Addicted by Elle Kennedy
Jamie experienced an unfamiliar prickle in her chest. Shit. Was that jealousy?
“I guess Len used his powers of persuasion to get her here,” Arch remarked.
The man was persuasive, all right. Jamie would never forget the sound of his deep voice commanding her to come on Beckett’s fingers.
As an ache formed between her legs, she tore her gaze off her best friend and shifted it back to Rylan. Fuck it, she decided. Sitting here with Bethany and Arch was nice and all, but she was too wound up. She needed some action. She needed an orgasm that would rock her body so hard she forgot her own name.
Setting her jaw, she reached for the bottle on the table and poured another glass of whiskey. Bethany watched with a wide grin as Jamie chugged the contents of the glass in one gulp.
“Easy, darling,” Arch murmured.
But she didn’t want easy. She wanted hard. A good, hard dicking that would clear her mind of Lennox.
Jamie waggled her eyebrows at the couple. “Sorry, guys, but I’m abandoning you now. I see something I want.”
She was a little unsteady getting to her feet. Crap. Maybe chugging that whiskey was a mistake. Reese’s booze was much stronger than the stuff back at Connor’s camp.
Leaving Bethany and Arch on the couch, she made her way to Rylan, whose gaze zeroed in on her cleavage as she approached. She’d worn a skintight red minidress tonight, the one that Lennox teased her was nothing but a rag. Probably true, considering that it barely covered her breasts and thighs. She’d paired the dress with high heels that made her legs look a lot longer than they were, and the appreciation she saw in Rylan’s eyes made her happy about her wardrobe choice.
“Hey.”
Rylan set his bottle on the little ledge behind him. “Hey,” he answered in a husky voice.
That was the only exchange of conversation she allowed before looping her arms around his corded neck and kissing the living shit out of him.
He responded eagerly, groaning into her mouth as his big hands captured her covered breasts. When his tongue slipped through her parted lips, she tasted the alcohol on it, along with the heady flavor of his arousal.
“Christ. You feel good.” Rylan rubbed his lower body against hers. Then, before she could blink, he hauled her up and cupped her ass, pressing her back into the wall. Jamie wrapped her legs around his waist, her breath hitching when he started grinding his clothed erection against her core.
Heavy-lidded blue eyes raked over her flushed face, and he rocked his hips harder, his erection thickening. Damn it, she didn’t want to be teased. She wanted him in her. She needed him to stoke the fire that had been consuming her ever since Lennox ignited that first spark the other night.
Her hands clawed at his zipper. He reached down to help her out, and they were a second away from undoing his pants when Rylan froze. Then his head turned sharply toward the door.
As Jamie peered over his shoulder, the arousal inside her fizzled like a candle in the rain. Reese had entered the room. Wonderful.
The redhead didn’t glance their way. In fact, she seemed oblivious to their presence as she went to talk to Beckett. Rylan, however, was wholly tuned in to her presence. So much so that his breathing, which had been labored seconds before, was calm and even now. His heart, which had been hammering against Jamie’s breasts, was now beating steadily.
She felt him withdraw from her before he’d even set her on her feet. The absent expression he wore made her want to scream.
“Sorry, gorgeous,” he murmured regretfully. “We’re gonna have to finish this later.”
The soft kiss he brushed over her cheek didn’t even begin to soothe the sting of rejection. She gaped at his retreating back as he headed over to Reese. Whatever he whispered in the redhead’s ear caused her to stiffen, but Reese didn’t object when he led her to the door.
Jamie’s cheeks burned as she watched the two of them leave the rec hall. Whether Rylan had whisked Reese away for sexual reasons didn’t matter. He couldn’t have made his intentions clearer if he’d spray-painted them on the walls—he wanted Reese. His priority was Reese.
He doesn’t care about you.
Jamie had never felt more pathetic in her life as the bitter truth sank in. Rylan didn’t have feelings for her. He was attracted to her. He enjoyed screwing her. But he would never be able to give her what she really wanted.
