Rival (7 page)

“Say it, Fallon.” He pushed into me, his lips in my hair. “Tell me how much you hated my hands on you . . . my mouth on you.”

I splayed my palms against the door, remembering how my hands had been on every inch of him.

Madoc became my world two years ago. I’d wait for him at night, my heart pumping a mile a minute, knowing that he was coming. Knowing that he was going to touch me. I loved all of it. I never wanted the sun to come up.

I pushed back against his long body, the wet heat between my legs nearly making me groan.

I could barely catch my breath as I twisted my face to the side.
“You want to hear how much I wanted it?” My throat tightened on the words.

He laid his palms over my hands against the door and pressed into me harder from behind.

His lips were on my neck. “Fuck the past,” he breathed. “I want to hear that you missed it.”

MADOC

I
dove down, sucking her neck into my mouth before she got a chance to answer.

“Madoc,” she groaned, and her knees gave way.

I wrapped an arm around her waist, my lips still devouring her neck, and slammed her into the car.

Damn her.

Shit wasn’t supposed to go down like this.

I threaded my fingers under her hair while I sucked on her neck, then captured her lobe, and kissed her jawline before she twisted her head toward me and I took her mouth in mine. The sweet warmth was more than I could take. My dick jerked, and when Fallon pushed her beautiful ass into me, I almost groaned.

“Fuck, Fallon,” I gasped out, yanking the drenched tank top over her head and throwing it to the ground.

She dropped her head back against my shoulder, her chest rising and falling fast with her panting. Her desperate eyes pleaded with me before they squeezed shut. Her body was aching. Just like mine.

I wrapped one hand lightly around the front of her neck and ran a possessive hand across her stomach.

“I want to be inside of you.” I nudged her neck, tipping her chin up to meet my eyes. “But you better not lie again.”

Her face was wet, and she blinked away the rain on her eyelashes, looking so desperate that I wanted to tear her apart. All night long. I settled for kissing her, swirling the tip of my tongue against hers and pulling it into my mouth.

Jesus, she tasted good.

I reached down and dove into her shorts, cupping her in my hand.

“Oh, God,” she whimpered.

I rubbed the wet heat between my middle finger and thumb, ready to fucking explode.

She squirmed, running her back up and down my chest as she moaned. I rubbed her clit with my two fingers and pressed my cock into her ass.

Her rain-covered body glistened with the glow from the headlights, and I could feel the pulse between her legs against my fingertips. She was needy and ready.

Unclasping her bra, I yanked it off her shoulders and unbuttoned her shorts from behind. Pulling those and her panties down her legs, I backed up to look at her.

She stood on unsteady legs and leaned against the car door, her fingers still splayed across the window.

Water droplets cascaded down her long, slender back and over her rounded ass to her thighs.

“Sit on the car, baby.” I kept my voice calm even though my body was screaming. I could barely breathe.

I briefly thought that maybe we should get out of the rain, but it
was still hot out, and who was I kidding? She was so beautiful like this.

Her arms fell to her sides, and she turned around, keeping her chin down and eyes on me. Walking to her right, she sat down on the hood, her feet dangling just above the ground.

I walked over as well, standing opposite her but keeping my distance.

Her breasts were bigger than I remembered, and I wanted to slow down. It’d been too long since I’d touched her, and I wanted to rediscover everything.

But there was no time. My dick was like a steel rod right now.

“Spread your legs,” I said in a husky voice, a smile tugging at my lips.

Her breath caught, and I watched her breasts rise and fall with excitement. Or nervousness. Her jaw hardened as she met my challenge. Leaning back on her hands, she opened her legs wide, exposing what I wanted.

Damn this girl.

My eyes drifted down her flushed and wet body as I untied my shorts, letting them fall to the ground.

Her eyes went wide as soon as she noticed the glint of silver at my tip.

Standing between her legs, I gently pushed her back onto the hood slowly, keeping time with AWOLNATION’s “Sail” streaming from the car stereo. Then, holding her at the hips, I sunk my lips into her warm, wet stomach, feasting on her soft skin, and then moved up to her nipple, sucking hard.

“Ah,” she moaned and gasped, but I ignored her squirms.

