The untamed, p.15
The Untamed, page 15
I roll my eyes and ignore his apology. “Where’s the rest of your family?”
“Twins are sick,” he says, annoyance dripping from his words. “Again. What else is new? They’ll be here in a few days.”
Sadie and Chet remain frozen like beautiful statues, their shiny gold-spun hair the only thing moving as the wind dances by us. Their matching smiles give me the creeps.
Wild slowly approaches until he’s towering over me. He’s bigger than my brothers. Wider through the shoulders and packing more muscle. The older he gets, the more he looks like a spitting image of Uncle Atticus—minus the man bun and beard and tattoos. His slightly unhinged green-eyed glare reminds me of Aunt Eve, though.
“Looking frumpier than usual, wifey,” Wild says, bearing a wolfish grin. “It’s like you don’t even try for me anymore. You wound me.”
I plant my hands on his solid, massive chest and shove him. He stumbles back a step before roaring with laughter. His weird friends join in, politely trying to muffle their amusement.
“Don’t be a dick.” I cross my arms over my chest and glower at him. “There’s enough of those around lately.”
And, as if on cue, dick number one appears.
“New people!” Mya squeals, running over to us. “Hi, I’m Mya. Raegan’s bestie.”
I snap my head toward her and curl my lip up in disgust. We are not besties.
“Holy shit,” Wild says with a chuckle. “Your dad let people onto his backwoods inbreeding factory?”
I’m going to kill him one day.
Just pick up a rock and smash it against his mouth that says mean things endlessly. Maybe if his teeth were hanging from the roots, he’d have a harder time spitting out his nonsense.
“Wild Knox,” Wild greets, turning on his fake charm for Mya. “These are my friends Sadie and Chet.”
Mya shakes Wild’s hand and is slow to release it.
“Girlfriend?” Mya boldly asks, eyeing Sadie with a forced smile.
Wild chuckles. “Nah. Didn’t you hear? I’m gonna marry that girl right there.”
Me. I’m that girl.
Fat fucking chance.
Mya takes her time scrutinizing me as she steps closer to Wild. “What a catch.”
They all crack up laughing at my expense. I’m half tempted to whip my knife out. Maybe I’d stop being a joke at that point. And, if that didn’t work, I could just poke them a few times with the blade.
“I brought gifts,” Wild says once his chuckles have subsided. “Do you like Skittles, Mya?”
My mouth waters for those colorful candies, but I don’t dare let Wild or Mya see any emotion on my face. Wild never brings me gifts. He knows the things I like and purposefully gives them to my siblings instead. He’s a little—all six-feet-plus of him—asshole. Luckily, Uncle Atticus always pulls through for me.
I miss Ronan.
He always runs interference between me and Wild. Ronan, who actually likes Wild as a friend, somehow manages to diffuse the situation whenever he’s here. My heart aches to see him.
Could I confess to him the crazy, charged moment I shared with Ryder?
Would he care? Be pissed off? Want to claim me instead?
Heat burns deep in my gut, momentarily distracting me from being the oddball out of this group of beautiful jerks. I catch snippets of Mya explaining who she is, why they’re here, and where the rest of the camp went.
“Seriously, dude, your truck just woke up the entire state of Alaska.”
I know that voice.
Ronan.
A happy squeal erupts from me as I chase down the voice. Emerging from the woods are Ronan and Ryder. I take off running, ignoring the watchful stares of Wild and his crew. Ronan is ready for me, arms spread wide and waiting.
“You’re back!” I leap into his arms, hooking my legs around his waist and nearly tackling him with my momentum. “Oh my God, I missed you so much!”
Ronan laughs, hugging me back. “Missed you too, Rae.”
I playfully smack wet kisses all over his face until he groans, shoving me away from him. Once he manages to completely pluck me off him, I turn to Ryder, still grinning stupidly. His brow is furrowed, and his pouty lips are pressed together in a firm line.
“I missed both of you,” I say, this time leaning into Ryder for a hug. “So much.”
