Steal You Away

by Ashley, Victoria

  His sister doesn’t even know what’s been happening between us and she’s my best friend. I tell her everything. What is she going to think of me once she finds out what I did to Dax? Clearly, when she said I needed to get out last night and celebrate, she didn’t mean with her other brother. That’s so dirty—just like he is.

  “I’m going to get home to my kids if you think you’re good to handle things on your own.”

  I bite my tongue from saying what I really want to say to Sally, because I’m sure a “fuck you” wouldn’t be appreciated by Dixie. “I’m good, Sally. Go and get to your kids.”

  She thinks that just because she’s in her mid-forties and has worked here since her twenties that she deserves my position. She fucks up eighty percent of the time and comes up with every excuse in the book to take off early. She’s not going to like my new write-up policy going into effect next week.

  “You sure? There’s still a line out back at the food truck. Need me to call Libby in to help?”

  “There are five people in the bar and probably a handful outside. If I couldn’t handle taking care of things then the management position would be yours, now wouldn’t it?” The words come out before I can stop them, clearly my stress getting the best of me.

  “All righty, then.” Sally grabs her oversized purse and swings it over her shoulder with attitude. “Have fun, and good luck.”

  As soon as she exits the bar, I jump into cleaning again to distract my mind in between customers. The only thing good about tonight is Sally taking off early.

  “I’ll take another, please.”

  I nod across the bar to Jim, before grabbing him another beer and dropping it off, then check on my other customers to see if anyone else needs anything.

  A few more customers come in over the next hour, but within a couple, it turns into a ghost town.

  Colson could’ve easily posted something on social media earlier to pick up business, but it’s clear he didn’t want a huge crowd to deal with tonight. It has me wondering if he’s been just as stuck in his head as I am.

  “Everything okay over there, girl?” Harry’s voice has me looking away from the wall I’ve been staring at for who knows how long. “You’ve been somewhere else tonight.” He stands and drops some cash down on the bar.

  “Men trouble,” I say, grabbing his empty glass and sighing.

  “Men, or man?” he asks on a laugh.

  “Men, as in plural. Exciting, right?”

  “Hey, I wish I had women problems and not just a woman problem,” he teases. “Just don’t tell my wife. She’d kill me before I could even pass out on the couch.”

  “Ouch. Better hide the knives then.” I laugh, thinking he’s joking until I notice his serious expression.

  “No joke. If I had it my way, I would’ve gotten a divorce years ago. Every time I think I have the balls to do it, I chicken out and spend the next six months sleeping on the couch. Being stuck in a loveless marriage sucks. That’s what happens when you settle for less than what you want.” He slips into his flannel jacket. “But what is a man my age to do? I’ll probably be dead in twenty years anyway, so screw it, right?”

  I swallow and whisper, “yeah,” as he walks away.

  The sick feeling in my stomach returns, because now I’m thinking about how not being with Colson ever again would feel. What if I had said screw it like Harry and stayed with Dax like he stayed with his wife?

  I scrub the bar and anything I can get my hands on until it’s close enough to closing time to turn the signs off. Even then, I keep looking at the door as if Colson will appear any minute. I could just go to him when I leave here, right?

  Frustrated, I toss down the towel and grip the bar, fighting my urge to go to Colson’s after I leave. “Not yet,” I say to myself. “Maybe in a week or two, but not yet.”

  My heart stops when my phone goes off with a text again. It’s the third time in the last hour, and I’ve been afraid to look in case it’s Dax. I stare at my phone from across the bar, before finally walking over to grab it. My stomach twists into knots when I see I was right. All three texts are from Dax.

  Dax: I miss you.

  Dax: I should’ve done better. You deserved better.

  Dax: It hurts so bad not having you as mine.

  I toss my phone and rest my head against the wall, hating that I don’t feel anything from his texts. Shouldn’t I feel something. We were together for almost eight years. Shouldn’t I want to go back to him. These texts should stir some old feelings inside, but they don’t. That only makes me angrier.

