Shaking his head in denial, he studied his mug. Maybe if he ignored them, they’d let him leave without much fight. The scrape of chair legs over the bare wood floor clarified he didn’t stand a chance.
Kurt settled on the stool beside Al’s. “All right. So what’s got your gut in a knot, little brother? You’re usually more fun.”
“Nothing.”
Alonso scowled. “Is it that bitch from last night?”
Anger rose, and Connor took a drink to keep from slugging the other man. “I told you, she’s not a bitch. Don’t call her that again.”
His cousin sipped his whiskey, his gaze unwavering. “Then what is she? Or better question, where is she?”
Not here
. God, he wished she were. If he’d left well enough alone, Kate would still be part of his life. But that was no longer an option. He could not go back to the way they had been. Not with the feel of her soft skin and the sound of her delicate cries imbedded in his mind. Emptying his beer, he signaled a passing waitress for another. No matter how much he drank or how loud the music or whatever distraction came his way, he would not be able to forget having Katelyn in his bed. Her perfect body stretched out for their mutual pleasure, her sexy submission, her spirit, everything about her satisfied him beyond measure. No other would ever come close.
Kurt cleared his throat and sat forward. “So tell us about her.”
“It’s not going to happen so drop it.” Connor couldn’t get Kate out of his thoughts, but he didn’t want to talk about her either. For three years, he’d practically crawled to get her to notice him. One night in his bed had forced her to confess she loved him, but it had also reinforced her walls. He’d been a fool to think he had a chance and a bigger fool to risk losing her. But it was too late to undo the damage. She would never let him past her defenses again, and he didn’t have the heart to force her. Walking away and never looking back was his only option.
“Do you love her?”
He wasn’t sure who had asked the question, but the sharp and unexpected pain it triggered nearly floored him. Looking up, he studied Kurt and Al. They seemed too concerned, too serious, like they were up to something. “Did you two drag me out here so you could play amateur psychiatrist? If so, sorry to disappoint.”
“Thank God!” Alonso’s laugh sounded forced. “I’m not sure I could stand listening to you cry in your beer over some chick so far beneath you. Nice set of tits and a sweet ass, but seriously, man. You need to fuck her and—”
Connor lunged from his chair, his fist landed square on his cousin’s jaw before he finished the indecent thought. “Shut you’re damn mouth!”
“Whoa, kid.” Kurt grabbed him from behind, pinning his elbows back. “He was testing you, checking if you’d actually found the one. You know Al didn’t mean it.”
The cloud of anger lifted as quickly as it had come. He glared at his charismatic cousin, reminding himself the guy had his back even if he came off as a dick. “You’re an asshole.”
Alonso laughed and slapped him on the back. “Come on, you’re beer’s here. Sit down.”
Before he could slide onto his stool, his brother caught his arm and turned him toward the dance floor, waving Al away. “Seriously, little brother. What if she changes her mind?”
“She won’t.” She hadn’t budged in three years. Nothing had changed except him. “I’m done pretending I have a chance.”
“But if she did want you back, as more than a friend, would you still walk away?”
“Hell no.” The bar teemed with beautiful women of all shapes and sizes—tall, petite, voluptuous and overly slender—but none of them did a thing for him. Shrugging off his brother’s arm, he returned to his seat across from his cousin. Kurt joined them, but Connor did not miss the
conspiratorial
glance the other men exchanged.
He took a long swig of beer, nearly draining the frosted mug. “I’m out after this one.”
Kurt glanced at his watch. “Slow down a bit, Con. Sit back and enjoy life.”
Al nodded. “What’s the hurry? Appreciate the scenery if nothing else. That pretty little thing by the stage looks like she could use a partner.”
“Quit plotting to hook me up. It’s not happening. Not tonight. Or any other for that matter.” The last of the beer went down easy but left a bitter aftertaste, a perfect reminder of the resentment burning in his chest. He didn’t blame the guys for trying to knock him out of his funk, nor Kate for being afraid to take a chance. The responsibility for everything lay firmly in his own lap. He had created the shithole his life had fallen into, and he would find a way to live with it. Even if it killed him.
