A rush of heat washed over her body. “You’re clearly awake.”
Abby ran her hand past Brennen’s navel and stroked his hard length.
The man woke up ready to go.
“Abby.”
The word dripped with desire.
A delicious tingle ran down her spine. Her nipples tightened, her body near-frantic with the need to have him back inside her. She stroked him again and reveled in his arousal and her newfound sexual prowess.
She’d never been sexually adventurous. She’d never been sexually much of anything, and she hadn’t had much practice.
In the beginning, things with Tyler seemed exciting. He was her first everything. She’d had nothing to compare him with. Plus, for the last eight years, she was either studying or working or trying to do both. Sex with Tyler wasn’t anything she’d fantasized about. It would just sort of happen and then be over. She never imagined a man could make her feel so alive, so desired.
She never imagined anyone like Brennen Bergen walking into her life, let alone, screwing her brains out in a mountain mansion.
Brennen shifted so he could look at her. “You’ve got on your deep thoughts face.”
She stilled. “I don’t have a deep thoughts face.”
He leaned in, his breath warm on the shell of her ear. “Maybe it’s just your horny in the morning face.”
She gasped. “I do not have a horny in the morning face.”
He dragged his fingers lazily down the side of her body then traced a line to the apex of her thighs. She bit her lip as he cupped her sex and found her wet.
He gave her a cocky grin. “This is definitely your horny in the morning face.”
He stroked her and pressed his thumb against her slick bundle of nerves.
She released a soft moan and met his hooded gaze. “I want to try something.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Yeah?”
Abby pushed Brennen onto his back, and a slow smile stretched across his lips as she climbed on top of him. Straddling him, she positioned herself and sank down onto his thick shaft, the sun streaming in, bathing her body in the Colorado sun.
Brennen massaged her breast with one hand, gripped her hip with the other, and held her gaze. “You’re gorgeous, Abby. I can’t take my eyes off of you.”
She rolled her hips, and he growled, the low sound feeding her desire. She’d never had sex with the lights on, and now, nature’s golden spotlight illuminated her body. She pressed her hands to his chest and rode his cock, the friction between them building from a slow burn to a raging inferno, as her breaths came fast, her pulse quickening. And Brennen…she couldn’t tear her gaze away from him. The hard set of his jaw. The muscles of his abdomen and biceps flexing as he thrust beneath her.
“Christ!” he groaned, fingertips pressing into her ass. “I need to kiss you.”
He shifted, coming to a seated position and taking her with him. He guided her body in smooth strokes, up and down, as their lips met in a scorching kiss.
Tongues and teeth collided in an explosion of passion. Like thoroughbreds hitting their stride, her body rocked with his in a frenzied, storming pace. She let go, the rhythm taking over.
Her release crashed through her, wrecking her while at the same time building her up, making her stronger, taking her higher. Over and over, she died and was reborn with each thrust of this man’s cock.
He followed her over the edge, holding her close, cupping her cheek in his hand while their gazes remained locked, and an unspoken vow passed between them.
You are mine, and I am yours.
He spilled into her, and warmth radiated through her body. She wrapped her arms around his neck and surrendered to the pulse of their bodies and the slow spiral winding down, coming back from that place where only she and Brennen existed.
He pressed his forehead to hers. “It’s so easy to be with you.”
She ran her thumb across the scruff on his cheek and closed her eyes. It was easy. When they were together, it clicked. There was a balance, a harmony. She’d done all the work with Tyler, carried the load. In the darkest parts of her mind, she’d known they were out of sync. A square peg trying to force itself into a round hole. With Brennen, it was like a key sliding effortlessly into a lock. A lock secured around her heart.
He smoothed her hair back from her face and swallowed hard.
She stroked his cheek. “What is it?”
The intensity of his gaze left her breathless. “I haven’t felt like myself in years. It’s like you’ve unlocked a part of me that I never thought I’d get back.”
She nodded. “I was thinking about how you’ve unlocked something inside of me. A part of me I never knew existed.”
“You make me a better man, Abby.”
She smiled, lost in his blue eyes. “You make me—”
Her stomach grumbled, answering for her. She gasped, mortified.
He gave her an easy, sated grin. “Hungry? I make you hungry?”
Her belly responded again on cue, and she bit her lip. “That, and a few other things.”
Brennen ran his hand down her back. “I have an idea. What are your thoughts on crepes?”
“I love crepes!”
He lifted her, gently setting her on the cushions. “Why don’t you take a shower, and I’ll run into the village and pick up some for breakfast? There’s a little shop that makes tiramisu crepes. They’re flipping fantastic.”
She held back a chuckle and kissed his cheek. “That sounds amazing!”
He rose to his feet and headed toward the bedroom, where they’d left their clothes in a heap.
“Which bathroom should I use?”
He stopped and looked over his shoulder. “There’s twelve of them. Explore the house and take your pick. Then pick a bathtub you like.”
“Why?”
A wolfish grin pulled at the corners of his mouth. “Because that’s where I’m going to make you come next.”
She sank back onto the pillows and watched him. He strode down the hall, naked and as glorious as a Greek god. Her body hummed with anticipation, and her heart missed him already.
