by Jayne Rylon
He hummed against her, and then laughed a bit when she used her heels to press him tighter to her body. His hand skated up her ribs to her breast, squeezing it through her clothes as he devoured her.
A second finger joined the first, stretching her and filling her with awe as well as overwhelming rapture. When he curled them, stroking a place within her she hadn’t known existed, she couldn’t resist his delightful assault any longer.
“Tom!” She didn’t even have the brainpower to tease him with his foolish nickname. “Yes. Please. Make me come.”
He obliged with a swirl of his tongue around her clit and the bold pistoning of his digits within her.
Willie tensed, her entire body bent like a drawn bow. She hovered there, every cell in her body fully alive for the first time. Then she sprang apart, the tension released immediately when her climax erupted through her.
Tom never stopped. He groaned his encouragement against her swollen flesh as he continued to manipulate her body into giving up more and more pleasure to him. When finally she drooped, panting and limp against the cushions, she pried her eyes open to find him smiling at her, awfully smugly.
It took a few tries, but she finally managed to say softly, “Someone’s confident in his performance.”
“Damn straight.” He licked his lips then grabbed his discarded shirt to wipe his glistening face. His scruff probably left some evidence of their experimentation behind on her thighs. She would wear the redness proudly.
Willie reached for his hand, so he entwined their fingers. “As you should be. That was…amazing.”
Endorphins flooded her system, making her feel simultaneously relaxed and hyper-aware of everything pleasurable about this moment. Her body, singing. The warmth of their connection. The admiration in his gaze.
The unbelievably promising future she looked forward to for the first time in a while.
“Oh, honey. That wasn’t the whole show. That was only a preview.” He winked. “I haven’t even gotten you naked yet. I can do a hell of a lot better than that.”
“Tonight?” she whispered.
“Why waste any more time? I’m all about now.” He scooted forward and scooped her into his arms. When he stood, carrying her toward the stairs, she gasped.
“Wait. I can’t.” Lightly, she pressed against his chest, getting his attention.
“What’s wrong?” He frowned. “It was good, right?”
“It was everything,” she answered honestly. “More than I expected, and definitely better than I remembered.”
Did it make her disloyal to admit she might never have gone through her twenty-one-year dry spell if she knew sex could be that spectacular when gifted by a man who knew what he was doing?
“Then why?” He tipped his head to the side, studying her.
“Tom, I hate to break it to you, but I have an appointment in an hour.” She cleared her throat. “If I had realized this was going to be an all-afternoon kind of session, I wouldn’t have started it with you now. I’m sorry I didn’t warn you earlier. I saw you and… Well, everything else flew out of my mind.”
He grinned. “I can’t be upset that you want me half as bad as I want you.”
“So I should probably freshen up and head out if I’m going to make it to the doctor’s office on time.”
She hated the way he froze, his fingers clenching her thigh and ribs hard enough to leave bruises. Just like that, his lust evaporated, replaced by the terror she’d unintentionally triggered. “Everything all right?”
Oh, crap. She squirmed until he let her feet slide to the ground, though he still didn’t relinquish his hold on her. Good thing, since her knees were still pretty wobbly.
His pulse hammered through the vein on his neck. She hugged him tight.
“Yes, of course. It’s only a checkup, I swear. The doctor insists on it before she’ll refill a prescription I have.” Willie didn’t want him to worry. Besides, she owed him complete disclosure if they were going to bind themselves more tightly together. “I thought I should start taking my anti-anxiety medicine again for a bit. The nightmares… And everything…”
Tom blinked a few times then nodded.
“I’m glad you’re doing this if you think it will help.” He slid his hands up until they rested on her back and he could tug her against his chest. “I’m sorry if I’m frightening you. I understand if this scares you, Willie. I admit, it’s intense.”
“You’re not. It doesn’t. Not after what we just did.” She smiled then angled her face up to kiss his cheek. “It’s a lot to handle at once, you know? Probably it’ll be more, and faster even after today. Don’t you think?”
