Page 102 of Bred
“You’re lucky I hauled you over my shoulder and out of there because if I had stayed for one more moment and had to be witness to the prepubescent looking ‘bros’ staring at your ass, I would have ended up being dragged out in a set of cuffs,” and with those words I throw her into the passenger seat of the Audi and slam the door before walking around and entering the car. It’s going to be a long drive home.
CHAPTER FIVE
ZOEY
“Steroids?”Silasfinallysays,but his eyes don’t deviate from the road. We’ve been driving in silence so tense that I feel like the car might combust. I’m spitting mad and if the way he’s white knuckling the steering wheel is any indication, he is too. “That’s the best you could come up with to embarrass me?”
“I wasn’t trying to embarrass you,” I lie, and I cross my arms over my chest and glare at his profile. I don’t care if he wants to call Mom and Ted to tattle on me. He’s been in a foul mood since he agreed to let me stay with him. Getting his little digs in about how unprepared I was after college. I was an idiot for trusting Lucas with more than fifty cents, and I think that’s why Silas’s accusations cut so deep. I shouldn’t have let it happen. No excuses and I have no one to blame except myself. I decide that throwing a fit like a toddler is exactly what he expects from me, so I do what needs to be done. “How else would you explain the small penis and mood swings?”
I expect Silas to lash out, snap at me. I don’t expect him to level me with a heated stare. Mister calm, cool and collected doesn’t seem in character tonight. He looks like a man on the edge, ready to risk it all. I’m just not sure what he’s putting it on the line for, it’s unclear if he wants to take me out in the woods and bury me or if he wants to bend me over the hood of this Audi and bury himself inside me. My pussy clenches at the thought. I’ve had boyfriends before, but I’ve never met anyone like Silas. He’s so confident and sure of himself. The way he stormed into my workplace and hauled me out of there should have only made me feel anger, maybe some embarrassment. And it did until he slapped me on the ass. Something switched inside me at that exact moment, and a jolt of pleasure shot right to my clit, causing my pussy to convulse in need.
“My dick isn’t small, but if it makes you feel better to say that, go right ahead,” he says in a forced tone that makes me realize I did get under his skin a little more than he wants to let on.
“Oh, I will,” I say in a sing-song tone, and it has the desired effect. Silas’s handsome face is staring straight into mine, his eyes appraising me. I’ve seen him in those tight gray sweatpants he likes to wear inside the house while he paces around reading his newspaper. They’re fitted in all the right places, and I wouldn’t mind if he wore them every day. I bite my tongue and look away from him and out the window because my mind is going to crazy places right now. I was so close to getting back on my feet too. I almost had enough saved up between my regular pay, tips, and picking up extra shifts to pay first and last month's rent on a little place I found. I’ve been applying for better paying jobs, but it's been hard to schedule them without missing any shifts. I sigh because I’m frustrated. I’m going to have to go down to Flesh and Fiddle tomorrow and beg Miss Sinclair for my job back, and I doubt that’s going to go in my favor.
Silas is back to giving me the silent treatment, and that’s making my mood even worse. “Why the hell did you storm in there and act like a fucking caveman? Since when do you care about what I’m doing as long as I’m not in your precious way?” He side-eyes me, but otherwise makes no sign that he’s going to acknowledge what went down tonight, so I keep going. “How did you even notice I wasn’t home? You haven’t paid me two minutes of attention since you showed me my room.”
“I see everything, Zoey. And I don’t like lying. Thatestablishmentis closer to a strip club than a café. Hell, the only coffee they serve there is alcohol based.” He shifts his eyes away from the road long enough to purse his lips at me in a condescending way. This motherfucker really thinks he did something tonight.
Oh, hell no.
“So? There’s nothing wrong with strip clubs. I bet you’ve even been to a few back in your day,” I smile at him as prettily as I possibly can because this beast of a man in front of me is not like the boys at my college. If I’m going to win this… whatever the fuck this is we’re doing, I’m going to need to be strategic and press the one button I know he has. “You’ve made your point several times, Silas. I’m an adult,twenty-two,as you like to reiterate. I’m doing whatever I have to do to get out of your house as fast as I can so I can be responsible for myself. If I have to let some men ogle me, what’s the big deal? The tips are amazing.” I add the last part with a wiggle of my eyebrows just to see his reaction. I thought maybe he’d tell me to be quiet or just continue acting like he’s not at fault for anything that happened tonight.
I don’t expect him to take a quick, hard right down a dark road that I’ve never been down before.
“Where are we going?” I snap.
“You think you’re so smart and worldly don’t you, Zoey?” His anger is hardly restrained as he pulls the car over and shifts into park. “What do you do if one of those assholes in there leering at you follows you out to your car? What then?”
