That’s all right. The trailer’s well insulated, and there’s no one around for a half acre on either side. And as I lie there, feeling so light and loose that I could float off the mattress, I think to myself: I could go for another round of that.
Every night, for the rest of my life. It’s more a taste of Heaven than a man like me deserves, but she’s offering, and I’m starved for it.
I still don’t feel like I’m good enough for her. I’m not sure that any mortal man could be—but then again, I’m biased. And since she keeps insisting on pushing the issue, I figure I had better just find a way to be an even better man.
I brush stray hairs off her forehead as I stare down at her. I knocked her out. Poor baby.
I didn’t even mean to. But that look of astonishment she wore before her eyes rolled closed told me volumes about her inexperience. I’m humbled that she chose me to be her first.
Damn, I’m glad I held out so long. But seriously, this is the first time that my brother’s nickname for me doesn’t seem ironic.
I doze for just a little while, bundled with her in my comforters, before her warm, curving softness and the scent of sex wakes me. I’m not surprised that I have a raging boner.
It’s still dark. I should be waking her up and telling her to dress and sneak back home before her father wakes up.
I start kissing her neck instead.
She murmurs in her sleep and rolls toward me, one arm sliding limply over my back. My cock aches fiercely, but I take my time, kissing and caressing her awake. She’s so warm and relaxed now, and when I slide my hand under her and start stroking her ass, she croons low in her throat and opens her eyes.
“Hi, baby,” I purr in her ear. I can barely see her smile in the dimness. When we kiss, she responds at once, sliding a hand down my body and settling it on my cock.
I let out a surprised grunt, and she smiles against my mouth as she starts to explore my shaft with her fingers. Her touch is electric, yet delicate, mapping every inch of my erection until I’m panting. I gently pull her hand away.
“Make love to me,” she murmurs, rolling onto her back and running her nails over my hips. “I want you inside me again, now.”
Wow. I climb onto her and settle over her gently, working my cock into her as slowly as I can force myself. She gasps and shimmies her hips, lifting herself impatiently to take more of me in.
Her silken folds close around me, and my back arches, head thrown back as I fight the urge to cum right away. “Oh—oh!” I shout with pleasure, and she wraps her arms and legs around me welcomingly.
We move together, and for a few long, luxuriant thrusts I can’t focus on anything but the feel of her hot, slick flesh against mine. Then I remember myself, and start caressing her again.
Her back arches as I lift up a little and slip a hand between us, gently pinching her cunt lips together around her clit and stroking and kneading her. She starts gasping and squirms even more. I thrust in deep and stay there, letting her writhe around my cock as her muscles gradually go tighter and tighter around me.
“Come on, baby,” I encourage her as she starts to tremble and pant under me. Her eyes roll closed, and her mouth opens in a long gasp. “Come on, let go. You’re almost there.”
My hips start moving reflexively as she grinds against me. I start to pant as well, and struggle to keep my hand moving and my body from cutting loose before she does. The glow between us is so intense that it threatens to burn up my stamina.
Her nails dig into my back as all her muscles tighten and she presses herself hard up against me. Her gasps turn into that musical, rising cry again, broken up by her panting, as she grinds against me with all her strength. I feel my own body ramp up toward climax—and then her contractions drag me that last inch as her pussy massages my shaft irresistibly.
I pound into her roughly, growling with bliss as she squirms under me and squeals with delight. Now and again, her muscles ripple over me again; I shout hoarsely at the extra jolt of pleasure, my voice rising with hers.
I fight to stay on the edge as long as I can—and then go rocketing over it, roaring with joy as I shoot my load into her again. “Yes—!”
This time, I am the one who almost faints.
I barely manage to catch myself as my body goes limp, and I roll off of her, gathering her into my arms. She whimpers softly, eyelids weighed down from exhaustion. “There you go,” I purr in her ear. “There you go, baby. I love you.”
I tuck my comforters around us again and drift off with her. The last thing I sense as I fall asleep is Moose hopping up to lie contentedly across the foot of the bed.
