Harder (Stark Ink Book 1) (9 page)

Adam lay sprawled across his bed as Calla straddled him. Her shorts had been tossed onto the chair downstairs, long since forgotten. Her shirt was lying in a heap on his floor and her panties were buried somewhere in his sheets. His fingers tore at the clasp of her bra. He’d lost track of his own clothes. They were strewn about the darkened apartment. As she sat over him, he spread his hands over her silky smooth thighs, careful not to reach for her ass no matter how much he wanted to in order to avoid her fresh ink.

She had his cock in her hands, rubbing it slowly. He was already hard enough to take her, but apparently Calla was as interested in making this last as he was. Her fingers curled around the base of his shaft then slowly slid up toward the head. Her thumb swirled the single drop of pre-cum that surfaced, slicking the head. He groaned but didn’t want to close his eyes. The bra tossed aside, her tits were mouth-wateringly perky. Two dusky nipples were pebbled into hard points. He grabbed her arm and yanked her down to him.

His mouth sealed around one nub and she gasped. Sadly, she’d had to let go of his cock to balance herself, but Adam thought the trade-off was well worth it. His teeth slightly grazed her sensitive skin and she arched her back for him, driving her breast further into his mouth. Though she couldn’t quite pleasure him, he had no trouble reaching her delicate folds. He slid his hand down her belly and over her clit. He would have expected a thatch of wild, unruly hair here as well, but Calla was shaved smooth and glistening pink. The pads of his fingertips rasped over her swollen clit and she dug her nails into his chest.

He worked her most sensitive spot slowly but firmly, gently pinching and tugging it. Her breath was ragged and hot against his cheek as her hot pussy spread for him further down. She was wet, ready for him, and he longed to be inside her but forced himself to put it off just a bit more. He dipped a finger into her, curling it back to himself in search of the rough patch inside that would make his wild goddess even more frenzied. He found it, just a scant inch past the entrance. Calla writhed on top of him and called his name. The sweat beaded between her breasts and he tasted her salty, warm skin.

He slid in a second finger and stretched her wide. “Fuck yourself, baby,” he demanded. “Show me how you like it.”

She slammed down hard onto his hand, forcing his fingers in deep. Adam rather enjoyed a woman who took charge of her own pleasure. Calla humped his hand furiously, taking his fingers deep and hard.

“You ready to fit me in there, baby?”

“Oh, God yes!”

Adam wasted no time. He reached for a condom from the nightstand drawer. Calla snatched it from him and settled herself over his thighs. Her expert hands tore the foil and soon enough she had hold of his cock again. As she rolled on the latex, she smiled down at him seductively. As fast and hard as she’d fucked his fingers, she slid the condom on excruciatingly slowly. He felt each inch of it enveloping his shaft. Fuck, he hated having to use it. They were going to fix that as soon as possible, he decided. His fingers couldn’t be the only thing to feel the inside of that sweet, slick pussy.

“God damn, woman,” he growled.

Calla laughed. “
You
teased
me
,” she reminded him.

He groaned as she cupped his heavy sac. “Calla,” he said hoarsely.

“You want me to fit you in there, baby?” she teased.

“Calla!” he half-shouted. The last thing he needed was to come while she had her hand on him.

She seemed to sense that he was done playing because her grip tightened on his shaft. She positioned his cock ramrod straight and moved over it swiftly. Once she got the head pressed against her entrance, she shoved herself down on him, burying him to the root.

“God damn!” he shouted as he gripped her thighs.

Calla rode him hard, lifting herself almost entirely off him before slamming back down again in earnest. Her tits bounced tantalizingly above him. Her mouth was slightly open and he realized he wanted to be in there, too. He wanted every part of her open and hungry for him. Because he couldn’t have her mouth tonight, he redoubled his efforts on her pussy, thrusting himself up hard to meet her.

“You’d better come, Calla,” he ordered roughly. “You’d better come all over my cock. And I want to hear you.”

Her pussy juice erupted at his request. She wasn’t coming but she soaked them both in a sweet, warm flood. His balls were coated with it as well as the sheet below. His bed would smell like her for hours and he knew he’d love it.

“Adam,” she breathed heavily. He couldn’t tell if it was a question.

“Loudly, Calla,” he reminded her.

