Never With You (The Never Series Book 6)

by Anie Michaels

  Close to ten o’clock I heard my parents make their way up the stairs and shut their bedroom door. I gave them another ten minutes to settle in and then made my escape. I felt ridiculous being a grown woman and sneaking out of a house, hiding from my parents, but I tried not to think about it. All I could think about was how it was almost over, and how much I hated that fact.

  His door was unlocked, so I let myself in, locking it behind me. I crept up the stairs and saw his door cracked with soft light filtering through. I gently eased the door open and saw Briggs sitting on his bed, leaning against his headboard, his chest bare, and his lower half hidden by a blanket. He’d been looking at his phone, but he set in on the bedside table when he noticed me.

  I didn’t have any words for him yet, so I strode toward him, unzipping my hoodie and dropping it on the floor as I did. He swung his legs over the side of the bed and I easily stepped between them. Our contact was instantaneous. My hands were on his shoulders, his hands were on my ass, and our mouths were fused instantly.

  His hands palmed my ass, gripping me hard, pulling me close, and my hands held on to his shoulders as my knees hit the bed on either side of his hips. Our mouths moved against one another’s, tongues sliding, hands roaming. It took but one instant for his erection to press against my core, and more than any other time we’d been together, I needed him. The need was so strong, in fact, so dire, it had my arms trembling and my legs shaking. Perhaps it was the emotion of the day, or maybe the idea that it would be my last time, my last night, to be with Briggs, but I was taken over with the physical need to be close to him.

  His mouth moved down my jaw and continued down my throat, and my mouth came to rest on his shoulder, my teeth biting into him gently there, using every part of me to hold on to him. His hands pulled my hips down and a moan escaped me as he thrust his erection against me, the friction too perfect. I rocked against him, trying desperately to find that oblivion he’d offered me before, to get to the place where all I could think about, the only thing I could feel, was him and me. The way we fit so effortlessly together, the way he could read me better than anyone had in my entire life, the way his hand simply felt right in mine, and I felt right in his arms. All of that boiled down to this: our connection. If I was losing him tomorrow, I wanted all of him tonight.

  Without a warning, I pushed off him and sank down between his legs to the floor and pulled down the athletic shorts he wore, freeing him. I wrapped my hand around his cock, feeling the warmth and hardness of him, loving the way his breath caught at the first touch. There were so many things I wanted to say to him in that moment. I wanted to tell him he was perfect, beautiful even. I wanted to explain how much he meant to me and how much leaving him would hurt. But I didn’t have the words, so I took him in my mouth instead.

  He gasped and startled at the touch of my mouth, but I knew he was watching. I closed my eyes, not wanting to see his gaze on me. It felt all too intimate without the eye contact already. If I had to watch him while I made love to him with my mouth it would definitely push me over some proverbial cliff.

  Using my mouth and my hand, I worked him up and down, making sure to stop and swallow when he was as far down my throat as I could handle. Every time he groaned, his fingers tangled in my wild hair. After just a few minutes he plucked me off the floor and stripped me of all my clothes, tossing them on the floor and pulling me onto the bed.

  He lay back and said in a soft but strained voice, “Come here.” He used both of his hands to tap his chest, so I crawled toward him, but as I tried to lie next to him, he shook his head. “Up, firecracker. I want you on my face.”

  Never had six words caused such a physical reaction to my body. He grabbed me by the hips and helped me straddle his chest, then slid lower, positioning his face at my opening. “Hang on to the headboard, Talia, and fuck my face.”

  Before I could say or do anything, his mouth was on me, his tongue taking a long glide from back to front, ending at my clit and focusing there.

  I did as he said, reaching forward and holding on to the headboard because without it I wasn’t sure I could hold myself upright.

  “Oh, God,” I moaned as his tongue worked me over.

