by Harley Stone
Me: No questions asked body disposal is probably the thing I love most about our friendship. Well, that and your homemade chocolate chip cookies. Thank you. I’m good, though. For now. I’ll let you know if I snap and need a clean-up crew.
Monica’s response consisted of a series of emojis. Knife, heart, casket, broom, party, Chinese food carton, and champagne glasses. Apparently, we’d stab him in the heart, bury him, sweep the whole thing under the rug, and then celebrate with Chinese takeout and champagne. If things didn’t work out between me and Bull, it was a solid Plan B.
The door opened, and Bull stepped in. He closed the door, but his hand rested on the knob, like he hadn’t decided to stay. He did not meet my gaze.
Fighting the urge to scream, I set my phone aside and gave him my undivided attention. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.” His tone was a little too defensive. “Now that we’re done talking, I thought we might want to go back downstairs and catch the rest of the party.”
Was he ashamed? He still wasn’t looking at me. If he was second-guessing the best moment of my life, I was going to have to call Monica for that clean-up after all.
“No.” I verbally put my foot down. “Clearly we’re not done talking, because you’re acting all standoffish again.”
“I’m not standoffish, I’m… We still have a shit-load of obstacles to face, Lily.”
“Lily? What the fuck happened to Angel? After two years, you’ve finally given me a nickname that doesn’t suck. I like it. If you even think about revoking it, I’ll buy some costume angel wings so I can use them to beat you upside your stubborn, foolish head.”
Stubborn, foolish head lolling to the side, the look he gave me made it clear he thought I was being unreasonable.
“Don’t look at me like that. You said you need me. Well, I need you, too. Yeah, we have shit to face, but we’ll face it together. You’re my best friend, Bull. I’m not letting you go. And, I’m not letting you overthink this so you can go back to acting like a little bitch.”
“I’m looking out for you. That doesn’t make me a little bitch. That makes me a concerned friend.”
“No, a concerned friend would realize I don’t need looking out for. I’m not after you for your family or your life in Shiner, Texas. I have a family.” My hands flew up to encompass the entirety of the club. “I have a life. I have an education and a job. I even have a dog now.”
His brow furrowed. “You do?”
“Yes. I’m happy and fulfilled. I don’t need you to do that for me. I need you because I love you.”
His shoulders relaxed and he let out a breath, finally meeting my gaze. “It won’t be easy.”
“Pfft. You don’t want easy. She might look tempting, but easy’s the village bicycle. She comes with burning STDs and raging regret.”
He coughed to cover a surprised laugh, but not before it stole away a little more of the tension in his shoulders. Shaking his head, he admitted, “I never know what you’re gonna say.”
That made two of us. “Hey. Stick with me, kid, you’ll never get bored.”
The humor drained from his face. “Kid?”
I shrugged. “You did say you wanted it easy. It seems like a man would want more of a challenge.”
That got a chuckle out of him. “What am I gonna do with you?”
“I have a few ideas. Let’s see if you can guess.” I gripped the top of the sheet that was curled up under my arms. “Am I gonna have to show you my boobs again as a clue?”
He considered me for a moment, his gaze drifting down over my body. The sheet didn’t offer much coverage, and he could most likely see what his attention was doing to my nipples.
“Wouldn’t hurt, but sex won’t solve everything.”
“Says who?” I scrunched up my nose. “You? By your own admission, you lack the experience necessary to make that judgement. That kind of conclusion can only come through… well, coming.” Smirking, I let the sheet dip a little until it barely covered my nipples. “Lots and lots of coming.”
Grinning, he valiantly tried to keep eye contact despite his apparent desire to leer at my exposed flesh. I could almost see his eyeballs bouncing south. “Fair enough.”
It felt so right to banter with him like this. Comfortable. Bull felt it, too. He’d taken a few steps closer, the remaining tension had drained from his body, and his eyes were filled with amusement. I’d just needed to remind him how good we were together. This would work. I didn’t need him to save me from his past; I was my own knight. Patting the bed beside me, I said, “Ass. Here. Now.”
