Never With You (The Never Series Book 6)

by Anie Michaels

  “Please take me upstairs,” I mumbled against his mouth.

  Not a moment later both his hands abandoned my breasts, the water shut off, and I was being lifted by my ass. My legs instinctively wrapped around his waist and I cursed the multiple layers of wetsuit between us. His mouth pulled away from mine as he walked around the outside of his house, but my mouth found his neck and I laved kisses all along the length of it.

  Before I knew it, he was in the house and up the stairs, placing my feet on the floor of his bedroom. He knelt in front of me, gripping the wetsuit around my waist and pulling it down, taking my bikini bottoms with it. Then he removed his wetsuit just as quickly, revealing he’d been wearing absolutely nothing under his. I tried not to gawk at his naked form, but I only had so much self-control. He was beautiful. Everything about him was masculine, especially the way he looked right into my eyes and said, “Get on the bed.”

  I didn’t waste any time.

  I backed up until my legs hit the bed and then I crawled backward, never breaking eye contact. When I was in the center of the bed I rested back on my elbows and tilted my knees to one side, trying to hold on to some modesty. He smirked at me, then grabbed one of my ankles in each hand and yanked me down the bed back toward him. My legs spread and my arms went over my head and in an instant, he was over me, kissing his way up my body.

  His mouth covered my nipple, sucking hard over my bikini top, then biting gently. At the same time his hand slid from my waist down to my core and a finger slipped between my folds, dipping in and then coming back up to circle my clit. It was a cacophony of sensations, each action warring for attention, my body absolutely writhing from the onslaught of stimulation.

  “I want to make you come like this,” he rasped against my breast. His free hand pushed the fabric up and over my breast, his strong and rough hand running over my nipple, then his mouth was back. All the while he worked his fingers in, out, and up, over and over again. My hips worked against his hand, trying desperately to give him exactly what he wanted—my climax.

  “Yes,” I breathed, my hands finding purchase on the sheets. My face turned to the side, eyes closed, solely focused on the immensity of what I was feeling, on what Briggs was doing to my body. “Don’t stop.”

  “Wouldn’t dream of it, firecracker.” He pushed up the other side of my bikini and I felt him tug on it, the knot in the back giving way, and I was bare. It was all I could do to just take whatever he was giving me. Finally, he thrust two fingers deep, rubbing me in exactly the most glorious spot, and his thumb circled my clit. It took just a few moments and I was coming. My back arched, my jaw fell open, and I was moaning so loud I would look back later and be embarrassed about it. But right then, with my body convulsing in pleasure, feeling his mouth smile and growl around my breast, I couldn’t find it in me to care what I looked or sounded like. All that mattered was he was playing my body like an instrument and I absolutely loved it.

  He slowed his movements as I came down from my orgasm, his hand moving slowly through my wetness, leaving lazy kisses from one breast to the other. I finally managed to open my eyes and I found him looking at me with a smug grin on his face.

  “Don’t look so pleased with yourself,” I said with a laugh.

  “It looked like you enjoyed yourself.”

  I shivered—a combination of his words and the fact that his fingers were still trailing between my folds, my clit still overly sensitive. I loved how intimate it was, how he seemed to want to touch me all the time as much as he could, but it was unnerving as well. I was keyed up and his touch was almost too much. I put a hand to his shoulder and pushed as I sat up. He got the message and rolled to his back, allowing me to climb on top of him. His hands went to my hips, holding me close to him. I leaned down, pressing my lips to his, letting my messy and wet hair fall around us. He kissed me back, his tongue pushing into my mouth, his hands gripping my waist, his hips jutting up. He wanted in, and I wanted that too, but I wanted something else first.

  I moved down, pressing my lips along his neck, his chest, his stomach. He figured out where I was headed and let out a gruff, “Fuck.”

  I settled between his thighs and took him in my hand. There hadn’t been a great opportunity to take inventory before, but right then, while up close and personal with his cock, I determined it was impressive. Stupidly male, just like everything else about him.

