Kellan (3 page)

“Mallory,” he moaned against my lips. “Not here.”
 

He was right, of course. We sat on a public dock, out in the open. There was no one around except a hundred people just down the beach. At any moment, someone could walk by. The danger of that thrilled me as much as it shocked me.
 

Kellan stood and brought me with him, circling his powerful arms around me. I kept my lips locked with his, struggling to drink him in, to breathe, to touch. We staggered together back toward the pavement. Before I knew it, Kellan had me up against the side of the boat house. Neither of us could collect ourselves long enough to take even another step. I needed him now. I felt like I’d die without him.
 

He reached down and flicked the button on his fly. I slid my hands into his waistband. Cradling the back of my head with one hand, he used the other to lift my shirt and free my breast. I moaned as the air hit my nipple.
 

“Fuck,” he whispered to me as my breast pebbled for him and he pressed his thumb against it. I gasped as I got my hand between his legs and stroked his thick, long cock. God. He was huge. My panties were soaked and in another second, he would be able to feel just how much I wanted him.
 

He pressed his forehead against mine. “Shit,” he whispered. “I don’t have anything.”
 

It took a moment for his words to penetrate the lust-filled fog of my brain. I wanted to say it didn’t matter. The thought of feeling him skin on skin made my blood simmer and my heart race. But I was feeling reckless, not stupid. But, shit. My purse was all the way back at the bar and I knew if we went back for it, we’d both come to our senses all the way.
 

I sucked in a breath and found the strength to pull away long enough to meet his eyes. A slow smile spread across his handsome face and nearly melted me from the inside out.
 

“Who are you?” I asked. I hadn’t meant to say it out loud.
 

His laugh was low, sultry and sent a fresh flash of heat coursing through me. “I was just thinking about asking you the same thing.”
 

Instead of answering, I went up on my tiptoes, threaded my fingers through his hair and brought his head back down so I could keep kissing him. God. He felt so good. It would be so easy. Just this once, I could pretend to be the girl everyone thought I was. I
could
be reckless and wanton. I was sick of trying to hold on so tight. Kellan, whoever he was, might be just the guy to help me lose control, if only for one night.
 

He moaned against me and spanned his hands around my waist. I felt his heart beat fast I pressed my chest against his. I slid my hands back down and circled his giant dick with my thumb and forefinger. I wanted to go to my knees in front of him. The thought of it made me even slicker with desire. Shameless. Reckless. Out of control. It would feel so good to just let go.
 

“Mallory.” He whispered my name against the top of my head and I liked the sound of it. His voice was deep and made my whole body vibrate. I took a small step back and met his eyes. His flashed with desire and a question. He said nothing and yet I understood what he wanted to know.
 

Is this what you want? Are you sure?
 

God, yes. Yes! I took another step back and pressed my shoulders against the side of the boathouse. Kellan ran a thumb across his lips right where I’d kissed him. He could taste me just like I could taste him. Now, I wanted to drown in him. He looked around to make sure we were truly concealed. Holy fuck, we were going to do it. Right here. Right now. I shuddered with lust, fumbling with the zipper on my leather pants. I only wished I’d gone with a dress so he could bend me over and lift the skirt. But this might work just as well.
 

Kellan crossed the distance between us and gathered my wrists in one, strong hand. He pinned my arms above my head against the side of the building. He slid his other hand down the front of my pants and found my sensitive little bud in one skillful maneuver. I gasped and shook as he circled his thumb around my clit and felt the rush of juices between my legs.
 

“Mallory.” He whispered my name again and I wished he wouldn’t. I didn’t want to be Mallory. I didn’t want to be anyone. I just wanted to feel, to stop pretending.
 

He kept my wrists pinned above my head as he slid my pants down, dragging my panties with them. He worked my swollen sex with those expert fingers of his. A few seconds of that and he had me moaning and writhing against his hand. He meant to bring me to a climax just like that. But oh, I wanted him
inside me. I needed it. Craved it. Would die without it. I knew nothing about this man but thanked God he was cautious, where I would have been wild. We’d brought no protection.
 

