wouldn’t want to give her. A family? Was she finally done with school and ready to settle down? Christ, he’d be a shitty father with the dearth of role models he’d had Then if he healed enough to compete again, she wouldn’t travel with him, so she’d get jealous and demanding, and instead of talking about anything, she’d run out on him. Again.
How could he even be thinking about starting anything with her again? Masochist. Wasn’t that the definition of insanity, doing the same thing over and over and hoping for a different result?
Just stop , But he knew he couldn’t and wouldn’t.
“Look at this.”
Presumably she shoved her phone under his nose. He ignored it and her.
“It’s a scooter,” she said. “Way more mobile than crutches. You should get one of these. There’s a medical supply store in Carlsbad and one in Mission Viejo. We could get you hooked up.”
He sipped his coffee. Anger roiled in his gut. Hooked up. Like a machine. Or a junkie. Like he hadn’t thought about a scooter. But the pressure on his bad hip would be worse because he’d be more mobile. More Speed. What he craved. Waves, road, any sport always needing speed. And then his knees. Shit. He was falling apart. Alone. And way too early.
“I’m good.”
“No, you’re not. You’re stubborn and secretive and...”
“And?” He sat up, leaned into her, seeing his frustration reflected in her sunglasses.
“Ummmm...” She trailed off. “Kadan?”
He had to do something to release this tension and energy that jangled through his body like a discordant church organ.
“Duchess?” He mocked her breathy reply and leaned over her, inhaling her scent, seeing her permission before she even realized what he intended.
What the hell? He’d spent so many years trying to resist her and what had that done for him, except amass a reputation as one of the biggest players on the circuit. A joke when all he’d ever wanted was her. He was tired of driving so hard only to end up circling back.
He kissed her.
Chapter Six
H e had to. With the first brush of his lips, hers parted and she breathed his name. He caught it and deepened the kiss, spearing his fingers through her hair and cupping her face. She responded like she always did, throwing herself into the kiss.
Her arms came up around his body, slid up to loop around his neck, one hand pulling off his beanie so she could tangle her fingers in his hair. She sighed into mouth, and he caught that too as her body relaxed against his. He could feel her breasts mash against his chest, and he wanted to rip off their shirts so he could feel her warm, silky skin pressed against his where it belonged. Why the hell had he started this in public anyway? He knew what she did to him.
Her breathing was as ragged as his. He dragged her out of her chair and onto his lap, needing to feel her body imprint on his more than he needed to take another breath.
“Kadan, wait, your ankle.” Her words were swallowed when he captured her mouth again.
He didn’t want to think about reality. Only about how she made him feel alive, whole in a way he was no longer whole. In control. He wanted more, way more. His tongue played along her soft, sensitive lips and then thrust in and out of her mouth like he wanted to do to another part of her body.
He groaned and whispered a command in her ear as he cupped her butt and pulled her tightly against him savoring her heat,
“Kadan.”
Her voice was so soft he could barely hear it, and her hands continued to run over the planes of his chest as she spoke, her mouth moved under his so as a protest, it barely registered.
“Kadan, we are in public.”
He so did not give a fuck.
She rested her hand on his stomach and he wished it were lower.
He moved in to capture her mouth again. He had to have her. He was desperate for the connection, needed her to wrap her long, slim legs around him. Just in time he stopped himself. He’d lost his head with her again. No
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