Temptation

by Kris Bryant

  My plans included dinner at a little Mexican restaurant Lacy and I’d discovered as undergrads and ice-skating at a rink that was far enough away from home, but still easy to get to. After that, I planned to suggest a nice glass of wine by the fireplace. Her fireplace. Friday night was a popular date night, but since it snowed, I didn’t think places would be crowded. At eight o’clock sharp, I rang the front doorbell.

  “Get in here, you goof.” Brook pulled me in by the lapels of my coat and kissed me. “Why didn’t you come in through the mudroom?”

  I handed her a single red rose. “Because this is a first date, and I didn’t want to assume anything.”

  She wrapped her arms around my waist. “Well, we kind of did things backward here.”

  I put my hand on my heart as if in shock. “What? Whatever do you mean?” I blushed when she whispered exactly what she meant in my ear. “Okay, okay. I’m trying to do the right thing, that’s all.” I watched as she found a bud vase for her rose. I knew it wasn’t much, but I think she appreciated the gesture.

  “Would you like to call David Wellington, too? You know, to really do the right thing?” She winked at me playfully and grabbed her coat. “Come on. Let’s get out of here before I decide we’re staying in.”

  “Trust me. Your fireplace comes into play later, but you’re right. Let’s get out of here and have a different kind of fun.” I grabbed her hand and walked her to the garage.

  “Let’s take the Range Rover. It’s four-wheel drive,” Brook said.

  “Do you still want me to drive it, or do you want to?” I didn’t want to assume, especially since it was her car.

  “You’ve driven it more, and you planned the date. You drive it.”

  She gave me the single nod and walked over to the passenger side. I slipped into the driver’s seat and backed out of the garage. I was giddy as fuck but didn’t want to seem like a kid on a first date. She looked cool and calm, as if we’d been dating for months. “I like what you’re wearing.”

  “You said casual, so I listened.”

  Brook Wellington was wearing flannel. It wasn’t hipster bro flannel, but form-fitting pink-and-black flannel that accentuated her breasts and small waist. The shirt was tucked into black ankle jeans, and she wore warm winter boots that hit just below her knee. Her hair was loose and curly, the way I liked it, and her makeup light. She smelled like sandalwood. “You’re adorable.”

  “Am I too casual?”

  “Not at all. I actually have chainsaw ice sculpting on the agenda. You’ll fit right in.”

  She gaped at me, then playfully punched my shoulder.

  “Ow.” I rubbed the spot. “Do not impair the driver.”

  “You’re not even out of the driveway yet.”

  I stopped the car before we reached the gate, put it in park, and kissed her softly on her lips. “Thank you for agreeing to this date. I know this scares you, but I want you to know I’m taking this seriously.”

  She cupped my cheek. “I know you are. You’ll have to bear with me as I deal with everything. Emotionally I’m going to be all over the place. But I promise not to shut down if things get too much. One day at a time, okay?”

  I nodded and continued down the drive. I was in heaven. If only I could share this with Nana. Of course, it would have taken me months to tell her, but I think she would have approved. Eventually. Maybe she was smiling down at me. No, probably scolding me.

  “Is tonight a surprise, or are you going to tell me?” She reached over and touched my thigh. The muscle twitched under her hand.

  “Dinner, ice-skating, and incredible sex by the fireplace.”

  She laughed at my honesty. “Okay, I’m in, but I’m not the greatest skater. You’ll have to massage me if I fall.”

  “Especially if you fall on your ass.”

  “Definitely if I do.”

  * * *

  After two margaritas, Brook was flirty and relaxed in a way I’d never seen her before. I stopped after one, but when she ordered the second one, I didn’t stop her.

  “Remember, we have to be on skates in thirty minutes,” I said as I watched her drain the last of her glass.

  In the middle of the restaurant, in front of a solid crowd, she kissed me. It was so playful, and yet I looked around, worried that somebody had seen. Nobody seemed to care. I took a deep breath and focused all my attention on her.

  “Tell me about your dreams when you were a little girl. What did you want to do with your life?” I asked.

