100 PROOF

by Shanora Williams

  I shouldn’t have been in this situation. Period.

  But I couldn’t resist him. He was my first at a lot of things, including love.

  I wanted him more and more every time we crossed paths. Any thoughts of Lloyd vanished as soon as I set eyes on his brother. Every sensation took me back to what we were and what I knew.

  I knew we were strong and rebellious. I knew we made the best love possible. I knew that once I had a taste of Vincent, I could never get enough, and the same went for him.

  It wasn’t Lloyd who could set my body and soul on fire. It wasn’t Lloyd who made me feel good and bad all at once. Lloyd couldn’t make me feel this way, with just a light trace of his lips on mine, or the tiptoe of his fingers.

  Lloyd couldn’t make me angry one minute, and in awe the next. He couldn’t pull the emotions out of me that his brother could. He couldn’t give me the rush, the high, or the power.

  But Vin could. It was always fucking Vin, and I didn’t know whether to hate or love that fact.

  I pushed against his shoulders. “Vin. Wait.”

  He stopped, panting, looking me in the eyes. “Shit. You’re right. I’ll stop.” He started to pull away, but I grabbed him, pulling him back down. “No . . . wait.”

  “Fuck, Marley. You’re confusing me, baby. I don’t know what you want.”

  “I . . . I don’t know either.”

  He shook his head, sighing. I saw his throat bob, his eyes cloudy with conflict. He kissed me gently, and I swear I melted.

  “I want you to forget about him. Forget about everything. Think about how good this feels,” he breathed against the hollow of my neck, and then licked me there, dampening my skin. I clenched with need, fingernails sinking into his skin. “Think about how good I’ve always made you feel, Marley. All those times you gave yourself to me, not because you had to, but because it’s what you wanted. He can’t do the things I can do. He can’t make you feel the way I make you feel. He’ll never be able to.”

  He was right, but this was still wrong.

  “That doesn’t matter,” I whispered as he dropped his head, kissing the curve of my breasts. “I’m his fiancée now.”

  He picked up his head, eyes flashing up to meet mine. “And you are my world—have always been mine, since the moment we met. Which is more important?”

  I blinked, stunned by his blunt statement. He held my gaze, panting deep. Without a word, he pulled my sweatpants down so all that was left was my panties.

  This is where I should have stopped him. This is where I should have jumped out from beneath him and run for the exit. If I would have spoken up and thought things through, it would have made things much easier later.

  But I didn’t. I couldn’t.

  Because as he slipped his fingers beneath the waistband of my panties, looking into my eyes like I truly was the light of his life—like I was his moon and stars, and even the earth—I only felt one thing.

  The raw, twisted love we once shared.

  I blossomed again, feeling something I hadn’t felt in years. That tiny, fragile flower, that was buried and covered in dirt when I left him, was peeking through, dying to reveal its smooth petals all over again.

  He was the sun, and as the helpless flower, I needed him. He was the rain, nourishing my stem and petals, giving me life, growth, and strength—giving me what his brother never could.

  He was like a bumblebee, sucking away my rare nectar to build his own honeycomb full of sticky, sweet passion and love.

  I was his whiskey and he was the glass. He needed me to fill his cup and to make him whole. He needed me just as much as I needed him, despite our differences and despite the downfalls.

  Flower and bee.

  Whiskey and glass.

  Fire and ice.

  We were unstoppable together, like a glass of 100 proof liquor. With liquor that strong, we could destroy anyone and anything with one spill. If we weren’t careful and ended up running into flames together, we would only fuel the blazing fire. Everything would blow up before turning to ash. Everything good would be ruined.

  This was a dangerous love, but the risk thrilled me. It always had.

  This was a stupid kind of love, but it was real. So, so real, and so, so bad.

  VIN

  I couldn’t keep my hands off her.

  It’d been years since I had her, and I was glued, every part of my body clinging to her. It’d been years since I felt her—since I’d done anything with her at all.

