by Shain Rose
“A lot of traffic on your drive in?” Senior Stonewood asked.
Jett shook his head no. “Want to get settled in?” he whispered near my ear.
“Don’t steal her from me already. I barely get any woman talk around here,” Nancy pouted.
“You wanted this old man here with you all the time, Mom. Now you got him.” His dad scoffed at him as he steered me toward the stairs. “We’ll come have a drink once we get unpacked.”
At the top of the massive staircase, portraits of the Stonewood boys lined the walls. Their dark hair and blue eyes made them heart-stoppingly gorgeous children.
I halted to point at a picture of them dressed up in baby suits with their hair combed to the side. It captured my eye because they were all covered in mud—Jett, with his arms crossed, glared at Jax and Jaydon who were smiling ear to ear while smearing more dirt on each other. “This is the cutest thing ever.”
“Easter Sunday. My little brothers thought playing in the mud was a wonderful idea.”
A laugh escaped me, and Jett rolled his eyes as he held up my bags. “Bedroom’s this way, Pix.”
I scanned the wall. “Give me a minute. I have to absorb your childhood.”
He disappeared and then was back without our bags. His arms slid around me, and his scruff tickled my ear as he said, “See. No glaring issues in my childhood.”
I rubbed his forearms as I examined another picture with Jett on the side, glaring at his family again. This time, his mother and brothers were covered in paint while he sat casually on the side, completely untouched, in jeans and a white T-shirt. I pointed to it. “When was this taken?”
“I don’t know. Probably when I was fifteen. My mom hired a photographer to capture the family dynamics.”
“They captured them all right.”
“Getting paint everywhere for a picture serves no purpose.”
“What about enjoying yourself?”
“Washing all that shit off was not enjoyable. I guarantee it.”
I sighed and squeezed his arms before I turned to have him lead us to his room. “We’re so different.”
“Water and oil.”
“It must be something much more destructive.”
“No. Yin and yang. We’re working well together.”
“We’ll see.”
Our dinner that night was light. Nancy claimed to be preparing for the feast the next day. Brey and Jax showed up late that night after we’d retired to our bedroom.
As we got ready for bed, Jett slipped into dark shorts right in the middle of the room.
“Seriously?” I lifted an eyebrow at him and glanced at the window. Then the open door. “Go to the bathroom to change.”
“What for?”
“What if someone sees us in here with you naked?” I hissed.
“We’re staying in the same bed. What do you think they expect, Pix?”
“Oh, no. You’re sleeping on the floor. I told your mother.” I grabbed a white fluffy pillow and threw it down. “You can have the comforter though.”
He grabbed the pillow off the floor and the comforter from my hand to shove them back on the bed. “Not happening, Pix.”
“We’re not sleeping in the same bed, Jett. It’s disrespectful to come into your parents’ home and do that when we’re barely together.” I tried to snatch the pillow again, but he shoved it further onto the queen-size mattress.
“If you’re in the same house, building, or even on the same fucking block as me, we’re sleeping in the same bed.”
“I don’t want to disrespect your parents.”
“Technically, they aren’t even married. They can’t be mad at us. And I don’t care about disrespecting them. I have been for years,” he retorted and grabbed his bag to unpack.
My chest flared at his confession. If he was saying he’d been bringing women here for years, it meant I wasn’t anywhere near as important to him as he was to me.
I told myself to accept that. I grabbed one of my suitcases and moved toward the bathroom. “I’m just going to freshen up.”
He let me go. In the bathroom, I remembered I was here to enjoy myself, enjoy him, enjoy what I had for the time I had it. I grabbed some of my makeup remover and took a cotton wipe to rub it over my face. I wiped away the layers that held my happiness in place. I peeled away my clothes and slipped into soft cotton pajamas with long sleeves.
After tying my hair back and packing away my belongings, I sighed at the reflection in the mirror. After long work days and long hours searching for the joy in everything, there were these moments where I felt exhausted and all I wanted was to just be.