“Why do you care? You’re not a babysitter, remember?” I snap back at him, but it doesn’t come out nearly as harsh as I want it to. I’ve never had anyone look after me before. Especially not a man. I had to do everything in my relationship with Lucas. I was the one with the plans, the ideas, and he just tagged along. He would have never thought to worry about my safety, and he certainly never would have had enough balls to insist I leave with him. He was agreeable to a fault, and instead of arguing or talking about uncomfortable things, he would hide things from me instead. Silas Barlow doesn’t seem like the type of man who would know how to hide something if his life depended on it. It’s his way or no way and he has no problem saying so.
“You’re my brother’s daughter, I…” he starts, and his tone has lost the anger as well because he’s smart enough to realize that the excuse he’s about to spew in my direction makes no fucking sense.
“Step-daughter, and you barely know me. You think Ted is a moron and take every opportunity to let him and everyone who's around know it. Why would you care if I was laying on the sidewalk and letting every man in this town take a turn?” I say the last part because I’m testing a theory about Silas. There’s only two reasons I can think of that he would be concerned for me. One is that he doesn’t want to be held responsible if something bad does happen to me. But that falls flat. I’m an adult and he’s right, he’s not a babysitter. No one would hold him responsible and even if Mom and Ted tried to lay guilt on him, he doesn’t seem like the type to care.
That’s it. All it takes is for me to see the look of absolute fury in Silas’s eyes to know why he’s so concerned. He’s attracted to me and territorial. He didn’t come here tonight because he was worried about me. He came here tonight because the thought of other men looking at me, touching me, set him off.
“I don’tthinkTed is a moron. Heisa moron and you have no idea what I care about, Zoey,” Silas barks at me and I see his hand move, hovering like his instinct is to reach over and place it on my thigh. He pulls his hand back before he can act on it and I’m surprised, but also annoyed, at the amount of restraint this man has. I realize then that I want to feel his large, rough hands on me. I wouldn’t mind being bossed around by him if we were both naked. A million images run through my mind. What does he like? Is he vocal? Would he take control?
Before I can talk myself out of it, I decide that I’m going to find out one way or another. Things are already awkward. He yelled at me, probably got me fired, and I’m assuming he’s going to want me out of his house as soon as possible.
“Whatever you say,Uncle Silas,”I say, sweetening my tone and trying to keep my usual sarcastic wit at bay. I thought maybe he would chastise me for calling him that, but at least I would be able to gauge if his attraction to me is on the same level as mine to him. He surprises me though because he doesn’t say anything. He grabs my jaw so gently that I’m not even sure what his intention is until his mouth is on mine.
I’ve never been kissed this way before. His mouth devours mine in a way that makes me think he’s trying to coax the very soul from my body. His hands are everywhere all at once it seems. His tongue snakes alongside my mouth and I sigh, leaning into him as his hands move from my hair down to my shoulders, pushing the suspenders off. I wrap my arms around his neck, drawing him closer. In this moment, he feels so much bigger than he even looks. His broad chest presses against mine and his hands feel massive as they explore the contour of my hips and outer thighs. He groans into my mouth when he has to pull back for air. My stomach seems to flip because I’m not sure if this is it, if he’ll come to his senses now that our mouths are parted. I open my mouth to say something, anything really, but he’s looking at me wild-eyed and he’s pulling my shirt up. His eyes only leave mine to bury his face in my cleavage.
“Fuck,” he murmurs against my skin, and I tunnel my fingers through his dark locks when I feel his lips latch onto one of my hard nipples. He sucks hard and he tries to pull me closer, even though there’s a barrier between us. I rock against him, pressing my thighs together, trying to get some friction where I need it most.
Despite it all, I want him inside me. I want to climb on his lap and ride his cock until he grabs my hips and holds himself deep inside of me when he comes.
When he switches to the other nipple, I lose any composure I had when this started. “Oh my God, Silas…” I moan, trailing off and pressing my chest closer to his mouth and that expert tongue of his.
And then… there’s nothing.
A chill passes over my wet nipples as he pulls away, trying to cram himself on the other side of the car and as far away from me as possible. I’m left sitting there, practically panting for him with my tits exposed and my clothes all rumpled from the way he manhandled me.
“What the fuck, Silas?” I pull my top down to cover myself and without a word, he shifts into drive but doesn’t pull off right away. He refuses to look at me or make eye contact, so I ask, “What are you waiting for?”
“Seatbelt,” he says gruffly, and rage zips through my entire body at the audacity of this man. I angrily buckle it and turn to look out my window before I let myself slip and wrap it around his neck and choke him out for being such an inconsiderate asshole.
