The Risk Taker

by Cathryn Fox

  “You’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever set eyes on, Fallon,” he says, so softly, so quietly and honestly, it curls around my body and hugs tight.

  I touch his face. “Jamie,” I say, and I’m about to tell him I love him when he presses his mouth to mine for a deep, tender kiss that tunnels into my heart and makes itself at home.

  His lips slowly leave mine, and he carefully turns me over until my breasts are pressed into the mussed bedding. He cups my ass and squeezes. “Mine,” he says. “All mine.”

  I swallow, and get the sense that taking me this way, marking me a way no one ever has, is affecting him in much the same way as it’s affecting me.

  “Lift,” he says with a slight tap to my hip. I lift for him and he puts a pillow beneath my hips. He spread me, runs his finger over my opening. “You want my cum in here?” he asks.

  “I do, Jamie.”

  “Yeah, me too,” he says, and I wiggle. He falls over me, his breath hot on my neck as he rips into the lube. “I need you nice and wet so it doesn’t hurt. I want this to be good for you, babe.”

  “It will be because I’m with you,” I say, wanting to be as honest with him as he is being with me.

  “Yeah, same for me,” he murmurs quietly.

  Coolness invades my back as he inches away, taking his heat with him. I move a little on the pillow and go perfectly still when his cold, lubed finger touches me.

  “Relax for me, baby.”

  I take a deep breath and let it out slowly and as I do, he slides his well-lubricated finger into my body. “Ooh,” I say as the coldness gives way to heat. “Nice,” I say.

  He works me for a long time and one finger turns into two. I move my body, stimulate my clit on the pillow and soon enough arousal pulls at me once again.

  “You ready for this?” he asks in a gruff voice full of need.

  “I’m ready for you, Jamie.”

  He spreads me, and his cock presses against my opening as he grips my hips and pulls me back a bit. I’m wide open and vulnerable, but I’m not feeling fear. No, I’ve never been more excited, more eager for anything in my life.

  His crown widens me even more and I fist the bedding at the sensation. He gives me another inch, and lightly strokes his fingers over my back, murmuring softly and giving me time to get used to the fullness. With excruciating slowness, he works his way into me, and the minutes tick by as he continues to take his time.

  “I love seeing you like this,” he murmurs. “Love the way your body is opening for me. I wish you could see what I see, Fallon. Wish you could see my cock, and the way you’re taking me.” His voice breaks a bit when he adds, “You…you are so goddamn perfect.”

  “Jamie,” I murmur and look over my shoulder to see him. Eyes heavy lidded, and latched onto my ass, he gives me a little more of his beautiful cock.

  “I’m a wreck, baby. A total fucking wreck,” he says, his voice hitching in a way I’ve never heard before.

  The love I feel for this man curls through me, and tears prick my eyes. Never have I felt so deeply for another person. When he’s just about all the way in, he stops, and his low deep groan, like he’s working hard to keep it together, reaches my ears and curls around me.

  I murmur and move my hips in encouragement. “I want it all, Jamie. Please…give me everything,” I say and I get the sense he knows I’m asking for more than just his body.

  His hips jerk forward, until he’s filling me completely. “You’ve got all of me now,” he whispers, and lightly strokes down my sides until he’s gripping my hips. I go silent beneath him, struggling to get my emotions under control. “Are you good, Fallon?” he asks, easily reading me.

  “I’m good,” I manage to get out, and he moves his hips, sliding out a bit, and squeezes more lube onto my backside. He pushes in and the movement presses my clit to the pillow.

  “Yes,” I cry out.

  One palm flattens on my back, and with the other still gripping my hip, he sinks into me. I move with him, slow easy movements, each giving and taking in a way that is more emotional, less physical. As our bodies join as one, and our moans merge, my muscles begin rippling again.

  “Jamie, I’m coming,” I cry out.

  “I feel you,” he says and moves a little quicker. As I let go, he lifts my hips higher, driving into me that much deeper and as he strokes my body, I explode with new sensations.

  “Yessss,” I hiss and tug at the sheets, tears of joy in my eyes thanks to this new experience.

