When he talked like that… it was almost better than an orgasm. She could almost believe that he felt more for her. Almost.
He rubbed her clit in the opposite direction and stars sparked in her eyes. She bit down on his shoulder. He let out a muffled shout and shoved inside of her hard. That sent her over the edge and she joined him, finding his mouth and kissing him like there was no tomorrow.
*
Brody traced the line of her back with the tip of his fingers. Her skin was warm, silky smooth, and responsive. She was responsive…and passionate.
He let his finger dip lower, between the tops of her ass cheeks to tease her a little, and then back up again. He pressed a kiss to her shoulder, and she let out a satisfied sigh.
“I’m so sleepy, but I’m so hungry,” she said.
“Having sex for hours will do that.”
She laughed and his heart flipped in his chest. “Sex for hours with you will do that,” she said, turning her face slightly. Pretty blue eyes stared up at him. “We’re still good, right?”
Leaning down, he kissed her nose. “Oh yeah.”
“Want to watch Shawn of the Dead?” she asked on a yawn.
“I know campy horror movies are your thing, but I don’t have much time left with you, so I’d rather stay in bed.”
She rolled over, stretching and thrusting her perky, little breasts up. He dropped a kiss on each nipple. They were slightly reddened from all the attention he’d given them. She let out a little mew and dug her fingers into his hair.
“They’re very sensitive,” she said softly.
“I can tell.” He licked one and then blew over it, watching in complete, male satisfaction as it tightened. “I want you again.”
“I’m a little sore.”
He gathered her in his arms and pulled her to him, lying back on the bed. Kissing the top of her head, he said, “I might have been a little selfish that third time.”
“You made up for it in the shower,” she said with a giggle. “I’ve never had shower sex in my life.”
“Did it meet your expectations?”
“Well, I expected to slip, hit my head, and die, so no.”
He laughed, unable to help himself. This was his Sydney, honest to a fault and his best friend. “As a fireman, it’s my job to protect people, and as your lover, it’s my job to satisfy you.”
“To satisfy and protect—that’s a great slogan. Think the town council would go for it?”
“You’re thinking of the police.”
“I’m thinking fire trucks need slogan love too.”
He hugged her tighter. “Don’t ever want to lose you.”
“You haven’t lost me in over twenty years, Brody. What’s thirty days going to do to us?”
Chapter Fourteen
‡
Sydney pulled out her phone to text Kyle. After last night with Brody, there was no way she could go out with another man. It wasn’t right, and she would just be leading the poor boy on. Besides, the plans weren’t firm. She had told Kyle she would think about it.
Sydney: Hey, about tonight… I can’t go. Sorry.
Kyle: Feeling okay? I could bring you some soup. Maybe rub your feet or something.
She rolled her eyes. His ego was out of control if he assumed the only reason she couldn’t make it tonight was because she was under the weather.
Sydney: Thanks, but no.
Kyle: Next time, then.
She texted an image of a smiley face, shoved her phone into her purse, and opened the door to the nail shop. Today, she’d gotten off work early for a mani/pedi date with Lemon. She’d accumulated the personal hours over the years, and this was the first time she’d ever used any. Besides, she had about seven days left to use up, so there were more if she ever got another wild hair to take off work.
Lemon waved at her from the back of room. “I already ordered your drink.”
Hammered&Polished was Jessamine’s most popular nail salon. It was also the only one that served alcoholic beverages. The old town council would have turned it down, even with a McCoy as the owner, but the new town council jumped all over the chance for another business to help their downtown revitalization project.
“I’m thinking yellow with limes painted on each one,” Lemon said as she settled into a massage chair. “It’s all about embracing one’s true self.”
Sydney took the strawberry daiquiri from one of the nail technicians and sat down beside Lemon. “Give me fire-engine red, then.”
“That’s an excellent choice,” Lemon said with a little wink.
As the technicians began to work on their feet, Sydney turned to the redhead beside her. “I’ve been meaning to ask you about what happened between you and Tristan at the auction, but Cherry’s always around and I didn’t want to incite her to more violence.”
“Nothing happened. Nothing worth mentioning anyway.”
“It didn’t look like nothing,” Sydney said lightly.
“You know how we are. We fight like cats and dogs, but never make up. He’s always out to get me, and I won’t put up with his ‘I’m so charming and romantic’ act.”
“Tristan is charming and romantic,” Sydney pointed out. “Even I think so, and I have no desire to date him.”
Lemon’s hazel eyes narrowed. “It’s an act.”
“If you say so.”
“I do.” Lemon took a sip of her martini. “Did I ever tell you about the time when I was fourteen and he humiliated me when I was up for Cotton Queen?”
“No. We’ve never really talked before now,” Sydney gently reminded her.
“Oh. That’s right.” The sharpness fell from Lemon’s voice. “I haven’t ever talked about it to anyone other than my sisters. I thought everyone knew.”
“No clue, here. Or at least, I don’t remember. But, I’m four years older than you, so…”
“He called me a vessel filled with beauty and no brains. Who insults people like that?”
“Tristan Lawson?”
“I thought that becoming a Marine after college would have given him some manners, but all it did was make him better looking,” Lemon complained.
