by Jesse Jordan
“You did the right thing, Joey. You tried to free my friend, and you can't blame yourself for what she did. She can't even blame herself. And you have my thanks.”
Joey swallows, nodding. “Thank you.”
“Now, let's get you out of here, you've got a fiancée to see and a wedding to get ready for. I'm looking forward to it, myself. I'm even going to wear a dress.”
Joey smiles, laughing a little bit. “How can you have good humor in the middle of all this shit?”
I shrug, smiling. “Maybe Ian's right. Maybe I am stronger than I thought I was. Either way, when the crap hits the fan, all I can do is smile back and crack a joke. Now, go on, take care of statements and all that shit. I'm going to go check on Brenda.”
Joey leaves and I go to the nurse's station, where they tell me where Brenda's being kept. I go up there, and while the nurse on duty isn't the friendliest, she agrees to let me in for a few minutes. “Realize she's coming down, she might not be up for a long visit.”
“I understand. It's late. I just want to see that she's okay,” I promise. “We're.... we're sisters. Can't you tell the resemblance?”
The nurse nods and leads me to the door, where a security guard sits outside, a comic book in his hand. He checks that I don't have any weapons and I'm let inside, where Brenda's hooked to an IV looking peaceful, resting. There's another person there, a young woman dressed in the sort of casual, elegant clothing that I've always been a little jealous of, but she's got a warm smile when the nurse leaves. “Miss Coates told me you might visit. I'm Izzy Perkins, from the law office.”
“Are you an attorney, Miss Perkins?” I ask, looking her over. She doesn't look old enough to be a lawyer. In fact, she looks to be younger than me. “No offense, or maybe that's a compliment to your genes.”
“No, I'm actually a paralegal,” she says, offering her hand. We shake, and she sits down. “My bosses told me to stay here and make sure that if any member of the police or the district attorney's office comes in, to give them a call and then throw a loud, disruptive tantrum if need be. I'm quite good at that, just ask my ex-boyfriend.”
I chuckle, reminding myself to thank Andrea later. “How is she?”
“I'm hungry,” Brenda whispers from the bed, surprising me. I thought she was asleep. “But I'm okay.”
“I just wanted to check on you,” I comment, coming over and taking her hand. “Get some sleep.”
“I will. You were right, they're taking care of me,” Brenda says, yawning. “It's going to get harder, though. He shot me up right after he called you, Mary. He had a plan, he wanted to get you to kill me by OD.”
“Why didn't you tell me?” I ask, horrified at the pure evil of Carl's plan. “Why didn't you say you were high?”
“Because I knew if I did you'd take it all yourself,” Brenda says. “I couldn't let you do that.”
I sit on the edge of the bed and lean in, touching foreheads with Brenda. I don't want to cry. There have been enough tears today, but these are different, and I let them flow. “I promise you, we'll get through this together.”
“I know. But you promise me something else, too,” Brenda says, hugging me sleepily. “You find your happiness. You keep that big gorilla happy and safe.”
“He is pretty big, isn't he?” I whisper back, laughing. “We can girl talk that later. Get some sleep. I'll stay here until you're snoring.”
Epilogue
Mary
“Really?” Ian asks in good humor as I walk into the living room wearing nothing but the La Perla lingerie that Cora gave me as a Christmas present with a note attached that said Make It Three for Three. She's a trip, I'm glad that we've become good friends. “Brenda's supposed to be here in an hour.”
“Which means we'll have to be a little lighter on the foreplay,” I tease, getting down on my knees and running my hands up the thick muscles of his thighs. I bat my eyes and grin, licking my lips. “Besides... I've been practicing, and we're going to have less time now. Your bitch demands her pleasure.”
“Mm, I think Brenda will understand if there are strange sounds coming from our bedroom on a regular basis,” Ian growls before gasping as my fingernails scratch lightly over the crotch of his jeans. Since noticing that he likes them longer, I've tried growing them out some, and I proudly sport a quarter inch of natural growth now. I know he loves the look as my black and red lacquered nails undo his belt and I open his jeans, licking my lips as I look at his delicious cock.
I let Ian's eyes and his face guide me as I lick and worship his thick pole, rubbing his chest and scratching his stomach lightly as I work him into my mouth. I know he's not expecting it, even with my warning, but as I let my dark crimson lips slide over the velvety soft pink head of his cock, Ian's eyes go wide as I take him deeper, deeper until he brushes the back of my throat and I pull back, teasing him.
“You don't have...” Ian says kindly before I start down again, forcing him past my gag reflex and into my throat. He's so big my lips are strained, my jaw feels like it's about to unhinge as I slide him deeper, deeper, Ian groaning as I give him a feeling that I know he's never had before. “Oh fuuuckk...”
The feeling when my nose presses against the base of his cock and his hairs tickle my lips is pure accomplishment. Sure, it's not like I just cured cancer or won the Nobel Prize, but to know that I'm bringing the man I love pleasure and that I'm loved by him in return is all I need. I stay there, massaging him with my throat until stars swim in front of my eyes and I must pull off, gasping for breath, tears of pain and happiness tricking out the corners of my eyes. “Yummy.”
Ian grabs my arms before I can go down again and pulls me into his lap, my dripping pussy sinking onto his cock as he tugs my panties to the side. I've gotten used to his size but it still takes my breath away every time he fills me for the first time, and his lips devour mine, kissing me hard as his passion takes over.
I ride him, loving the strength in his arms and the feel of his mouth on my breasts as I move up and down on his immense meat, knowing that this is the first time we've made love since I stopped taking my pills. The knowledge that there's a chance, even a tiny one, that we could make a life inside me, adds to the heat, to the passion as I love my man with everything I have, and he loves me back.
