Brotherhood of District 23 Complete Series

by Amy Briggs

  As they shook hands, Jeremy said, “I’m Jess’ boyfriend. It’s nice to meet you, Seth.” I made eyes at Jess, who shrugged her shoulders and smiled. She clearly didn’t know he was her boyfriend until that moment, which was downright adorable. Seth settled in at the bar, standing next to me, and as I caught a whiff of his cologne, I became weak in the knees. It wasn’t the martinis. He smelled downright amazing.

  After he ordered a drink and we were all chatting, he leaned down to whisper in my ear, “What are you trying to do to me in that dress, sassy?” I leaned into him, feeling his muscular chest against my back, and giggled.

  “I don’t have any idea what you mean.” I glanced over my shoulder to tease him when he brought his hand gently to my throat to hold me for a kiss. I had never been one for public displays of affection, but I wasn’t going to argue with this man’s lips on me. After he let go, his fingers gently slid across my neck to my shoulder and he leaned in to whisper again.

  “You make it very hard to be a gentleman, Miss Deveraux.”

  “Nobody said you had to be,” I whispered back. I was being a little lippy; I guess the liquor was getting to me a little bit. But I was having fun.

  “So, are we ready to move on to another spot?” Jess stood up.

  “Whatever the ladies would like,” Jeremy replied.

  I grabbed my purse to pay my tab when I realized Jax had already taken care of it. “What are you doing? You don’t need to do that,” I said.

  “Want to. Hush about it, darlin’. You alright to walk around in those shoes?” He pointed to my fabulous heels.

  Scrunching my nose at him, I said, “Yes, of course I am. I wear heels all the time, Seth.”

  “Oh, I’ve noticed your sexy little feet,” he replied with a smirk. “So, where are we off to?” he asked.

  “We were thinking of that rooftop bar over on Church Street? Is that ok with you?” I forgot to even ask him what he wanted to do.

  “I’m happy with whatever or wherever you’d like to go, milady. Lead the way.” He motioned toward the door so he could follow. Jess and I met at the door, and the boys followed us. We were whispering to each other while the guys got to know each other walking behind us. The bar was only about two blocks away, so it wasn’t a far walk.

  “Secrets don’t make friends, ladies,” Jeremy called from behind us.

  Laughing hysterically, we stopped to let the boys catch up with us, and we coupled back up. Jess and Jeremy led the way the last block, and I watched as he put his arm around her, pulling her close and kissing her on the cheek. It was sweet, and I was so happy for her.

  “What’s on your mind, sassy?” Seth asked me as we fell in line behind them.

  “I’m just happy for Jess. She’s dated some real jackasses—I mean, I guess we all have—but he seems like a nice guy, and that makes me happy for her.”

  “Have you been dating jackasses before me?” He winked.

  “Well, yeah. I mean I’m single, so I sure didn’t meet any good ones,” I said with a little bit of a snark, thinking about the cheating troll that was the last one.

  “I don’t think you’ll be single much longer, sassy.” He reached down for my hand, giving it a squeeze.

  Teasing him, even though I wanted to jump his bones for such a romantic comment, I said, “You trying to make an honest woman out of me, Seth Jackson?”

  “Quite the contrary, Miss Deveraux. It is you who is making an honest man of me.” It was in that moment that I started to catch the feelings. Like a plague that takes your rational mind away. I was in. I leaned into him as we finished the walk to our next stop, and we held hands the entire way.

  The world was against me. When I saw Vivian walk toward me in that skintight dress, my dick took over my brain. She looked like a fucking pin-up model, while she was still so cute and conservative at the same time. She didn’t have everything on display; her dress was at her knees, but it hugged every curve and yet still covered them up like a present I wanted to unwrap. I could barely keep my hands off of her from the moment I saw her.

  We were heading over to this rooftop bar on Church Street and I was holding her hand the entire way. Something about holding on to her continued making me feel alive and connected, not in a fog. The usual fuzzy, indifferent feeling I had most nights when I went out was completely gone in her presence.

