Down in Flames (Silver Tongued Devils Series Book 1)

by Samantha Conley

  “I love you too.”

  He pulls me in for a harder kiss and slips his tongue between my lips. I open up and let him in. My tongue plays with his and our kiss becomes more passionate, like we can’t get enough of each other. He moves his hand from around my neck, down to my breast and squeezes. He grips my nipple with his finger and thumb, twisting it a little. It feels so damn good. He moves his hands to the bottom of my tank top and slowly pushes it up my torso. We break the kiss long enough to pull it off, then I move back to his mouth. He takes his hands and puts them back on my ass, then slips his finger underneath the lace, close to my core. One finger skims over my lips. I should be embarrassed with how wet I am, but he moans his approval against my mouth. Before I even realize it, he has us rolled over in the middle of the bed and is pressing me into the mattress. He moves his mouth down my jaw to my neck. He nips me on the side and I flinch a little. He knows that will turn me on quicker than anything. Moving down my neck, he zeroes in on my left nipple. He licks around it, then nips the tip with his teeth. I never realized I liked a little pain with my pleasure until Brett. His other hand gives my right breast a squeeze and continues its downward path. He pulls back a little to allow his hand to slide in the front of my panties. Dipping his finger into my wetness, he moves his fingers to my clit. He rubs it slowly, forcing my body to jerk.

  “Like that, baby?” I can only nod.

  He sits up and begins to pull my panties down. Once he pulls them past my feet, he puts my leg on his shoulder and bends down. Slowly licking up my center, he zeroes in on my clit like a missile. He licks and flicks his tongue until I’m crying out. He pushes two thick fingers into my core, and I fly. My orgasm is still ripping through me when he hooks my legs with his arms and slams his thick cock into me stretching me nearly to the point of pain. He pulls out slowly and thrusts back in, hard, just how I like it.

  “Fuck, you feel so good, babe. Look at that pretty pussy take my cock.” He knows that talking dirty does it for me too. He keeps thrusting and retreating while he picks up the pace. I can feel myself building again.

  “You gonna come on my cock, babe? I want you to suck me in and squeeze me hard.”

  He moves his hand, dips it in our wetness and puts two fingers on my clit and rubs. That’s all it takes, and I explode. There’s no other word for it. I can feel myself clenching around him and the world starts to grow black. I can feel him thrust a few more times before he stiffens.

  “Fuck, yes, baby. So fucking good.” He puts his weight on me and kisses me softly on the lips.

  “I love you, babe. You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me. I don’t know what I did to deserve having you in my life, but I thank God that you decided to go to Jake’s that night to celebrate.” He moves to my side and cuddles me to him.

  “Me too, Brett. Me too.”

  I shake myself out of the memory. I don’t think anything is going to make me forget what I saw last night. I can’t stay here. I can’t sleep in this bed, knowing what happened.

  I move to the closet and pull out my suitcase, place it on the bed and open it up. I go back to the closet and start grabbing clothes. Not the ones that he’s bought me, but the ones I’ve purchased myself. I want nothing from him. I clean out my drawers in the dresser and move to the bathroom. As I walk in, I hear the phone ring. I don’t want to answer, but I stand still. It goes to the machine. “Kris, baby, if you’re there, pick up. Please. I’m worried.” The nerve of him.

  I’m just going to ignore him, but then I find myself grabbing the phone and hitting redial. “Kris—” is all I let him get out before I start crying.

  “I can’t do this, Brett. Not after last night. I won’t be your ‘nobody.’ I’m leaving.” I hang up the phone and move to the bathroom.

  With tears streaming down my face, I gather up my makeup and hair stuff and walk back to shove it all in the suitcase. I take off my ring and place it on the table on his side of the bed. When I reach the bottom of the stairs, I remember that Nelda is supposed to come back. I write her a quick note, letting her know that I’ll be gone for a while and she won’t have to come as often, maybe every other week to dust since no one will be here until Brett returns home. She always keeps a couple of meals in the freezer in case they’re needed. I know that Brett has her salary deposited into her bank account.

  I grab my phone and call Mallory. “Mal, I need a favor. Can I stay with you for a couple days?”

