Page 192 of Phobia

I glanced up at him and saw his lips twitching with a held-back smile. My face heatedagain—one of the curses of having a fair complexion from Mom’s side of the family. “Or another beer?” I asked, dropping my gaze to the can in his hand, and aiming to get to the end of this conversation as fast as humanly possible now. There was a hole somewhere that I needed to go crawl into, I was sure of it. “I need another can of pop anyway.” I set the container down and hopped off the stool. Before I could take a step toward the fridge, he reached across the island and wrapped his hand around my wrist. My eyes raised and met his. He was biting his bottom lip as if contemplating something.

“Come here.” His voice was kind, but it was a demand nonetheless, and the underlying tone latched around my feet and dragged me forward. He let go of my wrist, and I walked around the counter, stopping in front of him. He turned on the stool to face me. The backs of his warm fingers stroked along my cheek. “You look so innocent when you blush,” he said softly. That resulted in my face flushing an even deeper shade of red, and I kept my eyes cast down. He ran his hand over my chest and brushed a crumb off my shirt. My body trembled at his touch. “This is important to you.” It was a statement, not a question, and I knew he was referring to the party.

It may have seemed stupid or trivial, having someone come with me, but part of me was anxious because of what had happened the last time. “I mean, it’s not a life-or-death situation, but yeah. I was hoping to not have to go alone.” I rubbed the back of my neck with one hand. “And, uh, I was, you know, kind of hoping we could spend some time together. Or something.”

His hand drifted along my side, coming to a rest on my hip. He slipped his fingers beneath the hem of my shirt and wrapped his warm palm around my waist, tugging me closer until I was standing between his legs. Just a few more inches, and I’d be rubbing all up on him. I was more than okay with that. With his other hand, he tipped my chin up. “Look at me.” My eyes raised to meet his. “You are so perplexing.” Up shot my eyebrows. That…was not what I was expecting to hear in this moment. “I’ve seen you be assertive and cocky, trading insults with a sharp tongue with the best of them. Then other times you’re this shy thing, looking like you need someone to scoop you up and protect you. The dichotomy is puzzling. It’s hard to tie the two Graysins together.”

I swallowed roughly. I often felt like I hadn’t really figured out who I was as a person yet and being called out on it made me feel vulnerable. “Aren’t you the philosophy major here?” I joked to hide my nervousness. “Shouldn’t you have some kind of deep answer for that?” I wanted to be open with Kellen, even if it made me uncomfortable, so I trudged on. “They’re both me. I’m not all that great at blending them together, I suppose.” It was fascinating watching the changing emotions play out on his face. Nothing bad, just, it looked like he was still trying to figure me out. I hoped his assessment landed in my favor.

“Fair enough.” He dropped my chin, and I figured that was the signal for me to go sit down, but he settled that hand around my waist too. “I promised Allison that I’d cover her evening shift on Halloween so she could take her kid trick-or-treating. I’m not gonna leave her hanging, but if I can find someone else to cover it for her, I’ll come to the party. Let me see what I can work out, okay?” The smile on my face spoke volumes.

“How are you still single?” I blurted out, then inwardly cringed. By some miracle, he didn’t laugh or withdraw after my outburst. He just rubbed his thumbs over my hip bones, waiting for me to continue, so I offered an explanation. “I mean, you’re hot and sweet, and you know the difference betweenyourandyou’re. You’re practically perfect. How has nobody scooped you up yet?”

At that he did chuckle a little. “Do you want the polite answer, or do you want the truth?”

“The truth, please.”

Kellen’s eyes slowly roamed over my face, as if cataloguing the details. His fingers slid around and brushed against the top of my ass. I was definitely sporting a full-on erection now, with no prayer of hiding it. A wave of desire thrummed through me. Even from these small touches, he was making my body hum. I was about thirty seconds away from jumping into his lap and spreading myself open for him.

Kellen stared into my eyes, and my gaze locked on his. I could not look away right now even if I’d wanted to. His voice dropped an octave. “I like to dominate in bed, and I sometimes have a tough time finding a partner that likes to be controlled.”

Excitement and anticipation danced in my stomach and up my chest as his words sank in, making me feel all fluttery and stealing my breath. “Oh,” I whispered. “Okay. So, you’re literal perfection, not practically perfect. Got it.”

“I don’t know about all that, but I do know that I’m going to kiss you if you don’t step back, Graysin.”

I scooched in those last few inches and wrapped my arms around his neck. “I never back down from a challenge,” I murmured. “And something else you should know about me is that I can be a total slut when someone sexy does something sweet for me.” I didn’t whore myself out to the do-gooders of the world or anything, but it was a turn-on. I felt his grin against my lips, and then his mouth firmly pressed against mine. The second my lips parted, he slid his tongue in, exploring my mouth as eagerly as I did his.

