Her All Along

by Cara Dee

  “I reckon we’ll go over to the shooting range too,” he said, threading his fingers across his stomach. “Can’t get lazy just ’cause I’m not in the service anymore—and Angel’s never been. Girl’s a fuckin’ disaster.”

  I snorted in amusement. I admired him, though—and Darius. They’d always taken it upon themselves to teach their loved ones self-defense and gun safety. Jake had been much the same. It was because of him I’d learned. He’d brought me to a range back when we’d been in college. Of course, he hadn’t known that I’d been the last person on earth who should own a gun. These days, I kept it stowed away in a small gun safe in my nightstand.

  The girls returned, and I did a double take at everything they were carrying on two big trays.

  I’d bought two bags of chips, but evidently that hadn’t been enough.

  “There’s no way you found all this in my kitchen,” I stated.

  The tray Pipsqueak set down on the table was packed with smaller bowls of probably six or seven different types of chips, nuts, and mini pretzels.

  Angel’s tray had mixers, ice, and all the booze, and I didn’t know how much she thought we were going to drink. I just wanted a few beers and maybe a whiskey or two. No need for vodka, gin, tequila, and rum.

  “No, we found it at the store.” Pipsqueak smirked and took her seat next to me. “What? It’s impossible to pick just one or two bags for you. You have a dozen kinds you call favorites.”

  Because that was what Elise did. She wanted to get my favorites.

  “You’re something else.” I smiled and shook my head.

  “I know,” she replied cheekily and popped a couple chips into her mouth.

  I chuckled and snagged one of the cold beers, feeling the same way I had this morning. There was a sense of bliss when I was around her. Without fail, she made every day better.

  “Just so everyone is clear,” Angel announced, “I’m mixing all the drinks tonight. According to Ryan, I need practice.”

  Ryan smirked. “To be fair, it’s according to the customers too.”

  She glared up at him.

  He cocked a brow, and it made her stop instantly.

  Interesting dynamic, to say the least.

  “Okay, can you make me something?” Pipsqueak asked. “I like it sweet and tart.”

  Sweet and tart sounded about right.

  As the last light left the sky and after everyone had enjoyed a few drinks, it was too easy to take a trip down memory lane and give Angel a bigger picture of the Quinn family. Through tipsy tales, she got to meet Jake. Ryan told her about the time he, Darius, Jake, and Ethan had hotwired their dad’s car as a way to teach James to never say, “I ain’t givin’ you the key, so good luck.”

  I shared a story of when all of us had proclaimed we were never settling down with kids, and Jake had pointed to us and said we were dead wrong. One day, we’d all end up with some runts.

  Angel snuck a teasing look at Ry, who chuckled.

  “Yeah, yeah. It’s possible that only Darius and Ethan still believe they’ll never settle down.”

  “Aw, you two will make such cute babies.” Pipsqueak beamed at the happy couple.

  “One day.” Ryan leaned in and kissed Angel’s temple.

  I drained the last of my beer and side-eyed Pipsqueak. She’d probably want kids too. She was already amazing with Grace.

  “All right, bartender,” I said. “I could go for a drink. What do you recommend?”

  Ryan grinned and lifted his brows at me, and I merely smiled. I knew it was the question bartenders loathed. Angel would have to work on that too, right? Working at Ryan’s bar ensured she’d get that question a lot.

  “Umm.” She tapped her chin. “Do you like rum?”

  “Depends,” I said pensively. “Sometimes it’s the best thing since sliced bread, and sometimes it turns my stomach.”

  She furrowed her brow at the selection of bottles.

  Ryan cleared his throat. “Right about now, four other customers are waiting for their drinks, and a drunk asshole at the end of the bar calls you little lady and asks if you’re single.”

  “Well, fuckers are gonna have to wait,” Angel huffed. “And as for the asshole at the end of the bar, there’s a baseball bat under the register.”

  Elise and I cracked up.

  “Wrong answer,” Ryan replied, looking like he was struggling to keep from laughing. “You gotta be quick on your feet, baby girl. When someone asks you what you recommend, be your ballsy but polite self and say something along the lines of ‘I’m full of recommendations, but I don’t fly blind. Give me something to work with, and I’ve got you covered.’ Then they’ll have to tell you what they like, be it rum or vodka or whatever.”