I didn’t want to be happy or sad. I wanted nothing but to relax and let time pass instead of worrying that I wasn’t reveling in the gratification of being alive.
I fisted my hands and then grabbed my suitcase.
When I reemerged into the bedroom, Jett was under the comforter and sheets, laptop open, typing away. He looked up and smiled. His broad chest was free of clothing, his abs defined even though he slouched, and his biceps looking bigger without a suit jacket hiding them.
“Ready for bed?” his voice rumbled softly. He licked his lips as he looked me up and down and I watched the motion, knowing how much pleasure they alone delivered.
“Sure.” I ground out because I knew I wouldn’t be getting any of that pleasure while we were here. I wouldn’t try anything with his family under the same roof. I set my suitcase down harder than I intended and got to my side of the bed. I slid in and stayed on the very edge.
He clicked off the light. “Vick,” he whispered.
“Jett?” I whispered back.
I heard a soft laugh from him before one of his powerful hands grabbed me around the waist and pulled me close to him. “You belong here. Next to me.”
My heart thumped.
It didn’t sound like a beep. It was raw and low and powerful, like the muscle somehow knew it had a fresh purpose: to beat and live on for something that felt a lot like love.
30
Jett
She came out of that bathroom like a spirit stripped bare. When I pulled her close, she didn’t fight me. Asking her if something had changed or was wrong wouldn’t have worked.
Her happy wall would fly back up, and I didn’t want it between us in the dark of the night. I’d opened the window so the cool breeze rustled in. The air in this town smelled greener, like fresh-cut grass and forest. If I could smell that mixed with strawberries, I’d contemplate giving up just about anything to keep it forever. I buried my nose in her hair and sighed.
She turned to me, her whiskey-colored eyes as dark as chocolate in the night and murmured, “I think I might be falling in love with you.”
Those words should have scared me. They would have coming from any other woman. I had become more attached to this woman than I’d ever planned and knew that meant one thing. Something else would suffer. Relationships were give-and-take.
Her hands curled up over her chest, and she shrank back from me, shrank back from the words. None of it was supposed to be romantic. She lay there, a vision with pink-blonde hair encircling her, eyes glistening in the moonlight, and confessed to me like a sinner in a confessional. A tear streamed down her face.
“Victory, don’t cry.”
“It’s just ... I can’t stop it. I’ve told my heart not to. I have thought of every logical reason we won’t work. Still, my mind keeps restructuring the narrative.” She took in a shaky breath. “Now we’re here at your parents’ like we’re serious, and I’m in your childhood room and this house and this town and everything is so damn perfect.”
“You’re painting a pretty picture, Pix,” I reminded her, reminded myself. Still, the picture was starting to feel very real.
“That’s the thing. I’m not. For once, what I’m saying, I’m not even exaggerating.” She sighed. “I just need you to know. I’m falling but I’m trying not—”
I took her pouted lips in mine and didn’t
let her finish her sentence. Victory Blakely was quickly becoming the thing I wanted most. More than Bastian not bothering me about Levvetor, more than my job, and more than Stonewood Enterprises thriving.
I threaded my fingers through her hair and memorized the silken texture. Her hands gripped my shoulders as I took the kiss deeper and moved closer to her, rubbing my length against her. Her leg slid up my thigh like she couldn’t stop herself.
My hand pushed her shirt up, and I dipped it into her bottoms, groaning when I realized she didn’t have panties on. “Are you trying to kill me?”
“I wanted you to sleep on the floor.”
“Damn,” I grunted and rolled my thumb over her clit.
She hissed.
“Quiet, Pix. Or you won’t get to come in my bed.”
“This shouldn’t be happening.”
I ran a finger over her pussy and she was so wet, I knew she didn’t mean it. “Want me to stop?”
“We should,” she whispered as she arched her tits against my chest.
“Right.” I moved to her neck to suck at her collarbone and she gripped my hair as I worked her clit just the way she liked. “Remember to stay quiet.”
