by Aubrey Irons
But of course, he’s not ‘Mine,’ I’m not ‘His,’ and there’s nothing between us in that regard at all. He made that perfectly clear back before, during that summer and then at my father’s house. And then of course, I have to remember what he did - or more importantly what he didn’t do that night back then. I have to close my eyes and remember just how shitty I felt when I came downstairs and saw him walking out the door with that girl-
“Uh, Reagan?”
“Hmm?” I look up, started from my thoughts to see them both looking at me, as if waiting for an answer to a question I never heard.
Chelsea rolls her eyes at Hudson; “I told you she wasn’t listening.”
Hudson grins at me as he twirls his empty espresso cup around the saucer; “I was telling Chelsea that you can’t get weighed down with what came before. You’ve just gotta keep your head up, because you never know when something new might come next.”
I smile thinly at him, still mulling over everything I was thinking about before, but now also wondering which of the three of us that particular advice was really meant for.
8
Hudson
P A S T
“Jesus, Hudson,” Logan is shaking his head at me in that way that makes him seem like my older brother. I don’t actually have an older brother, but if I did, I know he’d be Logan giving me this exact look.
“What?” I toss the keys to the valet who’s salivating over the sleek white McLaren behind me.
“Not exactly the most subtle statement is it? What part of ‘blend in’ and ‘seamless’ doesn’t click with you?”
I shrug, annoyed at Logan's tone; “I needed a car, man.” Right, that’s why you buy a million-dollar vehicle; because you ‘need a car’.
But I’m New Rich - capital N, capital R - we all are, and goddamn does it feel good to fucking live a little without worrying about where the next buck is going to come from, or what piece of my soul I’m going to have to cut out in order to get it. New Rich also means, by the way, that I’m half in the bag - a factor which I’m consciously attempting to downplay to Logan since I’m supposed to be going sober these days.
Of course, I’m twenty one years old, I’ve taken a bullet for my country, I want to forget the last two or three years of my life, and I’m worth three-hundred million dollars; anyone who thinks I’m not going to be drinking is fucking delusional.
“You should get one, it’ll help you calm the fuck down a little.” I can see Logan tense up, his jaw tightening and his shoulders flexing beneath his suit.
“Baaaabbe?” Oh, right, my date.
I dance over to the other side of the car, to the bejeweled, shiny-manicured hand dangling out of the passenger side, and pull her out. She’s makes a face at me that I know she thinks is sexy, which is in reality kind of just stupid looking, but I push it out of the way and grin at her as I haul her out.
I look up to see Logan shaking his head again;“Seriously?”
“Logan! Manners!” I say dramatically, feeling the booze I slugged down earlier course through me as I jerk my thumb at him. I roll my eyes at my date who’s name is escaping me and who’s probably either too fucked up or too clueless to actually get the look of disdain Logan is throwing her way anyways.
“It’s a birth- no, retirement?” I frown, realizing I’ve honestly forgotten why the fuck we’re here.
“It’s a graduation party,” Logan growls through tightly-clenched teeth as he eyes me; “For the Old Man’s daughter.” He shakes his head as he peers at me; “Jesus Christ, Hud, have you been fucking drinking?”
The valet pulls my car away and as I jaunt past Logan with the bimbo on my arm, I pat him on condescending on the shoulder; “Try and have a little fun, dude. We’re fuckin rich now.” I somehow walk away without him breaking one of my arms, and we stumble our way through the front doors of the Old Man’s castle-like estate.
A hand shoots out and grabs my arm hard, and I whirl around, fire in my eyes.
“Easy, Marine.” It’s William, and I’m instantly feeling like shit because I know I’m not supposed to be drinking, and I also know that he can see right through me and knows I have been. His eyes narrow at me, and I can see that he’s not mad per-say, he’s just disappointed.
Jesus, why is it always ten thousand times worse when he people you want to look good for are disappointed instead of just plain angry at you.
“Are you in control?”
