Hothead by Stella Rhys
28
EVIE
“To be fair, it’s really pretty,” Aly giggled as we sat at the end of the table together, our seats all rearranged.
At one point, we were seated with all the couples next to each other, but after three courses and more than a few rounds of champagne, it was musical chairs.
And by now, having sat a solid hour next to Aly, I knew exactly how many facets were on her massive rose cut diamond, exactly how the proposal went down - Emmett surprised her while they were spooning in bed this morning - and the fact that I was going to be her maid of honor.
So now, we had moved onto gazing at my big fake rock.
“I mean it looks insanely so real for being fake,” she whispered, peering up to make sure Keira was still in the bathroom.
“No, no, it’s not really fake, it’s a real diamond,” I giggled. “I just mean it’s sentimentally fake. Iain chose it.”
“Ohhh. So you chose this ring Iain?” Aly whisper-yelled across the table. The damned near death look we got from him made us burst into giggles. “I apologize. What I meant to say,” Aly started at full volume this time, “was that you did a beautiful job, Drew. I mean she’s always preferred princess cut, but it’s cool. What’s done is done.”
“Yes. I did my best,” Drew said, as unamused as Iain. To his left, Emmett wore a crooked grin while mouthing for Aly to behave, and as Aly and I snorted, I groaned inwardly.
Ugh.
I hated myself for wishing this moment were real. But it was just so hard not to.
It was my best friend’s real engagement, and this felt like such an otherwise perfect moment. Aly was dressed to the nines in a glittery champagne colored dress, I was wearing a backless cap-sleeved lace number I was obsessed with, and the guys all looked so absurdly handsome in their sleek suits and ties. They looked like a fucking cologne commercial.
And Drew... God.
I’d actually never seen him in a full suit and tie before and it was killing me. He looked like such a perfect gentleman that it somehow turned me on just to know that he was hiding a whole sleeve of tattoos under there.
“Here,” Aly said, taking an empty bowl and holding it under my chin.
“What?”
“You and Drew are doing sexy eyes across the table at each other and it looks like you’re going to drool onto your dress.”
I grabbed the bowl and practically tossed it back on the table.
“Shut it. It’s not easy resisting him when he looks like that.”
“I bet. I can comfortably say this now that I’m engaged to the love of my life, but Drew looks absurdly good tonight. He looks like a Viking that you tamed and wrapped in a Tom Ford suit.”
“Tamed my ass. Also, are you trying to make it worse for me?”
“No, if I was, I’d tell you that he’s looking at your back right now like he wants to lick it from you neck to your ass.”
“Jesus, Aly.”
“I’m sorry. I’ve had a lot of sex and champagne today. I shouldn’t even be in public.”
I managed a laugh with her but I was actually relieved when she had to get up and show her ring to someone she and Emmett knew that worked at the restaurant. Of course, the relief was short-lived because the second she was up so was Drew.
“Hey.” He pulled the chair next to me even closer and sat down. I had barely looked over before he took my hand and held it in my lap as he kissed me. I wasn’t prepared for it, so when he pulled away, I was dizzy. “I can’t stop looking at you tonight, Evie. Iain and Emmett are giving me shit because I haven’t listened to anything they’ve said in an hour.”
When I peered up across the table, I spotted Iain talking to Emmett, who caught my eye, smirked and made a heart sign over his chest with his hands. I narrowed playful eyes at him, not entirely sure what he was saying but pretty certain I didn’t like it.
“You look good too,” I finally returned, letting our legs mingle as Drew sat closer. Maybe it was the champagne, but when he touched my cheek, I let myself close my eyes and lean into his palm.
But before I could relax too long, I heard the return of Keira’s raspy voice with that permanent tinge of mischief.
“Aww, you two engagement trendsetters.” I turned to find her flipping away her side bangs as she sat down across from us. She shook her head at my left hand resting on the table. “That is seriously beautiful. Although I think you could’ve afforded to go up a carat just for the paparazzi hell you’re putting this girl through.”
“She’s been handling them like a champ so far,” Drew said, massaging the back of my neck. Ugh God. Yes.