He had me completely under his control. Every alarm bell should have rung in me. Instead, I just wanted him to keep on touching me. I strained against my clothes, wishing I could rip them off. I would have dropped to the ground and rutted with him like some feral thing. In that moment, it’s what I was.
 

Just as I felt the first tingling wave of pleasure, blinding white light pierced through me. Kellan froze. He let go of my hands and spread his arms wide, shielding me from the glare of headlights and any prying eyes behind us. My mouth went dry and I froze for just an instant. He gave me a slow nod. I reached down with shaking fingers and carefully zipped his fly and then my own.
 

“Mallory!” A voice cut through the air. Kellan turned and faced the intruder. My heart sank as I let out a slow breath. Kellan stepped forward but kept a hand on my arm, tucking me behind him with a protective posture.
 

“It’s all right,” I said, stepping around him. “It’s just my ride.”
 

Justin cut the lights and poked his head out of the driver’s side window. “You need to get back,” he said, fixing his blue eyes on Kellan. Kellan turned to me, his brows knit in a deep scowl.
 

“That’s your guitar player?” he said, his voice low with sarcasm and a little bit of justified anger.
 

I nodded. “He’s my . . . he’s just . . . yeah. I’m sorry,” I said. And I was. From the hard look he gave me, I knew he didn’t believe me. Why would he? A second ago, I couldn’t get enough of him. Now, I was just some cock tease to him.
 

“Just go back to the bar,” I called to Justin. “I can walk back on my own.”
 

“I need you to come with me,” Justin said.  What the hell? I shot him a wide-eyed stare and jutted my chin forward. To his credit, Justin looked aptly miserable and embarrassed at having interrupted us. But Kellan didn’t know him as I did and I figured to him, Justin just looked smug. “Mal, it’s Ned.”
 

My heart dropped and cold fingers of ice skittered across my spine. Justin wasn’t kidding. I saw the sincerity and concern in his eyes.
 

“I can take her home,” Kellan said, still keeping his body between me and Justin.
 

“No!” My answer came out harder and louder than I meant. I stepped around Kellan and put my hands up, gesturing for him not to follow. “I really am sorry. This can’t wait.”
 

I turned and ran toward Justin’s car. He pressed the button and the lock on the passenger door clicked open. I reached for the handle but Kellan got there first. He opened the door for me like a perfect gentleman. I almost laughed at the absurdity of the gesture until I saw his face and realized he was dead serious.
 

“Who are you?” I said before I could really think.
 

“I’d like to see you again,” he said as I slid slowly into the passenger seat. From the corner of my eye, I could see Justin staring straight ahead as if he were trying to will himself invisible for this.
 

“I . . . uh . . .” As bold as I’d been just a few minutes ago, now my armor had gone back up and I felt foolish for what I’d almost let happen. He couldn’t know. Why would Kellan think I was anything other than some whore rocker chick he’d picked up in a bar?
 

“We play
The Sand Bar
the last Friday of every month through September,” Justin answered, his voice clipped and downright rude. He revved the car engine and Kellan shut the door. He took a step back and lifted his arms, giving me a “hands off” gesture. But his eyes told a different story. They glinted in the moonlight, still full of dark desire. He flicked them over me and just that tiny movement sent a flare of lust straight through me.
 

But before I could say anything or even give him a look back, Justin pressed his foot to the floor and jerked the wheel hard, squealing the tires as we drove off.
 

I couldn’t even bring myself to look back. I didn’t need to. I could feel Kellan’s eyes all over me still. Just like my skin still burned from his touch.
 

Chapter Three

“Don’t,” I said to Justin as he hit the freeway on-ramp. He took the turn so hard I had to grab on to the dashboard to keep from sliding over toward him. My seatbelt went taut and pressed me back against the seat.
 

“I’m not going to say shit,” Justin said. “You’re a big girl, Mal.”
 