  My hands wouldn’t stop roaming. They had a mind of their own, gripping her hips, getting tangled in her hair, all while I thrust my hard cock between her smooth thighs.

  She panted beneath me, struggling for breath. She wanted to tell me to stop—I could tell by the way she craned her arms and pushed her palms against my shoulders, but with her eyes closed and her head thrown back, I knew she wanted me more.

  I kissed the exposed skin on her neck, and I swear goosebumps swept over her. Her entire body went limp, her arms finally falling, as if she couldn’t fight it any longer. I picked up my head, looking right at her, breathing deep.

  “Marley, look at me,” I whispered, slowly peeling her panties away.

  She shook her head hard, eyes still squeezed tight.

  “Marlena.”

  Still, her eyes remained closed.

  She didn’t want to watch this happen. She also didn’t want it to stop. That was fine with me. As long as she let me do what I wanted to her right now, it was fine. She didn’t have to say a word.

  I knelt on the bed, lowering my face, dragging my greedy lips over her stomach and then down to the valley between her legs, still pulling her panties down. When they were close to her ankles, I leaned forward, inhaling.

  “Fuck, you always smell so sweet,” I whispered against her skin. Her thighs locked, like my breath was too warm on her, felt too good, but I spread them apart again, looking at her waxed pussy.

  She had a pretty one. I’d had many dreams about her pussy—my pussy—and it was still the same, only waxed now. Not shaved. It was cleaner, smoother, as I ran a finger over the mound. I wanted to devour her, but I had to take this slowly. It had to be easy at first. She had to warm up to it.

  “Vin,” she panted, threading her fingers through my hair.

  “Yeah, baby?”

  “Please,” she begged.

  “Please what, Marley?”

  “You have to stop.” She writhed beneath me as I pressed my lips on her pelvis. I was close—so close. I felt her legs spreading wider, and I grinned, peering up. Her eyes were still shut tight, her head shaking like she couldn’t believe this was happening.

  “Do you want me to stop?” I asked.

  Her eyes finally popped open, and she stared at the ceiling. I could see the guilt taking over so before she thought about it too much, I buried my tongue between her lips, gripping her hips and doing the very thing I’d been dying to do. I ate her sweet, beautiful pussy.

  She let out a hard, wet gasp, clutching the sheets as I tilted her hips and growled, hungry for more—for it all.

  “Holy shit,” she cried out softly, just loud enough for me to hear. She grabbed the sheets tighter. “Vin.” Her voice trembled. “You can’t . . .”

  “I can,” my voice rumbled when I resurfaced. “Look at me, baby.”

  She struggled, unsure, but then she finally picked her head up and met my gaze. Our eyes locked, her chest moving up and down rapidly as she heaved.

  “It’s been way too long since I’ve had a taste of you, Marley,” I murmured. “So I want you to watch me eat your pussy, just like old times. I want you to watch me and remember just how good I made you feel. I want you to remember what you told me that one time—that I was the only one for you. Can you do that for me, babe?”

  She sighed, her head falling back. Though her head fell back, I saw the small nod she gave, the pleasure dripping from every feature of her face. She loved when I talked this way to her. She used to beg me to talk di
rty when we were together and, fuck if I didn’t miss it.

  “Look at me,” I murmured.

  She slowly brought her head up, meeting my eyes again. With her hips still in my hand, I tilted them again, pressing my tongue inside and slowly swirling it around her clit.

  “God,” she breathed as I went deeper, licking up and down, making her wetter and wetter. “I can’t believe I’m doing this.” She jerked when I sucked on her swollen nub. “This is wrong,” she sighed, but her body was so relaxed, and her legs were spreading wider and wider for me, silently begging me to finish her off.

  She said it was wrong, but her body was telling me otherwise.

  I sat up, pushing her feet up to her head. She let out a shrill yelp as I clasped the backs of her thighs in my hands and licked from her clit to her hole. My tongue plunged in, lightly fucking her, and she squeezed a handful of my hair, back arching. I did it again and again, loving the taste of her on my tongue. I couldn’t get enough. Over and over again, I licked and sucked, slurped and devoured, like my fucking life depended on it.

