A chuckle makes its way up my throat, but it quickly cuts off as she begins riding my hand.
I let her set her pace, not moving an inch, but applying pressure where she leads me.
I’m straining in my jeans, aching.
But all I want right now is to drown in her raspy hums, to force the filth I’ve denied myself of into the air.
I want to hear her screams, feel her screams like a pulse beneath my skin, but before I can beg her for them, before I shred my own rule, a not so swallowed moan breaks through our little shelter, a deeper, heavier one following and we both freeze.
My head pops up when Maddoc groans, “Fuck, Snow.”
Victoria’s eyes fly to mine, but she doesn’t laugh or pull away.
She keeps chasing what she wants, intruders be damned.
Her pussy clenches around me, so I shift the slightest bit, letting her play on the tips of my fingers instead of my palm.
“Cover your ears,” I demand. “Your orgasm belongs to me.”
That has her eyes rolling back, her muscles squeezing.
I push two fingers inside of her, keeping my thumb up to push against her clit and she starts to shake, the ivy beside her quivering with her, alerting the others they aren’t alone either.
She comes, biting into her lip as her eyes slam shut, her walls flexing against me, and I press my hard-on into her leg, my thigh muscles tightening to chase some relief.
Heavy steps against dead leaves follow, but she doesn’t hear them, and I don’t dare pull out of her, not yet, not when she’s still riding out her orgasm.
And when her eyes finally open, they’re focused over my shoulder.
She doesn’t get embarrassed, tug away or bury her face.
She gives a hard, bratty blink, a heavy eye roll following as her body begins to sag.
“Raven wasn’t kidding,” she pants. “There are literally no secrets between you guys.”
I shift my head, looking over my shoulder without moving.
Royce and Maddoc are standing there.
“I’ll admit.” Royce nods his head, crossing his arms as he looks from Maddoc to me. “Hide and seek was a shit idea with a kid.”
“Hide and go seek is for kids,” Victoria corrects him.
“Yeah, okay.” He scoffs, and starts walking away. “And chocolate syrup was made for ice cream!”
Chapter 21
Victoria
Chloe dashes by, grabs my arm and yanks me close with a wide smile and red cheeks.
I tear free from her. “What the hell?”
She grins. “If my dad asks, I was with you!”
“What—”
“Chloe!” is boomed in the empty hall, echoing across from one end to the next and she clamps her lips shut with a laugh, yanks her loud-ass heels from her feet and disappears into the bathroom the second Mr. Carpo steps around the corner looking full-on mob boss.
He skids to a stop. “Ms. Vega.”
“Mr. Carpo.”
“Did you see my daughter come this way?”
“Yeah, we were in the bathroom, but she left a few minutes ago,” I lie.
His eyes narrow, so I add, “I pissed off a Brayshaw, she was, you know, taking a minute to rub it in.”
He frowns, nods, and then the poor guy apologizes, and I have to fight back a laugh.
“She’s working on...”
“Manners?” I quirk. “Yeah, I noticed.”
He chuckles, running a hand down his face. “Well, I guess that’s a good thing. Lunch is in fifteen minutes, go back to class, all right?” He turns toward his office.
Suddenly Mac pokes his head out of a door down the hall, grinning when he sees me standing there, his hair a tangled mess on the top of his head, pink lipstick on his neck.
I cross my arms and he laughs as he saunters this way.
He nods his chin. “Vee.”
“Mac.”
Chloe comes out, hair back to perfect and wraps an arm through his.
She smiles. “Thanks.”
And off they go.
I make it back to class just a few minutes before the lunch bell rings.
“I’m starved.” Raven stands, waiting for me to pack up my things.
“That’s news to absolutely no one,” I tell her.
She laughs and we make our way from the room, finding Maddoc waiting just outside as always.
He pulls her into him, kissing her neck as we walk down the hall.
My steps slow as Amber plants herself right in front of Captain at the end of it, where he, Royce, and Mac stand waiting for the rest of us.
“Here we go.” Raven smirks, shaking her head, and I don’t miss Maddoc’s scoff at her side. “You’ve been on his arm, at his side, and in his bed for weeks. She’s testing your status.”
“Let her.”
Raven’s head jerks toward mine. “For real?”
We keep moving forward with slower steps than normal.
“She wants to get under my skin, fuck her.”
“She wants to fuck your man.” Raven side-eyes me.
“And won’t even get close.”
“How can you be sure?”
“You just called him mine, right?”
Maddoc shakes his head. “Stay out of it, Snow,” he warns with a kiss.
“Oh, I am.” She turns to me with a grin. “You want to let her think she can touch him and get away with it, that’s on you.”
“Then why are you laughing?”
She only smirks and looks ahead.
Chloe steps up right before we do, rolling her eyes at the pretty girl in booty shorts and a tank top.
We catch the tail end of the conversation, right as Amber slinks closer, allowing her hip to pop out as she says, “It’s going to be fun, but it would be better with you there.”
Captain’s eyes shift, meeting mine over Amber's head, and he lifts his arm, casually sliding it right past her, his forearm brushing her shoulder as he does she’s so close to him.
She must think he’s about to wrap her up, pull her in and accept her invite, because she leans into him.
