Stranded

by Nicole Dykes

  “No. This.” I kiss her full lips, hungry for her. “This is nothing like any kiss before. It’s different. Everything with you is different.”

  She kisses me back, her arms wrapped around my neck as she leans back on the couch, taking my weight. I can’t use one arm, and it’s frustrating, but she doesn’t seem to mind as she lets me settle between her legs. “Kissing her was different?”

  Is she drunk?

  I pull back, using my good arm to lift up enough to look down at her and into her eyes. “Ev.”

  “I know, it’s supposed to be off-limits, but it’s not, you know? Not really. I want to know. I want it to hurt, Coop.”

  She wants to punish herself and maybe me. She doesn’t want it to feel good.

  God, I get that.

  “Yes. Kissing her was different.” I should get off her. Get some food into both of us and not entertain this conversation.

  I want it to hurt, Coop.

  Her words play in my head, and I know I want that too.

  “It was sweeter. Softer.” I lean forward and lick the seam of her lips, forcing them to part for me, which they do before I kiss her hard. She doesn’t disappoint. She kisses me back just as hard. She grips my hair and pulls enough to the point of pain. I nip her jaw and down her neck. “I was the one to initiate it usually. She was shy. Didn’t know to ask for what she wanted.”

  A cry escapes Everly, but she doesn’t push me away. No, she pulls me closer and grips my hair tighter. “She was innocent. Good.”

  I find the hollow of her neck and suck with enough pressure that she cries out, but it’s in ecstasy. My cock is hard through my jeans as I press against her core through her leggings. “I didn’t know what to do with her. I always felt like I was tainting her.”

  “But isn’t that what guys want? To claim?”

  I pull back enough to look into her eyes, seeing the unshed tears in them. “I didn’t.”

  “But you would have.”

  She looks angry, almost jealous, and I know this is killing her. She was jealous of her sister just like I was jealous of Liam. The whole thing is twisted and sick. “I don’t know.”

  “Liar.”

  “I’m not lying.” I kiss her lips again, punishing them and leaving them swollen and bruised, but I know she can take it. I know she craves it as she kisses me back with just as much vigor. Her hands find the button on my jeans and undo it, pushing the zipper down and then my jeans and briefs.

  “You don’t have to lie. I know that you wanted her. It’s okay. I know she wanted you.” She strokes my hard-as-steel cock with one hand, pulling a groan from my chest. “I loved her. I loved Liam.”

  “I know.” She works my cock with her soft hand, and I brace myself on one arm, watching her stroke me. “I loved him too.”

  “I know.” She tips her head back, finding my lips. “If the wreck wouldn’t have happened . . . This never would have happened.”

  “Push your pants down, Ev. Let me see you.” She stops stroking me, and does what I say, pushing her leggings down. She still isn’t wearing panties from earlier. I look between us at her pretty bare pussy with only a small triangle of hair above it. “Did you shave for me?”

  She bites her bottom lip and nods. “When I cleaned up earlier. The water was cold as fuck.”

  I smile and sit up on my knees, looking between her legs at her glistening pussy. No way she can deny how turned-on she is, and neither can I. “You’re beautiful.”

  Her eyes are watery and sad but fiercely determined all at once. “So are you, you bastard.”

  I smirk and slide my thumb through her wet folds, finding her clit and circling it. Her head lolls back, and she whimpers softly. “I wanted you. I wanted you that first night, but you went with him. And I’d never have betrayed him.” Her eyes meet mine now, but I don’t stop playing with her clit. “Never.”

  “I know. I wouldn’t have either.”

  “I know.” And I do. I use two fingers and enter her tight heat while playing with her clit. One of her hands grips my wrist but doesn’t pull me away. “I lusted after my best friend’s girl for three fucking years and felt guilty about it every single day. I knew how fucked up it was. You were his. I wouldn’t have acted on it. Never.”

  “No.” I curl my fingers, finding that spot inside her that makes her hips buck, and her fingers squeeze my wrist tighter. “Oh, God.”