  Her small whimpers became mild screams. My growls became more feral. Before I knew it, her legs were shaking around my head. I looked up and her eyes had rolled to the back of her head, her breath bated, body tense.

  I slid my middle finger inside her, triggering the spot she loved so much. “Are you gonna come for me, Marley?”

  She caged her bottom lip between her teeth, trying to hold off, but seconds later, she exploded, crying my name. My fucking name. And not just Vin.

  No.

  “Vinny!” is what she screamed, like I was the only man she ever wanted—like she wanted me to fuck her right there and now, finish her off with my cock and then sweet, powerful kisses.

  Lloyd, I’m sure, was nowhere on her fucking mind while she shattered. While she came, I wanted to be the only one she thought about. I wanted to be the one she couldn’t get enough of. I wanted to be the only fucking one she could receive this kind of pleasure from.

  After lowering her hips to the bed, I crawled above her, planting my hands outside her head. Her eyes were still shut, breaths thick as she tried to catch it.

  “I bet he’s never made you come the way I just did, has he?”

  Her eyes slowly peeled open. She stared up at me with those bold blue eyes, not blinking. Not speaking.

  “Move,” she said, voice quiet.

  I frowned. “What?”

  “Move, Vin, please!”

  Blinking rapidly, I moved aside, shocked by her sudden change of mood. As soon as I did, she rolled over and picked up her damp skirt, sliding right into it. She wasted no time collecting her car keys.

  “I have to go. Now. That was . . .” She released a ragged breath, raking rough fingers through her hair. “That was stupid of me, and it can’t happen again. Ever. Do you understand?”

  “Whoa—what the fuck, Marlena?” I stood up, rushing towards her. “You can’t just leave like that! You’re still drunk. Don’t be stupid.”

  “I need to go. I can’t stay in this room with you, Vin. You know I can’t.”

  “Yes, you can. I want you to.”

  Her eyes fell, head shaking. “I can’t.”

  “Marley.” I reached up to stroke her cheek, using my other hand to tip her chin. When those blue eyes connected with mine, I put on a small, comforting smile, still stroking the apple of her cheek with the pad of my thumb. “Stay, babe. Please. Just until you sober up. I’d hate myself if anything happened to you because I let you walk out that door.”

  Swallowing thickly, she looked from me to the bed, and then back into my eyes again. Without a word, she pulled away and walked around me, climbing back onto the bed again. She drew her knees up to her chest, resting her head on the pillows.

  She didn’t speak.

  Didn’t move.

  For a second, I wasn’t sure what the fuck to do.

  But I went with my gut.

  I climbed onto the bed too, sliding behind and reeling her back. Her ass was nestled on my semi-hard cock, and she sighed when she felt it.

  I could have taken her, but what we’d just done minutes ago seemed like enough for now. I didn’t know what the hell was going through her head. I knew she felt guilty. That, I was certain about, which was why I didn’t push for more.

  Trust me, I wanted to fuck the shit out of her, feel her clenching me tight and whispering my name as I staked my claim again, but I had to calm down.

  No matter how much I couldn’t stand Lloyd, he was still my brother, and no matter how much I didn’t want to accept the truth, she was still engaged to him.

  She obviously saw something in him.

  She cared about him.

  She was torn.

  I smoothed her hair back, kissing the top of her earlobe. “It’s okay,” I whispered in her ear. “He won’t find out.”

  She fidgeted a little, but kept her back to me. “No,” she finally said after a moment of silence. “It’s not okay, Vin.”

  She didn’t say anything after that, and neither did I. We laid there with overcrowded minds. I eventually fell asleep with her in my arms, something I’d wanted to happen for a long fucking time. It was a peaceful sleep—probably the most peaceful I’d had since she left me.

  But when I woke up, the space between my arms was empty. The side she was lying on was cold now. She was nowhere in sight.

  I was alone again.

  She was gone.