  My tongue darted out, licking the head, and I felt him jerk beneath me, his hips moving off the bed slightly. I smiled, loving the idea of him reacting to what I was doing. I moved to the base and licked from root to tip. When I reached the top, I didn’t stop, just took him all the way in my mouth and slid back down. He groaned and his hand came to my head, sweeping my hair away from one side of my face and flipping it to the other side. I angled my head so he could watch, since that seemed to be his goal. I had to admit, knowing he was looking at what I was doing, taking him in my mouth while he held my hair back, it was possibly the sexiest I’d ever felt.

  Blow jobs had never been something I particularly enjoyed. It did it on occasion but usually just to please a partner. However, it was a completely different experience with Briggs. When I took him deep, when I felt him all the way at the back of my throat, it wasn’t annoyance I felt, or obligation. I felt powerful. His eyes were on me and he was obviously enjoying it. If the slight thrusting of his hips didn’t give it away, his bottom lip between his teeth and his hand still gripping my hair told me everything I wanted to know.

  I sucked him down again, hearing a groan when I’d taken him as far as I could, and I slipped my hand from his length and cupped his balls, rolling them gently.

  “Damn, Tal,” he said through gritted teeth.

  I hummed around him, loving the way he felt in my mouth, the way I could still smell the sea on him. I pulled back, sucking hard, and I heard his gasp, then suddenly I was being hauled off him, his hands under my arms. He rolled me, putting me on my back, and I watched him reach for his bedside table, rip open a condom, slide it down his length, and then settle over me, all within a matter of seconds.

  Before I could even register anything else happening, his hands were pushing my knees out and up, and he was thrusting into me. We let out matching groans and he stilled when he was buried in me, letting me stretch to accommodate him. He pulled out then pushed back in roughly, as though he was trying to reach the very end of me, to fill every part of me to the absolute hilt.

  I reached out for him, my hands hitting his stomach, feeling all his muscles hardened from effort, and I slid my fingers around to the back of him, trying to pull him closer. I needed the weight of him to press down on me, for the weight of the way I was feeling at the moment to match what I was experiencing physically.

  He came down to me willingly, and he rested his face in the crook of my neck, still thrusting powerfully into me. I wrapped my arms around him and took everything he was offering. Soon we were both coming apart and coming together.

  Chapter Twelve

  Briggs

  I pulled the front door open, wanting the incessant banging to stop. The pounding woke me up from a very deep, very comfortable sleep. In fact, I’d had my arm wrapped tightly around Talia and hadn’t been too happy to let her go, but I knew who was at the door as soon as I’d heard the loud knocking.

  “Hey, Porter,” I said, my voice groggy. I opened the door wide and stepped back, giving him the room he needed to come in.

  “Briggs,” he said with a knowing grin. “Did I wake you?”

  “Something like that.”

  “Sorry, man,” he apologized, but didn’t sound sorry at all. “Gotta get started early.”

  “I know. It’s cool.” And it was. Hell, I was paying Porter to do a job and I wanted it done. I just wanted to lie with Talia in my arms a little more than I wanted the construction on my kitchen to start. “You need me for anything today?”

  “Nah, man. You’ve helped enough. I got some men showing up here any minute.”


  Suddenly, the idea of my house being full of men and Talia upstairs without any clothes on bothered me. “We’re probably gonna head out then. Stay out of your hair.”

  “We?” he asked, his smile stretching even wider. “You got someone up there? Anyone I know?”

  “Fuck off,” I said with a laugh as I headed back up the stairs. I walked into the bedroom and met Talia’s eyes. She was awake, lying naked in my bed, and the sight nearly made me turn around and tell Porter to come back the next day. Or perhaps the next week. We only had a limited amount of time together, and right now it seemed like a great idea to spend it in bed.

  “How’d you sleep?” I asked as I slid into bed next to her.

  She had the covers pulled all the way up to her chin. She looked comfortable and relaxed.

