by April Wilson
“That’s just cruel,” I say, picking up the dainty, lace garment and laying it carefully aside. She chuckles.
The sight of her bare breasts steals my breath, and I reach up to cup them with reverence, molding my hands to them and brushing her velvety soft nipples with my thumbs. Instantly they pucker up into tight little rosebuds. I’ve never seen anything more beautiful than the sight of her naked breasts. I could stare at them for hours and still not get my fill.
Beth’s hands come up to cover mine, and she presses my hands to her flesh, encouraging me to knead her breasts as she gently rocks herself on my erection. I swear I can feel her heat even through our clothing, and the anticipation is torturous.
“Clothes off,” I say, reaching for the waistband of her shorts. The sooner I get her naked, the sooner I can get inside her.
She brushes my hands aside, grinning. “Not yet.”
When she presses her cleft against my erection, pleasure burns through my entire body, from the roots of my hair, down my torso, straight to my cock, which is straining against my clothing. “Jesus, Beth! Are you trying to kill me?”
She looks down at me, her eyes bright with arousal. “I want you.”
There’s no hesitation in her voice, and I realize then that she doesn’t need space from me. She needs a connection, she needs reassurance that everything’s okay between us. She needs me.
“Show me,” I say, my voice sounding deep and rough. I rise up and gently remove the band holding her hair in a ponytail and let the long blond strands flow over her shoulders like a pale silk curtain. I’m filled with the exquisite scent of her hair, and I breathe in deeply, wanting to lose myself in it.
I lie back down and she leans close to resume kissing me, her lips soft and teasing. She’s definitely trying to drive me crazy, and she’s doing a hell of a good job of it. The girl’s dangerous. Her tongue slips inside my mouth, hesitantly searching and stroking, jacking up my heart rate. I can feel the hot rush of blood surging through me.
When she sucks on my tongue, my entire body shudders and I can’t resist pressing my erection into her, desperate for her to touch my cock. When she doesn’t take the hint, I grab one of her hands and bring it to my aching dick, pressing her open hand against me. “Touch me!”
She smiles against my lips and hums a soft moan into my mouth, as her fingers trace the outline of my hard, thick length through my cargo shorts.
I buck into her again. “More. Harder.”
She presses her cleft harder to my aching cock, teasing me with the feel of her damp heat, then she lifts herself to unzip my shorts. I groan at the momentary loss of her touch, but soon her cool fingers are slipping inside my boxers, wrapping themselves around me and squeezing gently. Dear God, that feels good. Her touch is electrifying.
“Harder, sweetheart! You won’t hurt me.”
She complies, tentatively at first, but I think she’s encouraged by my groans, and her fingers tighten on me. It’s exquisite torment to feel her fingers wrapped around me. When she strokes me, I shudder, swamped by the aching pleasure of her touch.
She scrambles off me then and pulls off her own shorts and underwear. Then she grabs hold of my shorts and boxers and draws them down my legs. I lift my hips to assist, and a moment later, we’re both naked. Finally!
When she sidles up to me and straddles my hips, I realize she’s going to ride me. My balls are already close to bursting, and I don’t know how much more of this I can take. I have to clench my jaws to hold still. I watch her reach between her legs and touch herself. She watches me as she runs one finger along her cleft, testing her own wetness, and then she takes hold of my cock and rubs the head of it between her slick folds to lube me up. Damn. She’s going to kill me long before this is over.
All I can say is thank God for birth control pills because nothing’s going to come between us when she finally puts me inside her. She positions the tip of me at her entrance and slowly lowers herself onto me, gently pressing down. At first, there’s a moment of sweet resistance, when her snug little opening refuses to let me in. She wriggles on me a bit, biting her lower lip in concentration, and then we both gasp when her body swallows the head of my cock, surrounding it in sweet, warm heat. Slowly, she sinks down on me.
“Fuck!” I fist the sheets and hold on for dear life, afraid that if I put my hands on her, I’ll bruise her, so I grab the bedding instead. She’s killing me here, and if the expression on her face is any indication, she’s enjoying inflicting a little bit of sexual torment on me.
