by Cora Brent
“Did your parents love each other?” he asked suddenly as we prepared to cross University Drive.
The question surprised me a little. “Yes,” I answered, wondering if he heard me over the roar of the traffic. Although after I said the word I wondered if it was really true.
Hannah and Nick Bransky would have appeared perfect to outsiders who saw the big house, three children and no shortage of material possessions. She adored him. Everyone seemed to adore him. Nick was handsome and charming. When he talked, people - men and women both – paid close attention. There were a thousand times I’d sat at the kitchen table, watching my mother blush with delight as his big hands surrounded her waist while he leaned in to kiss her cheek. But even before the roof caved in on the Bransky household there was more to their story. At least once every few months there would be an episode of late night shouting. I would lie in bed listening to my mother’s accusations, my father’s bold denials. Robbie, ever the vigilant oldest brother, would stick his head into my doorway and command, “Go to sleep, Steffie. It’s fine.” But even though things were always calm again by morning I knew it would happen again. I couldn’t remember a time when I hadn’t been aware of the fact that my father was a liar.
Chase walked me to the door of my apartment, then he kissed me goodbye. “I’ll be back in an hour to pick you up in style.”
“Really? Did you finally wash the Chevy?”
“No. But I did hang a pair of fuzzy dice over the rearview mirror. Wait, scratch that. My poor dice became casualties of King Creed when they smacked him in the forehead, enraging him to the point where he ripped them off and tossed them out the window.”
“What an asshole.”
“No shit.” Chase’s mouth turned down a little. I knew tensions were still running high between him and his brother and they couldn’t seem to find their way around it.
“Hey.” I slipped my arms around his waist and rested my cheek against his chest, listening to his heart. “I can’t wait for tonight.”
Chase ran his hands up and down my back. “So in love with you,” he whispered hoarsely and my heart seized up with so much emotion I couldn’t answer. I kissed him and mourned the retreat of his warm body when he pulled back.
“An hour,” he promised before turning around and walking away.
Since Chase wouldn’t give me any idea what kind of night to expect I didn’t know what to bring. I’d taken to keeping basic toiletries and a change of clothes in my backpack since we usually ended up at his place. I had discovered that I liked looking nice for Chase. It made me happy to make the effort and see the admiring look in his eyes as a result. When I’d cautiously admitted this to Truly the other day she laughed at me.
“Silly girl, of course you like looking fine for your man.”
Just yesterday I received a dress I’d ordered online. It was a deep green with off the shoulder straps and the thin, stretchy material hugged my skin. I headed to the bathroom to critically observe the effect, worried as ever over my small breasts and lack of curves. But I was pleased to find that I actually looked decent and Chase was always insatiable when it came to my body. He never made me feel less than completely beautiful.
When he returned promptly in an hour I was waiting for him. He stopped to check me out appreciatively. “Damn, I’m gonna fuck you up tonight.”
“Then it was worth the purchase.” I grabbed my backpack and locked the apartment door.
We were heading south on the I-10, out of the valley, and Chase still wouldn’t tell me where we were going. He got off on the exit for a towering hotel and casino but then bypassed it.
“You sure we’re not camping in the desert?” I asked as we traveled further away from the highway and deeper into the brown landscape.
“Trust me, Steph,” he said, grinning as he copped a quick feel.
Then we turned a corner and, like a fabled mirage, a luxury resort materialized. Chase tipped the valet and gave him the keys to the dirty pickup truck before leading me by the elbow through the tasteful lobby. There were huge windows along the back of the building and through them I saw a sizeable private lake surrounded by an abundance of vegetation. If I squinted just a little I could believe we weren’t even in Arizona anymore.
Chase already had the room key and he paused by the door. I had a brief flash of memory back to the last time we’d stood in a hotel corridor. It seemed like so long ago yet it had only been a month.
“Stephanie,” he said with utter solemnity as he held me close, “I’m taking you in that room tonight to love you in every way. And it’s just the beginning, sweetheart.” He kissed me with hard passion. “You can trust me completely,” he whispered.
He let me walk in first and I only made it two steps past the threshold before I just stopped. It was a beautiful room; spacious, stylishly accented and complete with a gigantic bed. But what got to me were the other things. There were rose petals strewn on the bed plus a small table with a bowl of huge chocolate-covered strawberries, a bottle of wine and two glasses. As Chase walked over to light the candles on the table I stared at him. Anyone who’d spent time with Chase would assume such a gesture was a mocking one because that was the face he turned to the world most of the time. But I knew it was nothing of the kind in this case. Chase was completely serious.
“Holy shit,” I said softly and he looked up with a small frown of worry.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.” I shook my head. “Nothing’s wrong, Chase. You just overwhelm me, that’s all.”
He held a chair out for me. “This is nothing,” he laughed and I caught a glimmer of his classic playfulness. “Wait until you feel how I’m gonna overwhelm you as soon as I get you spread out on that bed with that hot little dress pushed up to your tits.”
“I love you,” I said abruptly.
He knelt beside me and gave me a tender smile. “I love you, too.”
Chase poured the wine and then urged me to try some strawberries.
