His tone allows no argument—not that I have one, and I crouch on my knees, gripping the armrest. He drives back into me, keeping a punishing pace. His hands move from my hips to my shoulders, slamming me back against him over and over.
It’s fierce and harsh and amazing. The sensations racing through me, the smell and feel of our sweat, the music pounding in my ears all combine into this mind-altering experience that rivals anything I’ve ever felt before.
“Axton!” His name leaps from my lips as I’m wracked by an orgasm, and his palm delivers a sharp sting on my ass. A second later, he pulls out and comes on my back, one hand holding me down over the armrest.
A moment between songs is filled with our labored breaths as he runs his hands down my sides and over my ass. “Hold still,” he mumbles, and reaches to grab his shirt that ended up on the back of the couch. He wipes off my back, balls it up, and chucks it in the corner.
When he gets up, I expect him to turn the light on so we can find our clothes, but instead he grabs a blanket that’s draped over the loveseat and returns with it. Without another word, he stretches out on the couch, pulls me down beside him, and tosses the cover over our bodies.
Tucked against his side with my head on his chest, I can’t keep a thought in my head. He grabs his phone and turns the music down a little, then tosses it on the table.
The last thought that runs through my mind before I drift off is that this is what I’ll remember. This is what will come to mind when I think of Axton. Not the sex.
Music playing in the dark.
A constant buzz is becoming an annoyance. What is that and why won’t it stop? A wave of nausea washes over me as the soft surface below me dips then bounces back.
“Yeah.” Axton’s gravelly voice says. “I’m fine. Was asleep.” A pause is followed by. “She’s still…in her room. Yeah, okay. See you in a few hours.”
My body aches, bringing the events of the night before back to me. Oh god. We got drunk and he fucked me half to death. That wasn’t supposed to happen. I don’t know what to say or do. Steeling myself for whatever his response is going to be, I drag my eyes open and sit up. Damn, we kind of trashed the living room. The coffee table is sitting sideways, and our clothes litter the floor and furniture.
I’m glad we didn’t have a security guard inside last night, but I’ll bet the outside guard got an earful.
“Be careful. There’s glass on the other side of the table.”
“Okay,” I croak, and cough to clear my throat.
It’s the only words we exchange before he walks away. The door to his room clicks shut, and I run a hand through my messy hair. My head hurts too bad to try to sort out all that’s wrong with this situation. First things first, get my naked ass off the couch.
With the blanket wrapped around me, I grab a bottle of water, then retreat to my room. The hot water from the shower does little to soothe the pain in my muscles. The deeper ache between my legs isn’t going to go away anytime soon, not after the way we went at it last night.
It was impossible to tell how he felt about it. Does he think I took advantage?
Did I?
It wasn’t my intention. Once he started kissing me, I couldn’t resist. The way we just…click together is so hard to fight against.
Despite the urge to hide in my room, I venture out for some coffee and something to eat, hoping it’ll quell this headache before Dani brings Caden home. The living room has already been cleaned up, and Axton leans against the kitchen counter, a travel cup of coffee in his hand. An awkward silence slides between us as I make myself some oatmeal. When I sit at the table with my food, he looks at me.
“I pulled out, but I think a morning after pill would be a good idea.”
Oh shit. Of course, that’s what he’s worried about. If I had half a brain I’d be thinking about all the STDs I could’ve acquired last night since we didn’t use a condom. His worries are about as unfounded as they can get.
“I’ll take one if it sets your mind at ease, but it isn’t necessary.”
“You’re on birth control?”
“I’m sterile.”
Chapter Nine
Axton
Naomi’s eyes drop back to the table after her words nearly knock me over. Sterile. She can’t have children. It explains so much, why she was so attached to Caden, why family is so important to her. Because she can’t produce one of her own. The night that I had to call the doctor because she was bleeding so heavily leaps into my mind.
“It’s a complication of severe endometriosis. There’s too much scar tissue. But I understand if you don’t want to take my word on it. If you want me to take a pill, it won’t hurt.” The anguish on her face as she explains leaves me with no doubt she’s telling the truth.
“I guess I should probably get an STD screening,” she adds.
Fair assumption. “I’m not infected with anything. I get tested a few times a year and I haven’t fucked…” She glances up when I pause. It’s not exactly information I planned to share with her, but to hell with it. “I haven’t been with anyone else since the first time we fucked.”
“Okay.”
“It can’t happen again, Naomi. We can’t.”
“I know.” Her voice is even, but she keeps her gaze averted.
I need to get out of here. “Dani is bringing Caden in about an hour,” I remind her, then walk away.
Last night was a mistake but it wasn’t her fault. I knew what I was doing. I should be able to control myself. Things were finally smoothing out between us. We were maintaining the whole employer and employee relationship.
That’s blown right to hell. It would be convenient to blame the alcohol, but not true, not really. It was just her. Sitting beside me, trying to comfort me with the kindness she has always shown, even after everything that’s happened. All the cruel things I said to her, the horrible way I treated her, and still she didn’t hesitate to try to be there for me.
Dad’s death has brought back a lot of shit. The cabin he used to take us to before Mom left belongs to us now, and I haven’t been there in years. It was one of my favorite places as a kid, but it’s been so long that the place has faded a bit in my memory. Before Dani sells it, I need to visit.
Instead of taking my car, I borrow an SUV with reflective windows from security. This is something I want to do alone, not with a guard, and the paparazzi won’t be able to tell it’s me. They’re used to the SUV’s coming and going with the shift changes by now.
The cabin is about an hour north of the city, and I’m glad to see the area is still rural. For all I knew, the cabin could’ve been surrounded by strip malls of liquor stores and check cashing places after so long.
The town that the property lies on the outskirts of is small and dismal. Whatever industries used to support it have clearly died out. I’m amazed how easily I find the place, considering I haven’t seen it since I was six years old.
Of course, it looks different. Twenty-two years is a long time, even for nature, and while the nearby town may have died, this place is overgrown with life. When I was a kid, the yard and fields surrounding the cabin were kept mowed and neat.