We’re not typically the huggers, but things are different between us lately. He’s stiff and bristly acting, but a second later, his large palm finds my hip, burning me through my layers of clothes. Both he and Ronan are a bit rank, smelling like they spent the past couple of days not bothering to bathe. I don’t care, though. Their sweaty, woodsy scent is still better than Wild’s fancy cologne he wears that is nauseating.
“Should I be jealous, wifey dearest?” Wild asks, the cruel edge of his voice cutting right through me.
His insinuation pisses me off, probably because it’s a little too close to the truth.
Ronan starts to say something, no doubt ready to calm me down, but I move like lightning. Jerking myself out of Ryder’s hug, I fly toward Wild. Since he’s not expecting me, I get the element of surprise. With a leap when I’m close enough to see his stupid, handsome face, I swing my fist, aiming right for it.
Crack!
Wild’s head jerks hard to his right and his ball cap gets flung to the earth. He whips his head back to me and fingers his lip that trickles blood. I’m pretty sure I hit his jaw based on the way my hand now throbs like hell, but it appears he bit his lip from the impact of my hit.
“You bitch,” Wild snarls, swiping at the blood with his fingers and staring at them in disbelief. “You hit me.”
“Keep running your mouth and I’ll kick you in the balls next time,” I threaten, baring my teeth at him. “Test me, asshole. Go on.”
Ronan grabs the wrist of my hand that hurts so bad I wonder if I broke a finger or two. “Come on, killer. Let’s get out of here and catch up.”
My other hand, uninjured, is quite capable of offering Wild another display of my middle finger. I take satisfaction in the crazed, angry glare he shoots my way.
God, that felt good.
Even if Mom tears me a new one for being violent.
It was worth it.
* * *
* * *
Raegan follows stubbornly behind me. She’s pissed at Wild, but what else is new?
Oh, that’s right. Punching him is new.
She’s going to get into so much shit over this.
I’d actually looked forward to hanging out with Wild and the people he brought with him, but Raegan’s more important. She always comes first.
Does that put Ryder second?
My heart lurches in my chest. Thoughts of the other night, his hand stroking me off and his mouth on mine, assault me like hail in a vicious storm. Each memory is bruising.
I had a sexual encounter with my brother.
It appeared we’d squashed it and were both doing a great job of keeping our minds off it when we’d overheard Jace and CJ trash-talking Destiny. Somehow, during that moment, flames of lust ignited once more with a few stolen glances.
And then…
Then things got weird.
Ryder was yelling at Michael and Owen and Dad. He was damn near panicking about incest that led to him running off. I’d been poised to go after him despite the judging stares of our visitors, but Dad beat us to the punch.
Whatever Dad said to Ryder broke him.
He hasn’t spoken a word of real substance to me since. I’ve been dying to get him alone, to force him to look at me, and demand he spill whatever Dad said to him.
Is he in trouble?
“Ryder was quiet,” Raegan says as we enter the gate of our property and head toward my cabin. “Did you guys catch the bad men?”
My stomach tightens knowing those monsters got away. “No. They’re still out there, but Dad thinks we ran them off.”
When we reach the cabin, I notice Destiny isn’t inside, which means she’s probably helping Mom at the big house. I’m glad Reagan and I will be awarded this rare moment of privacy now that our property is overrun by people. I guide her over to the bed and we crawl into our usual spots. She smells like strawberries and I smell like ass.
Despite me desperately needing a shower or a quick dunk in the river, she snuggles against me, splaying her punching hand on my chest. Avoiding her gaze, I pick it up, inspecting it for serious injuries. She whines and groans when I push and prod, but it’s evident nothing is broken.
“You could have broken your hand,” I chide, bringing her middle knuckle to my mouth and kissing it.
She huffs, her breath tickling over my chest. “I wish I had broken his face.”
“The great Wild Knox was bleeding,” I tease, chuckling. “I’d say you achieved your goal.”
A cute giggle escapes her and I squeeze her to me.
“You smell like dirty underwear,” Raegan says, plucking at my shirt.
“And to think I’m not even wearing underwear.”