  Chapter 5

  Brett

  I can’t believe what’s happening. I thought when she called me back I could try to explain, try to make her understand…make her understand what? That I did the unthinkable? That I broke her heart? Just hearing her crying on the phone and the desolation in her voice makes me sick to my stomach. How could I ever hurt her that way?

  “Brian, I have to get home. I have to see her. I have to make her understand it was a mistake.”

  “I’m already working on it, kid. There’s a flight out in two hours and you’re on it. You have to be ready to fly out Monday to Europe, though, no matter what. The rest of us depend on you.” He messes around on his phone and I hear my notification go off.

  “There’s your flight information. Good luck, Brett. You’re going to need it. And we’ll be discussing this.” He holds up one of the little baggies from the floor. “I’ll get this cleaned up before housekeeping comes up. I don’t want the press getting any of this mess; that’s the last thing we need.” Brian walks out the door and it shuts loudly behind him.

  I look over at Derek, and he’s still sitting in the chair on the other side of the room. “Could you grab my stuff out of the closet? I’ll grab the stuff in the bathroom.”

  He nods his head and stiffly moves to the closet and grabs the suitcase. I grab the little bag in the bathroom and shove everything into it, not caring how it falls in. I move quickly out of the bathroom and see that Derek has only laid the suitcase on the bed.

  “Dude, come on. I have to hurry to catch that flight.”

  “How could you do this? I don’t understand how you could hurt her this way.” He looks at me, shakes his head and walks out the door.

  What the hell? Shouldn’t he be on my side? I know that he and Kristen have become close friends over the years, but he’s my best friend. Shouldn’t he be helping me figure this out and working to help me get her back? Hell, I’ll figure that out later. Right now, I must get to the airport and get back to my girl and fix this.

  I throw all the clothes I can in the suitcase. I hurry down to the elevator and only have to wait a minute before it arrives. I scare the poor lady already on the elevator as I practically throw my suitcase in.

  “Sorry,” I mumble and hit the first floor button.

  I forget my manners, about letting a lady go first, and rush off the elevator when we hit the lobby. Once I’m out the front door, I see a car waiting outside. He opens the car door for me and grabs my suitcase, but he’s moving slower than molasses. He finally gets in the driver’s seat and looks at me in the rearview mirror.

  “Do you need anything else, sir, before we leave?” I shake my head no.

  “Nothing but your lead foot on the gas.” He gives a quick smile, and with a little more oomph than I expected, we pull out into traffic. He must have taken me very seriously. He’s driving like we’re in a street race, but he gets me to the airport in record time, and to the right gate as well. I pull out my wallet while he’s getting my suitcase and hand him a hundred dollar bill.

  “Thanks, man.” I grab my suitcase and haul ass into the airport.

  I’ve got my bag checked and I’m sitting in first class, but I can’t enjoy it. All I can think about is how Kris sounded on the phone and how I’m the cause. We land fifteen minutes ahead of schedule, and I thank Brian for having a driver waiting here for me too. I grab my suitcase as soon as it hits the carousel and hurry out the door. I find the driver quickly, load up, and we’re on the road.

  When we pull up in front of
the house, I throw some cash in the front seat for a tip and jump out. “Just put the bag by the door!” I yell back over my shoulder. I reach the door and try to open it, but it’s locked. I start feeling around my pockets for my keys and fumble with the lock to get the door open.

  “Kris! Where are you?”

  I look in the living room. Not there. I see a bottle of Jack sitting on the table next to the remote and a picture frame. I glance in the kitchen, then head to the staircase, taking them two at a time while calling her name. But there’s no answer. I fly through the door of our bedroom and stop dead in my tracks. The closet door is standing wide open and the dresser drawers are only partially closed. I put my hands on my head and spin around. No, no, no. This can’t be happening.

  I spy something out of the corner of my eye. I walk to my nightstand and find the engagement ring I bought just lying there. I pick it up.

  “Kris, baby, no,” I whisper, clutching the ring to my chest. “I need you too much.” I turn to sit down on the side of the bed, but end up sliding down beside it. I just stare at the ring as I cry.

