Crimson Sunsets

by Lacee Hightower

  Jacks had a business trip. I should have gotten out of bed and said goodbye when I heard him leave at a dreadful 4:30 AM, but I was so tired. And this bed was so stinking comfortable. Up until midnight, we’d rehashed over old times, devouring a double pepperoni pizza I’d convinced him to order, still hungry after picking at the totally tasteless quinoa salad he’d convinced me to try at dinner.

  Ultimately, I should have dragged my lazy ass from this bed. Maybe got him some coffee or offered to make him breakfast. The man needed a damn wife. It didn’t matter if he was the next Warren Buffett and could afford hired help and anything else he wanted. My brother needed companionship.

  I reached for my phone. It was an incoming text from Mandy.

  This place is a fucking rat hole. I just chased a roach the size of Mr. Big’s dick out the front door. I swear he was staring me. This filthy place is inexcusable. Sorry for the rant. Hope your day is better than my morning.

  Now I felt like total crap.

  Sorry Mandy.

  Not all that surprising, the messages were already dwindling from Bruce. The weird thing was, in the past, every time he cheated and begged my forgiveness, I always got that desperate feeling in the pit of my stomach. The one where I knew I shouldn’t trust him, but just wanted to so badly. Today, that feeling wasn’t there. Everything out of his mouth was simply … repetitive.

  I love you, Hartley. We have a life together. We have history. I’ll get help. Please come home, baby. I miss you like hell. Blah, blah, blah.

  Dressed in boy-short panties and a scraggly white tank top, I forced myself from the most comfortable sleeping apparatus known to planet Earth, venturing off in search of a coffee pot in my brother’s fancy ass kitchen with its whitewashed cabinets, commercial-grade stainless steel appliances and floor of dark brown, hand-scraped wood. One hand covering a yawn while the other swiped at another dinging text, it was unbeknownst that one click on a simple e-message from Mandy would change my entire life.

  “Fuck! Crap!”

  I dropped my phone, grabbing the stinging elbow I’d slammed against the wall and hoping like hell my screen wasn’t shattered. My funny bone sure appeared to be.

  “Son of a bitch!” Bending over toward my iPhone, the sight of long feet and hair-covered toned legs filled my eyes, flustering me with such a discombobulation that all I could manage was to stand. Staring. In awe.

  Only inches in front of me was a freaking sex god.

  And he was bare-ass naked!

  Shit. And damn.

  Damn. And shit.

  Completely exposed and nude, the man stood in front of me with a head of semi-dark messy hair brushed with blonde highlights. My vision blurred, my gaze dropping to the perfectly bare crotch that wasn’t even covered by the likes of a hand, my cheeks flaming with modesty as I gawked at what rested between his legs. Dear God. It was the longest dick I’d ever seen and unless my eyes were playing tricks on me, it seemed to be turning thick. I stared for I don’t know how long, my head rushing with fantasies of pure, rough, nasty, brutal, toe-bending orgasms.

  I’d seen dicks before. Three to be exact.

  Nothing like the one only inches in front of me.

  “Well, well. Such big bad words for such a tiny beautiful lady. See something you like, sweet thing? Go ahead. Feel free to look closer, or even touch. He’s pretty impressive, isn’t he?” I closed my eyes for a few short seconds, swallowing hard as I rubbed my throbbing elbow.

  His voice was deep and manly with a slight inkling of seduction, setting off every possible scenario between my legs that I’d sworn off. Was this Jackson’s friend that he mentioned? Another player no doubt.

  “What?” I asked, easing my eyes open.

  One long forefinger brushed the bottom of his lip as his sky-blue gaze tunneled through my eyes, the clear attempt at intimidation obvious through his penetrating stare.

  In an unsuccessful attempt to adjust to what I was seeing, my mouth only dropped at the stranger’s brazen boldness. Heart racing, the sound of his voice crushed the air from my lungs.

  When my eyes finally lifted, the strumming sensations in my core sprang toward the already uncomfortable inferno now raging between my legs. The universe’s most flawless grin covered his outrageously sculpted face as he stood in front of me gloriously naked, the fervor in his stare blazing with heat. Unruffled and composed, he defined sexy to a whole new Merriam-Webster. Plus, there was all that going on between his legs.

