Safe With Me

by Kristen Proby

  We all turn and stare at him, taking in the gorgeous. Where the Montgomery brothers are fair, with varying shades of blonde hair, Dom is olive-skinned with black hair, but his eyes match theirs to a T. They’re perfectly blue, and when he smiles, he has one dimple, in his left cheek.

  “I wonder if he has dimples above his ass,” Nat observes.

  “Oh, those are sexy!” Meg agrees. “Will has them.”

  “You know,” Stacy leans in with a knowing smile. “If he grew up in Italy, he speaks Italian.”

  “I wonder if he’d teach Will Italian,” Meg ponders. “Just the naughty words.”

  “Okay, we really need to bring in more hot guys that I’m not related to,” Jules pouts and sips her water. “I want to talk about naked body parts and sexy foreign languages.”

  “Just pretend,” Stacy suggests with a drunk wave.

  I work on cleaning all the meat off the rib, making sure there’s nothing left before I throw it in the basket.

  “Seriously,” Nat mutters while watching me. “That’s impressive.”

  “I bet you guys leave a whole bunch of meat on the bone,” I snicker and sip my drink.

  “I’m done,” Meg announces and throws her napkin on the table. “Let’s take our drinks and go sit with the guys. I want to hear what they’re saying to Dom.”

  We all agree and join the boys, drinks in hand.

  “Brynna has some mad oral skills, man,” Jules informs Caleb as we approach, and I want to simply die.

  “Jules!” I exclaim and glare at her.

  “What?”

  “She’s not even drunk,” Stacy smirks and leans on her husband. “But I have mad oral skills too, don’t I?”

  “You do, babe,” Isaac grins down at her.

  “Enough of this. We’ll scare Dom off,” Meg announces and grins at the handsome Italian. “I’m sorry for their adolescent behavior.”

  “I’m fine.” He chuckles and shakes his head. “I went to college. I know how girls are when they get together.”

  “So,” I begin and sip my drink. Delicious. “You are Italian.”

  He nods and grins at me, showing off that dimple that’s so similar to Caleb’s, and my panties may have just flooded.

  “Which means you naturally speak Italian.”

  He nods again and chuckles, his smile spreading across his face. Caleb wraps his arms around me from behind and pulls me against him, tucking me close to him, and while I should feel guilty for blatantly flirting with his half brother right in front of him, I don’t.

  I think it’s funny as hell.

  “I think what she’s getting at,” Meg begins, “is that it’s kinda hot that you speak Italian.”

  “Oh please,” Will rolls his eyes and scowls at Meg.

  “It’s true!” She insists.

  “Avete un bellissimo fidanzato, fratello,” Dom murmurs, his eyes light with mischief as he speaks.

  “Sweet Jesus, what did you say?” Stacy asks.

  “I said,” Dom laughs, “you have a very beautiful fiancé, brother.”

  Stacy sighs dreamily and I giggle despite myself. The guys roll their eyes again and Nate chuckles.

  “Dude, stop flirting with the girls. Your brothers will kill you,” Nate urges him with a laugh.

  “I’m not flirting,” Dom holds his hands up and laughs. “Although I think it’s funny that women like foreign languages.”

  “Yeah, what’s up with that?” Isaac asks.

  “You don’t think that a woman speaking a foreign language that you don’t understand is sexy?” I ask Isaac with a grin.

  “Never thought about it,” he replies with a shrug.

  “Liar,” I respond.

  He glares at me, so I walk over to him and hold my hand out for him to take. He does and I glance at Stacy, who nods and grins and I lean into him and say, “Vous êtes un sacré menteur. Vous savez que c'est sexy et je pourrais dire vous manger de la nourriture pour chien pour le petit déjeuner et il serait toujours le son chaud.”

  Isaac swallows hard and then shrugs, as though it didn’t affect him at all.

  “Okay, that was fucking hot, what did you say?” Luke asks with a grin.

  “I told him how hot he is in French,” I smirk and walk back to Caleb, who’s eyes are molten and he’s looking at me like he wants to throw me down and fuck the hell out of me right here in this pub.

