by Marilyn Lee
But since his second parking space was unoccupied, Braden must have forgotten to turn off the stereo before he left. He let himself in, put his briefcase and luggage by the door and made his way to his bedroom. After enduring a nearly seventeen-hour trip returning from Japan, all he wanted was to sleep for the next ten or twelve hours.
He opened his bedroom door and frowned. The light in the adjourning bath was on and a pair of briefs and a frilly thong and bra lay on the bedroom floor. Damn. The least Braden could have done was turn off the damn lights and clear up after himself before he left.
He picked up the thong and stared down at it. Braden had long since stopped dating other women. He knew it must belong to Kania, the woman with whom he and Braden were both in love. While he stood, telling himself that sniffing it or even slipping into his pocket would be beyond creepy, he heard the partially open bathroom door open all the way.
“Glad you’re back so soon because my greedy kitty is ravenous and primed to ride your sugar dick until he erupts deep inside her, handsome.”
Moments later, a smiling and gloriously naked Kania waltzed into the room and came to an abrupt halt.
And she was lovelier than anything his imagination had conquered up. She had miles of lovely, dark skin that glistened with water. Her breasts were large and natural with dark, wide aureoles. Her stomach had a sexy swell, and the valley between her long legs was delightfully trimmed but not bald. He preferred a woman with a natural bush guarding the entrance to her pussy.
His cock stirred and his heart thumped. He knew she belonged to Braden and he could never fuck her, but what he wouldn’t give for a chance to eat her to a climax at least once.
They stared at each other in silence for several moments.
Then she gasped, turned, and rushed back into the bathroom, slamming the door shut.
He sucked in a breath and backed out of the bedroom and left. Outside in the hallway, he leaned against the wall. Realizing he still held her thong, he hesitated before pushing it into his pocket. Then he walked back down to his car to call Braden.
“Hey Ray.”
“Where are you, Bray?”
“I just left the gym. Where are you?”
“At home.”
“Home? You’re back in LA?”
“Yes. I just left the condo.”
“Kania’s there.”
“I know.”
“I hope you don’t mind. The power is out so we spent the night there.”
“So I noticed.”
“You sound annoyed. Is it because we haven’t changed the sheets yet?”
“Why didn’t you tell me you were there with her?”
“Because you’re not supposed to be home for another few days.”
“I closed the deal sooner than expected and got an early flight.”
“Sorry. Kania and I will buy you breakfast when I get back.”
“I don’t think she’s going to be in any mood for that.”
“Why not?”
“Because I didn’t know she was there and she clearly didn’t know I was. When I walked into the bedroom, she was in the bathroom and thought you were returning.”
Braden spoke after a short silence. “I’m assuming she came out naked.”
“You’re assuming correctly.”
“Fuck. Is she okay?”
“I didn’t ask. She ran back into the bathroom and I left and came down to my car to call you.”
“Fuck. She’s shy.”
“Yeah, well, she didn’t really sound that shy with talk of her kitty being primed and ready to ride you sugar dick until you erupted inside her.”
“What the fuck, Raven? She thought you were me.”
“Lucky you.”
“Fuck you!”
“I’d like to fuck her.”
“Dream the fuck on, Raven!”
He sighed. “It was just a thought.”
“Then perish it!”
“How long will it take you to get back here?”
“I’m stuck in traffic. We’re not moving. At this rate it’s probably going to take me an hour or more to get back.”
Great. “All right. I’ll wait in the car.”
“She’s shy, but she’ll hardly expect you to sit in your car after a long flight from Japan. Give her five or ten or minutes to compose herself and go back. I’ll call her.”
“You trust me to go back up there alone with her?”
“Do I have any reason not to?”
“No.”
“That’s what I thought.”
He spent half an hour in the car, committing every detail her lovely body to memory before he went back to his condo. When he did, he rang the doorbell and waited.
She answered dressed in a pair of Braden’s sweats that completely concealed her body and she kept her gaze averted. “Raven. I’m so sorry. I—”
He shook his head. “There’s no need to apologize. It’s clear you were expecting Braden.”
“Yes, but...the things I said...I wouldn’t want to lose your respect.”
“There’s no danger of that,” he assured her. “My thirteen-and-a-half-hour trip turned into sixteen hours plus and I’m exhausted. May I come in?”
“Of course.” She stepped away from the door. “I took your luggage in the bedroom and changed the bedding.”
He leaned against the closed door and met her gaze. “Thank you.”
“I do want to apologize because I know it’s unpleasant thinking of someone making love in your bed.”
“Is that what you were doing?”
“As opposed to sex or...fucking?”
He nodded.
Her lashes swept down. “I’m in love with him.”
“And he with you. People in love make love. Please don’t give it another thought. And if anyone should apologize it’s me for gawking like a lecherous schoolboy.”
“Well, in all fairness, there is kind of a lot of me to gawk at.”
“But every inch is extremely gawk worthy.”
Her lashed swept up. “Yes?”
“Oh, yes, cher cheré,” he said softly.
