by C. A. Harms
I slide down further under the cover, and my heart races with anticipation. I want Brantley to touch me; I crave it desperately. I've thought of it so many times over the last few weeks that it’s become almost an obsession lately.
Laying on my back at his side, I look over, and instantly he comes closer, using his body to nudge me over as he slips in behind me. Though I love the closeness, I feel slightly disappointed that he doesn’t crawl over me instead and devour me.
“Stop wiggling, woman,” he growls, and I choose not to listen, moving my ass once more against him. Brantley’s fingers dig into my hip, and he holds me to him tighter, nipping at the side of my neck. I can feel him pressing against me, all hard and manly.
Without stopping myself, I again move against him, and he growls near my ear. I feel him kiss the very spot he bit only seconds ago. When he pushes his hardness against me; I know I’ve managed to break through his resolve.
Trailing kisses over my neck, he proceeds down to my shoulder. His hand slips around to my stomach while shifting his hips from behind, and it’s driving me wild.
I hold my breath when his hand carefully slips under the waistband of my shorts and begins to descend. Then, when he pauses with his finger over my clit, I gently thrust my hips in a silent invitation, and he accepts. Slow circular motions, as he sucks on my neck, and his finger pushes inside of me. Together we moan. Brant teasingly toys with me, pulling his finger out and dragging the tip up and over my clit every time.
“So wet,” he whispers, and I can’t seem to find my voice, so I only moan as he repeats the movements all over again.
When he pulls his hand free, I protest, which makes him chuckle.
That is until he moves me to my back and begins to crawl over me. “Oh baby, we’re not even close to being done yet.”
I lay before Brantley, him hooking the waistband of my shorts and tugging them down my legs. I don’t attempt to hide as I allow my legs to fall apart, and he zones in on me. Licking along his lower lip, he glances up at me, and I feel the heat ignite low in my stomach.
Lifting his hand, he again drags his finger through my wetness, staring at me as if needing to see my reaction. I feel like I’m burning from the inside out; its so hot. The way he’s looking at me like he’s going to eat me alive makes the moment so erotic.
I do not doubt that Brantley is about to tip my world upside down. There’s no coming back from this, no coming back from a guy like him.
Chapter Thirty-Six
Brantley
* * *
Sutton tastes like heaven, sweet and addicting. The way she moves her hips as I drag my tongue through her wetness drives us both crazy. Her hands fist the sheets at her sides, and her body tenses. Her thin tank top rises displaying her perfect tits ,while her stomach tenses each time I glide the tip of my tongue over her clit. She’s on fire. Sutton’s hips rock, her eyes tightly shut, and that alone has me hanging on the edge.
Pushing one finger inside of her, she moans, the sound pleasing me beyond words. I lean a little closer sucking on her as I pull back my finger slowly, only to repeat the motion.
“Mm,” she moans, and I grin with pride. “Yes,” her breathy whisper urges me on.
“You like that?”
“Mmhm,” she shifts against my hand, and for a second, I do nothing but watch as she takes what she needs from me.
Adding another finger, I try to hold myself together, but it’s even more difficult with each sigh and moan she releases. Finally, when she begins to tighten around my fingers, I know she’s close. She’s fucking beautiful on any day, but right now, lost in the moment chasing her release, she’s stunning.
She’s so snug, gripping my finger tight. Her hips thrust, and without another passing second, she begins to shake and shiver. She is biting her lip to stifle her cries of pleasure. I continue to move my fingers inside her, dragging it out as long as possible until she relaxes back against the mattress, and I can no longer contain myself.
I kiss along her jaw, moving up her body, and she turns her face toward me, seeking my lips. Fuck, it’s so incredibly hot the way she sucks on my tongue. We lie like that for a few minutes, kissing like horny teenagers as I push my cock against her needing the friction. I want to be inside of her more than I need my next breath, it’s a crippling hunger that is hard to control.
