Road to Victory (Dogs of Fire Book 5) Read online

  “Huh-uh,” he countered. “It was before that... when you and Dani came to Blush.”

  “You were there?” I asked.

  “Yeah, I was.” He stroked my cheek and I found myself leaning into his hand. “Pissed that Mack got you first, but saw you the second you walked in.”

  “He didn’t actually get me.”

  Knight smiled. “I know that now, but back then, I couldn’t touch you.”

  The stupid Dogs of Fire bro code.

  “What changed?” I asked.

  “Mack married Darien.”

  “He didn’t get me long before Dare.”

  “Yeah, but you were off-limits.” He stepped away from me and grabbed his beer. “Well, until the night you were hurt... then we came to an understanding.”

  “Mack has no say over anything regarding my life.”

  “It’s cute that you think that.” He took a swig of his beer as he leaned against the island. “Club rules, babe.”

  I rolled my eyes. “You know, your rules are kind of stupid.”

  He shrugged. “Kinda good for me to hear that, sugar.”

  “Um, no, that doesn’t mean anything regarding us, Knight. It’s more of a general observation.”

  He dropped his head back and laughed. “Okay, Kimmie. Whatever you need to tell yourself.”

  I decided I’d rather finish my sandwich than volley words with him, so I took another bite. I was hungry and he was smart, so I knew that if I attempted to engage, I’d more than likely starve and he’d win.

  Knight helped me clean up after we finished our food, and then he took my hand and led me to the sofa, pulling me down beside him. He wrapped an arm around me, effectively locking me against him, his arm like a vice. “Who was that man?”

  “What man?”

  “Kim, this is gonna go better if you don’t try to fuck around, yeah?”

  I sighed. “My uncle.”

  “Ah, right the senator. I knew I recognized him,” he said. “Why are you afraid of him?”

  “I’m not,” I lied.

  He smacked my leg gently with the hand wrapped around my thigh. “Sugar.”

  “I’m not telling you that, Aidan.”

  “Yeah, babe you are.”

  I moved to stand, but he held me where I was. My efforts were futile, the man was six-foot-six and stronger than even his height would suggest, but I still tried.

  “Kim. Settle,” he demanded.

  “I’m settled.”

  He sighed. “Tell me why you’re afraid of your uncle.”

  “No.”

  “Yes.”

  I pressed my lips into a thin line and pulled my knees to my chest, wrapping my arms around my legs.

  “Sugar, this is a safe space. You can tell me anything.”

  I shook my head. I was not going down this road with him.

  “I’m not leavin’ ’til you tell me.”

  “Well, you’re gonna be here a while then, and you’re not moving in, Knight.”

  He gave me a gentle squeeze. “I am if you stay silent.”

  “You’re impossible.”

  “I haven’t even begun to be impossible, sugar.”

  I scowled at him and shook my head.

  He stared me down. “Got all day, Kim.”

  “Well, I don’t. I have a shift tonight.”

  “You better get to it, then.”

  I huffed. “This is none of your business.”

  “Ya think?”

  “Yeah, I think,” I snapped.

  “Why are you afraid of him, Kim?” he asked again gently.

  “Aidan, please let this go.”

  “Kim. Why are you afraid of him?”

  Thoughts of my session with Dr. Grace years ago flashed in my mind and I shivered. I’d told her everything that had happened with my uncle and a week later, the doctor’s dog had been found dead in her yard. Poisoned. Sad, yes, but reminiscent of another time I’d told and suffered the consequences, especially, since they never caught the person who did it.

  “Kimmie?” he pressed.

  “Knight, drop it, please. The last time I said anything to anyone, horrible things happened.”

  “Nothin’s going to happen, sugar, trust me.”

  “No.”

  “I will find out, Kim. I’d like you to tell me, but if you won’t, I’ll have Booker hack whatever the hell he needs to hack to find out.”

  “You wouldn’t!”

  “Don’t test me.” He cocked his head. “Why are you afraid of him?”

  “Because he raped me,” I whispered, a little shocked I’d shared.

  Knight’s body locked. “When?”

