by Jaci Burton
“Hey, I wasn’t finished with you.”
She straddled him. “I’m just getting started. I told you I wanted the chance to explore your body. You wouldn’t want to deny me, would you?”
She raked her nails across his chest, and lower. His dick pounded every time she slid her sweet pussy along his hips. There was no way he was going to stop her from touching him.
“Feel free to have your way with me.”
She gave him a devilish smile. “I intend to.”
With her damp hair spilling across her shoulders and teasing the tips of her nipples, and the sparkle in her eyes that said she was in the mood to play, Jackson was sure that he’d fallen into some sort of dream, the kind he thought about when he had his dick in his hand to jack off. Becks leaned forward and kissed him, aligning her body on top of his. He felt the press of her breasts against his chest, teasing her feet along his legs, and it took everything in him not to take control, to flip her onto her back and plunge his cock into the softness of her pussy so he could ease the ache inside him.
But Becks wanted to explore, so he was going to lie there and let her touch him. Not that he could really consider it suffering since she was currently sliding her hands over his shoulders and down his chest.
“You have a great body, Jackson,” she said after pulling her lips from his. “Not overly muscled, which I hate.”
His lips quirked. “You hate muscles?”
“The guys who spend every day at the gym bulking up so their necks are as thick as their heads? Yeah, I hate those kinds of muscles.”
“Some guys like to work on their bodies.”
She paused in her exploration and sat up. “You know guys like that.”
“Yeah, we have a couple of the guys in the department who work out pretty seriously. Nothing wrong with that, they just like to bulk up. Makes them feel strong, like they can do their jobs better. And one of them competes as a bodybuilder.”
She twisted her lips, then shrugged. “I guess if that’s your thing and it makes you happy, it’s fine. But I’m not attracted to men like that.”
He grasped her hips. “So you’re saying I’m wimpy.”
She laughed and ran her fingers over his abs. “You’re hardly wimpy. You have a magnificent body. Lean and hard in all the right places. You have plenty of muscle, it’s just not bulging like you’re about to explode.
He laughed. “Well, now that you’ve described it that way, I’ll be sure not to become a bodybuilder.”
“Good. Because I love your muscle just the way it is. Which is why I’ve wanted to get you naked and get my hands all over you.”
She scooted down his thighs and leaned over to brush her lips across his neck, her tongue flicking out to tease his skin. He closed his eyes and soaked in the feel of her tongue dragging across his neck.
He liked it. Hell, she could flay his skin from his body with her teeth and he’d probably like it as long as it was Becks touching him in some way. Whatever she was doing to him? He wanted more of it.
So when she rolled her tongue over his nipples, he groaned, unconsciously lifting his hips to drag his cock against her.
“Mmm,” she murmured against his skin. “I know what you need.”
Becks had everything he needed. Her sweet body, her mouth on his heated skin and the sexy sound of her voice. Though all three of those were torture right now as she slid down his body, using her tongue to torment him.
She wound her hand around his cock and he dragged in a breath, bracing himself up on his elbows to watch as she flicked her tongue over the head of his shaft before fully bathing his cockhead with her tongue.
Christ, the heat of her tongue was unbearable, and yet he needed it more than he needed to breathe.
Then she lifted up and slowly covered his cock with her mouth. He shuddered as he watched his cock disappear into the recesses of her hot mouth. He lifted, feeding more of his shaft to her, and when she wrapped her hand around the base and started to stroke and suck, he wanted this sweet torment to last forever.
“Oh, yeah, suck it like that.”
He took in ragged breaths as she wound her tongue around him, then drew him in deep. She had a wicked, sexy, hot-as-fuck mouth and he was going to lose it soon.
“Becks, I’m gonna come.”
She made a humming noise and swirled the tip of his cock like an ice cream cone, then went down on him like she was starving, taking him in, urging him to let go.
He swept her hair to the side so he could watch her cheeks hollow while she sucked, felt the way she squeezed his cock.
And then he lost it, jettisoning spurts of come into her hot, greedy mouth. His orgasm blew the top of his head off, making him feel weak and dizzy and totally at her mercy.
It was fucking great.
After, he lay spent and unable to form words.
Becks moved to his side and lay next to him. When he could manage to move his limbs again, he rolled over to face her. He swept his thumb over her bottom lip, then drew her toward him to kiss her.
“I think I lost a million brain cells when I came.”
She gave him a smile. “I’ll be sure to quiz you with some brain puzzlers later just to be safe.”
She laid her head on his shoulder and wrapped her leg around his hip.
It was nice. Probably too nice. He made a mental note to hightail it out of there in a few minutes. He didn’t want things to get too close between them.
And then he fell asleep.
CHAPTER 14
Becks woke early to the feel of a hand cupping her breast. She looked down and smiled.
She was surprised, actually, that Jackson was still in bed with her. But she wasn’t complaining.
Easing out of his grasp, she quietly flipped over.