  When we arrived, we all went up to the top, taking the stairs. She was a little tipsy already, and that tight dress of hers was making her hips sway even more as she took the steps. It was almost comical that her ass was right in my face as we walked up three flights of stairs; it was all I could do to keep from putting my hands all over it. When we reached the top finally, and my torture was over temporarily, she pulled me to the side to talk.

  “Hey, I’m buying you a drink and I don’t want any lip about it, ok?” She pointed her tiny little finger at my chest.

  “Alright, sassy pants, settle down. I’ll let you buy me one drink if it will make you happy.” I laughed.

  “It would make me very happy, so you should let me do it.” She batted her eyelashes at me dramatically.

  “As you wish,” I said. “But can I have a little kiss right now?” I negotiated.

  She turned her head sidewise slightly like when you talk to a puppy. “Well, of course you can. You can have as many of those as you would like.” She started to smile, but my lips were on hers immediately. She was uninhibited, probably from the martinis she had. Most of our kisses had been sweet, but this kiss was more. She reached around my waist and grabbed near my lower back, making my cock completely hard again. I pulled her to me, exploring her mouth, tasting her. I wanted to leave with her, immediately.

  I knew she wanted to be out with her friend, though, so I pulled away, but not before leaning into her ear to whisper, “If you kiss me like that again, we have to leave. I can’t keep my hands off of you, Viv.”

  “I’ll keep that in mind,” she whispered. “Now, let a girl buy you a drink?” Her charming smile took over, lighting her up.

  “If you insist.” I winked at her and ushered her over to the bar where her friend was waiting with her boyfriend.

  We kept up the small talk for a while; I believe we were doing the “judging” that Vivian mentioned earlier. The dude, Jeremy, seemed cool, and her friend Jess was a trip. She was hilarious, and by the way the two girls interacted, you could tell they’d been friends forever. The original plan had been to go to one of the clubs, which I had been dreading, when Vivian asked me if I minded not going.

  “Do you mind if we skip the club and just hang out here for a while before going home? Jess and Jeremy are going to head out shortly, and I don’t really feel like dancing or anything. I like it up here; the breeze is nice, and it’s not too crowded tonight,” she asked me.

  “We can do whatever you want, darlin’. I told you that.”

  “Thank you. I want you to have a good time too, though. What would you like to do?”

  “Honestly, Viv, Doing whatever you’d like to do makes me happy. Well, and that dress; that dress makes me happy, except I don’t like all these other guys checking you out. Maybe you should come sit on my lap so they know you’re with me.” I pulled her to me.

  “Oh, please, nobody is looking at me. You’re silly.” She was blushing. I loved that. As sexy as she was, she was sweet too, and it felt so good to be around someone who didn’t have any clue how captivating she was.

  “Come here and kiss me again. I can’t get enough,” I demanded.

  “You got it.” She smiled and sat on my lap. She had one arm around my neck and the other over my heart, which was beating out of my chest. As her lips touched mine again softly, she melted into me. I stopped hearing the music, and the sound of the other patrons disappeared. It was just her and me in that moment. After the kiss ended, she put her forehead to mine and smiled.

  “I’m happy I met you, Viv,” I said.

  “I’m happy I met you too, Seth,” she whispered. “Yo
u want to get out of here? We could go back to my place and just watch a movie or something. I’m kind of tired of being out tonight. What about you?” She stood up in front of me, my hands still on her hips.

  “I thought you’d never ask.” I got up and we walked over to Jess and Jeremy to say good-bye.

  The girls shared some secrets, and I shook Jeremy’s hand before we took off.

  “How did you get here? Is your car here, Viv?” I asked as we left.

  “I took an Uber. I hate driving in the city. It’s annoying, and finding parking makes me crazy,” she said matter-of-factly. “Did you bring your monster truck?” she teased.

  “Yes, I did. I parked a couple blocks away from here. Can you make it?”

  “If you’re asking about my shoes again, yes, I can make it a couple blocks. My whole shoe collection is like these. But, if you’re asking if I’d like to get home faster, the answer is also yes.” She gave me a little hip check with that sexy ass of hers.