  Angel nodded thoughtfully and then turned to me. “I gotta know your poison in order to intoxicate you, sugar. What’re you in the mood for?”

  Oh, that was a good one.

  “There’s my seductress.” Ryan winked at her and drank from his beer.

  “I like whiskey,” I said.

  “Make him an old-fashioned,” Ryan directed. “You don’t need the fruit. He doesn’t like it anyway.”

  I puckered my lips at him.

  “That’s one thing I can’t get over,” Elise sighed. “How can someone not have a sweet tooth? Avery’s even worse than Ethan!”

  “What’re you talkin’ about?” Ryan frowned. “He likes you. If that doesn’t qualify as a sweet tooth, nothing does.”

  “Too true,” I agreed. The alcohol had loosened me up enough that I could grab Elise’s hand and kiss the top of it. “You’re all the sweetness I need, Pipsqueak.”

  Fuck whiskey. The way her cheeks flushed pink in the porch lights was intoxicating enough.

  If only she knew I meant it way deeper and much less platonically than she assumed.

  Maybe she hoped, though. I hoped that she hoped. I also hoped she’d spend the night with me again. I wanted a repeat of yesterday. I wanted to squeeze her tightly and make no excuses for it.

  Elise withdrew her hand and shot me a little scowl. “You can’t charm your way out of this, Mister.”

  “Pretty sure he can,” Angel sang. “All done! One old-fashioned.”

  I grinned faintly and leaned forward to accept the drink. “Thanks, hon. I managed to sober up before I got it.”

  Ryan barked out a laugh.

  Angel stewed to herself before she jutted out her chin and replied, “Well, that’s how I’ll keep you comin’ back for more.”

  I chuckled and took a sip of the drink. Eh, it worked. Ryan would teach her eventually. She had potential.

  Ryan and Angel left around one, and neither of them had made any assumption or indicated that Pipsqueak might go with them, considering they were staying in a guest room down the hall from Pipsqueak’s own room.

  It meant she was staying over, right? She wasn’t just going to stick around to help me tidy up or some shit. If I could just have one more night with her, one night of holding her close to me, maybe I’d be satisfied. Then I could be the responsible adult who set her free for her college life. And that was something I definitely didn’t want to think about. She was leaving at the end of August.

  “Any more glasses out there, Mister?” Pipsqueak hollered from the kitchen.

  “No, all clear. You can start the dishwasher.” I returned the last of the booze to the cabinet in the living room before I locked the patio doors. Then I joined her in the kitchen. “You know you didn’t have to do this.”

  “I wanted to.” She wiped down the counter and then faced me with a hesitant expression. “Do you wanna watch a movie?”

  “Yeah.” There was no other answer. I flicked off the light in the kitchen to make it clear we were done down here. “I don’t care which one. You go pick.”

  She didn’t care either, but she was gonna go through the motions. The look in her eyes right before she passed me in the doorway flashed with nerves, uncertainty, and a plea that tore down my defenses and
stripped me of any lingering denial.

  On the way upstairs, I silenced the voice in the back of my head telling me I needed to back the fuck off, because I couldn’t. I didn’t have the willpower to resist her. Fuck, I craved the opposite all of a sudden. The urge filled my chest with each breath, with each step that brought me toward my bed. I wanted her to know how much I adored her.

  A stabbing pain followed, searing its way through me, when I thought about her leaving.

  For two whole years, I’d only see her at major holidays. I’d come home from work to find the kitchen untouched. Her shitty pop music that she danced to wouldn’t play. She wouldn’t run over while I watched the news in the evening to check if she had all the supplies she needed for her next experiment. I wouldn’t see Grace’s eyes light up whenever Elise announced her arrival.

  I was going to fucking break, wasn’t I?

  After adjusting the thermostat in the hall, I entered my bedroom and left the light off. My jeans and tee ended up on the lid of the hamper in the corner. The duvet was folded down, and then I took a seat on the edge of the bed, just waiting for her to appear.

