Brianne's Secret

by M. S. Parker

  “You would say that,” he grumbled good-naturedly. “You weren’t on your ass half the time.”

  “Aw, is your bottom bruised?” I patted the firm muscles beneath Clay’s slacks.

  I had to admit, I never would have been this bold as a teenager, and I was thoroughly enjoying it now. Another thing that was definitely different from how our original first date would have gone was that when I’d been ogling the way Clay’s body had looked on the ice, I hadn’t needed to imagine what he looked like beneath his clothes. I remembered every inch of that gorgeous skin, those defined muscles.

  “I’m glad you’re finding this amusing,” he said as we walked onto the elevator. The doors closed, and he was suddenly in my space, pressing me against the elevator wall. His hands rested on either side of my head, caging me in.

  “Clay?” My voice shook, but it wasn’t from fear.

  “I thought I could do this,” he said, his voice husky. “Go on a date with you and drop you off at your hotel room with a mere goodnight kiss.”

  My breathing was ragged as I waited to hear the rest of what he had to say.

  He brushed his lips across mine. “A single kiss from you is always enough, and yet, at the same time, never enough. If you invite me into your room, into your bed…”

  He let the sentence trail off, leaving it to my imagination. I didn’t intend to keep it that way though. His need was as great as mine. I could feel it radiating off him and understood that he knew what I would do when we got to the room. I would invite him in. Into my room and into my bed. And he would accept the offer.

  Still…

  “I don’t want to ruin things again,” I whispered.

  The elevator doors opened before he could respond, but his tight grip on my hand kept me from panicking. My statement hadn’t sent him running. The conversation wasn’t over.

  I pulled him into my room after me, that part of our talk taken out of the equation, but I didn’t go to the bed. Once we got there, I wouldn’t be thinking straight. Instead, I leaned against the desk, and he came to stand in front of me, taking both my hands in his.

  “I don’t want to do this anymore.”

  My heart sank at his words.

  “Wait.” He squeezed my hands. “I mean that I don’t want to do this back and forth anymore. I want us to be together, the way we always should have been. No more lies, no more hiding things. We care about each other, and now we need to trust each other. If we have concerns, we talk about them, the way we used to when we were just friends.”

  I smiled as I asked, “Were we ever just friends?”

  He pulled me against him. “For a little while, I think. Before you realized that you wanted to kiss me.” His grin turned roguish. “And before I realized all the not-so-friendly things I wanted to do to you.”

  A shiver of desire ran through me. “No more lies. No more secrets.”

  Even as the last word was coming out of my mouth, our hands were on each other, yanking at clothes until they were scattered on the floor. I pulled his head down for a kiss, fingers digging into the back of his neck. His tongue parted my lips, and he picked me up, sitting me on the desk.

  I parted my legs, using my heels to pull him to me. Strong, nimble fingers slid down my spine, then along my ribcage. Each trail of heat spread across my skin, stoking the embers inside me. Then his lips made their way down my neck, and I tipped my head back, wanting more.

  “I need to taste you,” he murmured a second before biting my collarbone.

  “That feels more like eating me,” I laughed, but the sound died the moment he went to his knees.

  “Not at all, sweetheart.” He grinned up at me. “This is what eating you feels like.”

  My eyes rolled back in my head the moment he buried his face between my legs. His hands curved around my hips, holding me in place as his tongue explored every inch of me. I gasped and writhed, my nails digging into his shoulders.

  “Clay!” I cried out, my hips jerking. “Oh…oh…fuck!”

  He hummed in response, and the vibration traveled through my extra-sensitive nerves, making my muscles jerk and my blood pressure spike. I felt like I was going to explode, white-hot pleasure streaming out from my cells like my own private super-nova.

  Or, judging by the volume of the noises I was making, a not-so-private super-nova.

  Not that I cared. Everyone could hear me, and I wouldn’t want him to stop what he was doing. I never wanted him to stop.