  “Liar,” Dom responds softly. “I speak French.”

  I throw my head back and laugh and wink over at him. “Well, they don’t, so we’ll leave it at that.”

  “I think it’s time to go,” Caleb growls and grabs my hand in his. “Have fun, guys. Dom, it was nicer to meet you than I thought it would be.”

  Dom nods and winks at me as we walk past. Caleb pulls me through the pub and all of a sudden, I hear our group bust out in laughter.

  “Hey!” Isaac calls out. “I do not eat dog food for breakfast!”

  I giggle and try to keep up with Caleb as he pulls me along through the parking lot to his car.

  “Slow down!”

  “You did that on purpose,” he whispers and presses me against his car, leaning in to me, his arms caging me on either side. He lowers his head and brushes his lips over mine gently, barely tasting me.

  “Did what?” I breathe.

  “Taunted me by flirting with my brothers and speaking French. I didn’t know you could do that, by the way.”

  “I took French in school and then spent a summer in Paris after I graduated,” I whisper when he slides his lips down my jawline to my neck. I run my hands up his arms, over his shoulders and up into his hair. “Caleb?”

  “Mmm…”

  “Please take me home now.”

  With just fifteen seconds of kisses and the feel of his hands on me in the cold night air, I’m ready to climb him. My skin is on fire, my nipples hard, and my pussy already swollen and wet with need.

  He guides me in the car and drives me the few minutes down the street to my house. We could have walked the short distance to our favorite pub, The Celtic Swell, but Caleb said it wasn’t safe.

  Now I’m just happy it was so close to the house.

  He leads me inside and up the stairs to the bedroom where he quickly disrobes us both and gently pulls me into the bed.

  He’s never been this gentle, and it’s throwing me off a little.

  He pushes me onto my back and braces himself over me, kissing me alternatively fast and hard and slow and soft, each time I get used to his rhythm, he switches it up on me.

  Finally, he slows his pace and leans his forehead against my neck, breathing heavily. “You astound me, Bryn. You’re so fucking amazing.”

  I frown and pull back so I can see his face. He cups my cheeks in his hands and brushes his thumbs over my skin.

  “You’re so damn funny, and sweet, and smart.” He swallows and kisses me again, still softly. “You could make the devil himself fall in love with you,” he whispers.

  “Did you know I also have mad oral skills?” I ask him with a grin. He chuckles softly and sweeps his lips across mine again, nibbling on the corner of my mouth and sending goosebumps over my body. I tilt my pelvis, silently inviting him to push himself inside me, but he pulls away.

  “Caleb,” I moan and drag my teeth down his stubbled jawline.

  “Yes, baby,” he whispers, kissing the top of my shoulder.

  “I really want you to fuck me now.”

  He pulls back and stares down at me, brushing tendrils of my hair off my face. “I can’t fuck you tonight, baby.” He shakes his head and clenches his eyes shut, then opens them and pins me in his bright blue gaze once more. “I need to make love to you tonight.”

  Before I can respond, he lowers his head and kisses me again. I brush my hand up his naked arm and frown when I feel scrapes on his smooth skin.

  “Caleb, what happened to your arm?” I ask

  “Work,” he mumbles and continues to kiss his way down my throat.

  “
These scrapes are nasty,” I respond.

  “No big deal.” He wraps his lips around my nipple and sucks softly, making my back arch against him.

  “I don’t like seeing you hurt,” I whisper. “Ever.”

  “I’m fine, Legs.” He pulls his big hand over my hip and down my thigh to my calf and back up again, hitching my knee around his hip and opening me up to him even more. His hard cock nudges my clit and I about come undone.

  “Ah, Caleb, that feels so good.”

  He grins against my breast and repeats the motion on the other side, sucking and tugging my nipple with his lips. He moves his hips, just enough to cause friction between the head of his cock and my clit and I groan his name.

  “Gonna make this last, sweetheart,” he whispers.

  “I need you, Caleb.”

  “I’m right here,” he replies softly. My body is on fire for this man. I can’t stop moving beneath him, can’t stop my hands from roaming over every damn amazing inch of his smooth skin.

