by Fawkes, Sara
“I thought you’d never get done in there.”
Arms wrapped themselves over my shoulders as Everett moved in behind me, laying his chin on one shoulder. “It’s the master bedroom,” he murmured in my ear, sending chills up my body. “You can stay here for the night.”
“But…” I was speechless, looking around the room. Setting this up must have taken him forever, as well as lighting this many candles. “You did this for me?” I whispered.
He nuzzled my neck, lips laying a soft kiss just behind my ear, and my breath hitched in my throat. “I thought you deserved something nice after the day you’ve had.”
I turned in his arms and stared up into his eyes. Everett had a small smile on his face and, despite the opportunity to look down my towel, kept his eyes fixed on my face. He stroked my cheek with one hand. “Everyone deserves some happy memory, something they can …”
My kiss silenced him. I looped my arms around his neck as his grip tightened across my back, pressing me against his body. His clothing was dry, meaning he’d changed, but the thin pajama pants did little to hide the telltale bulge. So he’s not as unaffected as I thought. As an experiment, I pressed my hips forward, rubbing his chest with mine, and heard his breath hitch.
“Why did you really do this?” I whispered, staring up into his eyes.
His throat worked, hands tightening against my back. “Because every girl should get a proper first time.”
I knew exactly what he was saying, and drew in a shaky breath. “I’ve had mine,” I murmured, but before I could get lost in the darkness he shook his head.
“No, you didn’t.” Everett lifted up my chin until I was forced to look at his face. “Yours was stolen from you. What happened was cruel and unforgivable, and you deserve better.”
“And you think you can give me one better?”
“I’d like to try, more than anything in the world.”
His offer made me want to cry. A loud, cynical part of my soul cried out, He’s a boy. He doesn’t care about you. He just wants sex. But the candles, the truth I saw in his eyes, told me there was so much more. Torn, I laid my hand on his chest, feeling his heart beat beneath my palms. I wanted him so bad it hurt, and yet … “I don’t want to be that girl anymore.”
He took my hand and kissed the palm. “Then start over. Be whoever you want to be. Lacey, if you say no, then I’ll walk away and still be your friend tomorrow.” He stroked my cheek again. “But please say yes.”
I stared up into his eyes, then with a shaky hand I pulled out the little knot to the towel wrapped around me. The terry cloth stayed in place, held there by our pressing bodies. “Help me with this?” I whispered, my body tightening with longing as his eyes sharpened.
Everett skimmed his hands up my sides, lifting my arms and raising them above my head. I held them there as he carefully unwrapped the large towel from around me, shivering from far more than the cold. I swallowed as the towel, no longer held in place, slipped from my body.
“You’re so beautiful.”
Drawing in a trembling breath, I lowered my arms around his neck. His fingers slid down my back, following my backbone before fanning out over my hips. Then, with barely any noticeable effort, he grabbed my backside and picked me up. Yelping in surprise, I wrapped my legs around his waist, then stared down wide-eyed into his smiling face.
“I gotcha,” he said, winking, and then one hand went behind my head, pulling me down into a kiss. I sighed, parting my lips to accept the flicks of his tongue as he walked us across the room to the bed. He laid me slowly back onto the large mattress and carefully crawled over on top of me, straddling my body. I clung to him, even when he let me go, but Everett didn’t seem to mind. My hands went down across his chest, then started tugging at his shirt. “Take this off.”
He quickly complied, pulling it over his head. Biting my lip, I ran my hands along the bare torso I’d been dying to touch for so long. His touch mirrored mine, and I arched my back as his palms brushed across my aching nipples. He flicked them with his thumbs and I groaned.
“You’re so sexy,” he breathed above me. His hands moved across my skin, and I arched my back more to give him better access. He dipped his head and I gasped as his mouth closed over one nipple. A needy groan exploded out of me as Everett dragged his teeth over one breast, then across to the other.
His hands moved around to span my belly, sliding down across my hips. He grasped my thighs and spread my legs, and I closed my eyes, trying to block out the sexiness of his gaze locked on mine.