  “If they hadn’t died, this never would have happened. All this, you and me right now, is finding comfort in each other. Solace in the pain.”

  “Yes.” She doesn’t sound sure, but she’s lost in pleasure and anguish.

  “I know you loved him.” Her fingers grip me harder as I tease her clit. “He loved you too. I’m just the replacement. You can use me for comfort.”

  Her eyes meet mine as her chest heaves. “No. That’s not true.”

  “It is.” I move my fingers faster, and she’s panting as she nears an orgasm. These are words I need to say.

  “Oh God, Cooper, don’t stop.”

  I don’t, feeling her pussy clench around my fingers. I know she’s close. “This never would have happened if they were still here. Either one of them.”

  She comes hard around my fingers, and I continue to tease her clit, milking every last second of her orgasm from her before replacing my fingers with my cock and slamming inside her, making us both moan in pleasure and pain.

  She kisses my lips, her nails digging into my scalp as I fuck her with no semblance of sweetness. I pound into her, and she takes every thrust, moving with me and begging for more. “Do you really believe that?” she gasps in between fierce kisses and punishing thrusts.

  I look into her eyes. “I have to.” Her hands move to my bare ass, and she digs her nails into my flesh, pulling me deeper into her. Her pussy strangles my cock, sending us both into an earth-shattering orgasm. She clings to me, and I kiss her, coming deep inside her for the second time today.

  Even if I say the words out loud, we both know it isn’t true.

  This thing between us was always undeniable.

  When we’re finished and both sated, he rolls to his good side with his back against the couch, and I turn to face him. It’s a tight fit, but I don’t want to go anywhere.

  I don’t know what’s happening between us. Maybe it’s the grief or being stranded in the middle of nowhere with only each other to rely on, but in the back of my mind, deep, deep down in my heart . . . I know that this has been brewing for a long time.

  I loved Liam. I did. But no kiss with him ever felt this way. No night with him felt like this.

  Maybe it’s amplified by the situation or the passion is increased because of the line of hatred we’ve been riding over the years. I don’t know. But right now, out here all alone, all I want is to lay here with him.

  His jeans and briefs are still down at his ankles. Same with my pants.

  We’re sweaty, and my thighs are sticky, but I don’t want to move.

  I reach forward to his shirt, unbuttoning it slowly as he looks at my face, his arm still in the sling. I push open his shirt and brush my fingers over his hardened abs, finding the tattoo on his side. “Heart. Is that the kind of doctor you want to be?”

  He smiles, curling his arm under me and pulling me close as I brush over the beautiful ink. “We’ve paid so much attention to each other over the years, huh?” His smile tells me he’s joking, but it’s true. I never asked about what kind of medicine he wanted to go into. I never asked him much. “Yes. Cardiology.”

  “That’s interesting.”

  He smiles, and I can feel his hand in my hair. I tilt my head backward, relishing the feeling of his strong fingers massaging my scalp. “I suppose.”

  We talked a lot during sex. I didn’t want to forget about Aria and Liam this time. I don’t want the guilt I feel to disappear, not even in those moments. It’s betrayal, and I want it to hurt. I want the punishment.

  “What about your tattoo?”

  “Which
one?” I look up into his eyes when I ask.

  I like the way his lips turn up as he looks down below my naked waist. “The lightning bolt. Is it a metaphor for a powerful pussy?”

  I laugh at that, but even when he was pissing me off over the years, Coop could always make me laugh. Even if I disguised it as laughing at him. “No.” I shrug. “I don’t know, maybe.”

  He’s still staring at the small tattoo high up on my inner thigh, but I don’t feel insecure lying here with his eyes on me and the firelight flickering all around us. “I get that. There’s definitely power between your legs.”

  “That’s sexist.”

  He chuckles and moves his eyes back toward me. “No. It’s not. You’re powerful. Strong.”

  “Not because of what’s between my legs.”

  “Then why there?”