“That’s what Braden calls me.”
He nodded.
“It’s an endearment.”
“I know,” he said.
“For a special woman.”
“But isn’t that just what you are, cher? A special woman?”
“For him. Yes.” A warm smile light up her yes. “I think I am.”
“I think you are too. Which makes you special to all the Elkhorn men.” He extended his hand. “Friends again?”
“Always,” she said, placing hers in his.
“Are you sure? Always is a very long time.”
“I’m going to love him forever.”
“That makes him a very, very lucky man.” He planted a kiss in her palm and pushed himself away from the door. “And now I’m going to bed before I fall over on my face.”
She leaned close to kiss his cheek.
He turned his head to brush his cheek against hers. “Damn you smell good.”
“I’m not wearing any perfume,” she protested, stepping back.
“Then it must be your natural sweetness going to my head.”
“Going to your head?”
“I’m dizzy, cher.”
“What you are is an awful flirt.”
“You’re very easy to flirt with.”
“And you’re very good at it.”
“It’s so easy with you.”
“I don’t flatter myself that it’s me. I think you have a natural talent for making a woman glad to be a woman—like Braden.”
He grimaced. “Would it have killed you to leave the ‘like Braden’ half unspoken?”
She smiled. “I hate to think of all the feminine heads you’ve turned with your silver-tongue.”
“I can always make time to turn one more head and at the risk of sounding conceited, I can do amazing things with my tongue.”
She nodded. “I�
�ll bet you can. Lord you do know how to bring the heat to a woman’s spine.”
He suppressed the urge to reply that it wasn’t her spine but her pussy he wanted to heat up. “Has anyone ever told you that you have a voice like an angel?”
“No.”
“No? Well consider yourself told. Why don’t you come sit in the chair by my window and sweet talk me to sleep, cher?”
She laughed again. “Sweet dreams, Elkhorn.”
He shook his head. “I’m serious. Come talk me to sleep, ensuring I’ll have very sweet dreams.”
“I’m sure there are countless women who’d love to do just that.”
“But not you?”
“I’m not sure when you’re being serious.”
“I’m serious now. You’re here. I’m here. The bedroom’s there. I’m dog-tired—”
“But not too dog-tired to stop flirting.”
“I’ve flirted with you since the night Braden introduced us.”
“Yeah. I noticed that.”
“You wouldn’t really want me to stop now. Would you?”
“I guess I wouldn’t.”
“You do like me flirting with you. Don’t you?”
“You’re an interesting man.”
“By interesting, I think you mean sexy.”
She laughed. “You’re that too.”
He put his arm around her shoulders and kissed her cheek. “Then come talk me to sleep, cher.”
She looked up at him. “What will Braden think?”
“He’ll think he’s one lucky devil to have the love of a woman so considerate of his favorite brother. What else?”
“I do like you, Raven.”
“I like you, cheré.”
“When you flirt with me, I feel so warm and content.”
“Warm and content? Not hot and aroused?”
“That’s what I feel with Braden. Meeting him and having him love me is the best things that’s ever happened to me.”
“Damn he’s a lucky bastard. Now are you coming or not?”
“I shouldn’t.”
“Probably not. But you’re going to come anyway. Yes?”
“Yes, Raven Elkhorn, I am.”
He turned her in his embrace and rubbed his cheek against hers. “I want to kiss you.”
She shook her head and pushed against his shoulders. “No. You can’t.”
“I know,” he said and released her. “Are you still coming to talk me to sleep?”
“Why do I want to say yes?”
“What difference does it make why you want to say it? You want to say it. That’s what’s important.”
She sat in one of the chairs by his window while he changed into pajamas in the bathroom. He took her thong out of his pocket and slipped it in the hamper before falling into bed. He sighed and then extended his hand. “Come give us a good night kiss.”
She scoffed.
“I’m serious. Come kiss my cheek and send me off to lala land.”
“First you want me in your bedroom while you fall asleep. Now you want me to kiss you good night. Next you’ll be asking me to hold you while you sleep.”
“That would be a bridge too far for Braden. However...” He tossed the sheet aside and patted the bed beside him. “I’ll condescend to let you hold my hand if you promise you won’t try to take advantage of me.”
“You’re impossible.”
“Are you coming or not?”
“You want me to lie in the bed with you?”
“Oh, yes, cher, I do.”
She rose and crossed the room to his side of the bed and stood staring down at him.
“Like what you see?”
“Do you?” She countered.
“Oh, fuck yeah.”
“I’m going to kiss your cheek. Do not turn your head,” she warned.
He arched a brow. “Is that what Neka does when you sleep with him?”
“I don’t sleep with him! There was just that one night when we stayed up late reminiscing about Kelly and he couldn’t control his emotions. So I just sat on the side of the bed. And when I kissed his cheek, he turned his head.”
“And kissed you on the mouth?”
“It wasn’t a kiss nor was it intentional.”
“But he did turn his head at the last moment?”
“Yes, but we didn’t kiss.”
