by J. M. Dabney
He jerked his phone off the end table before it rang a second time and answered.
“Hey, Ma,” he whispered.
“Oh, am I disturbing you?”
“No, my neighbor came over to watch a movie, and she fell asleep. I didn’t want to wake her. What’s up?”
“A woman neighbor? Want to tell me something, Son?”
He quietly chuckled at his mother’s amused tone. One thing him and his brothers learned growing up was that their parents would always be there. As long as they were doing what made them happy, then they’d always be proud of them.
“No, I don’t. Especially not right now.”
“Deal, I’ll wait until she isn’t around to drag all the information out of you. Is this the woman Renz said brought you donuts at the house and you were rude?”
“I wasn’t rude to her, Ma. Renz shouldn’t be telling stories.”
As he spoke, he kept stroking his fingers along her arm, then down to her hip and retraced the path. The motions soothed his chaotic thoughts.
“I’m just going to say, me and your father didn’t raise you to be rude to ladies.”
“I know. So, what are you doing calling me after midnight?”
“You have graveyard shifts coming up, so I wanted to make sure you were staying awake.”
“I am, that’s why I invited Violet over to keep me company. She’s an event coordinator. Shit, I should’ve asked if she had to work tomorrow.”
“Let her sleep a bit longer and then you can wake her and send her home. Unless you carry her upstairs and tuck her in with you for the night.”
“Is it weird that my mother is trying to get me to take my female friend upstairs to bed?”
“No, because I know my boys, and we never made you and your brothers ashamed of sex.”
“Hold on.” He took a quick picture of Violet and sent it to his mother. “There, to appease your nosiness.”
He chuckled softly at his mother’s girly squeal and shook his head.
“She’s so cute, Son. You must bring her to visit so I can meet her.”
“I’ll think about it.”
“Don’t be mean to me…I’ll tell your father.”
“I’m almost forty, and you’re still pulling the I’m going to tell your father card.”
“Yeah, it’s always worked. Okay, your dad is glaring at me. He keeps reminding me he’s retired and I don’t have to stay up all night anymore.”
“Get some sleep, Ma, tell Dad hi, and I love you both.”
“We love you too, Son.”
He disconnected the call and set his phone aside; then he looked down at Violet to find her watching him. The back of her head rested on his thigh.
“Hey, shit, I didn’t mean to wake you.”
He hadn’t wanted to wake her because he knew as soon as she did she’d want to go home. He was enjoying her company even with her asleep. He loved having her presence in his house. He imagined this was what it would be like to have a girlfriend.
“You didn’t.”
“You okay?”
“Yeah, I better get home.”
She started to get up, and he laid his arm across her to keep her in place. His forearm snug between her breasts. The blanket molding to them and he almost shifted his arm to curve his hand around the plump side. He wanted to test the weight in his palm and strum his thumb across the clearly hard nipple.
“You have to work?”
“No, weekends are my own when I don’t have to attend events. I don’t have another one until next Saturday.”
“Then just lay there and watch the movie, I’ll wake you when I head to bed.”
“Your parents still tell you they love you?”
She had a blank look on her face.
“Yeah, every time I see them or we talk.”
“I thought that was just on TV.”
“Your parents didn’t—”
“My mom thought I was too short and frail, so my dad and brothers took it upon themselves to toughen me up. By the time I was ten, I could take a punch with a smile.”
It broke a piece of him at how easily she spoke of being abused by her parents and siblings. The part of him that wanted to care for her—make her his—urged him to try and erase the bad. He couldn’t do that, though. The past he had begun to hate was what made Violet her, and despite first impressions, he liked the odd woman.
“Baby, that’s not how families are supposed to work.”
“I know that. I told some friends at school. I think I was eleven or so, and they asked about a black eye. I told them with pride that my brother looked worse. They looked at me like I was weird.”
“There’s nothing wrong with you, baby, just because you’re short doesn’t mean you’re frail.”
“The top of my head only reaches the top of your stomach.”
“Nothing wrong with that, not everyone can be freakishly tall like me.”
He felt lighter when she smiled, but he didn’t like the way she turned away to hide it.
“Where are your parents?”
“Mom is a pit boss in Vegas. I haven’t talked to her in a few years. Dad is in court-ordered rehab. My brothers are in jail, three of them are in for a drug deal that went bad, and the other is in for beating his wife. I sold most of my stuff to move her across the country and get her settled before he comes up for parole.”
“Why did you have to sell all your stuff?”
Violet had a deep layer of sweetness that not everyone was privileged to witness.
“I went to Dad for the money that I’d had stashed for emergencies. He’d found out about it, cleaned it out, so I went to get it back. It didn’t go down quite like I thought it would.”
“What happened?”
“You never forget the day you come face to face with the barrel of a shotgun.”
“Violet.”
“Don’t fucking pity me. I can take care of myself.”
“Yeah, you took me down, and not many people can do that.”
“I probably took you by surprise. A five-foot, size twenty woman coming at you. I wish I could remember the look on your face.”