I’m so loopy from sex and satisfaction that it takes me a few moments to jump out of bed when Moose starts barking. It’s got to be some time later; there’s faint light coming in from outside.
I can hear the anger in my dog’s bark as I yank on my clothes and grab my bow. Then I hear the thumps as of someone trying to bust in my garage door, and I know.
Fucking Daniel.
I come walking out with Moose on a leash in case my brother has a gun. Daniel is there, trying to get in my shed door with a crowbar. He’s getting nowhere against the heavy-duty lock. Idiot.
He sees me—and then sees Moose, and his eyes get very wide again. Once again the guy’s been drinking, and it’s fucking with his judgment. “The fuck are you doing, Daniel?” I demand.
It’s not even dawn yet. Well below freezing. My spit crackles as it hits the grass and I walk in his direction quickly, the crossbow I’m not supposed to have pointed at him with my free hand.
He drops the crowbar and steps back. “I told you I’d make trouble for you until you agreed to come with me,” he stammers, his eyes glued to Moose, who has stopped barking and is now just growling.
“And I told you that was a stupid fucking idea, Daniel. I’ve got you on my security cameras breaking and entering.” I point up at the deer cams I have hidden in the pines on either side of the shed entrance.
“You’d set the pigs on me? They’ll put me away for life!” Moose’s growling drops an octave and jumps several decibels in response to Daniel raising his voice, and my brother presses back against the shed door.
“Now you listen here, you little shit. Back when I was an idealistic kid whose life you wrecked, I thought I owed you because we were family. But then I went in the hole for ten years and served four years parole for a crime I was trying to stop your ass from committing.”
He holds his hands over his head, eyes huge now, as if suddenly realizing that he’s put himself into deep, deep shit, and there’s very little he can do about it but beg. “Hey, now, come on. I’m desperate here. I need your fucking help! Don’t you get it?”
“Oh, I get it. You’ve screwed up in yet another state, and you want me around to keep you safe from however many hoods down in New Orleans want to kick your sorry ass. But as I was saying, I’ve already gone above and beyond for your dumpster-fire ass, and that was the last time.”
I advance on him, short-leashing Moose so he can’t take a chomp out of my brother before I have my say. “If I had gone down for something I’d actually done, that would be one thing. But even all of that was shit you dragged me into.
“I owe you nothing. In fact, you owe me. And the credit store is closed, brother mine. Fuck off.”
He swallows, taking a deep, shuddery breath. “You know, I know you have me on camera trying to get at your bike, but uh...you’re also on camera with a crossbow, and you’ve got a felony record just like me now.” His eyes glitter.
I stare at him coldly, unable to believe that this dumb son of a bitch is still pushing me. “Okay, fine, we’re at a Mexican standoff over that. You still can’t really mess with me. You’ve got nothing on me that can force me to leave.”
The door to the trailer clicks open, and Julia walks out sleepily. Her hair is mussed, her eyes are drowsy, and she has a love bite showing where her scarf is askew.
My eyes widen slightly. Shit.
Daniel looks between her and me, and a slow grin breaks across his face. “Yeah, I do. I’ve been asking around, brother mine. Isn’t that the preacher’s twenty-year-old virgin daughter?”
“Twenty-one,” I say defensively, as she sees us and freezes.
“And not a virgin any more, I’ll bet,” he laughs, and my heart sinks.
Chapter 9
Julia
* * *
"What do we do?" I can't quite keep the panic out of my voice. I've just made it that much easier for Daniel to uproot Aaron from here. All Daniel has to do is tell my father, and even if Dad doesn't drive Aaron out of town, he’ll probably make Aaron so uncomfortable that he'll flee on his own.
I’m finding out the hard way that nothing kills a good afterglow like being caught by the wrong person. But I’ll be damned if I let some drunk, corrupt bastard mess up my future with Aaron.
