“It’s ok.” I started to wave it off, though I appreciated the apology, and took it as a favorable sign that things might have turned a corner between us.
“No seriously. You’re doing a great job, and if I can do anything to make things better, just let me know.”
“Thanks.” I clapped him on the back. “I appreciate it.”
My eyes went straight to Bridget as soon as we turned the corner into the living room. She was still on the couch with Lace, her eyes red rimmed. Shit. I knew she’d been holding out on me.
“Hey.” She gave me a tentative smile, but there was something more than that in her gaze. Something that hadn’t been there before. Something that told me she’d let go of the worry that’d been dragging her down since Florida.
Bryan took a seat on the armrest next to Lace. Arriving with the others, King lifted Carter off his shoulders and set him down. The crew wandered into the kitchen. I heard the refrigerator door open and the hiss of bottle caps coming off.
Carter shuffled over to the couch and squeezed between Bridget and Lace. “I’m tired, Mommy.”
“Me, too.” She kissed his head. “Why don’t you go ahead and get a bath and get in your jammies. Lace wants to tuck you in tonight. Would that be ok?”
“Yeah.” His eyes sparkled and he had a bit more spring in his step as he started to move away. “But where will you be?”
“I need to spend a little time with Justin.” Her eyes met mine. “I’m going over to his place, if that’s ok with him?”
Hell, yeah. I nodded.
She rose and I reached out to grab her hand, interlacing my fingers with hers. “You sure you don’t mind taking care of Carter?” she asked Lace.
“Not at all.”
I hugged Carter goodnight and Bridget released my hand to kneel down and whisper in Carter’s ear. “I love you. Be good. I’ll see you in the morning.” Her eyes remained on him as he walked to the back.
Lace and I exchanged a glance. “Go on, guys. Go.” Her voice lowered. “Sleep in for once, Bridget. I’ve got breakfast already planned. Bryan bought a big industrial sized bag of powdered doughnuts from the IGA. If he doesn’t share it with someone, he’ll be hyper all day.”
We said our goodbyes to the guys, but my head wasn’t in it. The idea of having Bridget completely to myself for an entire night had me euphoric. I placed my hand on the center of her back to lead her out into the hall. She paused before we got there to pull a nightgown and a toiletry bag from the duffles we’d dropped in the foyer.
“You’re not gonna need those PJ’s,” I whispered. “If I’m getting you all night, I want free and clear access. Your skin against mine.”
She blushed and I grinned like it was Christmas.
As soon as we cleared my door, I closed it and pushed her back against it.
“Lift your arms, babe,” I ordered.
She immediately complied, her hands reaching toward the ceiling, and my smile widened as I drew off her cotton tee.
“Nice” I breathed when I saw the white see through lace demi that she wore underneath it. “When did you get this?” My heart was slamming against my ribs, just looking at the dusky rose of her nipples made my mouth go dry.
Her mouth curved seductively. “When we were shopping.”
My eyes narrowed with intent. I brushed the back of my knuckles against her breasts staring at the already hardened tips. My heated gaze lifted, meeting one vastly more provocative. Her lips parted. “Beautiful. You’re so beautiful.” I took her mouth then, feasting on it, loving the low whispers of delight that trickled up from her throat.
• • •
Bridget
Bracketed between Justin’s arms, his hands on either side of my head, I couldn’t move, but I didn’t want to. I was held captive by my own desire. Desire that was reflected right back at me in a pair of emerald eyes. I reached for him, undoing his belt buckle and unfastening the top button of his jeans before he stopped me.
“Don’t.” Warm masculine hands closed around mine, his voice as rough as his fingertips. “I won’t last ten seconds once you touch me.”
His hands came up and cradled my face. His thumbs caressing my cheeks and the way he stared at me made me feel as if I was a priceless work of art. “I’m sorry I’ve been so distracted and stressed. I want you to know that I do believe in you. In us.” He closed his eyes and one hand moved down and stopped in the center of my chest. My breath rose and fell beneath it. The moment stretched out. I heard the words without them needing to be spoken.