No. Yes. Maybe? Grab me a beer and I’ll let you know?
I of course don’t say any of those things and just nod like an asshole instead. I’m not trashed or anything, but this man has risked so much and given me a life straight out of a fucking movie script; all on the foundation that I clean up and keep my shit together, and I’m blowing that.
“I’m good, sir.”
He nods slowly; “Good, I know Reagan is excited to meet you.”
P R E S E N T
I awake from the memory momentarily confused by the ceiling that stares blankly back at me until I remember that I’m in the guest bedroom at Reagan’s apartment.
Technically, it was her mother’s place that she kept in the city to get away from it all, Reagan told me last night when we got in. But since she graduated, it’s apparently became Reagan’s de facto home.
It might not be a mansion up in Greenwich, but it’s hardly slumming it either. It’s light in here, and airy, and even though we’re in Manhattan, the sounds of the city seem more of a background lull than the typical white noise grating on your ears. There’s a homey warmth to it that I realize quite starkly is something I’ve never known; not in the desert during our deployment, not in hiding after that, and certainly not in my shattered life before. Even with the money I have now, my penthouse is stark and modern and cold; the opposite of this place.
This place has love.
I wince as I roll out of bed, feeling the dull pain in my shoulder and partially regretting my workout last night. Reagan’s building has a pretty lame little gym in the basement, but when I realized there was a boxing bag there, I hit it hard last night when we got back. I wince again recalling that I fell asleep without showering last night; a problem that needs fixing right now.
I groan, thinking about how I’d tried to shower the night before, only to realize when I’d walked down the hallway that the door was shut and the water was on. The dawning realization that only a thin piece of wood and possibly a shower curtain stood between me and a naked Reagan had gotten me so fucking hard that I’d felt my pulse roar in my ears like a fucking jet engine.
The mental image of her, the hot water cascading down her perfect body, the steam rising around her, her hands lathering her skin with soap had me gripping the doorframe with an iron grip, wanting nothing more than to break down that door, crush her body to mine and take her right there in the damn shower.
Obviously, my restraint is to be applauded, as I’d instead gone back to my guest room with a raging case of blue balls and a nonstop fantasy of Reagan wearing nothing but some soap bubbles dancing through my head as I’d fallen fitfully asleep.
I’m still thinking about it, and I’m rock hard with my cock straining at my boxer-briefs as I poke my head out of the door and look around. Reagan might be what most people call an early riser, but I’m a Marine; “early” is a subjective term.
I’m used to the five-nozzle automatic steam shower I’ve had installed at my penthouse these days, but there’s an old world nostalgia that hits me when I manually crank on the water in Reagan’s clawfoot tub. The loofa that played a very soapy and very x-rated roll in my dreams of her last night is hanging there on a hook by the shower-head, and a surge of lust hits me again as the scent of her soap and her shampoo hit me. I think of her standing in this very tub last night, her skin pink and wet, her breasts rising and falling as she breathes in the steam, and the water running over her stomach and her hips to trickle down between her legs.
Jesus, get a fucking grip, man.
I’m so hard thinking a
bout Reagan that I’m practically about to rip through my briefs, so I shuck them down my thighs, and that’s when the door barges open.
She’s clearly just stumbled out of bed, and it’s the sexiest fucking thing I’ve ever seen. She’s wearing these thin little white panties that are clinging tightly to every curve of her hips and every crease between her thighs, and this sheer lacy nighty thing that I can see right fucking through.
“I, oh-!” She trips over whatever she’s about to say as I whirl around, and then she’s just staring at my cock. Her mouth is open in this sexy as fuck way, and I can feel my dick actually jump as her tongue barely slides out to briefly wet her lip and then it just feels like time stops.
We’re frozen in this moment, barely three feet away from each other and yet neither of us moving or saying a damn thing. And there is so much I want to say that I almost can’t think, but at the same time, I don’t want anything in the world to shatter this moment.