The realization should have devastated her. In fact, she stood there for five whole seconds, waiting for tears to prick her eyelids. They didn’t.
She was embarrassed, yes. Hurt, maybe a little. But devastated? No.
Still, the hurt and embarrassment weren’t exactly welcome, but she squared her shoulders and forced Rylan’s rejection to roll off her back. She didn’t need him. She could snap her fingers and another man would appear like an apparition, begging to make her feel good. Well, maybe not Lennox. Lennox was too busy making someone else feel good.
For some inexplicable reason, the burn of humiliation Rylan had evoked didn’t sting as much as the thought of Lennox and Cassie fucking in the corner.
Jamie shook her head. She didn’t need that drama in her life either.
What she needed was another glass of whiskey.
* * *
Rylan felt like a total ass for deserting Jamie so abruptly. He liked the woman a helluva lot. She made him laugh, and damn, she turned him on like nobody’s business. His cock was still rock-hard, his body yelling at him for depriving it of the release it craved.
But right now there were matters far more important than sex. For the first time since he’d arrived in Foxworth, Reese was alone. Yep, her ever-present shadow, Sloan, was nowhere to be seen.
Rylan would be damned if he passed up on such a golden opportunity.
As they stepped outside, he was immediately hit by a gust of cool air. The late summer they’d been enjoying had finally decided to abandon them. All the trees lining Main Street now boasted leaves that were turning various shades of red, orange, and brown. The air was crisper. The sky cloudier.
Fall was Rylan’s least favorite season, mostly because it led to winter. And winter in the free land? Fucking sucked. Though it was definitely more tolerable now that he lived in a camp with working fireplaces and a generator. Before that, he’d spent his winters shivering his balls off. Sometimes he’d been lucky enough to find a place with a working generator, but that was a luxury, not a given.
“What’s so important you had to drag me out here?” Reese demanded.
He met her annoyed gaze head-on. Connor had told him to use every trick in the book, so tonight he was opting for a different approach. “I thought it was time we talked. Straight up, no bullshit.”
“I didn’t realize we were bullshitting each other.” Her tone was dry.
“You’re always bullshitting me, Reese.” He liked the way her name sounded on his lips. He suspected he’d like the way she felt on his lips too. Or beneath him as he fucked her blind. He swallowed, pushing aside the wicked images. “Whatever you’re planning, Connor and I can help you.”
She looked amused. “I’m not planning anything.”
“Again with the bullshitting.”
She responded with a smirk. “I don’t know what you think is going on here, Rylan, but I was up-front with Connor. My people are weak. I need them to be strong. End of story.”
He chuckled. “Baby, there’s much, much more to the story. I’m insulted that you think I don’t know that.”
She didn’t answer. She just stared at him with that veiled expression he loathed.
His first instinct was to push her, force her to talk, but he knew that would backfire. He’d grown up on a farm where he’d dealt with plenty of stubborn animals, including a willful terror of a horse that would refuse to get in her stall most nights. Rylan had discovered that a gentler approach was more successful in coaxing the
Connor would have bulldozed Reese into talking, but Rylan would continue to bide his time.
“Fine, we’ll keep playing this game, gorgeous. Just know that the offer is on the table. If you need assistance, we’re here for you. Outlaws have to stand together, right?”
She rolled her eyes. “One for all and all for one, huh?”
“Nice motto.”
“It’s not mine. Someone wrote it in a book a long time ago.”
“Yeah? Never read it.”
“You should. Wouldn’t hurt to broaden your horizons, honey.”
“I’m not interested in fiction. Just fact. Just what’s in front of me.”
And right now what was in front of him was a woman he wanted so badly that his dick was in a constant state of rigid agony.