  God have mercy.

  And he was totally getting off on my visible embarrassment as he took a step closer.

  The thin tank top I’d slept in for years was worn and scroungy. In an attempt to cover my hardening nipples that were embarrassingly visible underneath my favorite worn sleep shirt, I wrapped both arms around my chest, my panties coating themselves with a sudden burst of flames.

  Holy hell! Hot didn’t even begin to describe what stood in front of me.

  My breath hitched as I slowly returned his stare, fixated by this stranger standing face to face with me.

  But wait! I knew that face!

  The piercing blue eyes.

  The expressive shine of clear irises resembling the ocean.

  And the hair I’d once dreamed of running my hands through … Jesus help me. Now I was envisioning my fingers tugging against the thick tresses as his lips brushed my inner thighs, listening to the both of us moan through sexual ecstasy.

  Every bit as striking as it was in seventh grade, his face was beautiful. Just more mature and filled out, his jaw now squared and shadowed in a panty-melting light sweeping of stubble.

  No longer the cute boy from shop class. Now a man.

  Justin Wisely.

  I was gonna marry him one day. I’d sworn to it. Made my best childhood friend, Kelly Mayfield, pinkie swear to be my Maid of Honor when that day came. Three babies, a two-story house with him and two dogs, we were destined to grow blissfully old and happy together.

  Seventh-grade shop class was where it all began. Where all the cute boys were according to Kelly. Insisting we take the class as our elective. Me hating every minute of it … until that one day.

  When he walked through the door.

  I was giddy. I giggled a lot. So handsome, he measured at least five-foot-nine. Tall and thin, muscle rippled through his arms. And his eyes. They were blue like the tropics of the ocean, while his hair was a thick medium brown, laced with specks of natural-looking highlights, long enough to flip up just enough on the ends to look sexy and just a little untidy in a good kind of way.

  Other than an occasional smile when he read my love notes, he never spoke a single word to me. Even so, I’d loved him the first time I saw him.

  Generally late, and that was if he showed up at all for the first-period elective, he was clearly the oldest boy in class and it was a mystery why he was still in middle school. Didn’t matter two shits to me. I couldn’t have cared less. In my eyes, he was the most handsome boy I’d ever seen.

  The last note Kelly ever slipped him, I’d spent extra time the night before tracing flowers across the front, trying to get them just right.

  Do you have a girlfriend? I think you’re so cute.

  Oddly enough, a few weeks into school, he stopped coming entirely and I never saw him again.

  Well over six feet now, his body was outrageously toned and hard, causing a sexual pull between my thighs to ripple like a large clap of loud thunder. Through wet tousled hair, I could tell it was short and stylish, not the long shaggy strands from the past. But there was no covering up the darkish brown hue with natural blond highlights that I remembered just like yesterday. It was the same.

  His neck and shoulders had thickened, the two dark nipples on his chiseled chest hard and erect, surrounded by just a light dusting of hair leading to a ripped stomach with muscle so hard and precise that I had a longing to run my palm across every inch before trailing my finger down and over the perfect dark trail making its way to that larger than life p
enis most definitely fronting an equally gorgeous ass. Half-sleeves of tattoos covered both toned arms that intertwined with a larger one crossing his chest.

  Dear Jesus. Christ Almighty.

  Today though, something was greatly different from the boy I remembered. His face gleamed. Exuded certainty and pride. And to say he was confident in his own skin had to be the understatement of all times, being that he was standing completely naked in front of me, not even bothering to cover the overly-large muscle between his legs.

  I choked back a gulp. “Oh … sorry,” I stuttered. “I hit my funny bone.”

  He doesn’t recognize me.

  He cocked his head slightly.

  “Nice to meet you… Coco. That’s quite some name. Your brother mentioned I might run into you.” A long-fingered hand reached toward me for a handshake. “I don’t think he meant quite like this.” He smiled as I fought the grin threatening my own mouth, all the while his eyes moving down and over his nudity before quickly moving back up and over my torso.

