by Tia Siren
We finally left to return home, the others heading back to New York tonight. They all had things to attend to in the morning and I wanted to get Elle to bed. I wanted to sit on my balcony and take in the ocean breeze with my fiancé. I wanted to be home.
We pulled into the garage to park and both took Elle to the bassinet in our room. Ryan pocketed the device that we used to listen to her and told me to go outside and that he would meet me there.
I changed into leggings and a large shirt to sit in due to the wind. I grabbed a water and moved to sit in the large chair that we often shared, looking out into the dark where the water was. I’d never felt such peace as I did living near the ocean.
I heard the door and saw Ryan come out in some sweats and a T-shirt with something in his hand. It was just the monitor. I smiled as he sat down beside me. “Good night?”
“I loved every moment of it. I love that your family is growing back together and close again. I love that Elle will have them as she grows up. I am so happy with our life.” I smiled as he nodded. “Do you really want a small wedding?”
“I have been to so many that have hundreds of people in attendance. There’s no intimacy. I just want it to be about our vows and not business. I don’t want all of that to affect our day.”
I nodded lovingly in agreement.
“That sounds perfect.” I leaned against him and felt him dig into his pocket.
“I have something for you. I was going to do this at the restaurant, but I thought it should be when we were alone.” Ryan shifted and turned to face me as I smiled at him. “I’ve had this for a little while but the timing was never right, and when I did ask you, I just didn’t plan it well. That or I wanted a private moment for both of us.” He smiled and reached for my left hand as my mouth dropped open.
Ryan slid a ring onto my finger, kissing it when he was finished. I lifted my finger to see it in the light from the living room, crying as I looked at the ring. It was a delicate band covered in diamonds with a larger one as the focal point, all set in square shape. It shimmered in the light, nearly blinding me as I sniffled.
“It’s beautiful. I thought that we were going to go shopping for one or something like that.”
“I had it when I got the house, but Elle’s arrival kind of shook things up for me. I did everything out of order, it seems. I also wanted to give this to you alone since everything else has been with others. Again, not my intention.”
“I think everything is perfect the way that it happened.” I leaned in to kiss him slowly, desire pooling between my thighs. He returned it, his tongue meeting mine. When he pulled away to kiss my neck, I smiled. “Does it feel different to make love with something like this on my finger?”
“I think we should find out,” he whispered before kissing me again. We continued that for as long as we could stand it, and then Ryan pulled me up by my hand to take me into the house. He locked the door, and we ran upstairs to the bedroom as I moved to take my leggings off. Ryan undressed and pushed me back onto the bed as I gasped, knowing what was coming next. His lips kissed up my legs slowly as I groaned with need. He moved up bit by bit as I reached for his hair and tried to tug on it.
“This is getting long, you know,” I teased him, and he chuckled, sending vibrations over my skin.
“Someone told me once that the messy look appealed to the girls,” he said as he nipped at my upper thigh, making me whimper.
“Mmmm, that is very true,” I agreed as he started to head to where I needed him. His mouth covered my core as he slicked his tongue over me, and I cried out. By now, Elle was a better sleeper, so I knew she could handle some noise. Ryan ate away at me hungrily as every nerve ending in my body responded. It was so much more than just a release with him. It was an entire bodily experience. I felt the pressure releasing from deep inside as my mouth dropped open.
I came for him, his fingers inside me and his tongue on my clit. I moaned his name, and he gripped my hips as he drank me in, keeping me from moving.
Ryan pulled away after what could have been minutes or hours. He crawled over my body to kiss me deeply, my taste all over his mouth. He dropped between my weakened legs and pressed against me as he slid inside, our bodies touching everywhere as he filled me.
“Ryan, I love you,” I murmured as he moved slowly, deeply.
“I love you so much. I can’t wait to make you my wife,” he said as he kept thrusting inside me. I wrapped my legs around him and gripped his back as I breathed to our rhythm.
We’d started this as an arrangement. We’d had sex to create Elle for monetary purposes. But that seemed so far removed to me right now.
“I can’t wait to be your wife,” I murmured back as I memorized the feeling of him inside me.
Ryan started to move faster, and I tightened around him. I knew I was going to come again and clawed his back as I did. Ryan jerked against me one more time and came, filling me as he moaned my name.
We pressed together afterward, touching completely as he held me against him. “That first time that I saw you, I noticed your eyes. They were beautiful but missing something, Brea. You were beautiful, but your worry about life showed through those eyes. Once I got to know more about you, I understood. I felt your pain because I have been living a lot of it myself for years.”
“Maybe that is what connected us, our pain and suffering.” I closed my eyes and kissed his chest. “I thought you were just another gorgeous man who was so far out of my league. Maybe I was scared since I had given all of myself to other people or things. I didn’t know how to give myself to anyone else. Then you asked me to dinner and you did what I wanted. I had some hope.”
“I wanted to do everything your way to make you smile. I haven’t been like that before. I feel like a bit of an ass for suggesting that arrangement to you in the first place, but you needed to have a chance to live your dream. I needed my own dream. It worked out, but I started falling in love with you early on. I knew it was more and denied it until I couldn’t anymore.”