Her laugh was loud and made her breasts sway, and her cheeks turned pink with amusement.
“You blackout often?”
Her brow furrowed as she seemed to think about how to answer. “No, first time I remember doing it, but it could’ve happened before. I get mad a lot.”
“Have you been mad tonight?”
This time he knew she was thinking. He registered her confusion, and he knew her answer before she even parted the curves of her mauve-colored lips.
“No.” She appeared shocked by her own answer. “I’m always mad. You learn to hide it well, but I haven’t been angry once. It’s—”
“It’s what?”
“Weird.”
“Good weird?”
“Yeah, good.”
Violet didn’t sound convincing with her answer.
“Why don’t you come to dinner at my parents’ place? They do it every Sunday. We show up when we’re not working. Right now, I plan to go next week. Want to come?”
“Really? Meet your family? Do you think that’s wise?”
“My family will love you. Say yes and then I won’t have to bug you all week.”
“I guess I can do that.”
“Neither of us paid much attention to the movie, so I’m going to restart it. If you fall asleep again, I’ll just cover you up and leave you on the couch.”
“Okay.”
She was quiet after that, and he restarted the movie from the beginning. He was too aware of her, every breath she took. The movements of her body next to him. He even lifted her hair as he stroked it just to feel the softness of it against his stomach. He didn’t hide it when his body reacted, but he also didn’t point it out. When she stretched her right arm over her head to lay across his knees, he took her hand in his and laced their fingers. It was torture, but he wouldn’t change it. He wante
d the little woman in his bed, but he’d be patient and give her all the time she needed. Maybe he’d finally found his one.
Holy Shit, Didn’t He Own Clothes?
Over the last two weeks, if she wasn’t at work, she found herself at Gio’s place. She’d had to miss the family dinner he’d invited her to, but that was because she’d taken over a Sunday Charity Event from a sick co-worker. She changed into her comfortable clothes and walked outside after hearing Gio talking with someone in the backyard.
Land of Giants. She froze as she saw Gio bent over with a lineup of him and three men on one side and four on the opposite side facing off. She jumped out of the way as they scrambled and a football sailed through the air. A man passed too close to her and knocked into her, and she clenched her fists and growled.
“Violet!”
She calmed as soon as she heard Gio’s voice. She glanced at him to find Gio smiling at her. His eyes shimmered with amusement.
“Unclench the fists.”
“I wasn’t doing anything.”
“Yeah, right.”
Gio jogged over to her, and he was shirtless and sweaty. Didn’t the fucker know what clothes were? Her hormones were in overdrive, and she was going through batteries like crazy. The first time she’d spent the night at his house to watch a movie, she’d been aware of everything about the man. The way he didn’t wear cologne, just smelled like clean soap and deodorant. His rock-hard thigh was under her head. She swore a few times she’d felt the jump of his cock against the crown of her head.
He threw his arms around her, and the thick hair on his stomach cushioned her cheek.
“Come, let me introduce you to my brothers and a friend.”
He didn’t release her, just turned her, his arms draped down her body, his forearms pushing against her hard nipples. She was going to have to start wearing her industrial strength bras in his company.
“Violet, you met Renz, but that’s Sal, Nicco, Montes, and Maximo, Tony, and Renz’s best friend, Lyn.”
Everyone had waved and said hello as they were introduced, all the brothers looked alike and were built on the same scale except Montes, he was even bigger and wider than his already massive brothers. Lyn was slender and soft looking.
“Hi.”
“We were wondering who was keeping our brother away,” Sal said with a friendly smile.
“I didn’t do anything.” She didn’t understand why she suddenly felt defensive as if she’d done something wrong by spending time with Gio. It was Gio’s decision to invite her over.
“Don’t let them give you shit. As someone who’s been around the Masiello brothers for twenty years too long, they live to be assholes.”
She smiled at Lyn as the man winked at her.
“Lyn, hands off.”
She tipped her head back to find Gio glaring at Lyn.
“Dude, have we forgotten I’m gay?”
“I forget that because when’s the last time you had a boyfriend?”
Lyn groaned, and Renz instantly wrapped his arm around the other man’s waist. Lyn leaned into Renz, and she wondered if something was going on there.
“I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Exactly,” Gio said with a chuckle.
She listened with amusement as they kept giving each other shit. None of her brothers ever bantered like that without it turning into a brawl that most of the time required stitches or x-rays.
“Stay for guy’s night, we just finished our game, next was food and Renz chose video games for tonight’s entertainment,” Gio offered.
“Gio, it’s guys night, I can just head home.”
She’d gotten used to spending her evenings with him when he wasn’t working. Passing the time with someone other than Lauren was nice. She loved her best friend, but the woman really was all sunshine and positive thoughts. It annoyed her, and Lauren understood it. It was one of the reasons they’d been friends as long as they had. Lauren knew her limits and what she could take.
“No, come on, at least keep me company. I suck at video games.”
“That’s because you’re old and your reflexes are shit,” Renz smirked.
