No Control (The Fighter Series Book 7), page 8
“You remember Kinley?” I slap Ryker’s shoulder.
He tips his chin with a knowing gaze. “Good to see you again.”
Immediately, Whitney hugs her neck. “I’ve heard so much about you. I’m so glad Carter was there. Things could’ve been so much different.”
Bashfully, Kinley tucks her hair behind her ear but keeps her gaze on Whit. “Yeah. I try not to think about the what ifs. They tend to keep me up at night.”
Whitney has this stunning smile that can freeze you in your tracks. It’s warm and loving, comforting to your soul, and she’s blessing Kinley with it.
“Where’s Kaden?” I ask.
“He’s with Harold, surely driving Grandpa insane. Kinley, would you like something to drink. We have beer—no liquor because none of the guys handle it well—water, tea, and Kool-Aid.”
Kinley titters. “I’ll take a tea, please. I don’t drink.” My head snaps toward her and she scrunches her nose. “I haven’t had a drop since my twentieth birthday. I thought I was going to die for a week and I probably should have.”
I laugh. “You partied with the right people but had the wrong hangover friends.”
She lifts a shoulder. “I learned I didn’t want to be friends with alcohol at all.” She ends with a giggle.
We mingle for a little longer, all of us in a large circle talking about random shit. When Ryker decides to fire up the grill, I grab the hamburgers out of the fridge and head out with him. It doesn’t take long for Kyce to trail his big brother and we center around the cook. I keep an eye on Kinley through the glass doors, watching as she talks with the girls. She looks great blended into my family.
“So, what’s up with you two?” Kyce asks and Ryker looks like he stole the words from him.
I take a swallow of my beer. “Don’t go there, nosy.”
Kyce barks a laugh. “How’s it nosy when you’re flaunting your business in our faces? I’m not going there, fuckface. You brought it.”
Glancing back to her, my grin spreads from ear to ear and I lift a shoulder. “No clue.”
“Oh fuck. He’s got it bad,” Ryker says.
“I’m…” What am I doing? Falling head first? Only infatuated with her? “Learning her,” I settle on.
“What have you learned so far other than whether the sex is good?” Kyce asks, arching the same brow his brother does.
“Kyce!” Jolie, his wife, sticks her head out of the door. “You’re needed.”
He beams. “Damn right I am.”
He strolls over to her and kisses her before disappearing inside. We watch as she takes him to the dining room and helps extend the table.
“He’ll always own that chore,” Ryker chuckles and then sobers up, tipping his chin. “What’s holding you back?”
I don’t look at him. I’m too busy watching Kinley shine as she laughs. “Her,” I admit. “I think her ex-boyfriend verbally abused her. From what she’s told me, he wasn’t good to her. She claims he never hit her, but I don’t know, man. That bastard broke her somehow.”
He clears his throat, restraining his anger. Ryker doesn’t handle a man abusing a woman well, regardless if it’s verbal or physical. Neither do I.
“I don’t know, man. She shuts me down every time I bring it up. The only thing I’ve really gotten from her is he likes to mess with her head. He was controlling and still can be.”
“That something you can be patient with?” he asks, flipping the burgers.
I suck air through my teeth, glancing to him. “Have been so far.”
We make our plates and eat around the table. I’m on one side of Kinley, and Jolie’s on the other. Those two have hit it off, talking amongst themselves nonstop. It’s as if no one else is sitting at this table but them. My chest swells at the sight. She fits right into my family.
After we finish eating and Sarah fights off Whitney so she can wash the dishes, we’re back to standing around and chatting.
“Listen up! I’ve got some things to tell everyone,” Ryker shouts and the chatter quiets. He grins to me. “You’re back on the roster. Six months in Buffalo against TJ Whittaker. He’s a dirty bastard and a fucking brute.”
I’m brimming with excitement.
“Think you’ll be ready?” His smirk is arrogant.
“Damn right I will be.” I stand taller.