  His hands slid over the back of my thighs and nestled themselves in the crease between my sex and my legs, pulling down, creating an extraordinary white-hot burn of pleasure. The added friction, the intense intimacy of his face between my legs, and the magical way his mouth worked every part of me, all of those things combined caused me to lose a little bit of myself. His tongue touched me and the bolt of electric pleasure made my body jump away from him, but his hands pulled me back down, and the rhythm started. Soon I was shamelessly grinding my sex on his face, recklessly using his mouth to find my escape. He loved it, grunting against my clit, kneading my thighs with his strong fingers.

  It didn’t take long before I was panting and crying out, warning him of my impending orgasm.

  “Briggs,” I cried out as I bore down on his mouth. “I’m going to come.” He moaned his approval and I teetered on the edge, only to be thrown over by the hard and swift smack of Briggs’s hand on my ass. That was all it took for me to fall apart, breathlessly. I came, fantastically hard, and as tremors shook my entire body. Briggs slid out from under me, shucked his shorts, and reached for his drawer. “No, please,” I begged, reaching one hand out for him as I leaned against the headboard. “I need you. Just you.”

  He crawled up on the bed and came behind me, his erection nestling at my backside, his hands smoothing around my waist. My knees were still on the mattress as I was unable to move enough to change position.

  “Are you sure?” he asked, his mouth at the nape of my neck.

  “Yes, please…” I begged.

  He dipped behind me and I felt him position his cock at my entrance, then slowly slide into me.

  “Fuck,” he grunted, thrusting until he could go no farther, filling and stretching me. His mouth came to my neck and his hands found my breasts. He pulled out slowly, dragging the engorged head of his penis over every sensitive part of me, then pushed back in, so fucking slowly. I was still buzzing from the tremendous orgasm I’d had not a minute ago, and then, to have him bare and inside me, it was all too much. I held on to the headboard and dropped my head back onto his shoulder and let him use me, loving every moment of it.

  He pushed in and dragged out, over and over again. It was the most magnificent torture. At some point I lost my strength and let my weight rest on my arms against the headboard, and the new angle just spurred him on. His hands gripped my hips and he pounded furiously into me, again and again, sending me on a downward spiral through another orgasm. I wouldn’t have been able to pick myself up off the floor if I tried, but he grabbed me by the shoulders, hauling me back into his chest. One hand grabbed my chin, forcing me to look back at him, the other hand finding its way to my clit.

  “I can’t, Briggs.”

  “You can.”

  I cried out, both in frustration at how overwhelmed I was in that moment, but also because everything felt so terribly wonderful. I didn’t think I could come again, but it wasn’t up to me. I shouted my release just as his mouth came over mine. We weren’t kissing, just connecting. Our open mouths were pressed together, but I didn’t have the mental capacity to kiss him. I just wanted to make that contact. His breath panted heavier and heavier against my face and finally he thrust upward with such ferocity, I was caught off guard, yelping in surprise. But then he stilled and groaned, and when I felt the warmth of him coating me inside, I knew he’d come.

  He held me for a moment. Perhaps he knew I needed the support, or maybe he liked having me in his arms, but he didn’t let go. And I didn’t want him to, if I was being honest. Who knew what would happen the next day when I left? I felt, deep down in my gut, that I’d never see him again. So if he wanted to hold me, I’d let him.

  Finally, his entire body went lax. His arms fell away from me, as did his hips, and I gave a little gasp a
s he left me empty. He collapsed on the bed but tagged me on the way down, and I ended up lying next to him, still reeling from the intensity of being with him. We were both breathing hard, our slick, warm bodies sticky, and after a few moments I moved to sit up.

  “No,” he breathed, wrapping his arm around me, making it impossible for me to get up. “Not yet.”

  Not yet.

  Two harmless words, but I felt them so deep inside of me. I’d only been with Briggs a few times, and not many men before him, but I knew it was different. Being with him was different. I knew as soon as our time together ended I’d miss him and what we shared and probably never find a connection as powerful as ours. So, not yet held a lot of weight. I didn’t want to let go. Not yet. But there was little point in holding on.