The second she does, though, I’m shoved from behind, landing right into Captain’s large and waiting hands.
I’m pulled, spun and planted right in front of him. In the next second, his long fingers slip into the front pockets of my jeans, pushing my body into his.
I look to Maddoc finding a smirk on his lips.
Shithead.
“Sounds like a good time, Amber,” Captain finally replies. “Maybe we’ll be there.”
Amber is only inches from me, her mouth agape as she slowly shuffles backward, a forced, partial smile finding its way back to her lips.
She lifts her bag higher on her shoulder and nods. “Yeah, okay.”
My eyes fall to the purse she grips tight.
“New purse?”
Her glare is instant and on me, but she says nothing, spins on her heels and walks away.
Chloe and I laugh while the others look at us confused.
It lights a small flare in my chest.
How about that, an inside joke I’m on the other side of.
As the group makes their way into the cafeteria, Cap holds me back, and turns me in his arms to face him.
An unquenchable warmth stares back as his hands begin to trace my ribs, something I’ve noted he likes to do.
My shape, it’s one he likes.
His knuckles lift my chin, and he leans forward, planting his lips at the curve of it, then on the hollow of my throat, his dirty whispers moving to my ear.
“I thought of you last night,” he shares, his heated breath making my toes curl in my shoes.
“Before or after you left my bed?”
He squeezes my ass with his free hand, the one under my chin now teasing the skin of my neck and collarbone.
“Before, during, and after... long, long after, Beauty.”
I lick my lips and wait for more.
“You rolled over
and whispered in my ear,” he tells me. “Do you remember that, or did my baby talk in her sleep for me again?”
His baby?
Oh god.
My chest falls to his, and he drops his shoulders to the wall behind him.
“Yeah, you talked in your sleep.” He nips at the skin beneath my ear, his other hand joining the one on my ass and pushing me against him. “You told me you wanted to roll me on my back, so you could climb on top and show me what I do to you. You said you’d ride me slow, drive me mad… that what you want, Beauty?”
I swallow, my eyes closing as he rubs against me, pressing his now hard cock into my hip.
“If you’d have woken me up, I would have given you what I promised,” I admit. “Gladly.”
“Oh you did...”
I tug my head back to look at him.
His eyes blaze, pupils dilated beyond belief. “I went to my bed, locked my door, and laid flat on my back. I closed my eyes, and there you were.”
He thought of me...
“You rode me slow, as you said you would, clawed at my chest when you learned I liked it, and ground into me at a torturous pace.” He unveils his late-night fantasy. “I leaned against my headboard, and suddenly your nipples were in reach, and you were all about it, Beauty. You pressed the taut little pebbles into my mouth ... and so I bit.”
I suck my stomach in as a heavy need grows throughout my body, clenching my core to seek some relief and the corner of his mouth tips up.
He sees it, knows what’s happening inside me, but he keeps talking.
“When I bit down, you went wild, picked up speed, and begged me for my cum.” He hides his face in my neck again, sucking on the skin there and my hands fly up, latching onto his biceps. “My cock was in my hands, my cum in my own palm, but you earned every drop, and I can’t fuckin’ wait to give it to you for real.”
He lets me go, slips right by, and disappears into the cafeteria.
I’m stuck standing in the hall, ridiculously turned on and there’s nothing I can do about it, so I suck it up, and follow.
I probably look like I was just thoroughly fucked, red and wanton, but I don’t care.
Especially not when Cap hears my footsteps behind his and pauses. He flashes a devastating grin as he reaches for my hand.
He knew what he was doing.
With a light chuckle, I slide my palm into his and just like that, he stands a little taller.
All eyes are on us the remainder of the day.
Sure he’s had me on his lap and his hands around me dozens of times since he deemed me as his Bray Girl, making me untouchable to others, male and female alike, but today it’s different.
The few days that follow even more so.
Captain’s touch has gone from controlled to possessive, his hands constantly roam my body, and his lips are never far from my skin.
People notice the shift and I’m more than here for it.
They might see a difference in their beloved Brayshaw, but I can feel it.
His eyes linger longer than his touch, and he does all he can to make sure they’re forever on me.
He likes me close, which tells me we are so close.
So, after school on Friday, when I spot Amber pulling her little shiny silver car beside Captain’s as he, Maddoc and Raven stand at his hood, waiting for me and Royce, I’m annoyed.
She climbs from the driver seat, and props her ass near the headlight as she plays with her hair, smiling up at Captain as he blandly stares at her.
This chick, I swear.
She’s gorgeous, but she needs to back up.
“Awe shit, I know that face.” Royce chuckles.
“She’s something else.”
“Girls a power chasing, hoochie mama with your man in her sights, VicVee.” He grins.
My eyes narrow on the scene and I slip my arms through both the straps of my backpack, securing it on better.
Maddoc and Captain are both looking at Amber as Royce and I grow closer, but Raven spots us coming from the front seat.
Her eyes follow our steps.
“Pop the back for me?” I ask Royce.
He laughs and runs ahead.
Captain
The soft click of my trunk opening has both mine and Maddoc’s heads snapping that way.
