Текст книги "Checkmate"
Автор книги: R. L. Mathewson
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Текущая страница: 15 (всего у книги 22 страниц)
“I wouldn’t be bitching and whining if that bastard’s Red Sox loving wife hadn’t tried to poison me!” Jason bit out harshly and she knew without asking that her cousin was more pissed off about the fact that Trevor’s wife, Zoe, had a soft spot for all things Red Sox than the actual poisoning.
She still cringed when she thought about last Christmas’ family gathering. All she had to say was that Zoe had guts showing up at a Bradford gathering with her twin baby boys dressed in matching Red Sox jerseys. She could still remember the stunned silence that took over the house when Zoe pulled the baby blanket off the twin’s and revealed those damn jerseys that her brothers, cousins and she may have accidentally smeared pudding, chocolate and cold gravy on within minutes of the unveiling.
It hadn’t mattered that they’d “accidentally” dropped the small jerseys in the fire place when they offered to clean them, the damage had already been done. She’d never seen Trevor look so angry before. Instead of yelling at Zoe like she expected, he just became deathly silent and walked away from Zoe. It was actually kind of frightening. For the rest of the night he sat silently in the corner of the room, never taking his glare away from his wife. It wasn’t until Zoe complimented Aunt Janice on her table arrangement that he reacted. He was up and out of his chair and across the room in seconds, shoving aside anyone that was foolish enough to get in his way. Without a word, he grabbed Zoe’s hand, yanked her out of the room and disappeared down the hall. She’d like to say that she hadn’t heard her cousin having sex and that those sounds didn’t still haunt her to this day, but she couldn’t. The rest of the family found it amusing, but they knew better than to say anything about it.
Everyone pretended that the incident never happened, partly because they knew that Trevor would beat the hell out of them if any of them gave his wife any shit, but mostly because they were all deathly afraid of Zoe and her baked goods. So far the small, plain woman, who made her laugh her ass off, had managed to send a total of twenty-nine Bradfords to the emergency room to have their stomachs pumped. Speaking of Bradfords and emergency rooms…..
“Should we bring him to the emergency room?” she asked, throwing Jason a nervous look and noting the slightly green color marring his normally healthy tanned skin.
“No, he’ll be fine. He only took one bite of the brownie,” Trevor said, sounding unconcerned. She opened her mouth to argue, but then with a sigh and a shrug she reminded herself that Trevor would know the danger signs of eating Zoe’s baked goods better than anyone.
“Fine, then tell me how the two of you breaking the ban is helping me out?”
“Let us worry about the ban,” Trevor said with a shrug as he reached for the bowl of potpourri, but one look from her had him pulling his hand back and shooting her a sheepish smile.
“Are you going to tell me why you’re here?” she asked, absently as she threw another glance towards the clock. She might have to skip the shower and take one later with Connor, she realized as she calculated the odds of throwing her cousins out, feeding Bunny and at the very least brushing her teeth before Connor showed up. She had to admit that the odds weren’t very good.
“We’re here to help you with your project, Rory and we’re going to help you build your suites,” Trevor announced, grabbing her attention in a big way.
“What?” she asked, dumbly, not sure that she heard him correctly.
“He said that we came to help you with your project. Now, move your ass and get back to rubbing, woman!” Jason grumbled testily, wiggling around in an attempt to get her to recommence with the rubbing, but she couldn’t do anything more than sit there like an idiot as her mind quickly wrapped around that announcement.
“You’re here to help?” she asked, making sure that she’d heard them correctly.
“Yes,” Trevor said with a nod and a shrug as if he hadn’t just solved most of her problems.
Where her brothers were good, really good, her cousins were the best. They were bigger, stronger and fast, very fast. Having one Bradford working for her would be like having five extra guys.
“Some of the others will come out when they can to help, but for now it’s us,” Trevor explained
“Oh my God,” she mumbled, feeling her lips pull up into a huge smile. “Really? This is great!”
“If you want, we can go have a look at this project right now,” Trevor offered with a shrug.
“That would be great!” she said, shoving Jason off of her lap and ignoring his whimpers and muttered, “Bastard” as she jumped to her feet and practically raced to the door. She was halfway there when one thought had her skidding to a stop.
