“But I do feel guilty. You’d be sparring and doing all the training stuff if you weren’t here.”
“There’s no place I’d rather be. I’m in the best shape of my life. That will sustain my body when I have a light training day.”
Her fingertips drifted up and down his arms. “Speaking of . . . are there no-sex-before-a-fight rules too?”
“Not at Black Arts.”
“I’m serious.”
“If I was in a title fight? Maybe. But for a regional fight?” He kissed her again. “Don’t worry about goin’ without, babe.”
Molly put her hands on his chest and nudged him back. “Gotta dismount, cowboy.”
He grinned against her throat as he withdrew from her body. “I sure like plowing into you, farm girl.”
She slapped his ass. “I’ll hit the shower. Then I’ll cook.”
• • •
ACCORDING to his distance calculator, he’d run seven miles. In an hour.
He stayed outside until his breathing returned to normal. He’d forgotten how much farther he could run when the elevation was three thousand feet lower than the Mile High City.
Deacon sat on the low rock wall separating the children’s play area from the parking lot. Cornfields stretched as far as he could see. Everything was so damn green. He’d grown up in west Texas, where the dirt, the trees, and even the sky were a dull brown.
His stomach gurgled. He’d waited an hour after eating before hitting the pavement. An hour where he’d stretched out on the puffy bed and watched Molly sleep.
After she’d showered, she’d strolled into the kitchen in her bathrobe. Being the horny bastard he was, he slid the robe off her shoulders to play with the amazing tits he couldn’t get enough of. Under the fluorescent lights, Deacon got a full look of the marks he’d left on her chest.
And on her neck.
And on her belly.
And on her hips.
And on the insides of her thighs.
And on the outsides of her knees.
He must’ve looked appalled, because she twined her body around him.
“Know the places I don’t have marks?” She nuzzled his pecs. “Along the backs of my shoulders, the nape of my neck, and on my ass. Seems you’ve been lax in your promise to mark me everywhere, Deacon. So you’d better remedy that by bending me over and putting that mouth of yours to good use.”
“Now?”
“Right now.”
“I thought you were chafed?”
“And I thought you didn’t care.”
Deacon was done for. He herded her into the bedroom and fell to his knees behind her to gift her with suck marks on each of her ass cheeks. Before she’d stopped wiggling that ass for more, he’d slapped it hard—and again she’d made those sexy fucking needy moans. He positioned her on all fours on the bed, caging her body beneath his, biting on the back of her neck until her pussy was thoroughly soaked. Then he’d impaled her. Fucking her nice and slow, bringing her to the edge three times before sending her soaring. Twice.
The crunch of tires on the gravel yanked him out of the memory. He glanced over to see a car pulling in and parking.
Tim exited from the driver’s side. “I tried to call, but no one answered.”
“We were . . . busy.”
“Before I come closer I should ask if you still plan on beating the fuck out of me.”
“Not unless you plan on putting your hands on her.”
“Nope.” Tim held out a beer. “Peace offering?”
“Sure.”
Tim plopped down beside him with a beer of his own, acting like he wanted to talk.
What the fuck? Deacon wasn’t a talking kind of guy. Maybe he should’ve just beaten on him.
“So you threaten every guy who looks at Molly?”
“Pretty much.”
“Women eat that stuff up, don’t they?”
Deacon looked at him with complete confusion. “Not Molly. She said it’d serve me right to choke on my own machismo.”
Tim laughed. “Sounds like her. Look, Molly and I go way back. It’s obvious that you care about her. I care about her too.”
He nearly crushed the beer bottle in his fist.
“But I don’t care about her in the same way you do.” Tim swigged his beer. “I’m not a threat to your relationship with her, Deacon.”
“You hugging her, kissing her, fucking touching her . . . I should ignore that shit?” He shook his head. “Not gonna fly with me, dude. I’ll always see that as a threat.”
“While I’m happy that my affection for her came across to you that way, I need to clarify why that was my intent.”
Fucking guy talked in circles. Why couldn’t he just say what he meant?
“I’m gay.”
Okay. No circles there. Deacon looked at him. “Pardon?”
“I’m gay. Molly has known that since seventh grade, when I figured it out. No one else knows. At least not in this ass-backward town.”
“Your parents don’t know?”
