Page 79 of Kneeling to Candy

She shakes her head, wagging a finger at him. “Do not get any harebrained ideas from Butch if you want to keep your balls.”

Tank gives Butch an amused smirk. “Hey, did you hear that? I was wrong. I get to keep my cock.”

Butch shakes his head but says nothing until the room is cleared and the door has softly closed us off from the rest of the world.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

CANDY

Alone, we stand embracing each other, neither of us willing to let the other one go.

“I’m sorry,” I whisper, leaning in to brush my lips against his in a feather-light kiss.

“Goddess,” Butch murmurs, softly kissing me back. “I’m sorry, too. I should’ve handled myself better.”

“No kidding,” I say, with an amused snort. “Unbeknownst claiming and forced eviction was not on my Bingo card, babe.”

He rubs the back of his neck, a cheeky grin on his face showcasing his dimples. He’s super cute when he gets shy. “Not my smoothest moves, I agree.”

“Why not claim me the night before, when half the crew caught us exiting the closet? It would’ve made sense compared to hauling my shit to your room today without my knowledge.”

The smile he’s sporting falls away, replaced with a down-turned scowl. “You’re right. It would’ve been a perfect time to state you were my old lady. However, I was jealous.”

“Jealous? Why?”

“What we shared last night was between us. Having the other guys catch us leaving the closet felt intrusive, like they were part of the experience.” He falls quiet, looking away from me.

“Butch?” I probe.

He looks back at me with a hint of possessiveness darkening his features. “They may have had a taste of you in the past, but fuck ’em all to hell if they think they can ogle you after we’ve been together. There was no way I was going to stand there a second longer than need be with you thoroughly fucked and my come running down your legs. You’re mine now. For my eyes only.”

Oh, Butch—sweet, territorial Butch. “No one was ogling me—they were ogling the two of us together.”

“Didn’t feel like it at the moment,” he grumbles.

I place my hand on his chest, over his heart. “It’s okay. I can see how it may have looked from your perspective, and I understand why you hurried us out of there.”

He clears his throat. “I have another confession.”

There’s more? “What’s that?”

“You’ll get no apology from me for moving you in here. I’m not sorry about it. Not even for not asking.”

Though I was angry when I saw my stuff was gone, I’m not ready to admit I was excited to find my belongings amongst his, at least not until he explains why he did it without my permission.

Bracing myself, I ask in a measured voice, “Mind explaining why you did it? It can’t only be you getting fed up with waiting for me to make the move first.”

He shrugs. “I experienced caveman mode.”

Puzzled, I blink my eyes slowly. “Caveman mode?”

“You know, when a guy becomes super territorial over his woman and pulls wild shit to bring her to his cave.”

“Ah.” I recall Red explaining it as the love-struck phase.

Love-struck. My tummy flutters, giddiness bubbling inside of me.

“I was worried when you weren’t in my room—our room now. I looked in all the usual places for you and panicked when I couldn’t find you. When I figured out you were with Ebony, I sort of shifted from nervous to pissed. If I had to give you space from me to sort out your feelings, then I was going to make damn sure when you emerged from her room, you would have to come to mine.”

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