Chapter 25
Farrah
“Oh, come on.” I groan. “She clearly doesn’t care one iota about you.
She’s there for the visibility.” I continue to watch the train wreck of a dating show.
I know half the things on the show are scripted.
They play up the drama for ratings, but I think a few of the contestants might genuinely be there for love.
I pretend they are anyway, so I can justify watching these shows.
A knock on my door makes me freeze.
No one should be randomly coming to my house. If it were one of the girls, they’d have texted first. It’s not… There’s no way. He’s in prison.
“Farrah? It’s Knox.”
My shoulders relax. I jump off the couch to open the door for him. It takes me half a second to remember I’m in my pj’s. My ratty T-shirt and messy hair are exactly what I wanted Knox to see.
Ugh. I’m so stupid. “Knox… What are you doing here?”
“I—” He falters, his eyes scanning my body. I clench the door handle to keep from tugging my tiny shorts down. His gaze finally makes it back to mine, and the heat in his eyes makes me blush. “Finn is with Holt’s girls tonight.”
I blink. “Okay?”
“What are you doing?”
“Having a party. What the heck is going on?”
Knox frowns. “You’re having a party?”
I drop my forehead into my palm. “What are you doing here at ten o’clock at night?”
“I was thinking about you on my way home from Grayson’s and wanted to see what you were doing.” He shoves his hands into his pockets, and I suddenly realize Knox is unsure of himself right now.
“I’m just watching TV. Do you want to come in?”
“So you’re not having a party?”
I step back from the doorway with a snort. “No, Knox. If you couldn’t tell from my outfit, I’ve been rotting on the couch.”
He steps inside, his gaze raking over me yet again as he takes his cowboy hat off. The way his eyes move across my body is like he’s physically touching me. It sends goosebumps racing across my skin.
“You look beautiful to me.”
My cheeks bloom at the compliment. He said it so casually, it felt more like a fact than an opinion.
“Thanks.”
Whiskey’s meow is the perfect distraction. He winds his way through Knox’s legs, the traitor. Although watching Knox give my cat attention is worth the betrayal. A vision of him running his hand across my skin in the same way sends a bolt of lust through me so sharp I have to bite back a gasp.
Jesus. I need to walk away from this ridiculous situation. Am I actually getting turned on watching a man pet my cat?
You wish he’d pet your kitty.
The ridiculous thought sounds like Gia, and I stifle a laugh. “Do you want something to drink? I have soda or red wine.”
He straightens, his brown eyes pinning me in place. “I’ll take a glass of wine.”
His answer surprises me, but I manage to hide it. “I’ll be right back.”
When I get to the kitchen, I take several deep breaths. I have a man in my house. I have a man I’m supremely attracted to in my freaking house. If I survive the night, I’ll die of shock.
* * *
“Noooooo.” I groan. “You’re not supposed to like her. She’s the drama queen.”
Knox smirks. “But that’s why she’s fun. She stirs all these women up into a tizzy, and it’s hilarious.”
I drop my head to the back of the couch. “Ugggghhh.”
Knox chuckles at my behavior. We’ve been watching the dating show I had on earlier for the last two hours. Knox has gotten super into it, trying to figure out which couples will stay together. It’s been surprisingly fun to share our thoughts and theories about what’s going to happen next.
We’ve downed an entire bottle of wine, and somehow I’ve found myself with my legs draped across his lap, and he’s massaging my feet.
I’ve had to suppress multiple groans of pleasure from the way his thumbs dig into my arches.
My bottom lip is raw from the number of times I’ve bitten it to stay quiet.
I haven’t been successful every time. If one slips through, Knox always falters, and I do not want him to stop touching me.
Oh, lord… The couple on the screen is getting handsy in the hot tub. We’ve somehow avoided the steamier episodes so far. Looks like our luck has finally run out.
Watching the pair get hot and heavy has my center going molten. Add in that Knox’s hands have moved up my calves, and I may not survive the next five minutes.
“This is why I don’t get into public hot tubs.” Knox’s deep rumble pulls me from my wandering thoughts.
I wrinkle my nose. “I cannot imagine all the fluids floating around in there.”
