by D. L. Roan
Virgil followed him, retrieving a bottle of whiskey and two glasses from the cabinet over the fridge. “Have a seat,” Virgil instructed and pointed to the chair across from him.
Clay took a seat and picked up the bottle, raising a brow when he recognized the expensive label. “Damn, what’s the occasion?”
“The occasion, son, is the look I just saw on your face,” Virgil said in his usual deadpan tone as he poured a healthy shot into each glass and handed one to him. “To serendipity,” Virgil said with a wink, holding up his glass.
“To what?” Clay chuckled.
“To serendipity,” Virgil repeated.
Clay stared at Virgil, wondering how many shots the old man had already tossed back to be spouting poetry, until his meaning suddenly sank in. A jumbled list of arguments crammed onto the tip of Clay’s tongue, but each time he tried to voice one, it felt like a betrayal to what he already knew was happening inside him. Virgil’s knowing smile grew with each passing second, each passing revelation, until Clay gave up the fight, clinked the glass against his dad’s, and downed the shot, ignoring Virgil’s quiet snicker as he reached for the bottle and poured another.
Chapter Fourteen
Dani woke with a start. Her heart and mind raced in tandem until the dark room came into focus and she remembered where she was. Humiliation replaced her alarm and she bolted upright, her phone slipping to the floor with a muted thud.
“Shit.” The last thing she remembered was saying goodnight to Grey and her mom. The allergy meds she’d taken after dinner must have knocked her out. Embarrassed, she threw off the blanket—which strangely hadn’t been there when she’d rudely nodded off while waiting on Clay—and picked up her phone to check the time.
Two-thirty.
As if the glowing numbers held some mystical subliminal message, her mouth opened on a wide yawn that led to a shiver. Clay’d been right. The nights were considerably cooler than the acrid heat that had assaulted her when they first arrived. Shaking herself awake, she scanned the darkness, reacquainting herself with her surroundings before she padded into the kitchen for a glass of water to ease her dry throat.
The light on the coffee maker illuminated the kitchen enough to guide her to the drying rack, where she retrieved a glass and flipped on the tap, wondering what had happened between Clay and Jackson, and why he’d never mentioned him before. Whatever their issues, she sensed something more than sibling rivalry between them. Despite Virgil telling her not to worry, the hint of rage she’d seen in Clay’s eyes haunted her.
“A shot of whiskey would help you sleep better,” a deep voice rumbled behind her.
Startled, Dani spun on her heels. The glass in her hand forgotten, the water inside it flew across the room straight into Clay’s face. “Oh my God! You scared the shit out of me!” She reached for a towel, then froze, squinting through the darkness at the figure sitting at the table. It wasn’t Clay, but Jackson, dripping wet, and holy shit, he’s in his underwear!
“Shit. Sorry.” She spun back around and dropped the glass into the sink, her cheeks flaming with embarrassment and shock.
“It’s not the first time a woman’s thrown her drink in my face,” he drawled. “I’m sure it won’t be the last.”
“I thought you were Clay.”
Jackson chuckled. “And here I was thinkin’ you liked him.”
“I do. I mean, I didn’t see you there, and then when I did…I thought—”
“You thought I was Clay. Yeah, I get that a lot.” The wooden chair legs scraped across the tile floor and Jackson appeared beside her. “Story of my life, actually,” he said, taking the dishtowel from her hand.
Her mind racing, she stepped away, turning her back to him. “Sorry,” she said again, embarrassment jumbling her thoughts beyond anything but getting the heck out of there. “Goodnight.”
“Wait,” he said, and Dani stopped, still not looking at him. “You didn’t get that drink you were after.” He flipped on the tap and filled the glass, then held it out to her.
Averting her gaze, she waved him off as politely as she could. “I’m fine, but thank you,” she insisted and made for the living room to gather her boots.
“He really likes you, ya know.”
Dani stopped in the doorway.
“Clay’s a good guy, and deserves a good woman,” Jackson said, his voice laden with regret. Silence filled the space between them. Why was he telling her this?
