Cruel Temptation (Underground Kings 1)

I kept one and built a ring. I always kept Quinn in mind. I could imagine it on her finger, shining in the light and glittering just like her blonde hair did in the sun.

Her hand grazed my arm, and I held my breath, feeling like we were sixteen again, waiting to see who would make the next move. I never felt so powerless, but one touch from her, and she drained me of any strength I had.

Her fingers trailed down the tattoo on my forearm, tracing the black outlines until she came to the geometric design on my hand. She intertwined our fingers, and a puff of air escaped her. The breeze of her breath warmed my arm, and it partially sounded like she didn’t know what she was doing or why she was holding my hand, but I was glad she was.

We were a work in progress, and I wouldn’t stop building until we were a masterpiece.

“I believe you,” she said.

“Believe what?” I asked, burying my nose in her hair. I got that familiar scent of citrus and closed my eyes when a hint of spring made me feel nostalgic again. I remembered a day as a kid, walking through the orange groves with my family, and we were all happy, smiling, and it was spring. Quinn’s scent always took me back to that day, and it made me remember times filled with love when life was easier.

“I believe you didn’t kill Tracy.”

I sat up and fell to the floor on my knees and then pushed my way between her legs. I untangled our hands and cupped her jaw instead. For the first time in ten years, my lashes were wet. I could count on one hand the number of times I let emotions get the best of me: I cried when my parents died, when Tracy died, and in this moment. “Say it again because I don’t know if I heard you right the first time.” My thumb brushed away the wetness on her cheek, and her hand held mine against her face.

She shut her eyes, leaning into me and soaking up my touch like a sponge. Drops of tears formed on her lashes like rain, waiting to fall, but they hung there, filling to the brim until they burst.

“I believe you, Jaxon. I have always known. I’ve always known,” she started to sob. “I always knew, but I let fear and Brian control me because it was easier. I know you did not do it. I feel it.” She took our hands and placed them over her heart. “Right here. I have known all along, but I spent ten years with a man that bashed you every day, and I believed him. Being around you, it’s reminded me of who you are and what you are capable of, but I know you aren’t capable of killing someone you care about, especially someone like Tracy. God, Jaxon. I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry I wasn’t there for you. I don’t deserve for you to love me when I’ve done nothing to earn it. I’m so fucking sorry I abandoned you when you needed me.” Her words were hard to hear since she cried so hard, but I was able to make them out.

I brushed my hand through her hair and closed my eyes, thanking whatever god, whatever devil, whatever high power that allowed her to come to this realization. “Thank you,” I said. “Thank you for believing in me.” I pressed my lips against hers, gentle and soft. I didn’t want to rush this moment. I thought about us reuniting for the past ten years. It started to feel like a silly dream, one that I could never obtain, but here I was, kissing the lips of the woman that had owned me for nearly half of my fucking life.

I tasted her tears; the salt and regret were like a familiar taste of poison. They were addicting, something that could kill me if I wasn’t careful, but I didn’t care. I had been dying languidly over the years and having her lips against me again made me feel like there was a reason to this life. I had been living in a damn veil, a fogged mind, waiting for her to come back to me.

The fog has lifted, and I can think clearly again.

Without unlocking our lips, I picked her up by her thighs, and she tightened her legs around my hips. I didn’t need to watch where I was going. I knew this house better than I knew the wrinkles on my palm. Her lips pried mine open, giving me teasing circles of her mouth before her tongue flicked out to trace the seam of my mouth. I groaned as she kissed me how she wanted to, taking what she needed

Our past couldn’t compare to what was happening between us now. We had hit the reset button. Everything felt new, as if I had never kissed her before. My heart was a gavel hitting my chest with every glide of her lips. She was unknown territory all over again, and I couldn’t wait to explore the ways she had changed.

“Open the bedroom door, baby,” I murmured against her mouth, and her nails scratched down my ribs before reaching around me and pushing the door open.

Once we stepped over that threshold, all bets were fucking off.

Chapter Sixteen

Quinn

Jaxon took a step back into the bedroom, and darkness engulfed us. A thud told me he kicked the door shut, then he fell against the wall, kissing me like our lives depended on it. He sucked the air right out of my lungs, and all that was left to breathe was him. We fumbled in the darkness, completely new to touching each other’s bodies as my hands roamed his chest, and his palms squeezed my ass, more tentative than I thought he’d be.

The room soaked in our moans and grunts as we moved throughout the room. He rolled us until my back hit the wall and rutted his hardness between my thighs, pressing against my clit in the most delicious way. My back arched from the wall, and I pushed against his fat crown for more. I needed more.

The callouses on his fingers scratched across my inner wrist, wrapping the thick digits around my fragile bone as he pinned my arms against the wall. The only leverage that kept me around his waist was from my legs wrapped around his hips and my back against the wall as he savaged my mouth with his.

“God, you taste so fucking good.” A deep resonating rumble reverberated his chest, growling as he dove his tongue between my lips and licked the roof of my mouth. “I want to taste you everywhere.” Jaxon’s teeth bit my bottom lip and tugged. “Missed this mouth,” he said and let go of my arms. The feather touch of his large palms sliding down my arms took me by surprise. I expected rough, bruises, pinches, and bites, but Jaxon took his time, touching spots I had no idea were sensitive. He stopped beside the curve of my breasts and gripped, letting out a shaky breath as he trailed down to grip the bottom of my shirt.

Cool air slithered across my stomach as the shirt got higher. My nipples were already tight from the arousal heating my blood. His thumbs brushed over the sensitive peaks, and a small mewl squeaked from me, and he pinched the elongated buds causing pain to spread through my tits.

“I bet I could make you come with nipple play, couldn’t I?” He rolled them between his fingers and tugged until a sharp inhale had my jaw falling open. He cocked his head and slanted his lips right above mine but didn’t touch me; he didn’t give me what I wanted. “Couldn’t I?”

I tried reaching for his lips again and got a quick kiss, but he pulled away.

“Answer me,” he demanded and flicked my nipples at the same time.

“Yes! Yes, please,” I begged him. Begged him for what? I had no idea; I just knew I wanted more of what he was doing to me. Since it was dark and I couldn’t see his face, all of my other senses were on high alert.

The rough scratch of his beard grazed my collarbone as he sucked on the spot beneath my ear. His fingertips dug into my ass as he picked me up again and carried me over to the bed. He tossed me through the air, and I landed on the bed. Jaxon watched my body bounce and reached behind his head to shuck off his shirt.

Some things didn’t change. He took off his shirt the exact same way when we were teens, and something about the way he pulled off his clothes had my pussy pulsating for his thick cock. One hand landed on the right side of me, and then the other on my left, he prowled toward me, crawling over my body like a lion waiting to feast. He stopped at the waistband of the grey joggers and with each tug, gave me a kiss on my stomach. He buried his nose in the blonde hair, settled on my pussy, and inhaled.