by Rose Harper
For it just being six a.m., the sun was already beating down hard on my back. Sweat started to accumulate all over my body, dampening my running clothes. But I pushed myself harder. I was close to turning around, to get ready for the fitting. I had lost track of time while running and listening to music, that I hadn’t noticed where I’d ended up. I was at the crossing of Maple and Vena Streets about to head back when I saw the most hypnotizing sight running toward me. Brad in all his badass, tattooed, pierced nipples glory, running right toward me. He stopped, pushing the button in order to cross the street.
Damn, he looked so fuckable right now. He was wearing low-cut ball shorts, no underwear that I could see—which was a given for him—and his tennis shoes, and aviators shading his eyes from the demanding sun. I salivated at the sight. His body was sheathed in a tiny layer of perspiration. His chest expanded with each deep breath, beckoning my eyes to eat up the body he had on display.
Great, I was now like one of those old geezers. I so need to get laid.
As the light changed, he began jogging toward me. Just as his eyes landed on me, he almost tripped over himself. He stopped dead in the middle of the road, his mouth hanging open. I knew what he was seeing. He was seeing the woman he used to know intimately in nothing more than a bra and panties. I smirked; I knew I looked good. I was toned beyond belief and had the start of a four-pack.
All of my trainers in New York kept wanting me to define my body more, to bulk up. But, I wanted to keep the feminine softness to my body. Men always loved a woman that looked and felt good. He lowered his shades as his eyes ate up my body. He licked his lips just as a horn blared for him to move out of the road. Pushing the sunglasses back onto his face, he moved out of the road and came to a stop in front of me.
“Well, no wonder your dad told me to stay off Maple Street,” I mumbled, breaking eye contact, and taking the earbuds out of my ears.
“My dear God, Claire. What are you trying to do, give everyone a heart attack?” Sexual innuendo dripped from his words.
I could see his shorts beginning to tent, and I lost it. I boomed with laughter, clutching my knees for support. “No, apparently it’s just your cock that’s about to have an attack of his own.”
He shifted his stance, trying to inconspicuously tuck himself in his shorts. “Well, fuck, what do you expect? With the frontal I’m getting now, you’d better be glad I’m not jerking the fucker off.”
That just made me laugh hard. “Well, if you think my frontal is good, don’t look at my ass when I run past you,” I replied, taking off at a sprint past him.
I heard him groaning as if he was in pain. I smiled so wide my cheeks began to hurt. I was almost out of earshot when I heard him yell at me. I turned around and began jogging backwards until the sight caused me to stumble and almost fall down. I was shocked as hell with what I saw, my mouth opened of its own accord. He had a shit-eating grin plastered on his face, the front of his shorts pushed down just enough so he could palm his hard-as-fuck cock.
“By the look of your open mouth, I’d say you like my frontal, too,” he sizzled out, tucking himself back into his shorts before running in the other direction.
I was so fucked. He was right when he said he was going to wear me down. I haven’t been here twenty-four hours yet and I want to jump his bones. I wasn’t supposed to be feeling like this. It wasn’t right. Yes, we were ex-lovers. But damn, he was about to become my stepbrother. It didn’t matter how much history we had. Everyone would see that before they saw the other. Sometimes life wasn’t fair.
When I ran up the drive, I saw my mom walking Henry to his car. I waved at them before making my way into the house. I piddled around in the kitchen for a minute until my mother came back into the house. We seriously had to talk about last night. It wasn’t something that I wanted to talk about, but I felt that I needed to do if Henry was going to be staying here up until the night before the wedding.
We needed to get it out of the way now, so I wasn’t being subjected to weird sex noises all night. I was leaning against the counter, sipping a cup of coffee, when she walked in. A blush rose from her chest to cover her neck. That was the only thing wrong with her and me. If we were embarrassed or turned on or showing any kind of emotion, our faces always betrayed us; and by the look on her face, she got herself a little somethin’ somethin’.
She squeaked in surprise when she saw me standing there staring her down. She went about cleaning the already spotless kitchen, stepping around me in the process. It was actually kind of funny to see my mother in such a frazzled state. So I just leaned back, narrowing my eyes on her. She began scrubbing the stove faster. I just about busted out laughing there. She looked like the little engine that could, but didn’t.
I decided to let her off the hook by smiling, showing her I wasn’t mad. She sighed before throwing the rag in the drainer. “Mom, we need to talk…don’t you think?”
“Whatever for,” she feigned ignorance.
I rolled my eyes and barked out a laugh. “Oh, come off it, Mom. You think I got these bags under my eyes by getting a full night of sleep? Ha. That would be a nope,” I paused in the middle, giggling. “I just don’t get how you don’t look like death warmed over.”
She turned, making her way toward the door, calling over her shoulder, “I am not discussing this with you.”
I put my cup down on the counter, running after her. By the time I got to her bedroom door she was in the process of shutting it, and I pushed against it. Her laughter rang out through her room, just as I chuckled. From the way she was pushing on her door, I knew there was something she was hiding. I just didn’t know what. I pushed harder, her yelling in a laughing tone to quit and go get ready. I pushed just a tad harder, barreling my way into her room.