  I let him pull me back to his side, let myself enjoy the warmth of his arms holding me close, but only for a few moments. When I moved to get up again, his hold on me tightened.

  “Hey, where are you going?”

  “I need to clean up,” I whispered, inwardly cringing.

  “I’ll take care of it. You stay here.” Before he was done even saying the words he started to move, but I reached out to stop him.

  “Briggs,” I said, hand resting on his arm. “I need a minute. Alone.”

  He said nothing in response, but his arms did fall away, and he let me go.

  I walked to his bathroom and turned on the light. I gripped the edge of the sink, trying to rein in all my emotions, but I could tell I was slipping over the edge of hysteria. When I looked up at the mirror, my reflection almost took my breath away. I looked beautiful. My skin was flushed and my hair was a mess, but if anyone else had seen me I knew they would have thought how pretty and happy I looked. Well, except for the tears welling in my eyes.

  I turned on the faucet and splashed cold water on my face, hoping the shock of it would help curb the tears, but it didn’t. So then I just prayed the sound of the running water would drown out my cries.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Briggs

  When I woke up, the first thing I saw was Talia’s red hair sprawled across her pillow. The sight instantly made me happy, but then, I had to remind myself that I couldn’t get used to waking up with her. I definitely couldn’t get used to turning to her in the middle of the night, waking her up by kissing down her body, then sliding inside of her as we sleepily made love. No, that I couldn’t get used to. I’d made love to her two more times that night. After the first round, which was the most intense sexual experience of my life, I couldn’t keep my hands to myself.

  She couldn’t either.

  She was there with me, stroke for stroke, pant for pant, moan for moan.

  Even though I couldn’t get used to her being in my bed, I could take advantage of it. I slid over to her side, pressing my chest up against her back. We were both bare as we never saw the need to put clothes back on last night, and I loved the way her smooth warm skin felt like an extension of my own. When I touched her, even if it was a gentle hand on her hip, it felt like home.

  She stirred, coming alive and realizing I was behind her, then relaxing into me.

  “Good morning,” I said against her shoulder.

  “Mmmm,” she groaned. “Is it morning? I feel like I could sleep forever.”

  “I’m down to stay in bed all day.” I kissed down her arm, but could feel her tense beneath me. She stayed like that, still and tight, for just a moment more, and then she turned so she was suddenly facing me, her hands on my chest and lips meeting mine.

  I kissed her back because I could. Because at that moment she was in my bed and she was mine. It was impossible not to kiss her back.

  She pulled back, taking her lips from mine, and rested her forehead against my chest.

  “We’re leaving today.”

  She whispered the words, but she may as well have screamed them for the way they affected me. Like a punch straight to the stomach.

  “Angela doesn’t want to be in the house, understandably, so we’re leaving.” The last words were just a whisper.

  I didn’t know what to say, so I just pulled her closer and kissed her forehead. I knew we didn’t have forever, but I thought we’d at least have a couple more days. After a few quiet moments, I said what I was thinking.

  “That sucks.”

  She let out a soft laugh, but it only lasted a second or two before she was quiet again.

  “Yeah, it does.” She heaved a large sigh and I felt her try to pull away, but I wouldn’t let her. I held her close.

  “Stay.” I said the word without thinking, but as soon as it was out, I knew I meant it. “Stay here with me. Finish the week with me.”

  She shook her head slightly. I felt her hair rub against my chest. “We all came in the same van. My car is in Portland. They’re my ride back.”

  My mind was racing, along with my heart. I took her face in my hands and brought her eyes up to meet mine. “Is that the only reason you’re going? Because they’re your ride? Because I’ll drive you anywhere you want to go at the end of the week. But if you want to leave, if you’re ready to walk away, then I’ll be happy for the last few days and I’ll kiss you goodbye, but I’m not done with you yet.”

  “You want me to stay?” Her voice was shaky and practically silent, just air moving through her lips, and her eyes were darting back and forth between mine, asking more with her gaze than her words.