Connor.
She didn’t want to break their plans, but she had to if she wanted to get her cousins caught up on what was going on. She could always sneak into his room later tonight, but she already knew that she’d be tired to do that. It didn’t help matters that she had to get up early in the morning. Skipping out on their plans also meant losing a night in his arms and she really wasn’t sure that she could do that.
“Where are you going?” Trevor asked as she abruptly turned and raced up the stairs.
“I’ll be back in ten minutes!” she yelled, hoping to be back here in five before her cousins did something to give themselves away and land her ass in jail for the night.
Chapter 27
"Connor?"
Speak of the devil, he thought, grinning as he rubbed his hand down his face, wiping water out of his eyes. He’d just been thinking about her, but that wasn't really anything new. Granted, his thoughts used to run along the lines of screwing her over for his own entertainment or revenge, but now he found himself just thinking about her smile, the way she pouted when he stole the last slice of pizza, and the way that she felt in his arms first thing in the morning.
Fucking amazing
"How much longer are you going to be?" Rory asked, sounding impatient and arousing his curiosity.
"I'm done," he said, stepping beneath the water and quickly rinsing off the body wash that coated his body before he shut the water off, ripped back the curtain and nearly tripped as he stepped out of the shower and his eyes landed on Rory.
"I need you," she said, giving her bare ass a little wiggle as she looked over her shoulder at him. Blindly, he reached out and slapped a hand against the shower wall. It was either that or take the chance of his legs giving out on him as a surge of lust tore through him, leaving him panting and struggling with the need to step up behind her and take her, hard.
The image of Rory bent over his bathroom counter and offering herself up to him was permanently etched into his brain, but it was her little declaration that had him panting and so damn turned on that he actually feared that his balls would explode. The fact that Rory wanted him so badly that she couldn't wait until the end of the night to have him had him struggling with his sanity. That she was as desperate for him as he was for her gave him hope and had him dropping his hand away from the wall and taking a step towards her.
"Couldn't it wait until tonight?" he asked, absently reaching down and running his hand over his painfully erect shaft as he reached out and palmed one of her perfect cheeks and gave it a light squeeze that had them both licking their lips.
"No," she admitted on a needy moan, surprising him and ramping up his hunger for her.
Never in a million years would he have ever imagined that Rory would be so damn open and honest about how much she wanted him. As he dropped to his knees and kissed one beautiful smooth cheek, he realized that Rory was all his. He didn't need this bullshit deal to keep her in his arms, not if she was this desperate to have him. She obviously wanted-
"Hurry, Connor," Rory demanded with a little wiggle of her ass that had him grinning like a fool as he pressed a kiss to the other cheek.
"What's the rush, baby?" he asked, loving how desperate she was for him.
"Does it really matter?" she demanded with a groan, shaking her ass enticingly once again to get his attention right back where it should be.
Did it really matter? he wondered as he tilted his head just enough so that he could lean forward and press a kiss against the small, moist, pouty lips that her position revealed to him. He tried to force himself to be content with that and give her what she obviously craved, a hard, fast fuck when she let out a throaty moan that had his cock jerking and his mouth watering for a real taste.
"More," Rory said, sounding a little desperate as she spread her legs further and arched her hips to the perfect angle, baring more of herself to him.
He moved to give her what they both wanted when a thought had him pulling back. As much as he'd love to take her like this, and he would damn well be taking her like this one day, today was not that day. Her arm and ribs were still sore and leaning against the counter that way while they made love probably wouldn't feel too good and he definitely wanted her to feel good.
"Wait!" Rory rushed out, gesturing for him to put her back down mere seconds after he scooped her up into his arms and headed for the door. "What are you doing? I need really quick, hot sex!" she whined adorably.
"And that's exactly what you'll get," he promised as he carried her into his room and headed for the bed.
Like most men, he enjoyed sex, at least the act, but it had always been straight forward with him and always in a bed. Even when he was a kid trying to work Rory out of his system, he’d preferred a bed. He'd sneak into the girl's room or sneak her into his. His sex life had never been kinky or adventurous and he'd never really cared enough to change that.
