by K J Bell
His smile is huge. I’ve never been so happy in my life to see any human being smile.
“I love you, too, Sunshine,” he whispers back.
The glint is now a fire burning behind his eyes. He doesn’t want to talk right now. It’s fine. I came here with more than one intention. I’ll give him whatever he wants. His hands grab my wrists, and he holds them behind my back, pulling me close to his chest.
“I belong to you, Brady,” I breathe in a hushed voice.
He lets go of my wrists, and his fingers tightly bind all my hair. Wrapping the long tresses around his hand once, he pulls my head back to expose my neck. He nibbles along my jaw line, and plants soft kisses down my neck and across the top of my shoulder. My sex is throbbing with want. “You own me, too, Sunshine,” he exhales.
I move my hands down his chest and over the hard muscles of his abdomen. Sliding my hands under his shirt, I run my fingers over his sweaty skin. “Please don’t leave me again, Brady.”
“Look at me, Sunshine,” he says commandingly.
I do, right in his eyes.
“I couldn’t breathe when I was away from you. It felt as though each breath was just enough to sustain me, but I was slowly dying. When I saw you again, I had a reason to breathe and then I messed up. I’m so sorry for everything I said to you on the pier, and for all of the pain I’ve caused you. I swear I will never leave you again. There’s so much I need to tell you, but right now, I just want to be deep inside you. I want to hold you close, feel you against my skin, and taste you in my mouth.” I reach up and run my fingers along the stubble on his face. Every word he said, I believe and I want him too. His hands move slowly under my sundress, over my skin. My arms lift to the ceiling, and he slips the dress over my head fluidly. His fingers find the clasp of my bra. He removes it, and it falls to the floor on top of my dress. He licks his lips, then leans down and softly kisses both of my breasts. His hair tickles my skin. His hands mold to my ass under my panties, and he slides one hand forward until his fingers touch my damp warmth. He slips one inside me, and I moan his name. “You’re always so wet,” he murmurs, just before his mouth covers mine. God, I’ve missed his mouth.
He grips my waist and nudges me up. I stand and he slips his hand in mine, leading me away from the drums. I’m standing with my back to him, and his body presses against mine, pushing me flat against the wall. He lifts my hands above my head, and I push my palms to the wall as his fingers dance down the length of my body, leaving a trail of shivering skin in their wake. While on his knees, he slides my panties down my legs, and I step out of them. His hands work their way up the inside of my thighs, and he pushes my legs apart.
When he stands up, he removes his clothing, and then his body pushes into my back again. The warmth of his skin shoots electricity through me. His erection presses into my backside. I throw my head back and rest it on his shoulder as his arm reaches around me and his fingers begin massaging my clit. I gasp and turn my head toward him. He licks my lips, and two fingers enter my warm center. His lips crush against mine, and he begins kissing me fiercely.
“God, I’ve missed you, Sunshine. You’re mine. Only mine, and I’m never letting you go.”
I’m ready for him. I want him to take me right now, but he wants to make this last. I want to be lost in this moment as well, so I just go with it. He grabs my hand, twirls me around, and pulls me over to the drum set. He moves one of the cymbals aside and leans me over the bass drum on my belly. It’s cold against my skin, and the brackets dig into my ribs. Closing my eyes, I ignore the pain, too turned on to care. I curl my fingers around the side of the drum and dig my nails in, bracing myself. Brady massages my bottom before sliding his fingers back inside me.
I turn to look at him, chewing on my lip. His eyes are hooded and dark. “Brady, just fuck me, please,” I beg, my voice cracking and stealing the very breath within me.
He leans over me and begins circling his fingers around my core again. I whimper. I’m so close, and he knows it. His hand brushes across the top of my shoulders, moving my hair aside. He runs his delicious tongue up and down the back of my neck. I bite down hard on my lip and try to suck in air as my legs begin to shake. His hands slide down my back and grip my hips. I moan in a hushed chant, and beg him to take me. He reaches down between my legs and spreads my trembling thighs, slowly entering me from behind until he’s deep inside of me. I tilt my head back and scream, “Oh, God, Brady, yes.”
