“Hold on.” Keller grinned. “I don’t want to be gentle tonight.”
“Me either,” she moaned as she took fistfuls of her shirt. She wrapped her legs around his waist, despite how stiff she felt.
He slammed into her over and over again until she could think of nothing else but him and his cock. Feeling brave, she unwound her hands from around his neck and leaned back. Keller took a strong hold of her hips. His fingers dug into her skin. Holly tipped back until she hung upside down from the deck. Pleasure, and the most delicious hint of pain, numbed her mind. She wasn’t afraid.
“You trust me that much?” Keller groaned as he pumped in and out of her.
“Yes,” Holly cried, winding her hands into her hair.
Too soon, Keller pulled her back into an upright position. “I want to look at you,” he purred. “I want to see in your eyes how good I make you feel.”
“I don’t know what’s gotten into you, but I like it.”
Keller wrapped one arm around her waist to free up one of his hands. With his free hand, he stroked between her legs. Her thighs began to tremble. She couldn’t muffle her cries of pleasure, nor did she want to.
Keller threw back his head with a roar as she felt him go rigid inside of her. They climaxed together loud enough to startle an owl from a nearby tree. Somewhere, a wolf howled.
Holly no longer felt like herself and her body were one and the same. When Keller lifted her off the railing, her legs turned to jelly beneath her.
“I can’t walk.” She giggled.
“Not a problem,” Keller murmured. “I’ve got you.”
“Do we have to go inside?” Holly pouted.
“Nope. We can stay out here as long as you want.”
“Good. I already want to do that again.” She giggled.
“Let’s give your body a break before we go for round two.” Keller lifted her off her feet. He carried her somewhere, but she couldn’t be bothered to open her eyes.
Safe in Keller’s arms, she let sleep take her away.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO—HOLLY
Holly awoke stiff, sore, and chilled to the bone. Blinding white light stung her eyes when she tried to open them. Her mouth felt like sandpaper. The throbbing in her head was almost too much to bear.
After a few slow, deep breaths, she tried to open her eyes again.
Above her, she saw cloudy skies and treetops. She sat up too quickly. Nausea hit her like a truck. The near-empty whiskey bottle stood beside her, looking guilty.
“You were supposed to do this to me on my birthday,” she mumbled to the bottle.
Had she been out here all night? At first, she couldn’t remember anything about last night. When she rolled onto her back and felt the telltale soreness between her legs, memories came rushing back to her.
Keller was excited about something. He called himself a king. He damn well made her feel like a queen, too. Had she really dangled off the deck railing during sex? No sane person did things like that.
She looked to her left, then to her right, expecting to see Keller asleep beside her, but no one was there. She was totally alone on the deck.
The clouds made it difficult to tell, but by her guess, the sun hadn’t been up for very long. Everything had a dreamy blue hue to it. Or maybe that was just the hangover. Holly wasn’t sure. She’d never had a hangover of this intensity before.
At work events or parties, she sometimes had a glass or two of wine. At worst, that left her with a slight headache in the mornings. This was next level.
“Hello?” she croaked.
She heard the sound of the deck door opening.
“She’s awake!” Elise shouted.
Her voice left a ringing in Holly’s ears long after she spoke.
“Can you be a little quieter, please?” Holly pleaded.
“What kind of friend would I be if I didn’t give you a little hell after your drunken meltdown?” Elise chuckled.
“A good one,” Holly muttered.
“I bet you have one hell of a hangover.”
“And frostbite.”
Loch appeared in the doorway, looking relieved.
“I was worried you weren’t going to wake up.”
“You knew I was out here?” Holly frowned. “Why didn’t anyone bring me inside?”
“You bit me last time I tried to move you.”
“I did what now?” Holly blinked in surprise. The inside of her eyelids felt like they were coated in chalk dust.
“This.” Loch lifted his wrist. Sure enough, there was a faint half-moon bitemark.
“Sorry.” Holly winced. “Where’s Keller?”
“No idea, why?”
“I was out here with him,” Holly said. “I can’t believe he’d leave me out here in the cold.”
Loch’s face hardened. “He left you out here after screwing you on the banister?”
If Holly’s circulatory system worked properly, she would’ve blushed. “You heard that?”
“You were screaming.”
“Sorry,” she mumbled.
“Not as sorry as Keller’s going to be when I find him,” Loch grumbled. “Your hands are blue. It got down to thirty degrees last night.”
“I don’t understand.”
“That’s because you’re hungover. Can you put your arm around me?”
With some difficulty, Holly slung her arm over Loch’s neck.
He wrapped one arm around her back, slipped the other beneath her bare knees, and lifted her into his arms.
“I’m going to grab a blanket before I see something I don’t want to.” Elise disappeared into the house.
“What does she mean?”
“You’re not wearing any pants. Or underwear. There are shreds of them all over the deck.”
“I’m never drinking again.”
“That might be wise.”
“Now, you’re starting to sound like Lucien,” Holly mumbled.
Loch brought her inside and