When she reaches between us and wraps her small hand around me, gently stroking, I almost come. I can feel her wetness against me as she teases me purposely.
“Wait,” I pull back, causing her to pout as she watches me. “Oh, it’s happening babe,” it is happening for hours if I have it my way.
Without saying another word, I slide to the edge of the bed and search for my wallet. Quickly I pull it from the back pocket of my jeans. Finding the condom that I put in there weeks ago, I toss the wallet back to the floor and rejoin her. My hands shake, and I do nothing to hide the fact. With my teeth still pinning the foil packet, she smiles at me and takes it.
Nudging my chest, I fall back with ease and watch in pure awe as Sutton tears open the condom wrapper. Then as if that isn’t sexy enough, she grips my cock in her warm hand. I can’t seem to look away even for a second when she slowly rolls the condom over me and then straddles my hips.
Hovering above me, I see her watching the very place where seconds from now we’ll join. She remains focused there, but I can’t seem to take my eyes off her as she slowly lowers her body and takes me inside of her. Wiggling a little, I see the struggle in her eyes as she works for it.
She’s tight and hot and perfect. I’ve thought of this moment so many times. Every touch, every kiss, its all been the buildup to now.
Reaching out I grip her hips and hold her still for a few seconds, needing time to settle. Lifting my own hips slightly I watch as she shuts her eyes tightly and bites her lower lip. Shifting herself just enough to create the right amount of friction and instantly I feel her pulsate around me. Sutton opens her eyes looking up to the ceiling and moans. That single sound lights something inside of me and I can no longer hold back.
Gripping her hips, I use it as leverage and pull back slightly before pushing up into her once again. I need to be as deep as I possibly can get. Fuck, Sutton is pure heaven, nothing has ever felt better, and I know nothing ever will.
* * *
“Mm, yes,” the low purr that falls from her lips mixed with the continuous way she is shifting herself against me is incredible. I look down and watch as her body take me over and over. I'm lost in the connection, my body trembles and hers does too.
Gliding one palm over her hips and over her stomach, I then proceed upward, loving the way her skin feels against the roughness of my hand. Pausing just between her tits I’m lost to her.
Fuck nothing has ever felt this good.
I close my eyes, my toes curling into the sheets as I try to hold on to some form of control. When I realize its a battle I am going to lose and fast, I hurry to flip her over and hover above her.
Her eyes widen but only for a second and I take the time to kiss over her jaw and down her neck. Turning her head to the side she welcomes the assault and I need the time to calm my racing heart.
“Brant,” she sighs and I smile against her neck, as I slowly push myself inside her wet heat once again. Within seconds she is moving her hips and I know that there is absolutely no way I am going to be able to hold back.
I’d make up for it, all night long, because right now, I have to take what we both desperately need.
I wake with a smile as the memories of last night flood my mind. Looking to my left at my little spider monkey that currently has her body wrapped around mine, I feel a tightening in my chest. It’s different waking up with someone. Not that I’ve been celibate during my enlistment. I’ve met women, I’ve played around and got a little adventurous, but nothing was ever like this. I’ve never once invested more than a few hours of pleasure into any of those hookups. They were only a way to pass the time, to blow off steam. My life was
entirely too hectic, and I’d seen so many of my brothers getting screwed over by relationships. Women that were waiting for them back home, or so they thought. Too many of them had failed relationships clouding their focus. It was easier to remain detached.
Waking up next to Sutton after a long night of exploration is a whole new experience. One that I quickly find I want to repeat as soon as possible.
Lifting my hand, I trace over her shoulder with my finger along her arm, stretching out over my chest. She twitches but remains sleeping, curling into me a little tighter. Smacking her lips in the sweetest of ways, she then nuzzles her cheek to my chest and sighs.
I lay there in Sutton’s bed, holding her body to mine; closing my eyes, I start to doze off again. When I hear a light tapping on the door, I shift to ensure Sutton and I are covered before the door opens.