She lifts up slowly, and I feel my cock dragging along the hot, slick walls of her opening. When she sinks back down on me, a little easier this time, I have to grit my teeth in an effort to hold still. I want to thrust myself into her so badly, as deeply as I can, but she’s not ready for that yet. She’s still working on accommodating all of me. I take deep, regular breaths, trying to reign myself in.
She makes such a pretty picture sitting astride me, wearing nothing but my engagement ring. I reach up and cup a breast in each hand, my big palms enveloping her sweet little mounds. My thumbs tease her nipples, and I’m rewarded with sexy little sounds that make me even harder, as if that’s humanly possible. She moans, throwing her head back as my thumbs tease her nipples into hard little buds.
I sit up and draw one of her nipples into my mouth, laving it with my tongue, swirling the little pebbled tip before sucking on it, and she grabs hold of my arms for dear life.
She’s moving on me easier now that my cock is coated with her slick juices. I lie back on the bed and grit my teeth against coming too soon. I want this to last. I want to watch her ride me, watch her chase her own orgasm and explode before I allow myself to come. She closes her eyes and rocks on me, gently undulating her hips as she searches for the right angle.
“That’s it, sweetheart,” I tell her, my hands skimming up her thighs to clutch her hips, coaxing her to move. “Find your pleasure and take it.”
She closes her eyes and her hands come down on my chest as she leans forward. She rides me so perfectly. I reach between her legs and tease her clit with the pad of my thumb, stroking and circling the little knot as she voices her pleasure. Her eyes are closed as she works herself on my rod. Her cheeks flush a pretty pink as she worries her lower lip. I know when she’s found the right angle because she moans breathlessly. Her hands slide to my forearms and she holds me tightly as her sex tightens on my cock. She’s getting close, I can tell from the way her sex tightens on me, squeezing me so perfectly. Throwing her head back, she cries out as her orgasm hits her.
She rides me through it, drawing out her pleasure. And when she’s finally coming down from the high, I sit up and enfold her in my arms, then gently roll us so that I’m on top. I take hold of one of her thighs and hitch her leg up high so that I can sink even more deeply inside her. I’m in so far now that the head of my cock hits her cervix, and she gasps. Hell, we both do. I huff out a deep breath and withdraw.
It’s my turn to move now, and I savor the feel of her slick channel surrounding my dick as I slide in and out, picking up the pace. Her hands are on my chest, my biceps, my shoulders as she caresses me. She meets each and every thrust, and it doesn’t take long before I feel my balls tighten and draw up. I’m so close. I want this to last, but it feels too damn good to hold out any longer. I finally give in to my body’s demands and let my orgasm overtake me, erupting hotly into her welcoming body. As spurt after spurt of my seed fills her channel, I slow my thrusts and enjoy the feel of my come inside her, so hot and slick.
After my climax wanes, I slowly pull out of her and collapse beside her. My chest heaves as I try to catch my breath. We lie like that for awhile, simply holding each other, both of us breathing hard. I lift her left hand and study the ring on her finger. My engagement ring. She’s wearing my ring. It’s the first step to making her officially mine forever.
I bring her ring finger to my lips and kiss it. “I’m going to be your husband,” I say.
“When?”
Her eyes widen. “When what?”
“When can we be married?”
Her smile falters. “I haven’t thought that far yet. When were you thinking?”
“How about today?”
She glances out the window at the graying sky. “I think it’s too late to get married today. Besides, I’m pretty sure some planning has to go into it. You know, licenses and that sort of thing.”
“Okay, just tell me when,” I say, climbing out of bed and scooping a squealing Beth up into my arms.
I carry her into the bathroom, and we take a long, leisurely shower, taking turns soaping each other from head to toe. When we’re done showering, I sit on the counter with a towel wrapped around my hips and watch her comb her hair and blow it dry.
When we finally head back to the bedroom to get dressed, my phone chimes with an incoming call.
Beth picks it up and reads the caller ID, then hands me the phone. “It’s Cooper.”
I answer the call. “Yeah, buddy?”
“Where are you?” he says.
“We’re at the office building, in the apartment.”
“Can you come home soon?”
“Why? What’s up?”