“I got fifty he can kick your ass.” She was surprised by the challenge before it had fully slipped passed her lips.
“Oh, we’re going to get serious tonight. You’re on, woman.”
She growled, and Gio’s fingers sunk into her soft stomach as she started to go after Renz. She hated when people called her woman or pet names. Gio called her baby, but that was different. It was Gio.
“Keep the woman comments to a minimum, please. She tackled my ass when I made the mistake.”
“Is that what you said?”
“That and I ordered you to turn down your fucking music.”
“It’s good music.”
“It’s screaming.”
“Just because you have no taste.”
“Come on. I have to win my girl fifty bucks.” Gio turned his back to her. “Hop on.” She rolled her eyes, twined her arms around his neck, and he carried her into the house piggyback style.
“No, no, you don’t get a lucky charm to sit on your lap.”
She listened to Renz complain behind her and the other brothers giving Renz shit. Gio kept one hand on her ass as he opened the door and walked into the kitchen, then let the door bang closed behind them. Leaving the others to open it and enter. She was placed on the counter beside the sink as he dug into his junk drawer for all the takeout menus.
“She won’t be on my lap. She’ll be sitting on the floor between my legs. That’s different. You got your best friend, let me have mine.”
It was a compliment and a slap all in one. She’d been put into the friend category. Not that she hadn’t expected it, but damn, couldn’t he have left her with her delusions.
“You’re in charge of picking dinner, baby, what do you want?”
He moved to stand between her knees, handed her the stack of menus, and rested his hands on the counter beside her hips. She went through them and went with the safe option of Chinese even though the Thai food appealed to her more. She’d never really had to worry about other people except for Lauren. It was odd to consider what others might like.
“Is that what you want?”
“Yeah.”
“Are you sure?”
“Just order the damn food.”
He wrote down her order and his, then threw the notepad toward the table as the other guys read the menu and chose.
“You’re a bossy little thing.”
“I’m not bossy.” She rolled her eyes as he arched a heavy brow, and she jerked as his fingers played along her ribs.
“Is someone ticklish?”
“I will kill you in your sleep.”
“That means you’d be in my room, so I might risk it.”
He hugged her to his chest, and his lips pressed to her temple. She couldn’t resist when she leaned into the caress of his lips.
“Baby,” he whispered in her ear.
“Yeah.” She played with the curls on his belly without looking at him.
“You keep touching me like that and I’m sending my brothers and friend home.”
She pulled back putting distance between them, then she looked up at him from under her lashes and stroked her fingers lower to the elastic waistband of his shorts.
“I dare you,” he said with a smirk.
Oh, dares were serious business, and she’d never turned one down in her life no matter how dangerous it was. She darted her gaze to the other people in the room and found them not paying attention to her and Gio. She stroked her tongue along her bottom lip, and she was surprised by her boldness. She slipped her fingers beneath the elastic, felt the tighter curls at the base of his cock and his huge hands tightened painfully on her hips. Her teeth sunk into her lower lip as she grazed her fingertips along the hot, silky skin.
His rough cheek teased hers.
“You’re playing with fire, a few more minutes and y
ou’re going to get yourself fucked. If you’re not ready to find yourself on my dick, you might want to stop.”
She drew back, her lips teasing the corner of his mouth and she retreated as he tried to kiss her.
His hand wrapped around the back of her neck, his fingertips digging into her skin, and his forehead pressed to hers. His breathing was ragged, his dick tented the front of his shorts, and his mouth came closer to hers. Drawing out the anticipation.
“Is that what you want, baby? Me to pound that sweet little body into my mattress? You know these walls are thin. You scream when you cum, little girl.”
“You…you’ve been listening?”
“You’ve gotten louder since you met me.” His words were a tease against her lips. “You’re going to be a good girl until they leave and then I’ll let you take care of what you did.”
Gio moved his body closer, and he groaned when his dick pressed into her stomach. She didn’t know what she was supposed to do. Yeah, she flicked the bean a lot, but she was single and horny. She’d never thought of finding someone who actually wanted her. Nervousness and excitement tightened her stomach, and her panties were soaked.
She was tugged off the counter and set gently on her feet. His cock pushed into her upper stomach. He pressed a lingering kiss to her mouth before he turned and left the room.
“Best friend my ass,” one of the brothers muttered, and they all wandered out of the room.
She collapsed back against the counter and lifted her hand to her mouth. She traced the curves of her lips. Shit, she glanced towards the back door and wondered if she could escape.
“Don’t you dare run, baby,” Gio yelled from somewhere in the house, and she heard the challenge, the dare in his tone.
She didn’t run. He could do his worst.
His Little Girl Wanted to Play
Violet was right where he said she’d be, sitting between his legs on the floor and with his arms around her. He didn’t resist touching her. His big hand cupped her breast since the touch was blocked by his legs and arms. She trembled as he played with her hard nipple. He rolled it between his thumb and forefinger. He smiled at her gasp before she caught herself. His company was too engrossed in the game to pay attention to them.