“Courtney—“ My phone rang, an unfamiliar number on my screen.
“That will be her. You should answer. Don’t worry, I can wait.” I watched as she picked up the menu, then I looked around the patio area of the small restaurant. No one was paying us any attention. If anyone looked at us, they’d think we were there together.
“Hello?” I said into the phone, not looking away from the nutcase in front on me.
“Val, I am so sorry! Listen, I have a flat and somehow my spare is flat, too. You okay if we reschedule?” Tania asked. Relief washed over me.
“Sure.”
“I called you, but your phone didn’t ring, so I called Bryan.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah, look, he mentioned something weird was going on with his ex—“
“Right. Look, I should go,” I cut her off, only thinking how I wanted to be anywhere but there.
“Are you okay?”
“Mmm, totes.”
“Totes?” Tania repeated, sounding amused. “Val, did you start on mimosas already.”
“I wish.”
“Wait, is she there?” Tania hit it on the nose.
“Mhmm.”
“What the fuck?” Tania whispered. “Don’t get in a car with her.”
“Never. I better go.”
“Okay.” I ended the call and set my phone down.
“She figured it out?” Courtney asked, placing the menu down, her golden-brown eyes on me.
“Look, I don’t know why you are here or why—“
“I was his perfect girl,” she shared, her voice calm and steady, but it was her eyes that didn’t leave me feeling warm and fuzzy.
“Can I get you two something to drink?” the waiter asked, and I opened my mouth to say no, because I was getting my ass out of there, but she beat me to it.
“Coffee for her, water for me,” she told the waiter. “But we are going to need a couple of minutes for our order,” she added, freaking me the hell out.
“Of course.” The waiter smiled at us and walked away.
“Courtney—“
“You should really watch how much caffeine you drink. It dehydrates and is not very good for your skin,” she shared as if we were girlfriends. “Though, being in the medical field, you probably know that, right?”
“I don’t know what you are doing right now—“
“He’s mine. He’s been mine since we were sixteen,” Courtney informed casually. “Now, I get what he did with you and the women before you. Because, come on, we both know there were women,” she commented, throwing her arm in the air as if talking with her hands.
“Court—“
“I’m as close to perfect as you can get,” she snapped slightly, shook her head, and smiled at me almost maniacally. “I did everything right, and he left.” Her eyes blazed. Something was obviously not right with her. “He left me.”
“We both know that isn’t true. You lied to him. You lied and cheated—“
“What do you think he’s doing with you?” she cut me off, ignoring my points. Without letting me answer, she smirked. It annoyed me.
I’ve met women like her before. Spoiled daddy’s girls who turn into mean girls who never outgrow it and just morph into bitches who don’t act their age but their shoe size. Especially when they didn’t get what they wanted when they wanted it. But the maniacal stare told me it was more than that.
“I think it’s obvious what he’s doing with you.”
“It is, huh?” I couldn’t help asking.
“It is. I mean, God, Valerie, you’re nothing like me.” She laughed, and she wasn’t wrong.
I’m not.
Where she was brunette and fair skinned, I was tan and blond. Her angles and thin lines were opposites to my curves.
“I’m as close to perfect as you can get. And you—” she kept, going, but I was done.
“I think I’ve heard enough—”
“I know about you,” she blurted out. I tilted my head.
“I’m sure Victor was more than happy to enlighten you.”
“Do you know what kind of family I come from?”
“I’m sure you’re going to tell me.”
“I come from good and clean.”
“I bet you do.”
“And you... God....” She shook her head, an evil smile pasted on her face “Your mom’s a junkie and—”
“And she turned tricks to get her fix. Sweetheart, you’re not telling me anything I don’t remember.”
“Your dad’s dead,” she dropped, and I stilled. Without looking away, I schooled my expression to indifferent.
“You didn’t know.” She smiled manically. “Victor thought you might not, but wow! Your mom is on her way to the same place, too. One too many lines.” She tapped her nose, and I swallowed the bile that came up.
