Twisted Perfection (15 page)

    
I wasn’t sure anymore what I was. I shook my head. “I don’t think so.” That was the best answer I had.

     “You don’t ‘
think so’? “ he asked with an incredulous look on his face. “For real girl, if you’re the reason, you’d know. Not sure what I think about all this or you but word of caution, he’s a Kerrington. Be careful.”

    
Jimmy sauntered out of the kitchen and I watched him go. He acted as if being a Kerrington was a bad thing. Nothing about Woods was bad that I’d seen.

    
I fixed the sparkling water with less ice and fresh raspberries and then took it out to Woods’ mother. I refused to look over at Woods.

    
Their talking ceased as I approached and the silence at the table was uncomfortable. I didn’t stick around. I went to take drink orders for table one that had just been seated and focused on helping my other customers.

    
When I walked back out into the dining room ten minutes later Woods was standing up and walking out with the women. I hated that it upset me. Was this what Jimmy meant? He would never truly not be a part of them. He would eventually go back to her.

    
I managed to finish my shift and once my apron was tossed into the dirty hamper I was ready to get out of here.

    
“Mr. Kerrington called down and asked that you see him in his office before you leave, Della.” Juan called from the back.

    
Oh crap. “Thanks,” I replied and headed for Woods’ office. Had I messed up with his mother? I hated this feeling. I hated wanting to please him and not ever being sure if I had. And I hated that he’d left with them. Where had he gone? Had he kissed her? Had he apologized? Was he engaged again? Was he about to tell me he had decided yesterday was a mistake? Maybe he’d been turned off by my response to him on the porch and my inability to be controlled.

    
I knocked on the door and waited. I hoped he wasn’t here and I could get out of here before— the door swung open and Woods reached out and pulled me inside before slamming it and locking it behind him with a swift click.

    
Then he was on me. His hands were clenched firmly on my waist and his mouth was hungrily nipping at my bottom lip. There was no sweetness to his tongue’s invasion into my mouth.

    
He reached down, grabbed my leg, and hiked it up to wrap around his waist then he cupped my butt and continued to assault my mouth with delicious flicks of his tongue.

    
I wrapped my arms around his neck and held on. This wasn’t what I had expected but I was so lost in the pleasure of it all I didn’t care.

    
“Did you change out of those shorts and into baggy pants yesterday?” Woods asked as his mouth traveled down my neck.

    
“Yes,” I replied breathlessly.

    
“Tripp didn’t see that sweet wet spot?” His naughty words caused me to whimper and wiggle closer to him.

    
“No, I wore your hoodie and a pair of sweats the rest of the day,” I assured him.

    
“Good,” he growled and wrapped his arms around my back and carried me over to his desk and sat me down. “I need to taste it.
Now
.”

    
Before I could figure out what he was talking about he pushed my skirt up, grabbed my panties, and tugged hard enough that the sound of ripping fabric startled me. He pulled the torn panties away from my body and dropped them to the floor. Then he took both my feet, bent my knees and put them on the edge of the desk leaving me completely open. I was panting with anticipation as he fell to his knees and began nibbling on the apex of my thighs. I couldn’t keep from squirming as I sucked in a deep breath between my teeth.

    
Finally, his tongue ran over my wet core and I would have shot off the table if his hands hadn’t been holding my hips down. He began to thrust his tongue in and out of me causing me to greedily squeeze it with each entrance as if I could hold him there.

    
“I’d forgotten how amazing you taste,” he murmured against my clit before pulling it into his mouth and sucking on it.

    
“Oh God, Woods. Oh, God,” I moaned.

    
My hips began writhing involuntarily. I couldn’t control myself. His mouth moved to the inside of my thigh and I let my head fall back in frustration. The pulse between my legs was almost painful.

    
“Woods, please,” I begged.

    
He lifted his head and the hooded look in them told me he was as turned on as I was. I loved that tasting me did this to him.

    
“Are you gonna come in my mouth?” he asked sticking out his tongue and running it from my opening to my swollen clit.

    
“I need to,” I panted.

    
“This pretty little pussy needs to come?” he asked, taking another long leisurely lap with his tongue. I squirmed and whimpered.