Plenty of the women over the years complained that he wasn't as in to sex as they were. They bitched, cried, and did everything imaginable to turn him inside out and make him wild between the sheets. Their attempts only made him realize that things weren't going to work out that much faster. For years, he'd wished that he'd been able to give a woman more, be there for her and want her so damn much that he'd thought he'd die if he didn't have her, but that never happened.
Until now that is.
Right now he wanted to drag Rory back into the bathroom, bend her back over the sink and fuck her until his legs gave out and when they collapsed on the floor he wanted to do it again. He wanted to take her in every room in the house, in a thousand different positions and a hundred times a day. He wanted her, needed her, and he'd be damned if he was ever going to walk away from her.
He was done.
Rory James was his perfect match in every way and he'd been foolish to chalk up his feelings for her as a simple infatuation all those years ago. There was nothing simple when it came to him and Rory. They drove each other crazy in every way imaginable and he wouldn't have it any other way. He wanted her, wanted to be with her, drive her crazy for the rest of their lives and he was damn well going to do it.
As he gently laid her on the bed, he realized what he wanted from Rory, forever. He'd get it too. He was a ruthless bastard when it came to something that he wanted and he definitely wanted Rory James. It became crystal clear to him what he needed to do in order to get what he wanted as he moved between Rory's spread legs and pressed a kiss against her hip.
He was going to marry her.
Acknowledging the fact that he wanted to marry her didn't faze him in the slightest, because he realized that he was still in love with her and that fucking terrified him. For a long time he'd hoped, prayed really, that he'd find a woman that could make him happy, make him feel whole and now that he'd found her, he felt oddly terrified and hopeful.
Terrified because this was Rory James he was talking about here and he would definitely have to sleep with one eye open for the rest of his life if he married her, but it would be worth it. She was worth it. They could have a good life together, not perfect, but good. He knew that he'd piss her off a lot along the way, but that was okay because he knew Rory wouldn't hesitate to reach for her pliers.
The only problem as far as he could tell was this little deal of theirs. It had to go. Things hadn't gone exactly as planned, but he was pleased with the results nonetheless. Rory was in his bed, in his life and it was damn well going to stay that way. He still planned on taking over her company, but he'd do it as her husband now. He'd handle running the sites and she could manage the office or whatever the hell it is that she wanted to do.
First though, he needed to get this deal of theirs out of the way so that he could make his next move, making this permanent. He didn't want to hide behind this deal, didn't need to, he realized. Rory wanted and needed him just as badly as he needed her. Once the deal was off the table, she'd realize that and probably be just as relieved as he was not to have to hide the way she felt any longer.
"If you don't hurry up, I'm going to have to kill you," she warned him, panting hard and making him smile as his suspicions were confirmed.
She definitely wanted him.
"You'd miss me," he said, teasingly as he pressed one last kiss against her hip and moved to cover her with his body.
"Not this time. My aim's getting better," she said, wrapping her arms around his shoulders and pulled him closer.
He chuckled as he settled himself between her legs, loving the way she loosely wrapped her legs around him, ready to keep him locked in place. "And what exactly would you do without me around to brighten up your day?" he asked, leaning down to kiss her as he shifted until he felt the tip of his cock slide over her clit and come to rest at her wet entrance.
"Probably lead a fuller, more productive life and maybe get a hobby or something," she said, moaning softly as she tilted her hips only to bring them right down, taking the tip of his cock inside of her hot wet core that he planned on worshipping for the rest of the night.
"You'd die of boredom if I wasn't around," he pointed out.
She laughed softly as she moved her good hand to cup his jaw. "Probably."
"You like being with me? " he found himself asking as he slowly slid inside of her, taking his time and watching as she arched her back, licking her lips as she moaned, "More."
He wanted to do just that, needed to do it, but somehow he found the willpower to stop halfway inside of her and ask again, "Do you like being with me, Rory?"
"Less talking, more sex," she groaned, cupping the back of his head and trying to pull him down for a kiss, but he refused to be distracted. He wanted to hear her say it.
"Do you like being with me, Rory?" he demanded softly as he looked down into her beautiful blue eyes.