She moaned into the pillow.
Her hands flew over me and then she was down by my shorts, but I leaned away. Her eyes fluttered open, “Jett?”
“This is for you. I get you in my old room where I used to not worry about a damn thing in the world. I want the same from you right now.”
“I'm not worrying. I just want to make you feel good like you—”
“That's the thing, Pix.” I slid my hands to her waist and she protested. I hushed her and turned her around so that her ass was right up against my dick. I rubbed the peaks and valleys of her curves and whispered into her neck, “I'm making you feel good now. Forget everything else.”
Her ass pushed into me, and I nipped at her neck as I slid my hand back in her shorts. When she started to pant and moan louder, I sucked the sensitive skin right below her ear.
“Oh, God,” she breathed out.
“Your god, woman. I'm here to deliver you to heaven, and you’d better go willingly.”
Her hand crept back toward my shorts. I bit her ear. “Remember I can fuck you to hell too, Victory. Do what you're told. Tonight, take the pleasure.”
She chanted, “Yes, yes, yes.”
I covered her mouth. “I'm starting to think you want them to hear.”
Her thighs squeezed tight around my wrist as my fingers slid in and out of her. I picked up the rhythm.
“From now on, you take what you want from me. You don't worry about what I want or need. Understand?”
She didn't respond at first so I slowed my pace.
“Jett!” she ground out and rolled her ass back into me.
“Say it, Pix. Tell me you understand.”
“Fine. I understand, you prick.”
She didn’t. Not really. But I was going to make sure to teach her.
31
Jett
The sun shined in on my woman, and my mind played tricks on me because she looked better under it. She looked better every time I looked at her. Long blonde hair and smooth sun-kissed skin. Her bruised lips were evidence that I’d kissed her enough last night. Still, I wanted another taste.
I shifted up on to an elbow to stare at this perfect specimen of womanhood. She’d fallen asleep not long after I’d brought her to a final high of many. Then she woke me up by straddling me and admitting that my dick was the only thing she wanted. She told me she wasn’t taking no for an answer. Suffice it to say, I let it happen.
My dick didn’t give me much of a choice.
The white sheets were tangled around her now and I had every intention of taking her again before we joined the family downstairs for breakfast.
“Man, my flight got delayed and you should have seen this guy—” Jaydon swung open my bedroom door.
“Jesus.” I pulled the comforter over Vick whose eyes popped open at Jaydon’s voice. Then she smiled like it was no big deal.
“Jaydon!” She grabbed the sheet and leapt up to hug him.
Naked.
“Are you fucking kidding me?” I grumbled and wiped a hand down my face.
“Vick, you can’t be serious. You’re sleeping with Jett?” He pulled back from his hug but kept his arms around her waist to puppy eye her like he could win her over. “I lost Brey to Jax. Jett’s worse, babe.”
She gazed up at him and laughed. “Maybe if you hadn’t left us for LA and the big screen.”
“I’ll fly you out any time you want.”
“Prove it,” she replied coyly, like proving it wasn’t our private joke.
“Vick, go put some clothes on,” I grunted.
“Or leave your clothes off.” Jaydon waggled his eyebrows.
“Jaydon, get the hell out of my room.” I leaned over the bed to find my shorts.
He kissed Vick’s cheek. “I’ll see your fine ass and his grumpy one downstairs for breakfast soon.”
“Sounds good.” She beamed and once the door was closed, she turned to glare at me. “Don’t tell me what to do like that in front of someone ever again. It’s disrespectful and rude.”
“Don’t hug men in front of me while you’re naked then.”
“First, I’m not naked. I have a sheet wrapped around me. Second, even if I was, it isn’t something your brother hasn’t seen before. Three,”—she dropped the sheet—“you want to keep seeing it, don’t be an ass.”
She turned and slipped into the bathroom before I could compile my thoughts.