“He weighs ten less than you but has three inches on your reach. I’ll start matching you with proper sparring partners. We have a lot of work ahead of us.”
“Good. I need some competition.” I wink at Kyce.
Kyce drops his head back and barks a laugh. “I’ve been taking it easy on you, failed hero. Don’t want you to hurt yourself again.”
It causes us all to laugh.
“I’m also on the roster. My fight is in a year but not a damn soul will tell me who the fuck I’m fighting,” Ryker continues.
“Hopefully it’s a rematch with Levi,” I shout out. “Time to settle the score.”
Ryker’s jaw flexes. “I’d fucking love to. From what they have told me, it’s a pro-level fight. So my chances for him are high.”
“What if it’s Carter?” Candice’s question slices through the air.
I tense as my blood runs cold. “Then I forfeit. No amount of money, no championship title, nothing will make me fight you,” I say.
Ryker shakes his head. “They wouldn’t pair up a coach and his fighter. That would be some twisted shit.”
“I fucking hope not,” I reply.
Ryker’s demeanor changes. He softens his expression and is all smiles as he grabs Whitney’s waist and tugs her closer. “My beautiful wife is pregnant again.”
In unison, the women in the room sigh and aww.
“Hope you went deep enough to knock the balls off. You need a girl,” Kyce yells over the excitement. Jolie elbows him in the ribs giving him a disgusted face and it causes us to burst out laughing.
“If I have a girl, you bet your ass she’ll be able to kick your ass.”
My family may be vulgar and hotheaded, but one thing’s for sure—when we love, we love so fucking hard. It’s an unbreakable bond and I’m one lucky sonofabitch to have been accepted as one of them. They’ve changed my life for the better, given me brothers I never knew I wanted or needed, sisters I adore, and a second set of parents who love me. Audrey, Momma Hayes, passed away last year and it shook us all to our cores. It rattled us, but as a family we held together. We didn’t break and we hurt as one. She loved her children and she loved me like one of them. She was our rock…
I miss that woman.
Chapter 14
We stay at Ryker’s for another hour celebrating our return to the roster and Whit’s pregnancy before heading back to my house. I pull open the fridge and grab a beer, only to realize I don’t have shit for Kinley.
“Next time I’m at the store, I’m getting you something to drink,” I tell her with an apologetic twist to my lips.
She smiles to me. “Thank you for inviting me. You have an interesting pack.”
“They mean the world to me,” I tell her. “You and Jolie hit it off.”
Her eyes are gleaming. “I like her.” Then she looks down and wrings her fingers. “It’s getting late. I need to head home.”
Not happening.
I set my beer down on the counter as I pass by stalking to her. “Stay with me,” I implore, running my fingers through the sides of her hair.
Worry storms her gaze and she scrunches her nose. “I think it’s best if I go.”
She watches my tongue sweep across my bottom lip. “I think it’s best if you stay,” I whisper, kissing each side of her lips.
Brittle courage churns in her eyes. “Sex means something for me. I don’t normally get caught up in wasteful moments.”
My brows jump high. “Who said that was wasteful?”
“We both know that was in the heat of the moment. You’re not really interested in me.”
Fuck that. “Is that what you think? That I’m not interested in you?”
She opens her mouth to say something but quickly shuts it, glancing away.
“Or is that what you’re trying to convince yourself?” I press. “I’m interested as hell in you, Kinley.” I take her face in my hands. “I like you. We’ve been getting to know each other for months, building a friendship. We’ve established you like me without a shirt, I like you without a shirt. You sleep better when you’re with me and I love watching you sleep. You’ve already met a big part of my family.” I kiss the corners of her lips again. “Stay with me. Sleep in my bed and wake up beside me.”
Uncertainty dips into her view. “That’s intimate,” she says, her voice coated in shame.
I recoil. “And fucking you wasn’t?”
“I don’t…I—” she stammers, continuing to put up a fight.
My arms fall to my sides and I straighten. “Then there’s the door. You know how to leave.” I’m not going to sit here and beg her to be with me.
