Page 24 of Knox (The Devil’s Luck MC #6)

KNOX

A s soon as we got to the hotel, I knew I was going to break down. I couldn’t let Caroline see that.

I barged into the bathroom and got in the shower, dissociating before the water hit my shoulders.

I lost track of time. It could have been minutes or hours later when the bathroom door creaked open, but I didn’t look.

I just stood there under the scalding spray that made all my various injuries burn and sting like a motherfucking bitch. Fuck, it hurt so bad.

Good.

My eyes were closed. My shoulders locked so tightly they cramped. My hands hung limp at my sides. I couldn’t tell if my skin was actually burning or if I was too numb to give a single shit.

Either way, I deserved the misery. It was just a small penance for all the pain I caused the Devils.

Then she was there.

A bare, warm body between me and the water. Caroline. She pressed close, her tits squishing against my chest when she wrapped her arms around me like she was trying to hold me together before I crumbled apart.

Engaging with her felt like a betrayal of everything my brothers stood for. I didn’t deserve to have a woman comfort me, especially not her. This was exactly what Jackson didn’t want.

Fuck, I hated myself.

I didn’t move at first. Just stayed frozen. I could barely breathe right.

I expected her to give up and snap, to get out and slam the door, shouting, fine, be a zombie for all I care!

But she stayed.

And that meant the fucking world.

My body gave in before my head did. Slow at first, my arms looped around her. Then they were crushing, holding her like a lifeline.

Caroline fit against me like she was fucking made for me. Like she belonged nowhere else but right here.

But that wasn’t true. It could never be true. She was leaving in a few hours. That limo would get here, and I would watch her drive away to God knows where, and then I would have to pretend none of this had ever happened.

How the hell was I supposed to let her go?

Caroline tilted her head back. My eyes found hers easier than breathing. Hers were so blue. They never flinched, never backed down even when they were filled with tears—but now they were soft and reflected my pain.

“Knox,” she whispered.

My throat went tight. “Caroline.”

I tipped my head forward a little, and my eyes dropped to her mouth.

There was a beat of hesitation—and then, like a fork of lightning, we crashed into a kiss whose only intent was to make us forget.

Stay , I thought desperately. Please, God, stay.

My cock hardened against her, twitching against her thigh, already aching to bury itself deep inside her. Caroline sucked in a breath and tilted her hips forward—an invitation. My hands dropped to her ass, supple and perfect just for me.

I kissed her deeper, groaning low in my throat. It was rough, punishing, my teeth nipping at her lower lip. I pinned her against the shower wall, caging her against me.

Caroline made a small warning noise but didn’t fight. Because she wanted this as much as I did. Because we hated ourselves and wanted to be punished for our mistakes. And what better way to do that than fuck each other raw?

My hands roamed over her slickened body, gripping her thighs, her hips. My mouth devoured hers.

Then my fingers teased her clit.

“Knox,” Caroline gasped, her body jerking.

“Shut up and let me fuck you, woman,” I growled.

Her nails dug into my back with force. I groaned in pain. Damn. I should’ve known she would be submissive.

“Fine,” I grumbled, withdrawing to glare at her. She was glaring back. “The fuck you want?”

“To forget,” she snapped. “So we’re going to fuck each other .”

My eyes narrowed. We were at a stalemate.

“Fuck me good,” she said pointedly, “and don’t talk to me like I’m some common whore.”

I smirked. “Damn right, spitfire. You’re a princess?—”

I froze when Caroline’s hand closed around my cock. Shit.

With her other hand, she took my jaw between her thumb and fingers. Her lips curved into a wicked grin. “I’m a damn queen.”

A challenge.

I grinned back. “Then let me treat you like one.”

Both hands released me when I slipped one finger inside her. She gasped and arched her body into mine, grabbing my shoulders to hold herself steady. I put another one inside. She whimpered and it made my cock pulse with want—with need .

I fucked her with my fingers first, both of us rolling our hips, finding a pace we got the most pleasure out of. I forgot about the heat and the beating of the shower. All that mattered was her moans and whimpers.

Caroline fisted her fingers in my hair, tugging hard enough to make me groan.

I dropped my head to her shoulder and pumped my fingers deeper into her tight, wet heat.

She clenched around me, desperate for more, even if she would never admit it.

I crooked my fingers, dragging against the sensitive bundle of nerves I knew would make her crazy.

Her body jerked against mine.

“Found it,” I murmured against her neck.

Caroline bit her lip, trying not to whimper and failing. Stubborn little thing. She was trying so fucking hard not to react, not to give me the satisfaction of knowing I was coaxing pleasure out of her. Well, too bad.

I kissed her roughly, sliding my thumb over her clit at the same time I curled my fingers again. She gasped into my mouth, thighs clamping down on my wrist like she could stop me. Not a chance in hell. I was going to stroke her until she came over my fingers.

“Let it go, spitfire,” I coaxed, voice raspy.

“Knox—”

“Shh.”

She squirmed, trying to resist, trying to take control, but I wasn’t allowing that shit. I slid my free arm under her ass and yanked her flush against my cock. She was slick enough to short-circuit my brain. I teased the head against her folds, not giving her what we both wanted. Not yet.

“Say my name again, Caroline.”

Caroline twitched, raking her nails up my back. I shuddered, growling low, and caught her wrists to pin them high above her head against the tile. Her chest arched, stretching those perfect tits up for me. I caught a nipple between my teeth and flicked my tongue.

“Knox,” she moaned obediently, breathless and desperate.

“That’s it,” I praised, fucking her with my fingers. “Give it to me. You’re right fucking there, baby girl. Let yourself feel, Caroline.”

Those were the magic words.

Her walls spasmed around my fingers. I curled again, pushed her higher, until she shattered—body locking tight as her orgasm ripped through her. I felt every pulse of her around me like she was trying to suck me in deeper.