  I knew I was going to have to watch myself here. I felt like she was inviting me for more than a movie, and it was definitely too soon. At least that’s what Dr. Rosen would have said. I got to see her, kiss her, and spend some time with her, but if anything more happened, then I wasn’t following the rules. I wanted to know her. Really know her. The rules were no sex without the connection, and if I slept with her tonight, that would change everything, and not in the way I wanted to emotionally. Not yet at least. I’d just be doing the same thing, hiding behind physical attraction to keep my feelings at bay.

  We walked along in silence, holding hands while I racked my brain on how to get out of having sex with her that night. The irony of the situation was also not lost on me; I’d never in my life tried to avoid sex, especially not with a sassy little fox like her. The internal dilemma was creating an anxiety I wasn’t sure how to handle. This was definitely not something some meditation and coping statements were going to work on, and I was getting nervous.

  When we got to my truck, I walked her over to the passenger side and opened the door. The new automatic step I’d installed slid out from under the truck on a hydraulic piston, giving off a little hissing sound.

  “Oh my God, Jax, did you install a step on the truck? So I can get in easier?” She covered her open mouth with a hand to hide her shock. She was pleased, which was what I’d been going for.

  “I did, darlin’. I can’t have you feeling like you can’t get in and out on your own. I’m still gonna help you, though, because I want to,” I replied, beaming with pride.

  “Come here.” She pulled my hand around her back and stretched up to kiss me. “That was really thoughtful, Seth. You didn’t have to do that.” I accepted my reward kiss happily.

  “Sure, I did, darlin’. Now hop in, so we can get you home.” I took her hand and held her steady while she climbed in using the new step.

  There was a little traffic from all the Saturday night revelers, and I could see there was also a fire truck off to the side of the road, one of ours. The other shift must have had a call. It didn’t look like anything serious, and I wasn’t going to stop. I was busy, but I was of course always curious.

  “Do you know those guys?” she asked as we passed them.

  “Yeah, that’s my station, darlin’. I know most of those guys,” I told her.

  “Is it a fire?” she asked.

  “Doesn’t look like it. If I had to guess, it is probably an alarm system of some kind that went off. We get a lot of those. If they get too dusty, they can go off on their own; or sometimes there’s some smoke from something, but since they’re all hanging out around the truck, it looks like they’re just waiting for the business owner to show up with a key.”

  “You guys wait for people with keys?” She seemed shocked.

  I laughed. “Yes, we will wait for a key if it’s not serious. If there were fire coming out of the windows, we’d smash our way in, though. Is that what you’re asking?”

  “Yes, that is exactly what I’m asking. It sounds fun to smash your way into a building,” she said thoughtfully.

  “You know what, sassy? It definitely is fun to smash your way into a building from time to time.” I laughed again. She was so cute, and she really knew nothing about fires, or firefighters, or the fire department. It was endearing, and a refreshing change from the girls who went after guys in uniform explicitly. We called them badge bunnies; they were always chasing cops and firefighters mostly, and they often got passed around a station if they didn’t latch on to someone. My Viv was not that kind of girl.

  “I haven’t been sassy at all tonight, you know.” She looked at me from across her seat, resting her head on the headrest.

  “Eh, I think you’re always a little sassy. But that’s a good thing. Your sass is cute.”

  “My sass is cute? So I’m cute, like a little kid?” She didn’t look pleased.

  “Your sass is cute, you are cute, but you’re also many other things, Viv,” I stalled, waiting to see if she was mad or if she was fucking with me. Either was completely possible.

  “I’m just messing with you. You looked nervous, though. Did you think I was mad?” She started giggling.

  “You know, darlin’, I wasn’t sure. You had me going for a minute.” A wave of relief washed over me, and I squeezed her hand, causing her to smile over at me. Her eyes were little blue oceans that I could totally get lost swimming in.

