King Me (King Me Duet Book 1) Page 11

  I was left standing there in my bra wondering what the f just happened. He turned me down again. But as he came back holding a bundle in his hands, my eyes dropped further. There was an impressive bulge there. He was hard. I would bet my life on it.

  As my eyes found his again, he said, “Night, Natalie.”

  I took what he gave me and went inside the room. It was definitely larger than the room I occupied at Ms. Allen’s house. The bed was made for more than one. I peeled off my jeans and underwear and tossed them on a nearby chair. I removed the bra that hadn’t enticed him enough and pulled on the t-shirt he’d given me. There were a pair of boxers, but I ignored them.

  Then I marched to the end of the hallway where a second door on the right stood open. He lay on the bed in shorts, shirtless and I almost swallowed my tongue.

  Brian made his choice in his lack of interest. Liam, on the other hand, wasn’t unaffected by me.

  “I don’t want to sleep alone.”

  When Liam looked my way, I tugged the shirt up to just below my navel to show him his shirt was all I wore.

  His choked response, “Fuck me,” drew a wicked smile out of me.

  Twenty

  Liam

  Any control I had was out the window. I waved her over and held out my hand. “Come here.”

  Hers was soft in mine as I helped her crawl on the bed. I tossed the pillows that had been propped behind me off the bed.

  When I was flat on my back, I said, “Sit on my face and hold the fuck on.”

  She straddled me on her knees and worked her way until she held the headboard and that pretty pussy of hers was right where I wanted it to be.

  “Fuck yeah.” It sounded like a growl and maybe it was. I felt like a bear diving for honey, greedy. Instincts made patience impossible. I clutched her hips and this time it wasn’t to push her away, but to bring her closer.

  I flattened my tongue against her mound, and it only took that for her legs to begin to quiver. My Natalie was responsive like that. Stroking my tongue up and down her slit brought a sexy moan passed her lips. Each time, I exerted more pressure on her nub only to pull back.

  My fingers would leave marks on her beautiful skin and I held her tighter, fighting the need to bury my cock so deep in her cunt, my name would be tattooed on her tongue as she screamed.

  She began calling on the man above as I stabbed my tongue in her hole. Shallow thrusts, because I wanted my cock to have dibs on claiming her pussy.

  I pulled back when it became apparent she was close. I slid my tongue up and then sucked on her clit until she was screaming over and over, grinding her sweet pussy on my face.

  Harder than I’d ever been, my cock could’ve punched a hole through my shorts to get to her cunt as she moved to lay on top of me.

  Fuck my pride for not buying condoms. Truthfully, it had been a conscious decision. I could say no without them. She couldn’t regret anything that happened if she provided the means for us to cross that line.

  She slid off of me to curl at my side. Her hand slid down my abs and under the waistband of my shorts to grab my cock. It didn’t stay there. She moved again to push down my shorts. I lifted my hips, letting her run the show.

  The fact was if she shifted and straddled my lap and impaled herself on my cock, I would let her. I was that far gone.

  Her hand once again wrapped around my cock. It was probably a good thing she didn’t use her mouth. As it was, I was ready to blow. It would only take a few strokes to get me there.

  She paid attention from the first time she’d jacked me off without my help. Her hand was just tight enough, the tempo perfect as she rotated her hand all the way to the tip and back down. I came hard with a grunt. Jet streams of come coated my torso and her hand.

  The kiss came unexpectedly a second later. I’d been looking down at my chest when her lips covered mine. That was all it took for heat to flare up inside me again.

  She pulled back and said, “I’ll get a towel.”

  I nodded, seriously considering finding a convenience store or banging on the doors of my neighbors in search of a condom.

  When she came back, I had to bite my tongue from asking her to join me in the shower. If I did, I would have fucked her, condoms be damned.

  Instead, I rolled her to her side and curled around her, leaving her fantastic ass pressed against my dick.

  “Your doc is a fool,” I murmured.

  “He’s not mine. I told you, he hasn’t even tried to kiss me. I don’t think he’s interested.”

  “Good for me,” I said, nuzzling her neck.

  She giggled. “Good for me, too.”

  “If I’d been him, I would have tried to kiss you that first night.”

  “Yeah,” she said, rolling to face me. “Kiss me then.”

  Neither of us waited. Our mouths crashed together as if magnetized. My hands moved under the shirt she wore. I cupped her breast, eager to get my mouth there. I groaned and stopped myself.

  “What?” she said, sexily teasing me because she knew just what.

  I turned her around and resumed our former position. “Sleep,” I commanded. I had to be at my brother’s in the morning.

  When I awoke, I happily made breakfast for Natalie. I was humming to myself when a phone chimed. The sound came from the direction of the island where Natalie left her purse. I moved closer, to see her phone lying face down next to it. I knew she was worried about her mom and so I grabbed her phone for her.

  I had no intentions to spy, but it was only natural to glance at the screen. There was a text and not from her mom. It was from Brian. His message read, I hope to talk about our relationship this weekend.

  She lied to me. She made it seem like there was nothing between the two of them. Rage grew as I put the phone back down and went to the stove. I thought about tossing everything in the trash before I heard padded steps headed my way.

