Page 46 of Bear
Duke wrenches his lips from mine and pushes off me to kneel between my legs. He stiffens as he watches me swipe the wetness from my face with my fingers.
Concern flows through me, and I reach for him, whispering, “Duke? Are you okay?”
He jerks away from my touch, climbs from the bed, and slams the door on the way out, taking all the air in the room with him.
TWENTY-TWO
DUKE
A few hourshave passed since I walked away from Lennon and her worried gaze. In that time, I’ve tried to talk myself down and make myself understand what’s in my head. I don’t have a great answer because it’s difficult to pinpoint whether it’s one thing that’s bothering me—the crushing reality that my girlfriend has been dead yet another year—or maybe it’s that everything else is crashing down on me with the worst possible timing. Hell, the day isn’t even over, and things keep piling on. We’ve had issues with both my father and Derek. I’ve somehow gotten naked twice with Mason. And then there’s Lennon. I all but fucked my stepsister, and I don’t know what to do with that.
I glance up from where I’ve had my head stuck in the refrigerator to see Mason and Lennon come into the kitchen behind me. Sighing deeply, I pull out a bottle of water for myself, then go back for two more before I pivot on my heel.
Lennon leans close to Mason where he’s paused at the kitchen island. I can only assume he’s waiting for the right moment to say something to me, though I don’t know where he’d even begin.
Tipping her head up, she whispers in his ear. Mason nods, his eyes flicking to mine, studying me, no doubt, and assessing the damage. He juts his chin toward me. “Hey.”
I hear the unsaid “Is everything okay?” tacked on there but choose to ignore it as I set the bottles of water down. I push two in their direction.
Lennon frowns then picks them up, handing one off to Mason. She unscrews the cap on hers and takes a sip, all the while watching me with a careful eye.
Fuck.I can’t believe we did that—all fucking three of us—in Mase’s bed. I haven’t been able to come to grips with it because the whole thing keeps running around and around on some lusty, sexy loop in my head.Fuuuck.Being with either one of them alone fucks with me bad, but both of them together?Jesus.
While it’s one thing to help Mason through some shit, it’s quite another to stay once it was clear we were moving from danger zone to sexy times. I should have left them to it. But then, clear as day, I hear Mase’s plea in my head.I need this, Duke.I knew he wanted the distraction, something to help distance himself from the nightmare. And when I looked into his eyes, there was no way I could deny him.
Drawing in a steadying breath, I peer at Lennon out of the corner of my eye. What does she think of what we did together? Her expression shows no outward sign of regret or confusion—it’s more concern than anything else. The same fucking concern that’d sent me running earlier after I practically lost it. This girl has me so twisted up. If everything we did was supposedly being done to help Mason, then she and I should have fucking stopped the second he walked out of the room, no matter that he’d insinuated we should continue.Unfinished business—that’s what he’d called it.
I scrub my free hand through my hair, feeling my lungs cave in. It’s as if I’ve been stabbed and they can no longer draw in the fucking air I need to breathe. Having Lennon as a part of my life has always been an issue because I associate her with Juliette, and she’ll always be a heart-wrenching reminder. Which is why I’ve never known how to deal with her.
Then, once my father started putting things in my head, I found it even more difficult to figure her out. But for every instance my father has said she’s problematic and a head case, I have equal evidence that he’s full of shit. It’s confusing as fuck to find out someone is not who you were always told they were.
He’s the one who made me believe she was after our money. I shouldn’t have trusted him blindly. He makes no fucking sense, though, choosing not to divorce Nikki when he obviously thinks the same of her. Must be some pretty good pussy. I heave out a breath, trying to focus on Lennon again.
What I do know is this: now that I’ve had a taste of Lennon Bell, there’s no fucking going back. In the heat of the moment, I’d almost let my innermost thoughts loose.She’s mine. I will have her.Heat flares through me, remembering the feel of her naked body beneath me. But she’s my stepsister for fuck’s sake. That’s what keeps hammering around inside my head, making me deny the way I feel when I’m with her.
But what happened today didn't feel wrong, and she hasn’t opened up her sassy mouth to question any of it. She’s not the one who ran, that was me. But it’s possible she could be stewing behind that calm facade, waiting for the perfect moment to lash out at me with that wicked tongue of hers. The kicker is, with the way I’ve treated her since she arrived on our doorstep, I wouldn’t blame her if she did want to take a bite out of me.
My dick stirs in my joggers.
Fuck, is it bad that I wouldn’t mind if she did? My jaw locks up, thinking about it. I welcome her fire. I want to be enveloped in her goddamn flames.
From the awkward silence filling the room, it’s obvious none of us are in the right headspace to have an actual conversation. Lennon’s exhale comes out as an exaggerated huff. “If I make grilled cheese sandwiches, do either of you want one? I’m starving. I think there’s some ham in there, too, unless someone ate it.” She lets the question hang in the air as she sidesteps me and opens the refrigerator. After a moment, she comes up with ham, sliced cheese, and a tub of butter. She sets them on the kitchen counter and bends down to pull out a cutting mat from one of the lower cabinets. Mase and I both watch her quietly as she turns to get a pan out and sets it on the burner, then fiddles with the stove dial. She spins back around and stops, her eyes sliding to the right. She hesitates, chewing on her lip.
At first, I’m confused, but then it hits me. The fucking bread is in the pantry. It’s large for a pantry… but it’s also a small room. The way her face crumples as she winces sets me into motion. I hold up a hand to stop her. “I’ll get it.”
I retrieve the loaf of bread and set it with everything else on the counter.
“Thank you.” She gives me a grateful smile.
I can only make a grunting noise in response. My head is a jammed-up mess where she’s concerned. It’s ugly. What the fuck made her so anxious about shit like that?
Mason’s eyes shift from me to Lennon, and his lips press together. He shrugs. “I’ll have one, if you don’t mind.”
She nods her head. “No problem. I’m famished. We kinda missed eating lunch.” She has a slight twinkle in her eye when she glances at him, but when she turns my way, the playful light in her eyes diminishes. Then again, maybe she’s nervous that I’ll open my dick mouth and say something nasty. I’ve done it to her before.
Mason’s eyes connect with mine, and he gives me a teasing smirk. “We’re probably dehydrated, too. Good call on the water.”
Bastard.He sure as fuck knows how to push my buttons. My lips twitch, but I can’t quite bring myself to smile, especially since my cock is now fully hardening at the not-so-subtle reminder of our earlier adventures. What would it have been like if I’d fucked her like I wanted to? I mean, what we did had been fucking amazing… but now I can’t stop thinking about slipping inside her sweet pussy and having it spasm around my cock.