She stiffens and then pops up on one elbow. “What?”
Heat floods my cheeks and I feel like an idiot for blurting that out. What happened between me and Ryder was both horrible and amazing. Keeping it bottled in damn near hurts.
“Ro,” she grumbles. “Tell me. Did you…you know…with Logan?”
The goofy smile on my lips pulls into a quick frown. “Uhhh…”
“Out with it. I need to know every detail. You dirty dog!”
I close my eyes for a moment, trying to remember the kiss I shared with Logan. It feels like eons ago. Later that night with Ryder was more potent and raw, coating my every cell with blissful memory.
I have to tell her.
“If I tell you something, you have to promise not to tell a soul. You can’t even tell Ryder I told you,” I whisper, nervous energy skittering its way through my veins. “Promise, Rae. Not even when you’re pissed and you want to get a rise out of Mom and Dad.”
Her brows scrunch together and her eyes dart back and forth as she studies me. “Okay. Should I be scared? You sound serious.”
“I am serious. If you told anyone…” I trail off and bite down onto my bottom lip. “You just can’t.”
“I promise,” she vows. “Now tell me.”
Apprehension flickers in her eyes, making me rethink everything. What me and Ryder did alone in the tent in the dark probably shouldn’t ever make its way to the light of day. And yet…
I want to talk about it.
I want to remember.
I want it to be real.
Closing my eyes, I avoid my sister’s stare and blurt out the words. “Ryder, uh, got me off.”
“Off what?” Confusion laces her tone.
Snapping my eyes back open, I frown at her. “Like made me come.”
“Made you come,” she says slowly and then her cheeks blaze crimson. “You had sex with our brother?”
“W-What?” I shriek, yes, shriek, and cover her mouth with my hand despite mine being the loud one. “It wasn’t like that.”
She shoves my hand away.
“Wasn’t like what? Tell me, Ro. You’re not making any sense.”
I groan, rolling until I’m half on top of her so I can meet her gaze. “You know how Ryder gets hard for you sometimes?”
She blushes again and nods.
“I do the same for him. It just happened, okay? He didn’t want Logan touching me, so he took care of my, uh, needs.”
“You were hard for him,” she breathes, shifting slightly. “And you’re hard now.”
Hard now?
Holy fuck.
I am.
Because I was remembering every detail of Ryder’s hand pressed against my dick through my denim. Not because of Raegan. That’s just… No.
Her eyelashes flutter and her lips part. I’m suddenly aware of what she must be thinking. That I must want her in the same way I wanted him.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
This is unraveling fast and going to ruin everything.
Why did I have to open my big mouth?
“I love you, Raegan, but I told you. I like…” Men. Guys. Whatever. Just not females, especially not my sister. Not sexually at least.
She flinches, the unspoken words whipping at her. “Got it.”
I know I’ve hurt her because her usually fierce eyes are glassy with unshed tears. I’m an asshole, but I don’t want her to think things that aren’t real.
“Get off me,” she hisses, spittle hitting me in the face.
As though I’ve been struck, I jolt away from her, covering my stupid half-hard dick with my hand. Her throat bobs as she swallows down her emotion, eyes darting to the way I try to hide from her.
“So that’s it now?” Her voice is shrill as she staggers away. “You two get to be lovers and I’m all alone? I thought you were my best friend!”
I follow after her, unable to get my tongue to work correctly and say the right words. Everything in my head sounds wrong. Anything I say will only hurt her.
“I’m sorry,” I mutter. “Whatever you’re thinking, it’s not like that. The thing that happened was a mistake.”
It didn’t feel like one.
In that moment, it felt so right.
“A mistake?” She shakes her head and angrily swipes at a rogue tear. “Try telling your face that.”
With those words, she storms out of the cabin, leaving my mind an even bigger mess than before.
I’m really fucking everything up and I don’t know how to stop it.
Chet’s hilarious. I can see why Wild likes him. Sadie is cool too, though she’s long since retired to my cabin to bunk with the girls. Now that it’s just us guys—me, Ryder, Wild, and Chet—Wild unearths his real gifts to us. The gifts he hid away in his bag until this moment.