“Why don’t you talk to him about your feelings?”
Lemon gave her an you’re-out-of-your-mind look. “Why don’t you tell Brody you’re in love with him?”
Sydney almost choked on her drink. “That’s different.”
“They are both equally, potentially humiliating. Besides, Tristan will call me weak for letting something that happened years ago still bother me.”
“Who cares what he calls you? You’re a grown woman. A beautiful, intelligent, and accomplished grown woman with a kind heart,” Sydney pointed out.
The out-of-your-mind look turned into a shy smile. “Thanks. And you’re right.” She let out a thick sigh. “It shouldn’t matter, but it does. I guess it’s because we’ve never stopped fighting. Except when he was in the Marines.”
“Because y’all weren’t talking then?”
Lemon snorted. “As if Tristan could go a day.”
“Do tell.” The rum in the daiquiri was giving Sydney all kinds of warm feelings and boldness. Maybe the vodka in the martini was doing the same for Lemon.
“I wrote him letters,” she said. “And sent him things to share with his platoon or crew or whatever it’s called.”
Sydney’s jaw dropped. “You wrote him and sent him packages.”
“It was my patriotic duty,” Lemon explained. “Besides, he wrote first.”
“He did?”
She nodded. “Yes, to tell me that he missed my tart little mouth.” Lemon slapped her hand over mouth, her eyes widening.
“What did you say?”
Lemon giggled. “I sent him a package full of lemons I’d kissed. With lipstick on, of course.”
Oh, sweet Lord. “Then what happened?”
“Nothing,” she said tightly. “He came home, and we went back to being us.”
“That’s a shame.”
/>
“Why is that?”
“Sounded like the beginning of a love story.”
Lemon rolled her eyes. “You’re drunk, Sydney. I’m cutting you off.”
“You can cut me off all you want, but I’m still right and you know it.”
*
Over the next couple of weeks, she and Brody spent even more time together, careful not to let the world know exactly what they were doing. But, it was starting to get hard.
For one, Brody’s ‘atta girls’ and smacks on the butt during softball games were turning into ‘nice one, baby’ and caressing her tail when he thought no one was looking.
Two, she had to keep pretending that her ultimate goal was to seduce Kyle and she hadn’t been out with him once. Thankfully, Brody hadn’t mentioned it again, but who knew when he would?
Third and most importantly, she was finding it more and more difficult to lie to him about how she felt. She was in love with him, yet she was following the instructions of a woman who knew men better than her and had been Brody’s previous lover.
“Where are you, beautiful?” Brody asked, his mouth skimming hers as his fingers slipped between her legs. “You seem a million miles away tonight.”
She gasped as he touched the heat of her. “I’m here. All yours.”
He chuckled low in his throat and began to stroke her. “Why, Ms. McKnight, you are one wet woman.”
“It’s because of you.” One long finger pushed inside of her, and she arched her back in response.
“So pretty,” he whispered, dipping his head. He wrapped his hot wet mouth around one nipple and began to suck. Ever since he discovered he could make her come this way, with one finger inside of her while sucking on her nipples, he’d been pleasuring her like this every chance he got.
Another finger slid inside and her inner muscles tightened around him. She was close. “Oh…oh,” she moaned and suddenly, his fingers were gone and he was pulling her into his lap.
“Sit up,” he ordered as he unbuttoned his jeans and pulled out his thick erection. “Now, down.”
She straddled him, closing her eyes to his erotic invasion. “Feels so good. I don’t want to ever stop doing this with you.”
His fingers touched her face, and she opened her eyes. He smiled tenderly. “You don’t have to. I’m here all night.”
Her heart sank, but she couldn’t dwell on that. It wasn’t his fault she let that admission slip.
“And I’ll be here every night you need to feel this.” He thrust his hips up, and she let out a cry. “I’ll fill you up, make you cry out my name and come back for more.” Wrapping his arms around her, he urged her to his chest while pumping in and out of her. He whispered the most beautiful things, made her feel wanted and needed.
“We didn’t put on a condom,” he murmured in her ear.
“I’m on the pill,” she whispered back.
“Can I?”
She nodded and held on to him tightly. He angled his thrusts, and her world exploded. He followed her a second later, his hot spurts inside of her making her shudder in his arms.
“I’m not moving,” he said. “Want to make sure that you feel me tomorrow.”
She kissed the side of his neck. “I’ll feel you forever.”
He kissed her head. “I’ll hold you to that.”
Chapter Fifteen
‡
Brody sat in the cab of his truck, listening to an audiobook while he waited for Sydney to get off work. They had plans to go camping with a group of friends at Blowing Rock this weekend. The trip had been months in the making and he’d always looked forward to it, but now, with the change in their relationship, he was damn near beside himself.
Every time they were together, he craved more. He wanted more. And if she wasn’t using him to eventually seduce another man, he would be more than happy with that. He wasn’t one to fight what his heart and body wanted. Or rather who.
Before, with women, he’d had a good time and always tried to do the right thing. Especially with Cherry because he considered her a friend. But, what was going on with Sydney…that was beyond his wildest dreams and expectations. Mostly, because his heart was involved.