    
“I can’t tell it no. It’s too damn sweet,” he said huskily as he reached up and covered my mouth with his hand before pulling my clit into his mouth and shoving two fingers into my soaking entrance. His fingers pumped into me as his tongue flicked my clit and sucked it. My scream was smothered by his hand. He didn’t let up until my shaking body couldn’t stand any more attention to the sensitive flesh and I pushed him back just enough to pull him up to me so I could wrap myself around him. I’d managed not to pull his hair this time but I’d screamed and licked his hand. Had I done too much again?

    
“I was trying to make this all about you. I was trying to show you that you were special but fuck baby, I want inside you. I think I’m about to explode,” Woods said against my shoulder.

    
What? He was trying to make me feel special? That was why he’d left me like that yesterday? I didn’t think about it too much. I was ready for more. My aftershocks were slowing down. I unsnapped his jeans and jerked them down with his boxer briefs.
     “Please, now. I need you inside me,” I begged. I wanted that closeness.

    
He groaned and reached for the pocket of his jeans and pulled out a condom. His eyes met mine and he grinned. “I stuck it in there before I called you in here. This wasn’t my intention but I also knew I might not be able to stop.”

    
I was so relieved he had one I didn’t care.

    
He slid it down his hard length then he opened my legs and looked down at me. I knew I was trembling.

    
“That’s so damn pretty,” he whispered and ran his finger through the tender area. I watched him completely fascinated as he held his thick cock in his hand and pressed the tip of it into me. His breath hissed as he eased in slowly. “So tight,” he panted.

    
I lifted my hips to take him deeper and he slid further in until I was completely full. I moved against him. He was being so sweet and easy with me. I wasn’t used to this with him.

    
I decided he needed some pushing. He had decided this was what I wanted and I wasn’t sure why. I hadn’t been calm and easy yet in my reactions to him. I jerked my shirt over my head and unsnapped my bra as he stilled and watched me bare my chest to him. I knew it was a weakness for him. His eyes went wide with excitement. I covered both of them and began rolling my nipples between my fingers as he stood frozen inside mine. I felt his cock jerk hard and that only empowered me.

    
“You like this?” I asked, arching my back and pulling hard on my nipples.

    
“Oh yeah, Fuck yeah,” he replied before his mouth covered a nipple and his hips began pumping in and out of me.

    
I opened my legs wider and fell back on my hands letting my chest stick out toward him. “Harder, Woods. I need it harder,” I begged and I watched as the controlled pleasure in his eyes snapped and a wild look took its place. His hands grabbed my hips and he began to slam into me as his eyes watched each bounce of my breasts.
     “This hard enough for you,” he asked, in a strangled whisper.

    
“More, harder,” I replied.

    
He pulled out of me and jerked me off the table then spun me around. “Grab the table,” he ordered and his hands pulled my hips back a second before he was filling me up again in one hard thrust. “This hard enough for you, sweetheart?” he asked as he pounded into me from behind. I held onto the table and threw my head back. I was so close to another orgasm and I knew this time it would be more intense. Having him inside me always made it incredible.

    
A loud slap surprised me then a stinging pain before his hand began caressing the spot on my bottom he’d just spanked. Oh. I liked that. “Damn, this ass looks good with my hand print,” he groaned.

    
I pressed back and he did the same to the other cheek. I cried out and squeezed the walls of my vagina holding him tighter inside.

    
“Fuck baby,” he cried out in response.

    
“I’m gonna come,” I squealed just as the ecstasy began pumping through my veins. Woods’ hand reached around me and muffled my cries as his body shuddered behind me and he moaned my name over and over as his body jerked inside mine several times.

    
We stayed like that a few moments until our bodies began to relax as we came down off our high. His hand fell away from my mouth and I felt a trail of kisses across my back. “So good. It’s always mind blowing with you, Della.”

    
His words made my chest swell. It was the same for me but he was one of three guys I’d slept with so I didn’t have a lot to compare this to.

    
He pulled out of me slowly causing another gasp from me. Then his mouth was on my bottom. He was kissing the stinging skin he’d spanked just moments earlier. If he continued this sweetness I was going to cling to him and never let him go.

    
“So perfect,” he said against my heated skin.

