True placed her hands on her breasts and hooked her fingers around the material of her bikini. Alec followed the movement of her hands and she soaked in the power she received from his mesmerized gaze.
“I wanted to bring you here to show you the fantasy you wanted on that long ago hot day with an overly cool pool but it seems you want something different. I’m not the one who put a stop to this party and left me alone and questioning what happened in the middle of paradise.”
He didn’t want to talk about why he does what he does, but seemed to want an explanation about her and her flip floppiness. That just didn’t seem fair. Releasing her grip on the material of her bikini she moved her fingers down to pinch her nipples through the peach fabric. She wondered if her brown nipples showed through and almost asked Alec since he was so focused on the area.
“True.” His whisper was a plea and a command, but he didn’t specify for what. It’s a good thing she spoke the language of Alec and she knew just what that was. A warning. A sexy warning that she wasn’t going to heed.
Her nipples were hard. Was it the water and the beautiful ambiance or was it the pure power of Alec? Who knew if it were one or both? She pinched both of them between her fingers of both of her hands and pulled them away from her body. The sound of her moans filled the cavernous place and ricocheted off the wall. She didn’t wonder if he’d take the bait she just wondered when.
With a low growl he pulled her up in his arms for a kiss and he skipped the preliminary soft build up moving straight for the ones that made her want rock her hips against him to get some relief.
Bending slightly while he moved his hungry mouth to the space where her neck and shoulder meet, he lifted her so he could slide between her opened legs. Now she really could rub her aching clit against his body. He fitted them together so she could feel his hard cock pressing against her. It was hard to keep still but he held her ass firmly against himself, so she didn’t have much of a choice. She could feel him pulsing against her, but she wanted so much more. She stared into his eyes and wished she could read his mind. Not the part about him being aroused and enjoying the look and feel of her body, she wanted something deeper than that.
“Pure trouble.” He brought her body higher so her covered breasts were in his face and he looked up at her as he opened his mouth slowly and placed it over her nipple. “Mmmm.”
She loved the way he licked and sucked at her, but the noise accompanied by the slight vibration that went with it made her crazy. “Please.”
“Please what, temptress?” He released her nipple, but then chose to move to the other one. Placing her hands behind his head, she encouraged him to go further. He lifted his head. “I love how wild this makes you, but I want to taste you without the cloth. Move it.”
She did as he asked and the quick kisses and fast nibbles unsure of how long she’d last and if she could really get off like this.
Hiking her up once more he hooked her legs over his shoulders in an x-rated version of a piggy back ride. He was able to hook his arm around her thigh and pull her panties to the side. Alec only nuzzled her a little with soft kisses on her pussy before he chuckled and brought her back down and settled her on his hard cock.
“The things you make me think I can do.”
True put her hands on both sides of his face and licked the healed skin of his scar from the bottom of his chin to his full lips before tasting herself on his mouth. He grabbed on to her ass and grinded his hard cock against her aching pussy. It was so arousing to watch Alec give in to what his body was feeling. His low growls were growing louder as he moved her up and down the length of his cock and she wanted to taste that too. Pulling him down so she could kiss him, he moaned her name as his cock pulsed against her. She was so close, but was pulled away from him so fast it was hard to understand what was happening.
“Hold on, baby, all this is for me.” He set her up on the edge of the spring, put his hands on the back of her knees and almost folded her in half before yanking her bikini bottoms over and finishing the job his grinding had started.
She was so wound up it didn’t take long for her body to practically splinter apart with the pleasure that started at her clit but radiated all over her body. When the sensations had faded enough so she could realize she had fists full of Alec’s hair and he was murmuring sweet nothings against her thigh she sat up. “Oh my…damn, Alec. What the hell has gotten into you?”
He pulled her back into the water.
“I’m putting you under before we get out.”
“Umm…for what.”
He didn’t answer, just cocked his head to the side.
“Just because you can work that tongue and can make me come so hard I need a nap doesn’t mean I’m going to just jump when you snap your fingers.”
“I put you on the ground and there is probably dirt in your hair. I’d like to help you rinse it out.” He held his hands out and she took them.
Alec had a smirk on his face and right then she could have sworn he liked her fussiness. She jumped into the water and let the man play with her hair. He’d probably never admit it, but he had a thing for it. The man learned how to brush out her thick hair and do a two strand twist after she’d washed it. After rinsing it and scrubbing it to his satisfaction he stood back looking quite pleased.
“Are you happy now?”
“Almost.” Alec got out of the water and walked back to the coolers bringing out a large bag.
“What do you have in there?” She kept her eyes on the bag as he helped her out of the water and walked her over.
“I have a few things for you.” First, he took out a towel which he put around her shoulders drying her a little as he went, then he brought out a bottle of lotion.
“You remembered?”
