“It’s going to suck for him once he realizes it. He looks pretty convinced he’s got this one in the bag.”
“He doesn’t.”
Winston wraps his other hand around her back. It looks as if they’re slow dancing, having a moment, and she’s not fighting him off like he was an attacker.
He doesn’t have this in the bag.
Does he?
The week starts off great with Piper coming over after our time at the office, and on Wednesday I cook us up a five-star feast of frozen waffles and bacon. I offered to take her to dinner, but she swears she’d rather eat at my place.
“You mind if I turn the channel?” she asks.
“Go ahead. I’m not watching anything. I just turned it on.”
“Just making sure. It’s wrestling or some shit. You boys and your fascination of watching two grown men rubbing each other down with lube—I don’t get it.”
I peer over at the screen. “That’s an MMA fight, sweetie. Those boys are out for blood and balls—” I look to her, and the spatula nearly drops from my hand. Piper never wanted my permission to turn the channel. She was merely trying to get me to acknowledge the fact she’s stripped off her T-shirt and sprawled over my sofa in a pair of skintight jeans and an emerald green bra.
“Holy shit.” I switch off the stove and bring the plate of bacon over to her. “I may have forgotten to tell you, but I’m allergic to the color green.” I slide in next to her and pull her onto my lap.
“Oh?” She flirts mercilessly with those iconic thick lashes that have been whipping me into submission from the get-go. “I’d hate to induce an allergy attack. Why don’t I just take this off?”
“Nope.” I reach back and land my fingers over the clasp. “That’s my job.” My gut says take it slow with Piper, but I’ve been craving that body since she first held it against me. She’s been pretty free with the kisses and heavy on the flirting, so I don’t see why not.
“Actually.” She plucks her phone from her jeans. “One quick parting shot?” She leans in and snaps away before I can protest the idea.
“You working on a scrapbook?” I tease, taking a bite out of her lip, then pecking a soft string of kisses straight down her neck.
“Scrapbook?” A girlish giggle bounces through her, and I eat it up. I love this soft, playful side of Piper. “Oh, honey, this is for the dartboard. Say cheese!” She leans in and licks a line up my face as she snaps away.
I pluck the phone from her and toss it to the floor.
“I’ve got a dartboard in my bedroom I don’t mind pinning you down to.” My lips press into that tender spot behind her ear, and I can feel her go rigid beneath me. Shit. “I’m sorry.” I lean back, my hands in the surrender position. “I promise we can take it slow. Nothing ever needs to happen. I just like having you near me, Piper.” God’s honest truth right there.
“Liar.” It comes out curt, hurt. “I’m only half-teasing.” She tries to play it off with a quiet laugh. “I mean, I want this with you.” That hurt in her eyes returns on cue, and it breaks my heart to pieces to witness. “I think maybe we have something special.”
“I know we do.” I say it serious, no smile. There is no way in hell I want Piper to think that I’m toying with her. “This is real. We’re growing something, and I know it’s going to be fantastic.”
Her teeth graze over her lower lip. “I’ve never met anyone like you, Owen. You make me feel safe—even if I am pretty lousy at feeling that way.”
“You can trust me.” I clasp my fingers over hers without taking my eyes off those stormy blue eyes.
She takes my hands and leads them to the back of her bra. “Go ahead.” Her gaze presses into mine. “I want you to.”
My mouth waters just thinking about it. It took more control than I thought I had the other day not to take a bite out of the girls. I want to land my mouth over them and suck her down, make her come just like that. For the first time in the history of my sexual escapades, it doesn’t all have to be about me, even if my dick protests the idea. I’d like nothing more than to give Piper pleasure, put a smile on her face any way I can. I want to see her lost in ecstasy. I want to be the one to get her there.
I unhook her bra and hold on to the tension, examining her perfect lips, her heavily lidded eyes set dead on me. “Do you want this?” I’m not sure why, but everything in me screams baby steps.