  “Great.” Her voice was raspy and adorable. Her red hair was fanned out behind her, messy and sexy all at the same time. “Too good, actually. I kind of never want to leave your bed.” She smiled as she said the words, but then she closed her eyes and seemed to burrow even deeper into the covers.

  “As much as I’d love to keep you captive, in a few minutes my house is going to be full of men and it’s going to get loud. Want to go get some breakfast?”

  She peeped one eye open at me and seemed to contemplate my question. “I’m pretty sure any establishment that sells food has a No Shirt, No Service policy.”

  I laughed. “Well, I wasn’t planning on letting you go naked.”

  Her eye closed again and she mumbled into my pillow. “I only have my swimsuit, Briggs. I might as well just go home. You probably have a lot of stuff to do today.”

  She was right. She should probably just go home. That would probably be best for both of us, but that wasn’t what I wanted. I wanted to spend time with her. When she told me she would be there until the end of the week, when we agreed to spend time together, a few days seemed like it would be enough. It was becoming clear I was wrong about that.

  “I can find something for you to wear. Where I want to take you isn’t fancy and there’s no dress code.”

  Both her eyes opened now, but she gave me a skeptical look.

  “Come on, it’ll be fine. Promise,” I said in my most convincing tone.

  She sighed, but I got the feeling she was more upset about getting out of bed than spending the morning with me, and I could understand that. I went to my dresser and found a pair of sweatpants with a drawstring in the waistband and an old T-shirt. When I turned back around she was sitting up, holding the blanket to her body, covered from the breasts down. Her flaming locks fell around her face and shoulders, and I took a moment to look at all the freckles along her collarbone. I walked toward her until I was just a few inches away, and she looked up at me from where she sat on the bed.

  There was an overwhelming urge to reach out, to touch her, even if it wasn’t sexual. I wanted to push her hair behind her ear or trail a finger down her neck. Instead, though, I held the clothes out to her.

  “Feel free to take a shower if you want. There are extra towels under the sink.”

  “Briggs?” Her voice was soft and unsure and it made something in my stomach tighten.

  “Yeah?”

  “I think I left my phone in the bag outside last night.” She finished and then immediately started blushing crimson. It took me a second, but then I realized she was referring to the shower we’d started to take yesterday after surfing, and how we’d abandoned everything when I carried her in the house instead of fucking her against the wall outside.

  I leaned down and brushed a kiss against her flushed cheeks. “I’ll go grab it.”

  “Thank you,” she whispered.

  I walked outside, passing two more men on Porter’s crew as I did, and continued around to the back where I found the carnage of our evening. I chastised myself a little. Leaving two surf boards lying around wasn’t the smartest idea. Anyone could have stolen them. The bag that held Talia’s phone was on the ground next to the boards and it looked untouched. We were lucky it hadn’t rained or else her things could have been ruined. Even though it was pretty dumb to have left everything out all night, I couldn’t regret it.

  Not even a little bit.

  I grabbed the bag and put the straps over my shoulder, then took both boards and headed toward the garage. I stored the boards and continued back into the house, which was already loud with music and the sounds of construction. I made it all the way up the stairs before I heard the shower running and it took every ounce of self-control not to undress and join her.

  Instead, I sat on the edge of my bed and dropped my head into my hands, trying to figure out how I was going to get this woman out from under my skin when we inevitably had to part ways.

  When the door opened and she appeared, her wet hair up in some sort of knot, dressed in my clothes, I knew I was in over my head. I’d never seen anyone more beautiful than her at that moment. I could have spent the rest of my life seeing her in my T-shirt, beautiful flaming hair pulled into an unruly bundle, and it would never get old. She would never be more attractive or appealing than she was just then.

  My pants were obviously too big on her, but the drawstring was pulled tight and the waistband was rolled up, making them fit a little better. My T-shirt hung off one of her shoulders, showing me those damn freckles again, and it took all my self-control not to just toss her back on the bed where I really wanted her.