Moving over, I took the other one in my mouth, sucking and biting, drawing her hard nipple out with my teeth, and damn
,
I loved how sweet she tasted.

Two years ago I didn’t know shit. Sure, screwing around with Fallon had taught me a little, but I had still been immature and unsure of myself.

Now, I knew more, and I knew what I wanted. I wasn’t afraid of taking it and taking chances.

Moving fast, I upped the pace and kissed down the length of her stomach, every inch bringing me closer to what I really wanted.

In one rushed movement, I snatched her clit between my lips and sucked it like a peach.

“Oh, my God!” She squirmed, throwing her head back, the hood bending under her movements. I couldn’t see her eyes. Her face was pinched up in pleasure.

I swirled my tongue around, flicking her a few times hard.

I hate her
, I told myself.

I don’t trust her.

She is going to screw me over again.

And I didn’t care about giving her pleasure.

I didn’t care that she was enjoying this. I simply wanted her to come in my mouth, so she knew who owned her.

But the more she grasped at my hair and went wild under me, the more I realized I wanted to hear her call my name. I realized I wanted her to love it.

“Madoc.” Her voice shook. “Madoc, now!”

I looked up and saw her looking down at me. She ran her hand down my cheek.

“Now,” she begged. “Please?”

And that was what I was waiting for. Even though I didn’t know it.

Standing up, I clenched my teeth, looking down at that beautiful body. That beautiful girl that hated me, and I hated her, but—
goddamn it—I loved how we hated, because it was raw and real. It didn’t make any sense, but yeah—it was real.

Yanking her down to the edge of the car, I held her eyes as I drove inside of her.

“Ahhh. . . .” She squeezed her eyes shut and bared her teeth.

“Shit, Fallon.” I stopped, shut my eyes, and savored the feeling.

Warm and tight around me, the heat of her spread across my thighs and up my chest. The rain did little to cool me down.

I didn’t know how many guys she’d been with after me, and I didn’t want to know, but I figured my piercing might take a minute to adjust to. Hovering over her, my dick inside of her, I just watched her, waiting for her eyes to open.

When they did, she looked at me and snaked her hand around my neck, bringing us both halfway in for a kiss. As I massaged her tongue with mine and nibbled on her wet lips, I started to move inside of her slowly at first, feeling every inch of her heat and savoring every little whimper she let loose in my mouth.

Breaking the kiss, I cupped her breast with one hand and steadied myself with the other hand on the hood of the car. Every muscle in my back was tense, and my shoulders were on fire. The air rushed in and out of my lungs, and I couldn’t hold back anymore. I pounded into her, the volcano between my legs hot and urgent and feeling so damn good.

Her breasts bounced back and forth as I moved in and out of her harder and harder.

Her nails dug into my chest. “More, Madoc. It feels so good.”

I stood up straight, pulled her back down to the edge of the hood, and hooked the back of her knees over my arms. “Tell me you missed this.”

She blinked and swallowed. “Yes.” She nodded, her whisper coming out shaky. “I missed it.”

Me, too.

I entered her again and pounded into her like there was no tomorrow.

Her back arched, her tits went wild, and she moaned long and loud. “Yes . . . oh, my God!”

She tightened around my dick, her stomach shaking with shallow breaths, and her eyes squeezed shut as she came all over me.

The fire in my cock spread through my thighs and burned to the tip. I pulled out, gasping and stroking until I came all over her stomach.

My throat was dry, and my heart was trying to punch a hole through my chest. I dropped my head down between her breasts and closed my eyes, feeling her chest rise and fall under me.

No coherent thoughts formed in my head. Just words.

Awesome.

Hot.

Damn.

Shit.

I had no clue what I was supposed to do now, and her silence told me she was just as baffled as I was. I was about to get off of her when she started running her fingers through my drenched hair.

Frozen, I just lay there and let her.

And then I winced, realizing I hadn’t used a condom.

Shit. Really, dude? You have them in your glove compartment.
Why hadn’t I even thought about it? I had always used them, except with Fallon once or twice when we were younger.

“I never said those things to our parents.” She spoke up, breaking me out of my thoughts.

Our parents? She was bringing them up now?

“Never said what?” I kept my chin to her chest but looked up at her.