“You think I’d forget to bring your lotion after hearing about the trials and tribulations that go down without it on your skin after being in water? That’s something I’ll never forget.”
True laughed and grabbed the bottle. Out of all of this him bringing her lotion may have been one of the sweetest things he’d ever done. “Now look who’s trouble.”
Chapter 7
True sat in the living room of two of her closest friends. They all had drinks and Karessa had brought in some snacks, but all True could think of was what Alec had called her three days ago.
They’d run down all the topics they regularly covered as they sat on the veranda of the super swanky house Beau and Karessa had made their home. The topic went from Gemmi and the organized watch they had on her to Camden and the same watch they had on him. The man looked like he was in a perpetual state of just about to freak the fuck out, but so far he’d kept himself together.
“I have a question for you.” True had been trying to approach this subject since she’d gotten there and honestly, she’d been laughing at herself at how hard it was. She was known for being direct and to the point, but the question she had about herself left her feeling a bit reserved. Maybe it was because she didn’t want to hear the answer almost as much as she needed to know.
Karessa sat up like she thought the question would be juicy. “Shoot.”
Beau just nodded his head like he was preparing for any volley that was shot at him.
“Do you think I’m emotionally locked down?” True sat back and held her drink in both hands as she watched the parade of facial expressions cross their faces. There wasn’t a peep from either of them. “Come on, guys. I’m not going to get mad at you. I asked the question, I get whatever answer I get.”
“Karessa,” Beau said, throwing the woman under the bus in the form of making her answer the question first.
Clearing her throat, she sat up a bit and then drank down the full 10ozs of the expensive ass Bordeaux she’d brought out for the casual occasion of them getting together. “I love you, True.”
“I know this and even if I don’t like your answer which I’m pretty sure is going to be I’m an emotional cripple that you all tiptoe ar
ound I love you as well.” Taking a sip of the wine she could barely taste it for the fear of what she was going to hear ran like metal in her veins.
“I’m not going to tell you that you’re an emotional cripple, but we all know you’ve been through a lot. Your mother leaving you as a toddler, you getting a foster mother that was more roommate than provider and you learning not to lean on anyone for anything. You can be a difficult woman to figure out because you don’t share your thoughts and feelings, but I wouldn’t say your emotions were locked down… I think that may be a bit too strong.” Karessa blinked a few times, reached to refill her glass and then turned to Beau. “What do you think, Beau?”
“Look here I’m not going to sugar coat this. You’re one of us. All of us Haughts have blocks on our shoulders from childhood. That shit is heavy and burdensome. You are doing the best you can with what you have to work with. Camden was all screwed up when he learned his birth was the reason for our mother’s death, I didn’t want to make plans because they all ended in disappointment and misery and Alec… I’m not really sure why he’s fucked up, but he’s worse than all of us.” Beau was drinking a mug of beer that they had on tap over at their full service bar. He picked up his drink and took a healthy gulp.
“You’ve never talked to him about what his issue is?” True knew so much about Alec but now that she’d thought about it she didn’t know what his carryover was from their early years. Maybe it was because he was the oldest and had the biggest burden of keeping everyone together. Or maybe it was because he just missed what his life could have been growing up with two parents not two grandparents.
“You do know Alec, don’t you? He’s not one to talk about anything that’s bothering him. We liked to joke that he was a one man show. He didn’t really need the rest of the Haught boys to run the bar, but he let us stay around so we’d feel useful. If anyone has emotional lockdown syndrome it would be him. That man knows what he wants to do and does it with precision. With him, he just does what has to be done. Nothing more…nothing less. I don’t think emotions are a factor with him. I’m sure he has them, but he isn’t the best at sharing them. I will say that he never makes a wrong move or a misstep as long as I’ve known him.”
True stood up and cursed the shy feelings she had when they spoke about Alec. She had talked about things with this couple that she’d never think to talk to anyone else about, but she knew they had to guess how she felt about Beau’s older brother. Walking over to the bar, she started looking at all the liquors this couple had at their disposal.
“What about his fiancé?” True said, opening up the container that had the lemons, oranges and cherries in it.
“What about her?” Beau said as he stood up and walked over to her. His left eyebrow was raised and she knew that she’d intrigued the man, but she wasn’t looking to spread rumors she was looking for the truth and she was hoping he had it.
“You said he knows what he wants to do and does it with precision, but he changed his mind with her.”
Beau sat on the other side of the bar on the stool and then Karessa was right beside him in the next seat.
“That is one of the world’s most interesting mysteries. I didn’t even know he’d proposed until Ellie Rhoades popped up at The Haught Spot waving her finger around and telling anyone who would listen that she was going to be Haught soon.”
True remembered that day. The tall, slim brunette was elegant and radiating so much joy it should have been a sin to think about punching her in the face, but think about it True did. It wasn’t the woman’s fault no one knew what she was or that she and Alec were that serious. He’d not brought her around the bar and that’s where we were most of the time. When she looked up Beau and Karessa were both staring at her.
