by Khan, Jen
I pull his bottom lip in between my teeth and he groans. I run my tongue slowly, gently over it.
“Then take me,” I moan into his mouth.
Braden lets out a shaky sigh before he bends his head down licking and sucking on me through my bra. He pulls the cup down, exposing my breast, and swirls his tongue over my nipple.
My head falls back, hitting the wall behind me. I grip the back of his head to hold him in place when he bites down.
“Oh my God,” I gasp, as the pleasure shoots throughout my body, especially to that area between my legs.
Braden releases my nipple and immediately swirls his tongue around it. His mouth curves into a grin as he moves to the other to give it equal attention.
He kisses his way up my neck, my jaw, then to my ear. He is crouching down before me, unzipping my boots and removing them one at a time, slinging them over his shoulder behind him.
My body stiffens when Braden stands, leans in, and puts his mouth to my neck before unzipping my jeans. His head lifts from my neck. The whole time, he is staring into my eyes, silently begging me to trust him.
I brace myself as he hooks his thumbs into my pants and pulls them down. He stands before me and removes his shirt.
He puts one hand on either side of my head, studying my face. I can only assume he is looking for a sign that I need him to stop. That is not the sign I am giving him tonight.
I smile at him and lick my lips, to which he responds by pulling me into him.
“You taste amazing.” He kisses along my jaw and down to that sensitive spot between my neck and shoulder, where he gently bites down.
My eyes roll and I close them, exhaling.
“I want you, Braden. Now.”
That’s all it takes. He lifts me by my waist, and my legs immediately wrapped around his as he walks us down the hall to his room.
*****
The moans that escape my mouth have Braden increasing his rhythm inside of me. He lunges forward and deep, pulling back slowly, over and over. Faster and harder. We are both breathing erratically.
Our eyes lock and that does something to me. I feel it deep in my chest. The warmth, the desire, the love I have for this beautiful man over me who looks down at me like I am the only person on earth.
And I am all his.
I have never felt a connection like this before—even when we were together previously. It’s as if something has changed. Something deeper that I can’t quite understand. I am not scared anymore. We are two souls that were made for each other. There is a sense of longing and so much love in what Braden is doing to me right here, right now. This isn’t just sex for him. He is making love to me, and in that moment, it is as if he were showing me, proving to me that it is just him and me. Nothing else matters. He is taking away from the fear, the loneliness, and the pain I have grown to know over the past few months as my only existence.
He pounds his hips against me, holding himself above with his strong arms while I wrap my legs around him, pulling him in deeper with every stroke.
“Baby,” Braden roars. “Your body was made for me.”
My breath catches in my chest. “I was made for you. Only you,” I affirm.
Another roar rips from his chest, and I arch my back, trying to get closer.
Oh God! I am about to come.
It is as if he knows, and he does. He knows my body better than I know it.
“Come for me,” Braden urges as he dips his head into the crook of my neck and rotates his hips.
That does it.
“Braden!” I gasp and tilt my head back into the pillow.
He lifts his, thrusts inside of me, and stills as I come around him.
“Look at me, Em. I want to see your eyes. I want to watch you when you come.”
The way my name rolls off his tongue while he is inside of me is beautiful. Damn, I really love my name when he says it like this. If I never hear anything else in my entire life, I can live with that.
I open my eyes and look up to find his. Braden and I gaze deep into each other’s eyes and our souls connect.
“You are so damn beautiful.”
He starts to move again.
Just that sets another orgasm in motion. It is building up deep down inside. Holy shit!
“I want you to come with me,” Braden says, biting his bottom lip as he continues pumping inside of me. “Come for me, baby. Come with me.”
The deep growl that emanates from Braden’s chest sends a shiver through my entire body. I scream his name as another wave hits me.
Braden thrusts deep twice more and stills, throwing his head back with another guttural growl and immediately looking back down on me. This wonderful man comes undone inside of me.
We glance at each other as we start to come back down to earth. My entire mind and body are consumed by him.
I wrap my arms around him, and Braden lays on my chest, being careful not to put all of his weight on me.
We are both breathing heavily and holding each other tight. I am almost too afraid to let him go. I don’t want to ever let him go again. Pushing him out of my life only hurt us both even more in the long run.
God. All that wasted time.
No more running. I only wish I would have figured it out earlier. This man loves me. The song he wrote and sang up on that stage tonight proves that to me beyond a shadow of a doubt.
I am done with running.
By the time Braden lifts up his head and smiles down at me, I realize that I have no idea how long we have been lying like this. I was so consumed with thoughts of past regret.
His voice brings me out of my head. “Hey, you,” he whispers as he runs his knuckles down the side of my face.
“Hey, you,” I whisper back as tears start to roll down my face.
In an instant, his face goes from happy and content to concern. “Hey—did I hurt you?” Braden asks, his brow furrows.
I lift my hand to the one that is stroking my face and take it in mine. “No.” I shake my head. “Quite the opposite,” I say, smiling through my tears.
He kisses my forehead, my nose, my left cheek, and then my right.