The hurt in her expression reminds me I can still be that cold-hearted asshole, but I don’t move. I don’t apologize. I hold her stare, and the longer I do, the more irritated I become.
“Why are you fighting it?”
“Because I’m scared,” she cries out. “You scare me. The thought of us scares me,” she says more softly.
“Stand strong in the face of fear because you’ll never know the outcome unless you push through it.” I repeat Ryker’s words to me. “I’m not going to hurt you. I’m solely focused on bringing that gorgeous smile to your face.” I erase the step I put between us. “Satiated Kinley has a sexy fucking ring to it and I want you right beside me.”
She doesn’t lift her head. “I’m not what you want.”
I put myself in her view. “Are you not hearing me? I do want you.”
“You do?”
This has that fucking bastard’s name written all over it. I pull her against me, gripping her hips. “Yes. Very much so.”
Heat rises to her cheeks.
I kiss her, pressing my lips to hers. A little moan escapes her and my dick wakes up. Flexing my hips against her, I lean back with a smirk. “So fucking much.”
She bites her bottom lip and I lick the shell of her ear. “Stay with me, Angel Eyes,” I whisper.
Her breath hitches. She’s fighting an internal battle—a war between body and mind.
“I want to,” her voice trembles. “Before you, I’ve only been with one man—”
I crash into her mouth, lifting her by the ass. She wraps her legs around me and tangles her fingers through my hair.
One man. That’s all I heard. She’s mine to ruin for everyone—past and future.
Massaging her ass in one hand and digging my fingers into her back with the other, I carry her down the hall and into my room, placing her down on the bed.
I yank my shirt over my head and smirk at the heat flickering in her eyes. “Are you staying?”
She nods.
Displeased, I shake my head. “Words, Angel Eyes. Give me words.”
“Yes.”
I strip her of her jeans and sexy as hell purple lacy panties. “What would you like to do?”
She’s silent again and red as hell. I’m going to tear down that wall of shyness she’s built.
Dragging my hands up her legs, I squeeze the inside of her thighs before gently biting them. She sucks in a breath and arches her back off the bed.
Smirking, I kiss where I bit then grip her hips as I lap my tongue up her folds and suck her clit. Her body jerks, snapping her head into the mattress. I trace circles around the swollen nub, flicking and sucking until her legs begin to quiver.
I stop to pull her shirt off. “Not yet,” I rasp. “Lose control of your body, your thoughts, and worries. Trust me with all of it. I promise I’ll be right here to catch you.”
I nibble on her nipples, biting easily and enjoying how she shutters and writhes when I blow across them. I push out of my pants, grab a condom from my nightstand, and toss it beside us as I continue to kiss all over her body, relishing her. Dragging my lips over the skin of her stomach and dipping into her navel, I make my way back to her pussy.
I press my fingers into her and pump them slowly while flicking my tongue over her clit. She’s lost in pleasure, her eyes closed and mouth slightly parted. Her pussy tightens as her legs start to shake again. But again, I stop, this time flipping her over to all fours.
My fucking favorite.
I massage her ass while I roll on the condom and then tease her entrance with the tip of my dick, dipping only the head in before pulling out. She pushes back, her body begging for more. I grip her ass to hold her still, not allowing her to chase me. I’m so fucking turned on right now. The thrill of teasing her, the excitement of knowing she’s not experienced—all makes me want to blow my load before I even start.
Again, I press in, only giving her an inch, and her pussy constricts around me. I lean over her back and massage her tits.
“Is your body begging to let go yet?” I ask hoarsely against her ear.
Not like I don’t know the answer already. She doesn’t answer me.
I pinch her nipple hard.
“Yes,” she rushes out. “Yes. Please.”
Humming in pleasure, I thrust forward, rewarding her confidence. Her head jerks up as she fists the sheets and mewls. Gripping her ass, I pump in, leaning back to watch my dick being swallowed by her folds. The sight is glorious—perfect ass in the air, back deeply arched.