“You just need to come home. It’s nothing to worry about, but I need you here. Both of you.”
“All right. We’re on our way. We’ll be there in about half an hour.”
“Perfect.”
I end the call and toss my phone onto the bed. “Let’s get dressed and head home. Something’s up, but Cooper wouldn’t say what.”
I call for another Uber ride, and we finish drying off and dress quickly, then let ourselves out of the apartment and out of the building. Our ride is waiting outside the main doors when we arrive, and we head home.
Unexpected
“What do you think is wrong?” Beth says as the driver pulls up to the front entrance of our building. She’s staring out her window at the steady stream of people coming and going through the front lobby glass doors.
I hand the driver cash. “Thanks for the ride,” I tell her.
Beth’s hand lies frozen on the door handle. She looks back at me and whispers so that the driver won’t hear. “What if they’re pressing new charges?”
I reach for her other hand and give it a squeeze. “Honey, I don’t think it’s that. Cooper would have warned me if there was a problem. Let’s just go in and find out, okay?”
She scans the parking lot and her gaze lights on Tyler’s black pick-up, which is parked near the building. I can tell the instant she spots it because her entire body tenses. I had already noticed it the instant we pulled into the parking lot.
“That’s Tyler’s truck,” she says.
“Please don’t jump to conclusions. Maybe he just stopped by to see how you’re doing.”
Beth shakes her head. “He never shows up unannounced. He would have called me first.”
She’s right. If he was here to see his sister, Tyler would have called Beth and arranged to pick her up in the lobby rather than risk coming up to the penthouse and chance running into me. Something’s got to give. This animosity between us can’t keep going on like this – it’s hurting Beth. It’s time for me to have it out with him once and for all.
I reach past Beth and open the car door. “Let’s go in, sweetheart. Sitting out here isn’t going to accomplish anything.”
Beth is clearly nervous as we walk through the front lobby to the private elevator that services the penthouse. She’s silent once we’re inside and the car starts moving.
“Come here,” I say, pulling her into my arms. Her arms slip around my waist and she leans into me. I kiss the top of her head and hold her close. I don’t think she’s as over last night as she claims to be.
We step out of the elevator into an empty and quiet unlit foyer. I was half expecting Cooper to greet us at the elevator, as he often does when he knows we’re on our way up.
“Lights on,” I say, and the chandelier switches on as we head for the door that will take us into the great room. Cooper’s leaning against the back of one of the sofas, his legs crossed at the ankles, arms crossed over his chest. He’s fairly radiating energy, so I know something’s up.
“Glad you could make it,” he says, pushing away from the sofa. He winks at Beth, and I know whatever it is, it’s fine. “Follow me.”
Cooper heads down the hallway to the rec room, of all places. He pauses at the rec room door, and I raise an eyebrow when he looks at me. I see a hint of a grin on his face, and that puts me at ease. There’s no arresting police force on the other side of the door.
Cooper turns the doorknob and pushes the door open wide. Then he steps back and motions for us to proceed him into the dark room.
As we step inside, the lights come on and we’re greeted with a raucous shout of “Surprise!” from a room full of familiar faces.
Cooper slaps me on the back. “Congratulations, old man!” he says, as he holds up Beth’s left hand and nods at her engagement ring.
I raise an eyebrow at him. “You’re calling me old? Really?”
Cooper grins, then sidesteps me to pull a blushing Beth into his arms. He squeezes her tightly. “Congratulations, honey. I know you’ll be very happy.”
A wave of friendly faces surges forward to shake my hand and hug Beth. All of my brothers are here, my sisters Sophie and Lia, Beth’s mom Ingrid, my friend Peter Capelli, Peter’s sister Gina, Beth’s friend Gabrielle, Sam, Mack and Erin from the bookstore, and an assortment of friends and colleagues from work – Miguel, Caroline, Killian, and Cameron.
And across the room, seated alone at the bar as he nurses a bottle of beer, is Tyler Jamison – just the man I need to see.
* * *
An engagement party.
I didn’t see it coming. When I texted Cooper to tell him Beth had accepted my proposal, he must have called everyone under the sun to put together this impromptu celebration. I’m sure he did it for Beth’s sake. The man spoils her rotten.