Neither of them moved as the silence grew awkward and heavy. She was about to walk away when she heard his resigned sigh and he moved back to the table. “Anyway, I’m sorry about earlier. I was the asshole, so don’t hold it against him.”
Dani lifted her chin and met his gaze over her shoulder. “Thanks, and I don’t,” she said, giving him a polite smile, then squeezing her eyes closed when she inadvertently glanced down at his— “Yeah, um, goodnight.”
She bolted from the room, mentally scolding herself. It wasn’t as if she’d never seen a guy in his underwear, for God’s sake. But something felt infinitely weird and wrong about seeing Clay’s brother in his, especially when she hadn’t even seen Clay’s.
She grabbed up her boots and made her way down the long hallway to Clay’s room, pausing when she saw the sticky note on the door.
Sorry I missed saying goodnight. Sweet dreams, beautiful.
She grinned as she plucked the note from the door, swirling her thumb over the winking smiley face he’d drawn beneath his name. Glancing over her shoulder at the door across from hers, her stomach fluttered when she saw it had been left open a crack. Curiosity propelled her to inch it open further. She peered through the darkness and saw Clay sprawled out on his stomach, the covers pulled haphazardly across his hips, his bare feet dangling off the end of the bed.
Feeling like a jerk for making him sleep in the small single bed, she was tempted to wake him and tell him to take his room back, but knew he’d refuse. She leaned against the doorjamb and watched him sleep, wishing for the courage to slip beneath the covers beside him.
The covers rustled in the silence and Dani tensed. Clay moaned, whispering something unintelligible as he shifted onto his side, and then rolled onto his back. The sheet slowly tented over his groin and Clay groaned, reaching down to caress himself.
Dani’s eyes widened and she swiftly pulled the door closed, holding her breath until she was sure she hadn’t woken him before she turned and tiptoed into Clay’s room.
She closed the door with a near-silent click and exhaled in a rush of relief. Grinning, she fingered the note in her hand. Was he dreaming of her?
On the heels of another yawn, she stripped down to her underwear and T-shirt and crawled into Clay’s bed, her body curling into the crisp, cool covers when the scent of his cologne enveloped her. She pulled the sheets up to her nose and breathed him in, losing herself in a million and one fantasies as she hugged his pillow and drifted off to sleep.
The sound of a text notification teased her awake the next morning. Sunlight, brighter than she’d ever seen, sliced across the bed, illuminating a swirl of dust particles as she flung the covers back and reached for her phone.
Rise and shine, beautiful.
“Ugh.” She flopped back onto the mattress. Why had she forgotten to set her alarm? “I’ve turned into Molly, that’s why.” All she could think about was Clay. The faint scent of his cologne still lingered on the sheets and she gathered them back up, inhaling the essence like a lovesick teenager.
“Knock-knock.” The door opened and Clay walked in, a tray of food perched on his arm.
Holy— She scrambled to sit up, clenching the sheet to her chest.
Clay paused in the doorway, his expression unreadable as he stared at her.
“What?” She smoothed a hand over her hair.
He moved to the side of the bed, setting the breakfast tray on the night table before he reached over and plucked something from her hair. Dani jerked back to see what it was, then snatched the sticky n
ote from his hand.
“You slept with my note.” Clay grinned.
Heat swept up the back of her neck as she tucked the note into her palm and pulled her knees into her chest. “Yeah, uh, sorry I crashed so early last night.”
Clay shrugged and reached for the tray. “Rancher’s hours.”
Dani huffed. “Not today, apparently. Why’d you let me sleep so late?” Half the day’s work had been done by now and she hadn’t seen the first head of cattle.
“Because you needed it.” He set the tray on the mattress and then laid across the bed in front of her. “Aaaand…” He reached for a piece of sausage. “I figured since Levi is leaving tomorrow, we’d start at the lab, and he doesn’t get in til’ around ten.”
