Page 65

WAVERLY

K eene gave me a dozen red roses and a horseshoe necklace with little diamonds embedded in it.

“Am I being too cheesy and typical with this?” he asked with a cringe in his voice as he fastened the chain around my neck.

Letting my hair fall into place, I twisted back to face him again, saying, “If you are, I don’t care. I’m here for it.”

“Thank God.” He blew out a relieved breath and gave me a quick kiss above my eye where the bruise from Monday was already beginning to fade. “Because I’m taking you to the nicest restaurant in town next.”

Beaming from the inside out, I was only able to say a winded, “Okay.”

He chuckled, proud of himself over my reaction. And he put the Jeep into reverse to leave my driveway. As we reached the street, I glanced up to see the dooming silhouette of my mother in the front window.

Swallowing, I pushed thoughts of her from my mind and turned to Keene as he told me about his Nursing Fundamentals class and the virtual person they’d gotten to practice on.

Apparently, he’d pressed the wrong button on the screen and accidentally stripped the image naked of its loincloth, only to find out the dude had been drawn anatomically correct.

“And he was hung like a fucking mule; I’m telling you.”

I laughed; though seriously, this man could have the most boring day, and he could still make it sound fascinating. By the time we reached the restaurant, I was holding my sides from giggling so hard.

When I saw where he’d taken me, my jaw dropped. “V-Eleven?” Whirling toward him, I demanded, “How the hell did you get a reservation here ?”

My dad had been trying for months and was stuck on a permanent waitlist.

Eyes flaring with delight, Keene turned to me after he parked and grinned wickedly. “Oh God, can it be?” he asked. “I actually know something about your bestie that you don’t?”

“My bestie?” I shook my head, completely clueless. “What…?”

Hitching his head toward the front door, he said, “Ohrley owns this place. I can get in whenever I want.”

“Parker?” Holy wow. I had no idea he owned V-Eleven. Geesh. I knew he was rich, but I was beginning to understand I had no idea just how much bank he actually made.

“Yeah, I did not know that,” I admitted, glancing up at the restaurant again. “So you can stop acting so jealous of him; he and I are not close.”

Scoffing, Keene lifted his chin. “I’m not jealous.”

“I mean…” I shrugged. “If you were , your jealousy is superhot, but?—”

And before I could tease him anymore, Keene burst out, “I want to stab him in the eye for being as close to you as he is.”

I laughed, then reached out to cup his chin. “Trust me,” I murmured huskily. “No way is he as close to me as you are.”

Growling, Keene leaned in. “He better not be.” And he kissed me hard.

I kissed him back before pulling away enough to ask, “Does this mean you and he are back on talking terms again?”

With a loud, put-out sigh, he grumbled, “Yes, Mistress. We’re good. I called him. Now get that mouth back here.”

Grinning, I leaned in to kiss him again. And we made out hot and heavy in the parking lot of the nicest restaurant in town until Keene tried to talk me into skipping dinner altogether and going straight back to his place with him.

But I wanted the whole Valentine experience, so I made him exit the Jeep, then hold my hand past the valet and all the way to our seats in a fancy, private room on the second level.

Keene said Hudson had recommended that we try the lobster bisque, so that’s what we ordered, and I was even more surprised when Hudson himself was the chef who delivered it to us.

“I put something a little extra special in there, just for you, darlin’,” Hudson told me with a wink before blowing me a kiss and slapping Keene’s shoulder in greeting before he left us alone again.

It was turning out to be the best night of my entire life. Keene couldn’t seem to keep his eyes off me. He kept complimenting how nice I looked and good I smelled and trying to get me to skip the rest of the meal to go back to his place already. But I made him stay all the way through dessert.

I rewarded him by giving him road head on the way from V-Eleven to Archer House.

He looked dazed and speechless by the time he parked in the driveway. “I…” Glancing over at me, he opened his mouth, shut it, and then shook his head before asking, “How the hell did I not wreck us just now? That was fucking…”

When words failed him again, I smiled and wiped the corner of my lip, feeling rather proud of myself. Rather powerful and mighty, like maybe I could do this living stuff after all. Life felt amazing .

“Wait until you see the second part of my Valentine’s present to you,” I murmured. “I just have to take this dress off first.”

With a groan, he grabbed me and dragged me across the center console, saying, “You are so awesome,” before he kissed me senseless.

Mouth still fused to mine, he reached behind himself to open his door, and he coaxed me to keep crawling from the passenger side to the driver’s side so I could exit the same door he had.

