Yours to Savor

by Scarlett Edwards

  Brandon looked down at his beautiful woman as she fluttered back to him. The sight of her trembling body as he stayed deep inside drove him fucking crazy with desire. The feel of the little shivers that ran through her as the last rippling waves of orgasm washed away made him want nothing more than to lose control and pound into her hard and fast.

  But knowing how intense her orgasm had been made him hold back. So, he stayed still, savoring the tight warmth around his dick, that moment of intimate connection between them.

  Sandra tilted her head up and lazily opened heavy-lidded eyes. A long time passed as Brandon just looked at her, feasting on the two sparkling pools of beauty behind those lids. Suddenly, a wicked gleam erupted in Sandra’s eye, and she sprang to life, pushing herself up.

  “I want to make you feel what you make me feel,” she told him as she dropped to her knees. Her small fingers wrapped around his cock, and Brandon heaved out a labored breath as her tongue darted out to flick at the head.

  “You already do, babe.”

  “No. I want to do it like this.” She kept her eyes up, on him, and started making low sounds of pleasure as she began stroking him with one hand, up and down, while taking the tip of his penis in her succulent lips. Brandon felt the pleasure building inside as her other hand reached up to massage his balls. Her cheeks hollowed with every wet suckling noise she made, and Brandon lost himself as he let Sandra take control.

  His breathing became faster, more ragged. Later, when his eyes rolled up and back arched to expose himself to her, Sandra clutched at him and pumped even faster with her fist. “Ah… Sandra…!” Brandon’s orgasm ripped through him, the pleasure pooling and exploding all at once, and his body shook with the ferocity of his release. He let out a triumphant roar as he scorched everything over Sandra’s eyes, her nose, her mouth.

  Staggering, he leaned forward, grasping at the counter for support. He felt Sandra take the head of his penis into her mouth, and shuddered again when she licked the remains of his cum off. He opened his eyes to look down at her. As she looked up at him, he saw that her eyes were still drowning in desire.

  And at that moment he knew, in the deepest, most irrevocable part of his psyche, that no matter what happened in the future, he would never be able to get enough of Sandra.

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  The rest of the night came together just as Sandra had dreamed. After taking a hot, steamy shower with Brandon, she finally got properly dressed. Both of them were so hungry that they had no time to clean up the kitchen. In the dining room, Sandra served him the meal she’d prepared. Brandon told her he loved it, saying it in such a way that Sandra felt especially appreciated. It made all her effort worthwhile.

  After dinner, they settled in front of the roaring fireplace, where Brandon made sweet, gentle love to her. Long after he’d closed his eyes, and just before the first wave of sleep came over Sandra, she whispered, “When we first met, I never expected us to fall in love.”

  Brandon shifted beneath her, and rumbled into her side. “Maybe we set the bar too low.”

  Sandra smiled, content, and cuddled into his arms. She could not have imagined a more perfect end to such a memorable day.

  Sandra bolted upright the next morning, her breathing heavy. Her back was stiff from sleeping on the floor, but her mind was sharp and alarmed. Brandon was not beside her.

  She looked around. Maybe he got up to use the bathroom? But his shirt wasn’t on the floor where he’d left it last night, and neither were his jeans nor shoes.

  Sandra pushed herself up, blowing the hair out of her face. A little piece of paper that she hadn’t notice before fluttered down from her chest. Brandon’s familiar handwriting was on it.

  Called in to work, otherwise would have stayed.

  Last night with you was the best of my life.

  Brandon.

  Sandra smiled, relieved. Then she looked at the clock—and cursed. She only had forty minutes to get to work. Worse, she still had to clean the mess in the kitchen before she left. She didn’t want Cassie to come home to that. While Doctor Baker was forgiving, she didn’t want to disappoint him by being late, either.

  So, she pushed the blanket off and stood up, groaning when she noticed the beat of heavy rain against the windows. On top of everything, it looked like she would be drenched by the time she arrived at the office.