I snake my arm under hers and pull her to sit back on me as I rest onto my heels. Her back to my front, I thrust upward, biting her shoulder.
“You feel so good. So fucking good,” I proclaim huskily against her skin.
Her head falls back as she moans and sucks in sexy little gasps. Wrapping my arms around her waist, I haul her down onto me. She gyrates her hips, meeting my thrusts with her own.
“Oh god,” she mewls just as her body begins to shudder. It coerces me to pound in harder.
She digs her nails into my thigh with a long, drawn-out moan. I drive, giving our bodies everything, thundering into her and meeting my own blinding orgasm.
White lights strike like a bolt of lightning. “Fuuuccckkk,” I growl, pulling her down my shaft, and coming so fucking hard.
She gasps again, her moan a plea.
I’m breathless, holding on to her and resting my head between her shoulder blades. Holy fuck. She’s great.
“You okay?” I kiss her skin.
“Mmmhmm…”
I grin hearing the satiated smile in her voice. As I pull out to get rid of this condom, she slinks to her side. And when I return, my angel is asleep. I watch her for a few minutes, her face relaxed and tranquil, free of whatever worries have her hostage in thought. Her breathing is even. She looks peaceful and I like her being here.
Quietly, I slip in, pulling the covers up, and wrap my arms around her. She doesn’t move. She fits good beside me. Feels perfect. Everything about her is perfect and I want her in my life.
Chapter 15
Carter is on his back, a hand resting on his stomach with the other arm thrown across his eyes. By the little bit of covers left on his hips, I was definitely a cover hog. Doesn’t surprise me any since I’m used to making myself into a burrito at night.
Quietly, I slide out of bed in desperate need of the bathroom. I’m about to pop. I tiptoe across the room looking for my shirt. It’s nowhere so I grab one of Carter’s hanging on the chair beside his dresser, shrug into it and make a beeline to the hallway bathroom before I make a mess on his floor.
I grin at the soreness between my legs—the reminder of how unbelievable sex with Carter is. Last night was incredible as he pushed me to heights I never knew existed. Ben never worried about me, never waited for me to orgasm, and eating me out was a chore. He was always so selfish to get to his ending and never cared if I did. But Carter? God, he licked and kissed on me like he was starving for me. He pleased me like it was his dream come true. I felt adored. Which also reminds me of how little experience I have compared to his.
As I make my way back down the hall, I pass a room with the door slightly ajar. Pictures and art catch my attention and I falter back, poking my head in. At least fifty of them, all portraying a wide variety of emotions. Some of them are of a boy who closely resembles Carter. In one picture, his head is in his hands while he sits on a bench without a background. In another, a side view, the boy sits on the bottom of steps with his chin resting on his thumbs as he holds his head up lost in thought. In another, the boy leans against a brick wall with his head down and arms crossed.
The pencil strokes are exquisite and with purpose—heavy in places, soft in others. They’re concise and if there are any imperfections, the artist did an immaculate job concealing them.
There are a lot of women in different scenes, some smiling, some in thought, and a few forlorn. All the pictures are sketches without color except two—a girl holding the boy’s face, her eyes closed, his eyes widen in surprise as she kisses him. The other, her legs are around his waist as she hugs his neck and they’re kissing.
The clearing of a throat startles the shit out of me. I jump, slapping a hand over my chest and jerk around. Carter’s shoulder is against the door frame, his arms across his chest as he watches me without emotions.
Shit. Heat spreads from my toes to my cheeks. “The, um. The door. It was open.” I swallow hard. “I shouldn’t have. I’m, um…I’m sorry.” I can’t hide the shake in my voice.
“Mom said when I picked up a pencil for the first time, I started drawing,” he starts and I take a breath. “This is what I do when I need to decompress or get shit off my mind.”
There’s a sketch of a woman he drew as if he were over her in the bed. Her hair is fanned out and she’s looking up adoringly. “You draw a lot of women. Do you know them all?” I ask, trying to be nonchalant as the jealousy burns my throat.