Her tongue does a swift revolution over her lips, wetting them down with an anticipatory shine. “Do you?”
“Yes, hell yes, but if things are moving too fast, I want you to tell me.” I haven’t had a relationship—not a real one—in so long that I can’t tell if we’re moving at lightning speed or a snail’s pace. “We have forever.” My gut tightens because a part of me wonders if that was a lie. It wasn’t. Piper and I can take our time because I’m not going anywhere, and I hope she’s not either.
“Forever?” She sighs through a smile as her finger touches over my features. “I like the sound of that.”
I let go of her straps, and they snap to the front, pushing her bra up over her tits. There they are, perky and glad to see me. Piper takes the green silk contraption and sends it sailing across the room.
My hands drift to her waist, higher still until I’m cupping the girls. “I’m going to kiss you right there.”
She takes a breath as the apples of her cheeks light up a bright pink. I pull her mouth to mine and love her like that just enough to reassure her that I’m not here for some joy ride. I want this, all of it. My lips cascade down her cheek, her neck as she leans back for me to take the lead. I draw a line down her chest with my tongue until my mouth clamps over her left nipple. A deep groan works its way up from my gut. Just died and went to heaven. Piper is soft. Cotton candy sweet. My teeth graze over her, and I suck her down.
Piper lets out a sharp cry as her hips grind over my lap. She’s already at the finish line, and I haven’t even gotten out of the gate.
A series of hard thumps emit over the door. “Owen? It’s me! Open up!”
“Shit.” I lean back and press down my cock to abort this mission.
“Who’s that?” Piper hops off and tosses on her T-shirt.
“I have a feeling I know who.”
“Wow”—that jagged edge returns to her voice—“you must be really good to have them beating down your door.”
“I am, but this one is knocking for another reason.” I swing open the door to see my kid sister Ava with her mascara smeared down to her cheeks, her hair sticking to her beet red face. “Jeez.” I pull her in and give her a hug. Ava sobs onto my shoulder before I can ask what’s wrong. Ava is a junior in high school. Up until last year, she was at Davenport, the same elite private school Aubree and I went to for years. As a part of my father’s tough-love campaign, he’s plucked her right out of that posh institute of learning and thrown her into the nearest public school. “Who do I have to kill?”
“Nobody.” She pushes past me and hiccups her way to the couch. Ava stops short once she spots Piper. “On second thought, everybody—and you can start with the skank in the middle of your living room.” She kicks the sofa table before falling onto the couch.
“Be nice,” I scold. “Piper, this my little sister, Ava. Ava, this is Piper, my—” Shit. Girlfriend feels natural, but I can’t seem to push the word out. It’s too soon. Giving someone that title before it’s time, before you’ve discussed it, only makes you look like a desperate ass.
“Your skank,” Ava finishes the sentence for me.
Piper balls her fists onto her hips and cocks her head while studying my not-so sweet little sister.
“Oh, honey, I’m nobody’s skank.” Piper says it hard, and for a second I wonder how loud the explosion is going to be when these two powder kegs set one another on fire. But Piper softens and takes a seat on the table across from Ava. “Is that what’s happening to you? Are people accusing you of doing things you didn’t do?”
Ava brings her knees up until
she’s peering from between them at Piper.
“It happened to me.” Piper shrugs, her voice so soft I hardly recognize it. “I had a pretty shitty time in high school.”
Knew it.
“How did you get through it?” Ava squeaks, her chest still heaving. Her face is blotched, her raccoon eyes elongating with every tear, and I hand her a paper towel from off the sink.
“I just did. I stuck my nose to the wind and didn’t give a flying fuck about all that bullshit. Stupid people love to start rumors. And stupid people love to listen to them. It’s a pretty crappy scenario. Do you have any good friends you can hang out with?”
Ava gives a sober nod. “Like three.”
“Three is more than enough. Do you have lunch the same period?”