I heard the shower turning on and barged in. I whipped open the shower door. “What do you mean my brother has seen you naked?”
“Exactly that.”
“If you screwed him, Vick …” Warning heated my voice. I didn’t have a threat to follow through with though. Water cascaded off her hair, tits, waist, and ass. I drank in the picture, the glistening pebbles and tracks decorating her skin. I wanted to lick them off and fuck her against the shower wall.
“Then what, Jett?” she asked pointedly as she rubbed shampoo into her hair. “I’m not asking you who you’ve slept with before me.”
“Because there’s no way in hell I’d sleep with a sister of yours.”
“Well, to be fair, I’m an only child, so I guess we will never know the truth of that claim.” She laughed at her own joke, trying to lighten the mood. When she saw I wasn’t laughing, she sighed, “I haven’t slept with Jaydon. Jeez.”
“Thank God.” I shucked off my shorts and stepped into the shower with her. “Now bend over so I can fuck some sense into you.”
Her hands were already on the shower tiles. “I’ve been friends with him for years. It makes complete sense that he’s seen me naked once or twice. You know I don’t care if guys look.”
My hand grabbed an ass cheek to pull her hips out toward me. “Start caring, woman. Your body isn’t up for display unless you’re displaying it to me. Privately.”
“You’re so damn territorial,” she mumbled, but she was losing herself to my hands rubbing her everywhere.
I slammed into her. “Damn right I am. Territory marked and owned.”
I screwed her hard. She needed to remember who she was dealing with.
* * *
When Vick finished getting ready, she disappeared to find my mother for tea.
I took a few work calls because Thanksgiving didn’t mean I was completely free. Then I meandered down the hallway, hoping to catch Vick alone so I could drag her down to the lake behind our home.
Instead, Brey popped up out of nowhere, her dark hair down and her green eyes glowing with determination. She stood in my path, and I tilted my head in question.
“Brey?”
“Hi.” She cleared her throat and placed her hands on her hips. “So, we aren’t at work.”
“So it seems,” I replied, somewhat amused. Brey and I had always gotten along just fine. I didn’t love her like ei
ther of my brothers, but I’d learned to appreciate her presence within the family and her intelligence within my company. She had a knack for spotting risky investments and an eye for problematic business ventures. “I’m happy we both get the weekend off.”
She nodded once. Then she nodded again and cleared her throat. “I’m not bothering you to discuss work. I hope you can set aside the fact that you’re my boss for a second and just be my brother-in-law.”
I examined her squirming under my gaze. Brey always appeared slightly uncomfortable, but now she fisted her hands tightly on her hips and her breath was somewhat erratic.
“You know I’m always your brother-in-law?”
“Well, yes.” She waved away my question. “We just … we work together. That’s our relationship.”
I shook my head slowly. “No. We’re family.”
Apparently, I hadn’t made that clear to her. I was hard on her at work and didn’t say much to her outside of it, but she’d married Jax and I respected that. I commended her for all she’d been through as a kid and as a woman too.
“Okay, well, then. As a part of your family, I’ll let you know a little bit about mine.”
I waited and widened my eyes to encourage her to continue.
“Vick’s not a toy. Don’t play with her like one. If you do, I’ll never forgive you, and that might not mean much to you, and you might not care, but I’m in this Stonewood family for life. So, for the rest of your life, I will make every single family event you attend a train wreck. It isn’t polite or nice, but I’ll do it.”
“Brey, I’m not—”
She held up a hand. “Just don’t play with her. That’s all I’m asking.” Her eyes pleaded with me, her dark eyebrows bunching a little.
I nodded once, and that was all she needed. She pushed past me to head to her own room. My phone rang on my way down the stairs, Bastian’s number popping up on the screen.
“It’s Thanksgiving,” I answered, my voice low with frustration.
“FDA wants to push one of Levvetor’s ingredients in one drug to the forefront. Seems they are willing to drag the brand name through the mud, even with Stonewood Enterprises attached to it.”