Knots (28 page)

She was in no mood for correction, and if he gave her a bacon slap right now, she might claw his dick off.

The drive over to get Marly was silent. She was hiding her frustration from him, and he was still smiling.

“Stay in the car,” he told her, then exited.

She gaped after him as he went to go get Marly.

Was he protecting her from Pono’s parents, or did he sense how upset she was?

Either way, gratitude washed through her from head to toe, and every sense was somehow heightened.

Did he figure they would maybe guess he was sleeping with someone else? But why would they think that when they knew she was staying in his home as his guest?

Questions continued to pour into her mind with no answers in sight.

A few minutes later, he let Marly into the backseat.

She hugged Jeanie over the headrest and immediately started babbling about a new boy she was seeing. Marly hoped he’d be there tonight. Apparently, this was his favorite hangout spot.

Fabulous.

This meant if Scott, the guy she was blabbing about, was there, Mark wouldn’t have to do anything to get rid of Marly.

He’d probably lock Jeanie in the men’s bathroom with him and have his wicked way with her.

Her safeword
red
, floated in her mind.

Although she hadn’t used it yet, tonight she might.

She wasn’t ready for this type of thing, especially not when her emotions were so raw over the idea of Pono’s parents suspecting she was Mark’s lover.

The next hour was a blur with dancing, drinks and Mark’s hands all over her while they gyrated into each other on the dance floor.

Scott was with Marly, dancing circles around her—a difficult achievement. Marly was a dancing machine. The girl never tired.

He was doing flips, all sorts of air acrobatics and even krumped some.

Jeanie could see why Marly was so into this guy. His talents were impressive.

Marly was oblivious of Mark and Jeanie from the moment they entered the club. Good thing, too . . . Considering how things were going.

Mark capitalized on Marly being distracted, pulling Jeanie into corners, molesting her and whispering dark, filthy things in her ears, into her cleavage and even her navel as he’d lift her shirt and lick her belly button.

She could barely think—he was keeping her focused completely on him.

His tongue was in that sensitive spot again, rimming her navel in the naughtiest way imaginable. It reminded her of how he’d come in that spot on her body a few days before.

He kept her senses on high alert the entire time.

When he stood up, he wrapped her arms around the back of his neck, ran his nose up and down her pulse point at her throat, and licked behind her ear, then bit there.

“Having a hard time not fucking you—right
here
, right
now
. But you don’t want that, do you, sweet thing?” he cooed.

She shook her head, but barely.

“Okay,” he said through a dark chuckle. He took her hand and pulled her back out to the dance floor.

She straightened her shirt out, and it stuck to her moist belly, his saliva having dampened it.

Oh well. It looked like perspiration from dancing, so it wasn’t like anyone would really notice.

He was attentive to her as they danced their way into a dark corner once more.

Out of nowhere, his eyes grew tired and clouded with mixed emotions.

“Marly’s having fun, and I’m hard as hell for you. Can’t wait much longer, so you’ll need to make some decisions, or you won’t have a choice—I’ll fuck you across a table if I have to.” Mark put her hand on his crotch as they danced so obscenely close, she hoped her sister-in-law wouldn’t look over and see them. “You cleaned my house today—made me dessert, didn’t you? I smelled it when I walked in the door.”

She nodded and pressed her lips together.

“Jesus Christ. You have no idea what that does to me—knowing you were thinking of me and serving my needs without being asked.” He groaned. “Thank God I got you dessert, too. I want you to see what you mean to me, and I swear you’ll love what I got you.” He kissed the tip of her nose and growled, “Can we get out of here now?”

“It’s up to you—you’re in charge,” she said, her tone mocking. “Go fetch Marly and we can get home.”

“What’s wrong?” Mark stopped swaying to the music and took her hand off his hard-on.

“I don’t understand why we came here.” Her nose wrinkled and her mouth twitched into a frown.

“We came here to have fun, so you could spend time with Marly,” he reminded her.

“Uh, yeah, but she’s off with Scott. I’m with you. How is this any different from being at home? I wish we hadn’t come. I smell like a locker room where guys jack off. It’s gross.” She cocked her head at him. “And people have seen us dry humping each other all over this dance floor. You don’t think Marly’s seen how we’ve been acting like cats in heat?” Her throat tightened.

He studied her like he was trying to figure something out, then took her hand and dragged her over to Marly.

“Time to go,” he told Marly, standing behind her.

“Not yet. We’re not done,” Marly said, standing in a circle, watching Scott get down.

“Time to leave,
now
. We’re done here. Jeanie isn’t feeling well.”

Marly turned and gave him a scathing look. “Just go. I’ll get a ride home.”

Oh, shit. He was using
that
tone—the one that said he’d pick her up and carry her out if she tried to defy him.

Mark gripped the back of her arm. “You’re my responsibility—I brought you here, and I’m not about to pawn you off to someone else. We. Are. Leaving. Say bye to your boyfriend.”

Marly rolled her eyes, and her head followed as she groaned. She clomped her way out into the inner circle, said something in Scott’s ear, hugged him and then glared at Mark.

She dragged her way out to the car, scowling at Jeanie now, too.

“This blows. It’s not even close to my curfew.” Marly slunk into the backseat and kicked the back of Jeanie’s seat with her right foot.

“Young lady, you will keep from acting like a spoiled brat, or you won’t be going out with us again in the future,” Mark told her, then shut her door.

“Fuck you—bossy prick!” Marly mumbled.

Jeanie kept quiet.

