When You Became Mine

by AS Teague

  Lawson swallowed and must have not meant to, because he began coughing and sputtering. I watched him for a minute, but he was still making noise, so I knew I didn’t need to use the Heimlich on him yet. After a second, he dropped the crust in his hand onto the open pizza box and grabbed his beer, taking a swig. “Mom always joked that we would end up together. Guess she was trying to force us together.”

  The more I racked my brain, the more memories came floating back of all the times my mom or Mrs. Reed had suggested Lawson and I do something together. Most of the time, we’d both ignored them, but occasionally we’d find ourselves alone together.

  “You know, the more I think about it, the more stuff is starting to make sense,” I murmured, grabbing his crust from the box and dunking it in the marinara sauce.

  When I noticed him eyeballing me, I popped a brow. “Were you done with this?”

  He dipped his chin. “Guess so.”

  I took another bite and through a mouthful of dough mumbled, “Sorry. I’m not even hungry, I just wanted to nibble.”

  Lawson pulled the remainder of the crust from my hand and dropped it on the table before he pulled me into his side. He grabbed his phone and held it out in front of us, the front facing camera on us. “Say cheese.”

  “Ugh! Wait, I’m not—” I didn’t finish before he snapped the most unflattering picture of me ever taken. My mouth was open, with half chewed crust showing in the corner, and somehow one of my eyes was half closed while the other was wide-open.

  “Perfect,” he breathed.

  “Are you serious? I look like Quasimodo!” I tried to snatch the phone from his hand, but he pulled away too fast for me. I lunged for it again, but missed and landed on his chest.

  “You have to delete that.” I panted, still trying to wrangle the phone away from him.

  He shook his head. “Not a chance.” He turned the screen back to me. “Look how good I look!” He wasn’t lying, it was a damn good picture of him, which only served to make me look even more ridiculous.

  I let out a strangled cry and made one last attempt to wrestle the phone away from him and save myself the embarrassment. I wasn’t even sure if Lawson had any social media accounts, but I had to imagine he did, and I would have rather died a thousand painful deaths than have that picture of me plastered all over them.

  Lawson dropped his phone over the end of the couch, effectively ending my pathetic attempts to reach it, and brought his arm back to wrap around me.

  It was when he slid me up his broad chest that I realized the position I was in. Laid out, my breasts pressed against him, our hips even with each other, his face inches away from mine.

  “This couldn’t have worked out better if I’d planned it,” Lawson quipped from his position beneath me.

  I agreed.

  Lying on him, with those arms that were no longer just two sticks on the side of his body wrapped around me, my stomach began to flip. My heart raced as all the possible scenarios of how this could play out ran through my mind.

  We could just lie here and cuddle, watching whatever dumb movie he picked.

  Or we could make out, which would possibly lead to something more…

  Did I want that?

  Yes. Yes, I absolutely did.

  But it would change things for good, I argued to myself.

  Mmm-hmm. It would. But I wanted that change.

  I wanted to be with Lawson.

  The revelation didn’t hit me like a ton of bricks. No, the realization that I wanted to be with him had been dawning on me slowly, day by day since he’d confessed his feelings for me.

  I felt his fingertips running lightly up and down my back. “Hey, you okay? I was just kidding.”

  My eyes were still screwed shut, but I nodded emphatically. “Yes, I’m okay. I’m…more than okay,” I whispered, letting my lids slowly open.

  His warm brown eyes were studying my face so intently that it made me squirm.

  What was he seeing? I needed to know. “What are you looking at?” I asked quietly.

  His lips, that I’d never imagined would be as soft as they were, tipped up. “The most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen,” he whispered back.

  The butterflies returned, this time ten-fold. “When’d you get so smooth, Lawson Maxwell Reed?”

  “Don’t you know, I’ve always been smooth like buttah.”

  My mouth fell open. “You did not just say buttah.”

  His smile grew. “What? I saw it on Insta. It’s what the cool kids say. I’m down with that life, you know.”

