by Bex Dane
He works his hips up and down until he's fully seated inside me, and I'm stretched full of Mace. Then the magic begins. He grinds his hips, rubbing our bodies together, filling me deeper and harder and smashing my clit with each thrust. It's everything I thought it would be, and I want it to last forever.
Mace is kissing me again, one elbow braced on the rock over my head, the other hand reaching down to tilt my hips toward him, getting impossibly closer and deeper.
I dig my nails into the pistoning muscles of his shoulders and lock my ankles behind his back. Every stroke is like heaven. We go at it like that for a while, getting to know each other's bodies and how we move. It's never been like this before. The last time with Mace wasn't this good. It never got close to this with Griffin. Mace is magnificent.
I feel it rising from my spine. "I'm coming again."
"Yes. Come on my dick. So good." His back arches, he grunts and freezes as he buries himself deep and we fall over the edge together. We're planted solid on the rock, but inside we're freefalling to the valley below.
He thrusts slower, and he's kissing me again as he pumps in and out. "I knew it. I knew we'd be incredible together again."
"Mmm."
"This side of you I'll never get enough of. Want it all the time. It's so pure and totally honest about who you are."
"I like this side of you too." I smack his bare ass.
He grins and collapses on top of me with his chin against my neck. We lay like that in the afternoon sun, catching our breath and basking in the glory of what we shared.
His head rises, and he looks around with hooded lids. We've both been so unaware of our surroundings, we didn't hear the helicopter coming.
But there it is, directly above us, a large helicopter hovers and blows strong wind down on us. "Get the fuck out of here!" Mace screams.
"You know who that is?"
"It's Remy."
Remy? Oh my God, Remy. I push him off but he won't budge. "Don't get up. He'll see you naked. Probably taking pictures up there."
"Oh my God." I tuck my forehead into his chest. Remy is taking pictures of us naked, doing it on a rock!
Mace reaches back and flips off the helicopter. "Fuck you, Remy."
Finally, the helicopter gains altitude and flies away.
"That asshole. I'll kill him."
"No brother killing over me."
"No. But I'm gonna pummel him so hard." He kisses me one more time before pulling out. He hands me my clothes and starts to dress. "I can't believe he did that."
I stay quiet as I pull my shorts up and buckle them.
"How did he even know we were here?"
"I have a few favorite spots. He probably was out looking for me." He finishes dressing and pulls me into his arms. "Ignore him. You were awesome."
I have to smile. "You were pretty impressive yourself."
"I didn't use a…"
"I'm on the pill, but yeah, maybe next time we should." I wink at him.
"Next time might be in five minutes." His arms squeeze tight around me.
"It will not."
He glances up to the sky. "Okay. Let's go home first. Twenty minutes until next time."
That makes me laugh. "Okay."
Chapter 12 Sunday Dinner
Mace
"I'm going to beat his ass." Remy's helicopter finally leaves, and I'm alone with Loralei again. She looked so gorgeous after she came. Her face and body relaxed, and she was totally open to me. A man would give his life's savings to have a woman look at him like she looked at me. It was as memorable as I thought it would be. Better because she loved it so much. Better because of the rock and the view and mostly because she totally lost control and yelled my name into the basin.
She was giving in to this. She was letting me claim her.
I help her get dressed, and we share more kisses before starting down Hopper's Ledge. I'm not usually a kissy kinda guy, but Loralei's lips are the exception. I'd stay lip-locked with her for days if I didn't have to eat. And that's my plan. Eat and hook up with her again.
"Thank you, Mace."
I don't know what she's thanking me for but her eyes are lazy, her hair messed up, and her lips curled up in a permagrin. I'm thinking it's the two orgasms I gave her causing her to look like that, but I don't care. I love this side of Loralei, and I'll do everything I can to bring it out of her.
I follow her on the way down. She seems a lot more confident. She's still smiling when we hit the flatter part of the trail. "We're going to dinner tonight." I throw an arm over her shoulder, and she tenses.
"I don't think I'm welcome there."
"Of course you are."
I don't like the way she's pulling away from me and hiding in her shell again. "I want you there. If anyone has a problem with it, they can talk to me. Most of them are cool with it. Remy and Sutton overreacted."
She flinches when I say Remy and Sutton.
"C'mon. You're a cop. You can't take a little sass from my sister and assholery from my brother? Stand strong, and they'll respect you like I do."
"You respect me now?"
I stop her and force her to look into my eyes. "More than respect. I'm digging you now." We start walking again.
"Why?"
I take her hand in mine and give it a squeeze. "I don't know. Maybe it's the way you woke up in a hospital with huge portions of your memory missing and still had the wherewithal to put me in my place. Thought that was fun."