"Do you want me to kill you, Connor?" she demanded, sighing in annoyance as she rolled her hips up to force more of his shaft to slide inside her.
He allowed himself one slow thrust before he pulled back and forced himself to focus, further pissing her off.
"Connor!"
"Answer me," he gritted out, wondering why the woman was being so damn stubborn at a time like this.
She glared up at him for a moment before she snapped, "I forgot what you asked, you psychotic bastard!"
"Would you like me to refresh your memory?" he asked, smiling as he leaned down and kissed her.
"If it gets you to move your ass!" she muttered against his lips with a pout.
He pressed one last kiss against her lips before he pulled back just far enough so that he could look into her eyes as he softly asked, "Do you like being with me?"
"Oh my God, that's why you're denying me sex?" she demanded, letting out a frustrated groan as she once again tried to roll her hips to entice him, but he was ready for the move and pulled back just enough to keep her attention.
"Yes and if you want sex then you're going to answer me," he explained, looking down into her beautiful eyes as they glared back up at him with murderous intent.
For a moment she simply laid there, glaring up at him and he didn't need to ask to know that she was calculating the odds of him doing what she wanted without telling him the truth. He knew the second that she came to the conclusion that the odds weren't very good. The glare disappeared as she slowly exhaled, reaching up and cupping his jaw as she admitted, "Yes, I like spending time with you, but I still hate you. Does that make you happy?"
"You hate me?" he demanded, narrowing his eyes on her as he pulled back until just the very tip of the head was inside her.
She let out a frustrated groan before she snapped, "Fine! I don't hate you as much as I used to! Are you happy now?"
"Extremely," he said, grinning as he leaned down to kiss her.
"Are you going to tell me why it was so damn important that you had to interrupt sex time for that?" she mumbled against his lips as he slowly sank back inside her.
If he hadn't been so damn distracted by the feel of her hot, wet sheath wrapping around him as he slid back inside of her and so damn happy that she'd admitted that she liked being around him, he probably wouldn't have fucked up and told her the truth.
"Because I'm in love with you, Rory."
Yeah, he was a fucking moron.
Chapter 28
"Get off of me."
"Rory, I-"
"Get the hell off of me, Connor!" she snapped, pushing at his shoulders, ignoring the sharp pain shooting through her broken arm as anger and desperation rushed through her, demanding that she put space between them.
"Baby, relax," Connor said soothingly as he slowly pulled out of her. If she wasn't so close to a nervous breakdown, she'd probably be crying in frustration at the loss. She was going to lose it and she wanted to get away from him when it happened, afraid that she would truly kill the bastard this time.
They'd both done some horrible things to each other over the years, but this.....this was crossing the line. This was sick, vicious and low even for Connor. If she wasn't so damn sure that she was falling for the bastard, she would have laughed off his declaration of love, shoved him off and walked away without a second thought. Instead, she was trapped beneath him, struggling against the need to act like a girl and cry as she screamed and slapped him for this sick joke.
"I love you, Rory," he said softly as he gently caressed her cheek with the back of his knuckles as he gazed down at her, a small smile touching his lips that just went to piss her off even more.
"Stop," she begged, trying to push him away, but the damn man refused to move.
"Rory, I-"
"If you say that you love me one more time, I swear to God that I will kill you with my bare hands," she said evenly as she shoved at his shoulders one more time and this time, with a small groan, he moved away from her.
She didn't waste any time in getting off the bed and going to the bathroom to find her clothes. As she yanked on her shirt, she mentally berated herself for being so stupid. She should have never slept with him, never mind going along with this deal. She'd been an idiot to think that she could handle Connor. She'd never been able to before and she didn't know why she thought that she could handle him now.
God, she was such a fool. The moment that she realized that she was feeling something for the bastard, she should have called off this ridiculous deal of theirs and figured out another way to get her suites. Instead, she used excuse after excuse to give and take what she wanted and now she was paying for it. She'd had her heart broken by several men before, how could she not?
They treated her like a fuck buddy, someone that they wanted to get off with. When they became bored or something better came along, they moved on, leaving her feeling worthless. As much as it hurt to be treated like crap it didn't even begin to compare to what it felt like to have her heart broken by Connor.
