The Risk Taker

by Cathryn Fox

  “How about roasting one for me?” I say to him and the smile that comes over his face is like a fist to the gut. As Chase sticks the marshmallow into the flames, Luke stands up.

  “Okay, I have something to say,” he announces. Katee grins at him, and he pulls her to her feet. She wraps her arms around him, and he holds her close.

  All eyes turn to them, as they stand there grinning. “I’d just like to point out that soon enough, we’re going to have enough kids to form our own hockey team,” Luke says, and puts his hand on his wife’s stomach.

  “No way,” Nina says and jumps up. “You’re pregnant Katee?”

  Katee puts her hand on her stomach, over Luke’s, and Fallon turns to look at me. Her eyes are soft, sincere as her gaze moves over my face. No doubt she’s wondering if Katee’s announcement has taken me back, reminding me of the baby I lost? Fallon knows me well enough to understand it’s a wound that won’t heal. I just hope Sara has moved on, found someone better than me.

  But in this moment, I’m happy for my friends, thrilled. In confidence, Luke told me ages ago they’d been trying to get pregnant, and I don’t want to bring the mood down, so I give her a smile to let her know I’m okay. The truth is, being with Fallon, seeing her smile again, is somehow helping me become whole again. But I don’t deserve that. I don’t deserve her.

  “That’s right,” Katee says, and I focus my attention back on her. “We’re having a baby. I’m three months along. We were waiting for everyone to be together to tell you.”

  The girls squeal loudly and all jump up to hug her, while the guys pat Luke on the back. Luke pulls a bottle of champagne from his cooler and cracks the lid. Katee hands out small plastic glasses and Luke fills them. We all salute them and swallow the champagne like it’s a shot.

  “That’s why you weren’t drinking this afternoon,” Sam says, shaking her head. “Or now.”

  Katee holds up her can of soda. “That’s right.”

  “How do you get a baby?” Daisy asks her mom Sam, and we all go silent, save for Cole chuckling beside me. “Can we get a baby?”

  “Oh boy. Thanks a lot, Katee,” Sam says and we all laugh when she rolls her eyes. She turns to Daisy. “We’ll talk about that later okay. Right now, I think it’s time for bed.”

  “I don’t want to go to bed,” Daisy says.

  “Your bedtime too, Chase,” Fallon says. The women gather up their tired, and grumbling kids. I take Chase’s stick and set it beside the fire pit, and climb to my feet.

  “I think I’ll call it a night too,” I say, and avoid eye contact with Cole as he snorts.

  As the group parts, off to tuck their kids in for the night, I step up to Fallon, and walk her and Chase back to the house. Our knuckles brush, and a bolt of lust zaps my balls. Dammit, I abused my cock more times in the last week than I have in my entire life. It’s a wonder I can fucking walk straight. Everything in me knows it’s wrong to take comfort from Fallon when I don’t deserve it, but she does. She deserves the world, so I’ll keep my shit together and give her everything she needs this week.

  Chase drags his feet, and Fallon picks him up. “He’s beat.”

  “Here let me.” I take Chase from her and he sets his chin on my shoulder. She opens her mouth, and I know exactly what she’s going to say, so I cut her off. “Before you say anything, you’re welcome,” I say, and she laughs quietly.

  “I’m really glad we came here.” She exhales with a happy sigh. “It’s good for Chase.”

  “And you, Fallon? Is it good for you too?” Her shoulders have relaxed. They’re no longer touching her ears, but I just want to hear it from her.

  Her hands slides around my back, and the warmth of her touch goes right through me. “I think it’s going to be great for me,” she says, and I get that we’re talking about something else entirely now, something that involves the two of us naked, and a warm bed.

  With that last thought in mind, I hurry my steps and when we reach the house, she opens the door and I take Chase upstairs. He stirs in my arms and rubs his tired eyes.

  “Can you set him on the bathroom sink,” Fallon says quietly. “He needs to wash up and brush his teeth.”

  I carry him into the bathroom, and Fallon reaches for his toothbrush and toothpaste as I set him onto the counter.