“I’m going to fuck you so hard now, Sunshine.”
“Yes, please, Brady.”
He starts to move and my body responds, sending a wave of pleasure down my limbs and sparking the blood coursing through my veins. I push back against him. His hot mouth kisses the skin on my back from shoulder to shoulder. Then he grabs my hair and yanks on it gently. I whimper, and he groans. I moan, and he growls. And we both scream each other’s names.
He moves in and out of me hurriedly and my fingers dig into the side of the drums again. The metal screeches as my fingernails scratch into the paint. He swells inside me, and my legs begin to shake more wildly from the pleasure. Squeezing my eyes together, I prepare myself as he increases his speed. I’m so close, and so is he.
Arching my back toward him, I cry out and then collapse, limp as a wet noodle, onto the drum. My sex constricts and pulses around him as I convulse beneath him. Soft moans escape my lips and his. His fingers travel through the sheen of sweat down my back while I recover.
“Please come, Brady,” I pant over my shoulder.
Not even a second after the words leave my mouth, he does. His body shakes and quivers. A deep, raspy moan rumbles in his throat as he releases inside me. He keeps pushing into me until his body stops working and he falls onto me.
Moments later, he takes my hand and pulls me onto the futon with him. I fall next to him and snuggle into his side. He grabs the fleece blanket from the back of the futon, and drapes it over the two of us. We’re wrapped together, exhausted and calm.
He runs his fingers through my hair. I look up at him, and like rabbits we’re at it again. He’s like an unquenchable thirst. I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to control my need for him or his for me. Not that I want to.
Chapter 34
Tori
The next morning, light pours in through the small windows of the shed and I smile, realizing I’m still in Brady’s arms. I trail kisses along his chest and jaw. His stubble feels bristly against my skin. I like it, and brush my lips over it a few more times. His eyes open and he laughs, catching me.
“Good morning, Sunshine,” he grins.
I smile secretively and begin dropping kisses down his abdomen, heading south. I thought about it all night, mentally giving myself a pep talk. I can do this. I can give this to him. He’s right about trust with intimacy, and I trust him explicitly. When I reach my destination, I hesitate.
“You don’t have to,” he says in a raspy whisper.
I look at him through the curtain of hair hanging in front of my face, and smile. I do have to. I have to get past this. I breathe in a deep, calming breath and take him in my mouth. The groan that leaves him convinces me to continue. I can definitely do this. My tongue circles the soft flesh of his tip, and then I lick him from base to tip. My fingers curl around him, and I stroke him up and down while sucking the top of him, flicking the tip of him with my tongue. The noises he’s making increase my confidence. Brady’s fingers lace through my hair, and I take him completely in my mouth, increasing my suction.
“Aw, fuck, Sunshine. Stop, I’m going to come.”
Isn’t that the point? There is no way I’m stopping now. I suck harder, and work my hand faster. Brady moans continuously. I sense him watching me, and it makes me brave. I gently massage his balls. As soon as I do, his hips flex, and warm salty liquid spurts into my mouth. I take all of it and swallow. When I look up at him, I lick my lips and smile.
He curls his finger at me. “Come here.” I climb up next to him and snuggle in clo
se. “That was fucking amazing.”
I smile proudly. I never thought after what I’d experienced with Jake that I’d be willing to try it with anyone again, let alone enjoy it. We lie in silence, trailing fingers over one another’s exposed skin. My hands smooth over each muscle of his abdomen, dipping in the valleys. Our breathing is shallow, and we may have even dozed off at some point.
Wrapping his arm around my waist, he pulls me underneath him. Last night had been aggressive and demanding – he’d fucked me. This morning, he’s soft and gentle. He makes love to me slowly and lovingly. I could spend the rest of my days with him on this futon and need nothing else.