I saw her standing back next to the closet, looking up at the ceiling with a face redder than a damn beet. But that wasn’t the sight that had me literally on my knees laughing. No. Her bed was completely destroyed. I’m not talking like, oh, it broke in this place and I have to get it fixed. I’m talking headboard was over next to the window, the frame, hell, there was no frame. The mattresses were halfway on the floor, her sheets shredded like a pair of tigers wrestled in her bed.
I didn’t mean to say it, but it slipped out anyway. “Got to love those Titan men.”
CHAPTER TWENTY
I slapped my hands over my mouth, looking at my mother now rolling in laugher. Her hands were cradling her stomach because she was laughing so hard. I knew what she thought. She thought that I still had feelings for Brad. Well, I did, but I was not about to tell her or anyone else that. It was embarrassing enough, I slipped up and said what I had.
“Yes, dear, we sure do.”
I went to correct her, but she shot me a narrowed glare that told me not to even try it. I stood up, dusting off my knees. I looked to my mother to see that she was smiling at me gently. She could read me like a freaking open book and there was nothing that I could do about it. I hated it sometimes that she was that good, but other times I loved that about her. I didn’t have to voice my pain to her, she just knew when to console me.
After some time, she opened her arms to me, and I stepped into them, hugging her back as hard as I could. Just feeling her arms around me instantly made me feel better. I sighed, before snuggling my face into her neck. I took a deep inhale, letting her perfume fill my lungs. She started swaying back and forth, rubbing my back.
“Mom, should I have forgiven him?” I breathed into her neck.
“That’s the only way to truly move on, sweetie.”
I knew she was right. Hell, there wasn’t a time when she wasn’t. But that still didn’t make what she said any easier to take. I didn’t want to forgive him. I wanted him to suffer just like I had all those years. But then a thought had come to me, maybe he had been suffering all those years. Brad had no one to talk to about what happened. I had Henry and my mother. So he’d had to silently stew on what he did this whole time. God, it must
have been so hard for him.
But Brad being the cocky ass I remember him being, it looked like he got along just fine. Even if he was dying on the inside, he’d never show it on the outside. That was just the way he was. However, I learned his tricks early on in life. I knew when he was hurting. He would either resort to sex or being a cocky, arrogant bastard. There was no in-between with that man. You either took him the way he was or not at all. I guess that’s what I fell in love with—his bluntness.
I sighed. My heart and head were in two completely different places. I couldn’t handle not knowing something, staying in limbo. I was a go get ‘em type of girl. I didn’t wait for anyone. “Mom, do I really have to spend so much time with him?”
She nodded her head, releasing me from her embrace. “Yes, dear. You and he need to get along for the sake of me and his father. I want our families to get along and be able to be in the same room as each other without kneeing them in the balls,” she finished with a chuckle.
My head snapped up at her. “How did you know about that?”
“Now you come off it, Claire. I’m not dense. I can tell when a man has been kneed in the family jewels, and that boy was definitely packing a whopping on him last night.”
I chuckled. “Damn, can’t get anything past you, can I?”
She shook her head. “You can try, but you won’t succeed. I’m your mother; I have eyes in the back of my head, and very great hearing.”
I bellowed with laughter. “Oh my God! This entire time you’ve made me think I got away with it. You sneaky little thing.”
I began cleaning up the disaster zone she called her bedroom. We worked in silence for a few moments before she realized what time it was. Her look of horror told her that we were both going to be late for something. She hurried me out of the room, grabbing her keys in her haste to get out the door. She told me to get cleaned up and that Brad would be here in thirty to pick me up.
I grumbled, making my way up the stairs. Opting for a bath instead of a shower, I set back in the bubble bath I drew, putting my earbuds in and relaxed, letting the heat seep into my muscles and loosen them up. Since I didn’t have to put makeup on for the fitting, all I had to do was put my hair into a bun. Releasing a contented sigh, I drifted off for a few minutes.
I woke up a little while later, disoriented. My music had long since quit playing; I took out my earbuds and tossed them onto my phone. Noticing the water was now cold, I stood up from the bath. I was in the process of reaching for a towel when the bathroom door opened. Instead of going ahead and grabbing it and putting it around myself, I froze. The further the door opened, the more of Brad I saw.
My eyes widened and I gulped when I saw a look of desire cross his features. His eyes visibly darkened as he scanned my body; I could literally feel his eyes on every inch of my skin, giving me goose bumps of excitement. I licked my lips about to tell him to leave, but nothing would leave my mouth. The sight of him looking at me with such need excited me.
“Fuck … me,” he forced out.
I blushed, looking down to the floor. I didn’t know how I did it, but I broke the trance I was under. Grabbing the towel off the rack, I wrapped it around me. Stepping out of the tub, I looked through my lashes at him. Seeing that he made no move to get out of my way, I knew this was not good. My mother wasn’t here to save me, and at this point in time, my libido was speaking for me. I wanted nothing more than to rip his tight black shirt off his body and lick every single fucking inch of him.
“I didn’t know you were already here,” I stated shyly, making a move to go around him. When he stepped in that direction too, I looked up at him. “I would already be ready if I knew it had gotten so late.”
