by Mia Carson
Johanna leaned her head back, bunching the sheet, and frowned at him. “You’re thinking too hard. Stop it.”
He smirked and kissed her forehead. “Can’t help it. Worried.”
“No, you’re not allowed to worry, not until we both have a reason to worry. I don’t want this weekend ruined by overthinking every last thing that could go wrong.” She blew out a breath, puffing her cheeks out, and Reider laughed, caressing her cheek softly. “Tell me about your tattoo,” she said quietly and rolled over onto her stomach.
He swallowed hard, his eyes darting to the soft mounds of flesh pressed against the bed, wanting them pressed against him instead. “Only if you tell me about yours,” he managed to grate out.
She tugged at a strand of hair and nodded slowly. “I had a rebellious streak.”
“It’s a broken heart, though,” he said, hoping jealousy was nowhere in his words, but from the way her lips screwed up in a crooked grin, he failed. “What? I’m curious.”
“I didn’t get it because of an ex. I got it because… because I never thought I would have the future I wanted. Freedom to live and find real love, not the false crap my parents have,” she muttered bitterly. “They make everyone else believe their lives, believe they’re so happy together, but it’s fake. All of it.”
The sadness in her words hit Reider hard, and he stretched out his body so they were shoulder to shoulder. He passed her the wine, and she took it, gulping before handing it back. “Funny how the world thinks everything in our lives is perfect,” he said with a dark smile. “If they only knew.”
“So many lies and so much damn back-stabbing. I’m tired of it all. This is what I want,” she said and nudged his shoulder with hers. “Weekends like this with someone who gets me.”
He nudged her back. “My parents pushed so many different women on me from this family or that, and all of them were so fake it killed me to spend time with them. Then I get stuck with you as a partner and look what happened.”
“Not my fault. You shouldn’t be so freaking charming all the time,” she said and leaned into him.
Reider’s chest swelled with warmth and contentedness when she rested her head against his shoulder and the rest of her followed, moving as close as she could.
“So, what about your tattoo? Barbed wire’s pretty edgy,” she teased.
“I did it to make a statement to my dad about what I really wanted to do. He hates tattoos. So does Mom. They threw a fit when I got it. I tried to tell him then what I wanted, but he didn’t listen,” he said and took a drink of the wine. “They never do.”
He set the bottle on the floor and rolled onto his side so he could let his fingers run down Johanna’s back, watching her eyes slide closed and a sleepy smile slip across her face.
“Reider?” she asked, her voice barely a whisper.
“Yeah?” he replied, moving his hand up to her hair, playing with the wild curls he never wanted to stop touching. “Jo?”
“No matter what happens, I want you to know I’m really glad we got stuck in that class together,” she told him as her breathing steadied. “Changed my life.”
A moment later, she was asleep, and Reider kissed her forehead. Her lips twitched in a grin, but her eyes remained closed. “Me too, Jo,” he said. “Me too.”
When Ashford had forced them to partner together, Reider thought he’d been sentenced to a semester of hell. Working with a Chadwick was something his family claimed was impossible. And there he was, falling more in love with one every second he spent by her side. As she slept soundly beside him, Reider realized this was a glimpse of what his life could be, just as he saw it the other day out in the fields.
He no longer cared what his family wanted, not anymore. He wanted Johanna, and after tonight, as she gave herself to him and he did the same with her, he knew they were meant to be together. Their names didn’t matter, not anymore. He sure as hell couldn’t see the future, but they would find a way to make this work, despite what their families had to say on the matter. He’d run away with her before he saw Johanna’s brothers marry her off to some jackass who didn’t deserve her.
“I swear we’ll stay together,” he whispered in her ear. “I’ll never let you go.”
Reider stayed by her side through the night and didn’t wake until he heard a commotion downstairs. His eyes shot open and he glanced around wildly, but Johanna wasn’t in the bed. She cursed from below, and he let out a breath of relief. For a second, he thought they’d been found out, and he watched the potential of their relationship disappear in a puff of smoke.
