The Rival's Heir

by Joss Wood

  Yeah, he got it.

  Then Levi surprised Judah by dropping to his haunches in front of Jac. He slowly smiled and Jac waved her hands in the air, her little body quivering with excitement. Little Jac was a flirt, Judah conceded with a wry smile.

  “Hey there, cutie.” Levi rumbled the words, poking the tip of a gentle finger into her thigh. Jac leaned toward him and Judah allowed Levi to pick her up. Levi put Jac on his hip and picked up Jac’s hand and pretended to eat her fingers. Jac howled with laughter.

  Levi turned to Darby and placed his free hand on his hip. “I’m going away for a few days. Are you going to be okay?”

  “I always am, Levi.”

  “I’m just checking, Darby,” Levi snapped, and Judah heard the frustration in his voice.

  “I’m a big girl, Levi,” Darby replied, steel in hers.

  Levi handed Jac back to Judah and he thought he saw a flash of hurt and disappointment cross Levi’s face, but it was gone so quickly he might’ve imagined it. The tension between the siblings was palpable and Judah suspected they’d spent most of their lives butting heads.

  After a quick goodbye, Levi jogged toward and then down the stairs. Judah watched him walk over to his muscle car parked next to the detached garage. Within minutes, the low roar and hard rumble split the morning air and Judah sighed. He needed to get himself one of those...

  But he didn’t have a garage to house a car or time to enjoy one. His primary modes of transport were planes and hired cars and, when he needed a vehicle of his own, rentals. Judah looked at Darby and her eyes were on her brother’s disappearing back.

  “Complicated relationship?” he asked.

  “Very.” Darby sat down on the bench swing and pulled her knees up to her chest.

  He shouldn’t ask but he was curious, and she looked like she could do with a friend. “What happened?”

  Darby was suddenly fascinated by the multicolored laces on her sneakers.

  He needed to know what was going on behind that distant expression. Jac, he noticed, had fallen asleep on his shoulder. He thought about moving her to her stroller or taking her inside but shrugged the thought away. He knew to let sleeping babies lie.

  “Tell me what happened, Darby.”

  “Why?” Darby demanded.

  Always challenging, always demanding. God, she was hard work, but Judah was coming to think he might like sparring with her. Up until this point, the women in his life had been, with the exception of Carla, undemanding and acquiescent.

  Darby was anything but.

  “Because I asked you,” Judah replied, patient. The sun was shining, Jac was asleep and he had nowhere urgent he needed to be except here, getting to know what made this fascinating, and exasperating, woman tick.

  “It’s not a big deal, Judah.”

  “Then you shouldn’t have any problem telling me.”

  “God, you’re annoying.”

  “So I’ve heard. Now stop stalling and spill.”

  “It’s an open secret in our family that Jules is Levi’s favorite sister, followed by DJ. I come a distant third.”

  “Why do you feel that way?”

  Darby tucked her leg under her bottom and rested the side of her head against the back cushion of the swing. She played with the edge of her long-sleeved shirt, rubbing the fabric between her thumb and index finger.

  “I was seven and it was Christmas. We were opening presents under the tree. Levi gave Jules a music box. When you opened it, a ballerina started dancing and music played. It was beautiful. I loved that damn box.”

  “What did he give you?”

  “A baseball card. It was secondhand, he didn’t even bother to wrap it. He had a stack of them. I bet he just grabbed the oldest, yuckiest one and handed it over.”

  Judah remembered having a stack of baseball cards himself and knew that sometimes the oldest cards were the most valuable. “Who was the player?”

  “It was over twenty years ago, Judah, I have no idea. I just remember throwing the card in the fire, screaming that he didn’t love me, that Jules was his favorite, that he’d ruined Christmas for me. I refused to come down for Christmas lunch and cried for the rest of the day. I pretty much spoiled Christmas for everyone that year,” Darby said, subdued. “Since then there’s been this barrier between us. Levi and Jules have always been closer, and I’ve always felt like I am on the outside looking in, that he loves her far more than he does me.”