  “I’m there, Fallon. I’m right fucking there with you,” he says in a soft voice that wraps around me like an old favorite blanket.

  “Please fill me,” I say and the next couple pumps are for him as his orgasm presses. He lets go on a growl and spurts high inside me. Warmth curls through my blood as he spasms so hard, it rockets through me and shatters me from the inside out.

  He grunts loudly, falls over my back, and before I can stop myself, I whisper, “It should have been you.”

  14

  Jamie

  Last night with Fallon…Jesus, I can’t even put in to words what being with her like that did to me. The way she gave herself to me, trusting her body in my hands... Fuck, man. Totally blew my mind. Although she’s been quiet most of today. Perhaps she’s tired from a week in the sun, and all our late nights, or perhaps, like me, she’s wondering where we go from here.

  The truth is, I want to be the guy for her. I want to be everything she needs me to be. She might have said she didn’t want to date again, but that night on the beach she admitted something different. In a perfect world she’d be happily married, with a loving trusting guy, one who could be a great father for Chase and put the needs of his family first.

  I want to be that guy.

  Is it possible that I can be? Is it possible that I can forgive myself for the accident—something Fallon assured me wasn’t my fault—and allow myself to be happy again.

  I glance up, and beneath the moonlight, Fallon is laughing and smiling as she gives everyone a good-bye hug, promising to meet the girls for coffee back in the city when they all return in a week. I haven’t seen her this happy in a long time and it tugs at my heart to know I was the one who helped her find her way out of the darkness. Just like she’s helping me.

  “Hey bud,” Cole says coming up beside me.

  “Hey,” I say, and toss the last of the bags into the back of the SUV.

  “Back to the real world for you guys.” I close the SUV and turn to Cole. “Nice to see you happy again.”

  I laugh. “I am happy,” I say.

  “She’s good for you.”

  I look past his shoulder and my heart beats a little faster when Fallon walks toward me, a tired Chase dragging his feet beside her.

  “You’re good for her too, Jamie,” Cole says. I nod in agreement, and Fallon gives Cole a hug when she reaches us.

  “Thanks for inviting us. I had a wonderful week,” she says.

  “Now all you have to do is convince Jamie here to buy the Johnson property on the cove. Then you guys can come every year, and stay longer with us all.”

  She casts a glance my way, like she’s gauging my reaction to that suggestion, and I know we definitely have to sit down and talk.

  “Time to go home,” I say to her. “You ready?”

  She nods and buckles Chase into his car seat and circles the vehicle to slip into the passenger side. “Talk to you later, Cole. Thanks for the invite. We’ll shoot some pool when you get back to the city,” I say to him as I climb into the driver’s seat. I start the vehicle, my heart so full of love for the woman beside me, as well as the boy in the back seat, it’s a wonder I can even think. I back out of the driveway and soon enough we’re on the highway. Fallon yawns.

  “Tired?” I ask and slide my hand across the seat to capture hers.

  “Yeah, you?”

  “Too tired to have a talk when we get back?”

  She sits up a little straighter. “No, I think it’s a good idea
.” She gestures with a nod to Chase. “When little ears are asleep.”

  I chuckle and give her hand another squeeze, not wanting to let go. Ever. Fallon sinks back into her seat and hums softly to the song on the radio—thank God it’s not that damn chomp, chomp alligator song—as I drive us home.

  Home.

  Man, I really like the sound of that. Her lids fall heavy beside me, and I lower the music, letting her drift off. Time slips by and as I pull onto our street, I notice the motion sensor floodlight over my garage is on. What the hell?

  I had planned to take Fallon and Chase to their place, but I pull into my driveway to shine the lights onto the house, and Fallon stirs.

  “We’re here?” She rubs her eyes. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to fall asleep.”

  I touch her leg as I scan the lawn and house, finding nothing out of the ordinary. “My motion sensor floodlight is on. It’s probably nothing, but with the break-ins I should check it out.”

  “Are you sure you should go in?”

  I glance into the back seat, and Chase is asleep. “I’ll take you guys home first, then come back.”

