by Kay Maree
“Jesus! What is it with you guys? You gossip worse than the bitches at school,” I groan, seriously wanting to kick the shit out of Brendan right about now.
“Answer me this, Blake,” he says, narrowing his eyes at me. “The shit’s hit the fan over at Lani’s, her parents are pissed and her life’s about to change in a big way if she follows through with her plans to work with Max, what are you gonna do about it? Are you finally gonna sack up and be the man she needs to see her through this, or are you gonna keep playing these bullshit games that aren’t doing either of you any good? Because the way I see it, you’ve got your shit together. You know what you wanna do, and that’s keep on working for dad at the garage full-time instead of just on the weekends. You’ve got plans to move into that new apartment building on Grand after your next pay check comes in. And you’ve already started rebuilding that POS Charger dad’s been storing for you, which you’ll make a whack off once it’s finished. So you see, you’re good, solid even. But Lani, well she’s a different story. The support she figured would be begrudging but eventually forthcoming isn’t guaranteed anymore, little brother. And it pains me to say it, but it might never be. Her folks had pretty definite ideas on what her future entailed, and being a tattoo artist for a badass biker behemoth wasn’t it.”
I don’t know whether to be offended my asshole brother is under the impression I wouldn’t be there for Lani no matter what or if I should set him straight on how I see this all playing out.
Obviously, I go with the latter.
“I love her, Burke. I’ve loved Lani since she was almost three and smashed cake in my face for telling her her dress was ugly. I don’t give a fuck if she wants to be a tattooist, a waitress or a fucking astronaut; I’ll support her regardless of her choice of career. And if you think for once second I didn’t plan on taking her with me when I move out, you’re dumber than I gave you credit for. She belongs with me, and whether our parents or hers agree with it or not, Lani’s going to be mine, period.”
Casting a quick glance over my shoulder, Burke winks and then says, “Just what I was hoping you’d say.”
As if my head is on a swivel, I turn in slow motion to see Lani standing in the doorway with one hand over her mouth, the other over her heart, and tears brimming in her eyes.
Fucking hell!
“I figure my work here is done, and this is my cue to leave you two love birds to it. But before I go, I’ve got one rule and one rule only; don’t have sex in my room.” Pointing at me and then Lani, he adds, “You’re my brother; I helped change your diapers for fuck’s sake. And you, you’re like the little sister I never had, so I’d hate to have to kill my own brother for defiling you. Got it? Good.”
And with that, Burke walks out as if he doesn’t have a care in the world, leaving me to wonder how in the hell I got myself into this mess, and how best to explain everything I have no doubt in my mind Lani heard.
Chapter Six
Lani
I couldn’t have heard, Blake right, could I? Because I swear he just said he loves me, but between my parent’s reaction to my news tonight and the disappointment on Mrs. Kensington’s face when she answered the door, after what I’m sure was a very enlightening conversation with my mom, I don’t think I can handle any more emotional turmoil.
“Lani,” Blake whispers hoarsely, beckoning me closer with one of his large hands.
What I want to do is close the distance between us, throw myself in his arms and beg him to tell me everything is going to be okay. There’s something deep down in the pit of my stomach that craves Blake’s validation. Something that desperately needs his reassuring voice and words of encouragement in times like these.
But like always, what I want and what I do are two separate things.
Coming further into the room I compromise by sitting across from him but reach out to take hold of his outstretched hand. The second I do, I’m being pulled up and onto his lap where he settles me with my legs across both of his thigh thighs.
My startled gasp doesn’t deter, Blake. If anything, it spurs him on. “How much did you hear?” He asks, at the same time he places a finger beneath my chin to tilt my face toward him.
I can barely think, let alone speak, so I say the first thing that comes into my head. “How much did you want me to have heard?”