God, the man was beautiful when he slept. His features were easy on the eyes. Long lashes, full lips, a straight, narrow nose. Incredibly sexy beard stubble. She wanted to run her fingers over his bottom lip. She really liked his mouth. She also wanted to kiss him. Maybe wake him up. Have more sex.
Okay, he probably needed some sleep. They’d stayed up late last night. He’d passed out. So had she. Then sometime in the middle of the night he’d woken her up, hard and demanding and they’d reached for each other, no words, just passion and need, both of them in such a hurry for each other Jackson barely had time to slip the condom on. Her body flamed up just thinking about the hot, wicked tangle of limbs, the feel of his body sliding against her, the way he’d touched her and made her come in such short order.
And then they’d fallen asleep again still tangled together. She smiled, remembering the exhaustion after that bout of sex.
Not wanting to rouse him, she got dressed and went downstairs to make coffee.
No one else was up, so she took a couple of sips to help her wake up, then set the cup aside and got out ingredients to make biscuits and gravy. She started the sausage, letting that sizzle while she made the dough for biscuits. When the sausage was done, she set them aside and finished forming the biscuit dough, covering it up to let it rise.
Then she made herself another cup of coffee and went outside to sit by the pool.
She could already feel the sweat beading between her breasts. It was going to be a brutally hot day. In fact, after about ten minutes she couldn’t handle being outside, so she grabbed her cup and made her way into the cool air-conditioned house.
She found Kal leaning against the counter drinking a tall glass of juice.
“Morning,” she said, coming up next to him to rinse her coffee cup in the sink.
“Mornin’. I see you got breakfast started.”
“I thought biscuits and gravy sounded good.”
“They do. I think I’ll cut up some fruit to go with it, if that sounds okay to you?”
“Kal, it’s your house. You
can do anything you’d like. I’m not mistress of the kitchen, you know.”
“Okay. But just so you know, Mistress of the Kitchen sounds kind of badass. And should come with a whip.”
She laughed. “I like this idea, especially if it means I don’t have to do dishes ever again.”
Kal frowned. “Maybe I didn’t think this through.”
“Think what through?”
She looked up to find Rafe coming down the stairs. He yawned and dragged his fingers through his hair.
“Kal said I’m now mistress of the kitchen and I get to call the shots in here. Oh, and you guys are forever in charge of doing the dishes.”
Rafe shot his brother a frown. “What the . . . dude, engage your brain first before you make words.”
Kal shrugged. “I haven’t had any coffee yet.”
“In the future, make sure you don’t speak before you’ve had a cup.”
Becks laughed. She’d missed these guys. They had been her fun when they were kids.
She poured juice and climbed up on a chair at the island. “Remember that time we snuck into the fair?”
Kal grinned. “Yeah. And then someone got a phone call and ran off and left their uneaten to-go lunch on the table.”
“Yes,” Becks said. “I remember it was a turkey sandwich, with chips. You and me and Rafe split it.”
Rafe took his coffee cup and came around the island to sit next to her. “Best damn turkey sandwich I ever ate. It was loaded down with turkey and lettuce and tomatoes.”
“And mayo,” Kal added. “Plus the plate had a ton of chips.”
“Don’t forget the pickle,” Becks said.
Rafe leaned into her. “We took turns taking a bite of the pickle.”
She laughed. “How could I forget? You and Kal argued about who was taking the biggest bites.”
“Hey, we were growing boys. We would always argue about food.”
“We ate good that day, though.”
She struggled to remember something. “Where was Jackson that day?”
“I don’t remember,” Kal said.
“I do,” Rafe said. “He was with some girl he’d met on the beach. We asked him to come with us but he said he had a date.”
Kal laughed. “Yeah, yeah. He even went to the Y to get cleaned up so he’d be all pretty smelling for her.”
“Oh, right,” Becks said. “Now I remember.”
She remembered being crushed and devastated and all those girly things because she’d had a thing for Jackson even then.
She remembered hanging out in her tent, trying to keep from drowning in her own prepubescent sorrows. Then Rafe and Kal had asked her if she wanted to go on an adventure. At first she’d wanted to say no, but then she’d realized there was no point in feeling sorry for herself, especially since Jackson had totally forgotten about her to go on his “date,” so why not?
She’d ended up having the time of her life. They had no money so they couldn’t play games on the midway or ride any of the rides, but there were so many other things they could do for free. There were the buildings with animals, where the kids involved in 4-H showed off their cows and pigs and goats.
It smelled awful in there, but Becks had loved seeing all the animals and the looks of pride on the kids’ faces. It must have been amazing to be responsible for raising those animals. And then they’d gone to the craft buildings to see all the handmade items.
Becks pretended all the sweet old ladies in there were her grandmother. Probably because she’d never known her grandparents.
Hell, she’d barely known her own parents.
“I’ve done my share of Dumpster diving in my life,” Rafe said. “But that fair was like one of the biggest scores of our lives, food-wise.”
Kal pointed at him. “Oh, that’s right. We ended up finding a big shopping bag that someone had discarded, and then we found food all over the place and brought it back to our tents for everyone to share.”