“I don’t have time for this.”
“Stay away from Bryan.”
“What made you snap? You’ve been married to someone else for how long? What happened?
“He’s not right for you,” she hissed in a whisper, ignoring my question. “He’s too good for you. You and I both know that, and once he gets tired of…well, getting what you have given so easily, he will see it, too.” She stood up. “But I guess you’re okay with people leaving you, right?” she asked, but she wasn’t done. I was too shocked to move. “Stay away from my husband!” She slapped her hand on the table and then finally turned to leave before I could find my footing.
The waiter approached with my coffee and her water. I simply asked for the bill.
***
“Where have you been?” he asked, and I turned to look at him.
Tania must have called him and told him that Courtney joined me for breakfast, because about a minute after Courtney had disappeared in a Nissan Z, he had called.
But I’d ignored it.
Not because I was playing games, but because I just needed time to think. Time to get my thoughts together.
Standing in the backyard in jeans and a white tee, not only did he look good, but he was clearly pissed.
“Here,” I muttered.
“What?”
“You asked me: Where have you been?” I repeated in a deep tone trying to impersonate him. “I’ve been here.”
“You didn’t answer your phone,” he pointed out. I was starting to get agitated.
“Sorry about that,” I answered sarcastically before looking away and toward the yard, and even though I was outside, the air changed as he approached.
“Sorry about that?” he asked in a daring tone.
“Are you going to repeat and question everything I say today? Because that’s going to get annoying fast,” I clipped, standing up from the hammock, not knowing why but doing it anyhow.
“What did she do?” he asked, and I rolled my eyes.
“Look Bryan—“ His arms wrapped around me, his embrace tight. I shouldn’t like it, but I did. I love how he holds me. Will he get tired of me? I wondered.
“Talk to me, Blondie.”
“You used to call her your perfect girl?” I asked, not really caring, but couldn’t get myself to sharing.
“What?”
“You know that no one can live up to that?” I scoffed, my hands on my hips.
“I was sixteen and didn’t know any better, Val.” I turned in his arms to look up at him.
“Did you keep calling her that after you got married?”
“What is this about?”
“I’m nothing like her!” I shout, so many emotions floating within me.
“I know.”
“I’m not perfect. Not even close and—“ My eyes were pinned to his strong, broad shoulder. God! He had beautiful shoulders, even covered in soft, white cotton I could make out the definition of their sculpted beauty, and I wanted to lay my mess on them.
“Shh… what’s going on, baby?” His voice warmed, and I cracked.
“He’s dead,” I shared, my voice showing my emotional upheaval
. His hands gripped my arms tightly, and it felt good to feel them holding on to me. Because, emotionally, I had no idea what I felt.
“Who?”
“My dad.” I looked up at him. He scowled. “My dad’s dead.” Saying it out loud for a second time, I still wasn’t able to get myself to care. I didn’t feel anything but this anger.
“She told you this?”
“He died in prison.”
“Baby, she might be lying…” But I shook my head, and his words silenced.
“I called the prison. She wasn’t. He’s gone. He died a year ago,” I shared.
“Are you—“
“I’m fine.” I laughed. “How horrible is that? He’s gone, and I don’t care.”
“You care.”
“Not even a little bit. Not for me. Not like a daughter should about her dad. I care, because that asshole isn’t draining taxpayer’s money and my uncle finally has justice.” My voice finally cracked, the image of Ron’s bloodied body too clear in my mind’s eye. I attempted to pull away from his hold, but I should have known better. He didn’t let me.
“Baby—“
“She’s the one who messed up Tania’s tires,” I shared in a futile attempt at changing the subject.
“I know. We figured that out.” But I ignored him and kept talking, the idea of him walking away killing something inside of me.
“She knew Tania was going to cancel. It was creepy how timed everything was. She isn’t right in the head, Bryan.”