  Half an hour later, after arranging the kitchen into a semblance of unity, Sandra grabbed one of Cassie’s coats and burst out the door, into the rain. If she really rushed, she might only be five minutes late.

  Dark clouds billowed overhead as Sandra trotted to work, leeching away what little sunlight broke through. The rain beat down on her in heavy, fat drops, and a cold wind sliced through the jacket. Head down, Sandra pulled her collar up in a vain attempt to protect herself from the storm, then turned into a murky side alley. It was a shortcut to work that she rarely took.

  She was so absorbed in avoiding the growing puddles on the street that she was surprised when she heard voices from up ahead, around the corner.

  She stopped. There weren’t usually any people here in the mornings. She wasn’t afraid, but at the same time, she didn’t want to get tangled up in something that didn’t involve her. It was too late to turn back if she hoped to get to the office on time.

  So she pressed forward, keeping her head up and herself very alert to the surroundings. She turned the corner—and froze. There were two men struggling in the alley. One had his back to her, unrecognizable. But she knew the other man immediately. She would have recognized his curly mop of hair anywhere. It was Josh!

  The stranger had Josh pinned up against the brick wall. Josh tried to squirm out of the grip, but the other man had him in a vise-like grip. Josh looked more determined than afraid. He scowled at the other man even as he was being held up.

  Sandra didn’t hesitate a second before striding for the two figures. “Hey!” she called out. “Hey, what the hell are you doing?”

  The two men had been so engrossed in each other that neither of them paid her any attention.

  “Let him go!” Sandra demanded, grabbing the aggressor’s shoulder and jerking him back.

  The man cursed at the interruption. He whipped around, his arm raised and ready to hit her. His eyes were glowing embers in his skull, fierce with anger.

  Sandra’s breath caught as she recognized his face. In the rain, her nightmare had come to life. She felt truly afraid.

  A part of her memory, a part she’d long suppressed, a part she’d long forgotten, burst into being. In that moment, she recognized the man who had pulled her from the fire and stopped her from saving her sister.

  “Oh, God,” she whispered. “You’re him!”

  Brandon roared, not expecting the tug on his shoulder. Anger surged through him at the intrusion. He whipped back, readying his fist to land a blow.

  All his anger evaporated when he found Sandra staring up at him. Sandra, with those large, shocked, frightened eyes.

  “Oh, God.” Her words were barely a whimper. “You’re him!”

  Her hand fell away and she took one unsteady step back. Then she turned, and ran.

  Brandon’s world collapsed around him.

  Sandra knows.

  A sick feeling erupted in his gut.

  Sandra knows.

  A hollowness filled his entire body. His mind flashed back to that night sixteen years ago. He remembered the commotion after the first blast from the meth lab in the basement. He remembered spotting the tiny blonde girl huddled by a door, ignored by everyone else, scared and alone.

  She knows.

  He remembered acting on instinct as he ran back and grabbed her, remembered the way she’d broken free from his arms outside and raced back toward the house.

  Sandra knows I lied.

  He remembered catching her just in time, shielding her from the catastrophic explosion. He remembered the rain pouring that night, the rain… The rain, much like today.

 
; Why had he thought keeping the secret was a good idea? Why had he thought lying to Sandra about it—point blank and to her face—when she’d asked him if he knew more about the fire, was the right thing to do?

  Why was I stupid enough to believe I was actually protecting her?

  A snickering noise behind him drew his attention back to the kid. “Nice going,” he sneered. “You’ve scared her off for good.”

  Brandon’s rage erupted like a furnace blast. He had no room for other emotions. He grabbed Josh by the shoulders and threw his weight into him, slamming him back against the wall and causing his head to whip back.

  “Listen to me,” Brandon growled, “and listen good. I’ve wasted a lot of my time trying to find you. Dealing pot and selling cigarettes is one thing. Moving onto coke and hard drugs is a whole other ball game. There are people watching you, kid, and don’t think they haven’t noticed. I represent those people, and I’m here to warn you. We don’t include children like you in our business.