  “Honestly?” He nods. “It was Aria.” He swallows tightly, and I see the pain there at the mention of my sister. A wave of jealousy passes over me. Jealousy I have no right to feel but do anyway. I wonder if he’s downplaying what they had for my benefit. “I wanted a tattoo and needed it somewhere I could hide it from my parents because they thought tattoos were trashy. Beneath me.”

  “They sound great.”

  I laugh, shaking my head because no, they definitely aren’t, and his sarcasm is on point. “She begged me to let her choose. I could never tell her no. So, she picked the lightning bolt.”

  “Did she say why?”

  I nod, tears filling my eyes when I think about my little sister, so full of life and bright and shiny. More people should be like Aria. Untouched by the ugliness of the world. “She said that I want to be all dark and moody, but really I’m powerful enough to light up the sky.”

  “Deep.”

  I nod, and my eyes lower to his chest peeking out from his shirt. “I think she just wanted me to be bright and shiny. She got a sun on her hip. Pretty fitting for my little sister.”

  “Yeah, I thought so.”

  Of course, he saw it. It wasn’t hidden by the bikini she wore the day they met at the pool party. He saw it that day but probably many times after.

  His hand rests on the back of my head, and he tilts it just enough to lift my eyes to him. “She wasn’t wrong though, Ev. You were the strong one. She was optimistic, but you’re real.”

  I scoff, “Real, as in I hate the world?”

  “Real. In every way.”

  He moves closer to me, and his lips brush over mine, making my heart rate pick up. I suck in a deep breath, wanting him to kiss me again.

  “We should get some sleep.”

  “We should.” I nod, disappointed until he presses his lips to mine and kisses me hard because that’s the way he knows I want it. We nip and bite, bruising each other’s lips.

  That’s the way he wants it too.

  We both want it to hurt.

  It’s been days and days of pretty much nonstop fucking. We can’t seem to keep our hands off each other. And the truth is I don’t think either of us wants to.

  The water is still warm, and we’re both clean as Everly lays naked between my thighs, her head resting on my good shoulder. My other shoulder is feeling better, but I’ll still put the sling on when I get out and get dressed.

  “One week. We’ve been here a week.”

  Her hand is on my thigh, gently stroking under the water. “I know. It seems like an eternity and only a couple of hours all at once.”

  We’ve fallen into an easy routine. The snow has started to melt, and we’ve been heating it for our baths lately, taking advantage before it’s gone. We still have plenty of canned food. The water to the house is long gone. I’m assuming that first day there was just enough left from the electric pump, but who knows? We have a bucket of water to flush the toilet and another one to wash our hands throughout the day.

  But mostly, we fuck.

  It’s wrong. We both know that, but it feels good and passes the time.

  In the back of my mind, I remind myself that I’m just her comfort. Her replacement dick. Even if it’s not true. I just need to keep that there, in the back of my mind.

  The pain.

  It stings, but nowhere near as badly as my betrayal to Liam. He was my best friend, my brother, and I jumped right on his girl while his body lies decaying, buried under several feet of snow.

  “So what about this tattoo?” I sweep my hand under her breast over the sexy rose tattoo with the words “Let it Be” in cursive, swirling under the curve.

  She stiffens momentarily, and I know why. Still, I ask. Because pain.

  “She had one too.”

  “I know.”

  Her lips curve into a smile as her stormy eyes look up at me as she angles her head. “Please don’t remind me you’ve seen my sister’s breasts.”

  We’re twisted as fuck.

  But it’s better than just ignoring the obvious, right? Than living in denial?

  “I saw her in a swimsuit many times.”

  She shrugs, accepting that answer and looks back to the front of the tub. “Oh.”

  “And I saw her tits,” I add, nipping her ear with my mouth.

  “You asshole.” She pinches my thigh but not hard.

  I laugh, but then she turns around, sitting on her knees between my legs. “Did you use my sister to make me jealous? I mean, really?”

  Her eyes have darkened even more as she looks at me for an answer. I sigh because this is the game we play. The balance of pain and pleasure. She wants to fuck, but she wants it to hurt first. Deeply.