  “I’m going to jump in the shower,” I say, needing to rinse the salty ocean from my skin. She nods, a small smile playing on her mouth like she’s up to no good—damned if I don’t like that. I strip off as I make my way to the master suite bathroom. I turn on the water, adjust the temperature and climb in. I moan as the needle-like spray falls from the rain shower. I stand under it for a long time, and my cock grows thicker as I think about having Fallon in my arms again, putting my mouth all over her lush body. Eyes pinched tight, I reach for my cock, give it a couple tugs, and a low moan catches in my throat.

  “Need a hand?”

  My lids flutter open, and my cock grows impossibly thicker when a naked Fallon steps into the shower with me.

  “Fuck yeah,” I say. I reach for her, and none too gently pull her against me. Then another thought hits. “Wait, what about—”

  “He’s fast asleep, which means it’s our playtime now.” She runs her finger over my chest and circles my nipple.

  “You want to play with me, Fallon?”

  She grins, and takes my cock into her hands. I breathe in the enticing, heady scent of her arousal as she rubs the long length of me as she says, “I’ve been wanting to do this all week.”

  “Me too,” I growl and push her wet hair from her shoulders. I touch her chin, lift it until we’re eye to eye. “I want to keep fucking you, Fallon, but you need to know—”

  “I know,” she says. “This is just sex.”

  With that, she drops to her knees and takes my cock into her mouth. I lean forward to keep the spray off her as she works me to the back of her throat, taking me deeper than she did last time. I grab a fistful of her hair, and pull it to the side so I can watch her take me in.

  “You are so beautiful,” I say, and she cups my balls, gives them a soft massage. Need and lust fry my last working brain cell, and her soft moans of delight as she cherishes my cock prompt me into action. I pull her off me, and she slides up my body as I put my hand between her legs to find her warm and wet for me.

  “I don’t know how I made it through the week,” I say, my breathing coming a bit faster. “All I could think about was getting my mouth on you again.”

  “The girls know about us,” she says as I insert a finger. “They don’t seem to have a problem with us being together. They were actually happy about it.”

  “Yeah, the guys know too. I couldn’t stop staring at you tonight, and fucking Cole called me out on it.” She chuckles, but it turns into a moan as I slide my finger in and out of her and fuck her slowly. “He talked about setting you up with Kane.”

  “Really, that’s odd.”

  “Yeah, well, don’t worry, I told him you weren’t interested. You’re not, are you?” I ask, not sure if I want to hear the answer. “I mean, Kane’s a good guy but—”

  “No. I don’t want to date anyone, Jamie.”

  I ignore the relief racing through me. She can be with Kane if she wants. Hell, she can be with any guy, but dammit, the thoughts of another man’s hands on her body doesn’t sit right with me.

  “I told him you weren’t ready for more,” I say, and press my mouth to the hollow of her throat. I breathe in her warm scent. “You’re not, right?”

  What the… Why am I asking her that?

  Oh, maybe because you’re checking to see if she changed her mind.

  But goddammit, I can’t be the guy for her. Even though I know that, I suddenly can’t stop thinking about it.

  Fucking Cole!

  “No, I’m not,” she murmurs, and I slide another finger inside her for a snug fit. She’s so responsive and warm and wet I can barely think straight. Her nails score my skin. “That is so good.” I p
ull my fingers out, grip her shoulders and turn her.

  “Okay, enough talking. It’s time to fuck,” I say, my cock harder than it’s ever been before. “Put your hands here.” I press her palms to the tiled wall, and I stand back to look at her perfect body. I’m not sure I’ve ever wanted a woman more.

  “Jamie, please,” she murmurs and wiggles her ass at me. I put my foot between her legs and widen them and her sweet plump curves jut out even more. I take a palm full of her lush ass and squeeze.

  “My cock is so hard,” I say and take it in my hand. I run it along her crevice and she wiggles some more. “I nearly came in your mouth a minute ago.”

  “Maybe I would have liked that,” she says, and I growl. I love how free and open she is with me. It reminds me of old times when we used to hang out, say anything we wanted. Although that’s not entirely true. There were secrets I kept. Things I’d never say to my brother’s girl.