And he hated it. He hated deceiving her and denying himself. He wasn’t showing her how to seduce any man but him. He could give a rat’s ass what Kyle liked or didn’t like. It all had to stop, but he didn’t know what to do about it.
Unless he fessed up to her.
He reasoned that if their relationship could handle sex, then it could handle love. Maybe with enough time, she could love him back.
He drummed his fingers on his steering wheel.
First, however, he had to get seducing Kyle completely out of her head. So far, his plan was working because she hadn’t been on a single date with him. And, for once, Kyle had been exceptionally quiet about Sydney, confining his rambling commentary to the world at large instead.
His phone buzzed. He grabbed it and glanced at the screen.
Tristan: Lucas got in a fight and almost killed a man.
Raw pain scraped at his chest, but he refused to feel sorry for the brother who hadn’t listened. For the brother who ended up stealing people’s futures.
Brody: Do mom and dad know?
Tristan: No.
Brody exhaled in relief. It wouldn’t do anyone any good for them to know. Despite the fact that Lucas had all but stolen from them, they missed him and it had broken their hearts when he left for good.
Tristan: It was self-defense.
Brody: Not my concern.
Tristan: Whatever, brother. I’m just passing this along from Adam.
Brody: No group text?
Tristan: I threatened to sign him up for a daily sexy ham pic.com text
Brody chuckled.
Brody: That’ll teach him
His phone went off again, this time with a fire alert. “Damn,” he muttered even as his adrenaline surged. He shoved his door open and ran inside the bank.
Sydney’s eyes went wide when she saw him, and her cheeks turned red. “Hi, Brody. Did you need to make a deposit?”
He ran a hand through his hair as he realized that he’d shoved past waiting customers to get to her. “Uh. No. Um.” All he could think of was that he couldn’t embarrass her, or give these people something to talk about. “I…there’s a fire and—”
“Brody Lawson,” Cherry purred from behind him. “I’ve been looking everywhere for you. Did you think I was in here?”
He spun around. “Yes?”
“And you wanted to tell me that we couldn’t meet for our date tonight because you’ve been called in,” she said slowly.
He nodded like a puppet on a string. “Exactly.” Glancing over his shoulder at Sydney, he tried to gauge her reaction, but she was busy staring at her computer screen.
Cherry grabbed his chin and pulled him toward her. “We can reschedule for later.” She rose up on her tiptoes and attempted to kiss him.
He pulled back slightly. “No,” he said loud enough for her ears only.
A pleased look entered her eyes and she kissed his cheek. “You’re a good man, Brody.”
Color him confused, but what woman was pleased by a man refusing to kiss her? Not that he was complaining. The only woman he wanted to kiss was the sexy bank teller behind the counter.
His phone went off again, echoing in the bank. “Gotta go.”
He didn’t look back at Sydney as he ran out of there. One look at her and he would have stayed far longer than he could afford with an emergency happening. Later, he could explain, and later, he could tell her the truth.
Running flat out, he made it to the firehouse in less time than it would have taken everyone to suit up. He skidded to a halt inside and frowned.
But for the hum of machines and the low laughter of the skeleton crew upstairs, there wasn’t any other sound. No alarms, no one rushing to their locker.
“What the hell?”
Kyle opened the door to the downstai
rs office. “You came. Thank God.”
“What’s wrong?” Thinking the worst, he looked around again. “Did someone fall?”
“No. It’s not that kind of emergency.”
Brody’s mouth flattened. “What kind is it?”
“You said that the next time I wanted to buy Sydney something that I needed to run it by you first.”
“And that constituted you making my alert go off?”
Kyle rolled his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest. “No.”
“Oh.” Maybe it was a glitch. It happened from time to time.
“But this one-hour fire sale I saw advertised on the Victoria’s Secret website did.”
Brody smacked the kid on the side of his head again. Harder. “No.”
Kyle winced. “No to Victoria’s Secret or—?”
Brody smacked him again. “No to lingerie and no to using that alert for personal business.”
The younger man grinned, even as he rubbed the side of his head. “I got it.”
Brody raised his hand again. “You sure? Because if you need another reminder, I’m happy to help you out.”
Kyle jumped back a step. “I’m positive.” A mischievous look entered his eyes. “What about—?”
“No.”
“You sure are protective of her.” Kyle said in all seriousness. “Makes a man wonder. Makes me wonder about y’all.”
“We’ve already been over this, Rookie.”
“Maybe I want to revisit the issue.” Kyle took a step forward. “I plan to ask Sydney out again. This time, if she doesn’t turn me down, then I plan on showing her a real good time.”
Wait a minute…he’d asked her out and she’d said no? That was…strange. She said no. What did that mean? Was she not confident enough to go out with Kyle? Or did she think she needed more lessons? Either way, shouldn’t he be happy about it?
“It would be nice if I could have your support, seeing how the two of you are best friends and all,” Kyle added.
A few of the guys came downstairs to eavesdrop on their conversation. “Nosy asses,” he grumbled.
Kyle cleared his throat. “Well, you plan on helping me out like you said you would, Captain?”
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