Battling the Best Man: A Harmony Falls Novel, Book 2 (Crimson Romance) (18 page)

Opening her mouth for a quick, shaky breath, Kory forged ahead with a portion of the planned speech. “I know, and I apologize, but something came up, and I don’t have a choice. I have to leave as soon as possible.”

“What came up?” His eyes relaxed a little as he nodded. “Seriously, Kory, what came up? I’m a reasonable man. You should know that by now.”

She found herself nodding, too. “I know you are, Will. I do, but…”—in her rush and worry she hadn’t expected him to want more of an explanation. She figured her announcement would pretty much get her kicked out of his life for the rest of hers— “…it’s personal.”

His lips twisted again, and he made a laugh-like sound. “Personal. Too personal for me. Even though we’ve been on very personal terms.”

She winced. He was right, of course. They’d been sharing some pretty personal thoughts and feelings over the last two months, but telling him about her mother’s revelation seemed to go too far. If she let him in on the most intimate details of her life, then how would she shut him out?

Her heart ached.

“Maybe painful would be a better word.” Though that didn’t quite fit, either. “It’s uncomfortable, Will. Please, leave it at that.”

He stood, surprising her with hands to her shoulders and fingers resting on her neck. And when his face softened, she nearly crumbled.

“How am I supposed to ignore something that’s causing you pain, especially when it’s taking you away?”

As her heart throbbed, pressure mounted in her head, making it hard to formulate a reasonable answer. She’d never been an emotional person, and stress was something she steamrolled. Had two measly months in Harmony Falls really changed that?

“I belong in Chicago,” she said. Trying so damn hard not to choke on the words, she did it anyway.

“So you say.” His hands slid to the sides of her neck, and his thumbs traced her jaw. Back and forth. Back and forth. Until she closed her eyes.

“I owe it to my parents.”

His lips brushed hers, and her heart stopped. “And what do you owe to yourself?”

She captured his upper lip between her lips for the smallest taste. This was not happening to her. Will Mitchell was not supposed to be a choice—at least not a legitimate one. But in his arms, under his spell, a part of her wanted to stay. A big part. A reckless part.

She pushed him away. “It’s not about me, Will. It’s about sacrifice and love so deep you give up what you want for the life and love of someone else.”

• • •

Will could see the magnitude of this decision written all over Kory’s drawn face, like he tasted it a moment ago in her desperate nip of a kiss. Wrinkles of concern tightened his forehead and flared his nostrils. If only he could fix whatever was pushing her away. He rubbed a palm over his heart, bunching his cotton shirt. The rustling noise echoed in the silence between them.

“And you’re sure there’s no other way?”

She looked at him for what seemed like the longest time, and like an idiot he prayed she’d figure out some way to stay.

“I have to go. I want to go.” And yet her head hung. “This isn’t some high school game you can win, Will.”

The words hurt, and though he didn’t want to hear them said, he expected them. Even though he’d hoped they’d come far enough to erase his earlier transgression, he knew they’d always be a part of him.

He took an impulsive step toward her, and when she didn’t back away, he swept her into his arms, cradling her head to his heart.

For some reason, she felt she owed her life to her parents. If he didn’t know the pressure of family expectations, if he didn’t know the responsibility he’d been born into and how it governed the decisions he made each day, he could fight harder to make her stay. He might not know the details, but he understood her ambition and sense of obligation. He admired it.

“Go,” he whispered into her sweet-smelling hair. Will realized he could be holding her like this for the last time, and he squeezed his eyes shut on a wave of regret. “I won’t stand in your way.” He wanted to, but he couldn’t imagine being an added burden. She already looked ready to break.

Again he wondered what was so painful and uncomfortable she couldn’t share it with him, but then her warm hands pushed beneath his shirt and fused against his back as she lifted her head and nuzzled him cheek to cheek. It was the single most depressing and yet enticing moment of his life. It was also cruelly ironic that at the moment he let her go, he was recognizing their relationship had changed and deepened enough to become something vital to him.