  “You know, I never knew you were such a fucking tease.”

  “Well, I did tell you I’d get payback for dunking me this afternoon.”

  “And payback is telling me you want my cum in your mouth.”

  “No, that was true. Payback comes later, when I widen my legs on the bed, and put my fingers into my hot, wet pussy, and torture you by making you watch without touching.”

  I exhale harshly. “Fuck Fallon.”

  “Yes, fuck me, Jamie. I want your cock inside me.”

  She pushes her ass against my cock and I reach around her, brush my thumb over her clit, visualizing her on the bed, playing with herself. “Promise me you’ll do that later?”

  “Yeah, Jamie. I’ll do that for you.”

  I let out a breath I didn’t even realize I was holding as she bucks against my hand. “Fuck,” I murmur. Her responsiveness, and neediness fuck me over big time. I love the way she wants me. Her body grows hotter as I hold her curvy hips, position my cock at her entrance and say, “I want you so fucking much, this is going to be fast and hard.”

  “Yes,” she cries out.

  “Next time. Next time, I’ll go slower, but this last week had been torturous, and right now I need to fuck hard and fill you with my cum.”

  Her breathing grows choppy, and I hold her hips for leverage and I piston forward, and bury myself high inside her. Steam fills the room, making it harder and harder to get air. Then again, maybe my lack of breath has less to do with the steam and more to do with Fallon and being inside her like this. Her muscles clench around me, and I can’t believe how close she already is. Then again, so am I.

  “You needed my cock, baby, didn’t you?”

  “Yes.” Her sharp, needy cries of pleasure wrap around my cock, and pull me under until I’m drowning in sensation.

  “I shouldn’t have denied you,” I say. “I should have been fucking you all week. Making you scream my name, and giving you orgasm after orgasm.” My cock swells and she feels so damn good I can barely focus. Christ I’ve wanted this for so long. Wanted her. But Ethan moved in on her while I was away. Did he know? Did he know what she meant to me?

  “It should have been me,” I say without thinking, my voice a deep husky breath. I pound into her hard, fast, blunt, like a man on a mission, a man determined to stake his claim, but I can’t get deep enough, can’t get enough of her. Her cries of ecstasy curl around me, and her fingers scratch against the wall.

  “Jamie,” she cries out and I lean over her, dig my fingers into her hips hard enough to bruise her. But I can’t seem to help myself, can’t seem to get high enough, even though I’m balls fucking deep. “Yes,” she cries out. “Hard, just like that.”

  I pound into her, deep strokes that nearly slam her against the wall. Her cries of pleasure curl around me, a telltale sign she likes my frenzied fucking, and it’s a good thing, because I’d never want to do anything to hurt her, yet I can’t seem to get myself under control. I’m seriously losing my shit big time, and if I’m not careful, I might drown with everything I feel for this incredible woman, but have been tamping down since the day I met her.

  “You like this, Fallon. You like me fucking you like this?” I ask, wanting to hear her say it.

  “Yes,” she huffs out, her body quivering in my hands, around my cock as I fill her. “I want all your cum in me.” Her fingers curl. “Oh, Jamie. I’m coming. It’s so good.” Her hot juice coats my dick and drips over my balls, and my cock throbs with the need for release, but I don’t want to come just yet, I want to stay buried inside of her like this for the rest of the night.

  Forever.

  “That is so fucking good,” I say as her muscles squeeze and massage my dick. “Ride my cock. Use it, Fallon. Fill that sweet pussy and take what you need.” I pull out, slam back in again, and before I know it, she’s coming again. My chest puffs up, proud that I can wring two orgasms out of her sweet body. Later, I plan to go for a third.

  But I can’t think about that anymore. No, right now all I can do is think about the pleasure centered between my legs and how I’m going to blow before I want to. “I’m there, baby. I’m right there.”

  “Fill me, Jamie. Fill me with your cum,” she cries out and I fall over her, slide my hands around her ribcage and cup her breasts as I let go on a deep, gasping breath. Her muscles continue to wreck my cock as I spurt my seed high inside her. I go deeper, not wanting any to drip out, and loving the idea of her feeling it dribble out of her tight pussy later. I completely deplete myself, and breathe hard against her back as I work to regain focus.