  Chapter 6

  Derek

  I walk out of the hotel room without even looking back at Brett. I still can’t wrap my head around what the hell he did. Kris is the best fucking thing that’s ever happened to him. Hell, I’ve become pretty attached to her myself. She’s been in my life for five years, as well as his. She’s been there for us all. When we were first starting out, she came to every show she could, sold our CDs, T-shirts, and even pimped us out on social media. She was even my shoulder to lean on when Stephanie and I called it quits. I’d always thought of her as one of the guys.

  Until one day it changed, and I found myself in love with her. Not that I would ever act on what I felt for her; I respected Brett and her too much. They are so in love and I would never, ever try to mess with that. So, I tucked my feelings down deep and wished them the best. I really tied one on the night Brett proposed to her, though. I’ve always known that my feelings would have to stay hidden from them, but it still felt like I’d been stabbed in the heart.

  It’s no wonder every girl I take to bed resembles Kristen, but they’ll never be her. I get my phone out of my pocket and call Kris. Straight to voicemail again.

  “Kris, call me, please. I’m worried. What the hell happened last night?” Like I don’t know. “Brian said you flew up here but no one’s seen ya. Just let me know you’re all right. I need to know that someone didn’t snatch you off the street. Talk to me, girl.”

  I hang up and go into my hotel room. I see the mess in the room, but the girl from last night is gone. I guess she got tired of waiting since I hightailed it out this morning to go to Brett. I grab the empty bottle and the condom wrappers off the floor and throw them in the trash can. At least I was smart enough to wrap my dick.

  I sit down on the side of the bed. What to do? We’ll be in Minneapolis until Monday, then we fly out to London. We’re all supposed to go bar hopping tonight to blow off some steam. We haven’t really had a night to just relax. We’re usually finishing a concert, then on the bus until the next stop. Damn, it was nice to sleep in a real bed last night. I lay back on the messy covers and grab a pillow for my head. Closing my eyes, I think back.

  I walk up to the house and ring the bell. Brett hadn’t answered his phone when I called, but I really need to talk to him or Kris. Nelda answers the door and lets me in. “Brett’s not home, but Kristen is out back, swimming.”

  “Thanks, Nelda.” I give her a quick kiss on the cheek and walk through the kitchen to the back patio door. I walk over to the side of the pool and sit on the end of one of the lounge chairs and stare off into space.

  “Derek!” I look down to see Kris leaning on the edge of the pool. “I didn’t know you were coming over. Brett went to go help Jake out for a little while. Did he forget you were coming?”

  I take a deep breath. My chest still hurts. “No, it wasn’t planned. I tried calling him but he didn’t answer. I just needed to talk to him, or you. I found out Steph has been cheating on me.”

  Kris looks stunned. “What the hell? How? When?”

  I think back to what I walked in on. I found the girl I’d spent the last two years with on her hands and knees, getting fucked from behind by some muscle-bound meathead looking guy on my bed. When she looked over at me standing in the doorway, she smiled. I just turned around and walked out.

  I guess I expected her to follow me out, try to explain or something, but they continued to go at it. I got in my truck and started it up, but I just sat there, waiting to see if one of them would come out of the apartment door. It took half an hour before meathead walked out. I watched him walk to an ugly ass yellow car and get in. It dawned on me that I’d seen that car a few times in the parking lot.

  That’s when my phone rang. It was her. “’Lo?”

  “Derek, where’d you run off to? I wanted to surprise you, thinking you’d join us. That’s why we waited for you to come home.” What the hell?

  “You thought I would want to join in? What the fuck ever gave you that idea? I don’t share. That’s not even on my fantasy list. All I know is that I want your cheating ass out by the time I get back!”

  “Babe, come on—”

  “Just get out, Steph. I’m done with your ass.”

  I put the truck in reverse and eased out of the spot, pulling out into traffic. A couple hours after driving around, I found myself at Brett’s house.

  “I walked in to find her fucking some guy in our bed.”

  “That fucking bitch,” Kris hisses. “What the fuck was she thinking?”

  “She was thinking I’d want to join them,” I reply.

  “Well, she’s an idiot. I can’t stand a cheater. It’s a hard limit for me. There’s no building back any sort of trust after that.”

