Room For You (Cranberry Inn)

by Beth Ehemann

  “What do you mean?”

  I sighed, deciding since he’d been so honest last night, it was time I started sharing too, at least a little.

  “Yesterday, when I came in to shower and I asked you about the shampoo?” I slid my face along his chest, looking up at him. He nodded, waiting for me to continue.

  “You said you didn’t know what I used so you bought every kind they had. To you, that seemed like nothing, you laughed it off, but to me, that was huge. I’m not used to being cared for like that, it was really sweet.”

  He chuckled, his laugh vibrating through my body. “It was just shampoo.”

  “Once, when the girls were about six months old, I had just gotten home from working a double at the hospital. It was after midnight when I got home and my car was almost out of gas. I would’ve stopped for it myself, but Zach didn’t let me have the debit card or any credit cards. He controlled the money. Anyway, I asked him to please get up five minutes early the next morning and get me gas, so I’d have enough to get to work the next day.” Brody squeezed me tight as I continued. “I went out in the morning and naturally, he’d blown me off. I went back inside and opened the girls’ piggy banks, but he’d already cleaned those out. My choices were call in sick to work, which we couldn’t afford, or drop the girls at daycare and take the bus from there. So, I hopped in my car and prayed the whole way to the babysitter. About six blocks from her house, my car sputtered to a stop, right past an intersection. I coasted to the side and called him, seven times. The first couple times, it rang before the voicemail picked up. Eventually it just went straight to voicemail. He’d turned it off.”

  Brody inhaled loudly as his arm muscles tensed under my head.

  “Just as I was pulling Lucy and Piper’s infant carriers out of the car, as if God himself were testing me personally, the skies opened and it started down-pouring on us. Thankfully I had two blankets in the car and I threw them over the girls so they wouldn’t get wet. I walked the rest of the way to the sitter, borrowed change from her and took the bus to work, soaked to the bone and freezing.”

  Brody was smashing his teeth so hard, the muscle in the corner of his jaw was popping.

  “That’s how our relationship was, that’s all I’ve ever known. So for you to do something for me like fuss over a tiny thing like shampoo was … big.”

  “Why did you stay with him?” Brody asked after a moment, shaking his head.

  I shrugged. “I wanted my girls to have a family, and I was willing to sacrifice my own happiness to give it to them.”

  “Your happiness is just as important as theirs, Kacie. Please tell me you’ve learned that?” He reached down and brushed my cheek with the back of his hand.

  I closed my eyes and relaxed into him. “I’m getting there.”

  “Good, because if someone ever treats you like shit again, they’re going to have to answer to a very angry hockey player who’s done a good amount of fighting in his career and has a fantastic fucking lawyer.”

  The rawness in his voice, the way he threatened and meant it, stirred something in me. I’d never had someone who wanted to protect me before, and it was the single biggest turn-on ever. Suddenly, I was overcome with the need to kiss him.

  I rolled onto my side and nuzzled my nose into his neck, gently pushing his jaw up. He tilted his head to the left and eagerly let me have access. I started at the top of his collarbone and licked my way up to his jawline, running my tongue along it.

  He moaned and wrapped his arm around me, pulling me in tighter. As fast as he pulled me in, he let me go and sat up. “Hang on a sec.”

  I propped myself up on my elbows, watching as he jumped out of bed and fumbled his way down the hall in nothing but blue striped pajama pants. A few seconds later, his footsteps pounded along the hardwood floor as hurried back into my room.

  He leapt from the doorway and landed in bed with a thud, almost jarring me off the other side.

  “Sorry about that,” he growled, climbing on top of me.

  “Where did you go?” I giggled in between kisses.

  He sat back and flashed that heart-stopping grin at me as he wiggled his eyebrows. “Brushed my teeth.”

  I threw my head back and laughed hard. Brody, taking full advantage of my exposed neck by pressing his lips against my skin, planted kisses as he made his way up to the sensitive spot where my jaw met my ear. It was as if someone swept in and took over my body as I was filled with a neediness I hadn’t ever felt in my life, not even with Zach.