He covered her mouth with his, holding her head in place with hands pressed to either side of her face, while Kory slid her hands to his stomach, splaying her fingers as they climbed his body. Something about the way she touched him left him raw and burning. He lifted her face into the kiss, probing deeper into her mouth, mixing his tongue with hers, praying for a reprieve from all the hurt.

On the next beat of his heart he dropped his hands from her face and wound his arms around her waist, pressing her body to his, straddling her feet with his feet, backing her into the living room. The sound of her breathing echoed in his ears, stirring his desire. Her hands clawed his chest and into his sleeves, urging his arms up. After a series of harsh, breathless tugs, she ripped the shirt from his body.

His heart thrashed against his ribs, its overactive rate making him woozy. Then again, maybe the lightheadedness was because of the way she looked at him, really looked at him. He felt so transparent he had to blink. And then she grabbed him by the waistband of his shorts and turned him toward the couch. He sat before she asked him to and before she could push him down. He might as well maintain control of his actions as long as he could. He had a feeling it wouldn’t be much longer now.

Kory didn’t say a word as she kicked off her heels and stepped out of her pants. He rolled his gaze over long creamy legs to the flicker of white lace peeking at him from the split-hem of her blouse. When he looked at her face, she held his gaze with a warning gleam in her eyes. Somehow he knew if he didn’t follow her lead, she’d make him comply—none-too-gently.

That was fine with him. He wasn’t in the mood for gentle tonight.

Kory hurt so much she could barely breathe. Pent-up emotions weighed on her muscles and bones, craving release. She tensed against the onslaught, even as she straddled Will’s legs and settled on his lap, knowing she’d face more emotion this way. But facing it was the only way through it.

When she looked at him, her heart torqued, and she had one thought.
Annihilate him. Make him feel your torment.
By the look of his heavy-lidded eyes when she rocked against him, he was halfway there.

How dare he add to her confusion and pain? Who gave him permission to become sympathetic, understanding, more than…whatever he’d been these last two months? She covered his mouth with hers and slid her palms to either side of his throat. On an inhale, she buried blunt fingernails into the back of his neck and squeezed.

Will groaned and arched beneath her, pressing the hard heat concealed by his boxers into the soft wet chasm between her legs, grabbing her none-too-nicely around the curves of her waist in the process. And it was glorious. Somehow the unrelenting pressure of his hands lessened the pressure in her chest, and she writhed on a wave of powerful, strange pleasure, grinding against him, kissing him mercilessly, until she had no choice but to release his mouth and gasp for air.

His hands lightened around her waist as he sat still beneath her, eyes wide, lips parted. She wondered if he was as stunned as she was. She wondered if he craved more. She wondered how far she should push this. And then it didn’t matter, because the pressure returned to her chest, begging for release, demanding action without premeditation.

She gripped his chin and yanked his mouth to hers, willing him to inflict the same exquisite torture, to ease the pressure within, but his hands stayed soft as their lips.

Kory squirmed, eliciting another groan from deep inside his chest. She swallowed it along with her own. If she couldn’t find lasting relief, neither would he. She dragged her mouth to his ear to tell him so. Instead, she played with the silky lobe between her lips, licking it, pulling it with her teeth until the pressure demanded more, and she bit him, hard enough to make him dig his fingers into her sides again as he rammed his erection into her core.

Yes
, she almost screamed, but her lips stopped the word, permitting only a whimper, as they closed around his lobe, suckling the spot where she bit.

Will’s panting echoed in her ear as his hands strangled her waist, crushing her hips. As magnificent as it was, Kory wasn’t satisfied. She wanted more, needed more. Pressing her breasts to his bare chest, she abraded them over the spattering of hair, her nipples tightening until they throbbed. Her whimpers turned to moans, releasing some of the pressure.

In a flash of movement, Will had her by the wrists, pulling her body back, yanking her hands behind her waist. Shocked and breathless, she opened her eyes to his wicked smile as he admired her upper body arching toward him. Her chest quivered with every labored breath.