“Are you always this bossy after sex?” he asked. But he also started walking.
Patting myself on the back, I decided to give his ego a well-deserved boost. “I think it was the orgasm. I’ve never come that hard in my life.”
He straightened. “You liked that?”
“Liked it?” I scoffed. “If I had known your tongue was that talented, I would have sat on your face years ago. I think I turned Pentecostal there for a minute.”
I didn’t even know where this shit was coming from, but the way his eyes lit up were worth every degree of heat that flooded my cheeks.
Beaming with pride, Bull wandered over and sat on the bed. I released my hold on the sheet and let it slide down my body before climbing around to kneel at his feet. This time, his damn boots were coming off. Trying to project a calm self-confidence I didn’t feel while I was naked as the day I was born and he still had his jeans on, I untied one boot.
“I can do that,” Bull said. If the hoarseness of his voice didn’t give him away, the bulge in his jeans sure would have. He was enjoying the show. Good.
Pushing his hand away, I replied, “I want to.”
Removing one boot, then the other, I took off his socks and stood, putting my breasts right in Bull’s face. He swallowed and forced his gaze to rise to my face. Trying not to smirk, I held out my hand. He accepted, and I hefted him to his feet. Well, I tugged, and he got the drift and stood.
Unfastening his pants, I pushed both jeans and his boxers down his legs. He stepped out, and I kicked them aside and dropped back down to my knees. I took his massive, hard cock in my hand and smiled up at him. The heat in his eyes threatened to consume me. His Adam’s apple bobbed up and down as he gulped.
A drop of pre-cum coated the head of his dick. I licked it clean.
He swore.
More precum leaked out. I fought back a smile and ran the head over my mouth like I was painting my lips with his flavor. Pulling back, I held his gaze and licked my lips.
He let out a strangled sound.
Encouraged by his reaction, I slid his cock past my now moistened lips. Taking him in slowly, I explored every inch of his shaft with my tongue. Touching, tasting, probing. The velvety hard texture of him against my tongue was strangely erotic. Every lick and suck I enjoyed sent a wave of heat straight to my core. Moisture collected between my thighs, and I squeezed them together. The friction felt so damn good. Bull moaned, and the sound went straight to my pussy. I had no idea sucking dick could be such a huge turn-on.
His jaw ticked and his fists clenched as he struggled to maintain control. Needing more relief of my own, I dropped one hand to my slit and massaged until I couldn’t remember which one of us I was trying to get off.
“Fuck. You are so goddamn sexy,” Bull said, his hands going to my head. “My angel.”
His voice trembled when he said it, making my heart swell. Swirling my tongue, I ran it up and down his shaft. He moaned again. Sealing my mouth around his cock, I did my best to suck out his fucking soul. It was mine now, and I needed his ass to remember that. His body quivered, and another wave of heat went straight to my core.
We were both teetering on the edge of release when he stopped me. I wanted to finish, but he slid his hips out of my grasp and pulled me up his body. I stood before him, breathing heavily and wondering how to get his cock back in my mouth.
Bull’s eyes were wild,
crazy. Grabbing my face in both his hands, he kissed me. I wanted him to devour my mouth, but he kept the kiss sweet and tender. I had the feeling he was trying to give us both a moment to calm down.
“Did you not like that?” I asked as he broke off the kiss.
“Like? Fuck, I loved it,” he breathed. “Stopping you was probably the hardest thing I’ve ever done.”
I smirked. “Pun intended.”
He smirked back. “Indeed. I don’t want to come in your mouth yet. After my last performance, I… I want another shot.”
Oh. That made sense. Well, if he needed to redeem his manly pride, who was I to stop him? I brushed my lips against his.
