Shooting For Love - A Standalone Novel (A Suspenseful Bad Boy Neighbor Romance Love Story) (Burbank Brothers, Book #2)

by Naomi Niles

  “Because he was my brother,” she replied simply.

  I felt her eyes grow heavy with memory and understood instantly. Would I have done any less for one of my brothers? Would I have done any less for Talen? I realized that in her place, I would have done exactly the same thing, even if it meant uprooting my entire life.

  “From there, it was a slippery slope,” Madison went on. “While I nursed Victor back to health, he kept getting visits from this guy, Kameron. I just thought he was a friend at first, but it was only later that I realized who he really was.”

  “Who was he?”

  “Kameron,” Madison repeated his name softly. “He was the drug dealer who had employed my brother. For all intents and purposes, he was Victor’s boss. He ran almost every aspect of my brother’s life. I think it was at that point that I realized I had gotten in too deep.”

  “You could have left again,” I said. “You could have packed up your things and gone.”

  Madison smiled, but it was a sad smile, punctuated with threads of fear. “By then, it was too late.”

  “Too late?” I repeated. “Why?”

  “Because by that time…I believed that I was in love with Kameron.”

  I felt my heart sink a little, but she held my gaze and I couldn’t look away. “You fell in love with your brother’s drug dealer?”

  “Yes,” she nodded. “And when I found out how deep their operation went, I made excuses that I had never made before. I refused to do drugs myself, but somehow, I managed to find ways to justify why Victor and Kameron did. After a few months, after Victor had recovered, I moved in with Kameron.

  “At first things were okay, but then, slowly and with time, things started to change and I started to see who Kameron really was. He was controlling, possessive, and manipulative. He was aggressive, selfish, and prone to fits of violence. I moved in with him because I thought I loved him. But I stayed because I was scared to leave.”

  “Was he violent with you?” I asked, balling my hands into fists underneath the table. “Did he ever hit you?”

  Madison’s moment of hesitation was all the answer I needed.

  “That fucking bastard.”

  “It happened only a few times.”

  “Even once is one time too many,” I said, through gritted teeth. “He had no right to touch you.”

  “No, you’re right,” Madison nodded. “He had no right – but the thing is, I gave him all the power he needed. He knew I had no one and no savings. He knew that the one person I could go to for help was the one person he had in his pocket.”

  “Did your brother know about the abuse?”

  “No, he didn’t,” Madison replied. “Kameron never hit me hard enough to leave bruises or scars or wounds. He hit to insult and embarrasses me. He hit me to make a point and assert his dominance. It wasn’t about pain for him; it was about power.”

  “Didn’t you ever tell your brother?” I asked.

  Madison sighed. “I was proud. I had preached to him so often about his life choices that I felt like I couldn’t go to him. I was ashamed of my own choices, but I still didn’t want to admit that. And, I suppose a small part of me was scared that Victor would side with Kameron.”

  “He’s your brother,” I said. “Surely he cares more about you than he does about that cocksucker?”

  Madison gave a hopeless laugh that tore at my chest. “That’s what I always hoped,” she said. “But yesterday’s conversation with him proved that my fears were justified.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “That’s why my arrival in Fort Collins was so sudden,” Madison said, looking down at her hands. “I was running from Kameron. And, my brother called me yesterday to try and get me to come back. He told me that Kameron was looking for me. It almost felt like a threat.”

  Instinctively, I reached across the table and took Madison’s hand in my own. I could feel the hurt and fear waft off of her, and I wanted desperately to hold her. She looked at me and she forced a smile on her face. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I didn’t mean to bring the mood down.”

  “Don’t be silly,” I said, at once. “You didn’t bring anything down.”

  Gently, Madison pulled her hand out from underneath mine. I saw her face working overtime to keep the tears from her eyes and realized that she didn’t want to break down in front of me. If I tried to hold her now, she wouldn’t be able to hold her pain together. So, I kept my distance and let her have her space.