It was his turn to groan as he bent down again, his lips meeting mine, his kisses growing suddenly fierce. I met him, lips and tongue clashing as he jerked his hips forward, pressing against my aching sex and making me gasp. Small needy sounds came from my mouth as I tried to push down his pants, desperate for more.
“I have something else in mind.”
His kisses trailed down my neck and down my belly, and I jerked as I felt lips press over me. A cry tore from my lips as his tongue flicked out, brushing over the hard bud of my clit. I grabbed at the sheets above me, hanging on for dear life as his mouth worked magic, drawing guttural cries from my throat. By the time he lifted his head, I was a quivering mess, my body already worn out by pleasure.
Everett stalked up my body, trailing kisses along my torso as I sank my hands into his hair. “I want to be inside you so bad,” he murmured against my skin, lips moving along my jaw. “I want to feel you around me, make you cry my name as you come.”
I grabbed his head, pulling his lips to mine, as he maneuvered himself over me. He didn’t move any closer, however, even when I wrapped my legs around his waist silently urging him on. When he did lower himself over me finally, he still didn’t go inside, instead sliding his hard shaft through my wet folds. I dug my nails into his back, urging him on with my cries, but his will was like iron.
His grip tightened on me and I thought for sure this was it. I was ready to take him, desperate to feel him inside me, but I wasn’t prepared when he rolled us sideways, reversing our positions. I blinked down at him in the candlelight, and Everett just grinned. “Your turn.”
It never occurred to me until that minute, but I’d never had sex on top of a boy like this. There was a certain vulnerability to the position, but power as well. I realized as I sat on his hips, feeling him hard against my backside. I ran my hands across his torso, testing out the field, and heard his small groan when I raked my fingernails lightly across his muscles. A slow smile spread across my face as I leaned forward, sliding my backside up and down his shaft.
His fingers dug into my hips. “Tease,” he gasped, and I laughed.
No matter the position, there were things my body desperately needed. Teasing wasn’t enough, and as I lifted my hips and settled him at my opening, I saw his lips part. When I pressed down, letting him fill me, his chest stuttered. “God,” he moaned as I reached the base, then lifted myself again. His hands ran up my torso as I began riding him, slow at first but with longer strokes in and out as I found our rhythm.
The memory of us dancing earlier at the club flashed across my mind, and as the DJ’s music filled my head I rolled my hips. Everett’s hands tightened around my knees, his head arching backward, so I did it again. “Fuck, you feel good,” he groaned and I licked my lips, twisting my hips and squeezing around him until he moaned.
I leaned forward and gasped as the position rubbed him against something inside my body. He must have liked it, too, because he surged up inside me, and I cried out.
The world tilted, and suddenly I was back down on the mattress with Everett looming above me. There was no mercy in his face as he stared down at me, only hard need. He surged inside me, stabbing deep, and I cried out in pleasure. His need matched my own, and I scrabbled at his back, tilting my hips up to meet his thrusts. Guttural cries were pulled from his throat as his teeth grazed my shoulder, and I hooked my ankles behind his back.
My orgasm rose quickly in the face of hi
s intensity, and I gave a startled cry as it broke over me. Everett lifted his head and our eyes met. I cried out again as he thrust hard inside me, the move sending waves upon waves through my body. He gave a hoarse shout, and then his body shuddered above mine.
I closed my eyes, trying to catch my breath. Everett, spent as well, lowered himself over me, pressing me into the mattress with his weight. I wrapped my arms around him and we stayed like that for a minute, just catching our collective breath.
“So,” I murmured when I could breathe right again, “you up for another go?”
Not even bothering to raise his head and look at me, Everett held up one index finger. “Give me a minute to answer that.”
I smiled and gathered him close. Tiny tremors still shook my body occasionally but I was loath to give this up just yet. My fingers drew tiny circles on his back, moving up and down his spine, until he finally stirred. Pulling himself out of me, he wrapped his arms around my body and pulled me sideways until we were spooning. He nuzzled my hair and kissed my ear. “That was nice.”