  “I’m Justin, by the way. Justin Wisely.”

  His eyes dropped toward my chest as my cheeks flamed, clearly able to see straight through my tank top. Strangely, my attraction to him was so intense, I almost felt at ease under his gaze. It was deep-rooted. Almost natural.

  “Now, do we need to get you some ice for that elbow?” he asked in his low sensual tone. My face heated to the point of a burn as his grin widened.

  “No. It’s okay. Thanks … Justin.”

  And I know who you are.

  “So, you’re the little sister he speaks of. Jackson tells me you’re going to be handling the medical insurance end of things for Tyler. You’ll like him. He’s a good guy.” He laughed, giving his head a small shake. “Other than the small fact that he’s known to be a heinous boss.”

  His teeth were perfectly white and straight through his smile. A small hidden dimple jumped out on his left side that I didn’t remember, setting off a few million butterflies in my stomach as he stood naked, introducing himself like nothing was out of the ordinary. As if he wasn’t in front of a strange woman flaunting his impressive dick and beautiful bare, inked-up body.

  The entire lunacy of this preposterous situation had me choking back a laugh.

  “Heinous, huh? Well, hopefully that’s not true. I’m actually pretty excited. Or I was.” I returned his smile.

  Get a freaking grip, Hartley.

  But what the hell was I supposed to say?

  A gorgeous naked man with an exposed massive penis posing like a nude model was mere inches away as I stood almost bare myself with nipples like rockets, my panties moist, sporting hideous bed hair. How was I expected to freaking act? Especially when it happened to be the man I’d dreamed of marrying and having babies with since I was a kid.

  I felt foolish … in a good way. My eyes were at war trying to avoid his outrageously beautiful body, every muscle between my thighs throbbing. He, on the other hand, was nothing but confident and composed.

  With a quick nod, his dark eyebrows rose. He seemed nice. Maybe a little cocky. Definitely arrogant. He had a sense of humor, too, which I liked, but what stood out the most was the fact he was without a doubt sure of himself, that protective-shield personality in middle school gone. He glowed with confidence and something in his eyes soundlessly told me he knew who I was.

  “Umm … so how do you know my brother? And Tyler Yates?” The bewitching face of the stranger that really wasn’t unfamiliar had me struggling back and forth between his eyes and the action going on between his gorgeous toned legs.

  A quick clearing of his throat, I embarrassingly lifted my wandering eyes, my chest thundering like the drum of a heavy metal band. The corner of his lip raised back into that small grin again as I placed a hand over my mouth, choking back laughter. How the hell was a girl supposed to concentrate with a sex-oozing, tatted-up body so close?

  “Jeez, could you at least … cover that thing?” I fought busting out laughing. Something about this entire meeting was funny as hell. Holy crapness. How could men just stand around naked and think nothing of it? If I said ‘Hey, let’s go to the kitchen and get some coffee?’ would he just prance down the hall and place his bare ass in a chair? Women never did that.

  His brow lifted as he flashed that same orgasmic grin again.

  “My wish is your command, Coco.” His reply smooth, he dramatically dropped two hands over his abundant crotch. I pulled my lips between my teeth fighting the laugh that tried escaping once again.

  “I’ve known Tyler since I was a kid. And I actually met your brother a few years ago at a social event.

  A kid? Was Tyler from Topeka? It didn’t say that on the internet.

  “Oh.” I glanced at his left hand.

  He wasn’t wearing a wedding ring, but then lots of men chose not to. It didn’t mean he wasn’t married with a slew of kids and another in the oven.

  “I was about to go get breakfast. I’d love your company.” His eyes lit up and that tiny dimple reappeared as a small smile snaked up his face, highlighting the perfect five-o’clock shadow darkening his jaw.

  Towering over me, he leaned closer.

  “Or we could always stay right here, sweet thing … naked, just like this. Either way works perfectly for me.” My cheeks warmed as he winked, glancing down my torso. Jeez, staying here, naked, suddenly seemed like it would work perfectly for me, too. Warmth swelled between my legs.