Mine, that hand on my chest meant.
And I was. And I wanted always to be.
When his eyes reopened, they remained on my breasts which swelled under his continued perusal. My breath started to quicken. I ached for more of his touch. And he didn’t delay. His head lowered, his warm mouth closing over one tightened tip, soaking the lace and wetting my skin underneath. I moaned as I felt the delicious drag of his tongue across the dampened fabric.
My fingers tangled in his silky hair and I arched into him wanting more of that. Unselfishly, he gave it to me. Mouth latching onto each nipple in turn, he teased me first with his warm breath before soothing the highly sensitized flesh with the suction of his lips. Then he took me higher, making me almost frenzied with the subtle scoring of his teeth and follow-up laps with the flat of his tongue.
“Justin,” I cried, knees getting weak, hands clinging to his shoulders. I felt as if there was a sizzling cord connecting breastbone to navel and that the connection kept drawing tighter and hotter each time he increased the pressure of his mouth.
He lifted his head. I barely had time to catch a quick breath before his lips were back on mine, hot and wet and relentless in their conquest. He caught my lower lip between his teeth before a sweep of his tongue conveyed his fevered apology for the momentary pain.
His hands in my hair, he held me in place, slanting his head one way and then the other as if he couldn’t choose which position he liked best. His tongue plunged deep into my mouth, a thorough and potent seducer, insistent and demanding. Suddenly he ripped his mouth from mine, and short shallow bursts of his breath became interspersed with kisses along my jaw line and down the column of my neck while his hands traced down my spine. Reaching the barrier of my bra, he pulled the two sides together and deftly unclasped it, sliding the straps down my arms. I pressed my bared breasts to his chest, rubbing shamelessly against him and moaning.
“Shh.” He quieted me with another deep kiss, but I began to shift restlessly, my skin and my body felt like they were on fire and I knew he was the one who could stoke the blaze hotter.
He ended the kiss, twin molten pools of green mesmerizing me, luring me further under his control. One corner of his mouth curved up as his gaze roamed possessively over me. I’d never felt this way before, even with him, like I’d die if I didn’t have him.
My hands slid up under his shirt, my fingers greedy to touch his smooth warm skin again. I pulled the hem up as I went. He shivered when my hands brushed across his nipples. He eased back and didn’t stop me when I pulled his shirt off. I dropped it on the floor. He captured my hands, turned them over, and placed soft kisses in each palm. “I love you,” he whispered, closing them.
My heart melted just like the rest of me. He was so gorgeous, so sweet. I reached up and traced his features with my hands, outlining his lips with the tips of my fingers. I felt his hands fumble with the button of my jeans and felt them part under his persistence. He knelt down and tugged the skin tight jeans and panties down together. “It was much easier when my clothes were looser,” I teased, my lips spreading into a grin as I stared down at the handsome man at my feet.
His return smile wasn’t teasing. It was feral and hungry and made the blood rush hot and heavy through my veins. “Step out.” His voice was low and demanding, and my jeans and panties were quickly swept aside the moment I complied. His hands moved to my ass.
“Justin,” I squeaked my shock when I fou
nd myself hauled forward.
“This ok?” His mouth hovered above the juncture between my legs, his breath fanning the flame that was already hot into an inferno. Heavy lidded eyes peered up at me.
“Yes.” I sucked in a breath, every muscle in my body tightening in anticipation of what I knew he was going to do next.
His fingers flexed on my ass and as I was thinking just how good that felt, I felt something even better. His tongue. On me. Down there. Long purposeful strokes and then a teasing circle around the center of my desire.
“Justin!” I screamed as a shudder wracked me and a rush of heat pooled between my thighs. My knees suddenly went out from under me.
“I’ve got you.” He surged to his feet with me his arms. “Knew I could make you scream,” he declared with shining eyes and a self-satisfied smile. Moving so fast the apartment walls blurred around me, he took me to the bedroom, and dropped me on the bed.