  “I’m sure that’s not true.”

  “I’ve always been competitive, Judah, but that Christmas was a turning point for me. From then on, every time I came in second, I’ve felt unloved, shortchanged, inadequate.”

  Judah placed his hand on Darby’s slim thigh and squeezed, astounded that this remarkable, talented and intelligent woman could feel this way. She had everything going for her except the belief that she was perfectly acceptable just the way she was. Would she ever learn that she didn’t need to compete with anyone?

  Probably not, he conceded. And it was not—repeat, not—his job to tell her that, to show her that.

  Darby sighed, and her hand dropped to rest on his. Her fingers slid between his and pleasure rocketed up his arm and down his spine, lodging in his balls.

  Yep, he was hard. Though, really, when wasn’t he when he was around her?

  Darby dropped her head to rest her temple against his shoulder and he felt her sigh. He could imagine her soft breath on his skin, her warm lips branding him, those elegant hands skimming his skin.

  God, he wanted her.

  He wanted to know her, slide into her, make her his. Because she wasn’t the type of girl he could have sex with and then leave, he’d have to settle for her head on his shoulder.

  And that, in this moment, was almost enough.

  “I just feel like Levi can’t be bothered with me. But that could be my fault because my default reaction is to push him away, to tell him I don’t need him.” Darby sat up and linked her hands between her knees. “I need him to be my brother, not my bossy protector.”

  As a big brother, Judah knew what it was like trying to protect someone who didn’t want his protection, who refused to listen. Darby, he suspected, was as hardheaded as Jake. Because Judah was a take-charge-and-fix-things type of guy, as he suspected Levi was, the inability to fix what was broken drove him nuts. That was why, when he reached the end of his rope with Jake, he’d had to cut his brother out of his life.

  He didn’t think Darby and Levi were there yet. He doubted they ever would be.

  “His emotional distance hurts, Judah,” Darby quietly admitted.

  “Then tell him that, Darby,” Judah suggested. “Men are simple creatures, we need clear direction. We don’t do subtlety.”

  “As a species, you men are pains in the ass.”

  He couldn’t argue with that. “Talk to your brother, Darby. You’re not seven anymore, have an adult conversation with him. Tell him that you are disappointed in him, that you don’t feel supported.”

  “Wouldn’t that make me look weak?”

  God, so vulnerable but so damn feisty. “He’s your brother, Brogan! You’re allowed to look weak with him.”

  Darby turned to face Judah. Looking into her spectacular eyes, his breath caught in his throat.

  He had to touch her. He couldn’t wait a moment longer.

  Judah stood up and walked over to the stroller, placed Jac on her side and pulled a blanket up and over her shoulders. Opening the front door, he pushed Jac into the hall, hoping that the connection, the band of attraction that arced between him and Darby, would make her follow him inside.

  When she closed the door behind her, he looked from her to the imposing staircase that dominated the hall and back to her flushed face.

  He could see it. She wanted him as much as he wanted her.

  Thank God.r />
  Judah didn’t hesitate. He took a couple of quick strides and pressed his mouth against hers.

  He felt her fingertips dig into his chest. He thought she might push him away, in spite of what he’d seen in her eyes, but then her amazing lips softened beneath his and her tongue darted past his teeth, wanting to play.

  Judah placed his hands on Darby’s hips and lifted her up and into him, pressing his hardness into her tight stomach. Her hands snaked up his chest and then her fingers were in his hair and her tongue was tangling with his and Judah felt like he was walking on an electrified tightrope.

  Time stopped, the earth stopped turning and gravity disappeared...

  All because Darby was kissing him, making desperate sounds in the back of her throat. Because her hand was on his jaw, on his neck, burrowing into the collar of his shirt...

  Because she wanted him.

  Judah pushed his hand under her thermal exercise top and pulled it up her torso. He wanted to look down and see her creamy skin but couldn’t bear the thought of pulling his mouth off hers, not yet. Maybe not ever. Pushing the fabric up, his hands passed over her breasts and his erection hardened in response to the pointy little buds.

  He needed her naked, now.