  “I don’t know that I even had dreams.”

  “Oh, come on. You didn’t want to write a best seller, or be a rock star, or be a movie star. You could have been on the runway or had some modeling career.”

  She held my hand, running her thumb over my fingers. “I’m not that pretty. You’re just smitten with me.”

  “Smitten? Who says smitten?”

  Brook covered her mouth with her hand. “You’re right. That dated me. Don’t forget, I am a lot older than you are.”

  I leaned forward so my lips were close to hers. “You don’t act it, you don’t look it, and you certainly don’t fuck like it.”

  “Mmm. I so love a woman in control.”

  Our waiter walked by, and I asked him for the check. Perfect timing.

  Brook leaned back and smiled. “You’re buying dinner, too?”

  “This is a date. Of course I’m buying. And I’m paying for your skate rental. But the wine in front of the fire will come from your bar,” I said. The waiter handed me the check. “Let’s get out of here so we can make out in the car. That’s mature, right?”

  “I’m in.” Brook grabbed her jacket and followed me out of the restaurant. “How far away is the rink?”

  “About ten minutes away. Are you cold?”

  “No. I’m good. It’s not too bad out. It’s the wind that makes winter bad.”

  “Agreed.”

  She kissed me as soon as we slipped into the car. While the make-out session had been my idea, I changed my mind when I realized the car was parked in front of the large restaurant window, where everyone could see us. “We should go. I want you all to myself without an audience.” I pointed to the patrons. Brook giggled and sat back in her seat.

  “I’ll hold you to that,” she said.

  I backed out of the spot and headed to Holiday Skating Rink, a seasonal outdoor rink that was borderline overdecorated with inflatable snowmen, reindeer, and garland that looped around the entire rink. More people were there than I expected. Brook wasn’t as good on skates as she was on skis, but she was still impressive. I whizzed by her, skating backward, showing off. She rolled her eyes and chased me. I wasn’t expecting that and lost my balance trying to skirt around a little kid. Falling backward sucked because you inevitably hit your head. Thankfully, my slouchy beanie helped cushion the slam against the ice, but damn, it hurt. Brook fell into me, so we were a heap of tangled arms and legs. She started laughing once she realized I wasn’t hurt. I rubbed my head and laughed, too. She kissed me and made me forget about the throbbing ache at the base of my neck, giving me a throbbing ache somewhere else.

  “Aunt Brook?”

  We both looked up at the little kid who’d accidentally tripped me. It was Frances, Gwen’s daughter, wrapped up in a snowsuit, hat, and mittens, completely unidentifiable except for her chubby cheeks and familiar blue eyes.

  “Frances. Hi, baby. What are you doing here?” Brook clambered off me, accidentally kicking me with her skate.

  I hissed at the pain and tried to get up quickly, too, but slipped and fell down again.

  “What’s going on here, Brook?” Gwen. My nemesis loomed over both of us.

  “Gwen, hi. How are you?” I smiled and nodded, not as afraid of her as I used to be, but I still felt guilty.

  “So, it’s true. I thought maybe the ski trip was just a quick fuck because she’s the nanny and that’s what rich people do. But this? Are you two together? Are you dating your nanny?”

  Broo
k put her hands on her hips. “Whatever’s going on here, it’s none of your business.”

  “Hi, Cassie.” Frances looked down at me.

  I found my footing and struggled into a standing position. “Hi, Frances. I didn’t know you could ice-skate. You’re pretty good.”

  She smiled at me. “Want to skate with me?” She held her hand out and automatically I reached for it, but Gwen whipped her away from me.

  “Don’t touch my daughter.” I saw so much hatred in the way she looked at me that I actually flinched.

  “Settle down, Gwen.”

  “We’ll talk about this later.” They skated away.

  Brook turned to me. “Well, that was a combination of awkward and total bullshit.” She took a deep breath and laughed nervously.

  “I’m sorry.” I didn’t know what else to say.

  “You didn’t know she lived around here. It’s not your fault.” She pulled me closer and swung my arms back and forth with hers until I relaxed and smiled. “Come on. Let’s get out of here. We’ll definitely have more privacy at the house.”