It happens so fast. He rounds his arm, put a hand to my back, and I am on top of him, looking down at him never losing our connection. I rest my head on his chest. He gently strokes my back with his finger, soothing me, and I relax my entire body.
My body is getting a little too relaxed as he continues to stroke my back, but I don’t want to fall asleep until I tell him.
Forcing myself up, I lift myself off of him and gasp at the instant loss of our connection.
He watches me as I stare at him with my palms on his chest. His hands rest on my thighs, which are on both sides of his body.
“I can’t go another moment without telling you how much you mean to me,” I choke out.
His hands tighten on my thighs and he looks down at them. He looks back up at me with a guarded look in his eyes.
“When we broke up, I did it because I thought that it was the best thing for you. Not me. I knew it wasn’t good for me. It gutted me, and it continued to gut me every day. Every day that I woke up and you weren’t lying in my bed next to me, it gutted me, Braden.”
I look up at the ceiling, trying to hold back my tears.
“Emma? Baby, listen to me.” He sits up on his elbows to get closer.
“No, I need you to listen to me. I can’t do this anymore,” I tell him.
He flinches as if I had slapped him. Oh God! This isn’t coming out like I planned it to.
I take his face in my hands and bend down to kiss him lightly on the lips.
“I’m tired of running, baby. I’m not going to run from you, from us, from this anymore.”
Braden continues to study my face, before he whispers, “I love you, Em. I never stopped loving you. You’re it for me. You’re my everything.”
A sob escapes me. “I love you too!” I cry out.
He sits up, bringing me with him. He
trails his fingers from my forehead down to my lips. His eyes move to my mouth. He licks his lips, sucks his bottom lip in, and bites it. His eyes come back to mine.
“I love you,” I whisper to him.
Braden lifts us up, twists, and I am on my back again, him on top of me. He holds his upper body up on his elbows at either side of my head looking as though he is trying to read my thoughts.
My heart still, bracing for what is going to happen next. He is struggling with something.
He exhales a breath I didn’t realized he was holding. He looks at my mouth again and says, “Jesus. Do you know how long I’ve waited for those words to come out of those beautiful lips of yours again?”
I close my eyes and my heart resumes its normal function.
“Emma, look at me. Please?” I do as he asks, and when I do, he is smiling the biggest, happiest, most gorgeous smile I’ve ever laid eyes on. Dimple in all its glory. “I. Love. You,” he states again.
We wrap our arms around each other. There is something damp on my shoulder. Braden lifts his head, and I can see the tears in his eyes.
I raise my head up, circling the back of his head, and bring his lips down to mine. “I love you,” I say against his lips again like I can’t say it enough.
I have to make up for lost time.
A kiss that starts out sweet becomes passionate and heated in an instant. Braden rocks his hips and I let him take me away for the remainder of the night and well into the early-morning hours.
The next morning, I wake to a warm tongue in between my legs.
Oh my.
I look down to see Braden spreading my legs farther apart. I’ve always loved his mouth, and what it can do to my body is obscene.
And I like it. So I tell him that.
“I like your mouth on me,” I point out.
A low laugh comes from his chest, and the rumble it sends between my legs is amazing.
“Good, because I plan on putting my mouth on you a lot.” Braden licks my clit.
My head slams back against the pillow as I moan in satisfaction. My hips arch toward his tongue.
He looks up at me and winks. “A lot,” he repeats, and he dives in. He is licking and teasing that one spot that needs licking and teasing.
Damn. I lose all thought.
Braden comes up on his knees and draws one of my legs over his shoulder, placing a hand on the inside of my other thigh to hold it down so that I open myself more to him. He continues his teasing and sucks my clit into his mouth.
That is the trigger.
I fist the sheets, call out his name, and explode in his mouth.
Braden growls as he laps his tongue against me.
“Good morning,” I sigh.
“Good morning, baby,” he laughs.
Indeed it is a good morning. Hell, it is a great morning. Last night was the best night of my life. Braden and I connected on a whole different level, and I know we are in this for the long haul.
Braden crawls up my body and kisses me. “I love you,” he whispers.
Smiling, I kiss his entire face. First his forehead, then his cheeks, his nose, and his chin. “I love you too!”
“Good. You. Me. Shower.” He pulls us out of bed and leads me to the bathroom.
We are in the shower until the water gets cold.
Best. Shower. Ever!
Chapter Fifteen
Murphy is an hour and a half late, and by the time he shows up, not only am I busy, but I am pissed. Juice had to stay to cover because we were smack in the peak of happy hour.
He stalks in wearing a wine-colored t-shirt, which, if I didn’t dislike him so much, would look fantastic as hell on him. It goes well with his dark hair, goatee, and darker complexion. He has on dark blue jeans and black motorcycle boots. The jackass rides a Harley, which—again— if I didn’t dislike him so much, would be sexy as hell.
When he makes it to the bar, I am pouring a round of shots for table twelve. Table twelve has been here for two hours and they are a drinking bunch.
“Hey, boss,” he greets, pulling on an apron.
I eye his shirt and tilt my head at him. Extending my hand to him, I point my finger, running it in a sweeping motion.
“What are you wearing, Murphy?”