  Twenty-One

  Natalie

  “Smells so good,” I said. “I love breakfast.”

  When he didn’t reply, I assumed he might be grumpy person in the morning. It wasn’t like I’d ever been there when he got up.

  “Do you need a ride?” he asked. His question was emotionless, but again I shrugged his mood off.

  “No. I work the afternoon shift. I can take the subway home.”

  “Good.”

  For a second, I thought maybe I misheard him. However, he turned in my direction but didn’t look at me. Okay. Then he slid eggs from the skillet onto two plates and I again excused his behavior. He was just focused. That all felt plausible until he roughly shoved one of the plates in my direction and said, “I hope you like your eggs scrambled.”

  “Yeah. I’m not a picky eater.” I thought I told him that before, but I couldn’t remember. Something wasn’t right and I decided to call him on it. “Did I do something to piss you off?” I asked, ignoring the steaming hot food in front of me.

  Finally, he looked at me and fury colored his beautiful eyes. “I don’t know what game you’re playing—”

  “Game?” He either didn’t hear my indignant question, or he was ignoring me.

  “You show up here and tease me.”

  “Tease?” This time he heard me.

  “I turn you down, but you come into my room flashing me that pretty cunt of yours, so I’d give in. All the while, you don’t have condoms. You know it will only go so far.”

  My words tumbled over my tongue like rocks, heavy with confusion. “I told you I bought condoms.” I didn’t understand what changed while I slept.

  “You should go back to your boyfriend.”

  “I don’t have a boyfriend.” Why was he saying these things?

  “If you want us to fight over you, it’s not going to happen. Next time you come here again, bring condoms or don’t come at all. The only thing I can do for you is fuck you.”

  He picked up his untouched plate and dropped it in the sink with a clatter. Then he marched down the hallway to his roo
m and slammed the door as I fought back tears.

  What the hell had just happened? I wiped at my eyes and ran into the room he’d given me. I put on my underwear and jeans and left it. It was only after I had my coat on did I spot where my shirt had fallen the previous night. I stuffed it and my bra into my purse, which was the size of a tote bag. Then I left, stabbing at the elevator button as if my life depended on it. I had to get far away and fast as the downpour of my emotions spilled from my eyes.

  My self-recrimination was worse than anything he’d done. In the end, I didn’t hate him. I hated myself. Why had I pushed the envelope? My actions made me appear like some sexy vixen and that was far from the truth. Never in my life had I pursued a man, especially sexually. Everything was different with Liam.

  Around him I felt desire I’d never experience before. I was so comfortable around him, I’d been emboldened to go for what I wanted, him. He’d seemed to want me too. So why? Why was he so pissed off?

  When I reached my place, I sent Jody a 911 text knowing she was working. As I got ready for my shift that afternoon, she called.

  “What’s going on?”

  “I think I made a mistake,” I began.

  “Does this have anything to do with Hotel Hottie or are we talking Doctor Love?”

  “Liam,” I said. “I went to his place last night. We had a great time and he turned on me this morning for no reason.”

  “Is he on his period?” she teased.

  “No,” I said without a hint of amusement.

  “I think you’re going to have to explain,” she said, and I did, giving her most of the details, summarizing our sexual activity. “I don’t know. Maybe he’s bipolar. Don’t you think you should let him go and move on Doc?”

  Easier said than done. Before I got his text, I’d basically written the doctor off. Realistically, he was likely to tell me he just wanted to be friends based on his non-actions. I told Jody as much. “I’m cursed,” I complained.

  “Do you think it’s your dad?”

  That had been the theory that somehow my dad was pulling the strings and intimidating any guy I dated. “How does he know I’m in New York? I can’t imagine he pays someone to watch me twenty-four hours a day. For what purpose?”

  “I don’t know, Natalie. Your dad is a scary guy from everything you told me.”

  That was true. However, Liam didn’t seem like a guy my father could bully.

  “Maybe,” I said.

  Our call ended shortly after that because she had to get back to work. When I got to my job, the first person I ran into was Brian. His shift was ending.

  “Natalie, I’m glad I ran into you.”

  I smiled, but I didn’t feel it. “I got your text,” I admitted. I wasn’t the kind of person who needed to end whatever we had first to save my ego. Instead, I waited for him to say it.

  “The first date we had, I could tell that there were unresolved feelings between you and your friend, Liam.”

  That shocked me. “Trust me, nothing’s going on there.” There might have been more sarcasm laced in that statement than I’d intended.

  “I’m glad to hear that. I’ve been taking things slow to give you time to figure that out.”

  Double shock. It wasn’t a this was him and not me situation? “I thought you weren’t interested,” I said, absently as I scrolled through my memory bank of our interactions.

  “Definitely not. I just didn’t want to get even slightly invested if you weren’t emotionally available.”

  How very mature of him. Had I really misjudged him so much?

  “No problems there,” which was a lie. My ego had taken over my speech. To admit I was still crazy for Liam was ludicrous.

  “Good. Liam said the same,” he said.