Ava nods again. Something about the exchange taking place warms my heart. Ava has needed a big sister ever since Aubree disappeared from our lives. My father and mother take Ava out with them every other weekend to see her. In that respect, they haven’t cut anyone out entirely, at least not Aubree. And I fill in the odd weekends they’re not there, so that my big sister will have someone to look forward to each time Saturday rolls around. It’s been tough, but no matter how messed up she is, a part of me still insists on being there for her.
Piper rubs her hand over Ava’s shoulder. “You’re going to be just fine.” She pulls her into a hearty embrace. “Don’t listen to those assholes.” She gets up and stands on her tiptoes to whisper into my ear, “That green 34C you’re allergic to is at ten o’clock.”
“Got it.”
“It was nice meeting you, Ava!” Piper heads to the door, and I meet her there with a kiss. “I’ve got an Alpha Chi thing.” She makes a face. “It’s back to the ponytail rodeo for me. I’ll talk to you soon.” She takes off, and I watch as her hips swivel all the way to the elevator.
“She’s nice.” Ava picks up the remote and puts on a cooking show—a cupcake battle that I’m sure our cousin Roxy could win hands down.
“Piper is nice.”
I’m glad someone other than me thinks so.
“You should consider keeping that one.” Ava smirks. “I’m glad I got to meet her.”
“Duly noted.” My eyes drift back to the empty space in the hall—my mouth still hungry for more of Piper’s sweetness. I’m glad she had a chance to meet Ava. I’ve got another sister I think it’s time she meets—one who has a hell of a lot to say about that ponytail rodeo she’s so desperate to join.
Aubree should know what a dangerous and shitty place Alpha Chi really is.
After all, she invented the rules.
****THANK YOU for reading this preview of Wild Kisses (3:AM Kisses 7). This book is currently available through Kindle Unlimited! Happy reading! XOXO
Naughty by Nature
Addison Moore
Edited by Paige Maroney Smith
Cover Design: Gaffey Media
Hollis Thatcher Press, LTD.
Copyright © 2017 by Addison Moore
http://addisonmoorewrites.blogspot.com/
This novel is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to peoples either living or deceased is purely coincidental. Names, places, and characters are figments of the author’s imagination. The author holds all rights to this work. It is illegal to reproduce this novel without written expressed consent from the author herself.
All Rights Reserved.
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Copyright © 2017 by Addison Moore
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Chapter 1 * Midnight Mischief
Poppy
Jaxson Stade is a Roman statue come to life, carved by the ancient masters with a body of a god and a heart of impenetrable steel—most likely fashioned by those rolls of alloy that have made his family billionaires ten times over. It’s hard to believe after all these years we’re in the same room, feet on the floor within fighting distance in the very same bar. A live band croons in the corner, an entire crowd of bodies hustles for space between us as the scent of stale fries and beer fills my senses, but it’s Jaxson and his obnoxious presence that has my full attention.
A tiny blonde scoots in beside me. “Poppy Montgomery! Now is that a look of yearning or burning on your pretty little face?”
I glance over at my best friend, whom I haven’t seen in the flesh in far too long, and dive into a quick embrace. “It’s a look of churning—as in revulsion. And by the way, I’m pretty sure yearning and burning are one in the same, Sadie Richards.” I pull her into a hug with an explosion of laughter as we bounce up and down like six-year-olds.
“I’m so happy to have you back!” Her blonde curls dust my face as she does her best to crush my ribcage. “You can never leave again. I’m not letting you go.” Sadie is a pixy incarnate. Tiny features, sparkling pink lips, big blue doe eyes—Sadie is gorgeous enough to make anyone with an X-chromosome look twice. She’s petite and beautiful and an all-around vixen—and she just so happens to be coming off of what she refers to as her very first divorce. It’s safe to say, Sadie is planning on amassing her fair share of exes. “Are you scoping out the midnight offerings?” She bumps my hip with her own.