He felt her walls tighten up as she bore down hard on him. Her fingernails dug into his chest once more and she called out his name one last time. She pitched forward and collapsed onto him. He wrapped his arms around her as he shoved himself up into her. Calla was too exhausted to do anything but allow him to fuck her thoroughly. Despite her inability to participate, he stretched her hole over and over, driving himself to an eruption of his own.

As jets of cum spurted inside her, blocked by the condom separating them, Adam brushed back her wild hair and kissed the side of her head. She ground her pussy against him and sighed softly.

“Don’t worry,” he whispered in her ear. “You’re getting it all.”

He stayed inside her until the last of him ebbed. Reluctantly, he slid out of her, both of them spent now. He tossed the condom in the trash and pulled her against him again. The fading light of the evening seeped in through the blinds of his tiny apartment.

“Did you get what you came for?” he asked.

She gasped and pinched his nipple.

“I’m kidding!” he insisted. “Ouch!”

She pretended to glare at him from under her eyelashes. “
Did you?
”

“No,” he told her in a suddenly serious tone. “Not even close.”

Her head jerked up and she stared at him. Before she could reply, he gripped her arms and hauled her up over him. He pressed his mouth to hers fiercely. His tongue forced its way inside and he felt some satisfaction at being able to taste some tiny part of her today. If Calla had any question what he meant, he was sure her doubt melted away as he held her against him and explored parts of her that were still unknown to him.

Adam swung his leg over his Harley but waited to turn over the engine. He watched Calla pull away from the building first. He hadn’t wanted her to go. In fact, he would have preferred keeping her in his bed for the rest of the night, possibly ordering Chinese and maybe even letting her eat it. But he was needed at home. As much as he wanted to forget about everything for as long as possible, he knew guilt would eat away at him if he tried it. He’d had enough time to himself for one day. He kick-started the bike and headed across the railroad tracks to the house. He was confident that Ava and Jonah could handle Pop, but he really should be there anyway.

As he pulled up to the house, the living room lights were on and the place wasn’t on fire so he figured things were going pretty well. He jogged up to the front door and let himself in. Pop was on the couch, asleep. The light in the kitchen was on as well and Ava was at the table. Adam waited until he was within just a few steps of her before asking, “Dinner?” in a half-whisper.

“Yeah,” she said and nodded toward the dishes in the sink.

“Where’s Jonah?”

Ava sighed. “In his room.”

Adam didn’t need to ask why she wasn’t holed up in her own room. She’d commandeered the entire table and her homework was spread out, covering almost the entire surface.

Adam pulled out a chair across from her and sat down. “Going to keep you pretty busy the whole week?”

“Probably,” she said sullenly. “Even then I’ll never get it all done.”

“Yes, you will.”

“No, I won’t,” she argued.

“Ava, you have to. Otherwise you have to retake the class.”

“Well, look at it!”

Adam glanced over his shoulder. The TV was still on. Pop didn’t stir. “Keep your voice down,” he hissed at her.

Ava made a face but didn’t reply.

“What is it? How hard can it be?” He picked up a textbook and scanned the cover. “Chemistry, huh?”

“Moles,” she groaned.

Adam echoed her sentiment. “I recall those not being the cute, fuzzy kind.” As he skimmed a chapter, Ava’s phone rang. He was about to remind her that she was grounded till further notice, but she seemed to remember all on her own. She rejected the call and pushed the phone aside. “How did today go?” he asked, glancing back at Pop.

“Good.”

“Yeah?” he asked, heartened.

“Yeah, it seemed like a good day. He went through some boxes in the garage, just organizing stuff.”

Adam nodded. That wasn’t unusual, not for Pop. He was glad to hear it had been an eventful day.

“Jonah mowed the lawn,” Ava told him.

“He promised he would.”

Ava apparently didn’t feel as hopeful about their current situation as Adam did. She bit her lip and looked at him from across the table. “How… how long will it be like this?”

Another girl Ava’s age might have seemed resentful of having to shoulder such a heavy load, but Ava didn’t look angry about it. She looked fearful, as though whatever Adam said it couldn’t possibly be long enough in her opinion.

He frowned. Ava had been through enough. Abandoned by her birth parents, lost a third. She needed a happy ending that Adam just couldn’t give her.

