Pretty Little Hellion (Rocker Universe: Pretty Little #3)

8. Hayat

Chapter Eight

Hayat

When it felt like my life was out of control, I did things I knew that I could control. Sometimes it was cooking until I ran out of ingredients. Or I went into my studio and edited new content to schedule for my different platforms.

Or I played my favorite song over and over and over and over again. It was one of Demon’s Wing’s older songs, one that Poppy had spent an entire school break helping me learn to perfection.

Fuck, that had been a great summer.

Abi and I would go to Poppy and Gammy’s house almost every day. When Poppy and I weren’t practicing my favorite song, he was out in the ocean on a surfboard with us.

Then we would come in and eat the treats Gammy had baked for us all afternoon. Some nights, we wouldn’t even go home, because Poppy and Gammy’s house was home too. And our parents wouldn’t question if we were behaving or up to things that would require bail. Because Poppy would never let us get caught, but if by some chance we did get arrested—it was only once, but no one ever let us forget about it—he was in cuffs beside us.

He’d taught me something valuable that day.

Never bloody your knuckles on anyone when something was always within reach that could get the job done instead. Like a baseball bat or a skateboard. It had been super convenient that the guy I’d gotten into a fight with that particular day had been on his skateboard outside the movie theater where we had just watched one of Arella’s newest villainess movies. Poppy had pulled up to pick up Abi, Maddie, and me. The douchebag went to Maddie’s school, not mine, and he’d said some not-so-nice things about Maddie.

Without hesitation, Abi tripped him. While he was getting up, limping and whining about his ankle, I’d picked up his skateboard and smashed him in the face with it. Too bad the douchebag’s dad had been there to pick him up too. His dad had charged at me before I’d known it, but Poppy had intercepted him with a punch to the gut and then a knee to the face while he was bent in half.

Poppy, Abi, and I had all been in handcuffs when Mom, Kin, Trinity, and Aunt Emmie had arrived. We got off with a warning because apparently Douchebag and his dad had run their mouths so much the cops had gotten annoyed with them. It helped that Aunt Emmie was friends with the Los Angeles mayor and had called in a favor.

At least, I was going to assume that was what happened.

Now that I knew she was friends with Anya Vitucci, I would forever be questioning every “favor” Emmie Armstrong called in.

After the shitshow between Maddie and me the night before, I was desperate to regain a little control. Jamie wouldn’t let me cook because I needed to keep ice on my hand. And none of my guys would let me go down to the studio to either edit content or just play my favorite song for the same reason.

My hand didn’t even hurt when I woke up the next morning. Other than a little discoloration on a few knuckles, there were no other signs that I’d attempted to break Maddie’s face after she had broken my heart.

Being careful not to wake Jamie and Sparks, I wiggled my way out of bed and tiptoed into the bathroom. I rushed through my morning routine and skipped a shower because I’d taken one before Jamie and Sparks had tucked me between them the night before.

I might not have felt so twitchy and out of control if they had fucked me into a coma, but they had been strict about me getting plenty of rest.

Pulling on one of Jamie’s hoodies and fresh panties, I shifted so I could see myself in the mirror. With only a few inches difference in height between any of my guys and me, I didn’t get swallowed by the material like some girls did when they borrowed their boyfriend’s clothes. The hoodie hit the tops of my thighs, leaving the underside of my ass cheeks exposed. It was comfortable, which was my only requirement for what I wore. But I knew my rockers would think I looked sexy, which was a definite plus.

Walking into the kitchen, I quickly sent a picture of my hand to my mom, showing her that I was completely fine. That got me a thumbs-up emoji and a reminder that both my parents wanted to have a “chat” soon.

Which only made my need for control that much more intense.

Grabbing all the ingredients I needed for waffles, I got busy cooking. At least the guys had kept the fridge and the pantry better stocked since I’d been sleeping over so often. Putting some bacon in the oven, I straightened to find Ky walking into the kitchen.

He wore a muscle shirt and athletic shorts. Given that he was drenched in sweat, I knew he’d been down in the gym when I’d woken up and he wasn’t in bed with us. His eyes widened at all the food already prepared.

“I’m going to need to double up on workouts if you keep feeding us like this, babe.” Crossing to me, he grasped my wrist so he could lift my hand for a thorough inspection. “Any pain?”

“Nope. Just a little tightness in the middle knuckle, but I’ll have it stretched out before tonight.” Tugging my hand free, I grabbed a mug and filled it with fresh coffee. Once it was doctored the way I liked, I leaned back against the counter beside the stove, watching him over the rim as he pulled a bottle of water from the fridge.

His shoulders were up, almost as if he was preparing for an argument. He and I had plenty we needed to talk about, but I wasn’t confident about what answers I would get to some of my questions, so I wasn’t about to dive into the deep end of that mess with him.

Ky, however, had other plans, it seemed. After gulping down half the bottle, he slammed it down on the island counter. His eyes were wild, frantic, begging me. “I didn’t know Maddie shared my phone’s location with hers.”

“I believe you,” I told him, calm to his feral.

Which threw him off. He blinked a few times, no doubt replaying my words over in his head. “You believe me?”

“Are you repeating what I said, or asking me a question?”

“I…” His shoulders drooped. “I don’t know. I was expecting… Well, not this.”