  “No, we’ll wait here. If anyone is in there, Jamie…”

  “Okay, don’t get out of the vehicle. Here are the keys. Lock up when I get out,” I say. As an uneasy feeling prowls through my blood, I exit the vehicle and Fallon relocks the door. I step up to my garage, key in the code, and stand back as the double doors lift. My heart jumps into my throat when I find a little white Honda Civic parked beside my black truck.

  No fucking way.

  I glance back at Fallon, and squint against the headlights. Her door cracks open, because she knows exactly who is in my house. She slides out of the truck, and quietly closes her door, not wanting to wake Chase.

  “Jamie,” she says her voice shaking. “What’s going on?”

  “Your guess is as good as mine,” I say and we both jump and turn at the sound of the front door banging open with a thud. Sara comes from the house, her steps a little wobbly as she grips the handrail and glares at us.

  “Well isn’t this sweet,” she slurs.

  “What are you doing, Sara?” I ask, my pulse pounding against my throat. After all this time, she just shows up? No calls, no texts, no communication for a year. Yes, I get that she hates me but to show up and get drunk?

  She stumbles on the steps and I hurry to her before she falls and cracks her head open. I right her, and when she’s finally stable, she shoves me away.

  “What am I doing? What am I doing?” she shrieks, her voice bordering on hysteria.

  “Sara,” Fallon says in a calming voice that doesn’t seem to have any effect on Sara. “We should go inside.”

  Sara snorts. “So what is this, Fallon? Tit for tat?” she asks, as her head bobs back and forth between the two of us.

  “Sara,” Fallon hisses. “Don’t.”

  “Don’t tell me what to do. You think because I needed time away that you could go to the beach with Jamie and fuck him.”

  “Sara, please. It’s not what you think.”

  “What does she think?” I ask, totally confused by the tit for tat comment. “What is she talking about, Fallon?”

  “I…just…”

  “Fallon?” I ask, my stomach tightening. Jesus, what does she know that she’s not telling me?

  “I know she told you, Jamie,” Sara says. “She hates me enough, and sleeping with you, well, that was just payback. Isn’t that right, Fallon?”

  I back up, and stop when I land in my bushes. “Payback? Somebody better fucking tell me what’s going on here.”

  Sara’s eyes go wide, like she just had a revelation. “You’re kidding me?”

  “Sara, I never said—” Fallon begins but stops when Sara throws herself at me, and tears form in her eyes.

  “Jamie, I’ve missed you,” Sara cries.

  What the fuck is going on?

  I peel her arms from around my neck and set them at her side. “What are you talking about payback?”

  “Nothing. I’ve been drinking.” She blinks up at me, and tries to brush whatever this is, off. But I’m not about to let it go.

  I turn to Fallon. “What is she talking about?”

  “Jamie,” she begins and reaches for me, but I avoid contact.

  “Tell me, Fallon.”

  “Not here, Jamie. Not now.”

  “Shut your mouth,” Sara says.

  “Fallon, please…” I plead.

  She takes a breath, lets it out slowly and lowers her head. “I’m sorry, Jamie.”

  “What are you sorry for?” I ask, as my gaze moves over her face, trying to read her.

  “Sara and Ethan were having an affair. I was ninety-nine percent sure. Now I’m one hundred.”

  “You bitch,” Sara says and launches herself at Fallon. She digs her nails into Fallon’s arms, and scratches before I can pull her off. I drag her away, and she softens in my arms, changing tactics with me. “It was a mistake, Jamie. You were away a lot. I was lonely. It just happened.”

  I clench down on my teeth hard enough to break them. I’m angry that Sara had an affair—with my brother, no less—but angrier that Fallon kept secrets from me. “You knew about this and didn’t tell me?” I ask Fallon.

  “Jamie,” she says.

  “This,” I say and wave my hand back and forth between Fallon and me. “Was some kind of get even scheme?”

  Her face goes white, and she takes a wobbly step back. “Do you really think so little of me, Jamie? You think I’d do something like that?”

  I pinch the bridge of my nose and tear into Fallon. “You told me the accident wasn’t my fault. You asked me to trust you, but you never told me why.”