****
Kate’s stomach hurt as she paced the front hall. She hadn’t eaten all day, but nausea still threatened to empty her belly. Eight o’clock had come and gone. She didn’t know Kurt’s or Al’s number, so she had to rely on their sense of fair play and pray it was enough.
Lights finally flashed across the picture window, and a familiar truck turned into the drive. Al slid out of the passenger side then pulled Connor into a fireman’s carry over his shoulder. Kurt ran around to slam the door behind him before he sprinted to the porch.
Kate opened the door. “You’re late.”
“Yeah, well, my stubborn brother refused to come with us at first.”
“You could have called. I was worried sick.”
“Are you going to stand there and bitch or tell Al where to put your guest?”
The man had a point, so she stepped aside and let them in. “Down the hall to the right. On the bed, please.”
The two men looked enormous in her small room. Al laid Connor carefully on top of the coverlet and stepped back. “So, we should go.” The start of an impressive bruise darkened the left side of his face, and he fingered it gingerly. “You’re not planning anything crazy, right? Con’s a good guy, and I don’t—”
“Trust me.” She touched his arm and guided him down the hall. Kurt followed on their heels. “Thanks for bringing him, you two. I’ll take it from here.”
She practically shoved them out before she thought to ask how long she had. Jerking open the door, she leaned out. “Hey. What did you do to him?”
Kurt glanced around at the dark street then loped back to the steps. “He had a couple beers and wanted to call it a night. Al slipped him half of an over the counter sleeping pill. Con doesn’t take pain meds or anything else, so it didn’t take much, but I don’t know how long he’ll stay down. We debated driving him home, so he’s been out a while already.” He looked down at his feet then up again. “He refused to talk about you. Little brother’s going to be hot as hell when he finds out what we did.”
“I know, but if things go right, he’ll forgive us all. If I screw up, he’ll never know the two of you were involved.”
Alonso had joined them, and he shook his head. “We’ll take responsibility for our own actions. Just don’t fuck it up, baby girl.”
She had to smile at the deliberate taunt. “Got it.”
Chapter Nine
Had someone cold cocked him?
Connor’s head swam, leaving him groggy and disoriented. Even his limbs seemed heavy, arms and legs too weighty to lift. He opened his eyes, squinting against the faint throb in his skull. Overhead, through an enormous skylight, the lilac dawn had begun to soften the dark sky. Slowly, he came to his senses in a strange bed. A bold modern print wallpaper dominated one wall, and a petite chaise sat beneath the wide window. An old-fashioned floor lamp illuminated the room, and the faint scent of familiar perfume lingered in the air.
He turned his head toward the other side. Katelyn lay beside him. Pale blonde hair framed her face, her lips the palest pink, lashes long and golden tipped against her ivory skin. One hand curled beneath her chin as she slept. But her scantily covered body drew his attention downward to skim her curves, breasts almost spilling from the low-cut neckline of a pink satin teddy. Her sex barely covered by the short hemline.
Hello, little cat
.
His heart wrenched. It was a dream. She had sent him away, and he’d gone because he couldn’t bear to see her without touching. He’d played the patsy for too long, but no more. He could not be near her ever again, had promised them both he’d walk away and not look back. Had he drank too much and sought her out by instinct?
Running through what little he could hold onto, he remembered having a couple beers with Kurt and Al. They’d tried to get him to talk about what had him surly as a cornered panther, but he’d refused. He intended to head home early, hadn’t really planned to join them in the first place, but somehow they’d convinced him to stay for one more. That was all he could recall.
How the hell did I get here?
Connor reached to touch her face, but his hand rose no more than a few inches. Confused, he lifted his head, only to realize he lay naked, his lethargy in fact scarves wrapped around his wrists and ankles, holding him firmly to her bed. A leather cock strap circled his junk in a snug band.
“Kate!”
She sat up with a quiet gasp, followed quickly by a slow smile. “You’re awake.”
“Care to explain this?” He fought to hold onto anger, but her beautiful face crushed his will.
A hesitant look flitted over her face, then his tenderhearted toughie returned. She swung a leg over his waist and settled, her sweet ass inches from the length of his cock. “Turnabout is fair play, isn’t it?”
He groaned as she trailed her fingers up and down his ribcage. “I won’t be your fuck buddy, Kate. We discussed this.”