He deepened the kiss, and his warm hands drifted down my neck to my shoulders leaving a heated trail in their wake. Gently skimming my arms, his soft touch gave me goosebumps before landing on my breasts. He pinched and teased my nipples, cupped my breasts, and met each of my needy whimpers with a groan of his own. Yes, he was torturing me, but he was torturing himself, too. The knowledge that we were suffering together was comforting. His hands continued their exploration over my hips. They cupped my ass and pulled me against him until I couldn’t tell where he ended, and I began. His hard cock pressed into my stomach, making me want it even more. One hand went up to my back to hold me in place, while the other went down to play with my pussy.
I was on fire. My body was a goddamn inferno. I needed him to either throw a log on the fire or extinguish it.
Pulling away from his lips, I whispered, “Please?”
Knowing what I needed, he reached for the nightstand, but I grabbed his hand, stopping him.
“I’m on the pill. We don’t need those.” He loved me, and I loved him. Armed with the knowledge I was Bull’s first, I had every intention of being his last. I didn’t want anything between us ever again.
Abandoning the box of condoms, his hand wrapped back around me and he lowered us both to the bed. This time, when he slid inside of me, I was the one who about lost control.
“Fuck. It feels even better bare,” he breathed, gritting his teeth. “I didn’t think it was possible, but holy shit.”
Okay, so maybe we were both riding the edge. He managed to get himself under control, though, and in no time, he was giving me exactly the friction I needed right in the place I needed it most. Unable to hold on anymore, I threw back my head and called out his name as I came.
I was in Bull’s bed.
He loved me, and I loved him.
If he ever so much as thought about shaking me loose again, I’d just have to fuck him into submission.
Piece of cake.
12
Bull
LILY REALLY DID have a dog. She told me she did, and it’s not that I didn’t believe her, but her living situation didn’t exactly lend itself to pets. It was by the grace of God—and the women of Ladies First—she had a place to stay at all, so I had a hard time imagining her bringing a dog into the situation. When she used him as a reason not to stay over, I thought she was brushing me off. I mean, a dog? Talk about a lame excuse. Especially after we’d made so much headway.
I couldn’t understand why she’d worked so hard to get into my bed and didn’t want to stay. Sure, the first time we’d fucked had been embarrassingly quick, but I’d made sure she was taken care of before I came. And then there’d been other orgasms… both hers and mine. Yeah, it was my first time, but she was walking a little funny, so I knew I’d given it to her pretty good. Regardless, her asking me to bring her home had still done a number on my pride.
Parking my bike, I helped her off before dismounting and walking her to the door. She didn’t want to stay with me, so I intended to kiss her goodnight and be on my way, but Lily tugged me through the front door before I could retreat.
“At least come in and meet him,” she said.
“Is he stuffed?” I asked, swearing under my breath. If she was ditching me for some plush dog, I was going to lose my shit.
“What?” She giggled. “No. Look. There he is.”
Stretched out over a dog bed in the living room, the pit bull mix eyed us, but didn’t otherwise move.
“You sure he’s not stuffed?” I asked, keeping my voice low. It was well past midnight, and Monica had texted Lily to let her know they were leaving the party over an hour ago. They were probably fast asleep by now, and I wanted to keep it that way. The entire club would know that Lily and I had taken our relationship to the next level soon, but I was enjoying our privacy for now. I didn’t want to wake anyone up and have them speculating about why we smelled like sex and couldn’t stop touching each other.
She elbowed me. “He’s had a long day and he’s tired.” Lily crouched down, slapping her hands against her thighs, “Come on, boy.”
His tail wagged. Twice.
This was the dog she’d been so excited to get home to? “I’ve never seen such a lethargic mutt in my life.”
She shot me a glare. “He’s not lethargic. He’s conserving energy so he can pounce on your rude ass. Get up, Brahma. Come meet Bull.”
“Brahma?” I asked. Being from Texas, I was all too familiar with the breed of bull, and couldn’t help but make the connection to my road name. “Did you name him after me?”
“Absolutely not.” She did her best to sound offended, but couldn’t quite hide her smile. “I was mad at you. If I attached your name to something, I’d want to kick it, and I’d never abuse a dog. I might have turned a picture of you into a dart board in my room, though.”
