Our soft kiss takes a hard turn and then next thing I know, I’m picking her up against me as I climb out of the tub. I carry her through the room soaking wet and place her on the bed as I climb up over her body. Her legs are already spread wide for me, and when I reach between us to find her clit, I find her already wet and ready.
I break our kiss with a smirk. “You’re always so ready for me,” I say, getting up on my knees and watching as I rub the tip of cock between her slick folds. She’s blushing and glistening with arousal for me.
“I’ll always be ready for you, Hudson,” she whispers as I push into her, making us both let out a gasp. I don’t know how she can feel this good wrapped around me. She’s hot and tight and every time I slide into her, it’s like it’s like returning home after being gone for years. I’ve never experienced this feeling with anyone in my life, and I know that there won’t be another for as long as I live. She’s it for me. She’s the love of my life, the reason I was born. I have no doubts that she was made with me in mind.
I roll my hips, and she arches her back as a whimper leaves her lips. Her tits rise up slightly, the peaks hardened in excitement. I lean in, closing my lips around hers. She kisses me sweetly as I slowly push into her over and over. My hands are greedy, and they roam over every mound, curve, and hardened peak, memorizing her body like she’s my road map home.
“I love you, Deven,” I whisper as I move inside her.
Her dark eyes find mine and they’re brimming with tears. Her lips part. “I…I love you too, Hudson.” Hearing her words make my dick twitch inside her.
“Say it again,” I beg.
“I love you,” she whispers.
My hips pick up speed and force as I drive myself into her. She calls out my name, praising me and my body and telling me how much she loves me over and over. Finally, her muscles tighten around me and pull me over the edge with her. We ride out every last wave, refusing to let go of the other. Now that we’re here, we’re never going back.
A week has passed with Deven and I living in a single motel room. She goes to work at the boutique and I go to work at the fire station, and we meet back up in the evening to eat dinner, talk, and make love all night long. If I didn’t know before, I do now: I love her more than life itself. I can’t even go a day without feeling her body against mine.
Neither of us have talked to Brad yet. I’ve talked to Drake a few times, and he assures me that he’s still showing up for all of his shifts, so we don’t have to worry about his well-being, but Deven still worries every day that he’ll never forgive us. I feel like enough time has passed. Living every day without her brother is taking a toll on her, even if she won’t admit it. I’m going there to demand that he forgive her. If he wants to spend the rest of his life hating me, that’s fine. But he will not treat his sister this way.
I knock on the door and he pulls it open without checking the peephole. When he sees me, he shakes his head and lets out a long breath. “Fuck, man. Come on. I don’t feel like doing this shit right now.”
“Can I come in?”
“What? Fuck no. You’re never stepping foot in here again. You lied to my face for weeks. You took the one thing I deemed off-limits. You overstepped, man.”
I nod as I tuck my hands into my pockets, letting him know that I’m not here to fight. If he wants to hit me, fine, but my hands are staying in my pockets. I’ll let him fucking pummel me if that’s what I have to do to get him to listen. “I know I did, Brad. You think I wanted this? You think I liked sneaking around behind your back and doing the one thing I was asked not to do? You know me, man. You know that I’ve always respected the rules. You know that I always want to do what’s right. Deep down, do you really think I wanted to do shit this way?”
He thinks it over for a brief minute and shakes his head. “Nah, I guess not.”
“Can I come in, please?”
He takes a long breath and blows it out quickly. “Fine, but the second you piss me off, I’m throwing you out.”
“Deal,” I agree, taking anything I can get if it means he’ll listen.
We stay in the living room. He sits on the end of the couch and I sit in the recliner far away from him. “It started before I even moved in here,” I confess, and his eyes jump up to mine. “I had only just ran into you while I was jogging, remember that?”
He nods.
“I went out that night and I ran into this woman. She took my breath away. I bought her a drink and she told me her name was Danielle. We danced and after a few drinks, we took things outside.”
He shakes his head. “So fucking like her.”
“After we hooked up, we went our separate ways. I didn’t get her number, even though I was kicking myself for it the whole way home. I already had it in my head that I was going to look for her around town, find her, and ask her on a date. A real date. But then I came to check out the apartment, and you introduced me to Deven, who I’d known the night before as Danielle. Once I found out who she really was, I called it off, and it killed me to do it because I felt something when I was with her that I couldn’t ignore. I wanted her more than I’d ever wanted anything, but I wouldn’t let myself out of respect for you.”
He doesn’t bother looking at me. He keeps his eyes on the TV that’s been muted, but I know he’s listening. He’s hearing every damn word I say. I can tell by the way his back is straight and his hands are balled into fists in his lap.