  I watch as Kris moves to the end of the pool and gets out. I can’t help but notice her; she’s got a great fucking body. Brett sure is a lucky fucker. She’s dripping wet and wears a cute bikini. She doesn’t have to wear one of those skimpy, show-all to the world kind of bikinis. She actually wears one made for swimming. She leans her head back and wrings out her long, wet hair. Her normal blonde looks brown. When she leans back, it thrusts her chest out and I can see her hard, little nipples jutting through the material.

  “Can you hand me that towel?” She shakes me out of my state. I look around and see the towel on the arm of the chair next to me, so I pick it up and walk it over to her. “Thanks.”

  She bends over and I can only stare at the side of her plump, firm ass and long legs. She’s not purposely doing it, but she’s turning me on. Holy shit. Look away! This is Brett’s girl. Your best friend’s girl. Your ride or die friend’s girl. I reassure myself that it’s just a normal reaction to seeing a beautiful woman.

  “If you want, there are some drinks in the cooler.”

  I walk over to the cooler and grab a bottle of beer. “You want anything?”

  “A bottle of water, please.”

  I reach back in and grab a bottle from the bottom. The ice-cold water takes care of the problem that popped up earlier. I turn around to hand it to her and see that she has the towel wrapped around her. Thank God.

  “You wanna stay for dinner? Nelda’s making her famous enchiladas, and I think I’m in the mood for some margaritas.”

  She looks at me and I shrug. “Sounds good to me. How can I say no to Nelda’s enchiladas?”

  We walk back into the kitchen, the smell of enchiladas filling the air. Nelda is at the stove stirring a pot, and I can only hope it’s her Mexican rice. That shit is awesome. Nearly as good as the enchiladas. Kris mutters something about going upstairs to change and heads out of the kitchen.

  “Food’s almost ready. Brett called and said he’s going to be later than he thought.” I see Kris walk back in and she’s on her phone, typing something back. I assume that Brett has texted her to let her know.

  “Sounds great, Nelda. Kris said you w
ere making enchiladas. Y’all couldn’t get rid of me if you wanted to. Since you’re only here once a week, maybe I can steal you for a day. Keep me knee-deep in enchiladas.”

  She gives me a playful swat on the arm as she blushes. I move to the cabinets and grab some plates, while Kris reaches for some silverware. We place our stuff on the table and our hands touch. I swear a shock passes between us. Kris doesn’t even react, so I guess it’s all in my head.

  “I’ll grab the blender if you grab the stuff for margaritas.” I don’t know what she puts in her margaritas—she keeps it a secret—but they are the best I’ve ever had. I retrieve the blender from the shelf in the pantry and sit it on the island. Kris walks back over with tequila and a bottle of yellow-green liquid, her secret mix.

  “Get the ice, will ya?” she asks as she starts to pour stuff in the blender.

  I get the ice tub out of the freezer and hand it to her. She starts to whip up the drinks, and I head over to help Nelda get the enchiladas and rice on the table. Nelda says goodbye and heads out the door, toward the garage.

  “Dish those bad boys up, Derek. I’m starving!”

  I make us both plates and sit down. She brings over two monster glasses of margaritas, and we tuck in. Damn, the enchiladas are amazing. We eat and drink until we’re stuffed. She refills our glasses and we head into the living room. I sit in a recliner and she sprawls out on the couch.

  “Anything you wanna watch?” she asks and grabs the remote.

  I shake my head no and take another drink. She turns on the TV and one of my favorite movies is on.

  “I love this movie,” she gushes. We watch and laugh and drink a couple more pitchers of margaritas, and by the time Brett rolls in, we’re both lit.

  It’s hard to believe that was two years ago. I ended up staying the night that night and got to repeat what had happened with Steph to Brett the next morning as I nursed a good hangover. I ended up staying with them for the next couple weeks while I dealt with Stephanie and her refusing to move out of the apartment. I’d forgotten that I added her to the lease a few months prior, so I moved out because I didn’t want to deal with the drama. I finally got myself out of our joint lease and found another apartment in another complex far, far away from Stephanie and her bullshit.