Page 34 of True Honey (The Hornets Nest #4)

COURTNEY

E ventually, I slipped from his arms, still dizzy from the unexpected contact but there was no tension or stress between us.

Nothing left unsaid. It was a strange feeling to be able to argue with Silas and still come out feeling like I had won when the truth was no one did, we weren't even trying to compete.

It was healthy despite being fake and it was infuriating that it was happening this way.

“Any fun scars?” He asked after some time, reaching for his second beer and offering me one. I shook my head, the last time I got drunk around Silas Shore I ended up naked.

“I grew up on a farm and we never wore shoes when I was little. We went from the house to the gravel to the grass without a second thought. I stepped on a nail when I was nine, it went right through my foot and now I have a perfect circle right below my big toe.” I told him and his head tipped back in laughter.

“That’s it that's your only scar?” He asked, absolutely bewildered by it.

No , but the others were from cleaning glass and accidentally cutting my hands and the soles of my feet. Scars that weren’t fun.

“Yup, I look small but I have surprisingly strong bones. Never broken a single one,” I beamed with pride.

“That’s impressive, not even a finger?” He asked, bringing the bottle to his lips as I shook my head no. “I don’t think there's a bone in my body I haven’t broken…” Silas thought about it.

“Is that so?” I raised an eyebrow and insinuated.

“Alright, alright…” he blushed, the man actually turned an adorable shade of pink. “You and I both know that bone has never been broken. ”

“Hey,” I scowled, “don’t bring me into this, it was your story. I’m just double-checking the details,” I feigned innocence.

“Mmhm,” Silas hummed. Flirting, even for half a second, was a fatal mistake. I watched as Silas’s expression shifted and turned hungry.

“Is that why you aren’t drinking?” he asked me softly after a beat of silence.

When I didn’t answer he smiled, shaking his head and setting the bottle down.

“The whiskey might have instigated that first time Drew but I have been having very sober thoughts about it for weeks.” His eyes seemed to burn tingling circles into my skin that forced me to look away from him.

“Silas,” I warned.

“Drew,” he countered with a smirk.

“You can’t tell me you didn’t feel it,” he said, his tongue brushing over his bottom lip like he was chasing the taste from our kiss. He pushed out of his stool to stand over the island and get closer to me.

“It’s a show, and we shouldn’t make more of it. Someone is going to get hurt,” I argued gently despite the way he stirred up the butterflies in my chest.

“I have a high pain tolerance,” he practically purred as his hands curled around the edge, his knuckles white, pushing all his frustration into the grip.

“That’s not—” I scoffed, “what I meant. You can’t be flirty and—”

“And what?” He smirked, his tongue darting out over his bottom lip, “use your words.”

“Annoyingly handsome,” I huffed, his hair was messy, his shirt was loose around his collar giving me the smallest hint of the tanned skin that ran beneath.

I wanted to see his tattoo again, study his thighs and count the freckles on his back.

I had been spending the majority of the day ignoring the urge to hold his hand and touch his face.

The lovesick crush was making me nauseous.

His smile grew, flashing his perfect teeth at me and he knew he won. I was fucking screwed.

“You want me to be selfish, and I want to make you feel good. Is that complicated to you?” He countered, those painfully beautiful eyes watching my every move, each shift in expression was caught by them and I couldn’t stand it.

“You make it sound like it’s black and white,” I sighed.

“It isn’t, I know it’s not. But I want all the gray in between too, Drew. Sober, drunk. I want them all.” He waited, and I knew if I didn’t give him a solid answer he would either climb across the island and take it himself, or he’d spend the next week convincing me otherwise.

“I have a son,” I whispered, “a very grown son who sees through every single one of my lies.”

“One who is very much passed out on the couch upstairs with Van,” he turned his phone to show me a picture from the group chat. A tiny giggle leaving my lips at his nickname. “Hey, very serious, time-sensitive conversation happening here, don’t you laugh at Cat Daddy.”

“We can’t,” I shook my head, but the smile on my face gave away my cracking resolve.

“Why?” He asked. Silas smelled too good, he looked too fucking good. I needed him to stop before I crumbled under the pressure.

“Because,” I weakly countered.

“Not good enough,” He took the pathetic rebuttal as an opening and took a couple steps around the island toward me. “Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t kiss you again.”