Tim shook his head. “My folks are good people who live by the good book. They’re happy. Coming out to them would serve no purpose. It’s not because I’m ashamed. It’s not like I lie to them. We simply don’t talk about it, because we don’t talk about anything real. From the time I realized girl parts didn’t interest me like boy parts did, I knew I’d leave here and never come back.”
While Deacon should’ve been relieved, he wasn’t. He was pissed. Maybe more so than before. “So you’re just another person in her life who uses her? Who doesn’t give a damn about her beyond what she can do for you? That’s bullshit.”
“You’re right. It is.”
“You’re just like her cousins.”
Tim scowled. “No, I’m not. I came here because I assumed no one would have Molly’s back and she’d be dealing with those nasty bitches alone.” He sent Deacon a sideways glance. “I’m happy to be wrong about that.”
“That’s the only reason you’re here?”
“No.” He shoved a hand through his hair. “I’m a selfish prick, okay? This was also an excuse to come home and not to have to stay longer than two days.”
“That is fucked-up.” Deacon sipped his beer. “And I oughta know because I’ve done the same thing with my family.”
Tim laughed. “So I came by tonight to make sure she was all right with you.”
“I’ll knock your face in the dirt if you think I’d ever raise a fucking hand to her,” he snarled.
“Whoa. Not what I meant.”
“Explain it, then.”
“It’ll make a big, macho guy like you blush, especially coming from a gay dude.”
Deacon snorted. “Unlikely.”
“Brother, you ooze sex. From your muscle-bound body, to the raspy southern drawl, to the tats, to your shaved head. The way you looked at Molly earlier . . . Fuck, man. That’s what she’s always wanted. I hated I couldn’t be the one to give it to her.” He paused. “See. Molly and I were each other’s firsts.”
Deacon’s head whipped around. “Are you trying to get me to beat the fuck out of you by telling me shit like that?”
“Hell no. You need to understand the context because it’ll help you understand her. So few have. We were both virgins our senior year. She wanted to know what the fuss was about. I wanted to know if having sex with a girl would make me think less about having sex with guys.”
“You were a fucking dog,” Deacon scoffed. “You just wanted to nail her.”
“No. We both wanted to be with someone we trusted. We did the deed. What stuck in my mind afterward was hearing Molly question whether passion was real.”
That broke his fucking heart.
“Like I said, I couldn’t give her that. I blamed her unrealistic expectations on the romance novels she devoured. She argued that Pride and Prejudice, and Outlander, and The Thorn Birds gave her hope for an epic love story of her own someday.”
As much as Deacon wanted to be the guy w
ho could give that to her . . . what if he couldn’t?
Footfalls falling fast on gravel echoed to them.
Tim stood and stepped over the wall. “You don’t need to run interference, Molly. We’re fine.”
Deacon rolled to his feet. “You get some rest?”
“Barely.” Molly stepped into Tim’s arms and hugged him. “I wish we could’ve spent more time together.”
Even when Deacon knew there wasn’t anything but history and friendship between them, he couldn’t watch their casual affection. He stepped over the wall and headed back to the room.
As soon as Molly returned, Deacon pressed her against the door, pinning her arms above her head.
“Again?” she murmured.
“Can’t get enough of you, babe.” He lowered his mouth, teasing her lips with little bites and nibbles. Slowly sweeping his tongue across the fleshy inside of her bottom lip.
She heaved an impatient sigh, which he swallowed in a deep, wet kiss. He wouldn’t speed up even when she made a soft whimper.
When he’d had a thorough taste of her, he sighed. “We have to go back tomorrow.”
“I know.”
“Things have changed between us.”
“I know that too.” She wiggled, forcing him to release her arms. “What’s going on?”
“I need to know that you can handle it,” he said softly.
“Handle what?”
“Me being completely obsessive when it comes to you.” Since he’d never felt this way, he knew he was about to tell it to her all wrong, but he couldn’t keep his mouth shut and just let it ride. “Maddox told me I have two speeds. Full throttle and dead stop. Which do you think applies to you now that we’re fucking?”
“Hearing the word obsessive is an automatic freak-out for me.”
Deacon wasn’t sure if anger or fear flared in her eyes.