  Finally, he slips just the very tip of his cock inside me and stops, pulls his face back up to my own, kissing me deeply and passionately, sliding his tongue along my own, cupping my face in his large hands.

  He’s worshipping my body, and it’s the most amazing fucking thing I’ve ever felt in my entire life.

  He slowly slides the rest of his cock in my pussy and then swears under his breath as he holds himself there, sheathed in me.

  “So damn amazing,” he whispers. The room is quiet, the house still, as he makes soft sweet love to me. Our breathing is labored, but we hardly make any sound at all as he moves above me and I raise and lower my hips to meet him, relishing in the way his hardness feels inside me.

  It’s as though he’s home.

  “Love you so much,” I whisper into his shoulder as his pubis presses against my clit, sending me into a rolling orgasm, gentle as a calm ocean wave, but no less staggering than the wild choppy seas of a hurricane as he follows me over the edge and into his own climax. He shudders above me, not making any noise as he collapses beside me and pulls me into his arms.

  If he heard my declaration seconds ago, he doesn’t say. He simply tucks me up against him, pushes his fingers through my hair and kisses my forehead before falling into a deep sleep.

  After several minutes, I untangle myself from his embrace to go to the restroom and clean myself up, pull on some clothes, and mentally pull myself together.

  Did he not hear me?

  Possible.

  When I return to the bedroom, he’s turned onto his side, facing away from my side of the bed. I climb in behind him and lay on my side, several inches from him, watching him as he breathes in sleep. The light from the moon casts a shadow of light over his back, illuminating his tattoo.

  I can’t resist lifting my hand and tracing the letters and numbers with the tip of my finger. He’s so much more than what’s written in these four lines.

  He’s everything I’ve ever wanted.

  Chapter Eighteen

  ~Caleb~

  I’ve avoided her all day. All fucking day. And that’s not easy to do when the person you’re avoiding is the one you’re living with and doing your damndest to protect.

  It’s not easy.

  But for my own sanity, it’s necessary.

  I heard her last night when she whispered that she loved me while I was buried inside her and couldn’t tell where I ended and she began. She didn’t have to say the words aloud, I could fucking feel her, and to say it scared the shit out of me is an understatement.

  So I did the only thing I knew and ignored it.

  Because somewhere along the line I fell in love with her too, and now I’m too much of a pussy to admit it.

  I slide out from under the sink in the kitchen, throw my wrench in my toolbox and wipe my hands on a towel. I’ve managed to work out twice, repair a loose board on the deck, re-caulk the bathtub in the kids’ bathroom, and repair a leak under the kitchen faucet, all since we all returned home from work and school this afternoon.

  I even opted out of eating dinner with Brynna and the girls, insisting that I’d eaten a big lunch at work.

  I’m fucking starving.

  I frown as Bix saunters around the kitchen island, sniffing for any scraps that may have fallen while Brynna made dinner and comes to me for an ear rub.

  “Hey, boy,” I whisper and kiss his cheek while I rub him down. “How are you feeling?”

  Bix nudges my chin with his head and sits next to me on the floor, enjoying the attention.

  “You’re such a faker,” I mumble with a laugh. “You get more attention from those two little girls than you have in your whole life.”

  He grins up at me and moans as I rub the sensitive area around his injured ear.

  “Does that still give you problems, boy?” I ask with a whisper and gently massage the tender area.

  “What’s wrong with him?”

  I glance up, surprised to see Maddie standing in the kitchen and I didn’t hear her approach. She’s in a long nightgown, her dark hair is still wet from her bath, but it’s been combed to hang over her shoulders. She’s barefoot and is holding her doll close to her chest.

  She’s all fresh and clean and just about the sweetest thing I’ve ever seen.

  “Nothing, buttercup,” I respond and smile. “Sometimes his ear just hurts.”

  “Oh,” She frowns and watches me rub Bix’s face. “Poor Bix.”

  “He’s okay,” I reassure her. “What are you up to?”

  “I want you to read us a story and tuck us in, so Mom said I should come find you.”

  She watches me with wide sleepy eyes.

