by Tess Oliver
My fingers tingled as he held my hands tightly above my head. “God you’re wet. Tell me you’ve been wanting this, baby? Tell me you’ve been thinking about me touching you, kissing you, fucking you because that’s all I’ve been thinking about for four damn days.” As he spoke, he pushed his fingers deeper making sure to press his wrist hard against my clit.
“I haven’t stopped thinking about you.” My words drifted out on a long, luxurious exhale.
“That voice—” He kissed my lips. “Do you know what the sound of your voice does to me? I get hard every time I hear it. Hell, I get hard every time I think of it.”
I rocked against the pressure of his hand. I was his captive. His words coupled with the feeling of being completely in his control brought me that much faster to climax. I squeezed my thighs around his hand. “God yes, Slade,” I whimpered softly. My whole body trembled as my pussy tightened around his fingers. “Please, Slade, I need you inside of me right now.”
The waves of pleasure hadn’t slowed as he withdrew his fingers. He released my wrists, and I dropped them around his neck as he lifted me up, bracing my back against the door. My legs wrapped around him as he thrust his cock inside of me. The tender ache in my pussy was easily coaxed into a second orgasm.
I mewled in pleasure as he held me tightly over his cock. I wilted against him exhausted from the intensity of a double orgasm. Still buried deep inside me, he carried me down the hallway. I heard his foot kick a door open, but I was still deliriously overcome by it all.
“Excuse the mess in the room,” he muttered.
“Oh it’s not that ba—” I lifted my heavy head and glanced around the room. “O.K. it’s pretty bad.”
He shoved a pile of clothes off the bed and lowered me onto the center of the mattress. He climbed on after me and lowered his body down over mine. His frantic movements slowed, and he kissed me tenderly before sliding back inside of me.
“You know something, Tink, I could really get used to this. Having you around all the time. I think we’d be good together.”
I lifted my legs to meet his hips as he pushed deeper inside of me.
“A perfect fucking fit,” he groaned against my mouth. I rocked against him as he drove himself in harder and faster until my pussy milked him to the edge. His eyes drifted shut as he came.
His breaths slowed and he lowered himself next to me on the mattress, and I curled against him.
“A perfect fucking fit,” he repeated.
Chapter 21
Slade
It was too hot on the sand. The waves sucked, but the water temperature was perfect for cooling off. Of course, no amount of cold water could douse my never ending need for Britton. I would have been just as happy to skip the beach and stay in bed with her all day, but I knew Amy and Jade would be pissed.
I gazed up at the sand. The three girls were sitting in beach chairs huddled around the ice chest, deep in conversation. A big hand came down on my shoulder, startling me.
“Shit.” I spun around.
Colt laughed. “What? Did you think I was a shark with hands?” He moved up next to me and looked toward beach. “Or, just maybe your thoughts were elsewhere. You know, up on the beach—with your balls. Boy oh boy, Hunter and I are finally going to get some payback.”
“Yep, I figured it was coming.”
“Seriously though, bro, she’s great.” Colt returned his attention to shore. “And it looks like she’s already gotten the Amy and Jade seal of approval.”
Hunter swam over. “Might as well be bodysurfing in a fucking kiddie wading pool with the way these sets are coming in.” He followed the direction of our gazes. The girls were laughing about something.
I smiled. “Looks like they’re all getting along well.”
“Yep,” Hunter said. “And I’m sure you don’t have a thing to worry about, even though Street knows every embarrassing thing that ever happened in your life, starting from the fifth grade when you got caught kissing Rory Greene, and in the girl’s bathroom, no less.”
Colt looked at him. “I disagree. That was not all that embarrassing. But didn’t Street walk in on him jerking off in our bathroom once? I think he was twelve or thirteen, can’t remember, but I’ll bet Street remembers it well. Her scream is still fresh in my mind.” Colt smiled at me. “But I’m sure she won’t tell Britton anything embarrassing. I mean that’s not like Street at all.”
Laughter rolled down from the sand again.
“Fuck, Hunter, why couldn’t you marry someone who wasn’t around for every damn day of our life.” I pushed off and headed to shore.
“Where you going, buddy?” Colt called.
I glanced back at them. “I’m going to join them before Street gets to my high school years.”
“You mean like the tenth grade when you got your ass suspended for making a pass at the cute substitute teacher?” Hunter called.
I lifted my middle finger up high at them as I waded toward shore. All three women looked up from their conversation as I reached the towels.
“None of it’s true, Britton. Whatever Amy has told you about me—”
Amy laughed. “What a self-centered boob you are. Did you actually think we couldn’t find more interesting stuff to talk about than you?”
Water was dripping off the ends of my hair and down my chest. Jade handed me a towel, but I decided to shake my hair and give them a good dog-style spray first. Especially Amy. I got the squealing response I was aiming for.
I took hold of the towel and wiped my face and chest. “So you weren’t telling her every embarrassing moment from my life?”
Amy peered up at me from behind black sunglasses. “Oh yeah, of course. But I got those out of the way first.”