  Words poured out of my mouth in a flood without punctuation or space to breathe.

  “Please please please yes yes Clay right there fuck yes there more more…”

  One hand left my hip and Clay drove two fingers into my pussy, twisting them until they rubbed against that spot inside me that turned everything white.

  When I became aware of my surroundings again, Clay had moved me to the bed. He was stretched out next to me, his fingers lightly sketching patterns on my stomach. The expression on his face was something I’d never seen before.

  “You okay?” I asked, putting my hand over his.

  He raised his eyes to my face. “I’m great.”

  I waited for him to explain, but when he didn’t, I let it go. We’d promised not to hide anything, but that didn’t mean we couldn’t think before speaking. Or that we couldn’t take the time to do other things in the meantime.

  I wrapped my fingers around his cock.

  He hissed out a breath, his eyes going dark. “Tess…”

  My name held a warning sound. “Yes?”

  “If you keep doing that…” He let the threat trail off.

  “If I keep doing what?” I asked innocently. I tightened my grip and worked my hand down his shaft, taking my time stroking back to the wide head. “If I keep doing this?”

  He grabbed my wrist. “I don’t want to come in your hand.”

  “Really?” I swiped my thumb across the tip. “You don’t think that’d be the slightest bit hot? Watching your cum spill across my fingers, coating my skin? Watching me lick every last drop off?”

  His breathing hitched, but he didn’t release me. “I think you can do better than that.”

  I ran my tongue along my bottom lip. “I could take you in my mouth, as deep as I can. Swallow when you come down my throat.”

  He let go of my wrist and pinched my bottom lip between his finger and thumb. “Later. What else?”

  I raised an eyebrow. “Why don’t you give me something?”

  He palmed one ass cheek, then ran a finger down my crack. “There’s something I’d definitely like to give you.”

  It was my turn to suck in a breath when the tip of his finger rubbed over that pucker of muscle. “Seriously?”

  “Not tonight,” he said. “I’m too keyed up to go as slow as we need for a virgin.”

  I laughed. “Guess you get to take that one too.”

  He squeezed my ass. “I’m looking forward to it.”

  “I’m sure you are.”

  He pushed just the tip of his finger past that tight ring, and I jerked, eyes wide. Wow. That was intense.

  “Just imagine what it’ll feel like,” he rocked into my fist, “when it’s this inside there.”

  Fuck. Me.

  He rolled over so quickly that I let out a surprised sound that made him laugh. It didn’t stop him from pushing apart my knees and settling between them.

  “Clay.”

  “Tess.”

  And then he was sliding inside me, making me feel more at home than anything else had done since we’d stepped foot in DC. We breathed out together, holding still for a few moments before falling into the familiar – but never boring – rhythm, quickly building to that first explosion of pleasure. Clay kept me riding my high until we both tipped over the edge.

  Twenty-Two

  Tess

  My first Valentine’s Day date ever hadn’t gone at all how I’d expected. It’d been better. Beyond better.

  Once we’d regained our ability to carry
on a coherent conversation, Clay had asked if I wanted him to leave, but I’d asked him to stay…only if he wanted to. He had, and we’d wrapped ourselves up in each other and fallen asleep with little problem. My last thought before going under was that it would be perfect to take Sunday slow, linger in bed, spend some quality relaxed time together while we figured out how this thing was going to work.

  My plans were thwarted, however, when my phone went off. A glance at the hotel clock told me that it was barely seven, and while that wasn’t earlier than I usually woke up for work, I hadn’t mentally prepared myself for the sudden awakening. I reached for my phone, silently cursing whoever had sent me a text.

  Unknown number.

  I sat up, knocking Clay’s arm loose. He didn’t stir, but I barely registered him being there.

  Tess, it’s Brianne. I know you’re probably – I opened the message and continued reading – upset with me after how we left things, but I need your help. I’m in trouble. I need you to come back to San Jose. Don’t try to reply to this number. It’s not safe to use it again. I’ll contact you if I can get another phone. When you get to San Jose, check into the same hotel as before. I’ll have an address delivered to tell you where we’re going to meet.