  I pursed my lips, fighting back a smile. “The fact that you just used the phrase cool kids and down with that life in one sentence says otherwise.”

  “Don’t be jealous just because you’ll never be as hip as me.”

  I rolled my eyes, grinning, and then tipped my head down, pressing my lips against his. His hold on me tightened and I slid a hand up his neck and into his thick hair. There was no hesitation as my tongue asked for entry into his mouth.

  His hands were still on my back, holding me tight, but I wanted them on me, everywhere.

  As if he were a mind reader, Lawson ran his hands over my ribcage, his fingers grazing the sides of my breasts, causing me to shiver. My hips rolled into his and I deepened the kiss, hoping to convey what I wanted without being forced to say the words aloud.

  I’d never been shy before, but this was different. This was Lawson, the boy I grew up with. He was the man who seemed to know everything about me. And I had more to lose with him than I had with anyone before.

  Suddenly, Lawson pulled his mouth from mine, and my lips, as swollen as they were, protested the loss of his the moment our connection was broken. I whimpered, my mouth forming a pout. “I wasn’t done kissing you.”

  With expert precision, he rolled us, coming to rest above me.

  “Oh!” I said when his hips nestled between my legs. “This is good too.”

  With one arm holding him up, he trailed his fingertips down my neck, stopping only once he reached my breast. Palming it, his thumb swirled lazy circles over my nipple and at the touch, my back arched into his hand.

  This was exactly what I wanted.

  As he continued to massage me, his mouth connected with mine again and I moaned into him. The sensation of his warm, wet tongue swirling with my own and his hand, firm against my soft flesh, was almost enough to take me over the edge.

  His hand left its spot and slid down to my waist, finding its way beneath my scrub top, and the moment his fingers touched my skin, goose bumps pebbled my arms. His fingers resumed their exploration of my breast, this time beneath the cotton of my bra, and it was everything I could do to keep from ripping his jeans over his hips.

  “More,” I moaned into his mouth. “I need more of you.”

  His head pulled away so he could look at me, but his hand never stopped stroking. “Are you sure?”

  I nodded. “So sure.”

  His eyes darkened and then his mouth collided with mine, this kiss more intense than any of the others we’d had. It was rough, his mouth demanding everything I had to give him. And I gave it, matching his tongue stroke for stroke.

  Abruptly, he pulled back, his gaze still intense, and asked again, “Are you sure?”

  I worked to match his intensity and repeated, “So. Very. Sure.”

  28

  Lawson

  Her blue eyes were clear as she repeated herself. “So. Very. Sure.”

  I wanted her.

  Desperately.

  But she had to know that once we did this, that was it.

  There would be no take backs.

  I cleared my throat. “I’m askin’ you one more time. Are you sure?”

  Her eyes narrowed and she sucked her teeth, her feisty attitude making an appearance. “And I’m telling you, for the last time. I am sure. So damn sure that if you don’t quit using your mouth for words instead of giving me mind-blowing kisses, I’m going to hurt you.”

  I smi
rked. “You think my kisses are mind-blowing? Wait till you see what else my mouth can do.”

  “That’s what I’m trying to do here!” she said on a frustrated cry, her hips rolling into mine.

  I was painfully hard, my length begging to be free of the confines of my jeans, and every time her core made contact, need shot through my veins.

  “We do this, Pippie, that means you’re mine. I’ve just gotta make sure you know that.”

  Her lips pursed and then she said the words that hit me straight in the gut. “Apparently, I’ve always been yours. I just didn’t know it.” She smiled lazily. “But I do now. And, I want to be yours.”

  Those were the words I’d been praying to hear. Tumbling from her perfect mouth, they sounded even better than I had imagined.

  Need had me pushing to my knees so I was kneeling before her.

  Desire had me tugging on the hem of her scrub top, quickly pulling it over her head.

  Lust had my hands making quick work on the clasp of her black lace bra, the thin cups falling aside.