My brows pulled together. “Do you want me to react however you envisioned? I can if you need me to.” I set down my mug and covered my face with both hands, imagining that was how Arella got into character for her roles. Dropping my hands to my sides, I fisted them as I scowled at my boyfriend. But when I opened my mouth to yell at him, all that came out was a giggle. “Nope, sorry. I got nothing right now. Maybe later.”

Relief flooded his face, his lips tipping up at the corners in an all-too-brief smile. “I fucking love you, Hellion.”

I rounded the island and wrapped myself around him. He instantly cupped the back of my head in one hand and grabbed my ass with the other. “I love you too.”

He kissed my brow, and I could feel the tension slowly melting from his muscles. “I wasn’t purposely keeping anything from you. Maddie texted me a few times the last couple of days. And there were maybe two or three calls that I let go to voice mail. I didn’t respond to any of the messages. I didn’t mention them to you because they were just random things that didn’t even register until she was standing in front of us last night. When she brought it up, it only then clicked that my not telling you, not being transparent with you, could be a big issue between us. And I might have panicked a little.”

Leaning into him, I didn’t care about how sweaty he was. All I wanted was his warmth to soak into me. Something Pop-Pop had said the day before replayed in my mind, and my heart ached. When was the last time Ky had felt safe to show affection? I doubted it had been during the time he’d had to live with his father and stepmother.

His love for me made him vulnerable, and I was well aware of how people could react when they were vulnerable.

Tipping my head back slightly, I met his gaze. “Everything Maddie said last night was meant to hurt me. And I’m going to be honest with you, she did an excellent job of it. I can take strangers throwing nasty words at me, but having family do that… It’s a different kind of pain.”

His throat worked several times before he spoke. “Trust me, baby. I know that more than anyone.”

“When she brought up texting and calling you, I got insecure. But I’m glad you explained everything without it having time to fester inside me and making me doubt you. Last night was difficult for me, for a number of reasons. So, thank you for explaining your side of things.” I stroked my hand over his sweaty, stubbled jaw. “You and I, we have a lot to work on, and I don’t want Maddie to be something that continually puts a wedge between us.”

“I don’t either. Which is why I blocked her last night. She’s in a bad place right now mentally, and I hate that because of my brother, she is fighting some dark demons. But I won’t let her use me to hurt you.”

I didn’t know how to react to what he’d confessed. Blocking her was not something I would have asked of him, even if it was what I wanted. But he and Maddie were friends, and I was aware of how much staying in Avalyn’s life meant to him.

As if he could read my mind, he explained, “If my niece needs anything, Trinity or Jarrett or even Banks can let me know. But Maddie is not going to be part of my life going forward. Not only did she cross a line by sharing my phone’s location with herself, but she went after you. And that is something I will not tolerate.”

Throat tight with emotion, I kissed him. I didn’t want to think about how he was blocking someone from his life we had both considered a friend. How she had razed my heart to nothing but rubble. I didn’t want to remember how jealous I’d been when Maddie hugged him.

It was easier to block out the pain of the night before than the jealousy. That green-eyed monster demanded I leave my mark on Ky, so Maddie and every other woman in the world knew who he belonged to.

My kiss turned demanding, my teeth nipping at his bottom lip until I tasted the metallic flavor of his blood. His chest rumbled with a growl, reminding me that he was the feral one in this relationship. Grinning against his lips, I wrapped my long legs around his waist when he grabbed my ass with both hands and lifted me.

Backing me up against the counter, he sat me down and broke the kiss only long enough to get the hoodie over my head. My hair fell along my shoulders, veiling my breasts from him. His kiss was ravenous, but that was exactly what I wanted. Sucking his bottom lip hard, I got another taste of his blood on my tongue.

Ky explored my body with his hands while our wild kiss burned us both. I was so lost in how much I loved having his hands all over me, I didn’t realize he’d torn off my panties until I felt the tip of his cock at my opening.

I was already dripping for him, and he pushed inside without pausing. Whimpering at the thick invasion, I clawed at his back, my nails leaving deep scratches as he pounded into me, beyond his limit of control as he possessed my willing body.

His fingers gripped me so hard, he would have left bruises if I were one of those delicate, Georgia-peach type of girls. Ky was hungry, desperate, out of control. But his lack of control gave me that intoxicating sensation of holding all the power. All the control.

And that was what I needed most.

“Didn’t know I fucking needed anyone like this until I got my cock in this tight pussy.” Ky’s breaths were labored, his voice like gravel. Sweat glittered on his skin, soaking his hair, drenching his already-saturated shirt. He pressed his face into my throat while he continued to own my body. “Didn’t know it was possible to love anyone this damn much until you stole my heart, Havoc.”

When he lifted his head, I saw those stormy gray eyes were drugged. “Hayat,” he choked, his hips pumping at a brutal pace, pounding his monster cock into me so hard that I could feel his heartbeat in every pulsing vein. “Love you.” Pound. “Love you.” Pound. “Love you.”

I could hear the truth in his voice, desperate for me to believe him, twisted around the vulnerability and heartbreaking fear that I wouldn’t love him back with the same intensity I saw shining out of those amazing eyes.

“Ky,” I whispered, wanting to tell him how much I loved him. That I was never going to let him go. Even if he got stupid again, I wasn’t going to let him self-sabotage what was between us.

But before I could find the words to reassure him, I felt him shudder, and we were both free-falling into the chaotic bliss of release.