“Nice?” Twisting in his arms, I turned to see him grinning at me. “Just nice, huh?”
“Really nice? Incredibly nice? What about holy-cow-I’d-do-it-again-if-I-weren’t-so-spent nice?” He pulled me closer so that my breasts pressed against his chest. “Would incredible be a better word?”
“You’re getting warmer.” I pushed his dark locks back from his face, enjoying the silky feel of his hair through my fingers. “Are you this charming with all the girls you meet?”
He shook his head. “Just the ones I like.”
“How often does that happen?”
The edges of his smile tipped downward and something dark flickered in his eyes. Then just as quickly, it was gone. “Not too often, actually.”
Realizing I’d struck a nerve, I flicked his ear as a distraction. “So you’re saying I should feel lucky?” I said in a prim voice, and was rewarded by another smile. “Because, for all I know, that was just a one-time experience.”
The fingers doing slow circles over my hip bone stilled. “One-time?”
“You know, the kind that can’t happen again.” I made a show of looking at my nails as Everett sputtered. “Maybe you only have it in you to do this once tonight, and that would be okay, many men …”
Everett growled, and suddenly I was on my back again. He stared smugly down at me. “Challenge accepted,” he murmured, lowering his lips back to mine.
* * *
“What’s the best thing about New York City?”
“Why do you want to hear about New York so much?”
“Because it isn’t here.” I propped my chin on my hands on his chest, staring up at his face. “How long have you lived there?”
“Mostly I just went to a boarding school there. My family lived elsewhere, only coming to see me for the holidays.”
I frowned. “That sounds like a really cold childhood.”
Everett shrugged. “It was all I knew at the time. Eventually, my parents began spending the summer in the state as well, preferring the company I guess. I was in the city more often than at home.”
“So what’s a city boy like you doing in someplace like Oyster Cove?”
“Well, I went to college with Trent, and then followed him here when I needed to get away from family.” He poked a finger on the tip of my nose. “Question is, why are you still here?”
I let my head fall against his belly, muffling my answer. He lifted my head, raising his eyebrows, and I sighed. “There was always one more reason to stay, one last piece of the puzzle to figure out before I could go.”
Everett gave me a droll look. “So you always made excuses,” he translated.
“Precisely.” I laid my cheek against Everett’s chest. “Whether it was my brother’s daycare bill, or my truck was out of commission, there was always something holding me back. Usually it came down to money, and how much I lacked whenever things got really bad.”
“Where would you go?”
I hitched one shoulder. “Somewhere I could play the piano. Some place nobody knows anything about me.”
“What about your family in Oregon?”
“Why do you always ask about them?”
The question came out more confrontational than I’d intended, but Everett answered anyway. “One of the biggest influences in my life was a man completely unrelated to me. My parents haven’t played a big part of my life. This man would come regularly to see me in New York, send me cards and gifts for my birthday and holidays. Anytime things got bad, he would be the first person to show up to help.”
I digested that for a moment, laying my head against his chest again. “I may need to contact them soon anyway,” I murmured, feeling reluctant to even say the words. “I think my baby brother’s being abused.”
Everett was silent for a long moment. “Is that why you got kicked out?”
I nodded my head, misery rising up. “My grandmother accused me of doing it, and my mom didn’t bother to defend me.”
“Which you think is doing it, your mom or your grandmother?”
I shook my head. “I don’t know, and that’s the worst part of all. Whatever I do, I need to do it soon for my brother’s sake.” I laid my cheek on his chest, tightening my arms around his chest. “Do you have any siblings?”
“None.”
“Did you ever wish you did?”
Everett shook his head. “Would you move back to Oregon if you could patch things up with your family?”
The change in subject wasn’t subtle, but I let it slide. “It’s a lot more expensive to live there than here …”
“All I hear are more excuses.”