“What the hell are you doing down there?” he called out as he glanced around for clothes and remembered they were downstairs. He took the sheet and wrapped it around his waist as he walked down the steps.
“Trying to make breakfast,” she grumbled and turned to face him.
He laughed loudly at the flour covering her cheeks and nose. “Trying seems to be a fitting word.”
She wore nothing but his t-shirt, and when her toes scratched slowly at her opposite calf, he groaned and dragged her up against his body, capturing her mouth. She tasted of pancakes and coffee, and he loved it, kissing her deeper, and backed her against the counter.
“Pancakes are going to burn,” she whispered raggedly.
“That would be a shame,” he replied against her lips and reached behind her to turn off the griddle. “There. Now, they won’t.”
“Reider,” she tried to protest, but he was already tugging up the t-shirt, revealing her perfect breasts he wanted to hold again. Her hands moved to the sheet at his waist, and with barely a yank, it fell away, but he wasn’t going to let her have him that easily.
He turned her around so her back pressed against his chest as he kissed her neck down to her shoulder, and one arm wrapped around her waist. Leisurely, his hand crept lower to her hip, barely touching her skin and loving how it made her squirm against him. She tried again to reach back for him, but he moved them deliberately to the wall and lifted her arms up over her head with one hand, holding her wrists gently while his other hand continued its unhurried exploration of her body.
When he reached her swollen lips, he growled at her wetness and ready for his touch, but he didn’t thrust his fingers within her, not yet. He trailed them along the edges, teasing her clit until she moaned and whispered his name before his hand moved again.
As he moved closer, he made sure his burning length pressed against her, moving between her legs. With his knee, he spread them and let her thighs hold him. That one touch nearly sent him to his knees. Every nerve in his body wanted to take her, but he held back and his hand massaged her hip on its way back up to her breasts. As if he was carving her features on her skin, he let his hand move around the mound of her breast, teasing the nipple briefly as he kissed her neck again, pressing himself harder between her legs. He dragged himself back and forth, growling at how wet she grew for him, ready to take him as she had last night.
“Reider,” she whispered, her back arching against his chest. “I’m going to lose it if you keep doing that.”
“That’s the idea,” he muttered. When she moaned and her thighs clenched around him, he turned her around and lifted her up as his mouth claimed hers and her legs wrapped around his waist.
She was so wet, he slid right inside, deep within her, and they both gasped, clinging to each other in the small kitchenette as if the rest of the world was not waiting outside the doors to ruin what they’d found in each other’s arms. With each breath, her chest pressed against his, her nipples hard on his skin, and he shifted his hips, moving deep within her. Reider tried to hold back, remembering this was her second time to have sex, but she dug her nails into his back and whispered for him to let go, to lose control, she could take it. And God, did he want to.
Staying buried within her, Reider moved away from the wall and carried her to the couch, his mouth never leaving hers until he sat down, bringing her with him. She rocked against him, but he gripped
her hips hard to hold her in place and drove into her. Her head fell back on a moan, and he thrust even harder. His release grew closer, but he wanted to hear her scream his name first. Slowing down his movements, he took her nipple into his mouth and sucked hard, tugging and teasing with his tongue and teeth until her inner muscles clenched him hard, quivering with the pleasure consuming her body. She cried out his name, and his hips faltered as he grunted beneath her, unable to keep going as he spilled into her.
Johanna collapsed against his chest, and he felt her grin against his shoulder as his hands moved up her back. “That… that was better than pancakes,” she mused with a quiet laugh.
“Maybe, but now, I’m famished,” he growled and nuzzled her neck until she shrieked with laughter. He tackled her to the couch and tickled her until she cried uncle, laughing so hard tears shone in her eyes. He kissed her forehead, her nose, her cheeks, and ended with those delicious lips he had dreamt about. “So, pancakes?” he asked as he wiped some of the leftover flour off her cheek.