“They lied to you.” She stroked my hair and looked up to the sky. “I never complained about what we were doing, Madoc. They just found out and shipped me off.”

I narrowed my eyes, pushing myself up and placing both hands on either side of her head. “You’re telling me you never wanted to leave me?”

FALLON

W
hat was I doing?

What the hell was I doing?

So the parents lied to him. Told him I wanted to leave. That hurt him. Good! That worked for me. Madoc deserved that and more, and while he wasn’t on my hit list to the extreme the parents were, he was still on it.

But in my post-orgasmic bliss, I wanted to protect his heart. I wanted to keep the memory safe. I wanted to believe that he never used me.

But he did. He used me good and forgot about me.

Sleeping with him now was part of my plan.
This was all going according to plan,
I told myself. It happened sooner than I thought it would and with a lot more wanton behavior on my part, but it had been so long since I’d had sex. It was harder to resist him than I’d anticipated.

Madoc and I were crazy at sixteen. Way too young to be doing what we were doing, but we were learning together.

Now he was a man, and we both had a lot more confidence. Madoc was good. Very good. I felt guilty that I wanted more of him.

And his piercing? Holy hell.

I looked away and sat up, pushing him off me. “No, Madoc. I didn’t want to leave.”

He backed up, but I could feel his eyes on me. I knelt down and retrieved my soaked clothes and then turned away, using my tank top to clean off my stomach.

“How did they find out?”

“What does it matter?” I said softly. “We were too young. What we were doing was wrong. They knew it. Sending me away was for the best.”

I tried wiggling back into my underwear and shorts, but they were so cold from the rain that still poured down on us. A shiver shot down my arms.

“But they lied to me.” He stood there, naked. “All these years I thought—”

“We survived, Madoc,” I interrupted, and avoided his eyes as I put on my bra. “I moved on, and so did you, right?”

•   •   •

I thought for sure it would have taken me a zillion years to pass out that night, but I fell asleep within seconds. I didn’t even remember lying in bed, trying to get myself to relax. After dealing with Madoc, Addie, the party, and then the “rain,” I’d closed my eyes and woken up in pretty much the same position I fell asleep in.

But as soon as I opened my eyes, I was bombarded with thought after thought, worry after worry, all charging like a storm of elephants through my head.

I sucked in a breath.
Shit. I slept with Madoc!

That’s okay.
It was part of the plan.

But you liked it.
No, I loved it.

That’s okay.
You haven’t had sex in two years. You were horny.

You told Madoc that the parents lied?

Okay, so I didn’t want him to believe that I would have said anything like that. I shouldn’t have cared. A minor hiccup that upset nothing in the overall plan.
Relax
.

But he’ll confront his dad!
His dad will come home. . . .

So? I want Mr. Caruthers home.
My plan would come to fruition in a few days anyway.

Everything was on schedule.

I inhaled a cool breath and exhaled a shaky one.

So why wasn’t I happy?

The first year I’d spent away I was too confused—too numb—to make sense out of everything that had happened, much less get my ducks in a row. But for the past year all I’d fantasized about was seeking my revenge and seeing them hurt. Each one of them. Seeing their worlds turned upside down like mine had been.

But now my mind just kept traveling back to last night.

How Madoc’s lips had felt on my neck. How he looked at every inch of my body like he was seeing me for the first time. How much his hot eyes and possessive hands had made me feel like he wanted me.

He might be a spoiled brat and a self-absorbed asshole, but he’d blown my mind.

I needed to remember that just because someone was good in bed didn’t mean anything beyond that.

This was a game to Madoc—but it was a war to me.

I rolled over and sat up, swinging my legs off the edge of the bed, but then I immediately dropped my head and blew out a breath.

Damn
.

My insides felt stretched, and the muscles below my belly were sore. I was sore everywhere.

Standing up, I tiptoed on wobbly legs across my room and cracked the door open. I heard a vacuum cleaner’s
vroom
somewhere in the house and knew Addie was awake. Slipping out my door, I sprinted across the hall to the bathroom.

Madoc’s bedroom had a bathroom. Not mine. I didn’t rate high enough.

“You’re up!” a loud voice hollered. “Awesome for me.”