Mark slipped into the car, and there was an uncomfortable silence the entire ride back to Marly’s house.

Once they were there, Mark ordered everyone out.

Jeanie’s veins froze in her body because she was icy and numb.

“You can’t be serious,” Marly said, “I can walk myself inside. It’s not like I’m gonna run off.”

“I want to have a little chat with your folks before I go,” he said, stony-faced.

“You’re serious? You’re gonna tell them I was misbehaving when all I did was complain a little when it was time to go? What the hell?” Marly raced up to her door, opened it and ran inside, straight to her bedroom.

Mark turned to Jeanie. “You need to know—I’m going in there right now, and I’m telling them about our relationship. It’s time. And if you recall, I told you the night you first turned your body over to me, that I would take care of this situation with his family. I know you’ve worried, and you have guilt over this, but telling them is the only way we can continue and move on. This is what’s best for both of us. There’s no need for guilt, and there will not be a discussion. You’ve chosen not to tell them—I accept that, so I’m dealing with this—
now
.”

She swallowed hard, and her eyes popped open wide.

Mark stepped inside, stringing Jeanie along behind him.

“No, Mark. I can’t face them,” she whimpered at his shoulder blade. “Not when I smell like this . . .”

God, please no!

“I’ll do all the talking.” He roamed into their living room where both Pono’s parents were watching TV. “Everything’s going to be fine.”

She tugged a little for a second, then relaxed her hand in his. It was too late to do anything now. He was right—she could’ve told them already but chose not to. It didn’t mean this was going to be painless.

She winced as soon as he spoke.

“Hey, can I have a moment of your time?” Mark stood tall, casting an ominous shadow from the light of the TV across their living room floor.

“Sure.” Kueili turned off the TV.

“Everything okay?” Toloa asked, her dark brows inching up on her forehead. She stood up like she was going to approach them and give a welcoming hug.

“Everything’s great. Please, take a seat. No need to get up. This’ll only take a few minutes.”

Toloa sat back down and stared at him with warring emotions clouding her eyes. She seemed happy to see them, yet worried and stressed they were here uninvited.

“Did Marly cause trouble?” Toloa’s voice was filled with suspicion. She stared at Mark and Jeanie’s intertwined hands.

“She was fine. She didn’t want to leave, but I couldn’t blame her. We left earlier than we’d planned.” Mark swallowed, shifted his weight toward Jeanie and squeezed her hand. “I wanted to let you know, Jeanie and I are seeing each other. We’re a committed couple, and we didn’t think it fair to hide this from you. We respect you and your family and honor Kapono’s memory, but we’re not going to be ashamed for finding love with each other.”

A loud gasp rang out in the hallway.

Jeanie’s head whipped to her right, and there stood Marly, mouth wide open and tears in her eyes. Her hands were balled up at her sides, and her face was red. “You bitch!” Marly howled. “Pono would never have done this to you if you’d been the one to die. And now I wish you had!” Marly ran back to her room.

Toloa stood up and went after her daughter, but not without a look of disgust being flung in Jeanie’s direction first.

Jeanie hung her head and her throat closed off. When she looked back up at her father-in-law, he only grunted and waved at the door.

“Thank you for telling us, but I think you should go now.” Kueili’s lips were pressed so tightly together, they were barely visible at all.

Jeanie ripped her hand out of Mark’s and took off toward the car.

She flung herself into the backseat and refused to look at him the entire way back to his home.

How could someone that professed to love her and care about her welfare just sever the only familial connection she’d ever cherished?

She swallowed down her tears and stared out the window at the beach.

Was it too late to throw herself out of the car and into the surf? It would be better than being here, trapped in his car with him.

Chapter 13

It didn’t seem to matter what Mark did once they got home, Jeanie was giving him the cold shoulder.

He fully expected her to go to his closet, pull out her luggage and pack her stuff back up.

She didn’t. Instead, she was in the kitchen, making herself a sandwich, eating it quietly and drinking some wine.

Afterward, she cut herself a brownie, handed him one on a saucer plate, then cleaned up the mess she’d made.

All without speaking one word.

“When you’re ready to talk about this, let me know. I’m not in a hurry,” he said before heading to his room.

She huffed and went back to being a mute little girl.

Time he brought out his gift.

He carried it to her in the kitchen.

She was on her second glass of wine.

He pulled it out of her grasp and traded it for his present.

“Open it. You don’t have to speak to me if you don’t want to, but you’re going to unwrap this.” He set her glass down next to the sink.

She grimaced, then opened it, her mouth pressed into a thin line while she discarded the dark blue wrapping paper into the trash. Her deliberate slow pace was amusing. Oh, yes, a bratty sub on his hands, having a hard time figuring out if she was truly mad at him, at herself, or maybe at the circumstances.

She opened the box and remained expressionless as she pulled out the naughty school girl uniform complete with push-up bra, white heels with knee-high socks and even some elastic hair-bands so she could put her hair in pigtails or braids.

“When you’re ready to talk, put this on, and we’ll begin,” he said, turning away from her, ready to go back to his room and read.

“I’m not wearing this. I’m an adult, and we should be able to have a conversation without puppets being involved.” She set the box down and walked out of the room.

He grabbed the box and followed after her to his closet.

She’d set the lollipop on top of the clothes in the box he was holding.

Her hands shook as she stripped down and then headed to the bathroom to shower.

He joined her, of course, but she still refused to talk to him.

“Is there a reason you won’t talk to me about tonight?”