  I didn’t want to think about how she could ask me that question after last night. I didn’t want to consider the idea that I was falling for her while she was keeping her distance. Even though that was what I needed her to do, keep her distance. But not until I got the time with her I was promised.

  “Can you really ask me that after last night?” I fought the urge to tell her how much I wanted her, how much I wished things were different, but I didn’t want to hurt her in the end by making her think I was ready for more. Ready and wanting were two very different beasts, and I seemed to be battling against them both.

  Her eyes closed and her head shook, but I didn’t let go. “I’m not ready to leave.”

  Her words opened a floodgate inside of me and all the air in my lungs rushed out as my arms wrapped even tighter around her. My lips found her neck and I breathed her in, relief surging through me. After a few long moments I pulled back and looked at her, happy to find a smile on her lips. “Are you sure? You don’t want to be with your family?”

  She lifted one shoulder in a shrug and said, “Angela just needs to go home. Beckett is fine. There’s nothing I can do for them anyway.”

  “I’m selfishly very happy about all this.”

  “I’m not happy Beckett went through what he did, or that Angela is broken up over it”—she took in a breath and then continued—“but I’m happy I’ll get to spend some more time with you.” She smiled at me for a moment, but then it faded away. “I should probably go home and explain that I’m staying. I know they want to leave early. And they’ll need help packing and cleaning up the house.”

  “Want me to come with?”

  “Sure,” she breathed, then kissed me quickly before climbing out of bed. She picked her clothes up off the floor and disappeared into the bathroom. I watched her the whole way.

  Talia was right when she’d said her family wanted to leave early. The sun was barely up when we made our way back to their house, but everyone was inside bustling around. No one gave a second look at Talia coming home after sunrise, or seemed to care that I was with her. In fact, they seemed grateful for the extra set of hands.

  I helped Brody load the van, the two of us making polite, friendly conversation as we did. Talia and her mother would come out whenever they had another item for us to load, and I never missed the way Talia’s eyes met mine with a smile, or how she gave me an extra look over her shoulder before she went back inside.

  We made quick work of everything and that was good because the owners had already scheduled a cleaning service to come through and there w
asn’t much time. Angela stayed in the bedroom upstairs with the babies and Brody mentioned she hadn’t come downstairs at all that morning.

  “It’s probably good to get her home,” I said as I stacked a suitcase in the back of the van.

  “Yeah,” he said thoughtfully. “She’ll be okay, but she needs to go home. Being here is too stressful for her.”

  “I know Talia’s really worried about her.”

  “What’s really going on between you two?” Brody stood straight and propped both of his fists on his hips.

  I just continued to load the van.

  “I enjoy her company. She’s a great girl. We’re just spending time together.”

  “Does she know it’s not serious?”

  “She does. We’ve had extensive conversations about how we’re both not ready for a relationship. For now, we’re just friends.”

  “She’s been hurt before, man. I like you and all, and you seem like a decent guy. But if you hurt her, I’ll have to kick your ass.”

  I coughed back a laugh, swallowing it down, but then met his gaze. “Noted.”

  “I think this is the last of the big stuff.”

  Brody and I both turned at the sound of Talia’s voice. She handed me a big duffle bag, but it was lighter than it looked. I found a spot for it and made it fit.

  “Angela asked me to send you up so you can help her bring the babies down. I think she wants to wait out here or in the car until Mom and Dad are ready.”

  Brody gave me a sidelong glance, but then went inside, giving Talia’s shoulder an affectionate squeeze as he passed by. Once he was inside the house, she stepped toward me.

  “You’re still sure you want to stay behind?” I wanted to give her every opportunity to back out, even though the idea of watching her drive away with her family made me grumpy. Her arms moved directly to my waist, sliding around all the way to my back, and her front pressed up against my chest. I tried not to focus on the feeling of her breasts against me because I knew that would only get me in trouble.