He slid a hand along the back of my head, tangling his fingers in my hair and tugging until I yielded and tipped my head back. Goosebumps popped up on my neck following the path his hot mouth and tongue traced. “Fuck, Graysin, you taste like my next bad decision. No offense.”

“None taken,” I said in a breathy voice. He reached down and tugged at the waistband of his sweatpants, which to me seemed like an invitation. I ran a finger along the edge of the fabric. “I should probably not grope you in the middle of the kitchen. Nate could walk in at any moment.”

Kellen chuckled against my throat. “Hence the bad decision part.” I gasped when teeth nipped at my tender flesh. “Although.” He paused to press a kiss under my jaw. “Nate said he had some study group this evening. So…”

We were alone. That settled that. Without preamble, I slid my hand inside his sweatpants and underwear and palmed his growing cock. His skin was silky smooth, and the plump head was already leaking. I rubbed over the tip, swirling through the evidence of his arousal. He pulled his head back and watched me, eyes darkening as I slipped my hand out, brought it to my lips, and sucked on my thumb. After that initial taste of him, I needed more. Immediately. I knew he was on board when he hopped off the barstool and leaned against the counter, drawing me close and kissing me roughly. Neither of us was patient enough to wait the sixty seconds it would take to run upstairs to a bedroom.

My smile was much shyer than I felt, and his eyes sparkled like he could read my dirty thoughts as I lowered myself, pulling his clothing to his ankles while I dropped to my knees. He rubbed his balls and offered himself to me, then gripped the edge of the marble counter behind him and let me explore uninhibited. I trailed my tongue along a vein on the underside of his cock and placed an open-mouthed kiss on his sack. He widened his stance to give me better access. Tonguing the sensitive area, I gently sucked on one of his balls. I was spurred on by his quiet moans and the muttered, “I’m so fucked.”

I licked back up his shaft like it was a piece of candy, then wrapped my lips around him and slid down his length, bobbing back and forth a few times. Massaging his taint with two fingers while I sucked on the head, a burst of salty liquid dribbled out. I lapped at him, trying to lick it all up.

Gripping him in my fist, I jacked him off and sat back, panting a little. “I apparently taste like a bad decision, but you taste like a fucking wet dream come true.”

Kellen cradled my face in his palms and brushed his thumbs over my lips. “Forget what I said. There’s no way that anything that comes from this perfect mouth right now could ever be a bad decision.”

“Ugh, marry me,” I muttered. His deep laughter poured through me. I moved my hand and opened wide as he brought my head forward and slid my lips down his dick, making me deep throat him. His control of the situation was so hot, I felt like I was melting from the inside out.

I couldn’t breathe with my mouth stuffed to the brim and my nose pressed into his dark, well-groomed pubes. My eyes started to water, and a few stars flashed in my vision. I could have stayed like this forever if I didn’t need oxygen to live. Right as my lungs started to burn, he pulled my head away. I inhaled deeply through my nose, and the lightheadedness that hit as air filled my lungs made my cock swell. I shoved my pants down with one hand, fisted myself, and made quick, short strokes.

Still holding my face, Kellen moved my mouth back and forth over his shaft, like I was a tool for his pleasure. I’d get on my knees for Kellen Williams and let him use my mouth any damn day. I tightened my lips and sucked as he pulled, and he let out a low, dirty moan that had my nuts drawing up, ready to explode.

But we both froze when the front door creaked open and slammed shut. Nate’s voice traveled in from the front of the house. He was talking on the phone, it sounded like, and the words got quieter as he jogged upstairs. If he had looked over even for a split-second as he walked past the kitchen entrance, he’d have gotten an eyeful of Kellen in my mouth, and me with my slippery cock in hand.

Kellen let out a deep breath and pulled himself free. He was still hard, and jutting out toward my face, so I leaned forward and stole a lick. “Great fucking timing, Jackson,” he swore under his breath. We both knew that Nate could come back downstairs at any moment, so Kellen carefully tugged his pants back up, grimacing a little as he did so.

I scowled in the direction of the stairs and pulled my own clothing back up. While I’d much rather suck on the fingers attached to the open palm that was reaching in my direction, I held his hand and let him help me back to my feet instead.

Kellen grabbed my face with his other hand and squeezed my cheeks, puckering my lips as he drew me forward. His hand shook slightly, like he was fighting to keep control. With blown pupils making his dark brown eyes appear nearly black, he claimed my mouth one final time for the night, giving me a bruising kiss. The raw strength and lust that oozed from him hit me all the way to my core. He sucked on my tongue as he pulled away, leaving me breathless.

To paraphrase his words, I—my heart—was so fucked.