I stuck my tongue out at him. “New York sounds good, too,” I quipped, and Everett stilled. It was too late to take back my words, and I felt like kicking myself. “Bet that sounded crazy-stalkerish,” I said glumly, expecting he wanted to run.
“No, it’s just … surprising.”
“Why?”
He didn’t answer immediately, which only made me feel worse. Now was too early in, well, whatever we had for me to get possessive. The thought of him leaving again at the end of summer made my heart hurt, however. Embarrassed by my revelation, I tried to roll away only to have Everett’s arm snag me back against him. “Did I say you could leave?”
The imperious question made me throw him a frown, which quickly became a laugh as he made a face at me. “Oh yeah, so sexy,” I said, giggling as he rolled over atop me.
“I’ll show you sexy,” he growled, pressing me onto the mattress and taking my lips with his. I answered his need with my own wrapping my arms around his neck and tilting my body up to accept him.
We stayed like this all night, waking one another up as the hunger dictated. Once I woke him with my mouth and rode him to completion. Another time, I awoke to find us spooned together with him already inside me. Every time was magical, and with each successive coupling we slept more and more soundly until finally it was light outside.
When I awoke the final time, the bed beside me was empty. Light steamed in through the nearby windows and I pulled the sheets up to my neck. Candles dotted the walls, burned or blown out by now. I was alone in the large room, and I wasn’t sure how I felt about that.
My whole plan for a new life had been to stay away from boys and focus on me for once. I’d been doing well until I’d let Everett in as my tutor. Now I was back to square one, naked and alone in a strange bed at a boy’s house. How was this any different than before, the life I’d been desperate to leave?
I stretched, reveling in the delicious soreness. Because it’s Everett’s bed.
As desperate as I was for a new life, there was nothing about the previous night I could regret. I rolled my head sideways, smiling at the candles on the small stand beside the bed. They had burned down overnight, but just seeing them reminded me of the romance.
I’d never met anyone like Everett. The myth of the Southern gentlemen, as least in
my experience, was a lie. Everett may not be Southern, but he’d never been anything but the perfect gentleman, almost too good to be true. I’d been burned so many times that I’d almost given up on men.
Apparently, there were still a few good ones scattered here and there. Somehow, one had managed to land here in Oyster Cove.
I looked around the room, and to my surprise I spotted a small pile of clothes at the foot of the bed. A torn off sheet of paper laid atop them, saying simply, “For you.” I had no idea whose clothes they were but they did appear to be roughly the right size. I cleaned up quickly in the bathroom before stepping outside into the hallway.
I hadn’t seen the inside of the house yet, only glimpses through the window. It was like something straight out of the Gone with the Wind set, at least until you noticed the big flat-screen TV above the fireplace. The furniture looked period as well, although whether they were indeed antiques or modern replicas I hadn’t the eye to tell.
For some reason, the bodies of boys draped over the dainty Antebellum chairs amused me. All of Everett’s coworkers from the bar were here, although I hadn’t heard them arrive at the house last night. I tiptoed downstairs, trying to make as little noise as possible, but I needn’t have bothered. Loud snoring came from the far area as Vance somehow managed to sleep sideways in an armchair half his size. The couch held Trent who, as I watched, snorted in his sleep, sounding for all the world like a pig.
“You up for breakfast?”
Everett’s whispered voice came from an opening at the far end of the room as he peeked inside. I carefully avoided furniture and passed-out boys, moving into a massive country kitchen. “Nice,” I murmured, looking around at the high ceilings and thick tile.
“You work today?”
I nodded. “Later this afternoon. I’m playing for a wedding reception.”
“Too bad.” Everett snatched me close, and I pursed my lips to keep from laughing too loudly. “Because I have plans for you …”
Giggling came from inside the other room, definitely not from any of the boys laid out on the furniture. Frowning, I leaned back, peeking into the other room just in time to see two skinny girls, a blonde and a brunette, escape out the front door. Cole was coming down the stairs, a big grin on his face. “Being in a band is awesome,” he announced loudly, jolting several nearby awake. Trent groaned, grabbing his head in obvious pain.