  “I want you,” I whispered as I fisted my hands in his hair, tugging at the roots.

  He froze and I immediately thought I’d done something wrong.

  “What?” I breathed in a panicked tone.

  He pulled back slightly and leaned his forehead against mine, breathing hard. “Kacie, I promised you we’d go slow. If you want me to go faster, you’re going to have to tell me.”

  His words dripped with sensual promise and I wanted to bathe in it. I ached for his hands all over me, reminding me that I wasn’t just a mom but a grown woman with a thirst that he was more than capable of quenching.

  I looked him straight in his eyes, matching him breath for breath, willing the words to leave my mouth.

  “Touch me, Brody. Please?”

  His eyes grew wild as he licked his lips, still panting. “I said you had to ask, not beg.” With that he crashed into me, pushing me back on the bed. Within seconds, we were a mess of tongues and roaming hands and I couldn’t drink him in fast enough.

  He grabbed my hands and pulled me up to a sitting position, dragging my tank top over my head. His mouth was back on mine the minute the fabric crossed us, as he gently pushed me back down on the bed. He sat back and slowly pulled my pajama bottoms off. I felt so exposed, so vulnerable lying on the bed in nothing but panties. My knee jerk reaction was to cross my hands over my chest, but before I could, Brody grabbed my wrist, stopping me.

  “Don’t,” he said, pulling my hand away. “You’re so fucking gorgeous, don’t you dare cover yourself. Let me look at you for a minute. I’ve been dreaming about seeing this again since I saw you in that bathroom.” He bit his lip, slowly looking up and down my body, his eyes lingering longer than I would have liked, but he made me feel so comfortable. So beautiful.

  He laced his fingers with mine and lay back down on top of me, his own excitement digging into my hip. His hot mouth connected with my nipple and I cried out instinctively from the jolt of absolute pleasure that coursed through my body. It had been so long since I’d been with a man. I’d almost forgotten what it felt to have hands other than my own on me.

  His tongue sucked and tugged on my nipple as his hand slowly made its way down to my panties. Just as he was about to cross the threshold inside, he paused and kissed my lips sweetly. “You okay?”

  “God, yes,” I moaned into his mouth. “Don’t stop.”

  He laughed softly as he kissed me again. “Yes ma’am.”

  It felt like it took hours for him to trail his hand back down and reach my sweet spot, but when he did…

  Oh. My. God.

  His fingers were so much better than mine.

  I don’t know if it was the expert way he swirled them around or the fact that it had been so damn long, but within seconds, something stirred in my core.

  “Brody, stop,” I panted, clawing at his strong forearm.

  “Stop? Are you serious?” he asked in disbelief.

  “No, not stop for good, just for a second.” I giggled. “I’m … close … and your pants aren’t even off yet.”

  “That’s okay, I want you to go first. I wanna watch your face.” He didn’t wait for my okay before he thrust his hand back in between my legs, rubbing and teasing me until my body bucked underneath his hand. Guttural noises that should have embarrassed me passed through my lips while I squirmed and convulsed my way to the most intense orgasm I’d ever had in my life.

  When my tremors stopped, I cracked my eye open. Brody was ly
ing next to me with an intense, turned-on look across his face.

  “That didn’t take long.” I giggled.

  “Neither will I.” He smirked and stood, shoving his pants down around his ankles, his impressive cock springing free like a catapult from the waistband. He raised an eyebrow and grinned at me when he caught me staring, my cheeks flushing with embarrassment. He crawled across the bed, covering my body with his and kissed me, his tongue delving deep into my mouth while his warm, hard cock lay against my inner thigh. It had been a long time since I’d had my hands on a man, but I was more than ready. I reached down and wrapped my hand around him, enjoying the hissing sound he made against my mouth as I was slowly gliding my hand up and down the length of him. I felt a drop of precum form on his tip as I worked him harder and faster.

  “Oh God, Kacie … wait.”

  I knew he was ready. I was too. He put his knee in between mine and pushed them apart gently.

  Holy shit…

  “Brody…” I panicked.