He stared at her lips, lush and red and without a hint of makeup. Her skin was naturally beautiful too, smooth and creamy. But those lips . . . they were his favorite thing about her. They were capable of doing so many sexy things. Plumping when she was deep in thought, tightening when she was displeased, parting when she was aroused.
Before he could stop himself, he reached out and touched her mouth. The slight trembling of her bottom lip was the only sign she gave that his touch affected her.
“I want to kiss you so fucking bad,” he rasped.
Reese didn’t even blink. She also didn’t slap his hand away, so he took that as permission to keep going. He traced the seam of her lips with his index finger while his gaze drank in the sight of her. She was a beautiful woman, with her big brown eyes, delicate features, and soft mouth. If he’d seen her from afar, he would’ve thought she was an innocent. Sweet and pure. But he knew better. He knew her tongue was sharper than his favorite hunting knife. He knew she was as open with her sexuality as he was with his.
“I want to feel your mouth against mine. I want to lick my way inside.”
She still didn’t answer. The moonlight brought out the brighter red highlights in her copper hair, making the long strands glint enticingly.
“I want to suck on your tongue,” he muttered.
Silence. She continued to watch him, and he continued to rub the pad of his finger over her lips. Jesus, he wanted to taste her.
After what felt like hours, her lips quirked beneath his fingers, curving into a mocking smile. “Are you done?”
Frustration squeezed his chest. Gritting his teeth, he let his hand drop to his side. “Yeah.” He cleared his throat. “I guess I am.”
* * *
“I think you’ve had enough.”
Jamie let out an indignant squeak when Lennox swiped the half-empty whiskey bottle from her hand. She hadn’t even seen him approach, which was a testament to the superb job the alcohol was doing.
“Where’s your friend?” she asked, trying to snatch the bottle back.
Ignoring her, Lennox marched forward a few paces and deposited the bottle in the hand of Nash, who looked over in surprise, chuckled, then turned back to the curvy woman he was talking to.
“What friend?” Lennox stalked back to her.
“Chassie. No, Cassie. The chick you were screwing around with.”
“She went to bed.”
“Alone?” Sarcasm crept in. “Aw, are you losing your touch, baby?”
Lennox shrugged, which drew her attention to his shoulders. He had beautiful shoulders. It was a silly thought, but it was true. His shoulders were so deliciously broad. And his arms . . . utter perfection. Strong, muscled, covered with ink. Jamie’s entire body felt weak as she imagined those arms pinning her down as he pounded into her with his cock.
A wave of lust nearly knocked her off her feet, causing her to grab onto one of those firm arms in order to steady herself.
“You’re drunk,” Lennox muttered. “You should go to bed.”
“I’m fine.”
“You can barely stand.”
“I can stand just fine.”
His expression became stormy. “You almost fell over.”
“That wasn’t because of the whiskey. I . . .” Her mouth snapped shut. No. She wasn’t giving him another opportunity to reject her. She already had another man’s rejection weighing her down tonight.
As if he’d read her mind, Lennox’s voice lost its hard edges. “He does care about you, love. In his own way.”
She clenched her teeth. “I know.”
“Do you?” he said thoughtfully.
“I’m not as clueless as you think, Len. Of course he cares about me. Just not in the way I’d like him to.” She laughed scornfully. “But hey, at least he’s not scared to admit he wants to screw me. He doesn’t hide the lust he feels, or run from it.”
“The fuck does that mean?”
“You know exactly what it means.” The frustration of the past two days came pouring out like water from a broken pipe. She wanted to scream at him, but they were surrounded by people, so her voice came out as a hiss instead. “What was that the other night, Len? Were you bored? Drunk?” Another harsh laugh was ripped from her throat. “Too drunk to realize it was me?”
His gray eyes flashed.
“That’s it, right? It wasn’t my pussy you were panting over. It was some other woman’s.” She smacked her palm in the center of his chest and he flinched. “You’re an asshole, Lennox. I’ve always known that. I’ve tolerated it, laughed about it. But you went too far the other night. You don’t want me? Fine. But don’t play with me like that. At least pretend to give a shit about my feelings—”
He struck like a deadly snake, grabbing a hunk of her hair and yanking her backward. His hand cupped the back of her head before her skull could slam into the wall, but his grip remained stronger than steel.