I chuckled. “I probably deserved that.”
The dog finally rose and waddled over to Lily.
“Look at his coloring. He looks like a Brahma. He’s tough and scary like one, too. Aren’t you my big, terrifying protector?” She scratched under his chin and his tongue about hit the floor.
When Lily stood, he wandered over to me, sniffed my hand, and then plopped himself down at my feet to roll over and show me his belly.
“Big, terrifying protector, my ass.” I said.
Lily scooted closer to me, brushing my arm with her fingertips. It’s like she didn’t want to stop touching me, and I understood the feeling all too well. I brushed against her.
“Brahma has this great sneak attack. He pretends to be all sweet and loving, but when you bend down to scratch him, he goes for you jugular. He’s trying to get you down to his level. It’s a ploy.”
“Uh-huh.” I caught her hand in mine and bent to scratch Brahma’s belly with my free hand. His eyes rolled back in his head and one leg thumped against the floor. “That’s basically the opposite of attacking me.”
“Yeah, of course he’s not gonna attack you right now. He knows you’re not dangerous,” she said. “He doesn’t attack guests. He’s super smart. But if you snuck into the house and I wasn’t with you… you’d be leaving on a stretcher. Come on. I’ll get some ice cream.” She towed me toward the kitchen.
“Why are you making up this shit?” I asked.
She shrugged. “I’m not. I can tell when a guy’s protective. You are, and so is he.”
Rather than following us to make sure Lily was okay in my presence, Brahma had gone back to his dog bed. I wanted to question Lily’s intuition, but since she’d lumped me in there with him, I couldn’t. I didn’t know about the dog, but I’d do anything I could for her. She wasn’t wrong about that.
After we’d gone a few rounds in the sack, Lily and I had spent hours talking in my bed, trying to catch up on the past two weeks. Well, she talked while I listened and answered questions. It was crazy how quickly we fell back into our friendship, but this time, shit was different. As she told me about her days, I couldn’t help but hate all the time I’d missed out on. I should have been here, helping her study for her tests. I should have been the one to buy her a celebratory drink after she’d passed. She was my best friend, and I’d let her down. At the time, I thought my intentions were good, but with the benefit of hindsight, I saw exactly how wrong I’d been. Silently vowing to
make it up to her, I listened for hours, doing my best to hear everything she said and what she didn’t.
Lily needed me. And I was damn well going to be there for her from here on out.
I also spent those hours learning all I could about her body. She had a mole behind her left ear. I’d never noticed it before, but now that I had, it became one of my favorite places to kiss. I loved the way her breath would catch every time my lips grazed the sensitive skin.
I could kiss every inch of her body, except her neck. She was irrationally ticklish there, unable to handle the contact of my whiskers against her soft skin regardless of what we were doing. I could be buried deep inside her, about to make her come, and one kiss on her neck would drive her into a fit of giggles and make her try to squirm out from under me.
She loved it when my fingers trailed up and down her back. Not like a massage, just a light touch, barely skimming the skin as I played dot-to-dot with her freckles.
It’s probably a good thing she had me bring her home, because neither of us would have gotten a lick of sleep if she’d stayed over. Her body was just too damn tempting, holding too many secrets I still wanted to explore. Now that I’d had her, it was like I couldn’t get enough.
Lily grabbed a gallon of ice cream from the freezer, then released my hand to retrieve bowls from the cupboard. I couldn’t tell you if she moved, or I did, but our lower bodies stayed connected. We’d have to separate eventually, but I wasn’t ready to. Not yet. I kept my hand on her lower back as she scooped dessert and led me to the table. As we sat, our legs intertwined.
Touching Lily just seemed right.
“How did the podium turn out?” Lily asked.
She’d helped me sand and stain the old beat-up gift Wasp bought for Link, but she hadn’t gotten the chance to see the finished product. Excited to show off my work, I tugged out my phone and pulled up the pictures. As she swiped through them, she grinned.
