Root (Band Nerd Book 2)

by Danica Avet

  I don’t know how long we trade punches, going toe-to-toe, but it feels fucking fantastic. Brutal. And it’s exactly what I need in a way football can’t give me.

  Then he tackles me to the ground. I land with a loud grunt. He sits up, swinging at my head and I manage to block the hit. I don’t stay pinned for long, using my greater size to take the top spot. He has experience on me though, so I take plenty of blows to my ribs and face.

  I know I’m bleeding, that I’ll be one bruised motherfucker and I’ll probably feel bad about taking my anger out on my brother, but in this moment, I need to beat on someone. When Rien grins at me with bloody teeth, I know he feels the same thrill of aggression. Then he lands an uppercut that snaps my head back, a weightless, floaty feeling washing over me seconds before I hit the ground. Hard.

  “Oh god.” Soft, familiar fingers graze my cheek before leaving and coming back, fluttering as though they don’t know what to do.

  If I had my way, I’d demand Lena just touch me. Because when she does, everything else goes away. My self-pity and self-hatred, my fear for her, for our relationship. It’s all gone as long as she’s touching me with love. Something I’d forgotten this week as I let myself dwell.

  “Doesn’t look like anything’s broken,” someone states. It sounds like Tight and considering he’s been in his fair share of fist fights, he’d know.

  “Anders?” Lena’s sweet voice calls, as her hands return to my face.

  It takes a few tries before I’m able to crack my eyes open. The first person I see is Lena, her expression stark with concern. Beyond her, the others stand around, their attention swapping from me to Rien, who I can feel lying next to me. Lena’s hands cup my face and she leans over until she’s all I see.

  “Are you okay?” she asks softly, her forehead furrowing. Her lips thin and she shakes her head. “Stupid question. You’re not okay.”

  But strangely enough… “I’m fine,” I mumble, reaching up to brush her cheek with my thumb.

  Something dangles over Lena’s shoulder, liquid dripping into my face. “Here, use this to clean him up. Guys are such idiots,” Becca mutters as she moves away.

  I stare up at my girl through eyes that are starting to swell as she gently, carefully wipes my face up. I’m pretty sure Becca’s cleaning up Rien since all I hear is him cursing her and her pissy responses but, lucky for me, Lena’s sweet to the marrow.

  “Okay guys, the battle royal’s over, let’s give ’em some room,” Savage says, guiding the others back to the firepit, giving us privacy.

  My girl mops me up, her eyes following her hands, not meeting my gaze. “What was that about?” she asks after a few minutes of silence broken only by Becca and Rien’s bitching.

  It sounds stupid now that I got the shit knocked out of my brain, but I’d needed that fight. Will I suddenly feel all Zen and peaceful? No, I’m still pissed about what happened to her. Pretty sure that’ll never go away, but Rien’s words actually penetrated the fog of rage I’ve been living with ever since I found out Nathan planned to kidnap and sell her. No, before then. When Nathan first threatened what we have together.

  “Just needed to blow off some steam.”

  Her lips purse as she wipes my chin. “About…” She pauses to glance over her shoulder. “About that?”

  I nod slowly.

  She lifts the towel and stares at me for at least a solid minute before she reaches out and pinches my nipple, giving it a vicious twist. “Yeowch! Fuck!”

  “Becca’s right, guys are idiots,” she accuses as she throws the towel at me.

  It lands on my face with a splat and I jerk it away just in time to see her storm into the house, ponytail bouncing with her anger. I bite back a groan of pain as I sit up, my ribs and abdomen protesting the movement, but I’m not going to let her stew in her anger. Not the way I did. Yeah, yeah, I’m a fucking hypocrite.

  I finally regain my feet, moving like a ninety-year-old and Rien snickers from the ground. Becca sits next to him, arms crossed over her chest, glaring at him as he wipes at his face. He looks about as bad as I feel. Apparently, I’d gone after his face hard. Not that he acts like it bothers him. There’s a sparkle in his eyes I haven’t seen in a while.

  “Not bad, kid,” he says. “Next time I might even let you win.”

