by Cee Bowerman
I cupped her sex with my hand and could tell she was ready for me. I held it there for a few seconds until she moved her hips to rub against my hand in silent invitation for more. I moved one finger so that it was right at her entrance as my thumb found her clit and moved back and forth.
“Damn,” Reba mumbled as she pulled back from our kiss. “You know right where to go.”
In the last few weeks, I had learned how to play her body like a finely tuned instrument just like she’d learned mine.
I stroked Reba just like she needed while she did the same with me. Before long, our kisses were more passionate and I was dying to be inside her. As if she read my mind, she threw a leg over my hips and settled down above me, her heat touching my length and rubbing back and forth. At just the right second, she swirled her hips and the tip of my cock breached her entrance. She angled her hips and pushed down, enveloping me to the root in one stroke.
I heard my breath hiss out but wasn’t even aware the sound came from my body as I revelled in the feeling of her surrounding me. With slow movements, she rested her hands on my chest and pushed herself up, our mouths losing contact as she straddled me. She was still on top of me for a few seconds as she stared down into my eyes. Just as I reached up to grab her hips so I could move her up and down, she swiveled her hips around and leaned back to rest her hands on my thighs.
Just the sight of her on top of me was almost too much for me to take. With the angle she was at, I could see every part of us together as she moved her hips up and down. The feeling of her wet heat squeezing my cock as she moved, watching her body envelope mine brought me even closer to the edge.
“Touch me,” Reba whispered as she started to move faster. “I need just a little bit more…”
I moved my hand to cover her mound and let my thumb find her clit and begin to move over it with just enough pressure to make her gasp.
“Feels so good,” I groaned as she dropped down again. “I’m close, baby.”
“Me too,” Reba whispered as she pushed herself up and collapsed against my chest.
I flipped us over and surged into her as I pushed myself up on my hands. I ground myself against her as she lifted her legs to wrap around my waist, letting me move in a fraction further.
“Harder,” Reba ordered as she grabbed her legs with her hands and spread them wider. I hooked one arm under her leg and brought it up even further with my next stroke. The sound of our bodies coming together was louder the faster we went. It melded with my grunts and her moans of ecstasy until I was sure the neighbors could hear our pleasure.
“Yes!” Reba screamed as her nails dug into my shoulders. I felt her walls start to squeeze my cock and I pounded into her even harder as I rode out her orgasm. I couldn’t take it anymore and emptied myself into her warm body with a grunt. My hips jerked as I finished, Reba’s orgasm milking every drop from me before I collapsed on top of her.
After a deep breath, I realized I was probably crushing her. I rolled us to the side, our bodies still connected.
“That was just…” Reba’s voice trailed off.
“Yeah…”
“Love you.”
“Fuck. Condom.”
“You said you wanted babies.”
“Yeah, but…”
“Let’s just let nature play out.”
I considered it for a second and realized that sounded like the best idea I’d heard in ages. I thought about getting up and finding a washcloth to clean Reba up just as I heard her yawn. With a yawn of my own, I let my eyes close, content right where I was with my woman in my arms.
◆◆◆
“Your phone!” Reba nudged my shoulder and I came awake with a jolt. “Mace!”
“Fuck,” I grumbled as I pulled away from her. I reached down and picked my jeans up off the floor and fumbled for my phone, catching it before it could go to voicemail. “Hello?”
“Mace,” my brother Ronan greeted me in his gravelly voice. “Got plans for dinner. We put our heads together with Reba’s cousin and a few of his club brothers and found a way for Reba to see her kids tonight.”
“Okay. When and where?”
“That restaurant out on the loop. They have a private banquet room in the back. We’re all going to be there by 7:00. You and your girl plan on getting there by 7:15 or so.”
I pulled the phone away from my face and glanced at the screen. It was 5:30 now, so we had plenty of time.
“Okay. You’ll be there?”
“We’ll all be there, brother. I think Reba needs to see what she’s getting into. It’s about time her family and ours got together for a meal.”
“No shit?” I chuckled. “So you’re just trying to run her off now?”
“We’ll be on our very best behavior,” Ronan vowed with a laugh. “Our very best.”
20.
“I’m going to have to get a new couch.”
Reba
REBA
I laughed as I watched Lout, one of the men who belonged to my cousin’s motorcycle club, wrestle with a pack of kids. Vada was right in the middle of the action, hanging onto Lout like a little monkey as he halfheartedly tried to shake her off. The other kids were climbing up the large man. He had one of Grunt’s sons hanging from each arm as he flexed to hold them up off the ground.
“I’m mad at you,” Cyrus huffed from beside me.
“You’ll have to get past it, son. I can’t have you treating your sister like that.”
“She started it.”
“But you’re the big brother,” Angus, Mace’s twin sat on Cyrus’s other side and threw his two cents into the conversation. “I think you’re looking at this the wrong way, son.”
“How?” Cyrus asked.
“Well, for one, you have your mom’s attention all to yourself right now and you’re wasting it. Also, you haven’t realized how much fun it is to have a sibling.”
“It’s not fun at all.”