“Thanks, man,” I tell him, laying my hand on his shoulder. “She needs a bit of fun.”
We’re both watching Beth, who’s standing in the center of a small crowd of people awaiting their turns to hug her. She’s beaming as she shows off her engagement ring, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen her happier.
“My pleasure,” Cooper says, an indulgent smile on his face as he watches Sam sweep Beth up into his arms for a bear hug. “She’s had a rough time of it lately. She needs a little happy.”
As soon as Sam relinquishes Beth, my brother Jamie sweeps her up into his arms. Jamie’s service dog, Gus, is practically bouncing on his feet, barking at all the excitement. Beth wriggles free of Jamie’s hold and bends down to hug the dog.
Jake and Liam come up to congratulate me.
“Well played, bro,” Liam says, a pleased smile on his face. “You lucked out. She’s way too good for you.”
I chuckle. “I know, thanks for reminding me.”
Jake, stoic as always, shakes my hand. “I’m happy for you.”
My sister Sophie comes up for a hug, followed by Lia.
“Congratulations, Shane,” Sophie says, wrapping her arms around my neck. “She’s a darling girl. Mom and Dad will be so thrilled when they finally get to meet her in person.”
“At least you’re making an honest woman out of her,” Lia says, as she peels the wrapper from a chocolate cupcake with lavender icing and a tiny purple flower on top. I’m not sure, but I think the flower is real.
“There’s food,” Cooper says, pointing across the room at a table covered with hot and cold hors d'oeuvres. There’s even a multi-tiered dessert stand filled with cupcakes. “You can thank Gina Capelli for the food.”
“Gina put all this together on short notice? I’m impressed.”
I stand on the sidelines and watch as Beth is passed from guest to guest, accepting all their good wishes and congratula
tions.
There’s a commotion near the boxing ring, where Liam and Sam are facing off. They’re both wearing boxing gloves and work-out shorts – and nothing else. Looks like a little friendly competition is in the works. Sam’s good, but I have to give Liam the advantage here. He’s a master of many forms of martial arts. Plus, he’s a big guy, very muscular, with at least two inches and thirty pounds on Sam.
A crowd gathers around the ring to cheer the combatants on, including Beth. She and Sam have developed quite a close bond now that he’s her daytime bodyguard at the bookstore.
“My money’s on Liam,” I murmur to Cooper.
“I’ll take that bet,” Cooper says, eyeing the two fighters in the ring. “Hundred bucks?”
“You’re on.”
As in all our friendly sparring, the objective is to pin one’s opponent to the mat. Krav Maga and bloodshed are strictly prohibited. Other than that, there aren’t any rules.
While Liam and Sam go at it, using a mixture of martial arts and kickboxing, with a little street fighting thrown in for good measure, I head over to the bar, where Detective Jamison is seated. Now’s as good a time as any to get this over with.
Troy Spencer, who’s acting as our volunteer bartender this evening, hands me a chilled bottle of beer.
I take the empty stool next to Tyler’s. “Hello, Tyler.”
He glances at me briefly out of the corner of his eye. “Shane.”
We have the bar pretty much to ourselves since nearly everyone in the room has migrated over to the boxing ring to watch the theatrics.
“I’m marrying Beth, which means I’m here to stay. You and I need to come to terms with each other once and for all. This hostility is only hurting Beth, and neither one of us wants that.”
Tyler sips his beer, then nods, but he doesn’t look at me. “Agreed.”
I lay my hand on his shoulder, which is tense as hell. He’s so rigid, so unbending. No wonder he’s still single. I don’t know any woman who could put up with him. “Look, man, I understand how you feel. You practically raised Beth – she’s like a daughter to you, and you want the best for her. I get that. I want the best for her too. As it turns out, she’s decided that’s me. I’m not trying to take your place. I just want my own place in her life. I’m going to be her husband, and all that entails. But it doesn’t take away from your role in her life. She loves you dearly – you know that. But every time you give me grief, you’re hurting her, not me. There’s nothing you can do to hurt me, but you can hurt her. Is that really what you want?”