  “I’m in college, you know,” she said, with some difficulty, forcing her tone into brightness. I knew she was trying hard to change the subject, so I went along with it for her sake.

  “You are?”

  “Well…in a manner of speaking,” she said. “I’m taking online courses and completing assignments on a credit basis. I’ve been working at it for about five years now, and I’m finally close to graduating. I just have seven more lessons to read up on and two assignments to complete and I will be eligible to graduate this year.”

  I smiled at the pride in her tone. “Wow, Madison,” I said. “That’s some achievement. You must be so proud of yourself.”

  “I am actually,” Madison nodded. “Very proud.”

  I smiled. “I never went to college myself, and I always regretted it. I’m glad to know that you won’t ever have to.”

  Madison smiled and nodded shyly, but I could tell that her mind was working overtime, trying to forget the mess she had run from and trying to hold together her emotions in my presence.

  “It’s coming down hard,” she said, looking out towards the window.

  I took the opportunity to stare at the perfect lines of her face. She was a beautiful woman, and her story had only made her more beautiful in my eyes.

  “Madison,” I said. “If you ever feel like you need a place to crash for a night, you’re always welcome here. You and Polo.”

  She smiled, understanding the offer. “I can’t come over here every time I’m scared that Kameron might show up, Peter. You have your life to live.”

  “I mean it,” I said firmly. “Any time at all. My door is always open. You can come to me for anything. If you receive a message, call me. If you’re scared of the dark, call me. If you hear a sound you don’t like, call me. I don’t care it if ends up being a rat running through the pipelines.”

  I could see that she was touched by my offer, but I could also see that she was reluctant to accept it. “Thank you for that,” was all she said. “And thank you for dinner…but I think I need to say goodnight now.”

  It wasn’t as abrupt an ending as the night before, but it was as unwelcome. I could see that our dinner conversation had upset her, however, and I didn’t want to make things worse by insisting she stay.

  “I’ll walk you to your door,” I said, rising from the table.

  “No, Peter,” she said immediately. “That’s really not necessary.”

  “It’s coming down hard,” I pointed out. “I don’t want you getting wet.”

  I grabbed an umbrella from the cupboard next to the kitchen and walked outside with Madison by my side. The rain had picked up and the air was cold. I could feel rain smack at my back as we walked towards her front door. I stopped at the threshold as she opened the door and turned to me.

  “Thank you,” she said as Polo lapped at her heels.

  “It was my pleasure,” I replied sincerely.

  Once she was safely inside, I turned around and retraced my steps back to the house. I flung the wet umbrella to one side of the front door and moved towards the dining room to clear away the plates. I was about to make my second trip back to the kitchen when I heard a loud knock on the door.

  Frowning, I went to answer it. I opened the door to find myself face to face with Madison. She was standing there, on my porch, dripping wet and shaking. Her dress clung to her body, and I could see the curve of her breasts through the thin fabric.

  “Madison,” I breathed.

  She didn’t reply. She took o
ne leaping step forward and kissed me.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Madison

  I didn’t know what came over me. I had never had the confidence to make the first move, let alone a blatantly sexual overture. All I knew was that something inside me snapped the moment the door closed on Peter.

  Polo was wagging his tail and prancing around my legs, I could feel the cold engulf me from the rain we’d just walked through, and my head was spinning with the story I’d just narrated.

  I had turned to the window and watched as Peter jogged back up to his house with umbrella in hand. He jumped onto his porch and disappeared through his front door. And the moment I saw that, this overwhelming feeling of loneliness engulfed me.

  I shivered for a moment and continued staring at his empty porch with the rain beating hard against it and tried to suppress the gut-wrenching sense of need throwing itself into my consciousness.

  I flashed through my life in twenty seconds. I saw my mother in her drunken stupor, I saw my brother in his drug-addled fog, and I even saw the father who had left before I could put a face to his name. I had lived my life with a plethora of different people; some had passed in and out of my life without leaving an impression, and others had cemented themselves in my memory.