  Two years.

  Fuck it all.

  When I heard Pipsqueak climbing the stairs, I exhaled and removed my watch, leaving it on my nightstand. My heart thrummed steadily, slowed down by the lingering alcohol in my blood. But I couldn’t blame that for anything I was about to do. No more excuses.

  Her shadow appeared first, and then there she was. She leaned against the doorframe and wrung her hands. No DVD in her grasp. She didn’t care.

  I swallowed and gripped the edge of the bed. “Couldn’t find a movie?”

  She shook her head minutely. The silhouette of her was too dark for me to read her eyes, but I didn’t need to.

  “Come here,” I murmured.

  She swallowed audibly, and I drank in the sight of her as she approached. Those perfect legs, that little dress hiding nothing, her supple curves, nipples constricting underneath the soft cotton, her chest falling and rising rapidly. She couldn’t pretend anymore either.

  Once she was close enough, I slipped my hands behind her knees and urged her onto my lap, and she climbed up and straddled me, an unsteady breath falling from her lips. Lust bolted through me and fried every nerve ending. She was exactly where she should be. Where I needed her.

  I sighed contentedly and slid my hands up her thighs, and my gaze followed every movement. “My beautiful Pipsqueak.” Something made her tremble. Nerves, maybe. I didn’t want her to be nervous. “Fucking hell, you’re perfect,” I muttered, shifting my hands to her waist.

  She sucked in a breath and shivered violently.

  Her reaction sent a shudder through me too, and I surrendered. The effect she had on me was indescribable. I understood the definition of buzzing now, and how it flowed like an electrical current in my system. I swallowed against the dryness in my throat and lifted my gaze to hers. I was fucking done for.

  Like a magnet, I closed the distance. I cupped her face and covered her mouth with mine, and in an instant, she snaked her arms around my neck and pulled herself flush to my body. I bit back a groan at the sheer pleasure that exploded within me. My hands fell to her thighs as she applied pressure to the kiss, and I guess I saw what I’d been doing wrong all my life. Of course kissing felt too intimate if you were kissing the wrong person. If you were kissing someone you didn’t want too close.

  We parted our lips at the same time, our tongues meeting tentatively at first, and I returned one hand to her cheek, wanting to reassure her. I didn’t even know if she needed reassurance, but I’d always been protective of her. I’d always wanted to stay close and extend a hand just in case.

  I’d been wrong to say she was bad at seduction, because this was where she focused her efforts. She poured herself into the kiss with so much passion that it rendered me stupid. As I deepened the kiss further, I took another step and finally got my hands on her ass. All my blood left my head and surged toward my cock at that point, and I just checked out. She felt too good to think about steps and stages.

  She gasped into the kiss when I kneaded the back of her thigh and accidentally brushed the tips of my fingers along her pussy. So I did it again, and I cursed that flimsy little thong that was in the way. So was her dress. I wanted to see all of her.

  “Will you lose the dress for me?” I grazed my teeth along her bottom lip before I swept the tip of my tongue into her mouth.

  She breathed shakily and nodded once, then pulled at the hem of her dress. We broke the kiss so she could yank it over her head and throw it somewhere on the floor. She didn’t hide from me, and I was so fucking thankful.

  Leaning in to kiss her again, I slid my hands up her rib cage and ghosted my fingers over her breasts. Just like the rest of her, they made my mouth water.

  “I don’t want you to see me as some kid sister you grew up with,” she murmured.

  “I don’t.” If I did, I wouldn’t be here. “I used to…” I brushed my fingers over her nipples next and felt them tightening under my touch. Fuck, it wasn’t enough. I couldn’t sit here any longer. “Then you turned into a walking felony.” I grabbed ahold of her ass and stood up with a grunt, to which she gasped and locked her ankles around my hips. And that was it. She pressed herself against my cock and made me lose my last shred of decency.

  Before I knew it, her back hit the mattress, and I crawled on top of her. I kissed her hungrily and stroked her thigh, hitching it over my hip. When she dug her head into the pillow and exposed her neck, I kissed her there too. I sucked at her flesh, nipped at it, and let my hands roam freely. Every single inch of her, I wanted to touch.