  “Shall we take Bix up and read a story?” I ask her with a smile.

  “Yes, please,” she responds happily.

  I rise from my seat on the floor and motion for Bix to follow us up the stairs. Brynna is just coming out of the girls’ room as we approach and she hugs Maddie tight and grins at her.

  “Good night, baby girl,” Brynna croons to her daughter.

  “’Night, Mama,” Maddie responds and jumps up into her bed. Bix happily curls up on his bed between the two, but he’s not fooling me.

  He’ll be up on one of their beds as soon as I turn the light out and leave.

  “You and I need to talk,” Brynna murmurs to me before turning and walking down the stairs.

  Yeah, we do, Legs.

  “Come over here with us, jellybean, and we’ll read a story.”

  Josie climbs into Maddie’s bed and the two little girls curl up together. “I want Ferdinand,” Josie informs me.

  “Ferdinand it is, then,” I grin and find the book about the bull on their bookshelf before sitting on the edge of the bed to read.

  Bix sighs as I begin the story about a bull who is content to just sit and smell the flowers under his favorite cork tree. The girls settle in and watch the pictures as I read, making my voice different for the different characters. They yawn, their eyes growing heavy.

  By the time I reach the end, they both have their eyes closed and are breathing deeply with sleep. Rather than wake Josie and make her get up out of Maddie’s bed to get into her own, I lift her carefully and carry her to her bed, tucking her in.

  Before I can pull away, she tightens her arms around my neck in a hug and whispers, “Love you, Daddy.”

  My heart stops as she wiggles away, turns on her side, and sighs as she falls back to sleep.

  Suddenly, I feel a sheen of sweat form on my forehead and pulling air in and out of my lungs is a struggle.

  I need out of here.

  I back out of the girls’ room, turn out the light and walk quickly down the hall through Brynna’s bedroom to the bathroom and turn the faucet on cold, briskly splashing it over my face, over and over again, not caring that I’m splashing water all over the floor, the sink, down my shirt.

  I stop and lean my hands on the countertop, staring at my own refection, water dripping, panting, trying to drag enough a
ir into my lungs.

  Rat tat tat tat tat!

  “Move, move, move! Retreat!” I called to my men in the wilderness of Afghanistan. “Get the fuck out of here!”

  “Marshall is down!” Lewis yelled at me from twenty yards away, shooting with precise calm at the Taliban that ambushed us.

  “Fuck!”

  “I’m going up the hill to try to call for help,” Bates, the fourth on our team informed me.

  “No, we stay together,” I shook my head and aimed my rifle, taking out another of the enemy.

  “We need backup, man,” Lewis called over.

  “You’ll get hit,” I call to Bates as we make our way through the trees. “There are at least fifty of them!”

  “We need backup,” Bates repeats and looked me square in the eye. “I’m going up.”

  Before I could respond, he ducked and ran back up the hill to get to high ground for the communication unit to work and Lewis and I opened fire, covering him.

  “Three O’clock!” Lewis screamed and I turned to my right, firing, taking out three more Taliban.

  My eyes searched for Bates and found him, still making his way up the mountain.

  Suddenly, I heard Lewis grunt and as I looked his way, he dropped to one knee, but kept firing.

  “Are you hit?” I asked.

  “Affirmative, sir,” he called back and continued to fire.

  “How bad?”

  He didn’t answer. Looking up, Bates had reached the top and was setting up the comm unit when suddenly a bullet caught him in the right shoulder, knocking him back. He grimaced, but pushed on, raised the CB to his mouth, calling for help. Another bullet pierced the hand holding the mouthpiece, but damn if he didn’t pick it up with his other hand and kept talking.

  “Lewis! Bates is calling for help!” I called out. Lewis was on his stomach now, still shooting and taking down men.

  My own rifle continued to fire as well, and for a moment, I thought we might survive it, just one man down.

  Until a fucking sniper landed a shot in Lewis’ forehead, killing him instantly.

  “Motherfucker,” I growled and continued to fire in earnest, sure that all four of us would die here on this mountain, and I’d be damned if we went out without a fight.