  “Music to my ears.” I followed her to the skate-rental place, and we quickly slipped into our boots. Brook visibly relaxed once we were in the car driving away. We were both quiet. I was worried about the fallout of Gwen seeing us on the ice and how Brook would process it. “Hey, are you okay?”

  Brook nodded. “I just hate that she ruined a perfectly good chase.”

  I played along. “You never would’ve caught me.”

  She reached over and squeezed my thigh. “Don’t be too sure. I always get what I want.” Her fingers sliding up my leg made me shiver with anticipation.

  “Always?” I asked.

  “Always.”

  The fifteen-minute drive felt like it took forever. I was trying to pay attention to the roads because there was still a good amount of snow on them, but her hand making its journey up to the soft area between my legs made it almost impossible to concentrate. I jerked under the pressure of her fingers and moaned in appreciation when she tapped her fingertip right on my clit. I spread my legs apart to give her better access. “You’re killing me.”

  She turned in her seat so she was facing me. “Do you want me to stop?”

  “Yes, no. I don’t know.” I was torn. I just wanted to get home safely and then fuck her a thousand different ways, but this foreplay was so erotic and something we shouldn’t be doing. When she unbuttoned my jeans, I slowed down. I was driving twenty in a forty zone. The driver behind me wasn’t happy.

  “You’re so warm and wet,” she said. She leaned over and kissed my cheek softly. When I felt her teeth tug at my earlobe, my whole body jerked and the car swerved. “Stay in your lane. We’re almost home,” she whispered.

  By the time we got through the gate and into the garage, I was so ready to come. I barely had the car in park before Brook released her seat belt and bent over me. I slid down my jeans and panties and groaned when her tongue touched my clit. I grabbed the steering wheel and the back of the passenger side seat and pushed my head back. I wasn’t going to last. I wanted to feel her inside me, but the restrictiveness of the car prevented that. We had all night, and this was a delicious appetizer.

  “Yes, Brook, yes.” I held her hair back and tried hard not to buck against her mouth. She knew how to please me, and as much as I wanted to draw this out, I really wanted to take this inside. I came hard. The rushing sound of my heartbeat filled my ears as I gasped for air. Brook kissed me firmly and left the car. I waited ten seconds to catch my breath and pull up my pants.

  I found her coat on the floor of the mudroom and hung it on the coatrack. Her boots, smack-dab in the middle of the kitchen, almost tripped me. I booted them aside. It wasn’t until I found her sweater on the floor that I realized she was stripping. I slipped my sweater over my head and kicked off my boots. By the time I reached the hearth room, she was down to bra and panties. I paused because she took my breath away. “You’re so beautiful.”

  “Get over here. And grab a few blankets.”

  I fell trying to walk and take my jeans off. My fall wasn’t graceful, and I should have been embarrassed, but when I looked up at Brook, she simply smiled and crooked her finger at me. I ripped off my jeans and crawled over. She slowly dropped to her knees and met me in front of the fireplace.

  “That was sexy as hell,” she said.

  I kissed her because she made me feel beautiful and alive and happier than I’d ever been. I was exactly where I wanted to be. “Thank you for saying that.”

  “I mean it. Let’s get this fire started and see how we can entertain ourselves.”

  I couldn’t help myself from touching her skin. She was so soft and hard at the same time. Brook was a solid ten. She was perfection. Aside from our frosty start, I couldn’t find anything wrong with her.

  I couldn’t believe how drastically my life had changed. In a year’s time, I’d had my plush life taken away, but I’d landed the perfect job to get me through graduate school. I’d lost someone I loved very much but found Brook, who was helping me piece my heart back together. When I was with her, the sadness was bearable. I was able to focus more on the good memories and not the fact that Nana was no longer in my life.

  “You have a faraway look in your eyes. Are you okay?” Brook turned away from the fire she was building to watch me.

  Right now, I had Brook’s attention, all of it, and our togetherness was perfect. I could only nod. A lump formed in my throat, and I swallowed hard at how important this moment was. I was in love with her. As ridiculous as it sounded, she completed me.