  When my world rights itself, I pull out of her, and walk backwards with her until her limp body is under the hot spray. With her back to my chest, she lets her head fall to my shoulder, and as I catch her contented smile, I grab the soap and later her sated body.

  “That…that was incredible,” she says, her voice a breathless whisper.

  “No, babe,” I say, and she stiffens. “That wasn’t just incredible, that was just the start of the night. Now what was it you said about payback?”

  9

  Fallon

  I wake to the sound of children playing on the beach and roll over to find the other side of the bed empty. I slide my hand across and touch the cool mattress. A quick glance at the clock lets me know it’s still early. Jamie must have snuck out ages ago, and while I miss his heat and comfort, it’s for the best. I don’t want to give Chase the wrong idea. Or the right idea.

  Oh, God.

  Last night with Jamie was amazing, of that I have no doubt. The way he touched me, kissed me, it was just so damn hard to remember this is a temporary thing, and that we’re just enjoying each other’s bodies for the rest of the week. I swallow against the storm of emotions tossing wildly in my stomach.

  “It should have been me.”

  I sit up in the bed, trying to wrap my brain around those words spoken in the heat of passion. Truthfully, I’d been so lost in him I’m still not sure I heard him right. I slide out from beneath the sheets, tug on my frayed shorts and a T-shirt, and walk to the window. A smile touches my mouth when I spot the guys on the beach with their kids. My heart pinches, knowing Chase is the only one without a father, but I can’t go down that road again. I won’t.

  Unless it was with Jamie.

  Oh boy, I really am in trouble here. I told him last night I wasn’t interested in more, but it was a bold-faced lie. I can’t come out and tell him what I feel. He made it clear twice now that this is just about sex and I don’t want to ruin our friendship. Chase needs him in his life as much as I do, and I can’t risk losing him.

  As I take in the scene on the beach, I can only assume Jamie snuck into another bedroom and Chase is still asleep at this early hour, but when I scan the beach, I find them both jogging, Jamie’s pace slow so Chase can keep up. My heart jumps into my throat. Yeah, telling Jamie how I feel, and risk losing him, is a chance I can’t take. Chase has had enough loss, and he’s growing closer and closer to Jamie by the day.

  As if he feels my eyes on him, Jamie glances up int
o the bedroom. He drops to his knees and points upward. Chase follows the movement, and they both wave emphatically. The room closes in on me as I wave back. Jamie stands and rubs his stomach and I laugh. The man is always hungry.

  I close the curtain and make a trip to the bathroom to freshen up and brush my teeth. Once I’m sort of presentable, I head downstairs to start breakfast. Humming the stupid alligator song, I flick on the TV, put it to a music station and head into the kitchen. I pull some bacon, eggs and fruit from the fridge, and go to make coffee but discover the pot is already full.

  “Bless you, Jamie,” I say.

  “Are you praying for me?”

  I jump at the sound of Jamie’s voice, and turn to see them coming in through the front door. A warm breeze follows them in and carries the enticing scent of Jamie’s skin. A shimmer of warmth goes through me.

  “Mommy, I went jogging,” Chase says and runs his hand across his forehead, mimicking Jamie. It’s adorable. He makes a muscle. “I’m going to be big and strong like Jamie.”

  I touch his arm. “Wow, you’re big and strong now.”

  He makes a motor sound and runs into the other room. “Did he…see us?”

  “No, I went into the spare room before sunrise. I heard him get up, and I needed a run, so he came with me.”

  “Well, now it’s my turn to cook breakfast for you two.” Jamie comes close, dressed in nothing but his running shorts, his upper body slick and hard and so fine, all I want to do is go up on my toes and kiss him.

  “Did you miss me?” he asks playfully.

  “You know I did. Did you miss me?”

  “Yeah, and I want to kiss you so fucking bad right now,” he says, his breath coming a little faster as his gaze drops to my mouth. I look past his shoulder’s, and listen to Chase’s footsteps climbing the stairs.

  “I won’t deny you what you want,” I tease, and wet my bottom lip in preparation.