"Well, either I find my brother and kick his ass before he can talk to your dad, and maybe I’ll go to jail for it. Or I let him spill the beans to your dad, and I probably get run out of town." He sounds so frustrated that I feel like a complete idiot. I got him into this.
We’re cuddled together for a few stolen moments on his couch before I have to hurry home and grab a nap before Dad gets up. "Let me help. I can reason with my father."
He shakes his head. "How the hell are you planning to do that?"
"I’ll find a way, okay? Besides, it's better that he hears about our relationship from me than from some horrible asshole who is just saying stuff to drive us apart." My voice shakes as I plead with him.
He frowns and folds his arms. "I certainly think we had better warn your father and some others about Daniel being in town. Not the deputy, though. Earl will just think I invited Daniel here, and that things went south."
"Darnit. Earl." I sigh. I'm getting sick of prejudiced people, even if they generally mean well. “One day, I’ll get every last one of them to stop judging people they barely know.”
“Honey, you’re not gonna be able to work miracles,” he says sadly, but I shake my head.
“I believe people around here can be better, or I wouldn’t want to take over my dad’s job.” I look him firmly in the eye. “Meanwhile, I’ll go home and warn Dad about Daniel. If we’re lucky, maybe people will be madder at him for stirring things up during the holidays than they will be at you for having a shitty brother.”
I kiss him goodbye, aware of his taste in my mouth, his scent all over me. The little sore spots where he’s marked me and the melting warmth deep in my belly are souvenirs from our lovemaking. I feel like I’m carrying him with me, and it gives me strength on the dark, cold walk home.
Strange things are happening in this town, and I have no idea how to take some of it. I don’t mind pranks, windfalls of food, even the odd blizzard. But a drunken older brother who is scheming to take away my man? I can’t wait to see the back of that bastard Daniel.
I’m worried I won’t notice him if he’s following me on the walk back, and I take a circuitous route just to make sure there’s no one behind me. I’m walking back down the hill toward our church when I hear a scuffle up ahead.
I carefully move up to the corner and peek around it—and see Daniel getting his butt kicked. Not by Aaron, though. The woman in question is a tall, statuesque redhead, way underdressed for the cold, and currently beating Daniel over the head with her Fendi bag while screaming at him at the top of her lungs. Lights are already going on in the houses nearby.
“What the fuck, bitch! Just give me your purse and stop making problems!”
“Take it, then!” She thwacks him with it so hard that it sounds like she’s got a brick stowed in her little purse. Then she yanks out an honest-to-God canister of bear mace and blasts him with it.
I just stand there staring. Oh my God. Who is this crazy city woman and where did You find her just in time for this guy to get a much-needed stiletto heel up his butt?
Daniel goes down yelling and holding his face. The redhead starts stalking off. I’m still hesitating about stepping in when Earl, out cruising the town for lost drunks, bleeps his cruiser siren and pulls up to the biker.
I draw back behind the corner, blinking slowly. Then I call up Aaron. “Hey, sweetie? Before you go back to sleep, uh...I think we won’t have to worry about your brother for a few days...”
I leave him laughing as I walk the rest of the way home.
The reprieve is more than welcome. It means Christmas without interruption. It means that if we’re very lucky, Earl and the guys at the state police will check warrants in New York and New Orleans, and that will be the last we see of Daniel.
It really looks like Aaron’s luck has changed. And I know that mine sure has.
Dad is still passed out in his room when I get home. I’m slack from exhaustion and sexual satisfaction, and I have to wrestle with a faint sense of guilt as I walk past his door. But as I change into my flannels, most of what I feel is contentment.
We’ll find a way to work this out. God willing, we’ll even find a way to get Dad on board.
I don’t shower. I go to bed with the scent of Aaron on my body, and fall asleep smiling.
The next two days are a busy, happy blur. Holiday festivities mix with storm preparation, and by the time our small Christmas dinner comes around, both my father and I are ready for a reprieve.
Unfortunately, the break we get is thanks to a big Christmas snowstorm.