“By obsessive do you mean you’ll need to know where I am at all times?” she continued. “You’ll get irrationally pissed off if I don’t answer my cell phone within a few minutes of you calling? You’ll expect me to spend every second of my free time with you? You won’t let me make a decision about anything without your input? Will you dictate my clothing styles? If we’re out at a bar, you’ll blame me if guys hit on me? You’ll keep me away from my friends?”
“Not that kind of obsessive, Molly.” He stepped away from her, hating how bad he sucked at this stuff. “Fuck. Never mind.” Then he turned around.
Wrapping her arms around his waist, she pulled him to a stop. Then she ducked under his arms and got right in his face. “Remember when you told me I had to stay and fight with you? I’m telling you, mister”—she drilled her index finger into his chest—“the same rule applies. You’ve pushed me not to hide my body from you. You don’t get to hide your emotions.”
“This isn’t about my fucking emotions.” He crowded her until her back hit the wall again. Then he flattened his palm at the hollow of her throat and curled his hand around her neck, not surprised to feel how fast her pulse leapt. “This is about the beast you bring out in me.”
That startled her. “Wait. We’re talking about sex?”
“Yes, we’re talking about sex, goddammit. I’ve already had you three times today. And all I can think about is shoving you to the floor and fucking you until you scream my name. As soon as I finish, I want to bury myself inside you again. I’m that obsessed with fucking you.”
“Deacon. Honey—”
“Don’t try to placate me. You saw how crazy I got when I thought Tim wanted what was mine. Turned me into a beast.”
She rolled her eyes.
His big goddamn confession and she rolled her motherfucking eyes at him.
“You’re a fighter. Of course you’re a beast.”
“That’s not what I—”
“Let. Me. Finish. You’re a beast in the ring. Did you really think I expected you to be any different in bed? You are powerful, skilled, and focused in every single aspect of your life. A force unlike anything I’ve experienced. I like that about you, Deacon. Why wouldn’t you think I’d be just as sexually obsessed with you as you are with me? Have I said no when you’ve touched me?”
“Not yet.”
“Oh. So you think I’ll get tired of having the hottest man I’ve ever met touching me and getting to touch him back whenever I want? I’ll get bored with multiple orgasms?”
“Smart-ass.”
“Only because you, Deacon McConnell, are a dumb-ass.” She scraped her fingers over the scruff on his cheek. “If it gets to be too much, I’ll tell you. I don’t want you to keep that beast side of you leashed. I’m not breakable.”
The challenge in her eyes made his dick stir. “Good.” Deacon slid his hand down from her neck. “Remember you said that.”
CHAPTER TWELVE
“YOU sure you don’t wanna drive by the house?”
“No.”
“I don’t need to ask if you wanna say goodbye to your cousins and your uncle. But should we stop and get food?”
Molly shook her head. “Not here. I just want to go. Put this behind me.”
Deacon gathered her in his arms and kissed her temple. “I understand. But, babe, I want you to be sure. Regrets suck.”
She sagged into him. She never would’ve attributed intuitive and sweet to Deacon, but the more time she spent with him, the more she realized he kept so much of his true self hidden from the world. And little by little, he was letting her in to the part of him that no one else got to see.
So how long do you think you can keep this relationship just sexual?
“No regrets. Let’s hit the road.” She handed him the car keys without him having to ask.
Deacon slipped on his sexy, mysterious shades and took the wheel.
She’d managed to nap for the first hour, lulled to sleep by the perfect temperature in the car and Deacon’s gentle stroking on her bare leg.
After a quick stop for fast food and a bathroom break, they were back on the road. Deacon was the perfect road-trip partner. He didn’t listen to the radio. He didn’t blather on endlessly. He didn’t snack on sunflower seeds. He remained still and alert as they cruised across Nebraska.
Molly kicked her shoes off and grabbed her e-reader from the backseat. Within a few minutes, she became engrossed in the story. The next time she glanced at the clock, she realized almost two hours had passed.
Deacon looked at her. “Good book?”
“Yeah. Sorry I’m not great company. I tend to get lost when I read.”
He picked up her hand and rubbed his callused thumb across her knuckles. “I’m not much of a reader.”
“You play video games?”
“Some.”
“What do you like to do in your off-hours? Now that you’re no longer hitting strip clubs.”