“I don’t know,” he said because honesty seemed more important. As much as he wanted to protect Ava and shield her from everything bad in the world, it was time to stop treating her with kid gloves. She’d seen enough at this point. “They don’t know,” he told her.

“Doctors,” Ava sneered.

“I know.”

Mom’s doctors had only told them she had six months or less to live when they’d gone for the official prognosis. In truth she’d lived less than two weeks. Adam would have thought that science would be a little more… scientific about these things.

“I can try to help you,” he offered after she rejected the call. He nodded at the textbook he was holding.

“Thanks,” she said, seeming grateful for the offer.

Adam didn’t know how helpful he’d actually be. Maybe Jonah would be a better tutor. He was about to suggest it when Ava’s phone buzzed a second time. She punched the screen with her thumb and turned it off.

“Maybe you should just answer it,” Adam said. “You can talk to her for five minutes.”

Ava frowned. “It’s not Sienna.”

“Well, who is it, then?”

He regretted asking the question the second it left his mouth. The glare Ava gave him was chilling.

“Oh,” he mumbled.

She refocused on the work in front of her and he shifted uncomfortably in his chair. If Sienna wasn’t around, did that mean Ava needed someone to talk to? Or was it better to just ignore it? Or should he just casually hint that he was there to talk if she wanted? What if she got even more pissed? Or worse, what if she took him up on it? He wasn’t exactly well-versed in the teenage dating scene anymore.

“So, it’s all good, though?” he fumbled lamely. “Right? I mean…” Jesus. What
did
he mean? All good? Yes, that was exactly why Ava was purposely ignoring her boyfriend. Or ex-boyfriend. Or a guy who wanted to
be
her boyfriend.

His head was beginning to hurt.

“Guys are just… guys, you know? I mean some of them are okay. Some of them suck. They all pretty much want the same thing.” He stopped himself.

Ava looked up from her homework. “Are you giving me The Talk?”

“What? No,” Adam spluttered. “No… why? Do… do you need it?”

This was definitely outside Adam’s wheelhouse. So far outside that the boat was scraping along the bottom now, about to founder at any moment.
Please God, say no
, he thought fervently.
Please God…Say No!

Ava laughed and shook her head. “No,” she told him. “I don’t.”

“Oh, thank God,” he muttered.

“I already figured it all out,” she added. “Last year.”

Adam stopped fiddling with the pen and looked at her. His brash little sister was staring at him, challenging him defiantly in the way that only Ava could. “Oh, God,” Adam groaned.

“Don’t worry about it,” Ava assured him. “I got it all figured out. Guys want hot sex from a hot chick. Until the next hot chick comes along.” Despite her attempt to seem nonchalant, there was a hardness around her mouth and eyes that Adam hated seeing.

“Ava,” he said cautiously. “That’s…” He struggled with what to say or ask. This was not something he was prepared to talk about. In his mind, Ava was ten years old, sprinting toward the dock at the lake, unafraid. She was seventeen now, and still unafraid as far as he could tell, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t be hurt, or hadn’t
been
hurt. He was more comfortable in the role of Big Brother. If Ava gave him a name, he’d fuck the kid up for sure. He frowned, though, because he was thirty-five now and tire irons were no longer an option. Since he could do nothing about it, whatever
it
was, it was tempting to pretend it hadn’t happened at all, but that wasn’t what Ava needed. Adam shoved aside his extreme discomfort and cleared his throat. “What happened?”

Ava shrugged. “Nothing. He got what he wanted.”

Adam scowled. “I’m sorry, Ava.”

“Whatever. Doesn’t matter. He wanted to get laid, I wanted to go for a ride on his bike. We both got what we wanted.”

“Ava!” Adam barked.

“What?”

He shook his head at her, still shocked. “You don’t… you don’t go out with a guy because of his
bike
! And you sure as hell don’t give it up for a bike!”

She blinked at him from across the table. “Whatever,” she repeated. “Chicks go out with you for
your
bike. And don’t tell me they don’t give it up.”

Adam gaped at her.

“And when you’re done with them,” Ava continued, “you dump them on the curb.”

He leaned back in his chair and stared at her. “I…” he spluttered. “I do not…I—”

“Don’t lie.”