    
I looked over my shoulder at him on his knees kissing my ass and smiled.  “I liked it. You don’t have to keep kissing it.”

    
He grinned up at me and took a swift lick. “I like seeing my hand here.  You’re branded.”

    
I giggled at him and he stood up running his hands up my body on his way. Both his hands settled on my breasts and he held their weight in his hands. “I need to mark these as mine too. Not sure how to do that yet.” He said against my ear. I enjoyed his touch and let my head fall back on his shoulder.

    
“Hmmm,” I replied.

    
“Can’t spank them. Maybe I need to bite them,” he said in a husky whisper causing me to shiver.

    
“You like that. You want me to bite them?” He let out a sigh. “You’re too sexy, Della. I’m so sucked in I can’t think straight. Right now I just want to slide back inside you and stay there. You’re gonna kill me, girl.”

    
Smiling to myself I turned around in his arms.

    
“You keep talking to me like that and I’m going to start begging for more,” I told him.

    
Woods cocked one eyebrow. “You want more already?”

    
I nodded.

    
Woods let out a small curse. “I only have one condom here. It was a just in case one.”

    
A knock on Woods door stopped both of us from figuring out what to do now.

    
“Woods?” Tripp’s voice called out from the other side of the door.

    
Woods reached for my discarded bra and began dressing me. I would have helped him but he was faster than I would have been. When he had my shirt on he pulled my skirt down and began fixing his jeans.

    
“Yeah,” he called out as he ran his hand through his hair and winked at me. He walked over to the door and opened it.

    
Tripp walked in and his eyes found me and then they went back to Woods.

    
“I was just leaving,” I said with a smile that was more forced than anything. I could see in Tripp’s eyes he knew exactly what we had been doing in here.

    
“I’ll call you later,” Woods said as I passed him and I nodded but kept my eyes on the exit.

Woods

    
I watched Della leave and wondered if I’d done the wrong thing letting Tripp see us like this. Her hair had been mussed, her lips swollen, and the look of satisfied female was oozing from her. I wanted Tripp to see that she was mine. That she wanted to be mine. But maybe that had been wrong. I hadn’t thought of Della’s reaction to this or how she would feel.

    
“I guess that clears up her confusion from yesterday,” Tripp said after closing my door and walking inside.

    
What did he mean? “What confusion?”

    
Tripp shrugged and sank down onto one of the leather chairs across from my desk. Then he cocked an eyebrow. “You didn’t do anything in this chair, did you?”

    
I rolled my eyes and sat down on the edge of my desk. “What did you mean by that comment? What confusion?”

    
“The part where you dropped her like a hot potato yesterday and left her completely confused and unsure of herself. Even so, she sat around obediently in a pair of sweats and your damn hoodie all day and even slept in it.”

    
She had slept in my hoodie? I started to smile when the fact Tripp knew what she slept in registered in my brain and I scowled instead.
     “How the fuck do you know what she sleeps in?” I asked, moving to stand up.

    
Tripp cocked his head to the side and stared at me. He didn’t even attempt to defend himself.

    
“Do you really know her? Or are you just fucking her? Because she’s already been screwed over once since I’ve met her and I think you might have the power to break her.”

    
Blood began to boil in my veins. I was going to beat the shit out of him. And who the hell had screwed her over?

    
“You might want to be careful what you say. I don’t give a shit who you are or who the hell I’m supposed to be. And what do you mean she’s been screwed over before?” Then the memory of Jace sitting in my office saying she’d gotten mixed up with her boss came back to me. What had he said exactly?

    
Tripp held up both hands. “Calm down and listen to me. Damn when did you become a hot head?”

    
“Tell me what happened with her old boss? The one in Dallas.”

    
Tripp scowled. “Bastard played her. He’s married and his wife is pregnant. Della didn’t know because he doesn’t wear a ring and he never comes in the bar. She was new and he showed up late at night and did a little flirting. Then he was picking her up and coming by more often. It’s a big bar. No one asks questions. I’d seen him fuck with waitresses before but I wasn’t sure if that was what was happening with Della. Until his wife showed up. Della was furious more than she was upset. That’s why I sent her here. He didn’t have the power to break her. But I think you do.”