As I lie in his arms, Brady shifts his weight on his side, resting on his elbow. His finger runs up and down the skin between my breasts. His face is serious, as he prepares to pour his heart out. He’s finally going to let me in, and tell me what he’s been through. My hand reaches for his, and I hold it next to my heart, biting back tears. I kiss his knuckles and smile at him. “It’s okay, Brady. I love you. Nothing you can tell me will change that.”
“I came home to tell you the truth because I’m done lying for my mother. I love you, and I don’t want any secrets between us, but make no mistake about it, my mother is going to be livid. The only thing she cares about his her career and what I’m about to tell you may jeopardize that.” He pauses and breathes in deeply as he traces a line up and down my arm. I hate seeing him like this, but I’m proud of him. I don’t want any secrets between us either. “My mother will probably ask you to move out, but I don’t want you to worry. I will take care of you, Tori.”
“Brady, I’m not worried about your mother. I don’t care if she asks me to leave. I love you and I want to be here for you.”
He smiles and looks away. Whatever he is going to say next is visibly painful for him. He continues caressing my arm, like the sensation in his fingertips is a security blanket. “Did you know my mother had a sister?”
“Yes. Liv and I came across a picture of her a while back.”
“Her name was Mona, and she died giving birth to me.”
Brady’s announcement shocks me. I can’t believe Sheila is not his mother. Although, now that I recall Mona’s striking beauty and sparkling green eyes, the resemblance is uncanny. “Your dad had an affair with Mona?” I ask, and watch his eyes flash in surprise.
“No, Nate is not my father. Sheila and Nate are my aunt and uncle biologically. They agreed to raise me after my mother died.”
Now, I’m stunned. How on earth had they kept this secret for so long? Brady looks down and draws circles on the curve of my bare shoulder. When his eyes flicker back to mine, the sadness in them is like a knife through my heart. I want to cry, but there’s more for him to say and I need to be strong.
“My birth father died a little over a year ago, but he never wanted anything to do with me.” The tears I’ve tried to hold back form in my eyes. His father didn’t want him? God, what he must have gone through when he found out. It had to have been awful. Brady presses his lips to my forehead and kisses me.
“Maybe he didn’t know about you.” I offer the suggestion because I honestly don’t want to believe it’s as simple as his father abandoning him.
“He knew about me – he just didn’t want me,” Brady clarifies. “My real mother and Sheila have different fathers.”
“Liv told me,” I interrupt, and think about putting an end to the conversation, but he needs to get this out of him.
“Mona’s father was from Mexico. He’d come here illegally and worked as a migrant farm worker. He met my grandmother, and they fell in love. She helped him earn his citizenship, and they got married. Mona was born a short time after. He was killed in a car accident, and my grandmother lost the love of her life. She met my grandfather shortly after, and he loved her and Mona. He treated Mona like his own until Sheila was born. As much as he loved my grandmother, Mona was always another man’s child.”
His expression is heartbreaking, and I feel helpless to free him from his pain. “That must have been awful for both Mona and your grandmother.”
He frowns and shakes his head. “It’s hard to say because I only know what Sheila has told me. When Mona met my real father, he was married, but she fell for him and thought he was going to leave his wife. She thought someone finally wanted her.”
Tears begin to well in his eyes, casting a shine over his beautiful green irises. They don’t spill, and he inhales sharply, holding them back. I wish he’d just let go, let the tears pour out. Maybe then some of the pain would follow.
“When she told him she was pregnant, he went ballistic. He told her she’d ruined everything and he would never raise her child with her. Sheila said he told my mother she was nothing more than ‘dirty Mexican trash’.”
I can’t believe what he’s just said. How could anybody speak that way about someone they’d made a baby with? “He sounds like a horrible person, but even if he thought that about your mother, you were his son.”
“He was a powerful man. Sheila claims he wouldn’t stand for the scandal of an affair with a low-class whore being made public, and he would never claim his illegitimate child.” His voice is hoarse and full of repressed emotions – anger and hate battling abandonment and confusion. “She went to her parents. My grandmother wanted to help her, but my grandfather was furious. He wanted her to have an abortion.”