His deep masculine chuckle reverberates through my body, warming me from the inside out. I’ve always adored Blake’s laugh, but it’s moments like this when I’m close enough to feel it, that I fall harder for him than I ever thought possible. “I don’t care how much you heard, baby. It was only a matter of time before I came clean and told you anyway,” he admits sheepishly.
Memories of all the times we’ve argued and ended up fighting like cats and dogs assault me, and while I may have clung to those to fuel my anger at him so I could hide how I really feel about the amazing boy in front of me, those aren’t the moments I’ll remember twenty years from now.
No.
The moments with Blake that have impacted me so profoundly have been the quiet ones. The moments in which he held me while I cried and stroked my hair until I fell asleep. There were times I couldn’t sleep for fear the nightmares plaguing me would creep into my subconscious, but as if Blake knew my thoughts without me having to voice them, he would show up at my window and help me onto the roof where we sat and watched the stars until he was sure I would sleep soundly.
My mind spins as I remember all the subtle looks, touches, and promises to protect me Blake’s made over the years, starting from before I could understand there was anything I would ever need protection from.
But then in creeps that evil wretch, doubt. Doubt that this isn’t real. Doubt that I misheard him in some way. Doubt that he means what he says after everything we’ve put each other through. But first and foremost, it’s the self-doubt that’s eating away at me like a virus, that’s making my fight or flight response rear its ugly head.
“Hey,” he prompts, softly brushing the back of his hand over my cheek. “What are you thinking so hard about? I can almost see the gears spinning in there, babe,” Blake says, tapping my temple lightly.
“Everything. Nothing. I don’t know. This is a lot, Blake,” I blurt out.
“It might feel that way, Lani, but deep down you know this has been a long time coming,” he smiles. “You and me, we’ve wasted years avoiding the tension between us, and I for one am done playing games. Like Burke said, they’re not doing either of us any good, so why don’t we give up and show our hands. I’ll go first if it makes it easier, babe.”
I’d like to say that I’m strong enough to say my piece and then let Blake say his, but I’m not. Not to mention, I need time to gather my thoughts so I don’t say something that he’ll take the wrong way. The last thing I want to do is hurt him, or me in the process. Not that I think confessing my life-long, undying love for him will hurt Blake, but it might hurt me if he doesn’t reciprocate the depth of my feelings.
Taking my jerky nod as his signal to continue, Blake wraps his arms around my waist and pulls me in tight to his chest, almost as if he thinks I’m going to run at the first opportunity. “Remember the day my dad told you that when a boy really likes a girl they do stupid shit like pulling their hair, throwing mud at them, and putting worms in their lunch boxes?” I nod again. “Yeah, so do I because he was right. All that shit I did, even the crap I pulled yesterday was all just a way for me to get your attention.”
My mouth hangs open in surprise and, I have to admit, a trace of anger at his admission. Shaking his head, Blake goes on to say, “You wouldn’t give me the time of day at school, Lani, so I did what I had to do to make you smile. And admit it, babe, it made you smile. Paying me back for all the stupid pranks I pulled, made your day, just like it did mine.”
Hmm...
I don’t know whether what he did makes him ridiculously smart or epically stupid, but either way, he’s not wrong. I’ve always fought
to hide my smile at his antics, and I have certainly enjoyed putting him in his place when the need arose.
“Are you telling me that you purposefully pissed me off in order to garner a response, albeit negative? Because if that’s true, you are aware that makes you a little touched in the head, right?” I ask, not quite believing what I’m hearing.
“Touched or not, it was worth it. To watch your face light up at the thought of retribution, and to see those tiny smirks you tried to hide from me but failed because I was always watching you was so totally worth it,” he states with a grin curving his full lips.
I have to ask. “If your goal was to make me smile, then why were you so awful to me? Why didn’t you just do nice things for me instead?”
“I tried, babe. I really did,” he replies on a long drawn out sigh. “I started by picking you flowers, which I’ll note you said you hated because they were weeds.”
“Well, they...” Blake cuts me off by placing a finger over my mouth.