  Piper laid out before me, her torso bare, was even more incredible than I could have imagined.

  I leaned forward, coming to rest on my forearms, and dipped my head, running my tongue along the underside of her breast before capturing her peaked nipple between my lips.

  She tasted beautiful.

  I took my time, my tongue swirling as her soft moans fueled me on.

  Piper’s hands fumbled at my fly, her fingertips setting my skin ablaze with each touch. “Please, Lawson.” Her voice was thick and I felt her plea in my bones.

  I’d wanted to spend more time worshipping her, but she continued to pull at my jeans and just like with every other instance in our lives, I couldn’t deny her what she wanted.

  While I loomed over her, holding my weight away from her body with one hand, I granted her wish and unbuttoned my pants. Her hands took over as she shoved them down my hips, and when I was freed, she palmed my length.

  Her soft hand on my hard flesh ignited a hunger in me I’d never known before and a low growl ripped from my throat as I shoved at her scrub pants. It was seconds later that they hit the floor, her silk panties going with them.

  Her hand continued to work my cock, my hold on release slipping. “Let’s slow down.” I panted.

  A wicked smile painted her face as she asked, “What’s the matter? Doesn’t feel good?”

  I growled again, pulling free of her hands as I captured her bottom lip between my teeth. “Too good. It’s too fucking good.”

  With a final nip of her lip, I settled my hips between her legs, feeling the wet heat of her core against my length.

  Her eyes fluttered shut as her lips parted and she twisted beneath me. “Yes,” she murmured.

  I rained kisses across the smooth skin of her shoulder, laving my tongue to her ear before whispering, “Open your eyes.”

  When she did, I peered into the crystal blue eyes that had always reminded me of pools. The same pools I had nearly drowned in for years, consumed by the love I had for her that had never been returned.

  But, this time, I wasn’t going under.

  “You’re mine,” I rasped.

  “I’m yours,” she hissed.

  It was all I needed to hear.

  I entered her, my thrust torturously slow, feeling every inch of her as she stretched around my shaft. When I’d planted myself to the hilt, I stilled, my tongue brushing the seam of her lips. They parted, and as our tongues danced, I began to move again, our hips rocking together.

  I’d wanted to go slowly, to immerse myself in the way every movement felt, the way her pleasure tasted, the way her moans echoed around the room. But she urged me to move faster, harder, with more intensity than I’d ever felt before.

  My lips still at her ear, I asked, “Is this what you want?”

  She shivered as she replied, “You’re what I want.”

  For years I’d wondered what it would feel like, to be inside her. It was nothing I’d ever imagined, because there was no way to anticipate it would feel new and exhilarating at the same time as being comfortable and so fucking right. It was like learning to ride a bike for the first time and coming home after an extended vacation simultaneously.

  Her nails scraped my back. My teeth nipped her neck. Our bodies moved together as one and soon she was moaning my name again.

  “Lawson.” It was a strangled cry on her lips as her head fell back. Her muscles clenched around my dick, her release pulsing around me, pushing me even closer to my own.

  I drove into her, gritting my teeth as I buried my face into her neck, every thrust harder than the last.

  “God, yes,” she moaned, her fingers threaded through my hair and holding tight as her hips rose to meet every one of my thrusts.

  My own release slammed through me, my body shuddering with every pump. As my body stilled, the only sounds in the room were those of our ragged breaths and my pounding heart.

  Piper’s fingers against my scalp flexed and I tilted my neck back. Her eyes were bright, a wry grin across her face. “Let’s do that again. But this time, it’s my turn to do the growling.”

  I barked out a laugh, kissing her soundly. “I’ve never been able to tell you no. I’m not going to start now.”

  She returned my laugh, her eyes sparkling, not knowing how honest that statement really was.

  I’d been wrong earlier. I’d not only gone under, but I was so far down, I didn’t know I’d ever make it back to the surface.