  Shit.

  I read the message again to make sure I hadn’t missed anything. It’d been four days since I’d last talked to her and everything had seemed fine then. Well, sort of. She’d told me to back off my story, but she’d sounded more annoyed than frightened. In fact, I didn’t think I’d ever seen Brianne scared, not even when we’d been kids and Darius had gotten violent.

  I’d also never heard her ask for help. Not from me anyway. The fact that she was coming to me now meant that things had gone from bad to worse in Costa Rica.

  So much for my slow Sunday.

  “Clay.” I shook his shoulder. “Wake up.”

  “Mmm…” he made an annoyed sound.

  “Clay.” I poked him in his side, hard. “Wake up! Don’t make me have to dump water on your head.”

  “Whoa, whoa, whoa.” He rolled onto his side so he was facing me. “Why are you being–”

  “Look.” I shoved my phone at him. “Brianne texted.”

  He pushed himself up as he took my phone, sleep clearing away as he read the message. He muttered a curse, then read it again. He swore a second time and handed the phone back.

  “How quick do you think we can get a flight down there?” I asked him. “It sounds like she needs us right away.”

  Clay shook his head, his expression serious. “Before you got us seats from LAX to here, I was told I’d have to wait on standby, possibly for a couple days.”

  “We don’t have that kind of time, Clay.” I managed to keep my voice from shaking. “I’ve got a really bad feeling about this.”

  He leaned over and rested his forehead on mine. “It’s going to be okay. Get dressed and pack what you need. I’ll take care of getting us a ride.”

  “How?” I clutched his arms, trying to take comfort in his warm skin, strong muscles.

  “I might know someone who can make things go faster.”

  I nodded, but we didn’t move for another couple minutes, trying to hang on to that peace we’d managed to make between us last night. When it became clear that we wouldn’t be able to recapture that, I sighed and pulled back.

  “I’m grabbing a quick shower,” I said. “Who knows if we’ll get the chance once the shit hits the fan again.”

  “Good idea,” he said. “I’ll call Rylan and ask if he can help us. If not, I’ll call Jalen.”

  He didn’t even sound reluctant to call the new boyfriend of his ex-girlfriend. As much as I liked that, it wasn’t my main concern at the moment. “And if neither of them can help?”

  “Then I’m sure they’ll know someone else I can talk to.”

  His voice was even, demeanor calm, and it helped soothe some of my worry. I was sure I’d be in knots again soon enough, but while it lasted, I was going to use the time to do what needed to be done. Namely, showering and packing. Clay would take care of his side of things, and we’d be in Costa Rica before too long. Then I’d find out what was going on with Bri and what we needed to do to fix it.

  Twenty-Three

  Clay

  I’d always hated people who used their connections to get out of trouble or wanted to be my friend because they thought my dad could give them something. I’d never understood people like that, but it hadn’t stopped me from calling in favors when I needed them. However, after Rylan Archer had given me the money to try to ransom Brianne and the rest of her Red Care group, I’d realized I hadn’t been using him. He’d been my friend. And he’d been one again today.

  “Tell me again how you ended up good enough friends with Rylan Archer that he’d not only loan you a ton of money but also let you borrow his private plane?”

  If we’d been borrowing Rylan’s plane to go on a honeymoon or even just a vacation, I would’ve loved the expression of awe on Tess’s face as we climbed onto Rylan’s plane, but neither of us could completely enjoy the luxury, not when we knew that we were heading into something difficult, if only because Brianne was involved.

  “I was just thinking that before all this happened, I wouldn’t have thought of myself as being good friends with anyone back in Denver, not since Rona and I had our friendship take an awkward turn.” I sat down in one of the plush chairs. “Now, I think I could be friends with all of them.”

  If I stayed in Denver.

