Page 30 of Knox (The Devil’s Luck MC #6)

KNOX

T he meeting at Sam’s bar went about as well as expected—subpar.

No one liked the idea of trusting Caroline in any capacity.

They had all been burned too many times to freely give acceptance—except Sam, apparently.

She was the only open-minded one. I just hoped she did make Jackson sleep on the couch.

That was the least of my petty worries.

Right now, I had a naked woman filling a stupidly large bathtub standing in front of me. I didn’t need to think about anything else except how soon I could get my dick inside her.

“Off,” she ordered in a tone that made a shiver skitter down my spine. “You next.”

I was too horny to tease her with slowly taking off my clothes. I yanked off my shirt and tossed it somewhere. My jeans? Down around my ankles. Thrifted blue boxers with rubber duckies on them? Dropped. Dick? Fucking out.

If I weren’t stripped already, Caroline’s eyes would have done the work.

She looked at me head to toe as if deciding if I was a good enough specimen for her.

Her gaze lingered on my cock like she was imagining the very near future of it stretching her walls.

She was a damn queen; she deserved a king. Was I worthy of her?

This was far from our first time fucking. Most women didn’t fuck the same dude unless they gave good cock. Or were good at eating her out.

Bathtub sex, however, was a first. I hadn’t been with that many women over the years, none of whom I formed a long-term relationship with, and I definitely never stayed in a fancy hotel room with any of them.

Caroline, though?

I wanted to keep her around.

We stepped out of our dropped clothes, and suddenly it felt like a standoff. Who was going to rush forward and kiss the other hard enough to clash teeth first?

“If we’re taking turns,” I said in a purr, startling Caroline out of her dirty thoughts, “it’s yours to make the next move.”

“Oh, fucking kiss me already,” she snapped without rancor, then surged forward.

Our mouths met with force, and immediately, it was nothing but tongue. My hands cupped her ass, lifting her off the cool tile. Her legs hooked around my waist, and her fingers slid into my hair. I groaned when she scraped her nails across my scalp.

“Put me in the damn tub,” Caroline gasped between kisses.

“Who said you could boss me around, hmm?” I growled.

To torture me, she tried to pull free—but I held fast, catching her lip between my teeth and tugging. I opened my eyes to see hers narrowed, glaring. I grinned like an entitled bastard. She yanked my hair hard enough to hurt.

“All right, spitfire,” I rumbled. “Enough of that shit.”

Caroline yelped when I plunked her in the tub. Water splashed over the edges, and bubble clouds flew up. I turned off the faucet before it flooded.

Vexed, she tried to splash me, but I dodged, laughing at the attempt. “Move over, baby girl.”

She shifted to the end of the tub while I got in on the other side. I hissed at the temperature. “Woman! Are you trying to kill my boner?! This is lava!”

Caroline inhaled the steam deeply, then leaned against the back of the tub, eyes fluttering. “It’s perfection.”

“Caroline.”

She rolled her eyes and popped the drain. “Fuck. Fine. You’re killing the mood.”

“Am not. Tell me, why are you trying to give me third-degree burns?”

“I’m not, Nathaniel. You just have sensitive baby skin.” Caroline smirked devilishly, leaning forward purposefully to show off her tits. “Should I ask the front desk for baby wipes?”

I fumbled to turn on the cold water. “Hide those. Now.”

Caroline wrapped her arms around herself, pushing her breasts up. “Mm. No.”

I dunked my hand in the water. It was still too warm, but better, and my patience was very thin. I wrenched the faucet off and got in. I forgot about the temperature and propped myself on the other end, spreading my legs and arms.

“Get over here, woman,” I ordered.

Caroline glided through the bubbles to rest her back against my chest. I tucked her against me like she was meant to be there, wrapping my arms around her torso. She went pliant as her head lolled to the side to let me kiss her throat.

When I nipped at her earlobe, her fingers reached back to grip my thigh, nails grazing. Her ass shifted against my crotch.

I groaned, voice rough in her ear. “Don’t do that.”

“Don’t do what?” she asked innocently, grinding herself harder.

My hands went to her tits, slick and heavy, then teased her nipples with my thumbs.

She arched with a moan, tipping her head back.

I leaned forward and pressed a gentle kiss to the top of her blonde head, but my voice was anything but tender.

“You wanna forget the whole fucked-up world with me, spitfire?” I growled against her ear. “Then let me wreck you so good, your body won’t remember anything but mine.”

Caroline’s whole body shivered violently. “Nate?—”

I grabbed her hips and turned her all the way around. Her eyes went wide with surprise at the feat of strength. I didn’t give her the chance to register, taking her face between my hands and yanking her lips to mine. Her palms braced my shoulders for balance.

We kissed like it was the only thing that mattered. Wet and soapy, desperate, heated. So fucking good.

Caroline ground down on me, slow and deliberate, and it made me curse. “Fuck, baby,” I groaned against her mouth, my hands going to her ass and spreading her. “Tell me what you want. Anything. Say it.”

She pressed her forehead to mine, panting, face flushed with heat, rolling her hips, begging for my touch. “You. Deep. Hard. Until I forget who I was before you. I need to feel you own every inch of me.”

I practically purred. “You’re already mine, baby girl. Every moan, every clench—yours is the only body I ever want to ruin.”