  I rocked against her pussy and elicited the sweetest fucking sound from her. The raw need in her breathy moan went straight to my cock. Her thong had to come off soon, too. I could feel how hot and wet she was through her underwear.

  I couldn’t wait. Covering her mouth with mine again, I wedged a hand between us and slid it underneath her thong. Her only response was to swivel her hips into my touch, so I trailed down farther until my hand covered her soft, wet pussy.

  She shook with a shiver as I slipped my middle finger between the smooth lips and coated it in her wetness.

  I had to catch my breath. I rested my forehead to hers and focused on her pussy, wondering how quickly I could get my mouth on her. Because fuck all my goddamn rules. If it was intimate, I wanted it with her. Christ, I was ready to inhale her. My cock was rock hard, and my balls already ached to be emptied.

  “Oh,” she whimpered and screwed her eyes shut, and her nails dug into my biceps the second I glided one lone finger inside her. At the same time, I eased the pad of my thumb over her clit in slow circles. That made her moan again.

  “Let me hear you,” I whispered. “Don’t hold back.”

  She was goddamn tight, and it was impossible not to wonder if she’d had sex yet. The unfamiliar feeling of possessiveness that tightened my chest made it abundantly clear what I hoped for, but it didn’t matter right now. Sex was off the table. I didn’t own a single condom, and I didn’t want to rush anything. Regardless of the fact that I’d seen her take her birth control numerous times.

  “More,” she gasped. “Please, Avery…”

  I groaned under my breath and kissed her hard. My name on her lips in that breathless voice was enough to bring me to my knees.

  She writhed desperately underneath me as I finger-fucked her, but I refused to go faster. I wanted to drive her crazy just like she’d done with me.

  Holy fuck, what am I doing?

  This was my sweet, innocent Pipsqueak.

  I teased her tongue with mine and thought again about where I wanted my tongue buried.

  Screw it, if she wasn’t ready, I trusted her to tell me. She always had.

  She let out a noise of protest when I backed away from her, and it made me feel ten feet tall to see how she reached for me. But I didn’t give her any reason to wonder what my plan was for very lon
g. I closed my mouth around one of her nipples and sucked greedily, then withdrew my hand from her pussy to pull down her panties. Her chest heaved rapidly, and her fingers disappeared into my hair instead when she couldn’t reach my arms.

  She understood what was happening as I got comfortable between her thighs, and she bit her lip nervously.

  “Close your eyes and just feel, sweetheart.” I nuzzled those smooth, glistening lips. The scent of her forced me to swallow repeatedly, and I couldn’t even describe the hunger that unfurled with a crack of thunder within me. “Have you let anyone do this before?”

  “No,” she whispered.

  I closed my eyes and breathed in deeply, and I leaned in again and gave her pussy a long, deep, openmouthed kiss. “Don’t hesitate to tell me if I’m going too far.”

  “I won’t,” she promised with a tremble in her voice.

  Her vulnerable state suddenly turned me on beyond belief too, as did her lack of experience. And the taste of her… I stroked my thumbs up her lips and parted them, then licked the length of her pussy and sucked on her clit.

  She cried out and arched her back. Her grip on my hair burned my scalp, and I had no fucks to give whatsoever. It was the sexiest sight I’d ever had play out before me.

  “Oh my God, oh my God,” she moaned.

  That’s my girl.

  I buried my face against her and ate her out as if I’d turned into a starving caveman. When I suckled at her clit, I fingered her tight pussy. When I swept my tongue inside her, I rubbed her clit with the pads of my fingers in persistent strokes. Judging by her pleas and moans, she loved that more than circles.

  Then she tensed up and started shaking, so I redoubled my efforts and fingered her through her first orgasm. There wasn’t a chance in hell I’d stop at one. Even though my cock was ready to drill through the mattress, I kept going. I eased her off the high with kisses and light, teasing swipes of my tongue, but I didn’t stop. And when her breathing returned to somewhat normal, I added a second finger, stretching her out for me. I curled them inside her, stroked her inner walls, feeling the wet softness, and closed my mouth around her clit.