Becks smiled at the memory. “We were heroes that night. Everyone ate.”
“And on a day when everyone eats,” Kal said, shooting his gaze over to Rafe to let him finish.
“It’s a good day.” Rafe grinned.
Becks nodded. “Yes. That was a good day.”
She never took that for granted, never forgot where she came from. She’d gone hungry so many days, weeks, months. She still volunteered at the food bank, still gave part of the money she earned to various organizations that helped the homeless. And she often walked around where they all used to call home and made sure they got fed and had clothes and necessities.
There was nothing so debasing as being homeless. That feeling of helplessness and hunger had made her feel less than human. She never wanted anyone to feel that way.
The door to her room opened and she saw Jackson make his way from her room down the hall to his. He didn’t even look their way, almost as if he were still asleep.
Rafe and Kal looked from the second floor to her.
“We slept together,” she said.
“Huh,” Rafe said. “What a surprise.”
“I’m hugely shocked,” Kal said, then turned to make himself a cup of coffee.
She smiled and shook her head, knowing that neither of them was shocked or surprised.
She slid off the bar stool and went to the sink to wash her hands so she could start working on making the biscuits.
Kal started slicing fruit and Rafe asked what he could do, so she instructed him on how to start making the gravy using the sausage pan she’d used earlier.
“You three look busy.”
She glanced up as Jackson entered the kitchen. She tried not to pay attention to the way her heart did a quick flutter, or notice how hot he looked in his board shorts and muscle shirt.
Interestingly enough, Rafe had come downstairs this morning in shorts and no shirt. The man was incredibly ripped. And Kal had an awesome body, too. She looked at both of them.
Nothing. She felt nothing. They were like her brothers.
Jackson, on the other hand . . .
She heaved out a sigh, placed the biscuits on the pan and shoved them in the oven.
“Thought we’d have breakfast together,” she said. “If you’re hungry.”
“I’m definitely hungry.” He made his way to the kitchen cabinets and grabbed a cup, turning his back on his brothers and shooting Becks a knowing smile.
“Probably from all those calories you burned having sex with Becks last night,” Rafe said with a smirk.
Jackson’s gaze shot to Rafe, then over at Becks. “You told them?”
“She didn’t have to, man,” Kal said. “We both saw your walk of shame out of Becks’s room.”
“Walk of shame,” Becks whispered, trying to hide her amused smile.
Jackson glared at Rafe and Kal. “Just . . . mind your own business, got it?”
His look was dead serious. Becks was glad he wasn’t directing that look at her.
Rafe raised his hands. “Got it.”
“Ditto,” Kal said.
“Good.” He turned to Becks. “Anything I can do to help?”
She looked around, doing mental inventory before turning to face Jackson.
“Maybe some eggs to go with all of this?”
He gave her a quick nod. “On it.”
She went to set the table while the guys finished up. Then she pulled the biscuits from the oven and placed them on a plate on the table. By then Jackson had finished the eggs and the gravy was done. The fruit salad was added and Kal had poured some mango juice for everyone.
And now Becks was hungry as well.
The eggs were creamy, the biscuits and gravy were smooth and soft and delicious and the fruit was tart and sweet. Becks devoured every bit of hers, shocking herself by how much food she
ate.
“Wow, you were hungry, Becks.” Kal looked at her empty plate before lifting his gaze to hers. “Just how much—”
“Don’t even say it,” Rafe said under his breath but enough for Becks to hear. “He’ll kick your ass all the way down the block.”
Jackson was too busy cleaning his own plate to pay attention to the other guys, fortunately. She’d hate for him to jump all over his brothers because of her.
Besides, she thought their comments were funny. It wasn’t like they were being snide or disrespectful. She’d always thought of Rafe and Kal as her brothers—her family. It was only Jackson she’d thought of differently.
For obvious reasons.
She took the last swallow of mango juice, then leaned back in her chair, completely satiated.
“Great breakfast, Becks,” Kal said.
“It was a team effort. So thank you.”
“Hey, we’re always a team,” Rafe said. “From the beginning.”
“Do you guys ever go back to where we used to stay?” she asked.
“No,” Kal said. “I don’t ever want to go back there.”
“Too many bad memories,” Rafe said.
She looked at Jackson.
“You already know my answer. Why?”
She shrugged and started stacking plates. “Before you got up this morning, the guys and I were reminiscing about some fun times we had.”
Jackson piled forks onto the top of the plates. “We’ve talked about that.”
“What have you talked about?” Kal asked.
“About how it wasn’t all bad,” Becks said.
“No, it wasn’t all bad,” Rafe said. “But I still don’t want to go back. Ever.”
She got up and piled the plates in her arms. “I go back often.”
“What?” Jackson asked. “Why?”
She went into the kitchen and laid the plates in the sink, then turned on the water to rinse them.
Jackson was there to take them from her and stack them in the dishwasher.
“Why do you go back?” he asked.
“I take sandwiches and toiletries and clothes and hand them out to the kids who live there now. Sometimes books and toys.”