“My pain tolerance isn’t as high as yours,” I said quickly, stepping back from him despite the want to curl into his touch. Terrified of getting attached, needy for the feeling he brought down on me.

“I’ll be gentle,” he said, pausing in his movement to truly mean what he said. So many implications behind those three words.

How could I trust myself not to fuck this up? What happened the day he decided we weren’t worth the hassle? Was I just another problem for him to fix?

“What happens when you get the control you need, the shares?” I asked him, I couldn’t help myself. I needed to hear him say it before I ultimately gave into those rough hands and bright eyes.

“This isn’t about that.” He dropped his tone.

My head was spinning with what-ifs that I couldn’t control.

“That’s what this is all about, it’s what started it!” I said loudly with a shaky voice.

“This.” He stepped forward, linking his finger into the front of my jeans and tugging me into his gravity, “isn’t.

” His head lowered to mine and he used his other hand to hold my jaw in place as he approached.

“About that.” The kiss that followed was deep, slow and intoxicating as his fingers tangled into my hair and pulled it from the ponytail it was in.

His tongue swiped over my lip and into my mouth as his fingers worked at the button of my jeans and popped it free without breaking his concentration.

“It’s infuriating how easily you make me change my mind,” I hummed against the kiss, losing myself in him with each small ticklish movement.

Silas chuckled softly, the vibration sending a shiver down my spine.

He unzipped my jeans slowly, pushing them down my hips in a swift movement.

His hands moved so softly I gasped when they slid around my ass and lifted me effortlessly to the counter, spreading my legs wide.

His lips found my neck sucking softly as one finger pushed the damp fabric aside and he slipped inside of me, testing the wetness.

“You make it too easy,” he grumbled, his words hot on my neck as I arched back and braced myself on the countertop.

“We can’t do this—” I choked on the words as he added another finger and they curled against my walls. “Here.”

We were going to get caught.

“They’re asleep, it’s fine,” he whispered against my collarbone.

His fingers continued their slow pace, driving me wild.

At this rate it wouldn’t matter because I’d be completely undone in seconds.

My entire body betrayed me with each tortuous plunge his fingers took, I was a mess from the way he carefully stroked every nerve.

“Silas.” His name was nothing but a deep moan off my tongue.

“Quiet,” he warned with a mischievous smirk.

His thumb pressed down onto my clit sending me over the edge.

He watched with satisfaction as my mouth dropped open completely speechless from the pleasure coursing down to my toes.

He pulled his fingers out and pushed them into his mouth, sucking them clean.

Fuck .

“You’re being reckless to prove a point,” I huffed breathlessly as he pulled me from the counter into his arms and walked me to his bedroom.

“And you’re too stubborn to admit this is exactly what you want.” He kicked the door shut behind us and tossed me onto the bed. “No more thinking,” he said, pushing the hair away from my face and then wrapped gently around my throat as he kissed me again.

I shut everything off as he kissed down my neck, his other hand curled around my hip tightly.

He hummed against my skin like he could feel my surrender and it only fueled every wet peppered kiss he left behind.

His hand on my throat tightened slightly, not enough to hurt but enough to remind me it was still here.

Bradley had never touched me like that. He was so quick about sex, like he never wanted to be there.

But with Silas it was slow, each touch meant to rattle me to the core.

He broke the kiss, his eyes searching mine as I tried to hide the memories away and focus on how he touched me, how he looked at me.

“Turn over,” he demanded, his voice husky and commanding.

I slipped from my shirt, tossing it away from me and rolled onto my belly, sinking into the mattress. Completely unsure about what he was going to do but trusting him completely.

I felt the bed move and heard the sound of his clothes falling away before it dipped again.

His hands skimmed down my back, fingers trailing over every curve and dip.

His fingers hooked into the underwear in his way and rolled it over the swell of my ass and down my thighs.

Once gone he settled between my legs, his hardness pressing against my ass as his lips brushed my ear.

“Such a good girl,” he whispered and my body tensed as it rolled through me, it was freeing being completely at his will.

He groaned, his hands spreading my legs apart slightly.

The wetness pooled between my thighs and my stomach clenched as he leaned down and pressed an open mouthed kiss to the small of my back, his tongue snaking out to taste my skin.