  Thirty minutes later, I’m out the door, locking it behind me. Instead of walking to my car, I look around the empty parking lot, my heart sinking to my stomach once I confirm Colson’s truck is nowhere to be seen. That should make me happy, but it only sours my mood as I hurry to my car and climb inside, slamming the door shut behind me.

  I’m not sure I can handle going home just yet, so I sit here for a few minutes, fighting the urge to drive to Colson’s before finally taking off and heading home.

  What I didn’t expect is for Colson’s truck to be parked across the street when I pull into the driveway. Right on track, my heart pounds against my ribcage, fighting to break free from my chest. I haven’t even seen him yet and my heart is uncontrollable.

  When I step out of my car, I look across the street again to see Colson now leaning against his truck, dressed in a plain white T-shirt and a pair of faded jeans that fit him to perfection. All kinds of feelings stir inside. Old and new. I’ve known him just as long as I’ve known Dax.

  Up until I was worried about hurting Dax’s feelings, I enjoyed being around Colson. I looked forward to it on most days, because he was always exciting. He always made me laugh and made me feel comfortable with being me. I never felt I had to pretend with him like I did with Dax. I’m pretty convinced now that Colson was right about our age difference. Had he been older like Dax, it would’ve been us that ended up together.

  He pushes away from his truck and walks toward me, stopping once we’re only a few feet apart. I wait for him to say something. He doesn’t. Instead, he silently looks me over, his gaze taking me in. The way his eyes move along my body, admiring every inch of me, has me burning hot.

  I swallow, my chest heaving up and down by the time his gaze lands on mine again. “Colson—”

  Before I can get the words out, he picks me up, his lips coming down hard against mine. His tongue swiping out to run across my lips has me distracted long enough for him to carry me up the stairs to my house and push the door open.

  I know Blaire is asleep inside; at least, I hope she’s sleeping, so I prepare to protest, but he kisses me harder and shuts the door behind us. The deep growl he releases in my mouth as he walks us through the dark house has me squeezing my legs around his body with need.

  My head is screaming that this isn’t okay, but my heart and body enjoy the ride all the way to my room and to my bed, where he tosses me on top and crawls above me.

  “I told your brother—”

  “So what,” he whispers, his mouth running along my stomach as he lifts my shirt over my head.

  “Your sister is—”

  “I don’t fucking care.” It comes out more as a growl than anything before he yanks my shorts down my legs, followed by my panties. “You’re mine, Kennedy. Fuck what anyone else thinks.”

  The urgency in his words has me going for his jeans just as desperate to get him naked as he is me. “Shit, Colson. Fucking shit.” I yank his jeans down and reach for his boxer briefs, moving them down to pull his thick erection free. The way it fills my hand has me swearing under my breath, remembering the way it felt when he stretched me last night.

  Yanking his shirt over his head, he kicks out of his shoes and jeans before moving back between my legs and watching as I stroke his dick, the head of it pressed against my opening. “Holy fuck, babe. I need inside of you. Now.” Wrapping an arm around my neck, he thrusts into me hard and de
ep, pushing me so far up the bed that I bang my head into the headboard.

  His hard body moving between my legs is the hottest thing I’ve ever seen. His firm ass moving up and down in perfect rhythm has me reaching for it, needing to feel it under my fingers as he takes me, entering me deep each time.

  When he speeds up, gripping my thighs hard, I fight the urge to scream out, not wanting Blaire to hear me. Here I am in the next room over fucking her little brother instead of her big brother. Who would’ve known her little brother owns my body as good as he does.

  Moving his mouth back to capture mine, he pushes my right leg up, bending it at the knee and rests his left hand on the bed for support. The way he slowly rolls his hips into me while kissing me deep has me digging my nails into his neck, close to coming for him already.

  Holy fuck, how he rolls those hips. I can feel his lower abs flex against me every time he moves back in. That sexy V of muscle I’m in love with is grinding against me, wrecking me. I’m so incredibly hot I can’t fucking breathe.