Ian's hands seize me tightly, holding me up while his hips start hammering me from underneath, both of us letting ourselves go. I kiss him, holding onto the back of the couch as the waves start to crash over me, something that Ian's figured out how to do with me, multi-stage orgasms that just seem to roll endlessly, one building onto the next onto the next with no pause in between until I'm screaming, throwing my hair back and crying out my love. Ian shudders, his cock swelling and he pulls me down, erupting inside me and making us both cry out as my biggest wave yet sends me reeling. I sag into him, sobbing gratefully while I catch my breath, enjoying the warmth.
“You're going to need to change jeans,” I joke as I feel the wetness between us. “Actually, I think you're going to have to change everything.”
“Everything but you,” Ian jokes, holding me close. “Hey, this isn't related to what we just did... but I was thinking, with Brenda staying here, and me going out for two weeks for concerts, what about you just moving in with me full time?”
“Give up my bachelorette pad?” I half joke, knowing that for nearly a month it's been barely a shell that I get my credit card bill sent to. “Hmmm... so you're saying you want to keep me around a while?”
“You know I'm never going to want to let you go, not as long as you keep loving me the way you do,” Ian says, his voice both teasing and intense. “You're one of a kind, Mary.”
I kiss him again, smiling. “Look who's talking.”
We get up and take quick showers, finishing getting dressed just as the van from the rehab center pulls up, and one of the attendants comes around, opening the door for Brenda. She gets out a little scared, I can see it in her eyes, but after four months in the rehab center, she's
bound to feel that way. Still, when she sees me she takes a deep breath and walks up the driveway, giving me a hug when I open my arms to her. “I still can't believe you're doing this.”
“Welcome to your home, as long as you want it,” I reply, watching as the attendant helps Brenda with her bag. She doesn't have much, the center doesn't let patients have too many things so that normalization comes back slowly, but the small rolling bag is cute. “Looks like I need to take you shopping tomorrow.”
“You're nuts,” Brenda says, shaking her head. She sees Ian behind me, and lets go of me to go over and hug him, something that surprised Ian the first time she did it during one of our visits to the center, but now I think he looks forward to. She's even tinier than I am compared to him, her head barely comes up to his chest, but she hugs him fiercely anyway. “Thank you, big man.”
“Not a problem. Come on, let's get your stuff inside and get your room situated before everyone gets here for the barbecue.”
“The what?” Brenda asks, shocked. “You didn't!”
“It's a tradition in the band,” Ian reassures her. “Whenever we've finished up one chapter of our lives and get ready for a new one, or we start something new, we have a food party. Normally it's been pizza, but we thought you deserved something a little more special than just large pizzas.”
Brenda's stunned into silence, and takes twenty minutes of her own to unpack her small bag in her new bedroom, but comes out when everyone shows up. Her mood brightens tremendously when she sees that Andrea's now pregnant, touching the small bump almost reverently. “Do you know?”
“Not yet,” Andrea says. “But we'll know by the end of February probably. Seems our honeymoon did exactly what it was supposed to.”
Joey's cooking is even more delicious than I'd anticipated, and everyone laughs when Brenda lets out a long, appreciative belch at the end. “Sorry. But rehab center food... well, it sucks.”
“And here I thought I paid for one of the good places,” Andrea jokes. “I'm so nailing their Yelp listing!”
The party continues, everyone being good to Brenda as they full welcome her to her new life. When the guys go outside to play a little with Bella and Lionel, the girls all have a chance to sit down, just relaxing, Cora and I with red wine. Cola for pregnant Andrea and Brenda who’s not sure if she's ready for alcohol yet. But she asks a question. “You're really not upset with no touring this year?”
“Hell no!” Cora says with a laugh. “Brenda, the money from a tour is nice, but it's going to be even nicer to have our family around for most of the year. Lionel's too small to drag around the country, and with Andi here getting ready to make the Rivera family bigger in June or so, we can skip a year of that for sure. Ten concerts spread out through the year is more than enough for the fans, and the new album is going to drop in time for summer. James knows what he's doing, each one of those ten is going to be in big venues, more bang for the buck sort of places. Don't you sweat it, things are fine for us this way.”
“So, you really aren't worried about the guys flying to New York tomorrow?” Brenda asks.
“Nah, James can babysit them just fine. A concert, three TV spots, and they're back here Tuesday night, super easy. Are you worried?” Cora asks.
“I just... I guess it'll be okay. I've got Mary, and you two have been so helpful too. Andrea, thank you again for the chance to work with Teresa and Maria,” Brenda says. “A job right after getting out of rehab? Amazing.”
“Oh, don't thank me yet,” Andrea says with a laugh. “Maria's really gotten into online learning, and she told me that part of your days is going to be devoted to getting your degree again. You might find that I set you up with a slave driver.”
“Speaking of cracking the whip,” Cora says, smirking, “Mary, you've spent the whole afternoon looking like the cat that just got the cream. What's up?”
“Well... Ian invited me to move in and give up my apartment, and I said yes, but I think...” I start before there's a knock on the sliding glass door, and Joey sticks his head in, his eyes gleaming.
“Hey, Mary? Ian's out here acting crazy. Says he has something he wants to ask you, and he's on his knees, refusing to get up. Think you can join us out here?” he says, grinning.
“Your eyes are horrible at keeping secrets, Joey Rivera,” Cora says, laughing. “Like I'm one to talk, though.”
My mouth goes dry and I look at Brenda, who's nodding and grinning. “Tell me I'm dreaming.”
“Probably,” she says, getting up and helping me to my feet. “But if you are.... isn't this the best kind of dream to have?”
I grin, nodding. “Yeah... I guess it is.”
Newsletter
Want to know the second I release a new book or be the first to know about exclusive giveaways? Sign up to my newsletter.