That does it. Tears pour from my eyes and land on Brady’s chest. I’m overcome with gratitude for this woman’s strength and courage to defy her family and keep her baby. A baby who would grow up to be the man I can no longer live without. If she had given in to her father, Brady wouldn’t be here. I sob, and Brady wipes my tears away with his fingers.
“Please don’t cry, Sunshine. I hate to see you cry.” The softness in his voice is soothing to my emotions and at the same time sends a new wave of feelings through me. He’s doing this for me. Facing his painful memories because he loves me. I calm my emotions and wipe snot on my hand. Brady quirks a brow, and chuckles at my less-than-lady like manners.
Brady’s mother must have been scared. To be alone and pregnant had to be difficult. I can only imagine what it must have been like for her.
“Why didn’t your mother go to his wife?”
Brady sighs. We must be getting close to the rest of the story. “She couldn’t. He threatened her. Like I said, he was a very influential man. He told her he would destroy her family professionally if she spoke with anyone. That they’d be left with nothing.”
I pull away from his chest at look at him. “No one has that much power, Brady.”
Brady smiles, his expression shows me he thinks I’m naïve. I’ve seen this look before. “He did. My real father is Walter Gibson.”
My hand covers my mouth in shock as the reality of his words sinks in. “You’re the anonymous benefactor? You’re the family member Walter left his fortune to.”
He smiles and tucks a loose tuft of hair behind my ear. “I told you, I’m not into anything illegal.”
His explanation brings relief. Not that I could ever bring myself to believe Brady was doing something illegal, but I couldn’t come up with any answers for his abundance of money. I realize this is much bigger than just his newfound fortune.
“So that’s how Sheila ended up as CEO.” I'm stating a fact more than asking a question.
“Yes. She was working for Gibson Capital in an entry-level position when my mother got pregnant. She’d been the one to introduce Walter to her sister. When their parents disowned my mother, she told Sheila everything. Sheila confronted Walter and made some demands he had to fulfill if he wanted to keep his little secret.”
That bitch! She negotiated her sister’s grief to further her career. It’s a guess, but I know I’m right. Thinking of how many times I'd wished my own mother was like Brady’s stirs guilt deep inside me. I'd admired and looked up to this woman my entire life, and it’s all been a lie.
“I told you that she’s a self
-absorbed bitch!” Brady spits. The rage in his voice laced with hate, though completely warranted.
I shake my head, feeling angry and betrayed for Brady. He had a right to know who his mother and father were. Sheila used her sister and Brady. “I just can’t believe she’s capable of doing something so horrible.”
“I’m not surprised. Sheila’s a very good actress. She’s fooled all of us for a long time. She blackmailed Walter, threatening to tell his wife and expose his scandalous affair unless he furthered her career exactly as she requested and took care of my mother. He reluctantly agreed, providing my mother with a place to live, healthcare, and an allowance to live on. When my mother died during childbirth, he threatened to end Sheila’s career, but she reminded him that DNA didn’t lie.”
“That’s crazy, Brady. She’s insane.”
Brady pulls me close to him, softly laughing under his breath. “She is insane. Sheila and Nate raised me, but not out of love, or even obligation. They did it to further Sheila’s career. I think Nate just went along with it because he has no spine, but he was in on it. I’ve always felt it. Like they were different with me than they were with Liv and Tug.”
I’m so overcome with anger that I want to march into the house and confront her, make her answer for herself. I don’t, though. For one thing, she’s been out of town and I’m not sure if she’s home yet, and two, Brady’s finally opening up, and I want to hear everything he has to say. “How did you find out?” I ask.
“When Walter died, Sheila informed me that I was his son. It was very matter-of-fact, like it was just another business transaction. We met with Walter’s attorney. The attorney advised me that since Walter’s wife had passed and he had no other children, Walter had left his estate and his company to me. The bastard actually thought I’d want to run his company. I was in complete shock, and my so-called mother stood so tall and confidently. I assumed she was the one who had an affair with Walter, and that’s when she told me about my real mother.”