  His mouth. His body. Everything that is Colson Bennett is inside and on top of me and I can’t handle it. The way he fills me is too much. I’m about to unravel any second and he knows it by the way he keeps rhythm, hitting me perfectly each time.

  “Come for me, baby. Don’t fucking hold back. Show me how much you want me.” His words against my mouth mixed with the roll of his hips has me coming within seconds, moaning into his mouth as my body shakes beneath him.

  “Holy fuck,” I whisper over and over again, fighting to catch my breath. “So good… I can’t…”

  I’m still in the midst of coming down when he pulls out and flips me over, adjusting me so that I’m on my knees, him on his behind me. He bends me forward at the perfect angle to enter me again, my sensitivity causing me to grip the blanket and cry out. “You ready?” he whispers against my ear.

  I nod and whisper, “yes,” repeatedly until he tilts my head back, his lips capturing mine to drown out my words.

  With his mouth on mine, he begins moving inside me again, taking me slow for a few minutes, before picking up speed again. I cry into his mouth, hardly able to handle it when his hand moves down my breasts to my pussy, his fingers massaging my clit as he fucks me with perfection.

  I thought sex with him was good the first time, but it did nothing to prepare me for this. Something tells me he was holding back last night. This is how he pleasures a woman. This here is how he’s going to ruin me.

  “I’m going to come inside of you,” he whispers against my lips, before biting the bottom one. “I’ll be the only one to come inside of you. I’m yours,” he adds, his words making me orgasm at the same time I feel him come inside of me.

  We’re both panting and fighting for breath, him holding me from behind until we both come down, and he finally pulls out of me. The feeling of his cum leaking between my thighs has me turned on all over again, making me wonder why I thought I could resist him tonight. I never had a chance.

  Not a chance in hell.

  “Come here.” He lays down and pulls me on top of him, his mouth trailing kisses over my neck and shoulder. “I’m staying tonight.”

  “Your sister will catch you here.”

  “Then I’ll tell her the truth,” he says into my hair, before kissing the side of my head. “I’ll take care of you.”

  Hearing him say he’ll take care of me has me gushing inside, but I push the feeling aside the best I can so I can think rationally. “I need you to go to the couch before she wakes up. Please, Colson. I need to talk to her first. This—us—is complicated. There shouldn’t even be an us yet.”

  “But you’re saying there’s definitely an us?” he says, amused.

  “I don’t think I have much of a choice,” I say against his chest. “But after this we need to wait a little bit, okay? Just a little bit. No more showing up here late at night.”

  “Until tomorrow night?” He kisses me again, his fingertips roaming over my naked flesh. “I can be down with that.”

  I laugh, feeling a bit of the tension melt. “You’re just as difficult as when we were kids.”

  “But you still want me, and I’ll make sure that doesn’t change. Ever.”

  Waking up with Kennedy in my arms felt so much better than I could’ve ever imagined. It took a lot of strength to force myself to get up, but as promised, I made sure to be out of her room before my sister woke this morning.

  I didn’t want to go too far, not ready to leave her just yet, so I threw on my clothes from last night and headed out to the grocery store to pick up steak, eggs and tortilla shells for breakfast.

  As far as I know my sister is off today, and with the late-night Kennedy and I had, it’ll give me time to cook before they crawl out of bed for the day. Cooking for the girls has been something I’ve done since we were teenagers, so my sister won’t suspect a thing waking up to me in the kitchen.

  Grabbing the bags from my truck, I let myself back inside and take over the kitchen just like I have the last two weeks.

  Just as I’m plating the steak and moving on to the eggs, I hear a door open, before one of the girls joins me in the kitchen. I don’t have to turn around to know that it’s Kennedy. I can smell her fruity, floral scent that she wears.

  “I thought you left,” she says quietly, coming up behind me.

  Turning around to face her, I grab her waist and pull her against me. “I did.” I smile against her lips, before kissing her bottom one. “But I came back.”