  Becca mutters something under her breath that I know is another insult, but I’m already moving for the house. I feel Savage, Tight, and the others watching me, probably wondering if I have a screw loose, but the only person whose opinion matters to me is Lena and she’s pissed at me with good reason, so I ignore their curious looks.

  Once inside, I beeline for our bedroom. The door’s closed and I take a minute to organize my thoughts, come up with a good, sensible argument for being an aggressive, dumbass all week.

  Sucking in a deep breath stings, but I do it anyway and knock on the door. Without waiting for her answer, I crack it open. “Babe?”

  She doesn’t respond so I swing the door open completely and promptly enter the room, slamming it shut behind me. Pressing my back to it, I turn the lock on the knob and gape.

  Lena, my very pissed off, sweet girl, kneels in the center of the bed. Completely naked. All the explanations and excuses I’d worked so hard to conjure up in the hallway disappear as the blood in my brain rushes south. Considering I’ve got bruises and scrapes and cuts all over the place, it isn’t the most pleasant erection I’ve ever had, but my dick sees naked Lena and it gets hard. Like Pavlov’s dog, I react involuntarily.

  She crosses her arms over her tits and I reluctantly drag my gaze up, although I do take a few detours south. So many, I feel dizzy by the time I’m able to focus on her face.

  “Babe?” I croak.

  “The next time you need to blow off some steam, this is how we do it,” she announces firmly.

  It sounds like a great suggestion, except… “Babe,” I say carefully, taking a small step forward. “You were…” I pause and rub the back of my neck. “Fuck it, babe, you were almost kidnapped and sold.” The words taste like ashes on my tongue, but I forge ahead anyway. “No fucking way I’m gonna maul you to make myself feel better. Not until you’re ready. Really ready for sex.” I shake my head. “I love you too fucking much to hurt you that way.”

  She glares at me. “Don’t you think that’s my decision to make? Just like it’s my decision whether or not to talk to my mom?”

  I open and close my mouth a few times. How did she know…? “Becca.”

  Lena nods vigorously. “She told me you’d probably try to protect me. And Rien was kind of shouting at you. He’s right, though. It’s my decision.”

  “Lena,” I start to say but she cuts me off with a lift of her hand.

  “I know, Anders. You only want to protect me.” She shuffles to the edge of the bed on her knees and I almost lose track of the conversation when her tits jiggle. “I love how much you want to shield me from everything. It’s something Mom never tried to do and I appreciate it more than you’ll ever know.” She sits back on her heels, her hands on her thighs. “But there are some things you can’t protect me from, some things I don’t want you to protect me from.”

  I can’t resist her vulnerability and, before I know it, my feet carry me across the floor, my arms going around her automatically. “I just want the best for you, Lena,” I mumble into her hair.

  “I know you do and I love you for it, but you can’t wrap me in cotton to protect me from the world, either.” She pulls back only far enough to look me in the eye. “Can you promise me that you won’t try to deal with everything on your own? That you’ll work with me instead of hiding things from me? That we’ll be partners, equals in this relationship?”

  It’s on the tip of my tongue to agree, but I hesitate because if I did, I’d be lying. Instead, I go with honesty. “I can try. Just wait, hear me out,” I say when she glares at me. “You’re my whole world, Lena. Football? My degrees? None of that matters if I don’t have you, so in order for my
life to have meaning, I need you in it. That means protecting you to the best of my ability.” I give her a squeeze when her bottom lip turns down. “One sec, baby. I’ll try, okay? But if I start smothering you, let me know and I’ll rein it in. Will that work?”

  She studies me so long, I almost expect her to reject my compromise. I hold my breath and pray she can live with that. When she starts to smile, her eyes twinkling in a way I haven’t seen in several days, I let out a huge sigh of relief which she swallows when she kisses me. We have a lot to work on, a lot to learn about each other, but as our tongue tangle, as our hands roam with hungry intent, I know we’ll make it. Failure isn’t an option.

  She starts tugging at my shirt and I break the kiss to remove it. The minute it slides up my torso, her hands and mouth are there, gently caressing the bruises coloring my ribs and stomach, her lips making the pain fade to a dull, easily ignored ache.