  “Relax, I got ya, babe.” He reached over and snatched the condom sitting on top of the nightstand. “Grabbed it when I was brushing my teeth, just in case.” He opened the wrapper and slid the latex sleeve over his cock, then positioned himself over me. He licked his two fingers and ran them along my opening one more time. “Jesus, you’re so wet.” His words were hot as I begged him with my eyes not to wait another second. He read my mind, slowly pushing himself inside me.

  Stretching, filling.

  Once he was inside me, there was no holding back. I met him thrust for thrust, his fingers entwined with mine as he raised my hands over my head and pinned them to the bed.

  “God, you feel so good.” He groaned as he closed his eyes tight, pulling his eyebrows together. He was close already, so was I.

  “Harder,” I pleaded on the edge of another orgasm.

  His hips crashed off mine as he pushed harder into me, our skin slapping with each meeting. The erotic noises and moans that filled the room sent me spiraling into myself, quivering in pure bliss.

  “Fuck, Kacie!” He called out, driving himself deep into me, stilling as his cock twitched and he came … hard.

  He laid his head on my shoulder, trying to regain his composure while I waited for the world to stop spinning.

  “You good?” he said against my neck.

  “Uh … yes. So good. You?”

  He rolled over, lying flat on his back, spread eagle next to me. “I’ve never smoked in my life, but right now, I could go for about twelve cigarettes,” he said as he leaned over and kissed my shoulder.

  “Can’t you stay one more night?” I begged Kacie.

  She was dancing around my kitchen, cooking French toast, and wearing one of my t-shirts. It’s so cliché, but there really is something crazy hot about your girl wearing one of your shirts with nothing but panties underneath.

  “I wish I could.” She stuck her pouty bottom lip out at me. “I’m bummed to leave you, but I can’t wait to get home to the girls. I really miss them.”

  Sitting down at the breakfast bar to get a better view of her show, I smiled at her. “You’re a good mom.”

  She looked at me, pleasantly surprised. “Thanks.”

  “Why did you look shocked by that?” I cocked my head to the side curiously.

  She looked down at the stove and shrugged. “I don’t know. You’re a guy … a single guy. I just don’t expect you to notice stuff like that. You pay close attention and that makes me both happy and nervous.”

  “First of all, I’m not single. Second, why would that make you nervous?”

  She walked over and looped her arms around my neck, covering my face in tiny kisses. “I don’t know. I’m just waiting for the rug to be pulled out from under me, ya know? Sometimes you seem too good to be true.”

  I tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ear and held her face in my hands, forcing her to focus on my eyes. “I’m. Not. Going. Anywhere.”

  She leaned in and rewarded me with another kiss, which I gladly accepted.

  Our moment was interrupted by my phone buzzing on the coffee table. Her gaze flashed over to it then back to me, obviously still worried about what Blaire had said about Kendall.

  Gripping her hand tight, I dragged her over to the couch with me and picked up the phone.

  I hit the button and put it on speaker. “Hi Mom.” Kacie’s eyes doubled in size, her mouth falling open like we were two teenagers who’d just got caught having sex in their parents’ basement.

  My mom wasted no time laying into me. “Hi Mom? I haven’t talked to you in almost two weeks and all I get is, ‘Hi Mom?’ Where have you been? I’ve left you about two hundred voice mails.”

  I propped my feet up on my coffee table and sunk back into the couch, motioning for Kacie down next to me.

  “It’s my mom,” I said out loud, hoping to calm her nerves a bit.

  “Who are you talking to?” My mom asked.

  “My girlfriend, Kacie.”

  Kacie sat next to me on the couch, frozen, shaking her head back and forth as fast as she could.

  “Your girlfriend?”

  “Yes, my girlfriend. Her name is Kacie and she’s fantastic, I can’t wait for you to meet her.”

  “Hmm, interesting. Well, I’ll let you go since you’ve got company, but apparently we have a lot to talk about.” She sighed. “Promise you’ll call me later?”

  “I promise, Mom, I’ll call later. Love you.” I disconnected the call and tossed my phone back on the table.

  “Oh my God. That was your mom? How embarrassing,” Kacie said, dropping her head in her hands.