  And I didn’t care.

  Because, I hadn’t gone under alone this time. She’d slipped into the water by my side. And I’d do whatever it cost to keep her with me.

  29

  Piper

  The sunlight filtered through the blinds, one of the white stripes falling directly over my face. I was going to have to get curtains for Lawson’s room. For the last two weeks, I’d been awoken by the sun more times than I could count. Ordinarily it would have made me grouchy, but rolling over in to a wall of muscle that belonged to Lawson always made the irritation vanish instantly.

  Lawson stirred and then wrapped an arm around me and pulled me to his chest. His voice gravelly as he murmured, “Mornin’, Pippie.”

  I sighed and wiggled in closer to him. “Mornin’, Law,” I whispered, inhaling the delicious smell of him.

  With my fingertips, I traced the curve of his jawline, his stubble rough. When I ran my thumb over his lips, he kissed it and opened his eyes.

  We lay there in the quiet of the morning, just taking each other in.

  I stretched my legs and then tangled my feet with his and he chuckled. “What are you laughing about?”

  “You’re naked in my bed. Which, by the way, had been my fantasy for years. But what I didn’t ever envision was that you’d be wearing knee high socks.” He ran his toe along the arch of my foot.

  “My feet get cold at night,” I argued. “Although, the amount of body heat you put off at night is enough to warm an entire village in Alaska. I think I sweated more last night than the summer your dad was determined to teach us all how to cut the grass.”

  He chuckled at the memory and then arched a brow. “You climbed into my bed, remember?”

  I pushed my lower lip out into a pout. “You want me to stay in my own bed?”

  “Fuck no,” he growled. “I’m just trying to give you space. You’ve been kind of…quiet the last couple of days.”

  I pulled my lip in between my teeth.

  The last two weeks with Lawson had been amazing. Better than amazing, each day had been better than the last.

  We’d spent our mornings together, me having coffee and him downing a bottle of water while discussing our upcoming day. Lawson had even humored me and tried a cup of my famous joe. He’d spat it out the minute the life-sustaining liquid had hit his tongue, but I’d appreciated him for trying.

  Each night that we’d both been home together had been spent vegging on the couch, eating takeout, and
just talking. I’d learned more about what he’d really been up to the last few years. I’d only been slightly disappointed when he’d confessed to not dancing backup for the Backstreet Boys. He had done some security work for them, though, and that was how he’d gotten that signed CD. He’d also promised that he could, in fact, get me a meet and greet with them. I wasn’t sure he was telling the truth, but I was holding him to his word.

  We’d been in our own little cocoon and I’d loved it. But our bubble of privacy was about to burst and I was freaking out about it.

  “Hampton’s been on my ass about coming to dinner,” I confessed.

  “What’s wrong with that?” he asked, his hand lazily rubbing up and down my arm.

  “He’s going to figure it out.”

  “Figure what out?” His hand was still moving along my arm, but I wasn’t feeling the soothing strokes anymore. I was too wrapped up in my inner panic attack.

  “Us!” I squeaked. “And then he’s gonna tell Georgia. And, Jesus, you know she can’t hold water. Your parents will know before Hampton even finishes his story. And then my mom. God,” I groaned, throwing my arm over my eyes.

  Lawson’s hand wrapped around my wrist and he pulled my arm away from my face. I cracked one of my lids open and his face filled my vision.

  “Why don’t you want them to know we’re together?” Concern filled his eyes. But it wasn’t the concern that made my heart stumble. It was the disappointment that came shining through.

  Shit.

  He thought I didn’t want them to know we were together. “No! I don’t care that they know we are together. Really, I want to tell them.” I lowered my voice and leaned in close to him. “But they will all know we’re having sex.” I squeezed my eyes shut and lamented, “Albeit, really good sex.”

  His burst of laughter caused my lids to pop open. “What?”

  “Pippie. We aren’t going to be in the middle of passing the peas and announce that we’re sleeping together.”