"It wasn't fun. It was fight or flight."
"Then you rocked the outfit at the club you were totally not comfortable with and made it work out with Helix. Nice job."
"That was easy."
"It wouldn't be for a lot of women."
She shrugs and I throw an arm over her shoulder. "Then you did an awesome job facing down Diablo. He's a scary dude. Now, you should've gone the wrong way down that street, but other than that you were badass."
"Shut up." She smacks me in the gut.
"I like the way you faced your fear of heights, and I especially like tasting your sweet nectar out here on the ledge." I lean down and kiss her ear. She raises her shoulder and laughs like it tickles. "I can see you try to keep control of things, but you let go for me. I find your brand of orderly on the outside, reluctant vixen on the inside incredibly appealing. It's like a secret you only share with me."
"That's bizarre."
"Don't you find my brand of crazy appealing?"
"No." She's fighting back laughter.
"You sure?"
She stops walking and turns toward me, one hand on my stomach, the other on my back. "All right. Yes. I absolutely love your brand of crazy. Sex on a cliff, running full speed without a plan, long hair flying wild, stylish clothes and don't-give-a-shit attitude."
"Is that all you like about me?" I raise my hand to caress her cheek with my palm.
"I admit I was touched when you offered to help me remember, and I'm very grateful that you rescued me from the island."
"Mmm. Anything else?" I run my thumb over her lower lip.
"I really love your hard-as-rock abs and your massive cock." She pats my abs and grins.
"Excellent." I nod and take her hand again. Today was epic. Loralei Valentine and me are an awesome pair. Just need to convince my family of this.
***
We walk into my parents' cabin thirty minutes late for dinner. Everyone glances at us and goes back to what they were doing. "See? No problem."
She's smiling and looking around the room, but I can see the tension in her jaw.
My mom approaches first, but two kids and a dog beat her to it. Maisey and Henry wrap their little arms around my legs as the dog jumps up to my chest.
I lift one of the tooth necklaces over my head and wiggle it over Maisey's mass of curly hair. She breaks into a squeal and a jump that makes me bonk her in the nose. "Hold on." She keeps bouncing as I finally work it over her head. The child is as wiggly as I was at her age. Still am. We're kindred
spirits.
Maisey picks up the tooth and stares at it with wide eyes. "Did you kill someone to get this?"
"No. It's a coyote tooth, and he was already dead. I just took it for you because I thought it was cool for a necklace."
"It is. I love it."
Henry has been waiting patiently. "You want one too?"
He nods and I pull another one from my neck. "Don't let anyone tell you boys can't wear necklaces. This looks like a shark's tooth and all your friends are gonna think you wrestled a shark to get it."
"Thanks, Mace." He and Maisey run away, jump over the couch in the living room, and start wrestling.
My mom tugs the dog away and gives me a bear hug. I embrace her tiny frame in my arms. "Your eye better?" She squints up at me.
"All better, Ma."
"Good. I'll take this." She reaches for the serving dish Lola has been holding in her hands. "You didn't have to bring anything."
"Mace said it's potluck, and with the holidays coming up, I thought yams might be appropriate."
My mom's face lights up. "Yams? Did you make them from scratch?"
"Well, yeah. It's…"
My mom breaks out into laughter with her head thrown back. Lola smiles politely through the whole outburst.
"That's great. It's time we ate some homemade yams again." She flashes me a smile and walks back into the kitchen with the dish. I place my hand on the small of Lola's back to encourage her to walk into the room.
"What was that about?" She steps back like she's ready to run out the door.
I lean down and speak in her ear. "My mom screwed up some yams a while ago, and we haven't had them since."
"I didn't realize it was an issue. Why didn't you tell me?"
"I forgot until she started laughing. Now I remember the burnt marshmallows and the lumpy orange potatoes. It was bad." I stick out my tongue and she grimaces. "It's okay. It'll be fine. Let's go."
I give her a stronger push on the lower back, and she shuffles forward. Everyone is either watching TV or talking in the kitchen. They haven't sat down to dinner yet. We always start late. As we walk deeper into the room, Cutter and Cass look up from a movie on TV and give us a nod. My dad walks up and shares the Twist handshake, drawing out the hug part to say hello again and welcome me back to Sunday dinner. It's been at least a month since I showed up to one.
"How're you guys doing?" He's mostly looking at me, but it's nice he included Lola.
"We're good. Went climbing at Hopper's Ledge today."
He nods. "Clears the mind."