  “Why is it embarrassing? We’re adults, I’m allowed to have a girlfriend.” I reached over and tugged on her wrist, pulling her onto my lap to straddle me. She didn’t hesitate; she just flung her leg over the other side of my hip, still rambling on about my mom.

  “It’s morning, and I’m here. She’s going to know we had sex.” Her neck was all red and blotchy, undoubtedly flustered.

  “Probably. But you know what would be even better?” I paused as she studied my face curiously. “If I can tell her we had sex twice.” I gripped the back of her head and attacked her with my mouth.

  She returned my kiss willingly, holding my face in her hands, letting me explore her mouth … possess it.

  “You taste like powdered sugar,” I said, breaking free to pull my t-shirt off of her.

  “Oh shit!” She tried to scramble off my lap, but I caught her hips and held her still.

  “What?”

  “The French toast, it’s gonna burn!”

  “Fuck it.” I waved toward the kitchen. “Let it burn, I’m more interested in something else French right now.”

  I kissed her again, sucking her bottom lip into my mouth while she continued arguing.

  “Brody, your smoke alarm is gonna go off.”

  The burnt smell of charred bread filled the air and I knew she was right. Not a fucking chance was I letting her go though.

  I cupped her ass and stood up, keeping her legs wrapped around my waist as I carried her to the kitchen. I set her on the counter next to the stove, not taking my lips off hers as she fumbled around for the knob.

  She turned the burner off as I grabbed the hem of my shirt and pulled it over her head, tossing it over the counter. The cold air immediately hardened her nipples about the same time I realized she didn’t have panties on under my shirt after all.

  “Oh my God … you had no underwear on.”

  Biting her lip, she giggled. “I know. There was no time. I was hungry.”

  This girl exuded sexiness from every pore in her body, even when she didn’t know it. She was beautiful and confident … and mine.

  “I’m hungry too,” I mumbled, running my tongue along her neck while I squeezed her breasts and pinched her nipples gently.

  She arched her back and pushed her chest into me, clearly enjoying my playing. My cotton pajama pants started feeling annoyingly tight
just as she reached in and freed me. Her warm, tiny hand felt unbelievably good encasing my cock, rubbing and stroking from the base to the tip.

  “Wanna go in your room?” She purred with a dazed look in her eyes.

  “Hell no, I want you right here.” Teasing her perfect little mouth with my tongue, I gently ran my hand from her knee all the way up her inner thigh. Her legs instantly coated in goose bumps, she twitched as I got close to her center.

  “Little jumpy, are we?”

  “More like needy.” She squeaked out, letting her head fall back.

  Knowing that she was so anxious to feel my hands on her pussy made it difficult not to fuck her senseless right away, but I was selfish and wanted to bring her close to the edge and back again … but not with my fingers. I pushed her knees apart and knelt down in front of her, as her head shot up, her body tensing. “Brody, wait … no one’s ever-”

  I watched her eyes roll back in her head as my tongue slowly slid from the bottom of her pussy up to her ready, swollen clit.

  “What were you saying?” I teased as she groaned an inaudible response. Tickling and massaging her tiny sweet spot with my tongue was almost as entertaining as watching her reaction to it.

  Almost.

  It was hard to concentrate on what I was doing when I was getting lost in her enjoyment.

  Biting her lip, she leaned back against the breakfast bar, her hands desperately searching the smooth counter for something to grab on to while I continued my assault on her clit. The closer she got, the wetter she got, making it impossible for me to wait any longer. I stood up and sprinted to my room, grabbing a condom out of my drawer. I think it was the fastest I’d ever run in my whole fucking life.

  “Here,” I said, handing her the condom.

  “You want me to put it on?” She panted, nervously.

  No words came out of my mouth. I focused on her eyes and nodded.

  With shaky hands, she took the condom out of the package and set it on my tip, upside down. Not wanting to embarrass her, I inconspicuously flipped it over and put my hand over hers, helping her guide it onto me. The need to be inside her was growing by the second and I’d had enough. I grabbed her hips and moved her to the edge of the counter.