I scooted to the top, kicking down the comforter with my heels, while watching him shimmy out of his jeans and boxers. Heart at an all-out sprint, I savored the view as his engorged length sprang free. He stepped forward, eyes glittering with intent as he rolled on the condom, and then put a knee to the mattress. Without delay, he put his hands on my thighs, spread them apart, and moved between them. My eyes closed as he slid straight in, all the way.
So good.
So right.
“Open your eyes, babe.”
I blinked at the gently spoken command, focusing on his face.
“Move with me.” He pulled almost all the way out and as then slowly inched all the way back in. I lifted my hips and moved with him. He groaned setting a slow pace at first, but the burn was so hot and the passion so undeniable between us, that our rhythm increased rapidly. Our pants pierced the air as our bodies crashed together.
He slid his hands under my bottom and pulled me deeper into his thrusts. I dug my fingers into his. We were both in sync, wanting the same thing, and rushed headlong toward it with equal fervor.
We found it at the same time.
Divine.
Sublime.
Beautiful.
We were beautiful.
Together.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
Justin
I pulled on Bridget’s belt loops, tugging her back into me. I didn’t want to break the connection to her. She continued to talk with Lace as if this were just another morning at the breakfast table. But it wasn’t. Not after a night like we had shared. Nothing in my life was ever going to be the same.
There was no going back for me.
Ever.
We’d napped on and off, making love more than sleeping. Each time had been even sweeter than the time before. I kept her in bed this morning longer than I’d thought she’d have let me. Past nine. But I couldn’t seem to make myself stop touching her. I didn’t want to share her with anyone. I just wanted to stay inside the sensual web we’d woven around each other forever. Who needed the outside world, anyway?
“What are your plans for the day?” Bridget was asking her.
“I dunno.” Lace shifted on Bryan’s lap, turning around to face him. “Shopping?” she asked eagerly.
He groaned. “Only if I have no other choice.”
“You don’t.” Lace’s gaze swung to me. Then she mock glared at Bridget. “You stole my most enthusiastic shopping partner, Gigi.”
“Sorry,” Bridget replied in a teasing tone that said she was anything but as she leaned her head back against my shoulder.
The scent of her shampoo shifted my thoughts to things besides shopping. My fingers tightened on her waist. “I want you again,” I whispered my frustration low in her ear.
“Me, too.” She squeezed my hands with her own.
Holy hell. I wanted to throw her over my shoulder, take her back to my apartment, and make love to her for an entire week straight. But I knew that wouldn’t be enough. A lifetime wouldn’t be enough.
I nuzzled her neck and caught Carter watching us from the table with careful eyes. Though Lace had insisted he’d been fine without Bridget, this morning I could read the uncertainty in his gaze.
I kissed Bridget behind the ear, enjoying the soft sigh that followed. I ignored my body’s reaction, gave her hip a squeeze, straightened, and went over to him. He offered me a doughnut, but I shook my head to decline.
“You and Double L should go shopping,” I told Bridget while keeping my eyes on his somber little face, “I wanna hang out with Carter today. We missed another Friday guitar lesson, didn’t we, Champ?”
He nodded, powdered sugar drifting off his face and falling onto the table top like a mini snow flurry.
“That’s a great idea,” Bryan agreed, a little too enthusiastically.
Lace elbowed him in his ribs. “Don’t think this gets you completely off the hook, Bry. You still owe me a kitchen clean up.”
“Give me a couple of minutes to get ready,” Bridget told Lace holding up a finger. “I just need to put on some different clothes.
“And you need to wash up,” I told Carter. “Hands always need to be clean when you play. After that, bring your guitar into the living room. I’ll go get mine and bring it back here.”
Carter hopped off his chair and took off. I got up and went to my apartment. When I returned with my guitar, Bridget and Lace were on their way out. I got a quick kiss and leaned inside the doorway to enjoy the view of her cute little backside as she walked away. After the elevator doors closed, I reentered the apartment my mind in a bit of a fog thinking about last night.