“As time passed, things got harder and harder to ignore. Not to blame anything on her, but she’d flirt and tease me, letting me catch her naked.” I shake my head. “I couldn’t fucking take it anymore. I had done nothing but fight with myself about what I wanted. I couldn’t fight anymore. So that’s when things started up on a regular basis. Things were good for a while. We had fun sneaking around here. There were a few times you almost caught us, but we always managed to get away with it. Then came the day when what we were really doing hit Deven. She was scared that you’d find out the truth and push her away. She was terrified of losing the only family she has left. She wanted us to sit you down and talk things out, explain how things got started and how what we were doing wasn’t just fucking around. While we didn’t know it at the time, every time we were together, we were falling a little more in love.”
His head turns and his eyes lock on mine. I’m surprised to see that they aren’t filled with anger or resentment.
“But I was scared. I didn’t want to admit that I’d wronged you. So she broke things off. For two fucking weeks, I was a complete mess. I couldn’t eat or sleep and the only thing I could do was watch her, fighting with myself again to not touch her. But then the night before you caught us, I went out on that date and the whole time, I couldn’t do anything but think of her. I thought that I could get over her, but I couldn’t.” I shake my head, letting it hang. “When I got back from our date, I told her that there wouldn’t be another date. And when she asked why, I said, because she’s not you.”
“You love my sister?”
I nod. “I do, with everything I have.”
“And she loves you?”
Again, I nod. “That’s what she tells me.” I laugh out.
He cracks his knuckled before opening his palms, letting his hands finally relax. “And you’re going to treat her with respect, love her, take care of her, marry her, and maybe one day start a family?”
I smile. “Absolutely. She’s it for me, Brad. She’s the only woman I’ve ever felt this way about.”
“You know she’s young, right? She’s wild and likes to act out. There’s a chance that as soon as I approve of this, she’s just going to dump you anyway.”
“I don’t think so. She’s grown up a lot, Brad. I think you still see her as that little girl you helped raise. She’s not that girl anymore.”
“I know,” he mumbles.
There’s a long drawn out minute between us.
“So, you forgive me? Her?”
He looks at me and thinks it ove
r. Finally, he nods. “Yeah, I forgive you both. But you better never hurt her. You better take care of her and make an honest woman out of her.”
I laugh as I stand up. He does the same and we hug. “I will,” I promise. “I’m going to go tell Deven the good news.” I head for the door, but he calls out to me as soon as my hand lands on the knob.
“Oh, Hudson?”
“Yeah?” I ask, turning back to face him.
“I may have made a little bit of a mistake.”
I frown. “What does that mean?”
He hangs his head, looking down at his shoes. “I was so pissed off about the two of you that I may have called Mom. She’s on her way here now to pick Deven up and take her back home since I ‘can’t handle her,’” he says, rolling his eyes on the last part.
“You did what?” I ask, unable to understand his words. “Your mom is coming here?” I point at the floor. “And she’s going to try taking her back home, to her boyfriend’s house?”
He nods. “Yeah, I guess she’s had time to cool off and she wants her back home where she can keep an eye on her.”
“She’s eighteen, almost nineteen. She can’t make her go anywhere,” I point out.
He shrugs. “She can’t legally make her go, but my mom has a way of twisting shit so she gets her way. Anyway, she’ll be here tomorrow morning. She’s expecting Deven here so we can all have a family breakfast before she breaks the news to her. Warn her, but make sure she comes, will you?”
I nod before walking out the door.
I’m driving toward the store where Deven works when my phone rings. I dig it out of my pocket to see Drake’s name flashing on the screen. I pull it to my ear.
“Hello?”
“Hey, man. Can you swing by? We’re all here and we have something to discuss with you.”
“Alright, I’ll be by in ten,” I say, hanging up and wondering what they have to talk about. I make a left turn off Main Street, heading for Drake’s. This way, I have a little more time to think about what I’m going to tell Deven about having to see her mom. I know she hasn’t seen or talked to her since the day she was thrown out over being almost raped by her mom’s boyfriend. Her mom still doesn’t know the truth. She just thinks that Deven is troubled, and once she got kicked out, she went to Brad’s to cause him trouble. She doesn’t know that Deven was nearly attacked by the man who’s supposed to protect her. She doesn’t know how much she’s grown since she’s been here. She doesn’t know that she’s holding down a full-time job and making her own money or that she hasn’t done a single thing to get into trouble since she’s been here. She doesn’t know about me, a good man who loves her and wants to take care of her. I’ll make sure she knows all of this. She’s not taking Deven anywhere, most of all, back to the man who put his hands on her without permission.
Ten minutes later, I’m pulling into Drake’s driveway. It’s nearly full with all my brothers being here. I haven’t even seen Wyatt or Clay since I’ve been back home. It’ll be nice to get to catch up with them.
As I’m climbing out of the truck, the barn door opens, and I see Wyatt standing in the open doorway. I smile as I head in his direction. When I’m close enough, he pulls me in for a long hug and slaps me on the back harder than necessary.
“I’ve missed you, man. How ya been?” he asks, pulling back.
I smile. “I missed you too.” I move farther into the barn, and Clay grabs me by the back of the neck, forcing me into a hug. He slaps my back painfully as well. Brothers are rough.