I blew a breath out hard to lift a lock of hair from my eyes. “No. You’re just going to drive like a damn maniac and glare at me all the way home.”
 

“Let’s just focus on the shit in front of us, okay?” he said. “Aren’t you going to ask me what the hell’s going on with Ned?”
 

I ran a hand across my face. That familiar pit formed in my stomach at the mention of Ned. My father. My cross to bear.
 

“Who called? Gus over at the bowling alley? Daisy at
B.W.’s
? Rick at
The Shires
?”
 

Justin shrugged. “Daisy.”
 

“Great.” I pressed my thumb against my forehead. “Third time’s the charm, it seems. Any chance I can get him out of there without Daisy calling the cops? She pretty much said she’d have to the last time.”
 

Justin shook his head. “First of all,
we
will get him out of there. You think I’m letting you head in there alone? Daisy said he took a swing at two other customers and started groping the waitress.”
 

I punched the window with the side of my fist. “You know, it’s going to go a lot easier if you just drop me off and leave. He probably drove his car there anyway.”
 

“Mal, who are you trying to kid? You think I don’t already know what Ned’s like when he gets like this? Jesus. I’ve had as much of a front row seat to his shit show as you have.”
 

I squeezed my eyes shut tight. It was easy for Justin to say that. But he was wrong. He’d seen plenty of my father’s drunken escapades. But not even he knew how bad it could really get. My mother had taught me well. Hide. Lie. Make excuses. Never let them see how dark things can go. And all of that I’d learned by the time I was five years old. Twenty years later and I could teach my own master class in covering up for drunk-ass Ned Rhodes.
 

“Please?” If Justin wouldn’t listen to my version of reason, I’d go for straight-up begging. “He’s going to take one look at you and lose whatever shred he’s got left of his common sense.”
 

“You think I’m afraid of him?” Justin slammed his hand against the steering wheel. We were two miles out from the exit. Five more minutes and we’d be there. “I’d like to see him take a swing at me. Hell, I’m counting on it.”
 

Great. This was about to get fifty times more complicated than it needed to.
 

“Just knock it off,” I yelled. “I don’t need you swooping in to rescue me, Justin. And as far as my dad goes, I really don’t need to worry about handling
you
handling my father. None of this . . . including what happened back at the boat launch . . . is any of your damn business.”
 

Justin slammed on the brakes as he pulled into a parking spot sideways. The red neon
B.W.’s
sign flashed, making Justin’s eyes look like the devil. A tiny vein popped near his temple as he gripped the steering wheel so tight his knuckles turned white.
 

Enough. I’d had it. This was going to be hard enough without dealing with Justin’s tantrum on top of everything else. I wasn't exactly fair to him and I knew it. But Ned was
my
business; on that point I was balls-on accurate.
 

“Could you just wait for me here?” I said, trying to make my voice softer. “I’ll have him out of there in five minutes. You can follow us home if you promise to stay in the background.”
 

Justin arched a dark brow at me and his face split into a lopsided grin. God, he was cute when he got pissed at me. Which meant, he was cute a lot. I leaned through the open van window and gave him a quick peck on the forehead. Then I turned and squared my shoulders, bracing myself for which version of Ned Rhodes I’d find behind door number one.
 

If lying to cover for him was one of the first lessons I learned growing up, ducking was a close second. I dropped to my knees just as a glass mug came sailing over my head. It struck the wall behind me and shattered into a thousand pieces.
 

“That’s it!” Daisy Wendall wielded a baseball bat behind the bar. She took a giant swing at my dad’s head. Even in his current state, he knew how to duck just as well as I did. Daisy pointed the end of the bat at him and rammed it up under his chin. She had fire in her eyes to match her flaming red hair. She’d owned this bar
for forty years and for the first five or so, she and my father had a thing for each other. That history was either going to help me get him out of this or make Daisy finally knock his damn head off. Before the end of the night, I had a feeling I’d pray for the latter.