I twisted to my left and saw Madoc closing his bedroom door and running straight for me.

A knot lodged in my throat. What the—

He charged at me like a linebacker, swooped me up by the waist, and threw me over his shoulder.

“Madoc! Put me down!”

“Shhh . . .” He pushed us through the bathroom door, kicked it shut and planted my ass on the bathroom counter.

“Madoc—”

But I was cut off. He snatched up my lips, wrapping his strong arms around me and nearly suffocating me with how much pressure he was putting on my mouth. Every time he took a breath, I did the same, because he came back in for more within a heartbeat. His lips moved over mine, fast and urgent, needy and ready. Both of his hands pushed up under my T-shirt, kneading my breasts, and I couldn’t help myself. My hands slid down his black pajama pants, grabbing his perfectly smooth ass and pulling him in between my legs.

“I’m going to apologize for my lack of coolness right now,” he gasped out, trying to yank my shirt over my head, but I kept pulling it back down. “I’m hornier than a motherfucker.”

“Oh, is it a morning thing?” I crossed my arms over my chest to keep my shirt down.

“Morning?” He started jabbing me in the stomach, tickling me
to get my arms to release the shirt. “I’ve been up all fucking night torturing myself. I should never have told you to lock your door last night.”

He’d walked me to my room last night, ordering me to lock my door. Apparently, he didn’t always know everyone who partied at his house, and he wasn’t sure who all of the people were passed out around the place. I had only seen three bodies when I’d walked through the house, but there could’ve been more.

“You were trying to protect me from rapists,” I pointed out, biting my lip to keep myself from giggling.

“Yeah, slick move that was.” He smiled down at me, jabbing me continually in the stomach. “I couldn’t get at you, either.”

He grabbed my face with both hands and slid his tongue into my mouth, devouring me again. Little needles sprang up over my skin, and I shivered, heat pooling between my legs like a furnace. I grabbed his face too, kissing him back.

He took that opportunity to pull the T-shirt over my head in one fell swoop like a magician that pulls out a tablecloth from underneath a fully set table.

“Madoc, no,” I commanded pathetically, folding my arms over my chest. “I’m sore from last night.”

He pinched his eyebrows together and arched a lip. “Sore? From me? That. Is. Awesome.”

Idiot.
I shouldn’t have told him that. Now he was feeling like the man.

“Well, then . . .” He sighed and pulled me down off the counter. “You’re safe. For now.”

Whatever.
I blinked slow and hard.
I’m in control. I’m in control. I’m in control.

Everything was moving in the wrong direction. He made me smile. He made me forget. We had to slow down.

We have to stop.

He tipped my chin up and his mouth came down on mine. I let him kiss me, not making any effort to return it, but I still couldn’t help breathing in his rich, clean scent. Damn, I loved the way he smelled.

He leaned back, smirking down at me. “It’s good to have you back, Fallon.” And then he walked out like he had everything he wanted in the palm of his hand.

Damn him.

Damn him!

I kicked the door shut behind him and whisper-yelled a bunch of words that I’d only ever heard my father’s dockworkers spew. I didn’t emerge from the bathroom for another half hour as I tried to get my head on straight again.

Things in Madoc’s life were too easy. He made it too simple to fall back into the fun. His relaxed smile, his carelessness about everything, and the way he was just . . .
him
!

There were problems in this world. Problems in families. Problems in my family and his. Our history was a problem. Why did he always appear as if he didn’t have a care in the world?

We’d had hot, angry sex last night after we’d insulted and upset each other. Apparently he didn’t care what had led us there, only that he got his reward.

Shit.
I scratched my head and closed my eyes as I stood in front of my floor-length mirror. I needed some alone time.

Time to think.

A nice walk. A good run, maybe.

But Madoc was like a whirlwind of activity. I’d almost forgotten.

After I dressed in some short white shorts and a Hurley T-shirt, he’d told me to march my ass back into my room and change. After flipping him off and pouring myself some cereal he’d explained that
we were going to the lake with his friends, and I needed to get in a swimsuit. When I told him to go screw himself, that he didn’t make decisions for me, he walked around the counter where I stood eating and stuck his hand down the back of my shorts, continuing to smile and talk to Addie with her none the wiser.