Midnight. I shudder at the prospect of being void a set of lips to press against mine at that annual bewitching hour.
New Year’s Eve is just the kind of holiday that requires copious amounts of alcohol, lots of carnal cavorting with friends and potential lovers alike, and, perhaps best of all, a sexual situation brewing around midnight. But this New Year’s Eve is different. It’s my first in Oak Grove since I left five years ago. I’ve been back for the odd obligatory holiday, this last Christmas withstanding. My family alternates hosting the holy holiday with the Stade family every other year—as in Jaxson Stade’s family—and every other year I’m magically and mysteriously unable to make it. While I was still in college, my tried-and-true excuse was citing post-final exhaust, and after graduation a faux internship cropped up, but this past Christmas, I was wrapping up my last two weeks at work as a design consultant to an impressive L.A. firm. Yes, five years at a private college on a beach in Santa Barbara has done me well. I managed to land myself a cushy position at a top firm touted highly by everyone who is anyone in La La Land. But I digress as my eyes fall back on the sight they’ve been craving for oh so long, Jaxson Stade… don’t even get me started on that hot body. I bite down over my lower lip as an aching sigh expels from me.
“He is a sight to behold.” A dark-haired beauty, smelling of that sweet familiar tea-scented perfume I’ve come to associate with my sister, pops up on my left.
“Mackenzie!” I pull her into a tight embrace as my second hug-fest of the evening ensues. Back in L.A., I’ve yet to hug a single soul. Come to find out, such a show of affection is practically illegal in the City of Angels. In its place are well-delineated physical boundaries and sexual assault infringements. “Is Conner here?” Conner is Mack’s twin, and thankfully our one and only overprotective brother. Back in high school, I couldn’t go two steps with a date without Conner giving them a shakedown worthy of an FBI investigation.
Mack squawks at the prospect. “Conner took off with some hot blonde over an hour ago—but never mind our whorish big bro. You really took a crap on Christmas this year, Pops. We missed you.”
It makes my stomach churn to hear her say that. Sure, I feel guilty missing other holidays, too, but missing Christmas feels like something just this side of a felony. Christmas is huge in my family, and I hate that I missed out on all the caroling and cavorting because I’m essentially a coward. I shoot Jax a k
nife-sharp look because we both know it’s all his fault.
“I’m here now.” I pat Mack over the shoulders, drinking down this slightly older version of myself, same dark wavy hair, same lucent green eyes. My mother called us her Irish twins mostly because we were born a year apart—she didn’t let the sheets cool as she so indelicately puts it. But to this day, I think the reference has more to do with these emerald lenses we get to see the world through. “And I’m ready to take a crap all over the New Year, too, so you’d better watch out. Where’s your better half?” Mack married her longtime boyfriend, Dave Holiday, right out of high school. They’ve been hitched for a blissful six years and have a boy and a girl underfoot already, Ellie and Benny. Well— blissful might be a tad exaggerating. An acid tongue is a longtime family trait that has been passed down on our mother’s side, and is something both my sister and I have in common. Apparently, it doesn’t bode well for spouses, thus the constant strife the two young lovebirds face, and sadly thus the constant strife in their marriage.
“My other half is probably literally crapping. He tapped out and sent me into the wild. I knew you’d be here, and I wouldn’t miss it. Did you see Mom?”
“Only for a second. My flight came in late, and by the time I dragged my luggage into the house, she and Dad were already headed up to bed. She pointed me to the party and hit the sack.” It’s true. Everybody, including my mother, knows that the Starry Nights Bar and Grill is the place to be on this the lustiest night of the year—and every night outside of that, considering that it’s the beating heart of Oak Grove. This is basically it as far as the party scene goes, and judging by how packed it is, the locals and the Denver overflow alike don’t seem to mind it.
“So, what do you think?” Sadie hooks her arm through mine as she nods over toward Jax and the horny little harem amassing around him.