I left the room, leaving him to take his power nap, and headed downstairs to the guest room. Pushing open the door, I was surprised to find it clean, though I guessed I should’ve expected it with a man like Kreed taking care of everything. The bed was made, and when I leaned down to sniff the sheets to make sure they didn’t smell stale, I was surprised to find they’d been freshly changed.
“I have the cleaner clean this room and change the bedding every two weeks.” Kreed spoke up from the doorway. I slowly turned to face him. He looked tired and wary, looking at me as if I might suddenly attack him. I almost smiled.
He had no fucking clue the plans I had for him.
“Well, that’s convenient for me, then,” I mused.
Kreed sighed and crossed his arms over his chest, a defensive gesture I was all too familiar with. “Why are you here, Hudson?”
I smirked.
“I missed home,” I drawled, lifting one shoulder in a half-shrug.
He closed his eyes then pinched the bridge of his nose. “I’ve been around you long enough to know when you’re lying.” Dropping his hand, he opened his eyes. “Why are you really here, Hudson? Drop the bullshit.”
I crossed the distance between us, and when he made to back away from me, I gripped the collar of his black T-shirt in my fist, preventing him from moving out of my space. Leaning in, I grazed my lips across his. His sharp intake of breath was music to my fucking ears, and when he trembled, I damn near dragged him over to that guest bed so I could tongue-fuck his hole until he was sobbing and begging for me to let him come.
“I missed you,” I murmured, letting my eyes meet his. His brown eyes were warm and inviting, even as he stood there, acting as if he were terrified of me and what I might do to him. “And I came home to claim what’s mine.”
I released him, and he stumbled back, staring at me as if I were the devil himself. “You can’t?—”
“Oh, I can,” I promised him. “And I will. Time’s up on your closeted games, Kreed.” I took a step toward him, and he stumbled back two. “There’s no getting rid of me now.”
He shook his head.
“You’ve lost your fucking mind,” he rasped, moving even further away from me.
I snorted. “Lost that a long fucking time ago, Kreed. You don’t keep your sanity when you’re raised by a woman like Bonnie.” I reached out and cupped his cheek, stroking my thumb along his stubble covered-jaw. I couldn’t wait to feel the scratch of it against other parts of my body. “I’m going to nap. It’s been a long week of exams,” I told him. “But don’t think this is over, Kreed.” A slow smile curved my lips. “We are far from over.”
Chapter Four
Kreed
* * *
I never should have let him touch me that night. I immediately should have shouted at him to get the fuck out of my room then gotten up and locked the door to prevent him from coming back inside. But I hadn’t. After being caught out, my true desires revealed, I’d been frozen with fear, and then, when he’d touched me, I’d fucking fallen right into his trap.
He’d just felt too fucking good. All the things he said to me that night… The way he touched me… I hadn’t been spoken to or touched like that in so fucking long. Not since I met Bonnie and decided I’d save Hudson.
While I’d never regret giving Hudson a stable home, food in his stomach every day, a damn good college degree, and structure, I was beginning to regret not keeping a closer eye on his mental health. Because clearly, he needed to see a fucking doctor if he thought his grand plan to make me his would work.
It wouldn’t.
One—I was married to his mother. Bonnie would rip out his throat before she ever lost access to my money. Two—he was my stepson. It was forbidden and wrong, and I didn’t do either of those things. And three—he was too fucking young. Nineteen goddamn years younger than me. And four—I had no plan to come out as pansexual. None. I was forty fucking years old. Too late for me to be doing the whole coming-out-the-closet shebang.
Leaning forward, I braced my elbows on my knees and scrubbed at my face. Part of me wanted to tell Hudson he couldn’t stay here. That he had to go back to campus for Thanksgiving. But I knew that’d just make him push harder. He hated being told he couldn’t have something, and that was saying something when the man rarely asked for anything to begin with. He’d always seemed so content with what I gave him.
I mean, fuck—he barely even used the goddamn credit card I gave him. I think the most I’d ever seen him spend was about ninety-nine dollars. And it was just at gas stations, which probably had been him just filling up his car.
He’d fooled me damn good, because the whole time, he’d been biding his time for this.
“You look stressed,” Corvus said.
I damn near jumped out of my skin at the sound of his voice. Quickly, I turned my head to look at him. He’d taken up one of the other patio chairs and was turned around to lift the thing in the back to make it lay down. He was wearing nothing but swim shorts and flip flops.
That was the nice thing about South Florida, I guessed. It was usually pretty warm outside, which meant it was still possible to sunbathe in late November.
“I’m fine,” I muttered, dropping my hands and looking up at the sky. “I apologize for what you walked in on earlier today.”