  His eyes teasing, he raked a hand through his mostly dry hair, his arm bulging with muscle through the shadowing of tattoos. Still naked, still refusing to keep his crotch covered, or better yet just grab some damn shorts or something, he was behaving like what was happening was the most natural thing in the world. A rush of fever swarmed my chest along with another jolt of charged energy way down low into my belly, as I forced my eyes from that incredibly formed small trail of dark hair leading to the amazing garden of perfection below.

  Sweet Mother Mary and Joseph.

  Another broad smile covered his face, my cheeks blistering for the umpteenth time.

  “Breakfast sounds great,” I said hoarsely, fighting the giggle that refused to quit. “Umm, can you give me a few minutes?” I whispered, stuttering over my words as gratification lit up his eyes.

  Good lord, Hartley. Act like an adult. You’ve seen a man naked before.

  He moved closer, any nearer and his huge penis would be sweeping my skin and torching the small area between my legs. I immediately stepped backward, my back brushing the wall as I heated with more awkwardness.

  And something else.

  Everything I swore I wouldn’t.

  Lust.

  Longing.

  Wonder.

  He flashed another smile. Did he recognize me? I couldn’t decide.

  As he turned around, more inappropriate thoughts rushed my head as he gave me a small dose of delicious eye candy that involved his nicely sculpted hard ass. Dumbfounded as he strolled casually into the bathroom, I swallowed the huge mass filling my throat.

  That’s one fine-looking gluteus maximus.

  Something was adhered to his left hip. What the heck was that?

  “Absolutely … Coco. Take all the time you need.”

  I started to tell him who I was, disappointed in myself at how badly I suddenly wanted him to know.

  “It’s Hartley…” I whispered instead.

  Chapter Four

  Justin

  It feels like a lifetime since I’ve seen her.

  All I’d wanted after a restless night of waking up at the ass-crack of dawn, despite working until the early morning hours, was a cold bottle of water to ease the arid Sahara in my mouth, followed by a relaxing hot shower and a strong cup of coffee. The last thing I ever imagined waking up to was the girl I’d hammered off to a hundred times in my youth.

  Hartley Shipman…

  Only minutes ago, Jackson’s little sister, who he called Coco, appeared in front of me, bending over to pick up her cell
phone, a long stream of expletives falling from her mouth as I focused in on the delicate cheeks of her ass peaking from the edges of her panties.

  First blunder of the day.

  My towel I’d dried off with remained exactly where I’d left it—hanging on the shower door. Meaning one thing. My dick was stiffening in front of the doe-eyed beauty from my past and I couldn’t do a damn thing to ease the swelling. The backstabbing traitor. And unfortunately, the minute my eyes caught her nipples coming to life underneath the paper-thin shirt she wore, along with her tongue brushing across her thick lips, it was too late. My bared cock stiffened to pure steel before I could get my actual shit together and grab my motherfucking pants and take yet a second shower. One involving icy cold water.

  In the past, a sub distracting me like that earned punishment. A good long spanking or maybe twenty-four hours with extreme discomfort involving orgasm denial.

  Not this one.

  This girl was nobody’s sub.

  Onto second blunder of the day.

  I wanted her! Flawless skin bearing resemblance to a fine porcelain.

  Big brown sparkling eyes similar to creamy, sweet milk chocolate.

  And lastly, full moist pink lips that spread into the most amazing smile that lit up the glow in her cheeks as she scrambled to pry her gaze from my awakening boner.

  Christ! I pulled my boots on. As soon as she got dressed, I was taking this beauty to breakfast. Food was leaning toward the very back burner right now, as all I could think of was the way she kept dropping her eyes, fighting like hell to avoid my stare. This was a huge submissive move, though probably not being done consciously.

  Full of anticipation with what was probably going to be the breakfast of all champions, my Dom moves were creeping up on me. I needed to know this girl from my past. I wanted my hands on her. Inside her. Memorizing every crack. Every crevice. Every perfectly-aligned freckle covering the bridge of her nose. Every hair on her beautiful head.