“I’m going to wreck your pussy so hard tonight,” he promised with a naughty gleam in his eyes as he took my hand. “And afterward, you’re never going to want to let me go, I swear.”

I already knew I never wanted to let him go. But instead of saying so, I merely lifted my eyebrows in warning. “Don’t make promises you can’t keep.”

Eyes gleaming with challenge, he smirked. “Watch me.” And he dragged me behind him toward the house.

We entered through the kitchen and started through the main room toward the stairs. When we realized people were on the couch preparing to watch a movie together, Keene set a finger to his lips to shush me because Xander was one of them, and if she saw me, she’d want to talk. A lot.

And even though I loved Xander, I selfishly wanted the next little bit of time to be all about Keene.

Until we were nearly to the stairs and what I saw on the couch caused me to stall short.

Glancing back at my resistance, Keene hissed, “What are you?—?”

“Shh.” I tugged him behind me so he wouldn’t bring attention to us. “I want to watch this.”

He came up close enough to see over my shoulder and talk into my ear at the same time. “The movie? Are you fucking kidding me? We were literally on our way to my room for sex. Crazy, amazing sex. How the fuck can you think about?—”

I elbowed him in the gut to hush him. “Not the movie. Them .” I smiled, unable to help myself. “She looks happy, doesn’t she? And she’s not thinking about her ex at all—on Valentine’s Day—you can just tell. Isn’t that great?”

Keene went quiet as he spied on Xander and Alec right along with me. The two on the couch exchanged drinks and popcorn, pulled pillows and blankets around them, and then searched for the remote until Alec finally cheered, “Found it.”

“Yay.” Xander grinned and held the tub of popcorn his way.

“Thanks.” He took a handful and then tipped a bag of mini candy bars her way. “Twix?”

“Don’t mind if I do,” she answered and plunged her hand inside.

After pulling one free, she began to open the wrapper, only to pause and say, “Oh, whoops, this one’s a right bar.” And she tried to hand it back.

Alec sent her an amused glance. “God, please don’t tell me you’re one of those people. You seriously only eat the left or right side?”

“Not me,” she said, digging for a left Twix, only to find another right and throw it back. Rolling her eyes, she grumbled, “Liam. He’s anal about only eating the right ones, so I’ve learned to settle for all the lefts to save the rights for…”

Realizing what she was saying, she stopped searching the bag and sent Alec a guilty glance.

In my ear, Keene taunted, “Way to jinx her into thinking about her ex.”

I scowled over my shoulder at him while on the couch, Xander said, “Holy shit, what am I doing? I don’t have to save the right bars for him anymore, do I?”

“No, you don’t,” Alec murmured softly. When he held a single Twix out to her, I knew it was a right one. “Go ahead,” he coaxed, tipping up his chin in encouragement. “You know you want to.”

Temptation glittered in her eyes as she stared at the candy bar. Then she reached out and slowly tore the package open. Her gaze lifted questioningly towards Alec as if seeking his moral support, and he nodded, taking her hand to squeeze it.

She sank her teeth into the first bite and chewed without emotion.

Watching her closely, Alec said, “Tastes good, doesn’t it? Way better than those cruddy old left bars.”

Xander met his eyes and swallowed before she answered, “No. It tastes exactly the same.” And with that, she burst into tears. “What the hell, Alec? Why would he do this to me?”

I started to move toward her, needing to be there for my hurting friend.

But at the same moment Keene tightened his grip on my waist, halting me, Alec rasped, “Xander,” his voice breaking. “Dammit, come here.”

When he opened his arms, she practically leaped into them, crawling into his lap and resting her face on his shoulder as she wound her arms around his neck.

My throat constricted as Alec turned his face into her hair and stroked the other side of her locks lovingly.

“I don’t get it either,” he assured, kissing her temple in comfort. “I mean, it would’ve made much more sense if he’d claimed the left Twix as his. Because, you know, left…Liam. They both start with L. The alliteration of it alone would’ve made it much more logical.”

Xander blurted out a laugh and nudged his arm in reprimand before lifting her face from his shoulder to wipe the tears off her cheeks. “You’re such a goofball.”

He smiled up at her lovingly. “Yeah,” he agreed softly. “I really am.”

Gazing into his eyes, she set her hand on his cheek. “And I love it,” she claimed. “That was exactly what I needed. Thank you.”

“Anytime,” he choked out when Xander leaned down to press her lips softly to his cheek.