Her little shuddering pants flattered my ego. For all her venom, Caroline came apart like she’d never been touched right a day in her life—and I knew she hadn’t. Not like this. Not with someone who gave a damn about her.

I slowed my hand but didn’t pull away, feeling every last ripple of her climax until her thighs quivered. I released her wrists just in time for her to grab my shoulders, barely staying upright.

“God fuck,” she panted, wrecked.

Watching her fall apart like that, knowing I was the one who did it? Fuck. “You want more, baby girl?” I asked, my voice deep and dangerous.

Her head snapped up, wild and flushed and perfect. “Yes. Yes, Knox. I want you inside me. Fuck me until we forget.”

For a second, I just stared, blown away by her honesty, the way she caved into submission. Then I grinned.

“Was I really that good?” I teased, tilting my head toward her for a kiss.

Caroline just smirked, reaching over to shut off the water, and slipped out of my grip. She left the shower, nothing but dripping curves and attitude. “Hm. It’s a start.”

My jaw dropped.

“You sneaky little bitch.” I growled the words, but they weren’t an insult. I watched her ass sway out of the bathroom, then stalked after her like a starving wolf. “Get back here, woman.”

She bolted, laughing—and it was the best goddamn sound I’d heard in days.

I caught her around the waist, lifting her and tossing her onto her back onto the bed. Her tits bounced. Before I could let her settle, I was already looming over her, taking her breast in my mouth, nipping, licking.

We were soaking wet from the shower. Caroline tasted like tap water. Wasn’t sexy at all, but who the fuck cared when her nails were scraping up my back again and her legs wrapped around my waist, holding me above her.

I pulled away as much as I could to look at her. Droplets clung to her lashes like diamonds, dripping onto her cheeks. Her tongue slipped out between her swollen lips, catching them with the tip.

Shit, why was that sexy?

“Keep going,” she ordered.

I didn’t have to be told twice, even if I was miffed she was still trying to call the shots.

I dragged my mouth along the swell of her breasts, sucking, biting, lavishing the sensitive flesh.

I made sure both got equal attention, and groaned when she gasped, her fingers grabbing a fistful of my hair.

She arched up to meet me, pressing herself into my mouth.

At the same time, my hand slid down her side to squeeze her hip, then the inside of her thigh. I slid a finger between her wet folds. She squirmed—then slapped her palm against my forehead, trying to push my head down.

“You want my tongue elsewhere, spitfire?”

Caroline whimpered and nodded.

“You gotta earn it,” I purred.

“Anything,” she gasped.

I chuckled darkly. “Careful what you ask for.”

She startled when I grabbed her hips and dragged her ass to the edge of the bed. Her legs were still locked around me like I was the only thing keeping her sane.

Caroline Bates was anything but sane—hell, neither was I.

I wrenched her thighs apart and dropped to my knees. Then I licked her like she was the first goddamn taste of heaven. My tongue flattened and dragged slow over her clit—then I sucked hard and sharp.

Caroline’s body jerked like I’d hit a live wire, instantly overstimulated—but I growled and wrapped my arms tighter around her legs, anchoring her right where I wanted her. Trembling. Trapped under my mouth.

Mine .

“Not getting out of this, baby girl,” I murmured, flicking my tongue fast enough to make her whole body jolt. “You stay right here, where you’re meant to be. Take it. Every last lick.”

She wanted to cry out, I could tell, but she stifled it with one hand while the other seized a fistful of my hair, yanking like she could make me eat her deeper. “Fucking hell, Knox,” she whimpered, body thrashing.

I held fast to her hips. “Nah-ah.” I grinned, feral, against her soaked pussy. “I’m in control. You’re gonna take what I give you and love every goddamn second.”

I swiped my tongue over my lips and curled two fingers inside her. This time, I hit that sweet, hidden spot with precision.

Her walls cinched around my fingers, tight and wet. Her hips rolled, angling for more. Desperate.

But I wasn’t done toying with her.

I pulled away. She gasped and reached for me, her panic evident, but I pressed a hand against her stomach, pinning her down with ease.

“I want to hear you ,” I snarled, my voice savage. “Whimper. Moan. Beg me for it.”

Caroline’s chest heaved with breath. Our eyes met, and I could see the defiance in them mixed with the gaze of bliss. She wanted to give in. She was so fucking close—but she was clinging to that survival instinct like a vise.

“Let it go, Caroline,” I said, my voice shifting to something less domineering, if only briefly. “You’re safe with me. You hear me? With me, you don’t have to fight anymore.”

Her brows knitted together like she couldn’t bring herself to believe me. She’d been so mistreated for so long that she couldn’t accept good things.

“Watch me.”

That got her. She sat up real fast.

Our eyes locked, and I knelt between her thighs again. “Come for me, Care,” I said, right before I drove my tongue inside her. “You’re not Bates’s daughter tonight. Not the club princess. You’re mine . My fucking girl.”

Her head fell back, teeth digging into her lip.

Then a breath ripped from her throat, her voice cracking on a single word. “Promise?”

The implication of the word hit me harder than any of Jackson’s punches.

I replaced my mouth with my fingers.

“I promise, Caroline.”

I stroked her spot again and again with my fingers until she shattered—wet, wild, wrecked. She came so hard it soaked my hand, and she let loose a sound that made stars fall from the fucking sky.

When she sagged back against the cheap hotel comforter, boneless, I stood and wiped my mouth with the back of my hand, watching her trembling thighs and heaving chest with hungry eyes. She had also soaked the covers. I’d never seen anything more beautiful in my goddamn life.

And my cock was still rock hard.

“Round two, baby girl?” I asked in a low, filthy growl. “Or you need a minute before I break you all over again?”