She nodded and leaned up to kiss him back. “Pancakes.”
Chapter 10
On Sunday morning, Johanna groaned when her cell went off with a message from Izzy saying their parents called and would be home by noon. She cursed loudly and nudged Reider awake. She needed to scoop her things together and head back, but he rolled over and kissed her as his hand explored her warm lips, and a moment later, they breathed heavily against each other, desperately holding on as their weekend came to a close.
This lovemaking wasn’t for passion. She knew he felt the same as she did. If they loved each other fiercely enough, intensely enough, everything would turn out alright. Leaving Reider’s side was the last thing she wanted to do, but there was no other option. Reider groaned as she cried out, holding him as close to her body as she could.
As their breathing returned to normal, their bodies reeling from an orgasm even crazier than what she’d experienced all weekend, Reider smoothed her hair back from her face and kissed her. “We’ll figure this out,” he swore. “Remember that.”
“I know,” she said, holding her hands over his. “We’ll get through it together.”
The overwhelming love etched on his body filled Johanna’s heart, and though she had to leave him for the rest of the day, she knew that every hour, he would think of her, and every night, she would fill his dreams. This was no ordinary love between them; it was a raging inferno she knew there was no hope of trying to contain.
The whole way home, with his teak-wood scent clinging to her body, she thought of ways to escape her current life, how to tell her parents the truth so she and Reider could be happy. For years, she’d been stashing money away in her room on the off chance she ever got up the nerve to take off for a while and leave. But if she left, she would never come back. Not to a family more concerned with fueling a decades’ old fight instead of moving on and learning to tolerate each other.
Johanna parked her car in the driveway at 11:15, and after grabbing her things, hurried inside the house to shower. Izzy grinned from the living room but didn’t say anything. She didn’t have to. Johanna was pretty sure it was all over her face that the weekend had been perfect.
The water was hot when she stepped under it, but Reider’s touch was hotter and stayed with her throughout as she washed herself and closed her eyes. She pictured his hands on her, gliding across her wet skin as they had the night before when they took a steamy shower together. The way he knew where to touch her to make her squirm, to make her cry out his name and melt into his arms. Her hand slipped between her legs as her other cupped her breast, remembering those moments.
“Jo? They’re pulling in the drive,” Izzy called after a loud bang on the bathroom door.
Johanna stumbled but managed to stay upright. “I’ll be out in a minute!”
Her hands ran through her wet hair, and she sucked in a few deep breaths to calm her thudding heart. Acting natural was going to be harder than she thought, but she didn’t have a choice. If her brothers suspected she was dating someone, they would grill her until they found out, or stalk her around town. She’d never be alone again.
Johanna dried and dressed quickly, towel-drying her hair before she stepped out of her room and heard Izzy greeting their parents and her brothers grumbling about the conference. From the sound of it, they weren’t able to score any hot women all weekend and were dying to go out on the town.
“Ah, there’s my girl,” Lucy said as Johanna reached the bottom step. “How was your weekend, dear? Get all your work caught up?”
“For the most part,” she said, hoping she sounded bored. “You know how it goes. Last year of college. So much to do.”
“Right, so much work,” Frank added, watching her closely. “What did you girls do all weekend?”
“Told you, I had homework, and Izzy had a movie marathon,” she said and turned pointedly to her little sister for help.
Izzy nodded eagerly. “Right, I nerded out. Watched all the Underworld movies and ate way too much junk food,” she added, and Lucy frowned.
“Really, Izzy, you won’t keep that shape forever, you know. Better to watch what you eat now than wait until you’re too fat to do anything about it,” Lucy muttered and picked up her small suitcase to take upstairs. Jo heard her dad in the lounge. It sounded like he was on the phone, and she breathed a sigh of relief. At least she only had to deal with one parent for a little while.