  “Dammit, Colson,” she whispers, her eyes closing when I trail kisses down her shoulder. “We agreed to time after last night. You should go before your sister…”

  The sound of my sister’s door opening has Kennedy clearing her throat and maneuvering her way out of my arms.

  “Oh my god. Breakfast,” my sister says dreamily, walking straight for the coffee pot, clearing unaware of Kennedy’s moment of panic. “Have I told you how much I love you lately?”

  “Yeah, just a few days ago when I gave your couch back.”

  She nods and reaches into the cupboard for sugar. “Right. Well, I’m telling you again then.” After taking a seat at the island and getting a few sips of coffee in her, she looks around the kitchen. “Steak burritos?”

  “Yup.”

  “Morning officially made.” She finally turns to Kennedy, who’s leaning against the fridge now, trying to look casual. “Did my brother wake you up this morning when he came in?”

  “More like kept her awake,” I say only loud enough for Kennedy to hear.

  “No. Nope.” She shakes her head and reaches into the fridge for orange juice. I love how my words shake her up. “I was already awake when he got in.”

  “Okay, good, because if he’s going to be making us breakfast, I really didn’t want to have to confiscate his key. Just saying.” It’s quiet for a few minutes while I warm up the tortillas before my sister breaks the silence. “How are you feeling about the breakup today? Any better?”

  My pulse races as I wait for Kennedy’s response while setting the food out to eat.

  “Yeah,” she says, sounding somewhat ashamed. Her eyes flicker to me for a moment before landing on her glass of orange juice. “You were right. It was the right thing to do. There’s not a doubt in my mind.”

  “Told you. He’ll be fine with time. Just enjoy your new management position and clear him from your mind.” Blaire dives right into making herself a burrito once everything’s lying in front of her. “Have you heard from him since the other night?”

  I lean against the counter and cross my arms, unaware that she’s heard from him recently.

  “Yeah.” Kennedy exhales and reaches for a plate. “He’s texted me a few times.”

  “Okay. To say what? I want the details, woman.”

  Kennedy looks from her burrito to me as if to see my reaction. “That he misses me and wants me back. Says it hurts not being with me.”

  “Well, maybe he should’ve treated you bett
er when he had you. He had his chance and blew it multiple fucking times.” Both my sister and Kennedy look at me as if they weren’t expecting my input.

  “You’re not wrong there,” my sister finally says. “I told Kennedy years ago that it was time to move on. She ignored my advice.”

  “Is that right?” I push away from the counter and reach in front of the girls for a piece of steak. “When was that?”

  My sister shrugs. “I don’t know. About two years ago when they were on one of their breaks. That summer you broke Jett’s nose. Hey, what did he do anyway? I never found out.”

  I flex my jaw, the memory making me want to break his nose all over again. “It’s probably best I keep that shit to myself.”

  “Wait. What did he say?” Kennedy asks this time, pushing her empty plate forward.

  I run my hands over my face in frustration before looking at Kennedy. “That he wanted to rip your bikini off with his teeth and have you for breakfast, lunch and dinner,” I crack my neck, anger coming back at the memory, “and how your tits would look nice filling his mouth. Since you were on another break from my brother, the fucker thought he had a chance. I showed him what would happen if he tried.”

  Kennedy swallows, before standing from her stool and dropping her plate and cup off in the sink.

  “Wow. That was bold for him to say to Dax’s brother. Break or not, you don’t say that about someone else’s girl. What a douche. I’m so glad he doesn’t hang around much anymore. He deserved that broken nose then.”

  “Someone had to stand up for Kennedy.” My eyes meet hers. “We all know Dax wouldn’t have done shit to his bestie’s little brother.”

  “Very true,” my sister says, reaching for her phone. “Paxton and his cousin want me to meet them at Underground soon. Want to come?”

  “Yeah,” Kennedy finally speaks. “I’ll come with you. It’ll be a nice distraction.”