  “No matter what you think, you’re done. You’re dealing on established territory. The people who’ve been watching you—my people—don’t take well to newcomers. I’m only going to say this once. We won’t include you. So you need to drop what you’re doing and move on with your life. Find something else to do. If not, you’ll be rotting in a cell before long, or worse. You’ll be dead.”

  “I like how you handled things with Sandra,” Josh sneered. “Real smooth.”

  Brandon slammed him against the wall again, making his head rebound hard off the concrete. “You just don’t get it, do you? You’re young, inexperienced. Rash. That tongue of yours is going to get you in deeper shit than you know. I should do you a favor right now and cut it off to ensure you don’t get in any more trouble.” Josh paled visibly at Brandon’s threat. Fear flashed in his eyes. Brandon nodded. “That’s right. There’s a dark side to the business you haven’t even glimpsed yet. And if you want to keep things that way, I better not hear of you dealing in Ocean Shores, or anywhere else. You’re marked now. We’ll know if you try anything. Oh… and if Sandra finds out what happened between us, I will find you. And next time, I won’t be so lenient.”

  “Alright, alright! Jesus Christ!” Josh relented. “I won’t say a thing.”

  “Good. And the dealing?”

  Josh shook his head fervently. “I’m done. No more. I swear it!”

  Brandon released his grip, letting Josh fall to the ground. “Trust me, I’m saving you from a life of hell, kid.” Brandon spat on the concrete beside him. “Now, get the fuck out of my sight.”

  Josh got up and scampered away, sparing scared glances over his shoulder to make sure Brandon wasn’t following. Brandon stood and watched the kid’s shape fade into the distance. After his anger faded, he turned and started the other way.

  He wanted nothing more than to go to Sandra. However, he knew that right now, she needed space. Instead, he got into his Ferrari and drove, not knowing or caring where. His mind worked hard to find a solution to his immense fuck up.

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  The nightmares returned—in all their original agony.

  Sandra tossed and turned all night. Every time she woke, her sheets were soaked with sweat. From the first moment she closed her eyes, she was back in that dingy house, lost amongst all those bodies, all those people.

  Every time her mind replayed events of that night, some small part of her vainly thought she could change things. And every single time, she would find herself faced with that imposing door. No matter how hard she pounded, no matter how much she screamed, it would never come open. She couldn’t get past it.

  It was her subconscious laughing at her, mocking her for her failure.

  The only difference was that now, when she was picked up and carried away against her will, screaming for her sister, she knew who held her.

  And outside, when she looked upon the man’s face, it was no longer blurred by the lights.

  It was Brandon.

  A younger, teenage Brandon—but definitely him. It wasn’t just her mind assigning the face of her lover to the anonymous figure in her dreams. She was sure of that. Brandon had been the one to pull her from the fire. He’d been the one who stopped her from getting her sister out.

  How many years had she hated that man? How many years had she lived wrapped in guilt because of him? She resented him for what he’d done. She should have perished in the fire, not her sister. That way, she wouldn’t have to live with so much pain. It was her failure that killed her sister, hers and hers alone. She should have been the one to die.

  And now, knowing that Brandon was the one responsible for her miserable existence made everything so much worse. Knowing he had lied to her after she’d asked him about the fire made everything even worse. So what if he had caused her nightmares to go away for a month? It was just a blip on the radar compared to sixteen years of agony.

  Sandra had seen the anger in Brandon’s eyes when he’d turned around. It was real, fierce, and complete. It had frightened her. She’d had had no idea what was going on between him and Josh in the alley. She wasn’t ready to think about that. Not yet. Not when the bitter taste of Brandon’s deceit overwhelmed her mind. He’d lied about being at the fire, despite knowing how it had affected her life. He’d lied about his intentions to be completely honest with her. How many other things had he lied about in the short time that she’d known him?