    
Her old boss had been married. Damn. No wonder she was so careful to stay away from me when I’d been engaged. She’d been worried about history repeating itself. I was a dirtbag.

    
“I won’t hurt her,” I vowed. I wouldn’t.

    
“She’d be easy to break.”

    
I didn’t like the way he kept saying that. “What do you mean?” Had he seen her have a panic attack?

    
“She screams at night. Every damn night she screams like someone is beating her. It’s scary as motherfucking hell. She doesn’t wake up either. Nothing I do calms her down. She screams until it’s over. Then she wakes up. Sometimes she doesn’t. Sometimes she just lies back down and stays asleep. I just sit there in horror and watch her. I try to hold her and calm her down when she wakes up but it never helps. She trembles and it breaks my heart. I can’t make it better. All I know is she’s got some fucked up shit in her head. I don’t know what and I don’t know why but it’s there and it haunts her. So, if you’re in this for a hot fuck then I’ll gladly fight you. Because that girl ain’t the kind you fuck with. She’s not strong enough for that.”

    
I was going to be sick. My stomach was wound so tightly in knots I couldn’t move. She was screaming, at night. The frozen terror I’d seen her in that night at the party had been scary enough. She’d clung to me desperately. I had worried that she might deal with that alone. I hadn’t known she had bad dreams. My chest hurt and my eyes burned. I hated this. I hated knowing she was tormented by something. I wanted to fix this. Fix everything for her.

    
I turned and headed for the door. I was going to find her. We were going to talk about this. I’d be there the next time she woke up screaming. Tripp might not be able to comfort her but I sure as hell would. I’d make this go away. I had to. I wasn’t sure I could live with her hurting like this.

    
“Where are you going?” Tripp asked.

    
“To find her,” I replied.

    
“You really think that’s the way to handle this? Do you not know her at all? Scare her and she’ll run. You need to stop and think about this. If you want to help her then good. I’m glad. She needs someone. She doesn’t want me and honestly, I don’t know if I could handle this. I’ve got my own demons. But she does want you. She held that hoodie so tightly, last night when she woke up and buried her face in it like she was trying to smell you that I was worried. I couldn’t imagine you cared enough about her to deal with this craziness. She’s smoking hot. I figured that was what you were in this for. But if you care about her enough to stay even though she has issues and it isn’t easy. Then good. I’m relieved.”

    
I looked back at him. “I’ll be whatever she needs me to be. I can’t walk away from her; I tried. I’m hooked. And now I’m about to lose my mind because I don’t know how to help her. I just need to go find her and hold her the rest of the damn day. I need to know she’s okay.”

    
Tripp walked over toward me. “I don’t know if she’s ready for you to know. I don’t think she trusts you to want her when you find out she’s got problems. Major emotional problems. You need to ease into this. Don’t go telling her you know and expect her to handle it. She’ll be furious with me for telling you and terrified of getting hurt when you run. So, she’ll beat you to it. She’ll run like hell. It’s how she deals.”

    
I hated this. He was right but I hated it. “What do I do?” I asked him needing someone to tell me. I couldn’t lose her.

    
“I’ll call you tonight when she goes to sleep. Come on over and sleep on the couch. When she starts the screaming you’ll be there. She’ll see that you aren’t scared and you can use that to prove to her you’re not running.”

    
Okay. I could do that. I could wait until tonight.  But I was still going to find her now. If only to hold her. I wouldn’t tell her why. I just needed to make sure she was okay for my sanity.

                                                   ***

     Tripp opened the door and stepped back to let me in. I’d been sitting in the parking lot when he’d called two minutes ago to tell me she was asleep. I wasn’t sure how long it would take for this screaming to start up and I didn’t want Tripp to be the one holding her when she woke up this time. Never again.

    
“Were you already here?” he asked.

    
“Yeah.”

    
“Didn’t you just bring her home from work two hours ago?”

    
“Yeah.”

    
Tripp chuckled and shook his head. “Did you even leave?”

    
“No.”

    
He looked amused.  “There’s a pillow and a blanket on the couch. I’m going to bed. It’s late and I need some sleep. Last night was rough.”

    
I didn’t have to ask him why. I knew what he meant by rough and it drove me mad to think about the fact I hadn’t been here. That she’d been suffering and I had no idea.