  But none of them had been like Peter. He was a strong, safe, and secure presence. And I realized, standing there in the absence of his company, that I had been craving that kind of safety my whole life.

  The moment that thought formulated in my head, it crystallized into awareness, and then instinct kicked in and I was running out my front door into the rain. The cold hit me like a ton of bricks, but I didn’t feel it as badly as I had a moment ago.

  I just ran back to the house. I just ran back to Peter. I didn’t hesitate. I ran onto his porch and knocked at his door. I didn’t let myself think. Thinking would only make me chicken out and I wasn’t prepared to chicken out now. He opened the door almost immediately, and I felt my heartbeat falter a little.

  “Madison?” he said, in a concerned voice.

  How could I have answered him? I had no way of explaining my presence there other than with my actions.

  So, I took a deep breath and jumped into his arms, kissing him with all the need and desire that was catapulting around inside me. He stumbled back under the weight of my assault, but I felt his arms enclose me instantly. He kissed me back hard, and I felt my lips part beneath his willingness and a desire that seemed to match my own.

  I heard the front door slam shut behind me and suddenly Peter pushed me up against it and hiked one of my legs up around his waist. A part of my brain registered that everything was happening really fast. After all, Peter was still a stranger to me. Two dinners and one deep conversation did not change that fact.

  But this was what I wanted. I wanted to lose myself in a stranger. I wanted him to take me on whatever surface he deemed fit. I wanted him to fuck me until I couldn’t breathe.

  I had noticed how large his hands were, but they seemed larger still as they traveled up and down my body, leaving streaks of heat in their wake. I could feel him peel the layers of wet fabric off my skin and suddenly, I wanted to be rid of my dress, too. Moments later, it fell to the floor around my feet, leaving a pool of trailing water. Peter didn’t even seem aware of it. He unhooked my bra and slid off my panties, all the while kissing my lips and neck.

  I moaned as the door railed against my back. Peter drew back a little and for a moment, our eyes met. I was painfully aware that I was standing naked before him while he was still fully clothed, but he didn’t seem to care.

  Instead, he grabbed me by the waist, his hands travelled down to my ass, then lower still until he had a strong grip on me. He hiked me up so that my legs were straddling his waist. He carried me into the living room and threw me down onto the large couch sitting in its center.

  I felt the ache of desire between my thighs as he stripped off his shirt and unbuttoned his trousers. His body was amazing. He was lean and toned, his arms rippled with muscle, and his chest was perfectly sculpted. I stared at the hard wall of muscle that made up his stomach and wondered how any man could be so perfect.

  The whole time he undressed, he stared down at my body as though it were a revelation. No man had ever looked at me like that – like he was looking at a painting, rather than a piece of meat.

  Peter held my gaze as he slipped off his boxers to reveal the impressive length of his erection. I felt the acute wetness between my thighs, and I wanted to pull him onto me immediately.

  I could see the rise and fall of Peter’s chest and knew that his heartbeat was racing just like mine was, but he took his time. He lowered himself to his knees between my feet and then pushed them apart. A desperate gasp escaped me, and I felt my heartrate speed up again as he lowered his head down between my legs. A second later, I felt his tongue on my cunt, and I gasped in delirious pleasure.

  He took his time and worked me over until I was shivering beneath him, until I was aching with the desire to suck him off. When he pulled his head back slightly, I sat up, and he moved to meet me. I kissed him hard, letting my tongue entwine with his before I pushed him into a seated position on the sofa as I got to my knees between his legs.

  I reached out and wrapped my hand around his cock; he shuddered at my touch. I bent my head down and slipped the tip of his penis into my mouth. He tasted amazing. He tasted different from any other man I’d been with. I had wanted to start slow and build from there, but I couldn’t help myself. I pushed deep and took the entire length of him into my mouth, letting the saliva ease the way.