“As long as they stay far back enough and they’re not yelling at me, I’m good,” I chuckled while trying not to actually melt under Drew’s touch.
“Well, you’re a good sport. I told Iain I’d end up backhanding anyone who followed me down the street,” she said, making Drew snort. “And I’d just like, burn down the offices of every newspaper if they interviewed the idiots from my hometown and made them talk shit about me.”
Both Drew and I paused, and I could tell we were both wondering if Keira was making up a hypothetical situation. She muttered to herself for a second before squinting at our quizzical faces.
“Oh Jesus. There was an article today. You didn’t see it?” she asked. But the curious part was that she wasn’t looking at Drew as she said it. Oh God. My heart dropped when I realized the article wasn’t about him.
It was about me.
My hand flew to my phone. I wasn’t even listening anymore, but I could hear Drew’s hot irritation with Keira as they went back and forth for a bit. He asked why the hell she even read that shit, she said something about Iain and then I found the headline.
COLD-BLOODED COUPLE: FUTURE MRS. MADDOX LIVING LAVISH WHILE MOM LIVES ON WELFARE.
“What the fuck,” I murmured, my wild eyes scanning the article.
It mentioned my “unemployed sister” Kaylie, and included quotes from former high school classmates that I barely knew, who claimed I had always “looked down” on others and that I “didn’t bat an eye” over the fact that my mom and sister “went hungry.”
Seriously?
I couldn’t believe what I was looking at.
Because of Drew, some scumbag had dug into my life, aired out my dirty laundry and added bullshit details to make me look completely despicable. And unlike Drew, I wasn’t a celebrity so when I eventually dropped out of the spotlight, this horrible story would still be out there about me. It wouldn’t be pushed aside by years and years of new headlines – it would exist forever to humiliate both me and my family.
I was so livid I was shaking.
“This is disgusting,” I whispered, twisting away from Drew when he tried to cover my phone.
“Evie, please stop reading it,” he urged in a murmur as Keira flipped her bangs again.
“Look, don’t even sweat it. They’re just white trash, and you did good leaving them behind.”
“Take it easy, alright?” Drew warned her in a low mutter.
“What, D? Anyone on welfare is going try to use her to get to your money. You know too well how that goes. Protect yourselves.”
“This is not the time, and you don’t know the full story, so drop it,” Drew snarled despite the fact that I knew he didn’t believe his own words. He himself knew the full story about my mother, and he’d told me to cut her off too, but tonight I knew he could feel my hand shaking in his.
And though I recognized that he’d just had my back, I still felt a pit of fury inside me grow bigger for him.
“Hold on,” I heard Emmett say to Iain before calling down to us. “What’s going on? You guys okay?”
“Yes, everything’s fine,” I replied fast, shoving my phone in my clutch and refusing to ruin his engagement dinner with this.
And when Aly returned giggling about something or another, I forced myself to flash a big smile and act fine for her, because she didn’t deserve to spend her big night consoling me, being mad for me and talking me down from my emotions.
So I held it all in until we got home, and I knew full well that Drew’s eyes had barely left me throughout the car ride.
“Evie.”
I was still and catatonic the whole way back, but upon getting into the house I made a blind, angry beeline for the kitchen.
“Evie, what are you even doing?” Drew asked, his voice coming closer behind me.
“I’m making myself tea.”
I had no idea why. I was just letting my body make the decisions till my brain sorted through the storm of incoherent fury and figured out what I was most upset about. And apparently, the plan in the meantime was to boil water for tea.
“I’m sorry about the story.” I heard Drew toss his suit jacket over a chair. I also heard actual regret in his voice but it didn’t thin my wrath in the least.
“It’s fine.” My reply was clipped as I opened the cabinets to find the tea I’d bought myself last week. “It comes with the territory.”
The second those words came out I heard Drew’s fist hit the table.
“Goddammit, Evie, stop talking to me like that, alright?” he hissed, coming up behind me. “Just talk to me again. Like a real person. Tell me what to do. Tell me how I can fix this for you.”
“You want to fix this?”
“Yes.”