Royce comes into view first, a wide grin in place, but then Victoria whips past him, her arm at her side as she makes her way around the silver Audi.
Amber follows my line of sight, spotting Vee coming from the other side.
What—
Suddenly she lifts a bat, bringing it down across the windshield in one hard, full swing.
“Oh my god!” Amber jumps back, her hands in the air.
The glass shatters but doesn’t fall in, so Victoria hops up on the hood and stomps through it, kicking it in completely until the glass covers the inside of the car.
And I just fucking stand there staring.
She jumps down, both feet planting at once, one of them an inch from Amber’s.
Without looking, Victoria bends her elbow, tosses the bat up, and catches the barrel. She casually drapes it over the back of her neck, her free hand coming up to grip the stem.
She cocks her head but says not a damn word.
And she doesn’t have to, because there it fucking was.
My girl’s public claim.
Amber gets the message, her eyes falling to the ground as she rushes through the crowd that’s gathered a few feet back and disappears who the hell knows where.
‘Bout damn time, Beauty.
Maybe it makes me a pussy, but I can’t pretend I wasn’t waiting for it.
I push off the car, moving toward her and reach over her shoulders for the bat.
She lets me take it with ease, slips past me and into the open door Maddoc holds for her with a smirk.
Royce laughs, knocking his shoulder with mine as I go to put the bat in the back where it belongs, and before I close it, Raven spins in her seat, smiling at her sister. “That’s what I thought.”
The girls laugh as I climb inside, and then we head home.
Later that night, after dinner when everyone is settled in, Maddoc and Raven in their own room, Royce on his computer in his, me and Zoey knock on Victoria’s door.
It opens on its own, having not been fully closed, and her head pops up, eyes widening at the sight.
She sets her textbook aside, lowering her pencil with it. Her gaze moves from mine to Zoey’s.
“Hey, ZoZo,” she eases.
“I got new jammies, wanna see?!” She smiles, tugs free of my hand and runs inside.
I’m stuck in the doorway, watching as Zoey climbs on Victoria’s bed with her, and pulls at the bottom of her shirt. “It’s got rainbows and this.” She points to rain clouds. “You like ‘em?”
Victoria giggles. “I do and guess what?” she lowers her voice as if she has a secret and like a child eager to learn, I find myself leaning closer. “I have some jammies kind of like those.”
Zoey gasps. “You do?!”
She nods with a small smile. “Wanna see?” she mimics Zoey’s question.
Zoey laughs, rubbing her hands together in excitement and I can’t help the chuckles that escape.
Victoria’s eyes slide to mine as she climbs from her bed and pulls a pair of cotton pants from her drawer, somewhat similar to the ones Zoey has on.
She shows them to her and Zoey laughs, counting the little rainbows as she falls back on Victoria’s pillows.
Pressure fills my chest, but for the first time, there is no added worry behind it.
Vee’s eyes find mine. “Everything okay?”
I nod, leaning against the frame and her focus falls to my bare chest, but quickly comes right back.
She drops onto her mattress, her hands anxiously gliding along her thighs as she studies me.
An ache forms in the pit of my stomach as I watch her and the curious look that takes over her face as she tracks the pensive expre
ssion on mine.
I can’t deny what I’ve been trying to say when the clarity of the matter burns so bright, and she sees it.
“Cap...”
“She wanted to say goodnight,” I tell her, “But I don’t think I’m ready for bed yet.”
She waits.
I walk inside, lift Zoey from the mattress and move back into the hall, pausing to turn to her.
With slow steps, she meets me where I stand, follows me into the media room, and when I drop onto the couch with Zoey on my lap, she lowers to my side.
We sit and watch CoCo for the fifteenth time, Zoey playing with Victoria’s hair, my arms wrapped tight around them both.
Chapter 22
Captain
Zoey stands beside me, Easter basket dangling from both hands as she stomps her feet excitedly, not so patiently waiting as my dad takes off his suit jacket, giving her something to sit on the grass with.
He lays it out beside the only two picnic tables we could find that weren’t crammed with a dozen others here at the festival.
As quickly as he’s stepping back, she’s falling to her knees and pouring everything from her basket. She stares at all the sealed plastic eggs with a bright smile.
“Is there candy in them?” she asks.
“I don’t know, open and see.”
“Maybe there’re stickers!”
I grin. “Maybe.”
She gasps, looking to me. “Maybe there’s a frog!”
I start laughing, the others following suit.
A frog?
“I don’t know, Zo.” I chuckle. “But we’re about to find out.”
One by one she starts to open them, finding something new each time.
We may have gone a little overboard, but being her first holiday at home, me and my brothers wanted it to be special, so we stayed up half the night decorating the house and hiding eggs from the mansion to the orchard.
We got the biggest, fluffiest bunny we could find, setting it in the center of the room, but when it came to her basket, the big overflowing one we brought home and the mountain of toys to go with, it didn’t feel right, so we tossed it in the back of Royce’s SUV. He drove the stuff over to Mac to make sure someone who might need it would get it in time, while me and Maddoc called Maybell in a panic. She laughed and asked us to come down to the Bray house.
BE MY BRAYSHAW Page 21