I heaved the wet towel at Amy, and she batted it away. Jade looked past me. “Here come Colt and Hunter.” She pushed her chair back from the ice chest and motioned for Britton to do the same. “You don’t want to be too close to the food when they come out of the water looking hungry. Trust me.”
Britton laughed. “I will take your word for it.”
I grabbed up the towel, walked a few feet away and stretched it out on the sand. The sun felt good on my back as I lowered myself onto my stomach. Britton peeked back at me, and I motioned her to come over. She picked up a towel and joined me.
It was close enough to the start of school that the sand was only mildly crowded. The beach stretched on toward the marina where our boat, the Durango, was docked. We’d had it up for sale for two months but had only gotten one pretty insulting offer. I didn’t have the capital or the knowledge to become the captain of my own fishing boat, and, because both my brothers had found women who made them want to steer clear of trouble and jail, we were no longer running illegal drugs across the water. I had an occasional position on Captain Dell’s fishing boat, but I was still hoping for the job in Alaska. It would be good money, enough to keep me under a roof and fed during off seasons. The only problem now was that I’d gone to the interview long before I’d met Britton. She made the idea of leaving for months at a time much harder. All of a sudden, I had a reason to stay.
Britton lowered herself down onto the towel next to me. I rolled onto my side to look at her and to touch her, something I couldn’t stop doing. “I hope Street hasn’t completely destroyed your opinion of me.”
“Amy adores you. She was telling me how she almost died in a house fire but that Hunter and you walked through the smoke and flames to save her.” She pushed up to her forearms and leaned over to kiss me. “And if I quickly list in my head all the things you’ve done for me, not least of all, the mindblowing sex, my opinion of you is so high, I don’t think there’s anything that could destroy it.”
I reached over and tucked her hair back behind her ear. Her tiny gold hoops winked in the sun. “Then, my hot
little wood sprite, I will try my hardest not to fuck this up. I’m not really great at relationships, but some things are worth the effort.” I rolled back onto my stomach and turned my face toward her. “How is my namesake, Bolt?”
She lifted her hand. It was covered in thin scratches. “I bought her one of those fake felt mice, but she likes my hand better. I guess it’s better than having her climb the drapes in the motel room, which I have to keep shut because if the manager sees a cat inside, I’ll get the boot for sure.”
“Brit, come on, you can’t keep living in a motel.”
“I know. I’m going to start looking for a place. My new little baby needs a home where she doesn’t have to be hidden from prying eyes.”
I’d been tossing around the idea of asking her to move out with me. I badly needed to get out of the house and give Hunter and Amy privacy. But I didn’t want to move too fast. My feelings about Britton were pretty damn solid, but I wasn’t completely sure she was feeling the same way. I wasn’t ready to put myself out there yet either.
“Britton,” Jade called from her chair, “your phone keeps ringing in your bag. Thought I should let you know.”
Britton sighed with annoyance as she sat up. “Probably my obsessive compulsive boss calling to let me know I left my computer monitor on and might have started a fire. He’s kind of a nut job.” She stood up and walked over to her bag.
I rested my head down and glanced over at my brothers who were devouring the contents of the ice chest. “Shit, leave some for the rest of us, you pigs.” I pushed to my feet, deciding if I didn’t get my hands on one of the sandwiches, Hunter would suck mine down too.
Britton had her hand over her free ear while listening to her phone with the other. I pointed to the ice chest to see if she wanted something. She looked a little distressed as she lowered her phone. “I need to make a call. I’m going to walk up toward the street for better reception.”
“Everything all right? Or did you actually start the office on fire?”
She smiled weakly. “Everything’s fine. I’ll be right back.”
I reached in and grabbed out two sandwiches. “Did you scare her off already?” Hunter asked over a mouthful of sandwich.
“You’re the scary Stone, remember? She has some picky boss who, apparently, bugs her about stupid shit.” I sat back on the towel and decided to wait for Britton to return.
A few minutes later she walked back down from the parking lot looking pretty upset.
“What’s up?” I asked.
“Oh, it’s nothing, but I’m afraid I’m going to have to cut this day short.”
“Yeah? Shit, I was hoping we could take a boat ride later.”
She reached down and picked up her towel. “That would have been fun. Can I take a rain check on that?” She looked thoroughly disappointed, but it seemed she wasn’t planning to tell me why she had to leave.
I stood up and after she’d said her good-byes, I walked her to the parking lot. “You seem upset,” I said as we reached the paved lot. “Anything you want to talk about?”
“No, I’m upset because I have to go.” She stopped and turned to me. Her face glowed from the sun. “I was having a really good time.”
“Me too.” I pushed her hair behind her ear and put a hand on her waist. “Hey, Tink, I really like you. That’s not something I say to many people. You pretty much have seen all of me. I’ve done some shady shit. But it’s in my past. Still, I’m no fucking saint. I’m sure you figured that out already, but that’s it. That’s all of me. And now you’ve met the few people who I consider my world.”
Her gaze dropped, and her long, dark lashes curtained her brown eyes. She knew where this was going, but I had to get it out in the open.