He gripped her wrists in one hand, and though she was strong enough to fight the position, she lost all desire to the minute his free hand roamed her body, stroking her, tickling her, making her close her eyes in an attempt to savor every sensation. She hated him. No, that wasn’t right. She loved him. No, that wasn’t right, either. Was it? The garbled thoughts stalled as the pleasure mounted.

An unexpected pinch to her nipple made her yelp, and heat flushed her body from head to toe. She opened her eyes as he dropped his head, soothing her burning breast with his tongue. How much more could she take?

Will’s mouth dragged over her chest to her collarbone, to her jaw, distracting her enough that his fingers between her legs were a delicious surprise.

“Yes,” she managed.
Just like this.

And then he was hot and hard at her entrance.

Rising onto her knees, Kory granted him permission to enter, expecting him to release her wrists. Instead, he returned to his two-handed grip, pulling on her arms as he pushed inside. The stretch across her chest, mirrored the stretch between her legs, and the pressure consumed her, building with every collision of their hips, until she was moaning, battling his hands around her wrists, craning her mouth to his. Wanting it to stop. Wanting it never to end. More pressure. Deeper pressure. Making it harder to breath.

She broke the kiss, scraped her cheek over his, down his neck to his shoulder, where she rested her forehead, struggling for air while the frantic rhythm of their bottom halves guaranteed she’d stay breathless. So. Much. Pressure. In her chest. At her wrists. Between her legs.

Mouth open, tongue swirling over the soft, salty skin at the crook of his neck, Kory felt orgasm stir in her belly.
Just a little more
, she thought, as she rose up, rammed down and bit into his flesh without mercy.

• • •

Will roared as pain and pleasure ripped through him. The pulsing in his penis matched the pulsing in his neck, and his eyes rocketed open in shock.

She bit him, and he came. What the hell was that?

Releasing her wrists, he dropped his head to the back of the couch and stared at the ceiling while she collapsed onto him, her cheek pressing against the scene of her assault. Physically and emotionally exhausted, and battling the extra weight against his chest, Will struggled to breathe, struggled to make sense.

They’d had sex before, but not like this. Hell, he’d
never
had sex like this. Maybe he should apologize. The ache in his shoulder made him wince. But what did he have to apologize for? Holding her hands behind her back? She bit
him. Twice.

As if she read his mind, she opened her mouth over the wound and bathed him in gentle kisses. He squeezed his eyes shut, holding all sorts of emotions in, not to mention three little words that would break his promise to not stand in her way.

Stay with me.

How could he let her leave after that? Whatever that was? How could he ever find it with anyone else? He didn’t even know it was something he wanted. And now it was something he needed.

Wrapping his arms around her shoulders, he held her close, breathed her in, memorized the way her body molded to his, and she melted, going limp in his arms.

Stay with me.

He shook his head, frustrated beyond belief. Weeks ago he told her he wanted her, anytime, anywhere. Tonight, he offered her a job scenario that was his best possible shot at keeping her here. And then, he let her ravage him, use him, rip his heart out until he was just a shell. She had to know where he stood. He’d made it loud and clear.

It was her turn.

She pushed away from him, a small smile lifting her lips, and then she traced the sore spot on his shoulder. “I’m sorry,” she whispered.

“I’m not,” he said, even as the scrape of her nail made him wince. “It’s something to remember you by.”

She looked at him, blinked, and then blinked again. “Will, I…”

He waited. He hoped.

After what seemed like forever, she looked away, crossing arms over her breasts, and inch-by-inch he lost his connection with her, until she was gathering clothes from the floor.

“I have to go,” she said. “Thanks.”

He scoffed, mostly to hide the hurt that had nothing to do with the bite mark at the base of his neck. “For what?”

“For being so understanding.” She didn’t look at him. She slipped into her shoes and walked away.

As he watched her go, he felt a lot of things. Understanding wasn’t one of them.

“You’re making a mistake,” he finally said.

But the door had long since closed.

• • •

Kory wasn’t sure she could think straight enough to stay on the right side of the road, but she had to try. She had to get away.

So what if she was running? It didn’t mean she was a coward. She was a self-preservationist. She couldn’t stay and bask in the afterglow of something she didn’t understand, something she might not ever have again.