Knox pretends to gag, and it makes me giggle. He grins over at me. I’ve never seen him this relaxed. He looks roguish and handsome without the frown lines that typically mar his face.
I sit up, closing the distance between us. I’ve never felt the urge to kiss someone just because, but the way he’s looking at me right now, there’s nothing else I want to do more.
He stays still, allowing me to take the lead, at least until my lips press against his.
He grips the back of my neck, his fingers digging into the sides in a possessive hold.
The pressure makes me feel safe instead of controlled.
The difference is incredible. It emboldens me.
It frees me to take from this man, knowing he’ll give me everything I need without pause.
His tongue teases at my bottom lip. It makes me gasp, and Knox takes advantage. He explores my mouth with confidence, sending my body into overdrive. I’ve never gotten turned on from a kiss. It’s always felt forced, as if I were playing a role that was expected.
Knox wraps an arm around my waist, adjusting me across his lap so my knees fall to the sides of his hips.
My core sits snuggly over his thick erection, and I have a moment of pause.
My previous experiences have clouded how I view intimacy.
Sex has always been an obligation, something that was expected of me but never for me.
But as Knox’s hands softly run across my back, I realize he’s not taking advantage of my bold move. He’s merely giving us a more comfortable way to continue exploring each other.
He kisses down my neck, nipping at my pulse point. It makes my hips stutter, and I gasp at the sensation that shoots through me.
Somehow, even through his jeans, Knox’s cock rubbed me in just the right way that I lit up from the inside. He leans back, his brown eyes holding me hostage in their intense gaze.
“Use me however you need to, Princess.”
I frown at him.
In response, he grips my hips with gentle hands, only to move me over him in the same way, sending another bolt of pleasure straight to my core. He guides me, showing me how to move over him until I hesitantly start to move on my own. Then he just watches me with a proud grin on his face.
I kiss him hard, my hips moving of their own accord until I’m edging toward something unfamiliar.
I’ve gotten myself off plenty of times since I left my ex. But whatever is building inside me is more than that. This is new and overwhelming.
“Come for me, Princess. Show me how beautiful you are when you come.”
Knox’s words are more than I can bear. My breath shudders out of my chest as my core clenches hard. Pleasure radiates out from my center, making my toes curl and a cry fall from my throat. God, that was the most intense thing I’ve ever experienced.
I slump into Knox’s chest, completely wiped out. He slowly runs his hands up and down my spine. The soothing strokes help me come back down from the high. It’s then that I realize what I just did.
I used this man like a sex toy. How freaking embarrassing is that?
“I’m sorry, Knox.”
He palms my cheeks and forces me back to look at him. “Why the fuck would you be sorry?”
“I just used you like a—” I refuse to outright say human dildo in front of this man, so I go a different direction. “You didn’t get anything out of that.”
Knox snorts, surprising me. “Princess, I just came in my pants like a fifteen-year-old boy seeing a pair of tits for the first time.”
My jaw drops at his confession.
He runs his thumbs across my cheeks. “But even if I hadn’t come, watching you take your pleasure would have been enough. Do you know how gorgeous you are?”
I shake my head.
“Then I’ll do whatever it takes to remind you. Come on. Let’s go clean up.”
I squeal as Knox stands with me still in his arms. I quickly wrap my legs around his waist and hold on tight as he carries me to the bathroom in the hallway.
This night has taken a turn I never expected, but it’s one I needed more than I realized. I just had my first positive sexual interaction ever, and we didn’t even take our clothes off.
“Thank you, Knox,” I whisper to him when we’re back on the couch after cleaning up. He’s going commando now, and I spent a solid minute giggling at how annoyed he was that he came in his pants.
“What for, Princess?” His fingers haven’t stopped carding through my hair since we sat back down.
“For more than I could ever explain.”
He looks at me for a second to see if I’ll say more. When I don’t, he wraps his arm around my shoulders and pulls me into his chest.
Tears burn behind my eyes as he presses a kiss to the top of my head.
I don’t know what’s going to happen between the two of us, but for the first time in my entire life, I don’t feel so broken.