  I can see it in her eyes. “I told you already, that first day when I walked over to meet her, it was to irritate you. But after that, it wasn’t. I didn’t want to hurt you. Or her.”

  She’s thinking as her hands rest on my chest. “I was jealous when she’d talk about you. I’d get jealous. I didn’t admit it. Ever. Not even to myself.”

  I wonder if she can feel how fast my heart is beating at her confession.

  Make it hurt.

  She leans forward, her lips brushing over my neck as she leaves kisses on my skin and down over my chest. “She’d tell me how tender it was when you kissed her. How sweet.” Her lips brush over mine. “I didn’t believe her. I thought you’d be a hard fuck. A rough kisser.” She presses a tentative kiss to my lips, and I let her go on. “Like you are with me.”

  “I told you it was different.”

  “I was still jealous, even if I’ve never been a big fan of tender, hearing how you were gentle.”

  My eyes open, and I look into hers. “Do you want that?”

  She shakes her head. “No. God no. Don’t change the way you kiss me.”

  I lean forward now, wrapping one arm around her waist and kissing her lips hard, making sure she feels me. I’m already hard, and she rubs her pussy over me, attacking my mouth.

  “I just felt jealous every single time she’d talk about it.” She bites my bottom lip, her lips moving to my ear. “She told me how you made her come.”

  Jesus. This is fucked. “I did.”

  “But you didn’t have sex.”

  “You don’t have to have sex to make someone come.”

  Her hand slides down my chest to my hard cock, gripping me hard. “I know. She said she’d never had an orgasm like that. It made me curious and angry. I told her it was disgusting, That I didn’t want to hear about her sex life.”

  She starts to stroke me. “That’s probably good.”

  “She was hurt because we’ve always told each other everything.”

  I wrap my hand around the back of her head and pull her to my lips, kissing her as she strokes me. “Let me inside you.”

  She doesn’t, just continues to jerk my cock as she straddles me. “Did you and Liam talk about me.”

  “What?” I pull back and look into her eyes. “No.”

  “He never talked about our sex life?”

  She needs this. “No. He didn’t.” I pull her back to me, but don’t kiss her as she moves my cock betwee
n her legs and rests it at her wet entrance. “I would hear you fucking through the walls though. I know you didn’t come every single time, and when you were bitchy the next day, I knew why.”

  She gasps as she slides down over my cock, and I fill her. “He was busy.”

  “Then he shouldn’t have fucked you on those nights.”

  “I liked him being inside me.”

  I growl, and I tighten my hold on her hair. She moans into my mouth as she kisses me. “You wanted to come.”

  “He made me come.”

  “Not all the time.” I thrust up into her, making sure to hit that perfect spot inside her. She bites my shoulder, holding on to me, and I don’t care that she’s putting pressure on my sore shoulder.

  Because talking about this—the fact that I’d lay in my bed and listen to them, hoping she wouldn’t come and thinking about all the ways I could make her come—that’s far more painful.

  “Why didn’t you have sex with Aria?”

  She knows why. We both do.

  “She wanted to. I know she did. She talked about it all the time but said you thought she should wait and convinced her that she should.”

  I release her hair and dip my hand under the water between her legs, finding her clit and pinching it. Her head falls back as she rides me, bracing one hand on my thigh and the other hand gripping my bicep.

  “Do you really want to know?”

  Her head snaps forward, and her eyes meet mine. “Make it hurt, Coop.”

  I stroke her clit and feel her pussy clenching around me, her body starting to tremble. “I knew in the back of my mind, where I rarely allowed myself to go . . .” I swirl my fingers over her clit, bringing her closer and closer. “If I had sex with her, I’d never have a chance with you.”

  Her pussy strangles my cock as the orgasm washes over her. Her nails dig into my arm and thigh as I let go and come deep inside her while our lips slam together, not really needing to talk anymore.

  That confession digs deep enough. It causes enough chaos because we both know it’s true. If I’d had sex with Aria, there was no way Everly would ever let me touch her. And even if we were both loyal to Liam, I didn’t want to destroy that chance.