Lexi fills the open doorway, looking as if she’s just climbed out of bed. Her hair is sticking out in every direction. I say nothing as she looks over Sutton and I, both still tangled in the sheets. “Four hours, Brantley,” she groans. “That’s how long I listened to moaning and what sounded like growling. Four… frickin… hours!” She adds, throwing her hands up in the air, clearly exasperated. “Then there was the giggling too.”
I bite my lip, trying not to laugh at her evident annoyance.
“I tried earbuds, I turned on my television, I even put cotton in my ears, but the two of you, I swear, kept getting louder and louder.”
“Sorry,” I mean, I’m a little sorry that we kept her awake but not sorry for Sutton and I having an incredible night together. That is one thing I’ll never apologize for.
“Now you know what I lived through for over six months when you were dating Derrick,” Sutton mumbles the words, but I can hear them.
“What monkey sex?” Lexi places her hands on her hips, and I suddenly feel like I’m trapped in the middle of a battle between girlfriends.
“Yes, there were a few times when I wondered if you were hiding chimpanzees in your closet.”
“Bitch,” Lexi picks up a stuffed animal that sits on Sutton’s dresser and throws it at us. I catch it before it lands on Sutton, and she smiles up at me. “You sound like a dying cat when you’re getting it on.” Instantly Sutton looks at me for reassurance, and I wrinkle my forehead and shake my head disagreeing. I think everything about her is incredible, she could sound like a pack of hyenas, and I’d still find it to be a turn-on.
“Don’t ask him. Of course, he’s gonna say no. He’s the one getting some, so he’s gonna say you sound sexy and perfect. But you don’t, just so you know it’s awful… Ear-splitting… Pure annoyance! I want to smother you, so you’ll shut the hell up kinda torture!”
With that, Lexi shuts the door hard, and both Sutton and I stare at the back of it. “Is she always this cranky in the mornings?”
With wide, surprised eyes, Sutton turns back to me and shakes her head. “I think whatever it is that’s bothering her has nothing to do with you and me.”
“Should we go check on her?”
“I’ll talk to her later,” she assures me, worrying her lower lip between her teeth. “I think it will require some coaxing on my part followed by hours and hours of girl talk.”
“Yeah, I don’t wanna be a part of that.”
“I didn’t think so,” I don’t even know if she realizes that she is rubbing her thigh over me ever so slightly, which is making it almost impossible to focus.
I roll her onto her back and begin to crawl over her. “About those noises you make,” dipping my head, I trail my tongue over her collarbone, and she immediately thrusts her chest upward. “I want to see if I can mimic earlier this morning and make you scream all over again.
Taking a nipple into my mouth, she whimpers.
“Oh my God, she is gonna kill us,” only she does nothing to stop me. Instead, she wraps her legs around my waist and pulls my body in closer to hers.
“That’s okay,” I assure her. “We’ll die happy.”
She giggles, but it quickly fades into a moan.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Sutton
* * *
I walk out of the bathroom, tighten the belt on my robe, and immediately smell something baking: cookies, brownies maybe, but something sugary sweet and most likely packed with chocolate.
Peeking around the entryway toward the kitchen, I see Lexi leaning over the oven and pulling out a tray of freshly baked cookies. That alone wouldn't have been alarming, but the countertop lined with muffins and too many cookies to count is the exact point that my chest feels restricted. Lexi is an emotional baker. She doesn't eat the things she bakes; no, it's my ass that pays the price for her Betty Crocker ways.
She spins around holding the tray, and that's the moment I notice her red-rimmed eyes. She sits the pan down, and the sound of the metal connecting with the oven top echoes. She holds my stare but only for a few seconds before she hangs her head, and her shoulders begin to shake.
I move quickly, wrapping my arms around her and hugging her close. I give her the time to cry, already feeling murderous and knowing that I'll most definitely be kicking someone's ass. I just don't know who yet.