  “You need to apologize to Rien,” she says as she takes my nipple between her little white teeth. My dick’s knocking on the front of my jeans, but before I can make a move to take them off, her fingers nimbly work the button and zipper. “You shouldn’t fight with your brother.” She pushes the material down just far enough to allow my cock to spring out, ready and more than willing to get inside her. “He loves and worries about you.”

  I mumble something unintelligible, my palms filled to the brim with her tits, my thumbs finding her nipples at the same time her fingers wrap around my hard cock. We moan together, our mouths clashing together. So much silky skin at my fingertips means I have to touch everything, my hands sliding down and around until I have those juicy ass cheeks cupped in my palms.

  Lena whimpers into my mouth, her fingers tightening around me, and that’s when I know this is going to be fast and hard. I haven’t touched her sexually since before she was kidnapped. I hadn’t wanted to scare her, but if she says she’s fine and this is what she wants, I’m going to give it to her. Because I’m selfless that way.

  Scooping her up manages to get her to let go of my cock—making me both frustrated and relieved. I definitely need to slow down or I’ll shoot too soon—and when I gently toss her on the bed, she lets out a breathless laugh. I use the short break to get out of my jeans and flip-flops and to snag a condom from the nightstand.

  While rolling it on, I stare at her. It’s only been a few months since the first time I saw her, but she still takes my breath away and I have a feeling she always will. The familiar feeling washes over me, my throat tightening, any intelligent thought fleeing at the vision before me. Full curves, milky, smooth skin, nipples the color of pink roses, long, blonde hair trailing over our pillows, she’s easily the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen. The fact that she’s mine?

  Her smile, when I’m finally able to drag my eyes away from the beauty of her body, is tender and heated and just for me. “Come here,” she says holding her arms open in invitation.

  I don’t need to be told twice, climbing onto the bed and into her arms. Fitting my body to hers, chest-to-chest, dick-to-sweet, wet pussy, I shudder at the contact, my cock twitching and ready to go. I shift, putting some room between us because if I don’t… Yeah, I’ll be inside her, pounding away. But first I need her to know this is more than sex for me. Right? She needs to understand how much I l—

  “Oh fuck,” I moan as one of her hands dips between our bodies, finding my cock and guiding it to her entrance. “Lena.”

  “I need you inside me,” she whispers back, wiggling her hips and driving me crazy.

  Fuck it. I’m not Superman. Gripping her hip, I hold her steady for my thrust and the minute I slide into her tight heat I’m lost in her. My free hand slides under her shoulder to hold her in place as I fuck her, my hips working between her thighs fast and hard. She wraps around me, arms and legs encompassing me, holding me to her as though afraid I’d leave her.

  Fingernails dig into my ass, urging me faster, deeper and I obey. My teeth find the tendon at the side of her neck, nipping it and earning myself the first rippling of her pussy around my dick. Lifting my head, I stare down at her as I fuck into her, my balls slapping against that sweet ass, the slick sounds of her cunt taking me again and again, giving me a savage satisfaction I’ll never tire of.

  “Anders,” Lena pants, eyes glassy with need. She arches her back, rubbing her hard nipples against my chest, my dick finding a new angle inside her that has every muscle in her body flexing. “Oh yes.”

  “Love fuckin’ you,” I mutter, my fingers digging into her hip, tilting her another degree and hitting something inside her that has her eyes widening with pleasure. “Love you.”

  I’m so close to coming, but she has to get there first. Never leaving her behind again. Mentally chanting every formula I can remember at the moment, I use my Mathematics and Science to keep myself working her without blowing my wad. Sweat trickles down my back, making the scratches she gave me sting, but the tiny sparks of pain help to keep me from emptying my balls. Although fuck… Oh fuck, the tingling is there the more I thrust, the more sounds she makes as I give her everything I have. My muscles tremble from holding it together. I’m not gonna last. I’m not gonna—

  “And— Ahh!” she suddenly cries, startling me—and I think herself as well, going by the shocked look in her eyes—as those internal ripples turn into squeezes as she comes for me. “Ooh, oh yes! Yes!”