“Yes, it is. See, when you’re family, you know each other’s secrets. You’re together all the time, so you know just what buttons to push to get them to do just what you want them to do. You’ll have secrets that only you and your sister know about and those will be with you even when you’re old like me.”
“What kind of secrets?”
“The kind that can make you laugh even when there’s nothing in the world to laugh about.”
“Sure,” Cyrus started to roll his eyes but remembered I was beside him and glanced up at my face.
“A long time ago, I promised to keep a secret for three of my brothers. In return, I made a deal that they have to do this thing I tell them to do every single time I ask. No matter where we are, no matter who is watching, they have to do what I say in exchange for me keeping their secret.”
“Really?”
“Yep. You don’t get that kind of loyalty from just anyone. It comes from family. I was loyal to them and did something. They realized how good they have it and gave me a special gift. It was such a big thing that I can only use it 50 times before it runs out.”
“50?” Cyrus was enthralled now and I smiled at Angus, encouraging him to continue. “What is it?”
“Well, I’ve used 14 of what they owe me, so I have 36 left to last me a lifetime. I go pretty sparingly because what I’ve got is special.”
“How special?” Cyrus had perked up and I was glad to see him smiling again. I hated to have him mad at me in the little time we got to spend together, but I couldn’t let his and Vada’s fighting slide even a little. “What is it?”
“Well, since this is a special night, I’ll use one of my gifts so you can see how much fun it is to have brothers and sisters.”
“Really?” Cyrus whispered, excited even though he had no idea what he was about to see. I had to admit, I was curious myself.
“Yep. Watch this.” Angus sat up a little straighter in his chair and waved one of the twins, the ones that they called “The Ros” over to us. The man was holding one of the babies and Angus
took it out of his arms before he smiled wickedly at the man. “Thanks, Chicken Little.”
“No,” the brother growled. The other Ro sitting across the table from us shook his head.
“Chicken. Little.” Angus said a little louder.
“What?” Mace’s head jerked our direction and his mouth fell open.
“You heard me.”
“Dammit.” Mace’s head fell back and the Ro in front of us put his hand over his face as he scooted his chair back.
“I’m gonna beat your ass.” The twin that Angus had taken the baby from pointed at Angus with a glare before he curled his arms up and put his hands into his armpits. His arms looked like wings now and he flapped them up and down once.
I tilted my head, curious about what he was doing when I saw that Mace had stood up and was doing the same thing.
“Oh, shit!” Tavin, one of Mace’s younger brothers, yelled. “It’s chicken time!”
Both Ros and Mace were strutting around now, their arms flapping and their heads bobbing as they made chicken noises.
Everyone in the room stopped and stared for a second before the laughter erupted.
“Get the camera!” Lena yelled at Finn from another table. I glanced over and saw that Finn had Mace’s camera up and was taking pictures of his brothers as they strutted around. Everyone in the room was laughing and it seemed like the three were starting to enjoy themselves a little bit.
Mace walked back toward our table, bent at the waist, and started pecking at the plate he’d just finished eating from as one of the Ros stood just a few feet away scratching the ground with his foot.
The kids who had been crawling all over Lout just a second ago were enthralled with what Mace and his brothers were doing. A few of the younger ones came over and started mimicking them, making the adults in the room laugh even harder. Vada stood a little off to the side, staring at Mace in shock. When he spotted her, he went her direction, clucking like a chicken at the top of his voice. Vada screeched and took off running around the table to the other side of the banquet room, Mace on her heels as he squawked.
I had tears streaming down my face and couldn’t catch my breath because I was laughing so hard. Cyrus was standing in his chair pointing at the men with one hand as he held his stomach with the other. I glanced over and saw Angus with a devious smile on his face as he glanced down at the watch on his wrist. He smiled up at me before he looked back at his brothers and yelled, “Time!”
All three men stopped what they were doing and turned around to glare at him. The laughter around the room was still going strong as they marched toward the table where we were sitting. People were clapping and making chicken noises as they passed, but the three men only had eyes for Angus.
“Oh, that was funny,” Cyrus wheezed as he sat back down in his chair. “That was the best thing ever!”
“Feel better?” one of the Ros growled as he dropped down into the chair across from us. His identical twin sat down beside him and silently scowled at Angus. Mace stood behind the two, staring daggers at his brother for a second before Vada caught his attention.
My laughter was gone in an instant and I felt my heart stutter just a bit as I watched Mace scoop Vada up and hug her tight as he made growling noises into her neck. She squirmed and squealed and finally he pulled back and stared at her. She said something I couldn’t hear and Mace’s head fell back as he laughed loudly. Vada started in with the chicken noises and Mace began to tickle her to try and get her to stop. The entire scene had a different kind of tears falling down my cheeks.
That right there was what both of my kids had been missing out on. That comfortable happiness a child could only get from a man they loved and trusted. My daughter had just removed any doubt I had that Mace was the one to give that to them.
I loved that man before, but watching him with my little girl clinched it. He was my forever and theirs too.
“How did you do that?” Cyrus asked Angus in awe.
“Well, that’s part of the secret I can’t tell, but there’s more than just that one. I’ve got another one on Finn and Mace that I only have 10 left of. Maybe someday I’ll show you that one.”