Izzy watched their mother walk up the main stairs. Her hands twisted together until Johanna walked over and held them. “Sorry.”
“No, don’t listen to her,” Johanna whispered. “You look perfect.”
“She needs to stay looking perfect,” Frank growled as he walked up behind them. “Brandon has a younger cousin who’s single and looking for a lovely woman to date. Isabel, I think you and he would get along.”
Izzy pulled away from her brother and glared. “No thanks, I’m good.”
“I wasn’t asking you. I was telling you,” Frank said sternly. “Dad thought it’d be a good idea and Mom was ecstatic that both of her daughters would be dating high-profile men in the near future.”
“You can’t make her date anyone,” Johanna argued and stood in front of her sister. “For God’s sake, Frank, she’s only nineteen. Give her some time to have a life first.”
“Like you apparently are?” he asked.
Johanna frowned and she crossed her arms. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“You’re glowing,” he said with a darkening frown. “Why? What were you doing all weekend?”
“Told you, working on schoolwork,” she snapped. “Stop questioning me. My answer isn’t going to change.”
“You weren’t studying. You were with a guy, weren’t you?”
“A guy? Who was with a guy?” Fredrick asked as he returned to the room. “Johanna?”
She shook her head so her curls went crazy and stormed towards the stairs. “You two are unbelievable. Stay the hell out of my life.”
“Not if you’re seeing someone behind the family’s back,” Frank accused. “Who is it?”
“No one! There is no guy, so leave me the hell alone. Maybe you should ask your twin what he’s been hiding lately,” she muttered quietly and glanced at Fredrick, whose face paled and feet shifted. “You think I’m the only one who might be harboring secrets under this roof?”
Johanna watched Fredrick take a step away from Frank as his brother eyed him darkly before he whipped his gaze back to hers. “So you admit you’re hiding something. If you’re with a guy, we’ll find out, and when we do—”
“You’ll what? Beat the crap out of him because he’s not Brandon?” She sucked in a deep breath, ready to hurl curses at him, but she had to be careful. One slip, one blow-up, and she might let the whole truth come out before Reider and she were ready to announce it. “There’s no one, so back off and leave Izzy alone.”
Frank held up his hands, but the glint in his eyes said it wasn’t ov
er. He nudged his twin, and Fredrick mumbled something under his breath before rushing for the front door and slamming it behind him. Johanna’s brow furrowed, wondering what he hid from the family, but if she didn’t want him in her business, she was sure as hell not going to pry into his life. The fight wasn’t worth it.
Johanna turned on her heel and said she would be down for dinner. She had more reports to type up. That part, at least, was true. All weekend, she’d spent her time in Reider’s arms and not even bothered to mess with their assignments, which were due tomorrow.
The rest of the afternoon, she worked on her laptop, her thoughts drifting to Reider. Her cell went off towards evening, showing her a message from him saying how much he enjoyed their time together. She texted him back saying she couldn’t wait to see him tomorrow and then deleted the messages, locked her cell in her desk, and went downstairs for dinner early to avoid any unsolicited visits from her family members.
***
Reider smirked as he slid his hand casually from his leg to Johanna’s thigh beneath the cover of their desktops during Ashford’s lecture on Monday. As his hand massaged her leg, she covered his hand with hers, pressing it harder against her body. He bit his cheek to stop from grunting with desire and focused his gaze on the white board.
The lecture went on far too long, and Reider thought of nothing except a chance to hold Johanna in his arms again, tear her clothes from her body, and make love to her for hours on end until they were both too spent to move. His hand moved slowly inwards, seeking the warmth waiting for his touch. Briefly, he wondered how wet she would be by the end of this class when Ashford rapped the board with his knuckles and announced class was over.
“Don’t forget to turn in your reports,” he announced.
A few groans echoed through the class, but Reider pulled his out and Johanna reached for hers in her tote. “What are you doing tonight?” he whispered, wanting to lean over and kiss her neck.