  “It started when I was eight,” I whispered.

  “Started?”

  I swallowed. “I don’t want to do this.”

  “Sugar, when did it end?”

  “I was fifteen. It ended when I moved to Europe.”

  “Fuck me,” he said, pulling me against his chest. “I’m so sorry, honey.”

  This was the moment when my carefully cultivated mile high wall crumbled. As soon as I was in the safety of his arms, I folded and burst into tears. “I told people, Aidan. I told everyone I could. They killed my horse.”

  “Who killed your horse, sugar?”

  “My uncle... and I think my mom helped.” I took a deep, shaky breath. “It was to get me to shut up. It’s why I was so afraid for Fozzie. My mom didn’t want anyone to ruin my uncle’s political plans, so they sent me away. Boarding school in Switzerland. I was there for two years.”

  “Then where?”

  “Here. Grams left me money, so I moved in with Dani for a while, then got this apartment.”

  “You’ve lived here all that time?”

  I nodded against his chest. “I bought it and moved in two days after I turned eighteen. Then I told Dr. Grace a few years ago and her dog was killed. I know it was my family again. Please promise me you’ll watch your back.”

  “I will, sugar.” He shifted, disengaged from me, and rose to his feet.

  “You’re leaving?” I asked, panicking.

  “No, honey. I’m getting you some water.”

  God, he was such a good guy. Way too good for me.

  “You should probably go.” I took the distraction to rise to my feet. “I need to get ready for work.”

  He frowned at me as he grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge. “I’m not leavin’, Kim.”

  “But you should.”

  Knight closed the distance between us, setting the water on the island as he passed it. He slid his hands to my neck and tipped my chin up with his thumbs. “You need to understand somethin’, and really hear me on this, Kimmie, I’m not leavin’. I get that you’re independent and you’ve been dealing with this shit a long time alone, but it’s done.”

  “Yeah, I know it’s done. It’s been done for a while.”

  “Not what I mean, sugar, and you know it.” I rolled my eyes, but he kept my face anchored between his hands.

  “Can I have my face back, please?”

  “Not done, Kim.” He smiled. “You have protection now.”

  “I have plenty of condoms, Knight.”

  He chuckled. “Armor, sugar.”

  “Armor? Really? What kind of armor?”

  “Yeah.” He chuckled. “Me.”

  “How medieval of you,” I grumbled.

  “It’s you and me now, sugar. We’re a team.”

  He released me and I dragged my hands down my face. “Aidan, you’re being ridiculous.”

  Knight studied me. “If you really don’t love me, Kim, and you really don’t want someone at your back, then say the word and I’ll leave.”

  “I have Dani.”

  “Not the same thing and you know it,” he said. “Say the word, honey, and I’m gone.”

  “I don’t want someone at my back.”

  “You love me?” He raised an eyebrow. “Don’t lie. I’ll know.”

  I couldn’t even meet his eyes as
I whispered, “No.”

  “Liar.”

  I sighed. “Okay, fine. But it doesn’t make us right for each other.”

  “Up until the night that asshole attacked you, Kim, we were tight. We’ve got a good foundation as friends and the rest will come.”

  “You shut me down, Knight,” I whispered.

  “Honey, you’d just been attacked. There was no way in hell I was going to fuck you after that.”

  “Damaged goods. Got it.”

  “Shit, Kim, that’s not what I’m sayin’.” He grabbed for my hand.

  I shrugged. “It’s fine, Aidan. Seriously.”

  “I did not want our first time together to be on the night you were hurt, sugar. I wanted it to be special.” He tugged me forward. “Is that why you shut me out?”

  I stared at my feet.

  “Kim,” he whispered, lifting my chin gently. “Did you honestly think I wasn’t interested?”

  I squared my shoulders as I shook my head. I was not this person. I was confident, sexy, and aware of my effect on men. I didn’t buy into insecurity of any kind. “You were hard, so, no, I didn’t think you weren’t interested.”

  “But?”

  “No but. You turned me down. You obviously had your reasons.”

