Manic’s father never arrived.
He was supposed to fly down with another member of the Smith clan, but Hank told us Frank called and said he wasn’t coming, but not why, and he’d had no message for his only son.
I watched Manic with his cousins across the room. He was smiling, laughing at something Tucker said, but I could see the disappointment in his eyes. He’d come all this way to see his dad, and the guy hadn’t bothered to show up.
I was angry on his behalf.
Birdie and Riley stood beside me, and Freya handed us another round of beers and a juice for herself.
“Are you having a good time? You look awfully serious. We haven’t scared you off already, have we?” Riley asked.
“No, not at all. I’m having a great time.” I really liked these women. Hanging out and having a few drinks with them was a lot like being with my friends in Rocktown. They’d welcomed me with open arms. I’d been so nervous when we’d arrived that I hadn’t realized I’d been gripping hold of Manic’s shirt until he’d put his hand over mine. But being around families, especially happy ones like this, was usually a trigger for me. Thankfully, so far, I’d been okay.
I was positive Manic was the reason for that.
Still, I couldn’t help but feel guilty that we were lying to everyone. It didn’t matter that I’d never see any of them again after we left tomorrow.
Riley followed my gaze. “I can’t believe Frank didn’t show. He’s talked about it more than once since he knew Levi was coming home, and considering he’s a man of very few words, that’s the equivalent of a normal person talking your ear off.”
“Levi’s disappointed,” I said. “He’s trying to hide it, but I can see it’s hurt him.”
“It sucks when family let you down,” Birdie said. “But he has you. You guys are great together.”
My belly fluttered. We were great together, but none of it was real. And he wasn’t mine. The music changed to a slow song. Beau came over and swept Freya onto the makeshift dance floor. Tucker picked up Beau and Freya’s three-year-old twins, Charlotte and Baxter, one on each bulging bicep, and they flung their arms around his neck and giggled as he spun around the dance floor.
Manic was still talking to Hank and Cash, and he was doing a good job of hiding how he felt, but I could see the truth. I knew what I wanted to do, and for once, I wasn’t going to second guess myself. I put down my beer, walked over to him, and slid my arms around his waist. No, he wasn’t mine, but everyone here thought he was, and comforting him felt like the most natural thing in the world.
He looked down at me, stare intense as he curled his arm around my shoulders. “Hey, baby.”
I smiled. “Dance with me?”
His lips curled, then he put his beer on the table and let me lead him out to the dance floor. He pulled me into his arms, and I hugged him to me tight, pressing my head to his wide chest, and we started swaying.
Manic gave amazing hugs. He was also wonderful to slow dance with. I was totally taking advantage of the whole fake relationship thing right now, and I didn’t feel bad about it.
He pressed his mouth to the top of my head. “Thanks for coming with me, Adds.”
I tilted my head back. “Surprisingly, I’m glad I came as well…not that I had much choice.” He said I’d agreed to come with him, but I wasn’t so sure. I’d started having a few flashbacks of us talking in his truck and had no memory of that particular conversation. Granted, my memory was still hazy, but surely, I would have remembered something like that. I should be mad, but I couldn’t muster the emotion. For whatever reason, he’d chosen me to be here with him while he tried to mend bridges with his dad, and I was glad.
Except his dad hadn’t shown.
His eyes danced. “So you admit it? You’re happy I kidnapped you.”
“It’s called Stockholm syndrome.”
He threw his head back and laughed.
I felt it rumble through his chest and I couldn’t look away. “I’m sorry he didn’t show.”
Manic’s grin slipped a little and he shrugged. “Didn’t get my hopes up. I know better.”
I didn’t believe that for a moment. “You’re a pretty awesome human being. He’s the one missing out.”
He gave me another of his quick, hard kisses, and I didn’t want him to pull away. I wanted to keep on kissing him. Nothing I said would make him feel better, but I could distract him from how he was feeling, and that’s exactly what I planned to do for the rest of our time away.
“Thanks, baby,” he said low, and I felt that too. “I think you’re pretty awesome as well.” Then he dipped his head. “Need some alone time with you, Addison.”
His stare locked with mine, and his need for me was stark in his gorgeous eyes. “Okay.”
He took my hand and led me from the barn, but instead of going into the house, he carried on around the side. There was another building. It was smaller than the barn but still big. He opened a side door and pulled me in. There was a quad bike in here and another truck.
It was cool but not cold, and that was probably more to do with the beers I’d had and not the temperature. The moon was full tonight, and it shone right through the small window on the back wall, doing a good job of lighting the space. It was still dark and shadowed, but I could see Manic clearly, and with the way his gaze had grown intense, I knew he could see me as well.
He walked deeper into the shed, taking me with him. Then he spun and lifted me, planting my butt on a workbench along the wall, and shoved my thighs apart before filling the space between them. He took my face in his large, hot hands and kissed me.