Thunk, thunk, thunk.
Thunk, thunk, thunk.
Abby twisted her hair into a damp bun. She’d showered in Brennen’s room. It was easy to find. Framed photos of his ski competitions and trophies lined the shelves. She borrowed a Bergen Mountain sweatshirt from his closet and hurried to the other bedroom to find her long underwear.
She walked into the hall and listened.
“Abby, are you in there? Open the door!”
Elle?
Abby rushed down the hall and opened the grand front door. “What are you doing here?”
“I’m saving your ass. That’s what I’m doing!”
“How did you even know—”
Before she could finish, Elle held up her phone. Abby stared at the image. There she was, splashed across social media on Bergen Mountain in Brennen’s arms.
She took Elle’s phone and thumbed through multiple images. “Where did you find this?”
Elle pursed her lips. “Where didn’t I find it, is more like it. Abby, women have whole social media fan club sites dedicated to Brennen Bergen. And a picture showed up in the local paper today, too.”
“But how did you know I was here and not at the lodge with the rest of the school?”
Elle reached for the phone, and Abby handed it back.
Her cousin tapped the screen. “Someone posted this and tagged Brennen and Bergen Mountain. I saw it fifteen minutes ago when I got here.”
Abby couldn’t breathe. In the grainy tones of a poorly pixelated photo, she looked down at an image of two people—herself and Brennen—having sex. Hands trembling, she handed the phone back.
“Oh my gosh, Elle!” She pressed her hand to her mouth.
“Abs, I told you, Brennen Bergen is a total player. The local media, and sometimes even the national press, get their kicks covering his escapades. You know how many
people love that reality TV bullshit? Out here, Brennen Bergen is the Rocky Mountain version.”
“Does anyone know it’s me in those pictures?”
Elle shook her head. “No, I haven’t seen your name anywhere, and your face isn’t visible in any of them. One of the sites even misidentified you as some Denver socialite.”
All of a sudden it was hot, too hot. She paced the front entrance. “Elle, my principal, my students, all the Whitmore families are at the lodge.”
Elle stared out the window. “I thought of that. I stopped there first and spoke with your principal. I told her I was your cousin and that you weren’t feeling well.”
“But didn’t she ask why I wasn’t there?”
Elle turned from the window and met her gaze. “I said I had a place up in the mountains and that you were staying with me and resting there. I told her I just wanted to let her know you were okay and would be going back to Denver today.”
Abby wrung her hands nervously. “This could…”
“Cost you your job?” Elle supplied, an edge to her voice.
“Yes,” Abby sighed.
Elle glanced around the main room. “Where’s Brennen?”
“He went to go get crepes from the village.”
“That’s probably for the better. Come on, Abs, we need to go.”
“But—”
“No buts, Abby! This guy, I know he’s all Colorado handsome and flies you around in helicopters, but he’s got an agenda with you.”
“An agenda? What are you talking about?”
Elle glanced at her phone. “We’ll talk in the car. We need to go. We need to get you out of here, so nobody puts together that you’re the person fucking Brennen Bergen’s brains out in front of the window.”
Abby’s gut twisted. “Elle, he’s not a bad person.”
Her cousin waved off the comment. “Is that your bag over there?”
“My bag?”
Elle gestured to a suitcase resting on one of the Adirondack chairs scattered across the vast, wrap-around porch. “It looks like yours.”
A wave of panic crashed over her. “Brennen had someone from the resort bring it here. Do you think people know it was my suitcase and that it was being brought here because I stayed the night?”
Elle shook her head. “No, I’m sure some bellhop just got your bag, and some resort staff member dropped it here. Bags get moved around all the time. People change condo units. They leave early. Don’t sweat this, Abs. This is the least of your problems.”
The least of her problems.
And then it hit her.
She’d been photographed having sex with her classroom community volunteer. This could be a stain on her reputation that followed her for the rest of her teaching career—if she still had a teaching career.
Elle put a hand on her shoulder. “We’ll talk in the car. I’ll tell you everything I know.”
In a daze, Abby pulled on her boots and coat and followed Elle out of the house and onto the porch when Brennen’s Mercedes pulled into the drive. The SUV came to an abrupt stop, and Brennen jumped out of the car.
His gaze darted between the women. “Abby, are you okay?”
“She’s fine,” Elle answered, ice coating her words.
“What’s going on?”
Elle stomped down the porch steps and went up to Brennen. “What’s going on is that you’re using my cousin to improve your image!”
Brennen’s jaw dropped. “That’s crazy!”
“Really? Because I’m in talks with the Bergen marketing and PR people to do a project with your company. Bergen Enterprises is rebranding. They want to focus on not just the mountain sports piece, but also their environmental and community activism. That’s a little hard to do when the middle Bergen brother is splashed all over the internet buying cases of champagne for strippers and fucking his way through the better part of metro Denver.”
Brennen’s expression turned to stone.
Abby couldn’t move, immobilized by Elle’s accusation. “Brennen, is that true?”
He ran his hands through his hair, pulling at the dark locks. “Yes, my family wants me to improve my image for the company’s sake. But that’s not why I’m with you, Abby. I care about you. You know that! You’ve got to know that.”