“Shh, babe. Let me finish. I graduated to bringing you breakfast before school every morning, but if you remember rightly, you told me you didn’t eat breakfast so not to bother anymore. Then, when we got older, I tried offering to take you to and from work, to your art classes, even to the fucking mall if that meant I’d get fifteen minutes with you alone, but you declined every single one of my offers . You made up excuse after excuse to avoid me, and I’ve gotta be honest, babe, some of them were the worst I’d ever heard. I mean, who needs to buy feminine products five times a month? No one, that’s who.”
Okay, granted, that one might have been a little - and I mean by a little, a lot - overused. But, sue me. It worked, or I thought it had.
“But recently, since you finally admitted you didn’t want to go to college, that you were gonna stay here and apprentice for Max, shit went from bad to worse. You spent every waking minute avoiding me, to the point I was starting to freak the fuck out this talk would never happen.” Resting his forehead on mine, Blake exhales. “I’ve always been able to read you like a book, Lani, but these last few months, you’ve been closed up tighter than a vault. You stopped letting me hold you at night, you don’t answer my texts or calls and you sure as shit haven’t spoken to me, even on the odd occasion I’ve gotten you alone for a minute or two.”
“I’m sorry,” I all but sob at the reminder of how awful I’ve been to him.
“It’s okay, babe. Shh,” Blake murmurs. “Don’t cry. You’re killing me here.” Rocking us gently back and forth, my tears ebb. They don’t completely dissipate, but they do slow down. Whether it’s the calming tone of his voice or the way Blake handles me as if I’m precious to him, I don’t know. But what I do know, is that I’ll never get enough of this kind of affection from him.
“In my head, I was just waiting for the right time to address where we go from here. But don’t doubt for a second, babe, that every path I had mapped out started and ended with you. I don’t take my first breath until I see you in the morning, and I can’t fall asleep at night until I know you’re tucked safely into bed. And while I wish it was my bed you were curled up in, I was willing to wait as long as it took for you to be ready and want that too.”
“But I did. I do,” I rush to say before he can add a but onto the end of his sentence.
Thankfully, he doesn’t. Instead, Blake stares into my eyes and close the small gap between our mouths.
At the first touch of his warm, soft lips, something inside me detonates. All of the feelings I’ve fought long and hard to contain break free, and for once, I let them.
I pour every ounce of love and devotion into what just happens to be my first kiss, and I pray that without words, Blake understands everything I’m communicating and draws his own conclusions as to just how deeply I feel for him.
Chapter Seven
Blake
With my hands on her ass and her arms wrapped around my neck, I life Lani into my arms and carry her to my room. I get I shouldn’t be doing it like this, but visions of making her mine have clouded my judgment, my sense of reason. They also have me ignoring Burke’s warning, even with the knowledge that he’ll kick my ass when he finds out I defiled the girl he views as his sister.
He had to know this was coming, though. All my brother’s did. Lani has been and always will be the only person I see, the only woman I want. It was only a matter of time before I manned up and made her mine.
When I imagined being with Lani, kissing her, touching her, sinking inside her tight, hot body for the first time, it wasn’t in my childhood bedroom. Fuck me for being a romantic, but I envisioned her spread out on a blanket for me in the middle of a field full of flowers. Or at the very least, naked, willing, and waiting for me on a huge bed in a five-star hotel, covered in rose petals with candles flickering around the room.
But after years of craving the woman who drives me mad and makes me question my sanity, my self-control is shot and my patience snapped, so my bedroom with my parents’ downstairs and one of my brother’s next door is going to have to do.
Sliding her down my body, I move Lani backward until the back of her knees hit the edge of my bed. My hands trail down her sides to her hips, exerting enough pressure that she takes the hint to lay down without me having to say a word.
“You’re fucking beautiful, baby,” I say, standing over her, admiring every lush curve of her tiny body.