Because now that she’d sampled the rapture he could bestow, there was no way she wanted to put on the brakes.
“I do.” He nodded, still a little stiffer than usual. “Do you want me to drive you over there?”
In her younger years, she would have jumped on the offer.
“Thanks, but no. I’ve got this. It’s no big deal.” She kissed his cheek then peeked up at him through her lashes. “Why don’t you stay here and come up with a way we can have the house to ourselves tonight?”
“I think that’s the best idea you’ve ever had, Ms. Brown.”
“Me too, Tommy.” She winked at him then shrieked when he pinched her ass.
The slight sting and the resulting wash of pleasure inspired her to sprint up the stairs to the bathroom where she’d already stashed her toiletries, locking herself inside before they could get lost in each other again.
She’d never make it to her appointment if that happened.
Chapter Five
Tom let go of the dead-man’s switch on his lawn mower, letting the engine quit. He figured cutting the grass had to be preferable to pacing back and forth across his kitchen and living room, waiting for Willie to wrap up her doctor’s visit and hit the grocery store. At least it accomplished something.
Hell, he should have insisted on going with her, not for her sake—though he’d gladly support her if she needed him to—but because he was half out of his mind with irrational terror.
Especially after she’d erased any lingering doubts about how compatible they were in bed as well as out of it.
He put the machine in the shed then plopped onto the floor of his front porch, his legs splayed and his heels propped halfway down the stairs as he chugged from the bottle of ice water he’d set out before beginning his manual labor distraction technique. Hand-in-hand-in-hand, Eli¸ his wife Sally, and his husband Alanso came around the corner from the garage, heading for their apartment.
When they saw him, they detoured as if by tacit understanding.
Maybe someday Tom would have that kind of bond with Willie.
He pushed his sunglasses higher on his nose then plucked his shirt from the planks beside him, slinging it behind his neck so it draped over his shoulders, making room for one of the trio to sit down beside him. They worked hard. They’d be tired at the end of the day.
“Hey, Tom.” Sally grinned as she jogged the last hundred feet to his perch while her husbands obviously enjoyed the view, staring at her ass.
“Hey, kid.” He knocked his sweaty shoulder into hers.
“So…we saw Ms. Brown come over before. Did you fix things with her?” she asked.
“Think so.” A grin threatened to crack his impartial façade.
“Then where’s her car?” Alanso asked, rubbing his hand over his bald head.
“She’s taking care of some stuff. Errands, appointments…” Tom couldn’t bring himself to mention the doctor. He swallowed hard. “She should be back in an hour or two.”
“Staying the night again, I hope?” Mustang Sally asked.
“Wow, you kids are terrible at subtlety.” He shook his head.
“So level with us.” Eli wrung his hands. “What’s bugging you?”
“Nothing.” He nearly choked on the lie, then deflected. “Look, I need to ask you a favor, and I don’t want to hear
any snide comments about it, either. Respect your elders for once. Especially Willie. She’s already kind of anxious about this whole thing between us. Don’t make it worse.”
“Got it.” Alanso nodded. “How can we help? Mierda, you know we’d do anything for you two.”
“It’s Friday. Take Quinn over to the apartment. Order pizza, play some video games, and let him stay the night. He loves sleeping over there with you guys.” Tom thought about it some more, then turned to Alanso. “In fact, maybe he can talk some more with you and Gavyn about Hot Rides. He’s really into the motorcycles. Excited about them. You know how he hates to read?”
“Yeah, so.” The Cuban guy shrugged. “I wasn’t big into it either before I discovered titty mags.”
Sally harrumphed.
Tom ignored them and went on. “Yesterday he asked if he could download a bunch of manuals and magazines to his tablet. He spent the whole night poring over them. It could be good for him to get more involved in the shop.”