Adam’s grip tightened on the pen he was holding. His knuckles turned white. Was that what Ava saw? Was that what she thought of him? That he went through women like…? He blew out a harsh breath and rubbed his face with his free hand. Well, he did, didn’t he? He’d had a lot of women, and yeah some of them had been there for his bike, some of them
on
his bike, and no, none of them ever stuck around. But he didn’t
use
them, not intentionally. He never set out to hurt anyone and truthfully, he rarely did. All of the women were aware that he wasn’t looking to settle down, that he was focused on opening the shop and had no time for a serious relationship. But what did Ava see? A guy who used women and tossed them aside when the next one came along and that wasn’t the case at all.

“Ava,” he said, his tone deadly serious. “It’s
not
like that.”

Ava leaned forward, put her textbook on the table, and squinted at him.

“What are you doing?” he asked, scanning himself for anything wrong or out of place.

“Looking for your wedding ring,” she said sarcastically. She leaned back in her chair and smirked at him. “Nope. Don’t see one.”

“Ava, damn it. That’s not… Christ… marriage isn’t everything.” Then he wondered if that was the right thing to say. Maybe Ava should wait until she was married. Then he had to bite down on his lower lip to keep from laughing. Good luck trying to get himself and Dalton to wait. Mom had never even tried. She’d just shaken her head and given them stern looks whenever they went out.

“Ava you should be with someone because you want to be with
them
, not because of what they have.”

“Says the guy with a new woman every week.”

“It’s not every week!” he argued and that was absolutely true. He immersed himself in the shop for weeks, sometimes months at a time. Occasionally, when he resurfaced, he saw someone interesting, like Daisy, and readjusted his focus for a while. More like split his focus, since he never really took one eye off the shop. He thought about Calla and for the first time wondered how she saw their relationship. Did she think it was a fling? A one-night stand that meant nothing? Did she think he was too distracted to have time for her? Nothing could be further from the truth. He had a lot going on in his life at the moment, that couldn’t be denied, but he had no intention of giving her up any time soon. He looked across the table at Ava and wondered what asshole hadn’t cared enough about her to hang onto her, and why she thought so little of herself that she didn’t mind.

“Ava, you’re worth more than that.”

She made a face.

“I don’t want to hear it, Ava,” he insisted. “You are and you’d better start acting like it.”

“It doesn’t matter,” she said, dismissing him.

“It does matter! Because
you
matter!” He slapped the table and she jumped in her chair. He grimaced, realizing he could have woken Pop.

“Whatever,” she repeated. “So says—”

“It’s not like that!” he hissed. “Not anymore.”

She eyed him skeptically. “Since when?”

He hesitated. It wasn’t his place to tell Ava about Calla. Calla still had a job to do and he had no right to make it harder on her without talking to her about it. “Since I met someone,” he said vaguely.

Ava leaned back in her chair. “Really?”

“Really,” he confirmed.

“You haven’t brought anyone around,” Ava pointed out.

“It… it just hasn’t worked out that way so far. When things calm down, I will,” he promised. “No more assholes, Ava,” he demanded. “I don’t care what kind of bikes they have. You want a bike, I’ll buy you a bike.”

Ava perked up at that. “Seriously?”

He scowled. He’d spoken too rashly. He couldn’t afford his own bike, let alone one for Ava. “Well…”

Her shoulders sagged and her skeptical glare returned. Adam sighed. “Ava, I’m stretched pretty thin right now,” he admitted.

Surprisingly, her face softened. “How thin?” she asked.

Adam tapped the table with his fingers. He didn’t want to add to her burden. It was bad enough she had to worry about Pop. So far he’d managed to keep Dalton’s drinking a secret. Ava had as much as she could handle right now. “A little thin,” he hedged. “I can’t make any big purchases right now.” That was close enough to the truth to let her know his hands were tied, but not enough to upset her. “But this isn’t about a bike, Ava. It’s about you making better choices for yourself. What happens if you get knocked up? Or worse?”

Ava frowned again.

“And do you really want everyone to know you screwed some asshole? For
any
reason? Just… be a little smarter, a little safer,” he told her. It seemed like crappy, vague advice but he wasn’t good at this kind of thing. “Find someone who makes you feel special.”

“How do you make
your
girlfriend feel special?” she asked. Adam couldn’t tell if she was being sarcastic or serious.

He grimaced. “I… probably haven’t.”