“No, really, how did you get that?”
“That’s a secret between brothers, my little man. Someday your sister’s going to want something from you, and instead of having her pay you money or do your chores, you can come up with something and make her pay for it for years to come. That’s what I did.”
“You’re diabolical,” Violet, Angus’s fiancée, said from his other side. “I like that.”
“You have no idea,” Angus laughed as he leaned over for a kiss.
“I like these people, Mom,” Cyrus whispered as he worked his way under my arm to get closer to me. “I like all of them.”
“I do too, baby.”
“Will you marry Mace so they can be our family?” Cyrus whispered in my ear.
“If he ever asks me, would that be okay?”
“Yeah,” Cyrus said as he smiled at me. “I think we could marry him.”
“Okay.” I smiled back. “If he asks, I’ll probably say yes.”
◆◆◆
MACE
I woke up with a start and laid there with Reba in my arms while I tried to figure out what had woken me. I heard Jace bump into the table beside the couch and then hiss as if he’d stubbed his toe or something trying to walk in the dark.
“Mace,” I heard a voice whisper from close by and I realized Jace was beside the bed. Not the voice in the living room. “Get Reba out of here.”
“What the…” The moonlight coming through the crack in the curtains illuminated Jace’s shirt as he moved and I could see the dark stain of blood on his chest. His left arm was hanging useless at his side and his right arm shook as he held his gun up and aimed toward the bedroom door. “Reba! Baby, wake up!”
Reba’s eyes shot open when I shook her and she sat straight up in the bed and looked past me at Jace.
“He’s here.” Reba whispered as she scrambled out of bed. When she saw the blood covering Jace’s shirt, her hand went up over her mouth and she whispered, “Oh God!”
I jerked the charging cord out of my phone and dialed 911 as I stood next to Jace. I reached into the bedside table and pulled out my pistol that I’d left there after Reba and I got home from dinner as I listened to the 911 operator answer the phone.
“Reba! Get over here!” I hissed at her as she rushed toward the bedroom door. She reached up and fiddled with the little brass plates I’d noticed on the doorframe, flipping them over so that they fell into position in front of the edge of the door. “We have an intruder and a man who’s bleeding from a stab wound.”
The doorknob turned slowly as I whispered the address to the operator. I watched as Reba rushed toward the closet door and opened it up. She tiptoed up and grabbed the cord to the attic stairs. I realized instantly that she’d prepared for this exact scenario weeks ago.
The closet door and attic ladder moved silently after she’d worked on every joint with some spray lubricant she’d asked me to bring home for her.
She had an escape route planned and without even realizing it, I’d helped her prepare it.
“Jace,” Reba whispered as the doorknob jiggled. When someone out in the hall hit their body against the door, Reba jumped and glanced that direction. “Mace, Jace, go into the attic.”
“No.” Jace shook his head, but I thought it was more to clear it than to disagree with Reba. “You go up, babe.”
“Take Jace, I’ll watch out,” I whispered to Reba as I snapped my phone closed.
“Reba!” a man’s voice called out from the hallway. “Open the fucking door, girl.”
“Give me the gun,” Reba snapped at Jace as she took it out of his hand. “Go up the fucking ladder right now.”
Jace lurched toward the closet and I kept my eyes on the door while Reba followed him. Jace’s body disappeared up the ladder as the bedroom door shook in its frame. I kn
ew it could withstand quite a bit of force since it was solid unlike a normal interior door.
“Mace!” Reba motioned from the closet and I shook my head. My firecracker stomped her foot and pointed to the floor as she glared at me, “Get in here, dammit!”
I listened to the man in the hall get louder and louder as I watched the door shake on its hinges and then, there was silence.
“Now!” Reba yelled and I glanced over at her. “Hurry!”
I rushed across the room and Reba pulled the closet door shut behind me and locked it. She darted up the ladder and turned around to glance down at me.
“He’s not going to stop, Mace. Right now he’s probably... ,” Reba jumped when we heard a window in her bedroom shatter. She motioned me up the ladder with her free hand as she held onto the gun with the other one.
I hustled up the ladder behind her and scrambled to the side of the entry hole as Reba yanked a string to turn on the hanging light bulb and then got down on her knees and pulled the ladder back up with a shoelace she’d tied on it. With the ladder up now, Reba slid three metal pipes between the ladder and the attic trap door, making sure that they were all three lined up correctly on the thick wood braces for the ceiling.
“Call Sonny,” Reba said calmly as she crawled toward Jace. He was propped against a box, one hand on his chest and the other laying limply beside his hip. “Oh Jace, wake up.”
I heard the door into the closet crash open and then cursing when someone pulled on the string that should have made the ladder drop down. The attic door had about half an inch of give before the metal pipes slammed into the attached ladder and stopped its progress.
I could hear muffled cursing from the closet below before the attic door thumped a few more times.
“Where the hell are the cops?” I grumbled as I found Sonny’s number in my phone. When he answered, I told him where we were and what was going on. “Jace’s been stabbed, I’m not sure how many times. Darryl’s downstairs. We’re in the attic.”