“Best dinner I ever had,” I said, sipping wine and chewing on the fruit.
Chase toyed with the flame of one of the candles. “We can order more food later.” He grinned naughtily. “I mean after.”
I gestured to his empty glass. “You don’t like wine?” Then I remembered something. “Wait, are you not supposed to drink?”
He chuckled. “Not really. But then I’m a pill popper, not an alcoholic, remember?” He poured a small amount of wine in his glass and then tossed it back.
I looked around. “How much is all of this costing?”
Chase disliked the question. “Don’t you even think about that shit. I got this.”
“Yes, sir.”
His eyes flickered with glee. “Say that again. Wait, get down on your hands and knees before you say it.”
I rolled my eyes.
Chase was just getting warmed up though. “Call me Mr. Gentry and tell me you’ll follow my every command.”
“In a little while.” I stood up. “All that wine went straight to my bladder.”
As I conducted a mirror check in the bathroom a sense of unreality washed over me. I was mildly dizzy and it was partly from being halfway drunk on the wine. But it was Chase who got me completely intoxicated by just looking at me, by loving me. It was almost too much.
He was sitting on the edge of the bed with his shirt off when I stumbled out of the bathroom.
“What the hell are you up to now?” I smiled, wondering if he was intentionally recreating the scene in Vegas.
He was. “I was hot,” he grinned.
I slipped my shoes off and went to him. He stayed seated while he ran his hands over my hips and then down over my thighs. He started to push my dress up but I stopped him.
“Let’s play a game,” I purred.
His eyes were on my face. His hands were unfastening his pants. “What are the stakes?”
“If you’re hard then I’ll fuck your brains out.”
Chase yanked his pants
down. “I win.”
“Yes,” I whispered. Slowly I began pulling the right sleeve of my dress down. I could slide the whole thing off with ease but I hesitated, feeling strangely nervous. I’d grown a thousand times more comfortable with my own body since the first time I’d had sex with Chase, when I wouldn’t even let him take my shirt off. Still, sometimes a wisp of that old reluctant fear crept in, no matter how much I knew Chase wanted me. I wouldn’t give those doubts a voice, not anymore. Boldly I pushed the dress over my breasts.
Chase leaned back on his elbows and watched me, his dick waiting at pointed attention. I wasn’t wearing panties or a bra beneath my dress so when it fell to the floor it was just me standing there. He didn’t say anything. When I crept closer he ran his hands all over my skin and pulled me down into a kiss. We fell back on the bed together and kissed deeply. Then Chase sat up a little, pulled my legs wide around his waist, and entered me. My soft sigh gave way to a moan as he started coaxing my body to move. There had been a few times before when we’d gotten too carried away and failed to use protection but Chase had always pulled out in time.
“Steph,” he moaned as I started moving harder. I was already climbing steadily to the ecstasy that only he could help me with. Chase wanted it faster. He tightly gripped my hips and made it happen. I came quickly and as I shuddered I wrapped my arms around him, trying to pull him as close as possible, as deep as possible.
“Don’t stop,” I begged, trembling with unrivaled bliss.
He groaned and kept going. “Fuck, I can’t hold it in, baby.”
Don’t hold it in! I don’t want you to hold it in. I want all of you.
Chase was at his breaking point. He flattened me on the bed and with a roar of furious passion he plunged deep and came inside of me.
We had gone too far. And I didn’t even care. Chase didn’t care. We kissed and stroked one another until he was ready for more and then I eagerly guided him inside my body because I loved him and wanted him and didn’t give a damn about what might happen tomorrow.
Hours passed and we were still ravenous, taking one chance after another and daring the fates to interfere. Finally Chase lugged me up to the pillows and covered both of us with the thick comforter. He let out the gentlest of blissful sighs and curled his naked body protectively around mine. I was so happy, happier than I’d ever been in my life. Yet just before I fell asleep I heard Truly’s warning in my head.
“Love each other, but be careful not to lose yourselves.”
Chase must have felt my tiny shiver of fear because he held me even tighter.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Chase
Al wasn’t at all surprised to hear from me and gladly accepted another round of action. I’d really meant to keep my own silent word and quit gambling but then I panicked. Steph and I were in our own world that night at the resort and it was fantastic beyond description. We were out of control and when I came inside of her again and again I had no coherent thought other than the fierce need to claim her for myself.
But the next morning she was worried and that rattled me. I had promised her I would always take care of her and somehow I would have to find a way to do just that. I didn’t have my brothers’ talents but I’d already learned there were more paths to choose from than the straightest.
Three days later she ran to me with breathless relief and said we were in the clear. By that time Al already owed me another pile of cash but as I held Steph and celebrated dodging a bullet I knew that had to be it. Stephanie knew nothing of this internal struggle and for that alone it had to be the last time.
I didn’t like the place Al had picked to meet. It was the parking lot of a bar and it would be pretty empty on a late Tuesday afternoon but it was also within sight of Cluck This. Even if Stephanie didn’t see me it was a little too close to home and I didn’t want to get caught engaging in a furtive parking lot transaction.