“I know, Val.”
“She changed her hair, too.” I didn’t know why I felt the need to tell him.
“Val.”
“It’s lighter. Almost like Tania’s shade. Light brown with some dirty blond in it.”
“Okay, baby.”
“But she wasn’t wrong.” He blinked, and I watched his strong jaw clench. My hand caressed his face to try to get him to relax his jaw. “She’s not wrong about me. I don’t come from people like yours. Or hers and—“
“Enough of this shit,” he growled. lifting me up, my legs wrapping around his waist.
“It’s true.” My hands went to his neck. Trying to focus my attention on the feel of his muscular skin, I let them rub. “She wasn’t wrong about me, and we both know it.”
“Considering I have no idea what the bitch said but I know her and know what a bitch she can be, I am pretty sure I don’t agree with you.”
“Where I come from and—“ He stopped me from talking by covering my lips with his.
A deep, sensuous kiss that made my legs tighten around his waist. I was half aware when he sat us down on the couch in the living room.
“Bryan,” I moaned when I felt his length at my aching center.
“I am so damn happy that you are who you are,” he whispered against my lips. I looked at him. “Where we come from doesn’t define us.”
“Handsome, we both know that—”
“That I’m right?” He lifted an eyebrow, challenging me to try to argue with him, giving me a boyish smile that only made my heart flip-flop. “I know I am.” He made me want to laugh with the way he answered before kissing the tip of my nose.
“It’s not that easy.” I sighed, wanting to give in, but I couldn’t find it in me to do it.
“It’s not? Because from where I’m looking at things, it is. Two people fucked up. They made their choices in life and in doing so, they didn’t see the beauty you brought into it just by fucking breathing.” My nose stung and he was a blurry vision in front of me. “You’re like a damn lotus flower that bloomed out of the most unexpected place, Val.”
“Bryan,” I whispered, and he ran his fingers through my hair then bringing them back to my face, tracing the sides and my lips, making shivers run down my body, covering my skin with goose bumps.
“I hate you had to live what you had to live through, with people who were too selfish and didn’t give a shit about you. But I gotta tell you, sitting here, with you on my lap, I feel like the most blessed man in the world that our roads paired up when they did.”
“Handsome—”
“Days of selfish, uncaring people in your life are over,” he spoke like a vow, my eyes stinging with unshed tears and so much emotion I was surprised I didn’t burst. “You have me now, and I mean that in a stable, reliable, you-can-count-on-me-for-anything kind of way. Saying that, I think you’ve noticed the people who come with me. You will never be alone or unloved. Not as long as I’m breathing, and even then, babe.”
I had no words.
Nothing.
I couldn’t figure out a way to tell him what all his words meant to me. How they touched me. How they instantly fed my soul’s farthest depths. So, I did the only thing I could do. I showed him. Tears were streaming down my face just as my lips met his and we breathed each other in. The kiss, like it usually did with us, went from patient and sweet to smoldering, white-hot flames.
Clothes disappeared. Both our hands roamed and touched as we memorized one another. Our moans went from hushed whispers to louder guttural moans as dirty words floated from our lips.
I found myself mid-air, being held like a bride on her wedding day in his arms, our lips still locked as he walked us to my bedroom, letting me fall onto my bed. I only bounced once before his body covered mine. His face was buried at my neck, and I wrapped all of myself around him, legs around his waist, heels of my feet digging into his lower back, my arms wrapped tightly around his neck, enjoying the sensation of his lips and five-o’clock shadow against my sensitive flesh. My skin burned and ached for more.
Suddenly, he rolled off me, and I looked at him, his blue-grey eyes burning.
“Flip over. Ass in the air,” he ordered roughly. I got wetter and followed his order like a good girl.
BRYAN
His eyes were pinned to her as he tried his hardest not to lose his shit and just take her and rut into her. He needed to sink into her wet heat like he needed his next breath, have her take every inch of him, but he would cut his right nut before he ever hurt her.