“No problem.” Eli responded for them all though Alanso and Sally nodded, smiling. “But if you’re going to have Ms. Brown alone tonight, you’d better hit the shower before she gets back.”
“Planning on it. Who raised you to be such a smartass, anyway?” He whipped his shirt from around his neck and snapped it at his son, who easily dodged and laughed.
“Washing the stink off is a good start.” Sally ignored their father-son antics and plowed ahead. “What else do you have up your sleeve?”
“I don’t think we need the detailed plan of attack here, do we?” Alanso grimaced.
“No, no.” She waved her hands in front of her chest. “I’m not asking what position he’s going to do her in first, jeez. I meant, how are you going to woo her?”
“I’m a grown man. I don’t woo.” He snorted.
“Might want to rethink that, Dad.” Eli suggested. “Especially your first time. Make it special. Play for keeps.”
“Unlike your son, who forced me to check out a gay hookup spot before he saw the light. Cabron.” Alanso crossed his arms, his thickening accent giving him away. He’d probably enjoyed that, at least a little.
Tom shook his head to keep from imagining it too clearly.
Maybe they had a point though. “I guess I could learn a thing or two from my kids. What do you suggest?”
Sally clapped. She grabbed his hands and tugged him toward the garden. “Start with flowers. She loves the pink ones.”
By the time they’d gathered a bouquet and arranged it in a mason jar—since he apparently didn’t own any vases anymore—Alanso had downloaded a romantic comedy from their streaming service. Eli had shoved the coffee table to one side of the living room and set out a blanket and put a bottle of white wine on ice in a bucket, instructing Tom to help Willie with dinner then take her on an indoor picnic. Mustang lit every candle he had in the house and scattered them around.
He felt kind of silly about the whole thing.
Until he surveyed their handiwork, looking at things from Willie’s perspective. He could imagine her warm smile and her gratitude for anyone who paid special attention to her after so many years in the shadows. Then he realized his kids were kind of geniuses when it came to relationships. Had to be to pull off something like they had going on.
They were hanging out, getting ready to wrap things up and head back to their place, when banging on the door startled all of them.
It certainly wasn’t Willie’s dainty knock. Plus, Tom hoped she didn’t bother with the formality anymore. He’d been pleased when she had come inside earlier, as if she belonged. Because she did. Only Bryce ever pounded that hard, when he was too lazy to use his own key or the one hidden under the mat.
Tom grouched, “It’s open. Don’t break the damn thing.”
When Rick popped his head inside instead of one of the Hot Rods, Tom stood up straight, his slouch forgotten. This could not be good. “What are you doing back here so soon?”
“Why the hell aren’t you answering your phone? I texted you about a dozen times in the past few hours,” the investigator bitched as he strode into the kitchen.
“I’ve been…distracted.” Okay, so really his phone had probably slipped out of the pocket of his jeans sometime after he’d tossed them on the floor. He hadn’t noticed. Shit.
Rick stared at Tom for a few seconds then jerked his chin twice. First, toward the kids. Then again, toward the door.
“Eli, Sally, Al!” Tom barked. “Time to go. Quinn’s probably starving. Get the kid his pizza, would you?”
“By now he’s probably had Kaelyn cook him three gourmet dinners.” Sally rolled her eyes.
“Pepperoni sounds good to me, chica.” Alanso grinned. “Besides, Quinn could use some extra meals.”
Mustang kissed Tom on the cheek and Alanso socked him on the shoulder. “Don’t forget, you’re the original Hot Rod. You’ve got this.”
They went out the door together, arguing about toppings.
Eli was slower to follow. “Are you sure everything’s okay, Dad?”
This time his nod came slower as he took in Rick’s pinched face. “It will be. Go on.”
“If you need—”
“Cobra. Now.” His patience was running out as a million terrible thoughts barraged him at once.
“Okay, okay.” Eli mumbled under his breath, something about stubborn.
Tom couldn’t say he was wrong about that.