He looks down at his shirt and gives me a shit eating grin. No answer.
He thought he was just going to come in late, not dressed in uniform, and continue on like none of that matters.
Oh hell no. Those days are done.
“You’re over an hour late,” I inform him.
“Sorry, but—“
I go on. “You’re also dressed out of uniform.”
“Whoops,” he responds.
I deliver the shots to the wait station, face him, and cross my arms over my chest. “You’re over an hour late, you aren’t dressed in uniform, and when you are here, you don’t do anything but flirt with the town whores. You don’t have anyone’s back around here but your own. Why do you think you still have a job here?”
His head drops to the side as he sizes me up with a grin on his face. “I suspect it’s because of my good looks and charm, boss.”
I cock a brow.
His grin gets wider. “I said I was sorry.”
“Your apology means shit, Murphy.”
His smile drops and his face goes slack. He opens his mouth to speak but, nope I’m finished!
“You don’t even have an excuse. As far as I’ve seen, you don’t take this job seriously.” I gape at him. “Take your apron off, and get to steppin’ right out the way you came in. I’m done with you.”
“What? Are you firing me?” His eyes grow big as his body gets rigid.
“I am,” I reply.
“But you can’t fire me. Jim hired me,” Murphy responds.
“I’m here now. Jim knows you’re not worth the money he pays to keep you on board. Braden knows you slack on the job, Olivia has been dying for you to take a flying leap, and Juice thinks you’re an asshole. We don’t need you anymore. Go.”
“You’re serious?”
“I am. Go.”
Murphy glares at me with his eyes wide and mouth wide—shock. He reaches around his back, unties his apron, puts it on the bar, and storms out the door.
My eyes slice to the regulars sitting a few feet away at the bar who quickly avert their eyes and take pulls of their beers.
Juice rounds the bar and pulls me into a bear hug. “I’ll stay on and help out,” he offers.
I breathe a sigh of relief. “Thanks, Juice.”
“Daayyyyuuum, homegirl. That was amazing!” Olivia skips up to the bar, giggling and slamming her tray on the wait station. “That asshole had it coming to him for a long time now.”
“That wasn’t fun,” I mumble.
Olivia lets another giggle escape her. “Dad never had it in him to fire that douchebag. Too nice. Now we got ourselves a pit bull behind the bar.” She bounces up and down and bounds off to her customers.
Juice’s body starts shaking with laugher.
I look to the customers at the bar who are also laughing.
I get back to pouring beer and mixing up shots for a very thirsty table twelve, making a mental note to put a “Help Wanted” ad in the paper.
It’s a couple of hours later when SHE walks in. I am still hustling behind the bar. It is Sunday night with a healthy crowd.
My back straightens when I see her.
Tara is strutting to the bar in a short, short black miniskirt, sleeveless red silk blouse, a pair of silver high-heels, and bling. Holy cow—a lot of bling. Her blond hair is pulled back in a complicated twist, and she has a huge Coach bag slung around her shoulder. She is way too dressed up for a joint like this, which leads me to believe that she’s going to start a shit show.
Her heavily lined blue eyes roam around the bar until she spots me. She heads straight for me.
She plants herself onto a barstool, a look of disgust on her face.
Shit.
&nb
sp; Olivia is running around and Juice is serving up libations to a group at the other end of the bar, so I put on my brightest, fakest smile.
"Hi, what can I get for you?" I greet, getting a bar nap and sliding it on the bar in front of her. I was going for sweet and chill.
She eyeballs me from top to bottom. "A glass of chardonnay."
I nod, reach up, and snag a wine glass before turning to the mini wine fridge, removing a bottle of chardonnay, popping the cork, and pouring. I place the wine glass on the bar nap in front of her.
She grips the glass, takes a big gulp, draining half of it, and looks around the bar without even so much as a thank-you.
Bitch.
My eyes find Charlena and big Pete, whose eyes are on Tara. I hurry down the bar, checking glasses and making sure we have plenty of bar naps and straws in the caddies. Never minding the fact that I did this just before she walked in the door.
I return to the spot where Tara is sipping her wine and practically snarling at everyone.
Uppity bitch.
"Do you know why Braden isn't answering my calls?" Tara shoots.
This surprises me. Apparently, she wants me to claw her stupid eyes out before the night is over.
I continue stuffing bar naps in the caddie next to her, eyes on the naps. I shake my head. "Sorry, I don't. Maybe you should ask him."
"I would if he answered my calls," Tara clips.
Okay, this is my cue to stock the clean glasses in the freezer. I get three steps away when she pushes the wrong damn button.
"Don't walk away from me," she orders in that uptight voice of hers that I am already finding ridiculous and annoying.
I face her, hands on my hips, and close those three steps back to her.
Tilting my head to the side, I ask in my bitchiest tone, "Excuse me, darlin'?"
She laughs at me. It's on.
"I'm not your darlin'."
I open my mouth to respond, but she beats me to the punch.
"Word in town has it that you and him are an item now," she bites. "The thing is, I don't know why he wants you when he can have and has had me."
I roll my eyes. She is trying to goad me into a fight. I am going to let her.