“Pretend to give a shit about you?” he spat out. “Guess what, honey? You’re all I care about.”
Her heartbeat accelerated.
“Every move I make is directly driven by my feelings for you.” His fingers tightened in her hair, his chest pressed right up against hers, a solid, immovable object. “When I make a decision, you think it’s my safety I take into consideration? It’s fucking yours. I don’t take a goddamn breath without considering how it would affect you.”
Jamie was stunned. And scared. And so turned on she couldn’t breathe.
“I knew exactly who I was with.” He shoved one large hand between their bodies and curled it over her. “This pussy? It was mine that night.”
His big body began to shake uncontrollably. Jamie didn’t know if it was from anger or lust, but it was goddamn beautiful. His eyes glittered like storm clouds releasing flashes of lightning. His pulse hammered in his throat. His hot breath incinerated her cheek.
“It’s been mine for years,” he hissed out, cupping her so hard she squeaked in pain. “I could’ve taken it whenever I damn well pleased.”
The ache between her legs was so acute she nearly toppled over. Luckily there was nowhere for her to fall. Lennox’s hard body was trapping her against the wall, and she could feel his chest trembling as if he was struggling for control.
She’d seen him like this before. It happened when he got frustrated, when he was faced with a problem he couldn’t fix, an obstacle he couldn’t overcome. The frustration would soon transform into rage or lust, depending on how he harnessed it. Depending on what he chose as an outlet for the aggression—his fists or his cock.
“Goddamn mine,” he repeated, and in that moment she knew he’d made his choice.
His mouth crushed hers, swallowing her moan of surprise. It was a brutal kiss, violent and forceful and not at all how she’d imagined it would be when she was younger. She’d fantasized about gentle lips and a sweet tongue, but Lennox delivered something entirely different.
He took greedy pulls on her tongue, not allowing her to come up for air. He suffocated her
And then his mouth disappeared. Jamie blinked, and suddenly he was on his knees in front of her.
Her legs snapped shut for some odd reason. The look in his eyes terrified her. It was dark and feral and gleaming with unadulterated need.
Lennox’s fingers locked around her closed thighs like steel bands. “Give me what’s mine,” he growled.
Her heart nearly burst out of her chest. She gazed down at him, throat tight, nipples tingling, core throbbing.
“You want me to take it, is that it?” His voice was low and silky. “Because I can. I can pry these sexy legs apart and fucking take it.” His thumbs scraped the tender flesh of her inner thighs. “But I won’t, because you’re going to give it to me.”
Jamie swallowed repeatedly, but her mouth remained drier than dust. Although they were hidden away for the most part, tucked in a shadowy corner of the rec center, she was wholly aware that people were watching them. She made out Beckett’s intrigued face, Bethany’s concerned expression.
“Look at me,” Lennox ordered.
Her gaze dropped to the primal, sexed-up man on his knees and she was suddenly reminded of a story her mother had told her a long time ago. About a box full of sins and the curious woman who’d foolishly opened it without considering the consequences. Well, Jamie had done the same damn thing. She’d goaded Lennox into opening this door, but she hadn’t been prepared for this. For him.
This wasn’t Lennox, her best friend. This was a terrifying, seductive stranger.
“Give me what I want, Jamie.”
Her legs parted as if controlled by a higher power. She couldn’t have kept them locked if she’d tried. She wasn’t wearing underwear, and Lennox’s hot gaze immediately zeroed in on her bare sex. He licked his lips and she shivered.
Then he grabbed the bottom of her dress and whipped it all the way up to her waist so that every inch of her was exposed. “Wider,” he rasped.
Jamie widened her stance.
His eyes burned brighter.