  “Fuck, fuck, fuuuuuck,” I groan, my eyes rolling until I swear I see the inside of my skull as her pussy massages my dick, pulling me, tugging me.

  I let out a garbled shout as the tip of my cock seems to explode, my climax tearing through me, my hips working independently of my brain, pounding into my girl as though I don’t have a layer of latex keeping my swimmers from reaching her womb. Yeah, I’m fucking her like we’re making a baby and we’re the only ones on the entire planet who can do it. It’s pleasure and agony that has my head tipping back as I ride out every ball-seizing pulse of cum I shoot into the condom.

  My strength leaves me and I sink into her, careful to keep the majority of my weight off of her. Focusing my eyes, I enjoy her post-orgasm glow, the way her eyelids are all heavy as though she’s barely able to keep them open, her cheeks deep pink, lips puffy from our kisses… Fuck yeah, that’s my girl.

  “And you’re my guy,” she whispers, her fingers sliding through my sweat-dampened hair. “I love you.”

  A loud knock sounds on the door, making us both jump. And our private bubble is popped when we hear, “Okay, you love each other and y’all have wild sex every chance you get, but it’s time for y’all to join the rest of us out here! Or some motherfucker is gonna die when I go after him like a spider monkey on crack!” Becca kicks the door for good measure.

  When I turn back from trying to glare a hole in the door, Lena’s grinning up at me. “We’d better get out there,” she murmurs. “Rien’s been beat up enough tonight.”

  Lena

  Two months later…

  “Hey babe? Could you come see?”

  I put the turkey back in the oven, turn down the heat on the beans, and give the kitchen a final look. I’m not a great cook or anything, but I think I’ve managed to put together a nice post-Christmas dinner. A quick glance at the clock tells me people will start showing up in about twenty minutes, giving me just enough time to change into something more festive than my T-shirt and shorts.

  “Babe?” Anders calls again from the living room.

  He, Rien, and Beau have been in there for the last hour, cursing, banging on stuff and generally staying out of my way. Apparently, Beau bought a new television and they wanted to set it up before the party. He offered to have Mrs. Duthu cook the meal, but she already does so much and I wanted to do this myself, so I refused the help.

  Yes, Anders and I still live at the cottage. When we started making plans to apartment hunt, Beau asked us to stay. At first, I thought he was just being nice, but the more we talked about moving on, the more depressed and withdrawn Beau became and I
realized he’s lonely.

  Strange, but after living in the same house as him for the last two months, I’ve come to realize he really doesn’t have much of a relationship with anyone except Mrs. Duthu. He did a big, formal Christmas with his family…and about a hundred other people who’re part of that whole rich person’s thing the Sauvage’s have going on. He came home after the party in a horrible mood, but when I came up with the idea of doing a family style Christmas, he looked like a kid about to see Santa.

  I start for the living room, ready to pretend how impressed I am with the television, when I hear a scratchy-sounding song playing. I pause on the threshold of the kitchen with a frown. It’s…a much older song than I’ve ever heard the guys listening to, more like something I heard growing up. The guitar riff… I know I’ve heard it before, and as soon as the singer starts in, my heart slams against my ribcage and my legs carry me into the living room in quick, jerky movements.

  Anders is standing next to the new entertainment system with a broad smile on his face. As handsome as he is, as much as I adore him, my gaze is drawn to the newest addition to the living room. The television is now mounted to the wall, freeing up the spot on the shelves beneath it, where a beautifully restored turntable sits next to a receiver. Below it, nestled next to the cabinet are two massive floor speakers, pumping out a song I haven’t heard on vinyl in…a long, long time.

  But that isn’t all. Oh no, the boys have been busy, because there’s an additional piece of furniture in the room, where every single album and 45 I inherited from Dad are lined up like vinyl soldiers waiting for their turn on the turntable.

  I can’t breathe, except my lungs are working overtime and my heart feels as though it’s grown to fill my chest, taking up every available space until I’m nothing more than a walking, pounding, hysterical pulse. I recognize that record label spinning at 45 rpms. A stinging sensation burns my eyes as I stare at the record, the sweet, sappy sound of The Association’s “Never My Love” floating through the living room, seeping right through my skin and sinking into my heart.