“And now we’re getting married,” I said with a smile. “And we’re not using anything for protection.”
“So what? We can have another baby. We have money and this house and we can do it if you want. Elle can have a sibling,” Ryan told me, stroking my back. “Unless you don’t want that?”
“I want everything with you,” I assured him. He lifted my face to kiss me. We stayed like that until we fell asleep, waking up together to bring Elle to the bed so I could feed her as Ryan stroked her hair. Then he put her back and pulled me against him, telling me how much he loved me.
***
END OF THE THIRD STORY
Big Bad Neighbor
Love thy neighbor? Oh, I intend to…
As a retired SEAL, I’m used to crushing obstacles.
So when the world’s biggest tease moves in next door, I’m up for the challenge.
Her smile, her lips, her ass fitting snugly into those tight jeans. It makes me hard the minute she crosses my driveway.
She wants me to fix her leaky faucet? I’ll make her panties dripping wet.
But I can tell she’s running from something, something I want to save her from.
So now I want her even more.
To protect her, to own her, to make her mine.
But I have a son to think of. No time for women. No time for games.
So there’s no way I’m letting her into my house or my heart.
But the fact that our bedroom windows align only makes it all the f*ck harder.
Because when she’s watching me, I’m imagining it’s her hand on my c*ck.
But that’s as far as I’ll let it go.
Because doing what I have in mind to her… it’s downright unneighborly.
Chapter One
Jenna
How did my life get so screwed up?
I tapped a finger against the porch railing. It was in dire need of stain, and the picket fence surrounding the small front lawn needed some w
hite paint. The flower beds were dry and dead. The grass was dead in the front and the backyard. The inside of the house fared no better either. The carpets needed to be ripped out, the hardwood floors restored, and every room needed to be swept and scrubbed down.
This was what my life had become over the past few months— run-down and in desperate need of fixing. My heart ached just thinking of the past year. Gone. Wasted. It tasted bitter at the back of my throat.
The small neighborhood was quiet against the backdrop of a buzzing Denver. I gazed along the shaded street while waiting for my mom’s esteemed realtor to arrive and hand over the keys. My dad’s small inheritance he had left behind for me in case of an emergency had paid for this house and a few small repairs that needed to be done. Everything else would somehow be up to me to figure out.
A job would be the next thing to look for. The shelter back in California had given me a basic flip phone to contact my mom with. My books, computer, iPhone, and clothes were all locked up in Leon’s apartment still. I paid for it, so it’s mine, not yours. That had been his response when I’d asked him to send my things through the mail. I had even offered to wire over a small bit of money for him to do it, but he’d only take the money. If he couldn’t hold me hostage, he’d hold my possessions hostage.
I sighed inwardly. How I ended up with someone like Leon was beyond me. A wolf dressed like a sheep was how I had described it to the shelter. Nothing about him screamed danger. He had charmed the hell out of me my freshman year of college. He had been the man on campus then. I had been the quiet book nerd looking to enjoy a few California sunrays. Colossal disaster. I still had the bruises on my arms and legs to prove it.
Those dark and horrible memories tickled the back of my head. I swiped at them in annoyance, tugging the long curls of my hair out of my hair clip. Don’t think about it. Just ignore it. Keep going forward like they said.
“Hello there!”
I blinked to find a middle-aged woman in a knee-length floral dress standing on the other side of the fence. She smiled kindly at me with her dark hair pulled back in a bun. A little girl clung to her hand, impatiently tugging at her mother’s arm.
“Hello,” I said, forcing a smile.
The woman put a hand on the gate to open it. That was when I caught sight of the casserole dish in the palm of her hand. I stepped down from the porch to open the gate for her.
“Very kind of you,” she said, beaming. “I’m Martha Smith. I live four doors down. This is my daughter, Julie.” She ran a hand down Julie’s dark locks fondly. “She’s one of the youngsters you’ll see running around here.”
“Hi,” Julie said.
“Hi,” I parroted back.
“We wanted to bring you this,” Martha continued, holding out the casserole dish. “We heard from the realtor that you would be moving in today but had no working appliances just yet. I do hope you have something to sleep on besides that nasty carpet in there.”
I took ahold of the casserole dish. The smell of chicken and rice filled my nose. My stomach gave an appreciative rumble.
“Thank you,” I said, holding the fine ceramic carefully in my arms. “I have an air mattress in my car that I’ll sleep on tonight. The rest of my furniture will be here tomorrow hopefully.”
“Oh, good. I’m so glad someone bought this house. The last occupants didn’t take care of it at all, as you probably know.” Martha’s eyes raked me up and down then. They settled on the bruises on my forearms, and I couldn’t tuck them away with the casserole dish in my arms. Thankfully, she looked away a second later. “You look so young to be buying a house. How old are you?”
“I’m twenty-three,” I said, uncomfortable with that knowing look in her eyes. “Thank you again for the casserole, Ms. Smith. It smells good.”
“Call me Martha,” she said airily. “It makes me feel old when you say my name that way.”