With my heart missing every other beat and sweat breaking across my forehead, I’d relented, realizing he wouldn’t stop harassing me until I said yes.

Anyway, Tate was going to be there, so I looked at that as a plus. We’d also be in public, so I could count on him not to try anything.

Or so I thought.

•   •   •

“Where are we?” I asked as he pulled up to a small, brick one-story house. It sat in a rundown neighborhood with overgrown lawns and ugly chain-link fencing. Although the house itself appeared to be in decent shape—the porch was tidy, and the windows were clean—the brick was dulled with age and the screen door was shoddy.

“Come on.” He ignored my question and climbed out of his GTO.

Following him, I slammed the door and walked a step behind him up the cement slab walkway.

“Madoc. Madoc!”

I jerked my head and stared wide-eyed as a boy, about seven, came running toward Madoc and slammed into his body. Madoc caught him in a hug.

A tightness gripped my chest, and I sucked in a breath.

Blond hair, blue eyes, and long legs. The boy looked just like him.

No
. I shook my head. That’s ridiculous. Madoc would’ve had to be like ten years old when this kid was born.

“My mom said if I wasn’t good I couldn’t go with you, but I was good,” the kid shouted, smiling.

Madoc leaned back and eyed him with disgust. “Good?” he repeated. “Oh man, don’t say that. Being good is like what?”

Both Madoc and the kid simultaneously stuck their fingers in their mouths and mock gagged. A smile tugged the corners of my mouth, and I had to cover it with my hand.

Nope.
Madoc wasn’t good with kids. I refused to believe it.

“That’s right.” He patted the kid on the back and turned to face me. “Fallon, this is my spawn.”

I cocked my head and looked at him disbelievingly, still trying to get the picture of them both sticking their fingers down their throats out of my head.

“No, not my real spawn.” He knew where my mind was going. “But he has potential, doesn’t he?”

I put my hands on my hips and kept a pleasant tone for the kid’s sake. “Madoc, what’s going on?”

He opened his mouth to speak, but a woman came out through the screen door carrying a small backpack.

“Madoc,” she greeted. “Hi.”

“Hi, Grace.”

Grace looked young, definitely under thirty, and she had a nice head of long brown hair pulled back in a neat ponytail. She wore scrubs, so I guessed she was a nurse . . . and probably a single parent from the look of things.

“Here’s a change of clothes for after he swims.” She handed Madoc the backpack. “There’s sunscreen, a snack, and some water, too. You’ll have him home by dinner?”

Madoc nodded. “We may stop at a bar, but definitely after that.”

“Awesome.” She smiled and shook her head at him as if she were used to his cracks. “He’s so excited,” she continued. “Call if you have any problems.”

Madoc bent down and put an arm around the kid.

“Ohhhhh, Mooooooom,” they both whined as if her concerns were silly.

She rolled her eyes and held out her hand to me.

“Hi, I’m Grace. And you are?” Good mom. Making sure your kid is safe.

“Hi.” I took her hand. “I’m Fallon. Madoc’s . . . um . . . stepsister,” I stuttered, hoping she didn’t hear Madoc’s snort.

Technically, I wasn’t lying.

“Nice to meet you. You all have fun.” She waved and walked back up the steps.

Madoc spun around, and I couldn’t get over how he and the kid not only got along, but how much they looked alike. Both were dressed in long, black cargo shorts with T-shirts. But while Madoc wore black leather flip-flops, the kid wore sneakers.

“Fallon, this is Lucas.” He introduced me finally. “He’s my little brother. As in the program. I’m his big brother.”

I exhaled.
Okay, good
. I was glad he’d explained. Because that was weird there for a while.

“Wow, they trust you with kids?” I asked, kind of serious, kind of not.

“What?” He placed his hand on his chest, appearing hurt. “I’m awesome with kids. I’ll be a great dad someday. Tell her, Lucas.”

Lucas looked up at me and didn’t even blink. “He taught me how to tell when a woman is wearing a thong.”

I burst out laughing, putting my hand over my mouth.

Madoc pulled the kid in by the neck as we walked to the car. “I told you, women are the enemy. They don’t understand skills like that.”