The building cast a long shadow and I waited beneath it, annoyed that Al was fifteen minutes late. Steph had texted a little while ago that she was heading to work after her last class of the day so she’d be showing up any time. Plus I could see Truly’s battered Ford Escape in the Cluck This parking lot. Yeah, this was definitely too close to home.
When Al pulled up I stayed in the building’s shadow and waited for him to come to me. He made a joke out of it, putting on a pair of sunglasses and a Yankee cap and humming the Mission: Impossible theme. Another time I would have been amused but this time I just wanted to collect my money and forget about it.
“You ashamed to be seen with me, Gentry? Hell, my feelings are hurt.”
I snorted. “I didn’t feel like standing in the sun. It’s too hot. But when did you grow a vagina and start racking up the emotional grievances?”
“Jessica from Group says I need to get in touch with my feminine side.”
I gagged. “I remember Jessica. Not being at all selective these days, huh?”
Al smiled and handed over my cash. “You know what they say about beggars.” He snapped his fingers. “Let’s go get something to eat. Your treat.”
“Can’t,” I lied. “I need to get to work in a little while.”
“Another time then,” Al said and I could tell from the way he looked at me that he knew I was full of shit. Then something behind me caught his eye. I turned around to see what he was staring at and it was a moment of worst case coincidence. Stephanie was standing on the sidewalk right behind us.
I’d already pocketed the cash Al gave me but I didn’t know if she’d seen anything. The expression on her face was unreadable, as was the expression on Al’s. Finally he nodded slightly, offered me a brief slap on the back and headed back to his car.
Stephanie waited for me to join her on the sidewalk.
“Hey,” I smiled, kissing her. “You headed into work?”
“You know I am,” she answered, not smiling back.
Al had to pass within a few feet as he pulled out of the parking lot. He stopped for longer than he needed to and gawked at the two of us standing together. Finally he gave a short wave and pulled the car into the road.
Stephanie stared after the departing car. “How do you know Alonzo?”
“Friend from rehab,” I said, not lying but not telling the truth either.
“Oh,” she nodded, seeming thoughtful, but not upset.
I watched her carefully. “You know him well?”
She made a face. “He’s from back home. He was Robbie’s friend.”
Stephanie scarcely mentioned her brothers although I could hardly blame her. One had been murdered and she had no idea where the other one was.
I figured she might question me more but she seemed willing to accept my explanation at face value, or else she didn’t want to talk about Al and his connection to her dead brother.
She took my hand and we started to walk to the restaurant. Truly met us at the door and I kissed Steph goodbye since it made her nervous when I hung around staring at her while she struggled to be nice to the public.
“Chase,” Truly called after Stephanie headed to the lockers to stow her backpack. Truly bit her lip and looked a little anxious. “You planning on being there tomorrow night?”
Creedence was going to playing at a place called Club Devil and it was kind of a big deal. The converted warehouse straddled the border between Tempe and Scottsdale and it was a sizeable venue. Tomorrow there was some kind of retro Eighties Night thing and he’d been rehearsing covers for Bon Jovi and Bruce Springsteen.
“He’s on at 10:30, right? You can bet I’ll be there,” I told her and she broke into a relieved smile. I doubted Creed had asked her to question me because Creed didn’t ask for favors. Still, I knew he would be happy if I showed up and I had every intention of doing so.
When I started to walk home I couldn’t help but glance over at the gym since it was across the street from Cluck This. Mostly I avoided thinking about the attack. On that day, one minute I’d been squinting into bright sunlight
and the next minute the world went black. I’d awakened to the sick feeling of blood running down my face and a sharp agony in my abdomen that I was afraid to dwell on because I knew it was bad.
And it was bad. The head wound wasn’t severe but I had internal bleeding and needed two surgeries to repair the damage. Creed and Cord were at my side constantly and I was more worried for them than for myself, Creed especially. I understood how Creedence saw the world. Things were one way or they were the other. The middle ground didn’t hold a lot of weight with him. Someone had fucked up his brother and so he needed to go fuck up whoever was responsible. It was tough to reason with someone who was so resolute.
Creed was playing when I got home. He continued while I sat on the couch and watched him. The apartment seemed to be otherwise empty.
“Where are our roommates?” I asked when he took a break.
“Looking at houses,” he said, tightening a string on his guitar.
I knew there was a scowl on my face and there shouldn’t be. Cord and Saylor were starting a family for god’s sake. It’d be tough to raise a couple of kids in a noisy apartment smack in the middle of a party town. They were hoping to find a small house to rent by the holidays, to give them plenty of time to get settled before the babies arrived in the spring. I was being selfish, wanting to keep my brothers close and fearing that things were changing too much.
“Have you thought about it?” I asked Creed. “What we’re going to do with this place? I mean, I guess we can cover the rent between the two of us but the lease is up next month anyway.”
“Yeah,” Creed said slowly. He put the guitar down and leaned forward. “Truly and I have been talking.”
I tensed. If he was going to lay into me about Stephanie again then we were going to have a problem. That wasn’t what he meant though.
Creed cleared his throat and continued. “We were tossing around the idea of getting our own place.” He looked around and let out a deep breath. “It’d be nice to get a little further away from all the drunk college kids. There’s a lot to choose from on the south side of town.”
