” he hisses as his gaze stops between my thighs.
“Come and get it,” I purr.
A growl escapes his throat. He’s on top of me in less than a second, mouth claiming mine. I rub my bare pussy against him, and he lets out a primal sound that only stokes the fire that’s building in my core.
I press my chest against his, savoring the feeling of our bare skin touching everywhere, and the heat it brings.
Running my hands down his shoulders and along his biceps, I feel his body tremble slightly under my touch.
He rolls to the side, and I miss the weight of him immediately.
I’m about to protest when he slides his hand between my legs.
I drop my head back onto the pillow and allow both of my legs to fall open for him.
“My god,” he groans as he feels how drenched I am.
I’m panting and writhing under his touch. He knows what he’s doing. I’m seconds away from coming.
“Do you know how hard it was this morning not to touch you?” he slides his finger inside me, and I moan. “I wanted to feel your wet pussy so badly. I wanted to be inside you more than I’ve ever wanted anything in my life.”
“Worth the wait?” I can barely get the words out. I'm so overwhelmed with desire.
“Let’s find out.” He rips open the box of condoms so violently that half of them spill onto the floor.
“Goddamn it,” he whispers as he tears open one of the wrappers. Once he’s rolled the condom on, he crawls toward me. My heart feels like it might explode out of my chest at any second. He pushes my thighs further open and places himself at my entrance.
“This is what you want?”
I nod.
“Say it.”
“I want it. I want you.” I’m starting to lose it. “I need you, Kip. I need you inside me.”
The corner of one side of his mouth turns up, and he presses his way inside. I haven’t been with anyone in a while, and I’d forgotten how good it feels to be this close to a man, to feel him fill me completely.
“You’re such a good girl, taking me completely.”
“Oh, Kip,” I moan. He starts to move slowly. I’m matching his movements, grinding into him.
“Show me what you like.” His mouth is on my neck, his hand exploring my breast. I lift my legs up and wrap them around his waist, he groans as soon as he realizes he can go deeper at this angle.
His pace increases, but I need more.
More.
More.
More.
“Don’t hold back. I can take it,” I whisper in his ear. He growls and begins to thrust harder into me. Each time he crashes forward it moves me closer and closer to the headboard. I reach my hands over my head and press them against the headboard to hold myself in place.
“Oh, god...don’t stop.”
He started to mumble things I can’t even understand except an occasional curse word.
“Kip, I’m about to...”
“Come baby. Come together with me. Show me how much you love my dick. Come all over it.” He plows into me again and again until I feel both of our bodies quake together.
I clench around him as he throbs inside me, spilling himself into the condom.
I continue to clench around him until the wave washes over me, and my body stills.
He pulls out and rolls off. I feel empty without him.
I can’t speak for a full five minutes. I don’t think I can even see for two. I’ve been completely dickmatized. He’s paralyzed me with his dick, and I’m happily lying here, helpless to resist.
I’m still moaning and writhing a little.
“Are you still coming?” he asks, rolling his head toward me.
I close my eyes. “Shut up. Just let me enjoy this.”
“Fuck me.” I feel him watching me as I crash back down to earth.
When I open my eyes, he’s smirking at me.
“I guess you don’t hate me anymore?” he says.
Smug bastard.
I roll over toward him. “Oh, I won’t forget that easily. I haven’t forgiven you.”
“Forgiven me? For what? Saving your life?”
I scoff.
He brushes the hair back from my face. “Ginger, I wish you’d talk to me.”
“Kip, I wish you’d just let it go.” I’m still breathing heavily. My whole body is tingling. I’m afraid I may just spill all my secrets right now if he keeps asking.
“You know I can’t do that,” he says, his face is dark now.
“I’m starving,” I change the subject. “I’m working in a few hours.”
“Shame.” He watches me get out of bed. “Your boss must be a real hard ass.”
“Smart ass is more like it,” I say. He throws a pillow at me.
“I’m watching you,” he grins.
“Oh, I know.” I call over my shoulder as I walk into the bathroom.