She moved slowly, the sight of her rolling over completely nude in front of him only teased and heightened his desire. His hand moved and gripped his pulsating shaft, trying to get some damn control. He didn’t want this to end before they even got started. Something about her, just the sight of her, made him on edge, ready to pop his lid early like a teenaged boy watching his first porn video.
She flipped over onto her belly, and it felt like he was watching her move in slow motion. Her beautiful, lush ass curving upward, giving him a peek of her silky pink folds. Biting his lower lip, he heard a deep growl emanate from his chest, but he held himself still. Her ass popped up, her back angled downward, the line of her sun-kissed skin so fucking beautiful he knew he would never forget it. She moved her head toward him, her green eyes darker than he had ever seen them, and he swallowed hard.
Without a word exchanged between them, he scooted closer. Still lying on his side, he let himself touch her. His hand glided over her shoulder and downward. He felt like a lion about to pounce on a gazelle at the sounds that escaped from her and the way her body reacted to his touch. He stroked her back up and down as she purred, and with each sound he felt like a motherfucking king. His touch was light at first, increasing the pressure slowly, stoking his own need, until he was kneading her skin deeply, done with foreplay.
Sitting up, he moved closer. Kneeling on his hunches, he sat between her legs, and without having to ask, she spread her thick, sexy thighs.
The sight of her pretty, glistening pussy, pink and wet, made his mouth water. With every deep breath he took, her feminine scent enveloped him, filling his lungs completely. Bryan let his fingers trace her, taking in her dewy wetness. When she turned back, he winked at her.
“Watch me taste you,” he demanded. Her lips opened in a pretty ‘O’ as he brought his coated fingers to his mouth and closed his eyes in sheer delight at her taste.
Opening them, he caught the way she squirmed, tryin
g to get more of his touch. The sight and smell of her drove him to the brink and he couldn’t wait any longer.
He couldn’t help himself. Lining himself up perfectly with her entrance, he traced the crown of his angry-looking cock against her. His free hand clenched at the sensation of her tightness. Taking a deep breath, he knew exactly how tight she was going to be, how good she was going to feel, and he needed to get as much self-control as he could, so that he wouldn’t lose it too quickly and let them both down. She tilted back against him, the crown of his shaft went in deeper, and his hand came up and slapped down on her supple flesh.
“Be a good girl for me, Val. Stay still,” he growled a command and slipped out of her. His lips twitched in satisfaction at her soft little whine, his eyes not missing the way her hands clenched the bed sheets.
Glancing down, he lined his cock back up, but this time, he didn’t tease. He slammed his full length into her, leaning his own body over hers, his balls tightening at the feel and sound of her below him.
“Yes!” she hissed, and he kissed her shoulder as he started to work his dick in and out of her tight channel.
The sight of her ass in front of him, of his length working in and out of her body, was fucking beautiful. The ice-thin control he had held on to broke and he slammed into her. And before he could check with her to see if she was okay, she fucked him back. Both of them rutting back and forth. It wasn’t romantic; it was hard and brutal, both demanding more with every thrust. He wanted her to feel him the next day. To remind her he had been there. More than just inside of her body, but in her life.
He was hers and she was his.
His spine tingled as her wetness seeped and coated the front of his thighs. He buried his face into the crook of her neck. Kissing and licking her skin as they both sped up.
“Keep going, baby girl.”
“Bryan.” Her sexy fucking pants made his cock ache and grow harder. His body fully covered hers as he rode her with one hand wrapped around her neck. Gently holding her. And she let him. If he was right, she grew wetter at the move. He enjoyed her erratic pulse point under his fingers, while his other hand clenched the sheets beside her face.
“Blondie,” he growled as he felt her start to tighten, but he was determined to get them both off at the same time. He wanted, no, he fucking needed to feel that intimacy with her. He needed to give them both that.
STEAL (Right Men Series Book 2) Page 25