We stand there in silence for the longest three full seconds in the world before she starts to slowly back away. She’s not leaving, she just backs up against the door frame, her eyes stuck on my erection.
“Hudson-“ She breathes, her eyes wide and blinking quickly and her chest rising and falling with her breathing.
Something about her saying my name like that breaks me from the freeze, and I’m moving towards her before I know what the fuck I’m doing. But dammit if she’s going to move, or leave, then she better fucking do it now before I crush those pouty, sexy fucking lips with mine and take her right here in the bathroom.
I’m right in front of her, my pulse raging in my ears, her eyes still haven’t left my dick. Slowly, she draws them up, slowly shaking her head but her cheeks are bright red and her breath is coming in these cute little gasps. “You’re-“
She swallows heavily and licks her lips again, and all I can think about is watching those lips wrap around my shaft.
“Say it,” I growl out, my eyes flashing as I hold her trembling gaze with my own; “Say the word.” I want to tear those panties from her body and sink my cock into her right here against the bathroom wall, but I need her to tell me she wants me first. I’m already feeling like I’m breaking every vow and all the trust in the world with William and Logan and Bryce, and she has to make the first move or this is nothing, as much as I know we both want this right now.
“We- we can’t-“
I grab her wrist and push them back tight against the doorframe behind her. She whimpers and shivers, and this tiny moan falls from her lips, and God help me I’m going to take her right here in about three seconds.
She arches her hips forward in just the smallest of movements, and my cock just grazes against the bare skin of her hip and she shivers; “Hudson-“
“Say the word Reagan.” I growl, leaning down until I’m practically breathing the words against her lips. It’s taking everything I have not to shove my tongue into her mouth and fuck her right up against the wall; “Say the fucking word and I’ll-”
“No!” She gasps, the spell suddenly broken as she pushes me back. My stomach drops as she’s whirling around and bolting out the bathroom door, leaving me standing here with heart in my throat and my cock rock hard.
Day one of watching Reagan Archer; I am not going to survive this campaign.
9
Reagan
P A S T
I’m fussing with the hemline of the white dress again, even though Quinn and my friend Cassy have already told me a thousand times that it looks great on me. The problem is, the dress does look good, I’m just not sure it’s really me, you know?
“Seriously, stop playing with it, you look hot.” Quinn is every inch the world-weary college girl home on break; twenty-one going on forty and totally jaded about, like, you know, everything.
I make a face at her; “I’m not trying to look hot, Quinn, it’s a family graduation party.” A family event, I might add, that our Dad is actually around for.
“Well, too bad, cause you look hot. That dress makes your tits look great, by the way.”
“Quinn!”
“Oh stop being a prude.” She sticks her tongue out at me before she stops and seems to look past me, and her brow arches and a little grin creeps across her face; “Well hello.” She slides her sunglasses down her nose an inch or so; “Don’t look now, but I’m pretty sure I’m not the only one that thinks you look hot in that dress.”
“Huh?”
“No, Reagan-” She hisses as I start to turn; “I said don’t look now!” But I’m ignoring my older sister as I turn around, and suddenly lock eyes with possibly the most attractive looking man I’ve ever seen. His piercing blue eyes flash at me, boring into me so much that I feel a warm flutter hit me even from 100 feet away across the gardens. He says something to the other suited guy he’s talking to, and suddenly he’s walking over to where we’re standing, his eyes never really leaving me as he strides towards me.
“Um, what do I do?” He’s definitely walking towards us, and I definitely have no idea what to say to a man that looks like that.
Quinn laughs; “Ugh, you talk to him, psycho?” She sees me biting my cuticle and pulls my hand away from my mouth; “Yeah, don’t do that. Just, be normal and be yourself, ok?”
Yeah but myself is an awkward, gawky bookworm, despite the sexy dress my sister picked out for me.
“You know you are going to have to talk to guys at some point when you go to college, Ray,” she says grinning as she winks at me and starts to walk away.