The kiss started wild and grew even more out of control. God, I wanted him. I wanted to be filled by him, surrounded by him.
He undid my jeans and shoved his hand down the front. I gasped as his fingers brushed over my clit, and I wriggled, angling my hips to give him better access. I needed more.
He stepped back suddenly and yanked my jeans and panties down my legs, taking my boots with them and tossing them onto the hood of the truck. Then I was off the bench and spun around.
“Need a taste of you, Addie.” He bent me over and dropped to his knees behind me. His large, rough hands went to my ass and he spread me. “Fuck, cupcake, so wet.” Then his mouth was on my pussy.
I cried out, spreading my legs wider, lifting to my toes. He growled against my flesh and ate at me hungrily. I felt out of control, desperate to come. In this dark shed, the only sounds were our panted breaths. I was his, and making each other feel good was all that mattered.
He pushed his tongue inside me, and I clung to the edge of the bench. I expected him to finger fuck me, but he didn’t, he continued with his onslaught. His tongue and lips sending me into a frenzy.
“I’m…I-I’m close.” Manic sucked my clit, making me cry out.
Then he pulled away, turned me around, and hauled me off my feet. He planted my ass back on the bench, then he was on his knees again, his mouth between my thighs.
He pressed his thumb to my opening, gliding over it, teasing me but not pushing inside as he went back to tormenting my clit. I gasped and opened wider for him, right back at the edge of sanity.
I whimpered.
“Come for me, baby,” he growled and sucked on my clit.
I did, crying out, coming hard, grinding against his mouth. His strong hands held me to him, his fingers digging into my ass. When I finally went limp, he kissed my inner thigh and stood.
“Remember what I said earlier?” He took my panties from the hood of the truck. I nodded as he crowded me. I was panting, recovering from the orgasm he’d given me, but still wanting more.
He took my hands and lifted them over my head. “You ever been tied up, Addison?”
“No.” My mouth went dry.
“You okay with your hands restrained?”
“Yes.” I wanted that. I wanted whatever he wanted to do to me.
“You trust me, baby?”
I trusted him to always make me feel good. Manic would never hurt me. “Yes.”
“Good girl,” he said low but a little softer, then tied my underwear loosely around my wrists and lifted my arms higher, hooking them on something on the wall. He watched me, running his hands along my thighs, then higher. He licked his lips as he dragged up my sweater till it was bunched under my chin, then pushed down the cups of my bra. My nipples were already tight and grew more so when they hit the cool air.
Manic’s big hands were on my inner thighs, and he kept me spread wide, exposed, as he leaned in and sucked on one nipple, then the next, groaning as he did it.
I was fully exposed now, naked from the waist down, with my sweater bunched and my bra cups pulled down.
“Look at you, Addison. It’s dark and I can still see how wet you are. Baby, you’re fucking dripping for me.”
I was, I was desperate for him. It didn’t matter that I’d come hard. I always wanted more of him. I watched as he undid his jeans and freed his big cock. He ran his hand along the length of it, then stepped in between my legs. I arched my back, spreading my legs wider. I needed him inside me.
He tugged off his shirt and tossed it aside. “Watch,” he said harshly. “Look down, watch how good your pussy takes me, Addie.”
I did. I watched as he pressed the head to my opening, whimpering as he worked it inside.
“You feel so fucking good,” he hissed.
My thighs shook, and I cried out as he pushed deeper, spreading me wider. I looked up at him, panting.
“Not me, look at my cock pushing inside you. Watch, Addison,” he ordered.
I did as he said, panting harder now, more turned on than I could ever remember being. I liked it when he ordered me about in bed, and I liked it when he called me Addison while doing it.
He pushed in the last thick inch, and I curled my fingers, tangling them in my underwear.
I lifted my gaze, and he was watching me.
“Gonna fuck you now, baby. It’s gonna be hard and rough, and you’re not going to hold anything back from me. You’re going to let me see and hear exactly what you’re feeling while I do it. If it gets too much, use your word and I’ll stop, understand?”
This Manic was different. He’d been in control the very first night we’d shared all those weeks ago, but nothing like this. He’d hidden this part of himself from me, and even though this thing between us was temporary, I hated that he’d felt he had to. While he was mine, I wanted all of him. I nodded.
He gripped my hips, kneading them, his heated stare darkening. “What’s your word, Addison?”
“S-sugar.”
“Hold on to me,” he said, then slid out almost all the way when I did—and slammed inside me.
He hit me deep inside, and my mouth dropped open, my back arching in reflex. I’d barely dragged in a breath before he did it again. Then he was fucking me without reprieve, without mercy.
It was intense, brutal, out of control—perfect. It was as if he could see inside me, to a part not even I knew existed, like he just knew what I needed.