“Are all the storm windows in place?” my father frets a little. “Is the snow removal gear inside? It won’t do us any good if it’s out in the shed.”
“It’s fine, Dad, I handled it all.” Compared to my dad, I’m so calm that I could be floating on a cloud right now. I snuck out to Aaron’s trailer early this morning again, and we made love until we both couldn’t move.
I would be doing that again tonight, but the damn storm’s coming in—two to three feet of snow expected in twenty-four hours. At least it gives me an excuse to sleep in tomorrow.
I come to stand with my dad and look out the window at the big flakes starting to swirl past outside. The sky is leaden, the wind keeps rising to a whine in the eaves, and my father tenses up each time the windows rattle.
“So, this brother of Aaron’s made bail?” He’s trying to make conversation, but I can tell from the topic that he’s looking for reassurance.
“Yes, he did, down in Kingston. I know it wasn’t Aaron who paid it.” I wish he was here. I would just feel safer with my man around now that his brother is loose, even if he’s an hour’s drive away in a growing blizzard.
“Are you sure?” he eyes me worriedly.
“Pretty sure. No one’s madder about that creep being out than Aaron. He doesn’t want Daniel anywhere near here.”
“Well, he’ll probably get his wish, at least for the night. Only a crazy person would be out driving in this.” My father rubs his face. “What did they say the chances are of a blackout?”
“We have three generators now, and Aaron’s bringing by two more in a little while. I just got off the phone with him. If people end up blacked out at length, we can have heat, light, phone-charging stations, and food for them for three days.” I touch my father’s arm.
He’s starting to answer when someone knocks hard on the front door. “That must be him now!” I cry out excitedly and run down the stairs.
It’s a stupid mistake. The kind that makes you wish you could rewind the world by thirty seconds and make a different choice. I’m inexperienced, in love, and have underestimated the determination of a crazy person with a vendetta. None of those things are really an excuse.
I throw the door open before checking through the peephole, and before I can do anything, Daniel is shoving his way inside.
Chapter 10
I’m doing the most exhilarating mental calculations in the world as I stick both generators in my sidecar. If all she wants is an inexpensive ring, I can go down to the city and buy a nice one as soon as w
e’re through with this storm. I can do that on this next paycheck without dipping into savings much.
Moose looks at me and whines. “Sorry, big guy, no room for you and the cargo.”
Once he’s seen to and shut up in my trailer with the heat running, I take the bike down to the church. I’m determined to make sure that whatever happens with this storm, Julia and her dad will have power, heat, and light to spare no matter how many people shelter there.
As I drive, I’m going over my speech. “Reverend, I have to come clean with you. Your daughter and I are crazy about each other, and I want to marry her.”
Simple, straightforward. It’s probably best. Especially since, if I ask for his blessing now, it won’t matter anymore what Daniel says.
I’m starting to feel almost optimistic about my talk with the Reverend when I see a car parked almost sideways in the church driveway. It’s a brown sedan, battered, one tire flat, and the side window cracked. I stare at it, knowing a stolen and drunkenly parked car when I see one.
Daniel, you son of a bitch!
I park my bike and break into a run through the snow, thinking fast. I know the grounds; I know the building; I know that the storm doors on the house’s basement coal chute need to be replaced and will be unlocked.
I run around the side of the church toward the house, headed straight for that rust-colored, slanted door. I pull it open as quietly as I can, and scramble down the steps beyond. The basement is black, but I always have a light on my belt.
I don’t have any weapons, I think as I sneak up the basement steps and listen at the door. I can hear faint voices. Probably coming from the living room, by the sound of them. I quickly push the door open and sneak into the kitchen.
For a moment, I am tempted. The knife block on the counter is within arm’s reach. I could grab the biggest knife or the cleaver. I could end this in a very final way…
I could kill my brother in front of the love of my life and her pastor father, who is already nervous around me. Absolutely not. I’ll find another way.
Billionaire Romance Series: Dreams Fulfilled (1-3) Page 14