  “The accident wasn’t your fault,” she says, and again with no explanation.

  “Someone better tell me what the fuck is going on,” I bark.

  “Shut the fuck up, Fallon,” Sara says and I put her behind my back to prevent her from attacking again.

  “Sara had an ultrasound appointment,” I begin, going over the events of the day. “I was late, so she asked Ethan. Sara told me herself that if I had been home the accident wouldn’t have happened. How could I not blame myself after that?” My mind races, and when it slows again, I face Sara. “You did have on ultrasound appointment on that Wednesday, right?”

  “What…oh…I, um.”

  I shake my head as she hedges.

  “I think you had the dates mixed up, Jamie,” Fallon says softly. “You admitted to me that you were only half-listening at the time.”

  “What were you doing with Ethan? Where were you going?”

  “We were just…it was a nice day.” She throws her hands up in the air. “We were going for a drive.”

  I squeeze my eyes shut for a second, unable to process anything that I’m hearing. “You let me believe you had an appointment, and I was late, and that’s why you were with Ethan. All this time, I thought I was responsible. I blamed myself, tortured myself and you let me, to cover up the affair.”

  “I can’t remember. It was a traumatic time. We’d just lost our baby. Come on, Jamie. Let’s go inside. I can make this right between us again,” she says, and pushes her body against me, like sex will make this all go away.

  “I couldn’t move on.” I fist my hair and tug. “I thought I let you down, and I couldn’t move on, because…because I didn’t want to let anyone else down. You let me believe, let me hurt, just to cover for yourself.”

  Sara blinks up at me. “I was going to end it.”

  “The baby,” I say, and an anguished cry catches in Fallon’s throat. I turn on her, and her chest rises with a big gulp of air. “Jesus fuck, you knew that too?” Hurt and angry and feeling like I’ve been raked raw inside, I begin to shake all over. “All this time you knew the baby wasn’t mine, and never said a fucking word. Was this some kind of fucked up game you were playing with me, to get back at Sara and Ethan?” She opens her mouth but I’m too fucking furious—betraye
d by everyone, Ethan included—to hear what she has to say. “Who are you?” I ask, and she backs up until she hits the SUV.

  “You know who I am,” she says quietly, her voice shaking as hard as her body.

  “No, I don’t,” I shoot back.

  “I’m sorry, Jamie.”

  “Sorry, for what?” I shoot back. “For sleeping with me, for keeping all this from me? Or are you sorry I found out.”

  “Sorry you found out,” she whispers, and I can’t believe what I’m hearing.

  “Jamie, forget about her,” Sara says and fawns all over me. “Let’s go inside. I can make it all up to you.”

  Does she really think she can make things better with sex?

  “You should go,” I say as my world shatters around me. Again.

  Sara gives me a pleading look. “Jamie, wait.”

  I turn to Fallon, a new burden heavy on my shoulders. “You should go,” I repeat.

  The keys rattle in her hands as she darts to the driver’s side, and climbs into the vehicle.

  I look back at Sara, my heart a million broken pieces. “You were having an affair with my brother, and you were having his baby. I guess I’m smart enough to know what you were doing in that car to make him go off the road.”

  Her eyes narrow to slit, anger now at the forefront. “You want to know the truth Jamie?” she spits out. “Your whole life you’ve been in love with her.” She points her finger at the SUV. “It was always Fallon this, Fallon that. You even have her name tattooed on her back. Maybe I got tired of it. Maybe I fucked Ethan to get back at you. Maybe this really is all your fault.”

  Fallon backs out of the driveway, and as I stand there under the floodlight with Sara, disgusted as all the pieces are falling into place, I press my palms to my eyes until I see stars.

  “I want you gone. Out of here tonight. But since you can’t drive, I’ll call you a cab. I’ll put your car in the driveway, and don’t even think about coming to my door tomorrow when you pick it up.” Sara pounds on my chest as I pull my phone from my back pocket. I call a cab, and set her on the front steps as I drive her car out of the garage. Then I grab her arm and march her to the end of the driveway until the cab comes. I put Sara into the back seat, and send her away with it.