  Judah had to break contact with Darby’s lips to pull her shirt over her head and he took the opportunity to look down.

  She was as beautiful as he’d imagined. Soft skin, strong shoulders, slim but powerful. He ran a finger over her collarbone, down that creamy skin to where her nipples hardened beneath the cotton of her sports bra. That serviceable garment had to go. He wanted the gorgeousness underneath, the fury and fire, her heat.

  “Judah...”

  His name was a whisper and a plea. He pulled his gaze to her face. He saw trepidation, masking the desire.

  Hell, no, he wanted her mindless with pleasure, squirming and panting his name, no doubt allowed.

  Judah held her jaw with his hand, keeping his touch gentle. “This has nothing to do with anyone or anything but us. It’s not about Jac, the commission, our work. It’s just us. Only us. Only this. Tell me you understand that, Darby,” he added, hearing the desperation in his voice.

  Darby nodded. He said a quick prayer of thanks, ran his hand up her rib cage and his thumb swiped her nipple. He heard her intake of breath, watched her eyes cloud over. She’d stepped out of her head. Her body—her wants and needs—were calling the shots. It made him feel powerful, masculine, that he could make her agile brain stop thinking, stop running scenarios, counting the odds.

  He felt like Atlas and Bogart and Clooney rolled into one. She made him weak, but he’d never felt stronger in his life.

  Judah lifted her sports bra up and over her breasts and ducked his head to tug a pretty raspberry-hued nipple into his mouth. Like the juiciest fruit, her taste was a tiny burst of flavor on his tongue. Needing more, his other hand pushed between the fabric of her exercise pants to cup her butt, pushing his fingers deeper until he could feel her heat, her wet warmth.

  He needed more. He needed all of her and now, immediately. He needed skin on skin, heat on heat.

  But a part of him hesitated, also needing to keep checking. There was too much at stake to make a wrong move, to regret this later.

  Judah pulled back and looked into Darby’s passion-filled eyes. “Are we stopping or are we continuing?”

  Darby’s hand drifted over his stomach, moving down. Her palm stroking the long length of him was an answer of sorts, but he needed her to say the words. They couldn’t afford any misunderstandings.

  He held her hand against him, forcing himself to concentrate. “Darby...”

  “Mmm?” Her thumb rubbed his tip and he thought he’d lose it, there and then.

  “Are we doing this?”

  She smiled, and he felt his heart bungee jump out of his chest to grovel at her feet. Stupid thing. Her thumbnail drifted across the edge of his head and his eyes smacked the back of his skull.

  He felt her fingers on his belt buckle, felt the first button of his jeans pop open, then another. He couldn’t hold on much longer; if she didn’t speak soon, he was going to explode, in more ways than one.

  Then her hand was circling him, pumping him, priming him. “I don’t know what you are doing,” Darby murmured in her sun-and-sex voice, “but I’m going to play with this.”

  “Good enough,” Judah muttered.

  Before his brain completely closed down, he pulled his wallet from the back pocket of his jeans, dug out a strip of two condoms and placed them on the hall table. Trying to ignore, as best he could, her hand on his shaft, he pushed her exercise pants down her legs. Stepping away from her, he stood out of her reach, taking in the sight of her, looking flushed and pretty and totally turned on.

  Kicking off his shoes and socks, he pushed his jeans and boxers down his legs, watching her eyes widen as she first caught sight of him. She licked her lips, her mouth a perfect O and he hardened further, a feat he didn’t think was possible.

  She stood next to a painting of a Brogan ancestor, a severe-looking lady dressed in ruffles and a long skirt, dark hair pulled back in a bun. Next to Darby, a hall table held photographs of her family, her mom and dad and siblings, friends and cousins. This was her family home and Judah knew, from this day onward, she’d never look at this room the same way.

  Good.

  He had no problem with her thinking about him every time she walked through that front door.

  Judah, his hand touching her shoulder, trailed his fingers down her arm to link his palm with hers. He rested his forehead on hers, the hair on his chest brushing against her nipples. “I want you right now.”