Elle barked out a laugh. “You don’t have the slightest clue, do you? It’s all about you. Well, guess what? You could jeopardize Abby’s job! Her livelihood! What do you think they’d do to her at Whitmore if they learned she was sleeping with you? Her classroom volunteer, for Christ’s sake! You get a huge boost from Abby—helping in her classroom, looking all, I care about the community. What does she get? She could lose everything. Everything!”
Brennen shook his head. “Abby, I would never do anything to hurt you.”
Elle crossed her arms and positioned herself between them. “So it was your idea to volunteer at Whitmore?”
Brennen stared at the ground.
“Because from what I’ve observed living in the same building as you, the only students I could see you volunteering to help would be the ones who lived in a sorority house.”
Abby closed her eyes. Could this be true? Could this all be some kind of business scheme?
She opened her eyes and met his gaze. “That first day at Whitmore, you didn’t want to be there. You were on your phone the entire time.”
He took a step toward her, but she held up her hands.
He stared up at the sky and shook his head. “It’s true, my family put me up to volunteering at Whitmore. Yes, that first day, I didn’t want to be there. But everything changed once I got to know you.”
Elle turned to face her. “Abs, you just got out of one terrible relationship. What happened to your man fast? What happened to figuring out your shit without having to take on some guy’s issues? You don’t need another man using you.”
“You know that’s not true! I’m not using you,” Brennen said, anguish lacing his words.
Abby shook her head as if the motion could set things right. He shared his darkest parts with her, bared his soul to her. She would have sworn Brennen cared for her. But a little over a month ago, she would have said the same thing about Tyler.
She had to get out of there. She had to think. She had to sort all this out without her cousin and Brennen. She went over to her bag and lifted it off the chair, then gasped as a red envelope fell onto the porch.
In the space of a breath, Brennen was at her side. “What’s wrong?”
Hands trembling and tears trailing down her cheeks, she retrieved the envelope and looked at Elle. “It’s a red envelope just like....”
“It’s from the concierge that delivered the bag, Abby. It’s nothing! I don’t understand!”
She met his worried gaze. “Tyler left me a breakup letter in a red envelope.” She glanced at her cousin. “What am I doing, Elle?”
“Let’s go, Abs,” Elle called from beside her car. She’d lost the bitter edge and gave her a sympathetic smile.
Abby turned to bypass Brennen, clutching the envelope in one hand and her bag in the other, but he stopped her.
“I’m not Tyler. I’m not some asshole trying to use you. Abby I l—”
She tensed, every muscle going rigid. “Don’t! Please don’t, Brennen!”
“Abby, we have something special. I know you feel it just like I do.”
She met his gaze. His eyes shined with emotion, pleading with her, begging her to believe him.
She glanced away, trying to order her thoughts, her fears, her insecurities, but they swirled around her like an emotional tornado.
“You say you care so much about Abby?” Elle called from the driveway.
Exasperated, Brennen raised his hands. “Yes, that’s all I’m trying to say!”
Elle lifted her chin. “Then show her that by letting her go. Show her that by letting her keep her job. Stop being such a selfish bastard.”
Abby watched their exchange, and the roar of her thoughts
stilled, the tornado dissipating and winding down into one coherent, undeniable truth, and she knew what she had to do.
She released a slow, measured breath. “Elle, stop! I know you love me, and I know you’re just looking out for me. But I need to speak to Brennen alone.”
“Abs?”
Abby brushed a tear from her cheek. “Elle, please. I’m okay.”
Her cousin gave her a pained look. “I’ll be in the car.”
The door to Elle’s SUV slammed shut, and Brennen took a step closer.
“All I want to do is protect you and keep you safe! You have to know that. Abby, you mean everything to me! I meant everything I said to you, every word.”
She set her bag down and pressed her hand to his chest. “I believe you, Brennen.”
He cupped her face, eyes glassy with emotion. “Thank you! Jesus, thank you!”
Staring into his eyes, Abby swallowed, her throat dry as if her body were trying to keep her from what she had to say. She took a step back and watched Brennen’s hands fall limply to his sides. He stared at her, confusion marring his handsome features.
She steadied herself. “I believe that you care about me, but I need to start doing that for myself. I need to learn how to protect my heart, and I need to learn to trust my choices. You can’t do that for me, Brennen. I have to do it myself.”
That was the truth, but every cell in her body screamed for her to stay with him. Her treacherous heart wanted nothing more than to melt into his arms and forget the real world existed.
But she couldn’t do that.
She’d abandoned her man fast. She’d made excuses. She’d told herself she wasn’t dating Brennen. She’d told herself that the time with him didn’t count as cheating on her oath.
She’d lied to herself.
It was time she stopped.
Brennen’s shoulders slumped, and he parted his lips to speak, but nothing came out.
Abby picked up her suitcase and blinked back tears. There was only one thing left to say.
She took the first step off the porch then looked over her shoulder at the man who, only hours ago, had kissed her with such tenderness. But she had no choice. She had to do this.
She held his gaze. “Goodbye, Brennen.”
Man Fast: Bergen Brothers: Book One Page 16