Having earned her trust made me feel ten feet tall, and I planned to live up to it. I didn’t want her to ever regret her decision. In fact, now that we’d reached this stage in our relationship, I was going to ask her to trust me even more. Snatching alone time in small increments, a night here and there, just wasn’t enough for me anymore. I planned to ask her and Carter to move into my place.
Carter was waiting for me on the couch, I took a seat beside him and we started our lesson. He was a quick study, focused and eager as usual. It didn’t take him long to pick up the new stuff I showed him.
“Mind if I join you guys?” Bryan asked when he came out of the other bedroom with his own guitar in hand.
“Not at all. We were just finishing up. But if you had some time, I could really use some help with the bridge on the ‘Girl behind the Glass’.”
“Sure.” Bryan took a seat in the arm chair while Carter continued to practice but mostly watched us as we plucked around trying out different chord combinations.
“Do you have the words yet?” Bryan asked arm draped over the body of his Les Paul.
“Not exactly, but I do know I wanna go a little more upbeat with the tempo and the tone toward the end of the song.”
“That’ll work.” Bryan nodded.
I smiled when Carter moved to the floor, plugged in a headset, and started up a video game. His attention span was longer than most boys his age. Hell, it was longer than mine most days, but writing music was often a tedious business of trial and error.
Bryan strummed a pattern that caught my attention. I scooted forward. “That’s pretty good. I think that’ll work if we repeat this part at the end.” I demonstrated and his eyes brightened as he picked up on my enthusiasm. We played it again together with him improvising. The quirky little riff he added in was genius, the perfect finishing touch.
Now if only I could get words good enough to match the music. We didn’t have much time left. We had a meeting with Mary this Wednesday to get her final approval on the set list for the benefit concert on Friday.
“You and Bridget seem to be getting pretty serious.” Bryan observed out of the blue.
I lifted my head, appreciating that he’d kept his voice low. There was no way Carter had heard him, with the headset on, but still.
“Yeah.” My eyes locked with his. “I think that’s how it happens when you find the one.”
His gaze was steady and the look
in his eyes told me he definitely got it.
I understood Bryan’s intensity with Lace in a way I hadn’t entirely before. I was also beginning to see my soon to be brother-in-law in a new light. I even empathized with Marcus’ impatience about the wedding and his wanting to get that ring on Avery’s finger, sooner rather than later. I was starting to think along similar lines with Bridget. “How long before you knew with Lace?” I asked Bryan.
He snorted. “She didn’t tell you?”
“Nah. She deflects a lot when it comes to you.”
I could see that surprised him. “She tells almost everyone that she wanted to marry me when she was five.” His tone turned reflective. “It took me a bit longer to figure it out, but by then…” he trailed off as if he was about to venture into subject matter he felt uncomfortable sharing.
“She was with Warren by then,” I guessed.
Bryan gave a curt nod. So that’s what Lace had been hiding. That must’ve been some kind of twisted love triangle considering they’d all been friends. The tabloids had gotten pretty close to the truth after all. No wonder Warren had split. “We had to fight our way through a lot of bad stuff before we finally worked things out.”
“The drugs?”
“Yeah, mostly.” He raked a hand through his hair. “Scared me to death. Both of them doing that shit.”
“You weren’t?”
“Hell, no.” He shook his head. “I don’t do drugs. Never did. I saw firsthand how much that fucks everything up.”
“Yeah.” I gave a rueful laugh. “I wish I’d have been wise enough to have gone that route. Would’ve saved my sister a lot of grief.”
“Hey, I’m sorry, man, I didn’t mean to imply that…”
“Nah,” I cut him off. “That’s alright. I’m pretty self-aware when it comes to my own shortcomings. But knowing’s one thing, doing something about them though, that’s the hard part.” I flipped my pick over and over between my fingers thinking for a moment. “Speaking of Avery. She told me you were a really good friend to her when she desperately needed one.”
The Complete Tempest World Box Set Page 71