  I blinked several times. “Wait. Liam?”

  He smiled. “I ran into him this morning. Normally, I would have spoken to you first, but opportunity presented itself. I wasn’t sure if I’d run into him again.”

  “What did you ask him?” I was annoyed but managed to keep it from manifesting on my face.

  He hesitated probably sensing the undercurrent of tension from me. “I-uh I just asked if there was anything going on between the two of you,” he said, uncertainty forming tension lines on his face.

  “What was his answer?” My question came out a bit clipped. Yet, I hung on bated breath waiting for his answer.

  “He…his answer wasn’t actually an answer now that I think about it. He said I had his blessing and good luck. Is this a problem?” I shook my head too quickly. “Do you want to come to my place for dinner this weekend?”

  You have my blessing and good luck rang in my head. “Yes. That sounds good.”

  His smile turned up. “I’ll text you my address.”

  I checked the time on my phone. “I should go. I’m going to be late for my shift.”

  “Until this weekend, Natalie.” He leaned down and I turned too late. His lips brushed over mine as he planted the kiss on my cheek.

  I walked away wondering where the jolt of excitement was from our near kiss. It hadn’t come, though I desperately wanted it to. If for nothing more than moving on from Liam who had moved on from me.

  The ward was relatively quiet when the shift change occurred. I’d been briefed by the nurse I was taking over from and was walking toward my first patient to check in and do vitals when Christy stepped in my path.

  “I saw you with Doctor Love earlier and I think it’s really shitty of you for stringing him along.” I had to bite my tongue because I wasn’t in the mood.

  “It’s really none of your business.”

  She blocked me again when I tried to walk around her. “It is. You refused to give me Liam’s number because you still want him.”

  What she said was partially true. I hadn’t gone out of my way to give her his number. It was also true that she hadn’t asked for it recently and Liam hadn’t asked me to give it to her.

  I pulled out my phone and scrolled to the contact I was looking for. I texted the message before holding the screen in front of her face. The message read: Can I give Christy your phone number? Liam’s name was at the top. “Satisfied?” I asked before storming off. I had to exhale hard before walking into the room of the woman who was in the middle of a long labor.

  His answer wasn’t immediate.

  Twenty-Two

  Liam

  It bothered me that Natalie had looked so damn innocent when I railed against her before leaving the kitchen that morning. The proof was in the text. If Doc Love didn’t think something was going on between them, why had he sent her that text message?

  Connor sent me a message later asking me to come by. Our father had an unexpected appointment that came up.

  I wasn’t in the mood for the old bastard and had to force a smile for Bailey when she opened the door.

  “Connor will be a minute. Can I offer you anything?”

  She was as sweet as Mom’s homemade pie. I offered her a more genuine grin. “Thanks, but I ate earlier.”

  “I can wrap you up a plate to take home with you,” she offered.

  “Am I too skinny?” I teased.

  She giggled and covered her mouth. “Sorry. Old habits.”

  I didn’t quite get her meaning but let it go. “A plate would be nice.”

  My cooking was passable. I had a feeling hers was a lot better and would beat takeout.

  “Sure.”

  Connor came down the stairs. “Ready?”

  I gave him a quick nod and followed him to the elevator.

  “I’m riding with you today. I need to speak to Dad’s doctor,” he said, before he left me on the roof to get our father.

  The helo was a beauty, and it gave me a rush every time I sat in the pilot’s seat. Because Connor was going, he would get our father situated, leaving me to run to the pre-flight check. Once they were on board, I was able to leave immediately.

  Connor had their headsets switched on so I heard the convers
ation that came shortly after takeoff.

  “Have you gotten the results back?” Royce asked. He didn’t specify the DNA test, but I took that to be what he was asking about.

  “Not yet.”

  “The sooner it happens, the sooner that boy can find out who his real father is.”

  “Dad,” Connor said, as I gritted my teeth.

  It took a herculean effort not to switch on my mic and say something that could get me fired. Though leaving New York could be for the best.

  “I know who my children are. You and that obstinate brother of yours. This one isn’t my son.”

  So much for what Royce told me the other day about it not being a bad thing if I was his son. He hadn’t changed his mind.

  “Nothing is certain,” Connor said.

  “It is. I think I know when I come in woman. I didn’t know his mother from dirt. You better believe I was wrapped up tight. There is no way I got her pregnant.”

  Had Connor opened the mic on purpose? Did he want me to hear this exchange?

  Then Connor said this. “Dad, condoms aren’t one hundred percent. Anything is possible. Let it go for now. He’s likely family either way you look at it.”

  “What? Teddy’s son? Probably. He looks a lot like his other boy.”

  Had he kept tabs on his brother or had one of my brother’s shown him a picture of Grant? Besides, Grant and I didn’t look like twins. We had similar build and the same dark brown hair, but that was it. I looked as much like Grant as I did Connor and Kalen.

  “I still don’t understand why you didn’t tell us you had a brother,” Connor said.

  “Why would I? Teddy walked away from this family. From me.”

  “You can’t possibly be mad about that considering you walked away from your son.” Connor was referring to Kalen.