“I don’t want that, so we’re good.” She explored his chest, scraping her nails over his nipples.
Twisting, he tried to escape her sensual touch. “Untie me.”
“Are you sure?” She bent and ran her tongue across his lips, her kiss a promise he couldn’t resist.
When she lifted her head, he followed, straining against his bonds to capture her mouth once more, but she moved beyond his reach, her satisfied grin a balm and an irritant. He scowled. “Why am I here, Kate? I’m done being your lapdog.”
“What if I changed my mind?”
Hope tweaked his soul, but he held off the smile threatening to give him away. “About?”
“I was thinking maybe, once in a while, we could play like we did last night.”
God, damn it!
She hadn’t learned a thing. With a growl, he tried to buck her off. “No!”
She wrapped her hands around his biceps and hung on, sliding downward until her pussy straddled his swollen cock. He stilled, unwilling to increase the fiction between them. She had no such compulsion. Slowly, she rocked on him, her moist folds opening to embrace his dick in a wet kiss.
“Stop it, Kate.”
With a sigh, she stilled. “Connor, hear me out. That’s all I ask.”
He bit his tongue. She could destroy him without effort.
Sitting up fully, she splayed her hand over his heart. “I’ll take your silence as consent.” Her smile teased when she threw his words back at him. Her fingers flitted over his skin, and his blood rushed in his veins, shooting to his aching groin. His cock jumped as the crown bumped against her, and she bit her lip. “Last night…well, it was everything I’d dreamed of for too long. You’re everything I’ve dreamed of. But I got scared. You’re too much.”
“Damn it, then let me go.”
“I can’t. That’s the problem.” Her lashes fell briefly then she raised her chin to meet his gaze. “Like I said, I would love to play like we did last night…on occasion…if the mood takes us both. And perhaps sometimes, when I need to regain a sense of my own strength, we might explore this type of thing.” She reached back to scrape her fingernails over his thighs. “I could handle having you at my mercy, now and again. Your gorgeous hard body subject to my every whim.”
“I won’t play casual games with you.”
“Did I say it would be casual? I was thinking of a more permanent arrangement.”
He studied the resilient beauty astride him. He’d waited so long to hear her admit she wanted him; he had to be sure. “Speak plainly, little cat. Tell me what you need.”
“That depends.”
“On what?”
She didn’t elaborate. Instead, she slipped off him to kneel on the bed near his hip. A strange look flashed over her face as she tested the ties at his wrists and ankles.
“What are you planning in that pretty head?”
An adorable grin tilted the lips that covered his in a hungry kiss. Their tongues dueled while her fingers stroked over his chest, circling his nipples playfully, then slid lower. Want bordering on desperation swelled his cock and his chest.
Cool fingers encircled him, urging passion higher, but his dick was already so hard it tested the snaps on the strap that bound it. He broke the kiss with a gasp. “I’ve been on fire since our session last night. I don’t know how long I can hold out.”
Kate kissed her way down his body, licking and sucking as she went, tantalizing his nipples, abs, the back of his knees, down to his feet, and up again. All the while, her hand never left him, stroking his balls and rod like a pro. When her lips reached his groin, she licked the head and blew softly over the damp skin.
He groaned and lifted toward her.
“Be still.”
He stopped moving, hardly breathing. He had wanted her hands and mouth on him for too long, dreamed about it whenever he let his guard down. “Whatever you want, little cat.”
“Katelyn or Kate.” She lifted her head, the rush of sexual power swirled in her steady gaze. “I want to hear you call my name when I make you come.” Her mouth closed over him, her tongue exploring the underside of his swollen cock. When she added hard suction, drawing on him with almost painful erotic pulls, only the snug strap kept him from exploding.
He gritted his teeth to avoid begging. Her incredible mouth worked him to a frenzy. He clutched at his bonds, desperate to give her what she wanted. “Damn, Kate—Katelyn. I need you so much.”
She tugged lightly on his balls, rolling the aching knobs against her palm, swirling her tongue in a similar pattern over his shaft as she blew him. Need escalated. Her beautiful breasts swayed deliciously beneath the satin fabric of her lingerie, and he couldn’t keep from moving, thrusting his hips upward, driving his dick deeper into her luscious mouth.