  Her bitter laugh turned into a sob. She’d been in love with him. Except now, she knew the fallacy of that feeling.

  It had been two days since Sandra had found him in the alley. Since then, Brandon couldn’t eat. He couldn’t sleep. All he could do was think of Sandra.

  She didn’t answer any of his calls. She didn’t reply to his texts. He wanted to go to her. He wanted to see her, but he told himself he had to give her time and space.

  Brandon paced around the beach house kitchen, furious with himself. He should have known better than to lie to Sandra. He should have known to value her trust more. When he’d turned on her, white-hot rage searing in his eyes, it was the worst possible moment for her to see him—and absolutely the worst fucking time for her to recognize him from her nightmares. The kid he found—Josh—was her friend. He could imagine what had it looked like for her to discover them like that. A part of him was impressed by the way she fearlessly stood up for her friend… but an overwhelming part of him wished she had never had the courage to do so.

  The only good thing to come out of that morning was the way he’d handled things with Josh. Of course, the threats of violence against him were empty. Brandon would never do something like that, or allow any of those who worked for him to. But the kid didn’t know that. Brandon thrived on stereotypes assigned to his character.

  The rest of it had been just a terrible combination of events. Sandra seeing him in a rage; Sandra seeing him push her friend around; Sandra realizing that they’d met before. All at the same fucking time.

  Brandon knew it was his fault. There was no room for self-delusion in the business he’d been in. But now, with the problem in Ocean Shores wrapped up, he was ready to move on with his life. Except, because of his stupidity, the most vital piece was missing. Sandra was missing.

  Brandon roared, sweeping a pile of dishes off the counter, sending them crashing to the floor. You fucking idiot! You promised her honesty!

  His anger billowed up within him. His chest heaved. He threw open the cupboard door with enough force to break it from its hinges, and smashed it against the fridge. Again, and again, and again, until all he had left were splinters in his hands.

  Sandra had to talk to Josh. She had to know what had happened between him and Brandon yesterday morning. When she got home from work, she picked up her phone and dialed Josh, ignoring the mass of missed calls and texts from Brandon.

  “Hello?”

  “Josh. It’s Sandra. Listen, I need to talk to you.”

  Josh exhaled heavily. “I know. I thought you would
have called yesterday. I was worried about you. Are you okay?”

  “Yes—no. I don’t know. Look, can you come see me? I don’t want to do this over the phone.”

  “Sure. Where?”

  “My apartment?”

  “Where is it?”

  She gave him directions.

  “I’ll be there in five.”

  Sandra hung up and waited. Her room was too small to pace, so she sat on the bed and folded her hands, striving for patience.

  Soon, she heard the noise of an engine outside. She looked out her window and spotted Josh riding up on a new motorcycle, a backpack slung over one shoulder. He didn’t see her as he parked and walked into the building.

  Sandra opened the door when he knocked. “You bought the bike!”

  “Yeah,” Josh smiled. “Just last week.”

  “You didn’t tell me.”

  “I didn’t have my license then. I got it this morning.” He grinned again. “I didn’t want to say anything before I could ride it.”

  Sandra smiled, but it was hard to feel happy when there was so much weighing on her mind. She welcomed Josh in.

  It was cramped enough for one person. With two, there was precious little space to move. Josh took in her accommodations without comment and sat on the edge of the bed where Sandra directed him.

  He slung his backpack off his shoulder, and opened it to reach inside. “I’ve made some more money since then, too,” he said. “I wanted to give this to you.”

  “Josh, no. I told you I don’t need—”

  He gave her a hard look. “It’s not cash.” He pulled out a small blue box and handed it to her.

  Sandra discovered her hand was shaking as she took it. “What is it?”

  “Look inside.”

  She opened it, and drew in a breath. Curled up on the soft fabric was a thin gold necklace, with a small locket in the middle. “It’s beautiful, Josh. But, why?”