by Anna Collins
I was inclined to wrap my legs around his waist. He pushed against my chest with his hand and I flopped back with screams of ecstasy dripping from my lips. I was demanding satisfaction. I got that for the third time. There was no use in pretending. This would change everything, but I didn’t have a chance to really think about that. It wasn’t easy for him, but he stayed the course until I was in the aftermath of my third and final heavenly jumpstart. It signaled the end for him. He was racing at a high octane and I was imbued with a feeling of warmth. He gave five sharp thrusts and then lay down on top of me with a sweet and lingering kiss on my lips.
He was still on top of me and the storm that we had caused had come and gone. In its wake was recrimination. He rolled to his side and I saw the imprint of my hands burned into his flesh. It would fade in time, but it did give me a giddy thrill to see how I had marked my territory.
We both had each other’s number and I wasn’t sure how I was going to go about telling him that this could be only a one-time thing. It didn’t seem necessary to say anything of the sort. We had this time to bask in the aftermath. The conclusion of our flirting had ended with a bang and not a whimper. I reached for a glass of ice water and used one of the cubes to cool myself down. The ice cube melted on contact with my flesh.
“I had my doubts about if this was ever going to happen. I thought that you were just one big tease with no intention of following through. I brought you here because I thought that we needed some time to get to know each other. I’m just not sure how I’m going to keep my hands off of you. That passion that I show in front of my siblings will not be fake. It will be the real deal and I hope that you are ready for that,” Drake said with his hand on my chest tracing figure eights with the water from the ice cube.
Chapter 14
“I should’ve known that the both of you couldn’t be trusted. I feel like I have let you down in some way by letting this happen,” Jackson said with his arms crossed and staring at the both of us with only a sheet covering our naked bodies.
“I did initially bring you with me because I thought that I was too weak to resist his charms. I realize now that I don’t need anybody to police my life. I make my own mistakes and I live by them. I still need you and I hope that you still know that your friendship is the only thing that is keeping me sane,” I said with my hand on Drake’s chest.
“This was going to happen and it was just a matter of time. I wouldn’t lose any sleep over it. I haven’t exactly been playing fair, but it’s not like I’m the only one. She has gone out of her way to make herself look irresistible and had done an amazing job of it. To be honest, I don’t think that your presence is necessary anymore, but that’s not up to me. If Michelle is comfortable with you being around, then I won’t fight her on that. I can tell you that my siblings can be quite a handful. We might be dysfunctional, but they are the only family that I have. I don’t trust them and neither should both of you. They will do everything they can to undermine me going so far as to turn you against me,” Drake said with his one chance to be with me simmering after the flames had already consumed us.
“I would say that you are a disappointment, but it’s not my place to cast stones. We are all responsible for what we do in this life. The only judgment that you will find is when you meet the man at the pearly gates. I have faith in the man above to sort this out in the end. It has been a never ending dirty dance between the two of you. It’s a wonder that this hasn’t happened already. I would say that you have gotten it out of your system, but I’m seeing something more here than any kind of closure,” Jackson said holding onto the towel around his neck with his hair dripping from what was obviously an impromptu dip in the ocean.
“I didn’t want to say anything, but you being distracted helped to pave the way for me to be with Drake. I’m sure that you don’t wanna hear this, but he really did rock my world. We can do better. It only takes practice and I’m willing to put in the time if he is. That being said, I still don’t think that it’s a good idea for us to be anything more than touchy feely in front of your siblings. To do anything else will open us up to a deeper interrogation which I’m not sure that we are prepared for. We need to have our wits about us and be able to out think anything that they might come up with to trip us up,” I said with my mind running with images of how he gave me the time of my life.
“In theory, I understand what you’re saying. I have to wonder how much conviction we are actually going to have when we are thrown together. We will leave here in the next day or two. We will have plenty of time to be grilled over the coals by my brothers and sister. I’ve just gotten word that they have converged on the family homestead. Their rooms are basically a shrine to each of them courtesy of our parents. They have heard about my upcoming nuptials and they are anxious to meet you. I’m a little hesitant to throw you into the lion’s den. They will have a pack mentality. Fear will be something that they smell in the air,” he said making them sound like they were a bunch of jackals ready to tear into me with their metaphorical claws.
“I have a tough skin and I can take just about anything that they want to dish out. I’ve learned to give as good as I get. I don’t like confrontation, but sometimes it’s necessary to get dirty. They may see me as easy prey, but they will learn the hard way that I’m more than just what you see on the surface. Who am I trying to kid? They’ll have me for dinner and then spit out the bones. My only hope is that the two of you will help me to navigate these choppy waters,” I said as I looked toward both Drake and Jackson for their continued support.