“Why?” I laughed so bitterly Drew spun me around by the waist.
“If this is your way of implying that I don’t care about you, I think I’m making it obvious now that you’re wrong,” he growled, gripping me tight, refusing to let me just shove him away. “You’re upset, I know that, and I don’t like it. In fact, I fucking hate it. I hate that the media dragged your family into this. I hate that they’re making you play the bad guy, because trust me, I know how fucking shitty that feels, and I wish more than anything that you didn’t have to know the feeling too.”
“Well, I do, and unless you can erase the Internet, it’s too late to take any of it back,” I hissed, yanking out of his grip. “So you can just let this go and stop pretending to give a shit.”
“If I didn’t give a shit, I wouldn’t be standing here, Evie – I would be gladly ignoring you because honestly, that would work out a whole lot better for me.”
“Do you think that feels good for me to hear?”
“I don’t know what it feels like, Evie, I’m just trying to be fucking honest with you,” Drew muttered hotly as he trailed me down the counter. “You know I need the focus just to do my damned job – just to keep my head in the game. In case you don’t realize what it takes to win as much as I do, it takes consistency. It takes doing the same goddamned thing every day, thinking the same goddamned way and not changing a thing. If I loved anything, it was the routine I had before you came along – in fact, if anyone told me you would happen one day and asked if I wanted to avoid that, I’d say yes a thousand times over, because I have a job to do, a team to lead and a fucking ring to win. But now that you’re here, now that I’ve felt you and I know what it’s like not to have you, I can’t stand for that either because I fucking miss you, alright?” Drew demanded. “I want you to come back to me.”
“Well, you can’t have everything you want without giving anything up. You don’t get to kiss me in public, fuck me at home and get to know everything about me and force me to answer all of your questions while ignoring every one of mine,” I argued as the kettle went from whistling at me to screaming at us. “In case you don’t realize, I’ve put all of myself out there for you. I tell you what you want to know, I let the media completely expose me, and everyone wins except for me.” My voice trembled as I faced decidedly away from Drew, letting steam burn my fingers as I poured the boiling water into my mug. “You want from me what you give to no one, Drew. You keep stripping me more and more naked while you keep staying comfortably hidden, and it makes me feel like an idiot. It makes me realize how stupid I was for ever treating this as anything more than what it is, which is a lie.”
“You don’t have to call it that.”
“Real diamond, Drew – not a real engagement. Remember?” I flung his words back before spinning around to go to my room.
But since he was standing right there, I sloshed half the contents of my mug right down his chest. My jaw dropped like a brick as I watched the scalding water soak into his shirt. But inch-by-inch my mouth creaked shut because Drew gave no reaction whatsoever. All he did was clench his jaw, keeping that wolfish gaze unflinchingly pinned to me as he gripped the knot of his tie and jerked it loose.
“You wanted to know something about me that I’ve told only one person in my life,” he muttered, whipping the tie off his neck and unbuttoning his shirt. “And the only reason I told that person was because I needed an agent. No one wanted anything to do with me after what happened with Tim, and I needed someone willing to take a chance on me. The only reason Iain did that was because I explained myself to him. But trust me, I didn’t want to.”
My tongue stuck to the roof of my mouth as Drew stared at me while taking off his shirt. I was more curious than ever now, but the storm inside me slowed to a rolling thunder as Drew dropped his button-down to the floor.
“So that’s it. I’m still right where you left me. You’re not going to tell me.”
“I’ll tell you, Evie,” Drew said between his teeth, stunning me silent. “I’ll fucking tell you everything because I hate what I’ve done to you with this story coming out. I hate that you have to feel even a fraction of how shitty I feel every day of my life,” he said, making my heart twist in my chest. “Just don’t make me say it now. Don’t make me do this tonight because I can’t do another second without touching you, Evie. I swear to God I can’t. I need you back already.”
I swallowed the enormous knot in my throat. He had me and I probably should’ve let him know, but I was speechless because Drew was officially stripped before me and I never thought I’d see him look at me this way. At anyone. He was thoroughly chipped at. Broken down and pleading with me. I could only manage a nod because I didn’t actually know how to react to the feeling of bending something so big and strong.