The heat from the oven warms my bare leg, and I use my foot to push it shut, still never releasing the hold I have on Lex. Neither of us speaks; only the sounds of her softly crying fill the space.
She says something, and I can't quite make it out.
"What?"
I feel her shoulders rise as she takes in a deep breath before finally pulling out of the hug and looking up at me. "He kissed me," the second the words leave her mouth, her eyes fill with tears once again.
Whoever he is, I'm gonna tie him to my bumper and go muddin'.
"We had pizza and a beer. There was a movie on, and the lights were out." Again, she takes in a deep breath, and I hate the way it shudders. "He said something; I looked at him, he looked at me, and the next thing I know, his lips were on mine."
"Who," only she doesn't hear me ask as she continues.
"It started slow, and then I was on my back, sinking into the cushion from the weight of his body pressing over mine. It was hot, like scorching, and then," Lex stops, and her eyes lock with mine.
“What? Who… What?” Oh my God, what in the hell is happening?
"He jerked back, looked at me like I was a stranger, and then he was up off the couch and pacing the floor like he'd made the worst mistake he ever could."
"I'm sure it wasn't a mistake." I still have no idea who we're talking about.
"It was," her lower lip trembles.
"I'm sure it wasn't —,"
"He said so," covering her face with her hands; my heart breaks a little more. “He, said this is a mistake. I can't do this, not with you."
I feel like the entire last two-minute conversation is nothing more than a whirlwind of information that's left me feeling so confused.
"Who said so?"
She lowers her hands, and once again, her stare locks with mine. Just by the look on her face, the sadness in her eyes mixed with confusion, a part of me suspects I already know who she is about to say, but I hope I'm wrong. "Bennett," it's barely above a whisper. "I got up, grabbed my keys, and left. I didn't realize until I was halfway home that I'd left my bag with my wallet and everything else sitting on his kitchen counter. I can't go back. I can't face him. It's humiliating."
She turns around and grips the counter, hanging her head like she is ashamed. That alone pisses me off even more. She has nothing to feel shame over. He should feel like a complete ass. Who says shit like that to a woman after making out with her?
I can't do this, not with you.
Who in the hell does he think he is? Lexi is a knockout. Any guy would be lucky to have her in his life. Right then, I want nothing more than to call him up and give him an earful. Only things are still weird between Bennett and I. Did I have that right anymore? Could I consider us the type of friends we once were?
"I'll
get your bag," my stomach drops the minute the words leave my lips.
"No," she glances over at me, "I'll get it. What took place isn't your mess Sutton, it's mine. I'll handle it."
I want to argue. I want nothing more than to fix this for Lex, but I know I can't. So instead, I nod, stepping closer and offering her another hug.
Why does life have to be so complicated? Why is loving someone so hard?
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Brantley
* * *
"I wouldn't say a word to him," I glance back at Aaron, "I'm just warnin’ ya." He holds his hands up in defense and looks toward my brother once more. Then, with his voice much lower, he leans in. "He's been in a mood all morning. No one knows why, and when anyone asks, he verbally rips their head off."
Before everything happened with Sutton, I would have been the first to hassle him until he told me exactly what it was that had him so pissed. Now, well, I feel like I no longer have that right. Things are better, but I still feel like shit for what I've done.
You can't help who you develop feelings for; believe me, I tried to. But unfortunately, that shit backfired at every turn.
"All I do know is that Finn showed up at Bennett's last night only to be plowed into by Lexi as she came storming out. She looked pissed, and Bennett disheveled; those were Finn's words, not mine." It's gossip hour; it seems, almost feels like I'm sitting inside the coffee shop in town on early Sunday. All the women gather there to share everything they've heard, from divorce to forbidden affairs to who won the bake-off at church the week before. It's always something in a small-town.
Then it hits me, and I'm reminded of Lexi's mood only a few days ago as she stood in the doorway of Sutton's bedroom shooting daggers at us, as we hid beneath the sheets. Sweet little Lexi has an angry side.
