Stripped Raw (12 page)

“She loves you,” I say. “You’re family.”

“She gave up a great business opportunity for me,” Tessa says, “but that didn’t stop her. By the time she got off the plane, Kenzie Lingerie was a business model, and she’s barreled into her company full force without stopping to take a breath. . . .” Tessa stops and holds my eyes. “Until you.”

“Well, she’s done the same for me. I’ve spent most of my adult life buried under paperwork.”

“I don’t have long, Kane, and I’m worried about Kenzie. When I die, it’s going to crush her, even if she tries to accept it and can somehow find peace. It’s going to be the hardest on her.”

“I’ll be there.”

Tessa shakes her head. “I’m thinking about right now, these next few weeks, maybe months, if I’m lucky.” She takes my hands in hers. Her paper-thin skin feels like it might evaporate. Cancer is a motherfucker. “Make these weeks, these months, the best for her because after that, the days and nights will be horrible. And I’m not sure how long they’ll last. Can you do this for me? Can you please make as much time for her as you can? I want to see her giddy.”

For so long, I’ve lived my life by the clock, by the billable hour. My entire world is one big time entry. I want to stop the grind, or at least slow it down. And now I have a cancer patient sitting next to me, telling me to do just that. She’s asking for my time, not for herself, but for her stepsister, a beautiful girl who stole my heart. How could I possibly say no, even if I wanted to? Which I don’t. Tessa doesn’t know it, but she’s just given me the excuse I need.

“Maybe I can take a little time off, try to help her get things together,” I say. “God knows, I’ve got a lot of vacation time stored up.”

“Thank you.”

“It’s going to be hard to get her to stop working long enough, though,” I say.

“I know, and I told her this morning that I can’t help out anymore. I need to focus all my attention on Zoe, and I don’t want Kenzie to watch me wither away. Kenzie really needs someone to help her, with her books at the very least. She’s about as good at record keeping as she is at directions. I told her to hire an intern. I want her to get organized and
then
have fun, but she won’t listen to me.”

“I’m not sure she’ll listen to me, either.”

“She’ll listen to you,” Tessa says firmly. “Besides, aren’t you some big time lawyer? I’m sure you can persuade her.”

I chuckle, my mind drifting to the delicious ways I can try to persuade Kenzie. “I’ll do my best.”

Tessa looks down, her lips pushing together. “Please don’t leave her, Kane.”

“Tessa, I wouldn’t. . . .”

She holds up her hand. “Kenzie’s been left a lot. Her father, mother, boyfriends, now me.”

“So there
is
something that scares her,” I say.

“Before I got sick, I can only remember her being afraid one time. It was a short while after her mother died. I found her on her hands and knees in the kitchen with tiny little scrapes all over her. She’d knocked over my father’s favorite beer mug. He used to keep it in the freezer. Anyway, she was crying, looking absolutely petrified as she tried to pick up all the tiny pieces to glue back together.”

“Over a glass?”

“I’ll never forget what Kenzie said. It was the strangest thing. She said, ‘Of course no one wants me.’”

“What was that about?” I ask but suspect I know.

Tessa shrugs. “I listened to her cry all night long, but she refused to talk about it ever again. I ended up telling Daddy I broke it, and he didn’t care, of course. That was the only time I’ve ever seen Kenzie show any fear.”

“Think she might’ve learned that from you,” I say, thinking about how fearless Kenzie looked riding Mystic in the ring.

“Sometimes, it’s when we’re the most scared that we put on the bravest face,” Tessa says and gets to her feet. She wraps her tiny arms around me. “You’re an answered prayer, Kane Hunter.”

*

Between everything that
happened last night and everything Tessa just told me, I have to talk to Kenzie before I leave town. Our last conversation can’t be about Tessa dying and my divorce. I hop in my car and dial her number. She picks up on the fourth ring. “Hey, you sound out of breath?”

“I was in the shower. I thought you’d be at the airport.”

“I’m on my way,” I say. “Wait, you just got out of the shower?”

“Yeah.”

Jesus! She’s dripping wet! I glance at my watch. My head tells me to go to the airport. My dick is telling me something entirely different. Lucky for me, my heart agrees with my dick. Two against one. Fuck it! Getting to the airport two hours in advance is absurd, anyway. I have plenty of time until my flight. I make a U-turn and point my car towards her place. “Don’t do a thing,” I say. “I’m coming over. You don’t mind, do you?”

“Not at all. I wanted to kiss you goodbye, anyway.”

I hang up and race through Dallas traffic. I’m driving like a maniac, weaving around other cars, taking as many shortcuts as I can. I knew my Porsche was fast, but I’ve never pushed it like this before. If I get stopped for speeding, I’ll pay the ticket on the spot, as long as the cop issues it quickly. Or if I get hit with one of those pesky red light tickets, I’ll pay that, too. I don’t care. All I care about is getting to Kenzie and saving a few minutes here and there, minutes I can spend with—or on top of—her.

My hand hits the door handle of her shop. She better not have put clothes on! “Kenzie,” I call out, locking the door behind me. I hope she’s still wet. She turns the corner from her apartment and comes towards me. She’s wearing only a bathrobe, her hair up on top of her head. Kenzie reaches for her hair. “Don’t mess up how incredibly sexy you look.” I step towards her, seeing her nipples through the thin layer of the robe. My arms slip around her waist, my body pressing against her soft skin. “I’ll miss you,” I whisper.

“You came back to tell me that?” she whispers back. “You’re so sweet.”

“I had to see you before I left.”

“Do you have to go?”

“Yes.” I’ve got so many things I need to say to her, but now is not the time. She pouts her bottom lip. I kiss it away and tell her, “Let’s not think about it right now.”

