Page 27 of Puck Me Twice Over

“An asshole,” Knox supplied, sliding under my legs beside me.

“An asshole,” I finished. The events of the last few days slammed me. I gripped the mug tight, trying to free myself from his hold, but Knox wasn’t having it. I gave up and let him cradle my hands in his larger, callused fingers. “Never, not once, did I think that his obsession with you would come to this. That’s why we were at the game that night.”

Knox stopped stroking my hands. I missed the motion immediately. “You know, all you keep saying is, ‘Garry-boy loves you’ and, ‘Garry-boy wants to have your baby’. Not what I want to hear about a dead man, Flick,” he growled.

My eyes widened, and I stared wildly in the direction of the door. “If anyone hears⁠—”

No one had reported my unfortunate ex missing yet, and so no one was looking. I wore a brand new ribbon around my throat that Knox presented me with the day we drove home from the cabin, stopping in at a small jeweler on the edge of an even smaller town. The soft gold satin was broken up by a cluster of diamonds studded across the center. Its width was perfect to hide the red line that hadn’t yet faded, and Knox couldn’t keep his hands off me, stroking the ribbon like a sign of ownership.

No part of me hated that. Not this time around.

What I didn't want was for any authority figure to investigate what actually happened that night in the woods, not on anyone’s part. To work out just who the Chimeras were, and what they did to protect the women they loved. Cora had her own story to tell, as did Shannon’s wife, I’d learned.

Now, I joined those ranks too, because of Knox.

I was alive because of Knox.

"You're safe," he murmured, reaching around me. I curled into the circle of his arms. “But fuck the opinions of a man who never should have been in our lives, Flick. Don’t give power over you. Not now.” His eyes searched mine, seeking answers I wasn’t sure I had to give him.

I huffed at him. “I never said any of that⁠—”

He held up a finger without letting me go. “What I’m not hearing is that you came to see me play. Huh, sweetness? Is there any of that in there?” Knox searched my face, his eyes meeting mine.

There was only one correct answer to this question for a man with an ego his size.

“I was there to watch the Basilisks play that night,” I said promptly.

Knox’s eyes darkened. “Is that your only answer, sweetness?”

“Mhmm,” I murmured sagely. “Wha–oh!” A faded shriek left my beribboned throat as Knox scooped me into his arms and tossed me over his shoulder. A resounding smack echoed across the open plan space.

My cry died a sharp death when the hard hand that delivered my punishment for sassing him went on a little tour. I whimpered as Knox discovered my lack of panties beneath his shirt. One moment I was over his shoulder, his fingers tracing the soft, damp lips of my pussy. The next I was airborne. My back hit the soft mattress, and I bounced.

“What the fu—” I breathed, then he was on me. Or, more accurately, over me.

Knox caged me in. “You were prepared for this, huh, Flick?”

I shook my head. “I just wanted the restrictive clothing off.”

His hand came down on my hip, squeezing. A quick glance over his shoulder confirmed my lie. “I don’t see any panties in that pile of denim, sweetness. Do you wanna try again?"

I licked my lips. “I really just wanted everything off.”

Knox’s gaze coasted over the shirt I wore. “Undo the buttons. Now, sweetness,” he murmured when I hesitated. “Unless you’ve changed your mind.”

It was the one out he’d give me. I knew that. My only escape route.

I didn't plan on taking it.

I reached up, working the first button that seemed too tight in its enclosure. His hand closed over mine, stopping me.

“What?” I stared up at him, all too aware of his body arched over mine, my borrowed shirt hitched up to the tops of my thighs with nothing underneath. The only place we touched was our joined hands. “What did I do wrong?”

“Tell me why you left that night. Way back when we were dating the first time. When I came to get you for the dance. Why did you walk away from me?” Knox’s voice strained.

Hell, he was hurting as much as I did. Still.

The vision of him swam before me, replaced with the far younger version, the innocent one. “I don’t know.”