“Tell me I can touch you again,” Drew murmured, closing the small gap between us.
His mouth was an inch from mine, and he stood as tight as he possibly could without touching me. I felt every inch of heat from his body, and I saw the need in his eyes as he waited for me to give him permission.
Because once I did, I knew he wouldn’t stop. And just because he was begging for me didn’t mean he was going to be gentle.
When I nodded again, I felt a rumble build in Drew’s chest. He was primed, ready, but he didn’t put his hands on me until he heard me speak.
“Touch me again,” I whispered.
The words barely escaped my throat before Drew grasped hold of my neck.
Two fingers gripped my jaw as his free hand shot under my skirt, and the second his fingers pushed into my pussy, his eyes closed as if they were rolling back in his head. His hold on me instantly eased and he exhaled as he pumped inside me, breathing harder with each deep stroke, like my body returned air to his lungs.
His eyes blazed into mine as he held me there for a full minute, driving relentlessly inside me, focused on nothing but reclaiming my pussy.
“That’s my girl,” he murmured with satisfaction as I came desperately all over his hand, my body weak but our eyes locked tight as he withdrew his wet fingers from between my legs.
I gazed back at him, dizzy as he slowly released my neck, giving me time to grasp the counter behind me for balance. Then taking a single step back, he slowly undid his belt, button and zipper.
“Take your clothes off. Everything except the shoes.” Drew stroked his erection over his boxers as I did as I was told. He mirrored me as I shed my dress and my panties, till we stood completely bare before one another, all our clothes strewn in the same corner of the kitchen floor.
“Now?” I asked, barely able to stand in my heels as I soaked in every inch of Drew’s body, including the solid nine that hung between his rock-hard thighs.
“Go to my room.” Easy enough. “And keep your pussy spread for me as you walk up the stairs.”
Goddammit, Drew.
I was needy enough without that carnal demand – and without all the low, sexy murmurs of appreciation he made as I obliged him the whole way up the stairs. The one time I glanced over my shoulder, I saw him four or five steps back, his thumb running across his bottom lip as he held his head tilted just so, enjoying the view. An irresistibly sexy smirk curled his mouth when he caught me looking at him.
“That’s right. Keeping showing that pussy. Show me how it belongs to me.”
God.
“You better fuck me hard Drew,” I said as I reached the second floor.
“It feels like a year since I’ve fucked you, so hard won’t be a problem. Now get on my bed.”
“Any other requests?”
“Wait for me on your hands and knees.”
My pussy throbbed.
Jesus. If there was any guarantee in the world it was that this man knew how to turn me on like no other. My body was brimming with anticipation by the time I got into his bedroom – a room I’d only peeked into but never stepped foot inside before.
There were books, framed photos and leather boxes on his dresser. Just a dent in his pillow, the rumple in his bed sheets as I climbed on his bed was fascinating to me. It reminded me that this was Drew’s bedroom where he slept every night. His home within his home.
“That’s fucking perfect, baby.”
His pleasured rumble startled me and when I peered over my shoulder, I saw Drew’s powerful body striding into the room, a rubber already stretched thin over his cock. He kept his eyes pinned to my naked body on all fours as he moved toward the bathroom, never once breaking eye contact as he twisted the doorknob and pushed.
I bit my grin as the door opened and I saw that his bathroom mirror directly faced the bed.
“Look at how fucking sexy you are,” Drew muttered in my ear as he climbed behind me onto the bed, watching me watch our reflection.
I gazed at the dramatic dip of my arched back, at Drew’s long body positioned behind me, his muscled arms looking so threatening as he simply cupped my ass. My senses tingled as I watched him palm it gently for several seconds before winding up to spank me.
As soon as I cried out at the impact, Drew rubbed away the pain, his mouth next to my ear as he murmured, “This ass belongs to me too.”
“Uh-huh…”
“Everything, Evie. Every inch of you is mine.”
I moaned as he nudged inside me, his flared tip throbbing between my wet lips. I closed my eyes as I felt his hand on the back of my neck, the other fondling my breast before gripping my waist.