I lifted her chin to look at me. “I feel like there’s some important stuff you’re not telling me. And I’m wondering when it’s going to jump up and bite me in the ass. I don’t let my guard down too often. It’s part of my survival plan.”
Her lips trembled as if she was about to tell me something. Her phone rang. She shook her head. “I’ve got to go, Slade. I’ll call you later. I promise.”
I stepped back. She climbed into the car and took off.
Chapter 22
Britton
“Watch your head as you get in the car. The last thing you need is another whack to the brain.” I couldn’t keep the irritation out of my voice, but I’d had to wait two hours for the doctor to finally sign the release. Ryan’s face was twisted in pain as he ducked his tall frame down to climb into the passenger seat. A pang of guilt made me apologize. “I’m sorry to be snippy, Ry, it’s just I was out on the beach, having a good time.” And I had to leave my incredible, new guy friend behind, I wanted to add but didn’t. Ryan looked miserable enough.
“Look, I said I was sorry, Brit. I didn’t know who else to call. And the doctor said I had to have someone pick me up. Just seemed like you should be the first person I should call in an emergency. Who the hell were you on the beach with?” he asked as he leaned back against the seat and closed his eyes.
“My beach trip is none of your business. In fact, my entire life is no longer your business.”
The doctor had covered what looked like a pretty significant forehead gash with gauze and tape. Ryan looked shaken and pale. I should have felt more sympathy, but he’d rarely showed me the same courtesy.
“The nurse said you weren’t wearing a seatbelt, and you were texting.” I knew he wasn’t in the mood for a lecture, but he’d ruined my day and I wasn’t going to let him off too easy. “You’re lucky you didn’t kill yourself when you hit that parked truck.”
“Am I lucky? Maybe it would have been a quick exit.”
“No, don’t pretend to be on the broken end of this whole thing. You made your choices, Ryan, and just like today, when you decided to text and drive, you’re paying the price.”
“Shit, here we go.”
“Nope, you’re right. I don’t want to waste any energy talking to you. I’m just going to stew silently about how you fucked up my weekend.” I turned up the music. He winced as if the sound hurt his head.
“Damon called me yesterday,” he muttered unexpectedly.
He opened his eyes at the sound of me clumsily grinding the stick into third gear.
I looked at him. “What? Why the hell are you two still chummy?”
He pointed through the windshield. “Hey, watch the road. I’m already feeling like shit. Don’t need another accident.”
My fingers gripped the steering wheel tighter. I stared ahead but was hardly seeing the road I was looking at. “Why the hell did he call?”
“He was pissed. He said you showed up with some asshole making all kinds of threats.”
“Threats? Fucking Damon broke it off with Perris and he knew she was in a really bad place when he suggested she take a bottle of pills and be done with it.” I hadn’t talked about Damon’s confession. Even on the road home, Slade and I had avoided the topic. I had clear evidence of what had happened to my sister, and it was for me alone to absorb and understand. But Ryan had always come to Damon’s defense. It was one of many things that had helped drive us apart.
My dry throat was clamping tight around my voice but I continued. “Damon was at home when Perris died.”
Ryan rolled his head without lifting it from the seat. “That’s not what I heard. How do you know he was there?”
“Because he was playing his stupid drumsticks in the background of the voicemail Perris left me. The last message she left.” Tears burned my eyes.
Ryan had no response but something horrid occurred to me. I looked over at him. “Holy shit, all this time you’ve been in contact with Damon. You knew where he was. You knew I was going nuts looking for the asshole, and you knew where he was.”
“Yeah,
so. Looks like I was right not to fucking tell you. Who the hell is the dude with all the tattoos?”
“I said it was none of your business.”
He kicked the floor beneath the dashboard. “Yes, it’s my fucking business.”
“No, it’s not. The doctor said I had to watch you tonight and wake you every three hours, but I’m ready to just dump you off. “
“Whatever.” He closed his eyes. His face paled to the soft olive tone of nausea.
“If you have to throw up, then hang your head out the window.”
He took a few deep breaths and opened his eyes. “Why are you going this direction?”
“I’m taking you to my motel room. I’ve got to stay there because I have a kitten.”
“You know I’m allergic to cats.”
“Yep. I guess it’ll just add to your misery.” Thankfully, we drove the rest of the way in silence. I pulled into the parking lot of the motel and stopped the car.
Ryan lifted his head and squinted at the shabby motel. “Fuck, Brit, is this where you’re staying? Why the hell don’t you just come home?”
“This place is fine, and best of all, you aren’t here. Or at least you weren’t here until today.”
“We just need to talk things out.”
A dry, anger-filled laugh left my mouth. “You can’t be serious?” I opened the door. “Now let’s hurry and get you inside. Otherwise, the manager will charge me double tonight.”
I walked over to his side. My wish to get him inside fast was made impossible by his slow-motion movements as he stretched up out of the car. He’d obviously taken a pretty good hit to the head. A few years ago, before he’d betrayed me, cheated on me, took me for granted and ignored all my feelings, I would have been happy to comfort him.
I opened the room door, and he stepped inside. “You’d rather stay here? It’s a fucking hell hole.”