  Those words stayed unspoken. After we took care of Brianne’s latest drama, I planned on telling her to handle her shit on her own going forward. Tess and I couldn’t move forward if we had to be constantly wondering if we had to take off at a moment’s notice. We had our stuff to work out. One of the first of which was deciding about our living situation. This wasn’t a matter of driving from New York to DC or Philadelphia, or from Denver to Colorado Springs. We were more than a full day’s drive apart, and neither of us had the sort of money – or time – it would require to fly back and forth on a regular basis. Long-distance would work while we figured out logistics, but we couldn’t drag it out.

  “This is definitely better than flying commercial,” Tess said as she sat next to me. “And it’s nicer than the one Brianne put us on.”

  “And yet you don’t look relaxed,” I commented, gesturing to how she was sitting on the edge of her seat. “You’re going to need to sit back to get your seatbelt on. We should be taking off soon.”

  “Right.”

  Even after buckling in, her leg bounced in rapid rhythm until I reached over and put my hand on her knee. She gave me a wan smile and gripped my hand tightly as the plane taxied down the runway. How Rylan had managed to secure somewhere to land and take off on such short notice, I didn’t know, but if I’d learned one thing growing up in DC, it was that certain kinds of people could always get stuff done. Rylan was one of those people. One of the very best of them.

  “We’re not making any stops,” I said once we were in the air and able to unbuckle our seatbelts. “Which means we have at least four and a half hours before we have to be doing anything. You should try to get some rest.”

  “I couldn’t sleep,” she said. “My head’s filled with all of the possibilities I don’t want to think about.”

  I put up the arm between our seats and shifted so that I was facing her. “I can’t tell you that everything’s going to be okay. I don’t know why Brianne’s in trouble or if we’ll be able to help her.”

  “You really don’t get the point of pep talks, do you?” Tess shook her head.

  I squeezed her hand. “This isn’t a pep talk.”

  “Good, because it sucks.”

  I laughed as I reached out to pull her back to my chest and wrap my arms around her. Her body was stiff as she leaned against me, but she didn’t resist the embrace, so I knew it wasn’t reluctance to be close to me, just an inability to relax.

  “There’s a lot I can’t do,”
I continued, “but there is something I can do.”

  I purposefully paused, waiting for her to ask. She didn’t make me wait long.

  “What’s that?”

  I slid one of my hands down her flat abdomen and flicked open the button to her jeans. She caught her breath but didn’t tell me to stop.

  “I can make your brain stop.”

  She squirmed, one arm reaching up behind her to hook around my neck. “You certainly think highly of your talents.”

  I took her earlobe between my teeth, worrying at it for a few seconds before releasing it to allow me to speak. “I haven’t heard any complaints.”

  Her nails scratched my scalp, and she rested her head against my shoulder. “What are you waiting for then? Show me.”

  I slid my fingers beneath the waistbands of her jeans and panties, skin silk under my fingertips. My gaze dropped to the rise and fall of her chest, cock thickening at the sight of her nipples poking through the soft cotton of her shirt. She wasn’t wearing a bra. My free hand made its way under her shirt and up until I palmed one perfect breast. I tweaked her stiff peak even as my lower fingers skimmed the top of her clit.

  She moaned, that decadent sound I’d come to love over our weeks together. It wasn’t like a controlled noise, but rather something that slipped out only when she’d allowed herself to become lost in sensation, drowned in pleasure. It was how I’d come to gauge a job well done.

  I manipulated her nipple with one set of fingers and toyed with her clit with the other, alternating soft caresses and rough friction until she couldn’t know what would come next. I’d wondered if being in a near-public setting would temper her enthusiasm, but it quickly became clear that wasn’t the case. With her eyes closed, she completely trusted me to guard her, and while the idea of someone watching might have made things a bit more exciting, it was only ever in theory.

  I’d never let anyone else see her like this, man or woman. This was for me. For how long, I didn’t know, but for at least the foreseeable future, this was mine. She was mine.