  Even those damn sweatpants were still hanging off the edge of the bed, reminding me just how badly I’d fucked up.

  I pushed out of bed and grabbed my phone, giving her a call.

  But when I called, a deep, familiar voice answered.

  It was Lloyd.

  “Hello? Who is this?” he asked, which proved to me that she hadn’t saved my number. Lloyd wouldn’t have known it by heart. He didn’t give a fuck enough to remember it.

  I hung up before I could say something stupid or give myself away. She didn’t deserve the trouble. He would take it out on her, and I wasn’t going to have it.

  I flew home the same day, unsure when I’d hear from Marley again. My heart was heavy, but I kept moving forward, pretending shit was okay. Pretending I was okay. But really, I wasn’t.

  She’d made her decision as soon as she left. She didn’t want me. She wanted him.

  Zay kept me on my toes and made sure I kept my head up. I guess it was a good thing he did because a month later we received a call about getting approved for a loan for the club.

  Once we got it, we made it our mission to obtain a lease for the property. After the final inspections a few weeks later, we signed the lease, handed over the money, and the club was officially ours.

  This was fucking happening. I was excited—thrilled honestly, about finally accomplishing something this big on my own, but something was holding me back from feeling complete happiness.

  There was only one person I wanted to tell.

  One person I wanted to celebrate with.

  But I couldn’t.

  I couldn’t because she was no longer mine.

  I couldn’t because I’d fucked up, and she regretted everything about me.

  The last few words she said to me still haunted me.

  No, it’s not okay, Vin.

  She said it, and she meant it.

  It wasn’t okay. She wasn’t happy with what she’d done, and because of it I was probably never going to see her again until the actual day of the wedding.

  Shit.

  I guess I fucking deserved it after all the hell I caused her.

  MARLEY

  One Month Later

  Sunlight filtered through the sky-blue curtains, the headboard hitting the wall, causing a light thump.

  Lloyd was above me, his elbows outside my head. He wasn’t looking into my eyes. He had them closed.

  “Oh, yeah. Stay like that, Marlena.”

  I fidgeted just a little, trying hard not to roll my eyes. Veins bulged on his
neck, sweat dampening his forehead. Barely.

  I squeezed my eyes shut, listening to him repeat the same things over and over again.

  “Oh, it feels great.”

  “Shit, I’m so close.”

  “Holy shit. Stay like that, Marlena. I’m so fucking close.”

  He wasn’t the best. He was so vanilla that sometimes it became boring. It was always missionary, maybe doggy-style if he’d had a drink or two and was feeling frisky.

  It’d almost become a routine. I knew what to expect. Two more minutes and he’d be done, I bet.

  I kept my eyes closed as he thrust a little too roughly. I tried thinking about anything else but this, taking one for the team, but every time I did, I thought about the wrong person.

  His brother.

  Vinny.

  That night in the hotel wasn’t supposed to happen. I should have stopped at dropping him off at the hotel and going home. Maybe it’s why I was feeling so distant with Lloyd right now. My future husband was trying to make love to me, and all I could think about was how I’d betrayed him.

  I almost slept with Vin that night. If he’d pushed for more, I would have caved and done something much worse than I had.

  Lloyd finally let out a deep groan, interrupting my thoughts, and collapsed on top of me. My eyes peeled open as he panted, trying to catch his breath.

  “God, that was great,” he sighed, rolling over. I forced a smile as he peered over at me. My silence clearly bothered him because he asked, “Did you not think so?”

  “Of course, babe.” I rubbed his chest. “It was great.”

  He pushed out of bed, pleased with that response, and I knew that was it. He’d never been one to make sure I was satisfied. It was strange. Ever since I found out they were brothers, I’d been comparing them, and one main thing was that he was nothing like Vin in bed.

  While Vin made sure that I was completely taken care of and fully satisfied, Lloyd believed just having him was enough. But it wasn’t. It never was.

  He walked to the bathroom and started the shower. “I needed that before this long schedule this week,” he called from the bathroom.