  “Ta da! Fire. Now let’s get under the blankets and finish what we started back there.” She lifted her eyebrow at me.

  This wasn’t just about sex. She felt something for me, too, whether she showed it or not.

  “Yes, Brookie.”

  She straddled my hips and looked down at me. “Didn’t we discuss you never calling me that?”

  I pointed to the clock. “But it’s after seven, and you aren’t my boss at this moment.”

  “Oh, really?”

  She kissed my neck, scraping her teeth along my sensitive skin. She wasn’t gentle about it, and I didn’t mind one bit.

  “Who’s in charge here?” She cupped my breasts and pulled down the lace of my bra. My nipple sprang free, and I moaned when she sucked it into her mouth.

  “Me.”

  She moved her mouth away. “Are you sure about that?”

  I raised up on my elbows and tugged her bottom lip with my teeth. Once she succumbed to a deep kiss, I flipped her so she was on her back. “I’m a hundred percent sure I’m in charge.” I kissed her hard and spread her legs with mine.

  She wrapped her arms around my shoulders. “I guess I can give up control for a night.”

  “Just one little night?”

  She kissed me softly, surprising me with her tenderness. “Or a few.”

  “Or whenever we want.”

  “Or that.”

  I kissed her softly to let her know I was serious. That kiss grew into something more emotional and less playful. She unhooked her bra, and I followed her movements as an excuse to touch her. “You’re so smooth.” I ran my tongue over her breasts and down her stomach until I reached the soft skin right above the waistband of her panties. A gentle tug and she lifted her hips. I was dying to taste her again. I caressed the inside of her thighs until she completely relaxed. We might have rushed in the garage, but I was going to appreciate every minute we had until it was time to rejoin civilization.

  “If I fall asleep, it’s on you,” she said.

  “Oh, really?” I ran my tongue over her slit, making her jerk at the unexpected touch.

  “Okay, maybe not.”

  I felt the soft caress of her hand on my head. She didn’t want me to leave the apex of her thighs. I adjusted my seduction, spreading her apart and running my tongue up and down her warmth. I belonged here. This wasn’t about control or who was the boss. T
his was about so much more, and even if we weren’t going to say the words, the feelings were there. Her touches were softer, longer, and the looks she gave me spoke volumes.

  “Roll over,” she said.

  Without hesitation, I did as she asked and waited. Brook surprised me by turning around so we could taste one another at the same time. I brought her to my mouth while spreading my legs for her. It was perfect. I needed both hands to hold her hips in place. When she slid two fingers inside me, I moaned. How she could use her mouth and fuck me at the same time in this position overwhelmed me. I held off as long as I could. The more I moved my hips, the more she did, too. I dug my fingers into her skin, doing my best to hold her in place, but when Brook did something, she was all in. My mouth was numb, and I was breathing hard, but I refused to stop. We came at the same time, gasping for breath, moaning with pleasure. Perfect, even if she wasn’t ready to admit or accept it.

  “Fuck.” Brook’s voice broke. She slid off me and rested in the crook of my arm.

  “Well said.”

  She laughed breathlessly. “You are amazing.”

  I tilted her chin toward me so I could look into her eyes. “No, Brook. You are.” I looked away because I knew she could read my emotions. I made a big production of covering us with the blankets so that she couldn’t see my face. I knew my feelings showed. I couldn’t hide the fact that I loved her. But as much as I wanted to profess it, she wasn’t ready to hear it.

  Chapter Twenty-seven

  I didn’t hear from Brook all day or night. After such a perfect date, I would have expected to. But that morning I woke to a screaming match between her and Gwen. Gwen had taken the liberty of letting herself into Brook’s house to tell her I was a gold-digging whore. She was pretty angry when she found us asleep together in front of the fireplace.

  Brook said I did a good job defending myself, but I was so stressed I couldn’t even eat. I avoided calls from my mother and Lacy, promising Brook I would let her handle things. That meant keeping to myself and trusting her to do the right thing.

  Mid-afternoon I got a text from Brook.