As Eli passed, Rick nodded, though his expression remained sober. As soon as the door clicked closed, he explained, “You know how I was going to start digging yesterday, in case I had to go deep into the archives to find any scraps of old news?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, turns out it was a hell of a lot easier than I’d figured to get to the bottom of things.” His fists balled, and he refused to meet Tom’s gaze, staring at his shoes as if they were as fascinating as a naked woman. Never, in the years they’d known each other, had Rick had such a tough time sharing bad news.
“What the fuck is going on, Rick?” Tom widened his stance, readying himself for whatever was about to hit him.
No matter how prepared he thought he was, it didn’t matter when he heard the report.
“It only took me a couple hours to uncover Steven Brown’s social security number and shit like that I use in hunting information. And when I plugged it into my system, I did one better than scoring old articles or some junk. I found the man himself.”
“What!” He nearly rocketed through the roof.
“He’s alive, Tom.”
His entire world shifted on its axis. In an instant he vacillated between disbelief, anger, shock, and panic. What would Willie say?
Never once did he doubt her account. “Willie really believes he’s dead.”
Tom didn’t recognize the sound of his own voice.
“I know. Shit. Wait, it gets worse.” Rick swallowed hard. When the big guy got nervous, Tom knew it was going to be horrific. “Not only is he alive, he doesn’t live far away. Looks like he hopped the same bus line out of town Willie did. He’s been living up in Delaware County for the past twenty or so years.”
“That’s only an hour from here.” Tom clutched his chest, thankful he wasn’t prone to heart attacks or he’d be having one right then. “What if they’d run into each other? That would have destroyed Willie.”
He bent over, clutching his knees as he tried to suck in a couple solid lungfuls of air.
“Go ahead, take a minute. Get your shit together,” Rick told Tom, his voice carefully modulated.
When Tom finally looked up, he had no idea how to proceed in reassembling the pieces of his plans for his future. And if he felt this way… Christ, what would this do to Willie? Would the news tear her apart?
No.
He would not let this slimy motherfucker hurt her again.
Tom punched the wall, making a hole in the sheetrock. He shook out his knuckles, not giving a fuck about the droplets of blood on them. He
ll, how had Kaige survived so many similar punches? It was a miracle that kid could still use his fingers if it had hurt like that the million times he’d lost his cool.
“Hey, are you even listening to me?” Rick asked.
Tom had to shake his head to clear the rage.
“Go on.” What else could there be to say?
“Keep your cool, swear it?” Rick pinched his nose between his thumb and forefinger.
“I think I’m a fucking saint at this point for shooting the shit here with you when I could be out searching for this asshole. Making sure he never messes with Willie again. Finding a permanent solution if I have to.”
“You don’t have to do that. Go looking for this dickhead, I mean.” Rick drew in a deep breath. “I hope I’m not screwing this to hell, but that’s why I was trying to call you earlier. I already picked the bastard up. He’s sitting out back right now. I went asking questions and he kind of put two and two together. I thought it was safer if I brought him, kept an eye on him, rather than letting him roam around on his own after that. He came with me because he wants to see Willie again.”
Tom’s head verged on exploding. He’d never been so furious in his life, except maybe at the universe in general when it had stolen his wife. This time he had a target for that ferocious hostility.
He whipped around and stormed down the short hallway, past the half bath, then wrenched open the back door so hard he popped one of the hinges off. Sure enough, some dude huddled on the bench beside it, looking like he was about to shit his pants when he caught a glimpse of Tom’s once-in-a-lifetime-level wrath, aimed squarely in his direction.
Steven motherfucking Brown.
He wasn’t as dumb as he might seem. He took one look at Tom and started to run.
Not nearly fast enough.
Tom snatched the bastard by his collar, whipped him around, then planted his already aching fist in the guy’s face. Steven’s head snapped back and he crashed to the porch. That only made more work for Tom, who hauled the guy up with his mostly numb right hand then hit him again, with his fresh left.