  “Why’d you tell me I made you feel unsafe?”

  “Because I’m a bitch.”

  Knight scowled. “Kimmie, you’re a lot of things, but bitch is not one.”

  “You do scare me, Aidan... ”

  “Bullshit.”

  “You do! Emotionally. I’m different with you. You make me feel off-kilter. I’m a confident person, Aidan, not a blithering idiot, but with you, I go all school-girl crush! It’s annoying.”

  “It’s not to me.” He smiled a slow, sexy smile and stroked my cheek. “Let me make something crystal clear. Me turning you down had nothing to do with how gorgeous you are, how sexy I think you are, or how much I fuckin’ love you, yeah?” He kissed my nose. “You were scared and hurt and I wanted to make sure you were safe first. So I get that you were feeling shit you weren’t prepared to feel, and it’s on me that you’ve spent these past few months without me, but that’s done now.”

  “Aidan,” I whispered, closing my eyes.

  “You’re so beautiful, Kimmie.”

  His mouth covered mine and I melted into him. Before I registered what was happening, I was lifted off my feet and I wrapped my legs around his waist, as I attacked his mouth. His tongue was amazing and I wanted more.

  He dropped me gently on the mattress, dragging my pants down... panties and all... and throwing them aside. He climbed up my body, kissing as he went, pushing my sweatshirt off as he moved north. I arched as he drew a nipple into his mouth and slid a hand between my legs, thumbing my clit. “Aidan,” I breathed out.

  “Open, sugar.”

  I dropped my knees so he could have better access and he slid three fingers inside of me, gently biting down on my nipple. I mewed, my breath coming in pants as he sped up his hand between my legs. “Knight.”

  His hand slipped out of me and I whimpered, but I needn’t have been concerned, because his mouth replaced his thumb and his fingers slid back inside of me. I cried out as my orgasm hit and my knees closed against his head still between my legs. “Oh, sorry,” I said, still unable to catch my breath, but worried I may have hurt him.

  Knight chuckled, kissing me gently and pushing off the bed. He removed his clothes and even in my climax-induced haze, I was transfixed by his body. His height hid much of his bulk, but if he’d been formed out of granite, he couldn’t have been more impressive. He was hard and his cock was just as impressive as his body. I licked my lips, suddenly wanting him in my mouth. I sat up and scooted off the bed, kneeling in front of him.

  “Sugar, wait.”

  I shook my head, cradling his cock in my hand and kissing the tip. I took as much of him as I could in my mouth. God, he was big.

  “Kim,” he whispered.

  I released him and frowned up at him. “Would you please stop talking, Aidan?”

  “I don’t want to hurt you.”

  “You won’t.” I slid my mouth over the tip again and drew him further in.

  “Condom,” he whispered.

  I groaned and continued to suck as I pumped with one hand and cradled his balls with the other.

  I knew I was giving him what he needed when he fisted his hands into my hair and his hips began to move. I couldn’t stop a smile as he fucked my mouth, me a willing participant, holding on when he told me he was going to come. He warned me again, but I grabbed his ass and squeezed.

  “Fuck!” he said with a groan as he came.

  I waited until his cock stopped pulsing before giving one more suck and releasing him. I didn’t have time for smug satisfaction as I was lifted and dropped back on the bed; my knees bent and Knight sliding into me slowly (after putting on a condom), but no less deliciously.

  “Honey,” I whispered.

  He kissed me and his tongue swept against mine as he surged into me.

  “You okay?” he asked, kissing me again.

  “Yes. More, baby.”

  “I don’t want to hurt you.”

  “You aren’t. You won’t.” I stroked his cheek. “I trust you.”

  He slid out partially and then back in slowly. “You sure?”

  I arched my hips, drawing him further in. “Yes,” I breathed out.

  Guiding my hands above my head, Knight held them there with one hand, sliding his other to my breast. As he rolled my nipple between his fingers, he kissed me deeply, slamming into me over and over again.

  I cried out his name as I came, trying to drag my hands from their prison to touch him, but he held firm and didn’t release me until he came inside of me, eliciting yet another orgasm from me.