    
“Thanks,” I replied.

    
“Don’t thank me. You’ve not been through this yet. You may hate me when it’s over.” He had no idea what he was saying. I had held her when she’d completely checked out and froze at the party. I’d seen the blank look in her eyes and it’d scared me but I hadn’t wanted to run then either. I had wanted to protect her. This only made that instinct she brought out in me worse.

    
I lay down on the couch and stared at the ceiling. I wasn’t sure I’d be able to fall asleep. Not knowing that at any time now she was going to be suffering. My chest was so tight from the idea of it I kept having to take deep breaths to ease the pressure.

    
What had happened to her to cause this? My mind went back to that first day I saw her. She’d been so damn sexy yet adorable trying to figure out how to pump her gas. I’d thought she was just some carefree fun distraction. I hadn’t been prepared for the way she tasted though. And the smell. God, she smelled so damn good. I had gone a little crazy that night. Every time I brought her to an orgasm I’d needed to do it again. I kept thinking about the fact that this was it, that one night and then she’d be gone. So I’d wanted more. I had never eaten that much pussy in one night in my life. But I hadn’t been able to get enough of her. Then she’d finally fallen asleep from exhaustion and I’d forced myself to leave her there.

    
I closed my eyes as the pain sliced through me. Had she woken up screaming that night too? And alone? Had I fucked her and left her to deal with her pain? I couldn’t lay here. I sat up and buried my head in my hands. From the beginning I’d made mistakes with her. I’d assumed the wrong things. Not one time had she looked weak and breakable until that night at the club when she’d had that panic attack and completely shut down. It had been the first glimpse at what she kept so well hidden.

    
I couldn’t stay out here any longer. I needed to watch her sleep. I needed to be there the moment she cried out. I walked over to her door and eased it open.

I waited until my eyes adjusted to the darkness before walking inside and closing the door behind me.

     She was curled up on the bed in a small ball. Like she was protecting herself. My hoodie swallowed her but she held it tightly against her just like Tripp had said. Seeing her in my sweatshirt like that had the caveman in me pounding his chest. She was mine. She knew it. I wanted to crawl in bed and hold her. If she wanted to feel me so bad she was burying her nose in my clothing I could help her out with ease. She could smell me.

     
I was here for a reason. I couldn’t sit down. I was restless. I stood in the corner with my arms crossed over my chest and watched her sleep. She was so peaceful right now. It was hard to believe she had trouble sleeping.

    
A small whimper came from her and my head snapped to attention. I studied her face and waited. She began twisting handfuls of my sweatshirt then a strange noise started in her throat. I was across the room instantly. Just as I sat down on the bed beside her she let out a blood-curdling scream and her body tossed and turned on the bed. I reached for her and she fought me. Her eyes were tightly closed but she was crying out and fighting me with surprising strength. Each sound that ripped from her tore at me. I hated knowing she was lost in some unknown terror and I couldn’t save her. I pulled her tightly against my chest and began whispering soothing words in her ear. I promised I wasn’t going anywhere and begged her to come back to me. I told her she was beautiful and I would take care of her I just needed her to open her eyes and see me. Other words poured out of me as my eyes stung and my heart raced. Her screaming continued but she had stopped fighting me and was clawing to get closer to me. She buried her head in my shoulder and inhaled deeply then cried out in relief. Her arms wrapped around my neck and held onto me as she climbed into my lap. The screams became small cries and then they ceased altogether.

    
I felt the wetness of my tears on my face. I quickly wiped at them before she could see me and then ran my hand soothingly over her head and began whispering to her that I was here. I had her and that she was okay.

    
“Woods?” she choked out in a sob and continued to hold onto me just as tightly as I held her.

    
“Yes, baby, I got you. You’re okay,” I said softly against her ear.

    
The tension in her body eased and she melted against me with a deep sigh. “I think my dream just got better,” she mumbled and laid her head against my chest.

I sat there waiting for her to say more but she didn’t. She stayed curled up in my arms and within seconds her deep even breathing confirmed that she was sound asleep.

     I eased back onto her bed and she kept her hold on me. I let go long enough to pull the covers over us then wrapped her up in my arms again and let my eyes close. She was okay. She was safe.