“I’ll do what I can to keep them off your back, but I know them like the back of my hand. They will be relentless and they won’t let me step in to be of any use to you. The best that you can hope for is that Jackson will be able to do what I can’t do. I can make them back down, but that’s not a card that I’m willing to play unless absolutely necessary,” He said making me feel a bit curious about what leverage he might have over them.
“As long as I’m on the case there’s no way that they’re going to be able to intimidate you. I won’t let anybody hurt my friends physically or emotionally. You have always been there for me and I think that it’s fair to say that I will always be there for you. We need a unified approach with no cracks in our story that they can jump on. We have to have everything so that we are on the same page,” Jackson said. He was the voice of reason. He had me wondering if we really did have enough time.
“This is definitely my darkest hour. Don’t kid yourself into thinking that they won’t do practically anything to get their hands on that fortune. They won’t care who they hurt with their words and actions. I’m sure that for the most part, they will try to be on their best behavior. They won’t want to do anything to jeopardize whatever insidious plan they have concocted. The unbiased executor of the will won’t accept infighting. They will smile to your face, but they will obviously be plotting something behind your back. The only thing that I can suggest is that you keep one eye open when you sleep,” Drake said with an air of urgency that made me take him seriously.
“I know that we all overindulged, but I don’t seem to have any gaps in my memory. In fact, it’s pretty damn clear about what was said. I have a good recollection of all of it. It would be best that we all quiz one another to see if we have retained the information,” Jackson said as he sat down in a chair making me feel a little self-conscious about being naked underneath a very thin sheet.
We took about an hour to go over any possible questions that could be asked. We had our stories straight and the evidence of our union was in the form of several photographs on social media. Text messages could easily be retrieved to signify that our flirtation was only getting hotter and hotter.
“Let’s not take for granted that we know this inside and out. When you least expect it, I will throw a few curveballs to see if you can weather the onslaught. That might not seem fair, but the best way to test us is when we least expect it. I don’t expect either one of y
ou to be at 100%. I do expect that you will be 100% when we leave here in the next couple of days. I’ve received word from all of my brothers and my sister that they are chomping at the bit. They’ve already told me in no uncertain terms that they don’t believe for one second that I have found true love. They believe it to be a ruse and they have made it abundantly clear that they are going to ruin my chance of getting that money,” Drake said as Jackson left us to freshen up. He was whistling a tune that I remember and it was obvious that he was teasing me mercilessly about losing the battle and not the war.
“I know that you don’t want him to be there, but I need him. The one thing that you can’t pick is your family and in this case, Jackson has always been my family. He’s not blood but he may as well be,” I said with a gasp of excitement from how he grazed over my clit with his finger.
“I know what you’re going to say and I don’t want to hear it. I can’t leave you alone. What we did last night only opened up a Pandora’s Box. I feel like I’m caught in between confusion and blind passion. There has to be a way for us to be together in that house without losing our focus. I’m standing on principle. I want this to work out for the both of us and I’m determined to make sure that my siblings don’t stand in the way. The one thing that I know about life is that happiness is a mirage. It can be there one day and gone the next. That is not what I want for either one of us,” Drake said making me believe that there was a future and not just the present. The past molded us, but it was what we did from that moment on that would forever seal our fate.
“I thought that it was going to take you forever to realize what you had. I hope that you’re not just saying what I want to hear. You seem genuine, but I have been fooled in the past. That is not a road that I want to travel again with anyone. What does it take to make you believe that we are not wasting our time? Last night is a good start and a step that we probably should have taken a long time ago. I was afraid and you helped alleviate some of that fear by constantly showing your interest,” I said that my back toward him as if I was afraid of what kind of expression I would see on his face.
He touched my shoulder and I could tell from the way that he was squeezing that muscle that he was trying to quell my hesitation. This journey was months in the making. Having that license to explore my limits had opened me up to more than I believed that I could handle. I put my hand on his and I squeezed to confirm that my faith in him was not misplaced. It was a comforting gesture and one that I wasn’t sure that he was capable of. He was showing that he was more than just the picture postcard of a philandering pig. He was the type of guy that hedged his bets. It made me worry.
“I’ve never been one to make any sort of commitment in the past. I can’t give you one right now, but that doesn’t mean that I won’t somewhere down the road. I’m sure that you have your doubts and I don’t blame you for that. I can’t give you the answer that you’re looking for. I need you to promise me that you will let this be. I don’t want you to become clingy. Women have more of an emotional attachment when they sleep with someone. Guys have only one thing on their mind. That isn’t the same for every guy. I wanted to sleep with you and I had no ulterior motives other than seeing that smile on your face,” Drake said feeding me a bunch of horse nonsense.
“I don’t know what tomorrow brings and I don’t think that anybody does. It’s one of the mysteries of the world that we contend with every day. I’m going to go out on a limb to say that I want to be with you. I will take whatever I can get. You’re afraid of letting me in and that’s not something that I can do for you. I’m the best thing that has ever happened in your life. I don’t mean to sound arrogant, but you have been wasting your time with those other girls,” I said holding his hand tightly and never letting go.