“But I’d sure as hell want to kiss you and more,” he said and pulled her down onto the bed beside him.
“Hey!” She dug her elbow into his ribs.
“Fuck, Kania!” He turned to face her. “If you think that I would do anything to betray Braden, you couldn’t be more wrong.”
“Says the man who just wrestled me on to my back on his bed.”
“I’d never willingly hurt you or go beyond any boundaries you set.”
“Have you met yourself? You go beyond the bounds every damn time we meet.”
“And yet you never seem to avoid me.”
“You’re Braden brother.”
“Yes, I am. Proudly, but I’m also a man who wouldn’t betray him or hurt you.”
“So you don’t want to kiss me?”
“I’ve already admitted that I do,” he reminded her. “But I won’t. I just want you to lay here and talk to me while I fall asleep.” He moved several inches away from her. “Please.”
“I shouldn’t be lying in bed with you.”
“Stop complaining or I’ll think you want to do more than just lie in bed with me.”
She sucked in a breath.
He turned his head to look at her. “Do you?”
“Did you lie in bed with Kelly and say such outrageous things to her?”
“Of course not. She was a special and beautiful woman, but we didn’t have that type of relationship. And even if I had been so inclined, Neka would have knocked me on my ass and pounded me until Braden pulled him off. Neka’s a one-woman man who does not share.”
“But Braden does?”
“Not since he fell in love with you. I can’t say I blame him. God knows I love my brothers, but I shouldn’t share you either. If you were mine, the only one I’d allow to even look at you is Neka.”
“How do you even know about that night?”
“Even though nothing happened, Neka felt guilty and ‘confessed’ to Bray who told me. So, in summation, it’s just you I flirt with like this. Satisfied?”
“I’ve never had a lover’s brother talk to me the way you do.”
“Did you want any of them to?”
“No.”
“But you do want me to?”
She turned onto her back and stared up at the ceiling. “What do you want me to say—to talk you to sleep?”
“I love the sound of your voice. Say any damn thing you want. Hell, curse me out if you like. Just lie here with me and talk to me, cher.”
“This is probably not a good idea.”
“Don’t repeat yourself or underestimate my loyalty to Braden. We’re both clothed and I’ve already seen you in all your naked glory. And damn, are you glorious.”
“That was an accident!”
“I know.”
“Then don’t pretend that I intentionally exposed myself to you.”
“Not to worry. I don’t flatter myself that you have any sexual interest in me.”
“And you’d better not have any in me.”
“And if I do?”
“If you do, you’re delusional. I don’t just love Braden, I adore him. And him alone. He’s everything I ever wanted or needed in a man.”
“And yet here you are lying in bed with me. Still, he’s lucky.”
“I’m lucky. He could have any woman he wants and he wants me.”
“Who can blame him?”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Just what you think it does. He gets to slide inside you every night and have you crème his cock.”
“Elkhorn—.”
“Have you seen yourself naked, cheré? Damn you're a beaut
iful, sensual woman. Miles of luscious dark skin, succulent, natural breasts, and your pussy...I don't know how Bray can bare to let you out of bed or out of his sight.”
“Raven!” She rolled onto the edge of the bed.
“Too much flirting?”
She turned to stare at him. “Way too much! I know you like to flirt and I’ll admit I like having you flirt with me.”
“You more than like it. You encourage it.”
“Okay, I encourage it, but there’s a limit.”
“And the limit is?”
“Please stop making me feel...awkward...”
“There’s no need to feel awkward. You are absolutely exquisite but that’s the last mention I’ll make of it. Now lay down beside me, sweet and talk to me. If you feel compelled to copy a feel as I sleep, try to resist the temptation.”
After what felt like an eternity, she settled on the other side of the bed. “Don’t you wish?”
“Yeah, cher, I do. I’d surrender years off my lifespan for one night with you,” he admitted, closing his eyes.
“Oh...Elkhorn.” She sounded shocked and maybe...pleased?
“I...mean...it,” he assured her.
The last thing he heard was the sound of her sweet laughter. And then as slumber overtook him, the warmth of her lips brushing against his cheek when it was too late for him to turn his head and kiss her lips. Fuck.
When he woke in the early morning hours, he heard her laughter coming from the living room. After a trip to the bathroom, he paused in the living room doorway.
The television was on but no one was watching it. Braden sat on the loveseat with Kania seated on his lap, facing him. Kissing him. Kisses so sensual, Raven felt almost as if he could taste them himself. Although their upper bodies were clothed, a sheet covered their lower bodies.
Certain they were fucking, he backed out of the door.
Braden looked up. “Did we wake you, Ray?”
Kania looked around and then climbed off Braden’s lap. As she did, she kicked the sheet aside, revealing they were both still fully dressed.
“No. Sorry. I didn’t mean to interrupt. I won’t be going back to sleep until tonight. So if you want to use the bedroom, go ahead.” He turned and walked to the kitchen.
Braden followed.
He got two beers from the refrigerator and handed Braden one before opening and take several gulps from the other.
“We were just kissing.”