  Kim

  WE LAY SILENTLY for a few seconds, catching our breath, then Knight slid out of me, leaving me feeling like a gelatinous blob on the bed. He returned quickly and settled a warm washcloth between my legs. I sighed with pleasure and smiled.

  “You like that, huh?”

  “I so do,” I admitted.

  He finished cleaning me up and then threw the washcloth across the room.

  “I do have a hamper, Aidan... which is not the floor.”

  “I’ll grab it later,” he promised, pulling me against his chest. “Right now I don’t want to ruin the moment.”

  I wove my fingers into his hair and kissed him gently. “I kind of like the moment, too.”

  He ran his hand over my bottom. “You are so beautiful, Kim. And I know you know that in the global sense, but here,” he tapped my chest, above my heart, “you’re just as gorgeous.”

  “You’re not so bad yourself, you know.”

  “You know what this means, right?”

  “What?”

  “You’re mine,” he said, stroking my cheek and kissing me gently. “Only mine.”

  “I don’t cheat, Aidan,” I said, a little irked.

  “Never said you did, sugar. Just making sure you’re aware this is happening.”

  I pulled away and rolled onto my back. “I’ve never done “this” before. Longest relationship I’ve ever had was a week and that was a long time ago.”

  “I get it. We’ll figure it out.”

  “I have issues, Knight. I see a shrink once a week, but I think she just keeps me from completely melting down. She hasn’t cured me yet and it’s been ten years.”

  He chuckled. “Honey, everyone has issues.”

  “I know,” I said with a sigh. “I’m a little shocked that I just admitted to being raped by my uncle and you believed me. Dani’s the only person who has.”

  Knight scowled, but quickly softened his expression. “Can you do something for me?”

  “Sure.”

  “I’m having a hard time with that word.”

  “Rape?”

  “Well, yeah, but more the “admit” part. You didn’t do anything wrong, so I’m n
ot sure what you’re admitting to. I feel as though you chose to disclose a very dark part of your past to me, which I will never take for granted, but you are blameless in this.”

  I stared at him for several seconds before dropping my face to his chest and burrowing deeply. “Ohmigod, Aidan, that’s the best thing I’ve ever heard.”

  “It is?”

  I nodded into his pec. “In two seconds, you’ve taken away a little more of the shame. Something it took Dr. Grace six years to accomplish.”

  “Now that you got me,” Knight said with a chuckle, “you obviously don’t need her anymore.”

  “I’ll tell her that on Thursday,” I joked.

  He smiled. “And if you feel like you need to control anything, you let me know, sugar. I’m yours for the taking.”

  I licked my lips and nodded, and he kissed me again.

  “Can we really make this work?” I whispered.

  “Yeah, sugar, I think we can.” He shifted so he could meet my eyes. “I’m graduating in less than a month, got money saved, no school debt, and make a shit ton training, so we’re starting on equal ground financially.”

  “You know I have over thirty-eight million in my trust fund,” I countered.

  “Fuck, seriously?”

  I nodded. “Plus I own this condo and my grandmother’s home outright. The house alone is worth around eight-million.”

  “That’s awesome, sugar. When we make this permanent, we’ll protect it.”

  I rolled up on my elbow. “You don’t want it?”

  “Hell, no.” He frowned. “I don’t need your money, Kim.”

  I fell back onto him. “God, that’s so refreshing.”

  “How many people have you had this conversation with?” he demanded, his body not quite as relaxed as it had been.

  I giggled, covering my face with my hands, then reaching up to cup his. “No one. But do you know how many men I’ve encountered who I thought were genuine, but found out they were only after one thing? Well, besides sex, that is? A lot. I see them coming now, but when I was younger I didn’t. Thank God for Dani and Elliott. They protected me from a lot of them, but it’s frustrating that they keep coming. You are nothing like them, and as much as it sucks that we’ve been a little estranged, it did give me time to see you for who you really are.”

  He relaxed. “And?”

  “And I love you. I’m scared shitless and I don’t know how to make this work, but I do love you and I’m willing to try.”