“Hey, little bro. How’s it been?”
“Good. How’s life?” I ask, pulling away.
“Oh, you know. Same shit, different day.”
“Come on, guys. Let’s go upstairs and have a seat,” Drake says, leading us all up the stairs to the loft. The place looks brand new but unfinished. There’s a big circular table set up in the center and what looks to be a bar that he’s building behind it.
“This is going to be my new man cave,” he says, grabbing us all a beer and a bottle of whiskey to share.
We all take our places at the table, and Drake pours a little whiskey in five shot glasses. He spreads them out, giving us all one. He holds his in the air. “To us all finally being home at the same time and together,” he says as we all throw the shots back.
Everyone slams their glass down onto the table.
“Now, onto the important stuff.” He looks at me. “Hudson, there’s been some shit going on for a while now, and you haven’t been home to tell us what you think.”
“About what?”
“We have a half-brother out there,” he starts and the rest of the guys groan and roll their eyes, clearly tired of hearing about it by now.
“What?” I ask.
He nods. “Yep. Dad had an affair years ago, and the woman moved when he broke things off. She found out she was pregnant a little while later, and she never told dad or her son about any of us.”
“Okay,” I say, trying to process what I’m hearing.
“But then, that woman passed away and her son found some things when he was cleaning out her belongings. He found out who is father was. Did some researching and found out who we are, what we have, and about the money.”
“Great,” I mumble.
“Drake wants us all to give up a small portion of our share to create a share for this guy. What do you think about that?” Colton asks.
I feel put on the spot. “I…um,” I start, unsure where I’m going with this.
Drake looks at me. “He’s our brother. Wouldn’t you like to get to know him?”
Colton buts back in, “If we give this guy his share, who’s to say he’s not going to sell it to some outsider? This is ours. We were born into this. We had to put up with dad’s shit for years. I’m not going to give anything up without a fight.” He leans back and crosses his arms.
Drake looks at Colton. “We’ve been over this, Colt. He’s family.”
Colton shakes his head. “No, you guys are my family. My wife and kids are my family. Dad, all my nephews. That guy, he’s not my family. Family is about more than blood, Drake.”
It’s crazy how these two can be so different.
Drake lets out a long breath before looking at me. “It’s time we vote.”
“Whoa, wait a minute. Are you absolutely sure that this guy is who he says?”
Drake nods. “We had a court-ordered DNA test. He’s dad’s.”
“So what are we voting for here?”
“We’re voting to see if we should give him a share or just buy him out.”
“So we either have to lose a part of our share in the company or lose out on thousands of dollars? How’s that fair? I didn’t run off and have an illegitimate child.”
“Thank you,” Colton says.
“Look,” Drake breathes out. “I know it isn’t fair to us, but this isn’t fair to him either, okay? Now, we can address this now by voting, or we can tell him to fuck off and make him take legal action.”
“Does the guy even have the money to take legal action? I mean, we could draw this shit out forever and bury him in court fees,” I say, annoyed that some guy that I don’t even know thinks he has some kind of claim to what’s mine.
Colton laughs. “Man, I missed you, buddy.”
Drake shoots him a look, but then his eyes are right back on mine. “You’re probably right, Hudson, but the fact of the matter is that we’re Slades. We do what’s right and taking care of our own is right. Dad may not have seen it that way, and Colton may not see it that way, but that’s the way we do things around here. Our name is finally just started to get clear from the shit that great grandpa pulled decades ago. You really wanna tarnish it up again…like this? Over a measly few thousand bucks? You can spare it. I can spare it. Hell, we all can. And if you think you can’t, let me know, and I’ll make sure it’s handled so that you can keep living the way you want without having a guilty conscious. And you know why I’d do that? Because it’s the right t
hing. I’m a Slade, and I take care of what’s mine.” He lets out a long breath and looks us all in the eye. “Now, let’s vote.”
I take a deep breath. I know that Drake is right. This is the right thing to do, no matter how much I’d like to beat dad’s ass for causing all this shit.
“Raise your hand if you want to give him a share of the brewery and bring him into the family.”
Drake’s the only one to raise his hand. He shakes his head but doesn’t say anything. “Raise your hand if you want to buy him out?”
Clay, Colton, Wyatt, and I all raise our hands.
“It’s settled then. We’ll buy him out. I’ll talk to Celeste, and she will contact his lawyer and we’ll settle on a number. I’ll let you all know when it’s done.”
It’s not that I don’t want to meet the guy or that I’m being stingy with my share. It’s just that I don’t know him and don’t trust him. That brewery has been in the Slade name since it opened. No way I’m going to willingly give up my share to some guy who could just turn around and sell it to anyone with deep enough pockets. If it’s money he’s after, I’ll gladly give him the money to protect the brewery and our family’s life work.
The Slade Brothers: A Complete Small Town Contemporary Romance Collection Page 91