  Instead, I held out her phone to her. She smiled as she took it, but only looked at it for a short moment before her eyes were back to me. “I don’t really feel comfortable going out in this, Briggs.” She gave me an apologetic smile and looked down at my clothes hanging from her body.

  I stood and went to her, resting my hands on her shoulders, letting my thumbs trail over the galaxy of freckles exposed by my too big shirt. “Trust me. You’ll be fine. I wouldn’t lead you astray.”

  She let out a sigh, but it was definitely a sigh that said, “Fine. Since you insist.”

  “Your flip-flops are downstairs.” Before I could stop myself, I leaned down and pressed a kiss to her lips. It felt familiar and right, her lips against mine, and it was just one more thing I would have to miss after she was gone.

  I took her hand and led her down the stairs, stopping to let her put her flip-flops on, then we continued to my truck. I opened her door and waited until she was situated to close the door, then rounded the front of the hood and climbed into the driver’s side.

  “Where did you learn to surf?” Talia and I had both been quiet for a few moments. I didn’t feel the need to fill the silence, felt comfortable enough with her to not force conversation, but I smiled at her question. “I mean, you’re probably the tenth person I’d ever seen surfing in Oregon. You couldn’t have learned here.”

  “No, I didn’t. My grandparents lived in Santa Cruz, California, when I was younger. I spent nearly a whole month there every summer until I graduated from high school. We’d walk to the beach almost every day. It was a great place to learn to surf.”

  “Are you serious?” she asked, disbelieving.

  “Yeah. Why?”

  “My great-grandma lived in Scott’s Valley. She was thirty minutes from Santa Cruz.”

  “No shit?”

  “Absolutely no shit.” She was smiling widely at me, eyes twinkling. “She passed away a few years ago, but I’ve been to her house a few times. I got lost one summer on my sixth birthday on the boardwalk at Santa Cruz.”

  “That doesn’t sound like a great memory.”

  “At the time it was petrifying, but now it’s just another one of those things you look back on and laugh about. My grandmother was supposed to be watching me swim, but I was hit by a sneaker wave and then got disoriented. I wandered around crying, trying to find her, but couldn’t, so I went back up to the boardwalk where the Ferris wheel was to find my mom. My mom was pissed at my grandma.” She laughed again and I couldn’t help but smile at the sound. “I remember the merry-go-round too, and ho
w they had those old-fashioned rings you had to toss while you went around.”

  “And the roller coaster. Don’t forget about that.”

  “Oh my gosh. I could never go on the roller coaster. Even when I was fourteen, it looked like it was going to fall apart at any moment and I was sure it would be the one time I rode it.”

  “Nah, that thing held up for years and years. I took my very first date on that roller coaster.”

  “You did? That’s adorable. Tell me about it.”

  I shrugged, suddenly embarrassed, but she seemed genuinely interested. “We were fifteen and there really isn’t much else to do there unless you are old enough to drive or drink, so I asked her to go to the boardwalk with me.”

  “What was her name?”

  “Katie Miller.”

  “Was she pretty?” Talia’s voice was full of curiosity and excitement. She seemed to really be interested in hearing about my first date. I couldn’t understand the notion because if the roles were reversed, I definitely wouldn’t be excited to hear about her dating anyone else, even if it was fifteen years ago. But, she was so cute looking at me with the question in her eyes and adorable smile on her lips, it wasn’t within my capabilities to not answer.

  “I mean, yeah. She was cute. I was a fifteen-year-old guy, though. I wanted to go on a date with practically anyone who had boobs.”

  Her laughter filled the cab of my truck and I wanted to listen to it as long as I could. It was light and unrestrained. She was laughing hard, her hand to her chest, and she was beautiful. We were driving down Highway 101, the ocean was big and blue in the background behind her, and she was laughing like she’d just heard the funniest thing in the world.

  “Oh my gosh,” she said, taking in a deep breath and then laughing some more. “That was the best thing I’ve heard in a while. Such a guy thing to say. And totally true, too.”