“This was precisely what I was afraid was going to happen. You are as sweet and last night only made me want a repeat performance. It could’ve been a fluke and there’s only one way to find out. Are you up for the challenge? We have one more day in paradise and then we will be on our way to my family estate. I’ve shown you photographs, but they don’t do it justice,” Drake said with his voice wavering in confidence.
“We can’t let your family see any of those doubts. In every relationship, there are moments where one or the other needs to decide if they are ready to cut bait and run. I don’t know what that final straw is going to be and I hope that we never have to find out. I know that you can afford to buy me pretty things, but money is not something that I’m interested in. I have no problem taking yours, but I don’t want you to get the wrong idea either. You’re the one that forced it on me and don’t think that it makes me owe you anything,” I said as I put on a red bikini that stretched over my ample bosom.
I saw the last brief glimpse of his package as he pulled on his shorts. I gave an appreciative second going over from the top of his shoulders all the way down to his strong and quite noticeable muscular calves. Drake had no problem letting it all hang out. Apparently, their entire family was known to go to Europe for vacations where there weren’t any hang-ups about the human body.
There was a light knocking and standing at the door looking around sheepishly was Pina. “It appears that your family wasn’t willing to wait for your arrival. One of them has landed and is on his way here. I don’t know which one it is, but he was quite insistent and made a bit of a fuss with Rowan. He went to pick him up and they should be back at any moment. I just thought that you needed a heads up. I’m sure that he came here to catch you unprepared for his arrival. I know what you have said about your family. One of them has taken it upon themselves to come here to get to the truth of the matter,” Pina said as he looked at the both of us half undressed. He made it seem like he was a doctor and had seen it all before
There was no ogling of the exposed merchandise. He wasn’t gay like his brother. It was kind of disappointing that he didn’t find me attractive enough to stare at me the same way that construction workers would whistle and throw around terms like marriage and sleeping with them. It was frowned upon but I couldn’t deny the ego boost it gave me. It was a whole lot worse when they ignored me completely. I had frank discussions on the particular subject with some girls during Sunday brunch. It was the one time that I could listen to them dish about their lives. Nothing was off limits. I never mentioned Drake, but they knew that something was making me glad to be alive. They questioned me, but I was quick to avoid answering by changing the topic of conversation.
I could tell the Drake wasn’t happy by the unfortunate arrival of one of his siblings. He had already confessed several times that they avoided each other like the plague. The only time any of them spoke was when they were in trouble. It didn’t matter how they felt about one another because they were still blood. Drake was the oldest and expected to pull their fat out of the fire.
“I should have known better than to trust that we had time to prepare. If it’s who I think it is, then we are going to have to be ready for his unique charm. I don’t want to scare you, but he has this way of getting what he wants. I would not believe anything that comes out of his lying mouth. He will say and do anything and that’s the god honest truth. I have never trusted him and his addiction to gambling has made him a force to be reckoned with. He has a poker face that he relies on to bluff the other players into thinking that he has a certain hand. Most often than not, he’s holding nothing but junk. He learned to be emotionally unavailable from our father. I don’t think that’s a trait that should’ve been passed on,” Drake said.
“You talk about him like he’s the devil. He can’t possibly be that bad for you to think that he can get me to reveal something that I’m not going to. I don’t want there to be any misunderstanding. Let him try his worst and see what it gets him,” I said thinking that I was ready for his family and knowing deep down that there wasn’t any way for me to be ready for the likes of them. He hadn’t even told me what brother it was, but I had a good idea.
“You have to remembe
r that he makes his living gambling. There are times that he’s in that zone where you never know what he’s thinking. That is what makes him dangerous. He has even fooled me a few times. He psychologically gets into your head and plant’s roots. If he sets his sights on you then you can be sure that he will find out all of your dirty little secrets,” Drake said as he got up quickly. This was the first time that I’d ever seen him panic like his pants were on fire.
Chapter 15
I wasn’t all that worried about Frankie, but I couldn’t say the same for Drake. He had grilled me on my story about how we met and what kind of relationship we had. It was starting to grate on my last nerve and thankfully, it stopped when the jeep returned with Frankie in tow.
“Be cordial to him, but don’t go out of your way to make him feel welcome. I want him to know without saying it that this is my oasis and there’s no place for him here. I could easily make him leave, but that would only send the wrong message to the rest of the family. Tanner will see it as a declaration of war and we will never hear the end of it. My sister Janine has always sided with the one that she believes is the winner. She has this inane ability to see potential in others and use that to fan the flame of discontent between the three of us,” Drake said as he went over to his brother who had his long hair in a ponytail and wearing a pair of sunglasses that were a little bit more conventional than the ones that Drake wore.