  We pulled into her driveway, and I ran over to help her out. The ride must have made her sleepy. She looked like she was ready to curl up and go to bed. Bed, bed, beds are for sleeping, not having my way with her. I kept saying to myself over and over in my head. I followed her to the front door and hesitated before entering.

  “Don’t you want to come in?” she asked me as she opened the door.

  “I really do, Viv, but I don’t want to rush things here,” I said honestly.

  She inhaled deeply and ushered me into the front room. “How about this,” she proposed. “How about I put on something more comfortable and we just hang out and watch a movie or something? And we just promise each other that tonight’s not the night? I’ll be honest with you, Seth, I’d love to have you slam me up against the wall right now and take me, but I also think I would be much happier in the long run if we just spent a little bit of quiet time together.” She raised her eyebrows and tilted her head at me with that questioning look again.

  I sighed and pulled her to me for an embrace. “I would like that very much, Viv. Very much.” I kissed the top of her head and released her to go change into something meant for being cozy on the couch.

  “You go get yourself something to drink and get comfy. I’ll be back in just a few minutes.” She kissed me softly before she floated away.

  As I scurried off to my room to find something adorable but sexy to hang out in, I assessed my feelings about the whole situation. Part of me was relieved that he was still trying to be a gentleman, yet the other part of me really wanted to jump him. I couldn’t believe he installed a step on his truck that very day for me to get in and out of it more easily. He really thought of everything, and I’d never experienced anything like that kind of consideration.

  I threw on a tank top and some yoga pants, and returned to the living room to find him on the couch, with his shoes off and a movie on the TV. “What did you pick to watch?” I asked.

  “There’s a Christmas movie on. I thought that might be fun? It’s only October, but it’s still my favorite season, so why not get in the spirit early? Does that work for you?”

  “Christmas is my favorite too.” I moved myself over to the couch and snuggled into him.

  “You comfy, sassy?” he asked.

  “I am. Are you?”

  “I don’t remember the last time I was this comfortable,” he replied.

  His arm was around me, and I’d snuggled into the nook of his torso, with my hand on his amazingly toned abs. I couldn’t help but stroke the washboard gently with my fingertips. He started to pla
y with my hair, petting my head gently, which was causing my heart rate to rise. As I leaned my face into his neck, all I wanted him to do was kiss me and give me some relief from the burning for him that I was trying to control. Completely unable to control my desire for him, I sat up a little and softly kissed his exposed neck, sliding my hand up his chest.

  He let out a soft moan and wrapped his arm around me more tightly. I maneuvered myself to face him more and continued to lick and kiss him as softly as I could control myself to do along his neck, and below his ear. I could feel his heart beating under my hand, and as I inhaled him, his manly scent made my head swim. I stopped to look at him, sitting back just a bit so I could see his eyes. As I’d hoped, he was filled with desire as well, and he moved his hands to my hips.

  In one quick movement, he lifted me onto his lap, allowing me to straddle him as he moved his hands up the back of my shirt. Everywhere he touched me left a burning sensation, making me completely wet for him.

  “Viv, you are so fucking sexy,” he growled before he crushed his mouth to mine, claiming it. I could feel his hardness between my legs, causing the want in me to grow. As he pulled me into him, his arms wrapped around me, he began to roughly kiss my neck, making his way to my chest, which sent tingles to my nipples before he’d even touched them. His hands were making their way up my sides, and as he began to caress my breasts, I threw my head back and let out a soft moan of my own. He started to pull the top of my tank down lower, exposing more of breasts to his mouth as his thumb started to rub over my pebbled nipple. The thrill of his touch caused me to rock my hips gently into his hardness through our clothes, and I was sure I was going to lose it fully clothed like this.

  As he moved his mouth over mine again, he whispered, “You make it very hard to be a gentleman, Viv.”

  “Maybe I like it hard,” I breathed out, pressing my body against his even more.

  Before I knew what was happening, he shifted us effortlessly and was hovering above me on the couch within seconds. His control over me was hot, and even though we still had all of our clothes on, I could barely control myself. He started kissing my neck again, then sat up slightly, raising my hands above my head, pinning them there.