“Wait! Where are you going!” I hiss at her.
She sticks her tongue out at me; “Go get get ‘im, tiger.”
I’m opening my mouth to yell something at her back about deserting me when I hear his voice for the first time; “Congratulations, Reagan.”
The voice is like honey and leather; smooth and smokey and yet older-sounding than the man who looks barely much older than I am standing in front of me.
“Uh, hi.” I say, feeling flushed as I turn to him.
Smooth; very smooth.
Up close, I can see the tiniest glimpses of tattoo ink peeking out above his shirt collar or at the sleeves of his Armani suit, hinting at something much less polished beneath. A $5,000 suit and visible tattoos?Color me curious.
Up close like this, I can see the thin white scar on his chin, and combined with that crazy charming smile and those hints of bad boy ink, I realize that more than just being the most attractive looking man I’ve ever met, he also might just be the most dangerous.
I can feel my blush spreading up my cheeks as the thought hits me; the kind of blush that I hate because it makes my cheeks pink, which looks weird and not in a cute way if you’ve got red hair like mine. He’s grinning at me though with that totally charming and utterly disarming smile, and those piercing blue eyes are flashing and it’s like I’m under some kind of spell.
…You know, the kind of spell where I apparently can’t say anything without sounding like a total weirdo; “So, how do you- I mean, how did you get-“
Wow, was I really about to ask ‘how did you get invited?’ I shake my head; “Uh, sorry. I guess I meant to ask your name, not, you know, accuse you of party crashing or something.”
He laughs, and the sound is like warm silk and smoke, which makes something tingle inside of me; “Oh, yeah sorry, I never even got to that part.”
God that smile is freaking criminal it’s so attractive, it’s like I just want to-
“Hudson,” My heart skips a beat; “Hudson Banks.”
Shit. And just like that, I’m over it.
“I work with- “
“You work with my Dad.” I say evenly. Ok, spark gone; mystery butterflies dead.
Hudson freaking Banks.
I can’t believe I haven’t recognized him from the corporate gala event Dad threw a year or so back. Of course, back then I was too busy hating our Dad for dragging us to his stupid event and too busy sulking in the corner with a book to bother bein
g introduced to anyone.
Anyone like Hudson Banks; one of “The Guys” my father is always palling around with in whatever conflict zone he’s in this week. The charm suddenly looks more like smugness to me; the cool confidence now arrogance as I realize that this is one of the people it seems my father would rather spend time with than his own family at his own home.
Hudson frowns a little, seeing the way my smile falls from my face, and he opens his perfect mouth to say something when suddenly something blonde and loud crashes into him; “Heeey baaabe.”
I can see him wince, and see his jaw tense up, and I almost have to grin at his discomfort. I mean I thought my dress was a little too flirty for the occasion, but this girl looks like she might be a stripper.
“Hiii, I’m Chastity.” She says, sticking out a hand covered in tacky looking jewelry with big fake nails.
Ok, I take it back, this girl is definitely a stripper. I can’t even help but let the grin spread across my cheeks as I see the frown deepen on his. Whatever charm he was trying to work on me - and I refuse to admit that it was; working, that is - is now being totally shattered by this bimbo, and that thought is extremely amusing to me in that moment.
Hudson clears his throat; “So, uh, you’re going to be in New York for college in the fall I hear?”
I’m momentarily confused how he knows that, but I nod; “Yeah, Columbia. It was that or Cornell, but I really liked the idea of being in the city-“
“Oh my God.” Hudson’s stripper-date has her mouth wide open, her eyes glazed as she shakes her head at me; “I totally gave up corn too. It has so many carbs it’s like crazy, am I right?”
Wow.
I can see Hudson’s eyes flash as he cringes, and it only makes me grin even more and nod enthusiastically at her; “That’s, uh, yeah that’s terrific. Good for you-”
“Chastity.” She says with a smile, holding out her hand as if we didn’t just do this thirty seconds before; “Like the virtue.”