“What?” True smiled, looking at the two of them sitting shoulder to shoulder like they were going to watch a lively program with lots of twists and turns.
“We want to know what you know about it?” Karessa said, taking another sip of her wine.
“Me?” True looked at both of them. “You really think I know what happened?”
They looked at each other and then back to True before nodding their heads.
“I don’t know how you deduced that when I’m the one who asked you what happened in the first place.”
“That was just to throw us off. You know what happened.” Beau finished off his beer and licked his lips of the foam that stuck to them.
“I’m not going to act like you’re accusing me of lying because I know I keep things close to the vest. Especially if it’s someone else’s tale that’s being exposed, but lately I’ve been wondering about what happened with that.”
“Ask him. If he tells anyone it would be you.”
True laughed at that and continued to act like she was learning the names of each and every alcohol the couple possessed.
“Why are you laughing?” Karessa asked and stood up on the stool so she could lean across the bar.
“I’m laughing because you think Alec would tell me anything more than he tells the rest of the world.” She put down the bottle she was looking at but really hadn’t even seen before she looked at the couple. Something was up. “Karessa did you tell Beau why I came to see you in Chicago?”
“She came to see you in Chicago?” Beau frowned and looked over to Karessa.
“No. I didn’t.” Karessa responded through gritted teeth. “I thought you wanted to keep that secret.”
Maybe she was emotionally locked down and somewhere between when she started shacking up with Alec and now there was a big ass crack in her wall because she felt like she was experiencing an emotional overload all the time, now. “It’s not that I wanted to keep it a secret forever, I just didn’t want to talk about it at the time. The fact that you didn’t tell Beau when I know you share everything is so sweet, but I’d not ask you to keep anything from him. Secrets hurt people and relationships. I know that.”
“Great everyone is all happy…happy…joy…joy. Now what the fuck is going on?” Beau looked between the both of them as if he was waiting for one of them to start talking.
Karessa shrugged. “It’s your story, True. You should be the one to tell it.”
“There isn’t anything to tell.”
Beau cocked his head to the side and placed his chin on both of his fists like he was waiting. “We have always been the best of friends. All of us.”
True nodded at that and watched as Karessa did the same thing.
“I would love to tell you that you don’t have to tell me anything. Just knowing you’ll come and confide in me when you’re ready to talk.” Beau smiled and nodded. “But that shit isn’t me. I want to know and if you tell me you and Alec hooked up I might just drink one of those large glasses of wine, just so I can sit in on the girl talk.”
True pulled out one of the big wine glasses and placed it in front of Beau. He stopped and looked at the glass before looking at Karessa.
“You knew this all along?”
“We all had thoughts, but I didn’t find out anything until my trip to Chicago.” Karessa looked over to True as if asking if what she was saying was approved.
True loved how Beau’s eyes were wide with disbelief when he turned in her direction and now wondered why she hadn’t thought to talk to him about this long before now. Keeping her emotions and thoughts to herself may be something she should think about trying to change. She was actually looking forward to this conversation.
“Alright stop all this fidgeting, get your glass and bring it back to the comfortable chairs. I can’t wait to hear this.”
True poured another mug of beer and took it with her to the sofa before placing it down in front of Beau. “With a story like this you probably want to drink your favorite beverage.”
He smiled and accepted the beer taking a sip and placing it back on the table. “Okay now…go.”
“You remember Gemmi’s bachelorette party?”
“It’s been going on that long?”
Karessa shouted out. “How the hell did you two keep it from everyone for what…seven months now?”
“Baby, don’t forget who we are talking about. These two are the most stealthy individuals we know. Shit, sometimes I wouldn’t be surprised if Alec came out and told me he was a spy and did secret missions on his off time.” Beau grabbed Karessa’s hand and looked back at True. “Please continue. I remember the party. You brought Karessa back to me drunk off her ass and I tried to carry her in the house only to have her go crazy like a bag full of demented cats when we got to the doorway.”
“I’m never going to live that down am I?” Karessa shook her head and picked up her wine.
“No. Never.” Beau patted her hand with his but never took his eyes off True. It was like he thought she’d disappear if he didn’t watch her.
“Well, I’d had a little too much to drink and it’s possible I called to tell him off about a few things.” True hated thinking about what she’d said. She wasn’t so drunk that she couldn’t put a few scathing sentences together and watching the love between Beau and Karessa had started a fire within her that roared that she couldn’t have the same thing with Alec.
“What did you say?”
True knew that was coming. Shit, she’d have asked the same question. If she was going to do things differently with her life she had to make some changes. This needed to be one of them. Her two besties had never betrayed her or abandon her and for that she owed them something. Not just in the now with this particular story, but with all she had.
Haught & Bothered Page 6