My fingers teased her opening. Caroline sucked in a sharp breath. “You’re mine, Caroline. Say my name while I fuck every other thought out of your head.”

“Knox,” she whimpered, angling her hips to go down on my fingers.

But I didn’t let her. Not yet.

“Wrong name, spitfire.”

“Nate.”

I plunged two fingers in her so expertly she bucked, sending water sloshing over the edge. “There we go. Good girl.”

We moved together erratically as she fucked my fingers, her nails digging into my shoulders so tightly I thought she would break skin. I stroked her again and again, bringing her to tears with pleasure. Just the sight of her sex face was enough to shove me toward the edge.

“Wild thing,” I rasped when she writhed, grabbing my wrist and trying to position me where she wanted. It made my annoyance spike. I pulled my fingers out. “What did I fucking tell you, spitfire?”

Caroline hissed like a cat at being denied. “The fuck?”

I grabbed her chin in my hand, staring her dead in the eyes. “If I have to tell you to let me lead one more fucking time, I’m going to tie your hands and make you watch while I edge you for hours—until you finally believe you’re safe with me. Is that crystal fucking clear?”

Her pupils blew wide, and her lips parted in speechlessness.

For half a second, she looked like she would be upset, something painfully vulnerable in her eyes.

But then she looked defiant, ready to really claw into me, some retort burning on her tongue.

“Control,” she said measuredly, closing her fingers around my cock, “is all I’ve ever had. You think I’ll just hand it over because you talk dirty?”

I stiffened. Now we were both holding each other hostage. Who was going to cave first?

God, I loved a woman who could fight back.

I knew I would sign my death warrant if I said yes , which was the truth. But I didn’t get the chance to answer.

“Prove it,” she said. “Prove I can trust you entirely. Prove I can feel safe with you. Prove I can let go of my control issues.”

I smirked. “Where should I start?”

“With your hand around my throat.”

Of all the things I thought she would say, that wasn’t it.

My grin turned into a grimace. “You just love turning shit on its head, huh?”

Caroline used her free hand to move mine from her chin to her neck. “Survival instinct.”

I dropped my forehead to her chest. “Care, baby.”

“What?”

She meant it to sound like a demand, but it came out cracked, like her dominance was a facade—and it was. I just had to work my way inside it.

I kissed her breast luxuriously. She whimpered and released her grip on my dick. “I’m trying to show you what it feels like to stop, Care. You don’t have to be going all the time. Not now. Not anymore.”

Her body tensed up for a long moment, and then went limp against mine, arms and legs holding on to me like a starfish—a beautiful, scared, starfish that deserved more than the scraps she lived on.

Burying her face in my shoulder, she murmured, “Then do it. Make me feel safe.”

I eased my fingers around her throat. The last thing I wanted to do was dominate—right now, at least. I was going to make good on that edging promise.

Then I felt Caroline give that last inch of trust like it cost her everything.

I kissed her lips slowly, reverently. She moaned into my mouth like she was finally , finally crumbling.

And fuck me if I didn’t try my damndest to hold her together, determined to pick up every piece and put her back together into someone new and whole.

Then she started stroking me. My mind went on the fritz.

“Finish here,” she breathed. “Then tie me up like you said.”

I didn’t need a second damn invitation.

I grabbed her hips, lined myself up, and drove into her with one deep, punishing thrust. Water surged over the edge of the tub. The staff was going to hate us. Caroline jerked, taking all of me like she was made for it.

My forehead dropped to her chest as I pounded into her, hard and fast. Stripping her of control. Giving her mine.

“Say my name,” I groaned, breath ragged.

She gasped when I hit her spot. “ Nate .”

“Yes. Fuck, yes.”

Water splashed everywhere, but I didn’t give a fuck. All I could see, feel, think about was her.

My spitfire. My baby girl. My wild thing.

My Caroline.

She was mine and she was hers. Not a single other fucking soul’s.

When she orgasmed, her outcry echoed off the tiles. I came not long after.

We went limp together, sinking into the bubbles and lukewarm water, exhausted.

I kissed Caroline’s shoulder, massaging her ass. “You don’t come like that for anyone else, got it? Only I can make you feel this good.”

She just hummed weakly, totally spent.

We soaked in the tub until we got pruney, and then I helped her out. I toweled her off, kissing or nipping wherever I could while she basked in the attention. She padded into the main room after I dried myself off. Then I tucked us both under the thick white covers.

Caroline sighed and settled her back against the mountain of pillows. I laid my head on her chest, my cheek cushioned by her perfect breasts. I groaned softly when she started stroking my hair like it was the most normal thing.

How the hell did we get here from what we used to be ?

I was almost asleep—about to be the best fucking sleep of my life holding her—when she whispered, “I used to think about a life where you were dead.”

I propped myself up to look at her. Her eyes were brimming with tears. “Care…”

Caroline cupped my jaw, stroking her thumb across my cheekbone. Her voice was barely a breath. “And now that feels like the worst possible thing that could happen.”

My heart cracked. “Me, too,” I said just as quietly, kissing her palm. “I know it’s hard to let go of the past. But we can move forward together. Yeah?”

Caroline bit her trembling lip. “Yeah.”

I leaned down to kiss her, soft at first, then with more urgency.

“I have no intention of dying, wild thing, or letting anything happen to you. You’re mine. There’s no going back from that.”