Condoms. Lube. Some strange sex toys. Magazines. And alcohol. Always alcohol when Wild’s involved.
“That girl, Mya, totally wants to fuck you, Ry,” Wild says, grinning wide. “You’ll need those condoms so you don’t knock her up. It’s doubtful any of these women around here even know what birth control is.”
Ryder continues strumming on his guitar, ignoring Wild.
Chet snorts out a laugh. “This is some backwoods redneck shit right here. How do you people even survive without like, I don’t know, TV or internet or fuckin’ Ben & Jerry’s?”
“What the hell is Ben & Jerry’s?” I ask absently as I thumb through the glossy magazine full of tits, tits, and more tits.
Chet howls with more laughter even though I have no idea why. “That’s what I’m talking about, dude! You guys have no idea what you’re missing out on. No idea.”
“It’s not that great having Mya want me. And I’m not missing out on shit. I actually like it here,” Ryder grumbles as he sets his guitar aside. He snags a bottle of liquor from Wild, unscrews the cap, and takes a long pull. Then he shudders and damn near gags. “That’s fucking terrible.”
“But you need pussy, man. I’d die if I lived out here isolated from the female population. There are like a million hot chicks at our school. Hell, half of them take turns spending the night at our house with Sadie,” Chet says, reaching for the liquor bottle. “Revolving door of walking blow jobs.”
“You get blow jobs from all your sister’s friends?” I lift my brows in shock. “How many blow jobs have you had?”
Chet’s grin is wolfish. “A helluva lot more than you, my friend.”
I tear my gaze from his, focusing on the magazine. The women are scarily perfect. No scars or freckles or blotchy red skin like Raegan’s gets when she’s angry. Just smooth flesh in varying shades of creams, tans, browns, and black. All of their tits are big too. Some of the women have tattoos on their soft, toned stomachs or slim thighs. Others have metal piercings dangling from their nipples. I wonder what their assholes look like.
One of the pages flips out and a woman uses a toy, pushing it inside her glistening slit. I try to imagine my dick inside her. Would it be hot and slick? Would it strangle me like my hand regularly does?
“You can jerk off later,” Wild says, snatching the magazine from me. “I think we need to go fuck with those assholes.”
Apparently, Ryder filled Wild and Chet in on everything. Well, not everything. Not what happened with me and him, but everything about the new people, the dipshits CJ and Jace, and our hunting trip where we tried to find the men who hurt Kristen. He’s been itching to antagonize and accelerate the situation ever since.
I, for one, am completely happy with hiding away from all of them—Raegan included—while getting drunk and looking at porn mags.
Ryder sits up and drinks more of the liquor before nodding. “I’m game for beating the shit out of CJ. He deserves an ass beating.”
“Nah, I’m good,” I mutter. “Have fun without me.”
Ryder is already on his feet, ignoring my comment. He’s juiced and ready for some violence. Wild always brings out the best in him. Not.
I expect Ryder to give me shit for not going, but he pretends I’m not even here or like I never spoke a word. He’s being strange and it hurts, but I know he can’t stay mad forever. We’ll work it out. We always do.
The three of them slip out of the cabin and into the night. I enjoy the quiet, rummaging through Wild’s bag to see if it has any other surprises. There are lots of snacks, so I help myself to some chips and then settle in for some more female body studying. For once I’d love for him to bring me something with men only in it. Just fucking once.
Rap. Rap. Rap.
The soft knocking on Ryder’s cabin door has me jolting. Quickly, I throw a blanket over the magazines and liquor in case it’s Mom or Dad. I open the door, half expecting half hoping for Raegan, but instead am shocked to see Logan.
Handsome, manly, married Logan.
“Hey,” he says, flashing me one of his secretive smiles. It’s a smile that days ago I’d have nutted in my pants over. Now, it just makes me feel guilty.
“Hey.” I shove my hands into my jeans pockets and lift a brow. “What’s up?”