“Say it.”
“I’m all yours,” I breathed.
And as soon as I did, he sunk the length of his cock inside me. His ragged groan drowned out the gasp that ripped from my throat because like last time, he felt too big, and as wet as I was, I could still hear him grunting – still needing to exert himself to push in and out of my pussy.
But while it hurt, the pleasure overrode any pain. All the sexy, throaty sounds tearing out from Drew’s chest made me that much wetter, and on top of that this time, I had the visual of his ripped body in the mirror, his chiseled muscles clenching with every trust. One glance at the reflection and I saw those deep-cut lats and triceps flexing as he drove steadily inside me, slowly stretching me around his shaft till each push was nothing but pleasure.
“So tight,” Drew hissed, circling an arm around my stomach and hugging my back against his chest. His every inch buried inside me as he gave short, hard thrusts that forced me onto my elbows. “You feel so fucking good, Evie,” he growled, turning my face and licking my lips as he continued to pummel inside me. “This is all I ever need. Your pussy. These lips.” He groaned as I swept my tongue against his. “So fucking sweet.”
Our frenzied kiss stayed locked as he lowered his hand down from my belly, reaching between my legs and smiling against my gasping mouth as he played with my clit. With two fingers, he rubbed it at the same harsh pace that he fucked me, rapidly tightening every muscle inside me.
“Oh God, Drew…”
At some point I was on all fours but now my breasts were pressed flat on Drew’s bed, my pussy contracting around his girth as I moved my hips to grind against his fingers.
“Damn, baby, look at you,” Drew rasped in awe as I grasped handfuls of the sheets for leverage, my muscles burning as I swiveled back against him, controlling the pace under the full weight of his body. “Christ, you make it so hard not to come right away. I just wanna fill you with my cum, Evie. I want to bend you over this fucking bed and watch it drip from your pussy while I spank your ass. All. Fucking. Night,” he muttered, thrusting deeper, harder with every word he muttered.
Holy God.
I never knew that was something I wanted till the image Drew painted had me so hot I was cursing the condom between us.
“Drew, I’m going to come...” I panted as he pulled my hair.
“Do it, baby, come all over my cock.”
As I did, he groaned and muttered in my ear, reminding me through every second of my vicious orgasm that I was his.
“Do you hear me, Evie? No one’s but mine,” he hissed as I moaned and fell limp underneath him, though a sharp gasp choked from my lips when he pulled out, leaving me with a void that I loathed for the two seconds it took for him to turn me onto my back and position between my legs.
* * *
DREW
Gripping her knees, I held her thighs apart, no hands needed as I slid my cock back inside her wet heat.
Every thrust gave me a bounce of her tits that tempted my eyes away, but I didn’t cave. I refused to break away from the way she gazed at me now, because it was everything I had ached for in the past week-and-a-half. It was all the warmth I missed. It was that look of content and the way she raked that sleepy smile between her teeth in a way I could admit I fucking loved.
Everything about her just felt so damned good.
“Come here, baby,” Evie murmured, making my eyebrows pull together for a moment. I realized at a delay that she’d never called me that before, and the second I saw her hold her arms out, reaching for me, I let myself fall into her. I groaned against her lips as I allowed myself to succumb to her sweetness. I let her comb her fingers through my hair as my lips moved from her mouth to her neck to her breasts, kissing every inch of her I could reach till I burst off inside her.
“Fuck, Evie,” I groaned as she held my face and kissed me, her pussy gently coaxing out every last drop of my cum.
A part of me expected to feel regret for everything I’d promised her the second after I came. It was just the way I was.
But to my own surprise, I didn’t feel an ounce of that. Still buried in her, all I felt a sense of calm and ease – like I’d misplaced something before, but now everything was right back in place.
“You feel so fucking incredible,” I exhaled as I lay on top of her, our limbs entwined and all my senses drinking her in. Her touch, her scent – all the breathy little sounds she made as I went back to kissing her all over. The way she seeped into my skin and got into my head was everything I never wanted, but at this point I was too lost in her to stop it.
She just felt too damned good.