I made the mistake of looking down, seeing his designer jeans tented with a huge bulge. I groaned, not meaning to. I really didn’t need to see that, to torture myself with memories of what he was packing between his legs.
From the looks of it, his zipper wouldn’t last much longer. I had to make a break for it now, or by God, I’d probably take care of him. It’s bad to say, but damn, just knowing he wanted me made me wetter than hell.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
We stood there staring at each other, silence surrounding us. The only thing to be heard was our breathing, quickly turning to panting. I closed my eyes, chastising myself for behaving like this. This was no way to act around your soon-to-be stepbrother. It was just wrong, but dear God, it felt so right.
He growled low in his throat, “Fuck it.”
The words barely left his mouth before he lunged, grabbing the back of my head, crushing his lips to mine. I whimpered into his mouth. Forgetting the towel I was holding, I wrapped my arms around his neck. My towel dropped to the ground and he groaned, wrapping his arm around me, squeezing my ass. I moaned into his mouth, opening for him when I felt his tongue slide across my swollen lips.
Oh, fuck me.
His hand was palming my backside. The feel of his hands on my naked skin sent a surge of heat between my legs. My knees began to give out as he owned my mouth with his. Tightening his hand on my ass, his arms flexed when he used his strength to pick me up with one hand. Backing out of the bathroom, he walked down the hall to my room, kicking the door open, never once breaking his assault on me.
Wrapping my legs around him, he brought his other hand down to my ass, showing that side the same amount of attention. Kicking the door shut behind him, his hands slid from my ass to my back, before returning to my backside. I moaned into his mouth when his hand landed on my ass with a loud smack, the vibrations sending shockwaves to my clit. I whimpered into his mouth just before he broke the kiss, sucking his way across my jaw down to my neck.
My hands wandered into his short black hair, messing it up even more. I felt my bed on my back just as his tongue snaked out, licking across my nipple. My body arched toward him from the pleasure shooting down to my core. It has been so long since I’d felt anything remotely close to this kind of ecstasy. The way his skillful tongue licked all across my chest, stopping at my other breast, his mouth enveloping my taut nipple into his mouth and sucking it hard, caused me to cry out, arching even more.
His mouth released my breast with the sound of a pop. “It’s been so long since I’ve tasted you,” he sizzled out, his mouth beginning to roam lower.
I was so lost in bliss I unlocked my legs from around his waist, letting him continue his pursuit. Shutting my eyes, I was almost in tears when he licked from one hip bone to the other. His fingers found my clean-shaven mound a second later. He moaned, lapping at my upper thigh.
“You’re already so wet. Motherfuck,” he groaned, his fingers playing across the outside of my lips.
His fingers were replaced with a long swipe of his tongue. I cried out, gripping the quilt so tightly, it began to rip. He pulled me by my hips to the edge of the bed, placing my legs over his shoulders. He began nipping at my inner thighs each in turn, before returning to my drenched core, sucking hard on my clit.
“Ah … Brad!” I cried out, seeing stars on the back of my eyelids.
He chuckled. “Easy, love. It seems this little pussy is being a bit greedy.”
His tongue slipped past my lips as he sealed his mouth over me again. My breaths were coming in fast pants, as my heart felt like it was going to beat out of my chest. Opening my eyes, I looked down at the sight of Brad kneeling between my legs. Just knowing that it was him caused my body to hum with enough pleasure that was almost enough to make me climax right there.
As if he could sense I was looking at him, his eyes opened and locked on mine. His eyes had hooded and darkened to almost a black. So. Fucking. Hot. He winked before closing his eyes, moaning into my mound. The vibrations forced a cry from my raw throat. His tongue was like Heaven and Hell all wrapped up in a small package of awesomeness. The faster his tongue worked against my folds, the more my body sang its praises.
Getting up on my elbow, I ran my hand through his hair, tugging at the strands. Pulling h
im closer to me, I started grinding my core against his face. A primal sound burst free from his lips, as he lapped at me greedily. It was like he was a starving man, and he could only survive on me. I could feel the first signs of my impending climax race through my spine, which caused my grinding to pick up against his face.
“That’s right. See who’s devouring this greedy little cunt … me,” he said, before sucking my clit into his mouth. “Brad fucking ‘thick dick’ Titan.”
His words were like a douse of cold water slapping me in the face. It was Brad Titan, and instead of staying away from him, I’m allowing him something I don’t even let a guy I like do.
I can’t do this. I can’t allow him back in so easily.
Pushing him away, he leans back on his heels, giving me a look of confusion. “Something wrong?”
“Everything,” I groaned, grabbing something to cover myself. “We can’t do this. I can’t do this.”
“Claire, what’s the problem? We’re both consenting adults here, nothing to be ashamed of.”
Just the fact I’m about to lie down and let a man that fucked me over tongue fuck me. If I was vindictive, I’d let him than push him on his merry way. But I’m not, and I never will be.
“It’s never going to happen, Brad. I’ll never be able to trust you, just like you’ll never be able to trust a scheming bitch like me.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
“Why were you late, Claire?” my mother asked in an angry tone over the phone.