"We need to talk," Connor said, coming up behind her just as she finished pulling her jeans on, and wrapped his arms around her.
"Get your goddamn hands off of me, Connor!"
"No, we need to talk," he said, tightening his hold, but not enough to hurt her, when she tried to pull away.
"The deals over, Connor! I'm done! You finally won, okay? You won!" she cried, struggling against his hold with everything that she had, but he refused to let go even as she kicked, rammed her elbow into his side and thrashed in his arms as the first tear rolled down her cheek. She didn't want him to see her cry, refused to let him know just how badly he'd hurt her.
"The deal doesn't matter, Rory. The suites are yours," he rushed out on a grunt when she managed to turn slightly to the left and slammed her elbow in his stomach, desperate to get away from him.
"I don't want them!" she screamed, hating herself when a sob broke through.
"Baby, please calm down," Connor pleaded, tightening his hold on her.
"Let me go!"
"Not until you hear me out."
"I don't want to hear you out, you lying, life ruining bastard! I hate you, you asshole!" she barely managed to get out through the sobs.
For a moment he didn't say anything and she was thankful for that, but even happier when he finally released her. She quickly stepped away from him and headed for the bathroom door and her escape when his next words stopped her short.
"I'm sorry about that night, Rory. I'm sorry for so many fucking things," he said, his voice hoarse.
"You shouldn't have come that night," she said tightly, forcing herself to face him.
"I regret a lot of things about that night, but I don't regret that," he said, meeting her glare with a hard look of his own.
"You ruined my life that night," she said quietly, not bothering to wipe the tears away as they streamed down her cheeks.
"I know."
"If you hadn't come that night-"
"You would have had to deal with something far worse than losing your scholarship, Rory," Connor said, cutting her off.
Frowning, she asked, "What the hell are you talking about?"
For a moment he only looked at her and just when she thought that she was finally about to get her answers after all of these years, he shook his head and moved to step past her. "Ask your brothers."
No, he was not about to do this to her on top of everything else. They were going to finish this tonight.
"I'm asking you, Connor," she said, stepping in front of him and blocking his path.
"It would be better if it came from one of your brothers," he said, trying to step past her, but she was done playing this game with him.
"It would be better if it came from you and while you're at it, you can tell me why you followed me up there in the first place," she demanded, making it clear that she wasn't moving until he finally gave her the answers that she'd been waiting years for.
"Are you sure that you want to hear this?" he asked, resting his hip against the sink counter as he waited.
"Yes," she said with absolutely no hesitation. She desperately wanted to know what happened that night, why he was there and why he couldn't just leave her the hell -
"I came up there to talk to you about something, but when I got there you were already the life of the party. For weeks, months really, I'd been trying to work up the courage to talk to you, but the moment that I saw you, I lost my nerve," he admitted with a small rueful smile.
"What did you come to talk to me about?" she found herself asking as she leaned back against the door.
"I sat back, not sure what to do," he said, continuing with his story and for the moment she allowed it. "I hung back for a few hours, trying to work up the nerve to approach you," he explained, surprising her. Since when was he nervous about approaching her?
"Just when I decided to put it off, I saw you stumble across the dance floor. It was more than obvious that you were drunk. The guy that you were with definitely figured that out," Connor ground out, suddenly looking pissed. "I hung out for another minute, hoping that your brothers would step in, but none of them did. So, when the asshole dragged you, stumbling and giggling out the backdoor, I followed."
"I don't really remember any of this," she admitted, frowning as she struggled to remember something, anything about that part of the night, but it was useless.
"I'm not surprised, Rory. You were pretty wasted by that point. You couldn't even walk without help," Connor explained as she noticed for the first time since this whole thing started that he'd pulled on a pair of jeans, but left them unbuttoned, that along with his casual pose and mussed hair made him look sweet and sexy. He certainly didn't look like a life ruining bastard or someone who enjoyed screwing around with someone's heart.
"Get to the point," she said, needing to hear how he ruined her life so that she could build up a defense around her heart and hate him so the pain would end.
Connor looked away, his jaw clenched tightly as he said, "By the time I got out to the alleyway, the asshole was trying to shove you down behind the dumpster."