  “Fuck!” he yelled, as his head rolled back and his eyes shut.

  His reaction spurred me forward, and I sucked him hard, loving the feel of it inside my mouth. He was the one who stopped me, and I knew it was only because he was close to cumming and he didn’t it to be over just yet. He grabbed me roughly and threw me onto my back onto the sofa. Then he was on top of me, and I felt him slip inside easily.

  There was gentleness in the way he touched me. There was care in the way he kissed me. There was affection in the way he looked at me. But there was nothing gentle about the way he fucked me – and that was exactly what I wanted.

  I moaned and writhed underneath him, but he never slowed down; he never stopped. He just slammed into me in an increasingly fast tempo and every time he hit my clitoris, I screamed out, unleashing this other person I hadn’t even known I had inside me. I orgasmed twice, moaning and screaming through it all, and still he didn’t stop. He kept fucking me until the third orgasm had washed over and then finally, I felt him shudder on top of me.

  The ache in my groin was welcome. I could feel its satisfied beat and sighed in delirium. Peter pulled back so that he could see my face, and then he bent down again and kissed me tenderly on the cheeks and the forehead. It was perhaps the most intimate moment we had shared yet, and the thought bubbled inside me and made me want to laugh.

  We stayed like that for a few minutes and then slowly, Peter pushed himself off me and we sat up together. I felt the need to cover myself up so I reached for a cushion, but he stopped me.

  “No,” he said. “I want to see you.”

  I dropped the cushion, and Peter traced his hand from my neck all the way down to my breasts. He was circling my nipples with the tips of his fingers when I erupted with goosebumps. He noticed right away.

  “You’re cold,” he said, as he reached out and grabbed a blanket that had been draped over the sofa adjacent to the one we were sitting on. He circled it back and brought it down around both our shoulders, encompassing me in new warmth. Our naked bodies melted together underneath, and I felt myself relax instantly.

  “Thank you,” I said.

  We sat like that for what seemed like ages. We didn’t talk or look at each other. We just stared off into the silence, finding a clear symmetry in the way our bodies fit together.

  “You came back,” Peter said at last, breaking the silence.

>   “I came back,” I nodded.

  “I’m glad you did,” he said, with a smile.

  “Me, too,” I said.

  He reached out for my hand underneath the blanket and my fingers linked with his. “You’re so different,” I said, thinking aloud. “You’re so different from any man I’ve ever been with.”

  “How so?”

  “You treat me like a person,” I said honestly.

  He turned to me with a strange expression in his eyes. There was a lot of emotion there, some of which I could understand and some of which I couldn’t.

  “Someone somewhere told you that you weren’t worth much,” Peter said softly. “But they were wrong. Anyone who ever told you that you didn’t deserve a better life and better treatment was a liar who was trying to keep you down. They were telling you what they needed to, to keep you with them.

  “Because they knew that if you recognized how much you were worth, you would leave. You would find a better life for yourself. Forget them, Madison. They’re the worthless ones and whenever you start to question that, remind yourself of how amazing you are.”

  “I’m amazing?” I asked.

  “I met you two days ago,” Peter said. “And I think so… In fact, I know so. So never doubt your own worth.”

  He was looking at me like I was a hero, like I was strong and impressive and brave and for the life of me…I couldn’t understand why.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Peter

  I woke up with the sun on my face and contentment in my soul that I hadn’t felt in a long time. I blinked my eyes open, registering the weight across my shoulder and my chest. Madison was breathing deeply, her eyelashes fluttering slightly with every breath. Her hair held rich hues of mahogany as it cascaded down her naked back.

  I didn’t even want to adjust my position for fear of waking her. So, I lay still and kept a tight grip on her body. It had been a long time since I’d woken up next to a woman, and it was honestly the first time that I’d woken up to a woman whom I wished would never leave. I sniffed at her hair, and it smelt like rose petals and honey. She stirred slightly, but then she settled back into calm sleep.