Dani stared at the food on the tray, mostly to keep from staring at the way his biceps stretched his T-shirt sleeves as he propped up on his elbow. Good grief, she was turning into Molly.
“What’s wrong?” Clay glanced between her and the tray. “You don’t like scrambled eggs?
Dani shook her head. “No. I mean yes, I do. Scrambled is fine.” She picked up a fork and stabbed it into the more than generous portion.
Clay sighed and reached for his own fork. “Well, in all honesty, they started out as over-easy, but then I started thinking about the ass Jackson made of himself last night.”
“Mmm!” Dani nearly choked on her first bite as memories of her impromptu meeting with Jackson came rushing back. “I told you I wasn’t offended,” she insisted from behind her hand, an unexpected flavor bursting over her tongue. “I have four brothers, remember? Besides, he apologized.” She swallowed. “Man, these are good eggs. What’s in them?”
Clay scowled, dropping his fork to his plate. “Jackson spoke to you? He was here? In my room?”
Dani shook her head. “No, he was in the kitchen,” she rushed to explain, then told him about their unexpected encounter.
Clay scratched his eyebrow. “Well, that explains why I found Pop’s empty whiskey bottle in the trash this morning,” he said, staring at his plate. “And he didn’t try anything? Like fucking you on the kitchen table? Nothing?” he asked as she took a sip of her orange juice.
“No!” she choked out. “God, what the hell happened between you two? Why didn’t you tell me you had a younger brother?”
Clay rubbed the back of his neck as he reached for his fork with the other, stabbing it into his eggs, but seemingly uninterested in eating them. “Bad blood, I guess.” He shrugged. “You really threw a glass of water in his face?”
“It was an accident.” Dani eyed him over her glass as she took another sip. “At first I thought he was you. And you didn’t really answer my question.”
“So…you thought I was him, and you chucked your drink in his face?”
“Clay.” Dani lowered her chin, giving him a challenging glare.
“Fine.” With a frustrated sigh, he picked up the tray and set it back onto the nightstand, then crawled back into bed beside her, stacking the extra pillow behind him before he leaned against the headboard. “Jackson has issues.”
She crossed her arms over her chest and leaned back beside him. “And?”
Still stalling, he fingered the loose threads of a rip in his jeans as she waited for him to continue. “And…” he finally said, turning to look at her, holding her gaze. “He has a history of wanting what’s mine.”
The mixture of hurt and anger in his eyes told her he wasn’t just talking about boys and their toys, but there was more to his words, a declaration, a claim, a promise.
“Oh.”
Still holding her gaze, he reached up and cupped her jaw, his eyes softening with a hopeful grin. “Is that a good ‘oh’, or a bad ‘oh’?”
Breathtaking heat bloomed in the center of her chest and worked its way through her limbs, rolling into a needy ache between her thighs. “A good one,” she managed in a breathless whisper, his lips so close they tickled hers, “except for the part about Jack—”
He cupped her neck and drew her to him, crushing his mouth against hers. Their tongues clashed instantly in what had become a familiar, erotic dance of deep, tasting strokes she’d come to crave more than air. The sweet taste of orange juice teased her taste buds as she tipped her head and deepened the kiss, answering his demand for more with her own new desires.
Clay groaned, a deep, feral sound that sparked through her very core, propelling her onto her knees. Their mouths parted and rejoined, time and again, as he drew her to him, guiding her leg as she straddled his hips.
Air rushed from his lungs as she settled in his lap. His fingertips dug into her hips, pulling her down onto him as he raised his hips, pressing the hard ridge of his cock against her. The ache between her thighs intensified into an insistent throb, demanding friction and a satisfaction she’d only ever given herself.
Clay tore his mouth from hers and trailed kisses along her neck, then back up, capturing her groan as his hand tunneled beneath her T-shirt. The first contact of his palm as it skimmed over her nipple, zinged through her entire body.
“Ahh.” She arched against the warmth of his hand, the sensation of his touch on her bare skin too much and not enough all at once.
