Accidental Abduction (Masked Men of Sage Springs #1)

Chapter Sixteen

Charley

My hands shook with nerves as I carried my breakfast out to the great room, placing it on the table in front of the fireplace. I seriously needed to take a seat before I spilled coffee all over myself.

Holy shit.

I knew this morning would change things, but I hadn’t expected to feel so fucking anxious in Hudson’s presence. And thrown off by the heat in his eyes after I confessed that last night wasn’t the first time he’d turned me on. He had to know how attractive he was. Women hit on him all the time. But he was so fucking loyal I doubted he’d looked at another woman in four years.

Before I could freak out again, feeling a misplaced sense of guilt toward Viv of all fucking people, Hudson sat down on the couch beside me.

“Were you serious in there?” he asked, leaning back into the corner of the couch. He casually brought his mug to his lips, taking a sip. When I didn’t answer him, he raised an eyebrow, and I fought the urge to crawl into his lap.

The man was like catnip, and my pussy was feeling particularly feral this morning.

Deciding that maybe it was better just to get my feelings out in the open, I let all the thoughts that I’d kept inside for a long time out in one nervous ramble.

“You’re really fucking hot. And you used to spend half the summer with your shirt off. But that isn’t why you turn me on. You’re a catch. Like I can’t believe how much of a catch you are sometimes because of all the dumb shit you and Reid did in high school. But the post college glow up on your personality—despite your horrible taste in girlfriends—was pretty fucking unexpected. I tried to hate you. I wanted to hate you, but you made it really fucking difficult. Did you honestly not realize I had a crush on you?”

“No.”

“Men.” His deep chuckle after I rolled my eyes made me feel warm inside.

And now he was staring at me with a stunned expression on his really fucking hot face that caused me to unleash a stream of verbal diarrhea I couldn’t take back.

“You really have no idea how kind you are. Like looking at you, you’d expect some cocky, tattooed asshole who thought his shit didn’t stink, but you’re not. You’re humble, and you admit when you’re wrong. You always try to see the best in people—or at least that’s the only fucking reason I can come up with as to why you let that emotional vampire of a woman yank you around for four years.”

“She wasn’t that bad in the beginning...” he said quietly, but the glare I gave him in response had him shutting his mouth.

“Yes, she was. You never saw the nasty side of her personality that she only aimed at Hazel and me. But I’ll forgive a mistake you made when you were twenty-six driven by hormones. Just like I’m hoping you’ll forgive me for not telling you who I was last night while we were on the dance floor. I should have said something, but I didn’t.”

Hudson turned, placing his coffee on the table, and bracing his forearms on his thighs.

My fingers itched with the need to touch him, but I just watched as he processed everything I’d just said to him.

It was...a lot.

“How long?”

If I wasn’t paying attention to his every move, I might have missed the whispered question. I’d been embarrassingly honest with him up to this point, but confessing how long he’d been the benchmark I judged every other man by brought out the nervous sarcasm.

“Well, from what I remember of last night, it was a pretty solid seven, maybe even an eight, but you might need to let me check again.”

“Not my dick, holy fucking shit, Charley,” he growled. “How long have you had a crush on me?”

“I met you when I was ten.” He froze, slowly turning his head in my direction, and I suddenly wanted to take my chances surviving in the snow outside when I saw the panicked expression on his face.

“Oh my God. I’m a fucking pervert. I slept with…” he whispered, but I cut him off before the panic spiral could start.

“Hudson, I’m twenty-five. I’m not a preteen girl with a childish fascination anymore.” He nodded, but his hands were still balled into fists. “I’m also not going to apologize for liking you. You now know I think you’re pretty fucking amazing. And now that Viv is out of the picture…”

He looked stricken when I finally said her name.

“I thought you were her.”

Nodding, I bit my lip and whispered the question that had been building in my head since last night. “But did you really?”

“I, uh…” he stuttered, but I knew my hunch was right, and I pushed on.

“You guys have been together for over four years. Did it ever feel like that with her?”

He scrubbed his hands over his face before he shook his head. “I thought maybe it was the adrenaline or something.”

“Yeah, or something . Your ex was a self-centered bitch who was never nice to you. And you knew the moment you shoved your hand into my shorts that I was not her. You probably knew before that while I had my lips wrapped around your dick.”

“I…” he trailed off, but judging by the deep exhale he let out, he was coming to the same realization I had. He knew deep down that he was with someone else, but once he got that first rush of the chase, he kept going .

“I’m willing to bet she never got down on her knees like that for you either.”

“That’s… is that really any of your business?”

“No, but the fact you’re not denying it is enough of a confirmation for me. You knew it wasn’t her before you fucked me. And you did it anyway.”

And I wasn’t going to let him talk himself out of enjoying it. He craved the rush of sex that intense like I did.

“And I’m willing to bet she never would have let you mark her like this.” I grabbed his hand, pulling it toward me and placing it on the bruise covering my upper thigh.

His thumb traced the marred skin, and I knew his sister was never getting these shorts back. Because his gentle touch was making me ruin them since I still wasn’t wearing any underwear.

Using my other hand, I turned his face toward me. His eyes followed my fingers as I gently pulled down the neckline of his shirt, showing him the bite mark on my neck.

He reached out, tracing his fingertip over the bruise forming.

“Last night was… I’ve never done anything like that before. I’m sorry if I hurt you.”

“You don’t need to be sorry. It’s not that big of a deal.”

He shook his head, wrapping his warm palm around the back of my neck and bringing his forehead to touch mine.

“It is to me. I don’t ever want to hurt you.”

Closing my eyes and breathing him in for a moment, I lowered my voice and reassured him that everything was okay between us. Or at least I hoped it would be. “Hudson, I was practically begging you to do it. It’s okay that we got a little carried away when we fucked. If I wanted to stop you, I would have.”

“You should have.”

“Because you think I shouldn’t want you?”

He shook his head, his warm breath coasting across my lips. He was so close, but I didn’t dare move for fear he’d pull away from me completely.

“Because I want you.” His fingers tightened on the back of my neck, his thumb tracing the tender skin on the side of my neck where he’d marked me. “And I don’t think I can stop. Not knowing what I do now.”

My heart pounded as he held me there. And I hoped he’d let himself feel the intensity of the connection between us.

“Then don’t fucking stop.”