I could tell just how affected he was by the move, and suddenly I felt like a voyeur.

Keene must’ve had similar thoughts because he took my hand and tugged me down the stairs, straight to his room.

“How long do you think it’ll take those two to realize they’re absolutely crazy about each other?” he asked as he led me inside.

But I’d already forgotten all about Xander and Alec. As I gazed about the room, I noticed candles sitting everywhere, on shelves, desks, chairs. He hadn’t lit them yet. But the fact that he’d prepared this much and attempted the romantic ambiance was enough to snag my heartstrings.

Forgetting his question, I grabbed a handful of the front of his shirt when he turned around with a curious lift of his eyebrows.

“I think your only concern right now should be how long it’s going to take to strip me bare,” I told him.

“Jesus.” His eyes sparked with interest just as I jerked him toward me and plastered my mouth to his.

Moaning, he cupped the back of my head and kissed me back just as thoroughly. I kept nudging him backward until we made it to the bed. Then I pushed him onto the mattress.

Grinning up at me, he reached for my waist as I crawled on top of him, straddling his hips. “God, you are so fucking gorgeous,” he said, pulling me down as he arched up his face to kiss me again.

I ran my fingers through his hair and he cupped my ass. He ground me against him while I let my nails scrape gently across his scalp. And he shuddered his approval as he grasped the hem of my dress and pulled it up and over my head.

Left in nothing but the new bra and panty set I’d gotten at a lingerie boutique on Wednesday, I held my breath as I watched him run his gaze over my body.

“God…damn, darlin’.” He shuddered, and his gaze heated with lust. “I know I don’t deserve a treat like you, but I’m glad I got you anyway.”

He heaved up, flipping us around on the mattress, making me squeak in alarm until I was on my back, and he was on top.

“I’m so glad you like sex as much as I do,” he rumbled before pressing his mouth to my stomach, making the muscles there flutter with awareness as he worked his way up.

Sighing in pleasure, I let my head fall back as I buried my fingers in his hair and enjoyed the worship of his mouth. And I had to agree. I was damn glad I’d ended up liking sex too.

It could’ve easily gone the other way. No one would’ve blamed me if I’d ended up hating it and becoming a celibate spinster who never opened her legs again.

But Keene had a way of stirring up my inner hussy, and I very much appreciated that.

Gripping his shoulders as he licked his way across the top edge of my bra, I shifted under him restlessly, eager for what I knew was to come.

He took his time, though, savoring every inch of flesh.

“Have I told you just how much I love these breasts?” he asked as he tugged the cups down to expose them completely. “They’re so pert and mighty.”

Snorting out a laugh because only Keene could make a person laugh while they were going up in sensual flames, I repeated, “Mighty?”

“Yeah,” he answered huskily, licking his lips as he studied the twins, silently debating which one to suck on first. “They’re very robust, always lifted proudly at full attention whenever I’m around. I think they like me.”

He dipped and experimentally licked one nipple. I moaned and arched my back.

Pulling back, Keene grinned. “And these nips. Don’t get me started on your nipples. Best fucking nipples I ever tasted. Nothing makes my dick as hard as your nipples.”

He went back in and devoured them by sucking and licking until I was sobbing and begging, tugging on his shoulders to get him to move on before I blew.

When he stubbornly kept lavishing my breasts, I reached between my legs myself, needing relief like nothing I’d ever experienced before.

I swear, I could feel my heartbeat throbbing through my ovaries.

I was swollen and ready for action. Wetness smeared the inside of my panties with every twitch of my hips.

Crying foul when he realized what I intended, Keene caught my wrist and finally lifted his face from my chest.

“Uh, excuse me?” he demanded, his lips bright and swollen from how long he’d been revering my breasts. “That’s my job, sweetheart. Especially when I’m right fucking here. Hands off.”

I growled, frustrated and horny, my hips rising shamelessly toward him. “Then do your fucking job.”

His eyebrows shot up in surprise. “Well, now,” he murmured, clearly pleased by the state of mindless arousal he’d worked me into. “Patience is really a virtue you should?—”

“Keene,” I snarled, reaching up with both hands to grip his face savagely. “You will eat my pussy until I scream your name. And then pound your cock into me until you scream mine . Right now. You got it?”

He loved it whenever I gave orders in the bedroom, and when his eyes darkened with passion, I knew this time was no different.

“Yes, Mistress,” he whispered and immediately peeled my panties down my legs.