Her eyes lock on mine. “We’re finally alone.”

I can hardly believe it. I’m so used to Tessa and the baby or some customer hanging around. I feel Kenzie tingle under my gaze. She’s finally ready. And I want her—now. I’ve been wanting her. I’ve wanted her since I first heard her laugh, first saw her legs, but I had to hold back the past few weeks. I knew better than to rush it, to push things too fast. I knew she wasn’t ready. But that’s all out the window now. Now the time is right. Being with her feels too good to stop.

My lips crash into hers, and her body rises up to meet mine. My hands slip under her robe onto her smooth, milky skin. I take her ass in my hands, squeezing her gently. She is damn near perfect. It’s about time she knows just how sexy she is. My hands move to her soft, round tits, tracing my fingers around her nipples, then I go lower, past her belly button and down her waist. I’m not going to give her time to protest or feel insecure. I slip a finger inside, finding her wet and more than ready for me.

“God,” she moans.

Pinned against the wall, she has nowhere to go. I slide my finger in and out, finding her sweet spot with the palm of my hand and slipping off her robe with the other. She tenses for a second and reaches for her robe, trying to cover up. “Don’t hide from me, Kenzie,” I say, though it comes out more like a growl. I push into her again, and her mouth drops open this time. She reacts perfectly to my touch. “You are so beautiful,” I whisper. “Especially like this.”

Her lips crash into mine, our tongues wrestling with each other, frantic for more. I grab her ass and pull her tighter to me. I’m so fucking hard right now. I’ve never wanted a woman more than I want Kenzie. I have no idea why she has any hang-ups about her body. Her tits are a perfect shape and size, and her tight waist leads to that incredibly sexy ass. She is amazing—stripped naked and raw, thrusting hard against me, coming undone—finally losing her inhibitions.

And she’s close. Her body starts to tremble and a rush of heat flashes over her skin. “Let go, Kenzie. Let me hear all of it.”

“Kane!” she screams while exploding around my hand, her entire body quaking.

That’s the best sound ever, a hot woman calling out your name. Kenzie looks exhausted leaning against the wall, but I need to hear her scream again. So I keep my finger inside her, feeling her slick wetness and lightly stroking her. When I’m sure she has full use of her legs, I walk her to her bedroom, my finger still inside her, our eyes locked on each other.

“I need you on the bed,” I say. “I need to know you won’t fall down when I make you come again.”

Her eyes widen. “Again?”

I place her down on the bed and lean over her, stalking her body. “Yes, again. Tell me you’ll come for me again.” She nods. “Good girl,” I say, giving her a little grin and lowering my head to her tits, circling her nipples with my tongue. I take my time, sucking, nibbling, and stroking one then the other. Then gently, light like a feather, I run my finger over her folds. She spreads right open, giving me an open invitation. This is torture. “I know you want me inside you,” I say. My cock certainly is ready, hard, throbbing, on the verge of exploding. But I don’t want our first time to be too quick, with me having to rush out the door after—so stereotypical. I won’t do that to Kenzie. I slip a finger inside her, and then another, and press deep into her. “Soon,” I promise her.

She arches her back and pants, “What’re you doing to me?”

My other hand moves to her ass, caressing it then pushing up and down, encouraging her to thrust against my fingers. She does just as I want. I’m in the shittiest apartment in Dallas, but I’ve never seen such a beautiful sight. “Turn over,” I say, slipping my fingers out of her. Her head shakes in a little protest. I lean over her body and say, “Let me make you feel good. Turn over.”

*

KENZIE

I slowly begin
to roll over. Oh God, I can’t believe I’m going to let him see my naked ass with all the lights on. Dimmer, please!

His fingers trail down my back, pushing my waist-length hair over my shoulder. I lean up on my elbow, watching his eyes slide over my body. If he gags at the sight of my butt, then it’s my own fault for watching. But I can’t help myself. He looks so intense, but his hands are moving so softly. His eyes catch mine as his lips softly kiss my booty cheek. Oh my God, he did not just do that! There are dimples and . . . . Holy crap, his tongue slides across my cheek, his hands massaging my ass. It feels. . . . Good God, the massaging is causing my pussy to open and close, and my clit to push just slightly into the mattress. And he’s sucking and kissing and licking my ass so gently, my head starts to spin. Why did no one ever tell me my booty is an erogenous zone? I’ve been missing out!

His finger slips inside me, Ahh! My hips start to move. I’m basically humping the bed, but I don’t give a damn. He’s taking me somewhere I’ve never been before, the place where I don’t care how I look, what he thinks of me. I only care about coming against his fingers, and I get the feeling he only cares about the same thing.

“Shit, baby,” he groans, “I could finish just watching you.”

That’s all it takes, and I scream out his name. He rests his head down on my back, his fingers still lightly grazing my ass. “That’s never happened,” I say. “I’m usually not so easy to please.”

“I’ve got you in the palm of my hand, baby,” he says, giving my booty a playful smack. I bury my head, giggling. “Christ, your laugh does it for me everything fucking time.”

“Stay,” I whisper, looking back at him over my shoulder.

“I really want to stay,” he says, adjusting himself. Obviously, his hard-on wants him to stay. “But’s there’s no way I can. If I don’t leave now, I’ll miss my plane. I wish I didn’t have to go.”

“Me, too.”

“I’ll be back in two days. I’ll be really busy working in California, but I’ll be thinking of you.”

“I’ll think of you, too.”

The bed shifts as he gets up, and I reach for the sheet. In one swoop, he rips it away, his teeth sinking into my butt cheek. “Ooh!” I jump up slightly. It didn’t hurt but surprised the hell out of me. I flip over, seeing him smirking at me.