  Darby found his lips, her mouth telling him the words he so badly needed to hear. He heard “yes,” he heard “more,” he heard her beg him to touch her, so he did.

  His mouth found her jawline, tracked kisses down her neck and nibbled his way across her collarbone. He flicked a glance upward, saw her watching him, her mouth open, her eyes wild. She knew what she wanted, but to test her, he kissed the top of her breast, sucking her soft skin just hard enough to leave the faintest red mark.

  Darby whimpered, need and pleasure combining to make the sweetest sound he’d ever heard.

  He sucked one nipple while teasing the other with his fingers. He moved his hands down, flirting with that small patch of carefully groomed hair, lightly playing with her.

  He smiled when he felt her legs fall apart, a silent gesture begging him for more. Judah obliged by rubbing his finger over her clit and Darby shot off the wall.

  Liked that, did she? Well, there was more... A lot, lot more.

  Judah dropped to his knees and lifted her right thigh so that her leg draped over his shoulder. Nuzzling into her, he inhaled her, his head swimming. Going down on a woman was a curiously intimate act for their first time together but he wanted to know every inch of her and this was a good place to start. Judging by her satisfied murmurs, Darby was as into it as he was.

  He licked, he tugged, he pushed in, retreated and generally drove her crazy. When he felt she was close, he edged one finger, then two, into her slick channel, curled his fingers and tapped her inside walls, his tongue working her clit.

  Heat—hers, his—surrounded them and Judah knew she was on the edge, so close. He wanted their first time to be like this. He wanted her to come on his tongue, for her to fall apart in his arms.

  Darby arched her back and slapped her hands against the wall behind her. He felt her clench around him, milking his fingers.

  So responsive, he thought, as another orgasm hit her, this one bigger than the first. He kept working her until he was sure she was done, only lifting his head when he felt her body slump, when her supporting knee buckled.

  Holding her hips to keep her steady—she looked like a feather might knock her over—he stood and held her face in his hand
s. So pretty, so damn sweet.

  Judah covered her mouth with his, allowed her to taste herself, and sighed when one hand went down to cup his balls and the other encircled him in a hot grip. He patted the table next to them, picked up the condoms and removed the latex from its cover. Darby took the latex from him and rolled it down his shaft, so slowly he thought he might come if she didn’t hurry the hell up.

  “Wall or floor?” she whispered.

  Judah smiled. “Neither. Stairs.” Judah walked backward, sat down on the third step. “Straddle me,” he ordered.

  Darby didn’t hesitate. She lowered herself on him, stroking her hot and still-wet core against him, sending a firestorm sprinting from his balls up his spine.

  “Take me inside you,” Judah said, lifting his hands to push her hair off her face. He needed to see her, wanted to look in her eyes as he made her come again.

  His tip slid inside her, just a half inch, and he gritted his teeth, reminding himself that he was a big guy and that she probably needed time to adjust.

  “You okay?” he asked, keeping perfectly still.

  “Fine. Just not sure if I’m doing this right.”

  She might be teasing but he couldn’t think straight so he pushed the thought aside. “There is no wrong way for me to be inside you. Take as much time as you need...just hurry up, okay?” Okay, he hadn’t meant to say that out loud.

  Darby laughed and slid down him, only stopping when he was balls deep and mindless.

  “Holy, holy, holy...”

  He couldn’t complete the sentence; he was so close to the edge. Reaching between them, he found her sensitive bud and rolled his fingers across her. He needed her to come, now, before he lost his mind.

  Darby released a surprised mewl, closed her eyes and rocked hard. The chandelier above their head was a fire burst of stars, the hard staircase a feather bed, the hallway a boudoir. Darby was perfection and he pumped his hips once, maybe twice, and she shattered, allowing him to snap the cord of his control and follow her into that pleasure-drenched paradise.

  When he could string a coherent thought together, he realized Darby was sprawled on top of him and her hair was in his mouth. A wooden step was trying to saw his back in half and his right thigh was cramping. His butt had, he was sure, carpet burns from the stair runner.