“Right. Martha—”
The roar of a diesel truck interrupted us. I glanced over my shoulder to see a tall and strong man hop out from the driver’s side. My heart gave a start when he swept an icy gaze across me and Martha. His blond hair was tousled back sexily. Muscles strained against the cuffs of his gray shirt. I glimpsed a cross tattoo on his right forearm before he turned on his heel to walk around the truck to the passenger side.
“That’s Derek Summers,” Martha whispered to me, leaning over the fence slightly. The passenger door opened, and a little boy jumped out a second later. He pretended to crash roll on the driveway before scrambling to his feet. “That’s his boy, Owen. He goes to school with Julie.”
Julie gave an impatient whine then. “Moommm. Can I ask Owen to play before dinner?”
“Maybe, honey,” Martha said placidly. “That depends on Owen’s dad.”
“Why are you whispering?” I asked.
Martha blinked. “Am I?” She laughed lightly. “I supposed it’s habit, dear. Derek over there is a bit of a grump over noise, so I suggest you keep it down.”
“I’m not loud.”
“Mooomm!”
“Oh, for heaven’s sake!” Martha took a step back from the gate to call out in exasperation. “Derek! Does Owen have time to play before dinner?”
The little boy immediately stopped at the question. He turned to look up at Derek with a hopeful expression.
Derek shook his head, placing a hand on Owen’s shoulder. His gaze skimmed over us indifferently.
“Not tonight, Martha,” he said, his husky timbre filling the summer air. “Owen has homework he needs to finish. Have a good night.”
The curtness threw me a little. I looked over at Martha, who didn’t seem too surprised or bothered by it. She caught sight of my expression.
“You’ll get used to him,” she said. “He’s a bit rough around the edges, but he’s quite helpful when you need him. He’s just an ass at times.” Her nose crinkled. “Don’t expect him to be around at night though.”
I couldn’t help it. Curiosity got the better of me. “Where does he go at night?”
“Beats me,” Martha said, shrugging her shoulders. “A job I assume. He doesn’t talk about himself much. All I know is that JoAnne’s daughter, Hayley, is the trusted person for watching Owen at night.”
I didn’t care about any of this information. Men were at the bottom of my list now. He is sexy though. I ignored that thought. He was a bit of a prick from what I had gathered. The last thing I needed was another man like that in my life. That had been the reason I had gotten into trouble in the first place.
I spotted my mother’s realtor driving down the street in our direction. I closed the gate as politely as possible.
“Thank you again,” I said, taking a step back. “I better go. That’s the realtor with my house keys.”
Martha flashed a dazzling smile. “Of course, dear. Anytime.” She reached over to pat me on the shoulder. “If you need anything, don’t hesitate to come get me. Remember to keep the noise down.”
She walked down the sidewalk with Julie hopping along. They disappeared behind a large oak tree a minute later.
This was a new beginning with new people around. Everything would be okay again. Things would be better once the dust settled. I repeated those things to myself firmly.
I looked over my shoulder to see Derek grabbing the mail from his box on the front door. He looked at me with a blank expression before stepping through the front door, slamming it shut behind him.
“So much for making friends with the neighbors,” I muttered, and started in the direction of the realtor when she stepped out to jiggle the keys at me.
“Ready to see your new home?” she asked kindly.
“Yes,” I said emphatically. Even if it was a complete mess inside, it was my place. It was my fresh start.
Chapter Two
Derek
It was just my type of shitty luck to have a young and sexy woman as a neighbor. I had moved here to Arvada just to escape women in general after my divorce. Now I had an a
ttractive and young one living next door to me. It was horrible and shitty luck that I couldn’t shake off.
I never blamed the universe for what had happened. I had made the decision to marry Sidney despite my family warning me to steer clear of someone like her, but the sex had been far too good to let her go. Sidney knew her way around a bedroom, but that had been part of the problem. She was so damn good at it that she lured other men in too.
My father’s voice echoed in my head as I watched the young woman talk with someone who appeared to be a realtor from the living room. “Son, 99 percent of women are cunning and manipulative. That’s just how God made them. Look for the rare 1 percent, but don’t dare to dream of ever finding it.”
Cunning. Manipulative. Greedy. That was exactly who Sidney was. I had a rundown house, barely a few bucks in my account, and full parental custody of Owen after a year of fighting each other in court. Within a matter seconds, that judge had ordered me broke and Owen to be split in half every summer and holidays while Sidney lived in a nice beach house with my savings account in her name.
Bitterness tore through me. I let the curtain drop down before picking up the stack of mail in the hallway. I sifted through it to toss the junk in the trash can. The television had clicked on in the living room. I could feel the tension radiating off Owen even before I stepped in to turn it off.
“You need to finish your project, buddy,” I said, taking the TV remote from his grasp.
“I can finish it later,” Owen said. He folded his small arms over his chest with an angry huff and looked away from me. “You never let me play with my friends anymore.”
“You can play with them at recess during school,” I said, but that didn’t appease him. I caught sight of his scowl. “I’m serious, Owen. Finish that project or you won’t get to play outside for a while.”
“What’s the difference?” Owen mumbled.