"H-he didn't," she said, stopping to wet her suddenly dry lips when the words refused to leave her mouth. It didn't matter if she remembered it or not. Knowing that some guy had hurt her like that would be difficult to get over. As she waited for his answer, she hoped that Connor had gotten there in time. Please let him have gotten there in time, she prayed as dread coiled around in her stomach.
"He didn't have a chance to hurt you, Rory. I promise you that he didn't hurt you," he said softly, but wouldn't look at her.
"What aren't you telling me?" she demanded, afraid that he was lying to protect her from the truth.
"There's nothing else to tell, Rory. You know the rest," he said, shaking his head as he pushed away from the counter and moved to step past her, but she wasn't ready to drop this.
"No, I don't," she said, planting her good hand against his chest, stopping him from ending this conversation before she got the rest of her answers.
"He pulled a knife. We ended up in jail. Case closed, end of story, let it go," he said firmly, gently pushing her hand away and this time he managed to walk away from her and was halfway to his bedroom door when she asked, "And how did we land in jail and him in the hospital if he was the one with the knife, Connor? Huh?" she demanded, walking after him and cutting him off before he could make it to that door and walk away from her, taking the answers that she desperately wanted to know with him.
"How did my life get wrecked, Connor? Tell me," she demanded. When he clenched his jaw and didn't answer, she screamed it. "Tell me!"
"You wouldn't listen to me!" he snapped, grabbing her by the arms and giving her a shake, not hard enough to hurt her, but it was enough to stun her. "I told you to get your ass back in the bar, but you wouldn't listen! You should have fucking listened to me, Rory!" Another shake. "Do you have any idea how close I came to losing you that night? Do you?" he practically roared in her face as he pushed her back up against the wall and got in her face, clearly done with avoiding this subject.
"I begged you to go inside, Rory, but even drunk you're a stubborn pain in the ass!" he snapped, glaring down at her. "When that asshole pulled out a knife, you got pissed and went to punch him. I almost didn't get between you in time! Do you have any idea how close that piece of shit came to stabbing you? Do you?" he demanded, sounding angrier and angrier with each passing second when all she could do was stand there, desperately trying to catch her breath as his words sank in.
"How did he get stabbed, Connor?" she asked, reaching out and grabbing onto him as a wave of dizziness tore through her head with the possible knowledge that she was the reason the man ended up in the hospital having one of his kidneys removed.
"He fell on the knife when I tackled him to the ground," Connor said, his tone more gentle as his grip on her arms turned supportive.
"But in the police report he said that you attacked him," she mumbled, desperately trying to wrap her mind around everything he'd told her and figure out how the hell they'd gotten off when it was the other guy who ended up in the hospital when there hadn't been any witnesses to back them up. She'd tried to get her hands on the police report a few times over the years, but because the case was closed and she wasn't a Canadian resident, her request had been denied.
"I know what he said, Rory, but his story didn't add up," Connor explained softly.
"What are you talking about, Connor? There were no other witnesses and he's the one that got hurt. How exactly didn't his story add up?"
Locking his eyes on her, he gently took her good hand off his arm and placed it on the left side of his chest. When she opened her mouth to ask what he was doing, he glided her hand over his chest. It took a moment before a small raised line registered and when it did, she shook off his hand and traced her fingers over the three inch scar that she'd never noticed before. Not that anyone would have really had a chance to see the scar with his tattoo covering the area.
When he raised his left hand, palm out, her eyes landed on a long thin scar that ran across it. Without a word, she reached up with a shaky hand and traced the thin scar that ran across his palm that she'd always assumed was from working construction.
"Defensive wound," she said numbly as she dropped her hand to her side.
"Yes," Connor said, pushing away from the wall and moving away from her. When he sat down on the edge of the bed and dropped his head in his hands, it surprised her how badly she wanted to go to him.
"Why didn't you tell me?" she asked, leaning her head back and looking up at the ceiling, desperately trying not to lose it as something occurred to her.
He hadn't ruined her life.
That was all her. She'd ruined her life by getting drunk and going off with some asshole. She'd put them both in that situation and because of her, Connor had been hurt.
"There was no point in telling you, Rory. It was done."