The differences between our sizes is almost comical. Where Lani is all soft, pale unblemished skin, dangerous curves and beauty incarnate, I’m tanned, inked my muscles hardened from manual labor and hours spent in the gym. Not to mention, I’m over a foot taller than her and, at least, a hundred pounds heavier.
That’s one of the things I love about us, though. Being able to pick her up and carry her around, moving Lani to where I want her when I want her there is a huge fucking turn on.
With her wide blue eyes focused on me, I feel like a fucking king. Like every day I’ve suffered without her and every night I’ve been forced to bite my tongue when I’ve wanted nothing more than to tell her how crazy in love with her I am has all been worth it. Because even if Lani changes her mind now if this is all we can ever have, this moment, tonight, every desperate prayer I made was worth it to see her here in my room looking at me like she is.
“Blake,” Lani whispers, coming up to her elbows. “If you- I mean - If you don’t want to...” her voice trails off.
Seeing her embarrassment, her self-doubt kills me inside. Lani thinking for one second that I don’t want her is as unacceptable to me as me imagining a life without her in it, which is why I don’t speak. Instead, I act and I do it fast.
Stripping off my shirt and my jeans, I leave my boxers on knowing I need the added barrier to contain my all-consuming desire for her.
My hands reach for the hem of her sweater, swiftly pulling it up and over her head. My mouth works her neck, her collarbone and across her chest as I fumble with the button and zip of her jeans.
It’s not a secret that I’ve enjoyed the company of some of the girls at school. Okay, a lot of them. I’ve been jerked off, blown and done my fair share of reciprocating. What I haven’t done is taken that last step with any of them. Lani doesn’t know it yet, but I saved that part of me for her. I couldn’t imagine going there with anyone but her, nor would I have, no matter how long she made me wait to make her mine.
With my girl spread out before me, her eyes wide, pupils dilated, and her skin flushed a beautiful shade of pink, I’m fucking ecstatic I waited. This moment was meant to be shared by us and us alone, and be something neither of us will ever forget.
“Take your bra and panties off for me, baby,” I murmur as I move to stand at the end of the bed.
Slowly and somewhat hesitantly, Lani does what I ask. As her tight, dusky pink nipples come into view, I revel again at what a lucky bastard I am. Lani’s tits have been the focal point of some of my more vivid fantasies, but seeing them now, I realize no
thing could have prepared me for how much better they are in reality.
Large, firm globes that sit high on her chest and will overfill my hands and that I want nothing more than to worship with my mouth, my hands, and one day, my cock are the stuff dreams are made of.
Freeing my cock from the confines of my boxers is probably a mistake, but regardless, a necessity. If I don’t take the edge off soon, I’ll be nutting in my jocks like a prepubescent kid.
Stroking my length from root to tip, smearing the steady stream of precum down my shaft, I watch avidly as Lani reveals her pretty, pink, soaking wet pussy.
And I snap.
Seeing her wet and needy, swollen and hot for me, I land on my knees and wrap my hands around her thighs. Dragging her to the edge of the bed, I drop my head and feast.
I lave, nip, suck, and stroke Lani’s pussy until she’s writhing beneath my touch, never once letting up. I want to taste every inch of her, have her cream coating my face and her come down my throat, and I’m not giving up until she gives in and gives it to me.
“Let go, Lani. Let go and come for me,” I demand, thrusting one finger then a second inside her.
With a muffled cry, Lani arches her back and shudders as her body takes over as she lights up for me. Her mouth opens on a silent scream, her breasts heave, and her gushes.
After lapping up all of her juices and placing a tender kiss to her clit, I raise my head and look directly into her eyes as I pull my fingers from her depths and lick them clean.
“Oh my god,” Lani moans, covering her face with both her hands.
Not willing to let her overthink anything, I move fast. My boxers are gone in seconds and I’m on the bed hovering over her languid body in half that time. “Don’t hide from me. Don’t be embarrassed or ashamed of anything we do together, baby,” I murmur, pressing my lips to hers.