Clay shifted beneath her, taking her mouth in another searing kiss as he laid her on her back and followed her down onto the mattress. “Clay,” she panted when he broke the kiss, but the weight of his body settling between her thighs stole her next words, her very breath, her every thought.
She hooked her legs around his and pulled him against her, eliciting a mumbled curse as he kissed along her neck, shoving her shirt up and over her head. “Beautiful,” he whispered against her bared flesh, placing another languid kiss between her breasts.
Her chest rose and fell on every breath as she watched him trace her areola with the tip of his tongue, flicking and licking until his lips covered her nipple and he sucked it between his teeth.
“Oh, fuck.” She arched beneath him, threading her fingers through his hair, wishing she could hold him there forever, until he moved to the other one.
The ache began anew. A rush of liquid heat pooled between her thighs and she was helpless to stop her hips from bucking in time with the throbbing that accompanied it.
Clay hummed, deep and long in the back of his throat as he shifted again, lifting himself above her as he slipped his hand into the front her panties.
“Clay.” She bucked beneath him, reaching down to grip his wrist, though stopping him was the last thing she wanted to do. “Clay, wait.”
He released a protesting groan, but paused and met her gaze. Staring down at her, speechless and breathless, he waited for her to tell him what to do. She didn’t want to tell him to stop, didn’t know how to say the words to tell him what she wanted.
How could she possibly live up to his expectations when she clearly had no clue what she was doing? In her fantasies of this moment, telling him she was a virgin had been out of the question. The last thing she wanted was for him to treat her like a child, like everyone else in her life did, but what if he could tell? What if she did something wrong or stupid, or she hadn’t lost her ‘token of virginity’ like she’d thought. She might be able to fake her way through the motions, but she couldn’t hide that.
“I want to taste you,” he whispered against the side of her neck, slipping the tip of his finger into her wet heat. His eyes closed with a strained hum. “Christ, you’re so wet.”
She sucked in a ragged breath, pressing into his touch. Stronger than anything she’d ever felt, the sensations rushing through her body overwhelmed her, stealing her thoughts, one-by-one, replacing them with needs she couldn’t express even if she knew the words. Every second was a battle. Knowing she had to tell him the truth, her body warred with her will to speak.
“Let me make you feel good.” He tested her restraint, pulling against the hold she had on his wrist.
“Clay, I’m a…I haven’t been with—mmm.” His fingers circled her again, this tim
e capturing her protests with a silencing kiss.
“I know,” he said in a confident whisper against her lips.
He did? She squeezed his wrist even tighter when he added another finger and explored lower. “You do?”
Clay nodded. “We’ll go as fast or as slow as you want,” he assured her. “We’ll figure it out as we go, okay? Right now, I just want to make you come, preferably in my mouth.”
Somewhere between relieved and wishing for a hole to climb into, Dani nodded and released his hand.
With a hungry grin, he lowered his head and kissed her neck, sliding his hand further under her panties. Dani writhed beneath each kiss, every stroke of his fingers, until Clay slid down her body, taking her panties with him.
Spread out before him, completely naked with a man for the first time, her skin tingled with shy awareness as Clay lowered himself between her legs. Unsure of what to do with her hands, she clenched the sheets in her fists.
“Relax.” He grinned, taking one of her hands and threading their fingers together. “This is supposed to be fun.”
Dani released a breath she didn’t know she was holding, her eyes fixed on his as he lowered his head and took his first taste.
“Ahh…” Her head fell back on a moan as the tip of his hot, silky tongue slid through her folds. Beyond sensitive, her hips jolted when he reached her clit, circling and flicking, then circling again.
“Fuck,” Clay breathed against her. “This is the best damn breakfast I’ve ever had.”
Dani lifted her head to see him grinning up at her and a nervous laugh slipped out. “Oh my—” She sucked in a breath as he trailed his tongue lower, pressing against her opening, prodding the tip inside as he circled his fingertips over her clit.