I could feel my orgasm already teasing, and it was building in a way that was deep and wild. He told me to show him what I was feeling, to let him hear it, and I had no option but to give that to him.
If I wasn’t so lost in pleasure, I might have been embarrassed by my reaction to the hard fucking Manic was giving me. But I wasn’t, not with him, and not when the pleasure he gave me kept on building.
“Please…oh god,” I cried. “Don’t stop.”
His wide chest glistened, the thick slabs of his abs tight, biceps bulging, twitching as he took me.
He gripped the side of my neck. “Not gonna stop, Addison.” He dipped his head. “Look at me. Give me those gorgeous eyes,” he bit out.
I looked away from the play of muscle that had me mesmerized and into his eyes, and I moaned at what I saw in them—at the raw, untethered need. It was all for me. At that moment, I was all he wanted, all he needed. I was making him feel that way.
He kissed along my jaw to my ear. “Not stopping until my good girl comes all over my cock. Not until that pussy’s clamping down so hard I see stars.”
He wasn’t going to have to wait long. I groaned and gripped him tighter, feeling out of control, as if I were spinning, anchorless. Out of nowhere, a feeling of panic filled my chest as my emotions mixed and twisted with the pleasure he was giving me. I gasped and squeezed my eyes closed, gripping at his massive shoulders, then shoving at him—though, having him pull away from me was the last thing I wanted.
Fingers gripped my chin, tipping my head back. “Look at me,” he demanded. “Baby, open your fucking eyes.”
“Levi,” I said as I did, and I heard the fear in my voice. I knew he saw the panic, heard it when he pressed his forehead to mine.
“I’ve got you, Addison,” he growled. “You remember your word?”
I nodded.
He waited, in case I needed to use it, and when I didn’t, he held me tighter. “Let it go, baby. Whatever it is you’re clinging to, that put that look in your eyes, let it go, give it to me.”
I cried out, his words hitting me so deeply, god, shattering me. I wanted to. I’d been carrying so much grief and pain for so long, I barely knew myself anymore. He wanted to take it from me, for this moment in time, and I needed that more than I needed anything else. But I didn’t know how to let it go.
I shook my head. “I-I can’t.” Hot tears prickled my eyes.
He dropped his hand between us and swiped his thumb over my clit, his gaze searching mine, pleading with me. “Fuck, baby. Yes, you can.”
My entire body shook. He didn’t know it, but what he was asking was too much, too hard. If he’d let me close my eyes. If he’d stop looking at me like that, pulling me in, pulling me deeper into him, I could pretend what I felt welling inside me didn’t exist. But he wouldn’t, and I felt as though I was being dragged into a tornado, desperately grabbing for purchase, but everything was being ripped from my grasp.
I was right there, right on the cusp. My body was electric, buzzing, sparking off his, and I couldn’t tip over the edge. My fear of what I was feeling for the man holding me was a brutal grip around my throat. “I can’t,” I cried.
“Trust me?” Manic asked.
And I nodded, whimpering. I didn’t understand what was happening to me or what I needed. I wanted to reach for something, but how could I when I didn’t know what it was? I could say sugar and everything would stop. Manic would stop. It was on the tip of my tongue, but I didn’t. I couldn’t bring myself to say it, to end this.
Manic unhooked my hands, pulled out of me, lifted me off the bench, and spun me around. His hand gripped the back of my neck and he bent me forward, over the bench again, then slammed inside me from behind. I gasped. He felt so much bigger like this, and he was already almost more than I could take. I dragged in a breath, and before I could release it, his hand came down hard on my ass. The slap rang out in the shadowy shed, and I arched my back, crying out.
Then he did it again.
The pain snapped me out of the crap flying around my head. My mind stilled, cleared.
Slap. A third time on the other side.
This was different than the spanking he’d given me the night before. These stung; there was pain but nothing I couldn’t handle, and with each one, I felt it deep inside, a throb, my inner muscles gripping around his cock, thrusting inside me over and over again. My pussy clenched tight around him, then again. “Oh god.”
He leaned in. “That’s my good girl,” he said against my ear. “You’re taking it so good. One more, then you can come for me.”
I nodded, I was right there.
His wide hand connected with my ass, and I screamed, coming so hard I shook. His cock pulsed inside me, filling me, and another wave of pleasure hit hard enough that my legs gave out from under me.
Manic caught me up, slid out, and turned me, holding me tightly to his chest. “You did so fucking good, cupcake,” he said, pressing kisses to my hair and rocking me gently. “I’ve got you, Addison. I’ve got you, baby.”
I couldn’t speak or move as a peace washed through me, over me, the kind of peace I didn’t know I was capable of feeling. I pressed my hand to his chest, the soft hair under my palm comforting, the sound of his heavy breathing lulling me further.
I didn’t want him to let me go.
At that moment, I realized I never wanted him to let me go.