"Ah, yeah." We cleared a lot of things up there, but I'm not telling my dad, and it looks like Remy didn't rat me out either. "Remy here?"
"In the kitchen."
Lola's back stiffens, and I rub it to reassure her. Remy is the most decent of my brothers. She doesn't have to fear him. "I'm gonna introduce her to everyone else."
My dad nods and heads to the kitchen.
I introduce her to Blaine first. "This is Loralei."
His head twists and he does a double take. "The Loralei? Like glitter dildos Loralei?"
"You know about that?'
"Of course, it's legend. Nice to meet you, Loralei." He gives her a fist bump which she stiffly returns. I don't know what else Blaine knows about her, and I'm not sticking around to tell him.
I introduce her to Marshawn and Sequoia. If they know about the dildos, they are nice enough not to mention it. I have to keep rubbing her shoulders to get them down. "It's just my family. Don't stress."
She nods as Remy comes out of the kitchen carrying her dish. He stops when he sees her before finishing up and putting it on the table. He lifts the lid and sees the perfectly toasted marshmallows on top. "What the hell is that?"
"It's yams," I answer.
"I know what it is. Who brought it?"
Lola raises her hand and smiles. "Me."
Remy's gaze narrows in on her and he points. "You brought yams to our family dinner?" His tone implies she brought monkey brains.
"Shut up, Remy. It's just fucking sweet potatoes." I'm not allowing him to give her any more grief.
"We don't eat that shit at our house." The lid makes a cracking sound when he slams it back on the yams.
He is pissing me off, attacking her like this. "There's no manifesto on the door saying yams are forever banned. We just haven't had them. Tonight we do."
My mom comes out of the kitchen with another dish. "What's going on?"
"Remy's giving Lola a hard time for bringing yams."
He scowls at me for ratting him out to my mom, but I know she's on my side on this one. She's thrilled about the yams and she likes Loralei. "Not everyone likes them, but some people do. I'm sure they're better than the fiasco my yams were. Take a seat."
Sutton comes out and places some food on the table before taking a seat next to Remy. "Are those yams?"
I groan and take Lola's hand. "They are fucking yams! It's Thanksgiving in a week. Everyone chill."
Sutton and Remy share a look like they both think yams are a felony worthy of burning Lola at the stake.
The dishes start to move around as we all fork stuff onto our plates. Maisey plops down next to me and taps her plastic cup on the table. "Can I have juice?"
"No," my mom answers. "Just have water with dinner."
I don't blame my mom. Maisey is amped up without juice. With juice, she'll be a Tasmanian devil.
"I want to try the fucking yams," Maisey blurts out and we all stare at her.
"Maisey," my dad cautions her.
"What? That's what Mace called them."
My dad looks at me like what did you do?
"No cussing, Maisey." I wag my finger at her.
She smirks because she knows she can cuss with me when her parents aren't listening. She can even get away with it in front of them sometimes.
The other usual suspects at a Twist dinner make their way around the table. Pizza, Chinese egg rolls, Sutton's salad packed with veggies. The bright orange sweet potatoes with roasted marshmallows dripping off the top stand out on the plates as the only holiday food.
Remy and Sutton pass on the yams and start eating.
Lola keeps her head down, and I have to pat her knee under the table to get her to look at me. "Hey."
"It's fine. I'm fine."
She doesn't look fine, but she's holding it in.
"The yams are incredible," my mom says with a smile.
Lola nods but doesn't look up again.
"I love them," Maisey screams. "Give some to Henry. Do you like them? Who else loves them?" she asks the entire table.
I hear mumbles of "delicious," but Remy and Sutton keep quiet with jaws locked and hard eyes directing arrows at Lola. I feel like jumping in front of her and taking every dirty look they're giving her in my own eye.
Before everyone is done eating, Remy puts his fork down and stares at me. "Why are you doing this, man?"
I stand and face him down. "You wanna go over it right here in front of everyone?"
He looks down. "No."
"I didn't think so." Everyone is staring at us, and Lola is trying to keep a brave face, but she's struggling. "Eat!"
My family snaps out of their staring and returns to chatter while we eat.
Remy stands and walks away early. Sutton watches him walk away then returns to sending me dirty looks.
My parents look concerned but disregard it to talk to Henry. "Did you like the yams, Henry?" my mom asks him.
"I love them."
Sutton smacks her napkin on the table, stands, and walks toward the living room where Remy is watching TV.
Lola hasn't said a word through dinner, but her eyes have slowly darkened and her mouth has grown drawn.
After we help clear the table, I grab Loralei's hand and march right to Remy and Sutton. "Let's work it out in the octagon."
Remy ignores me and stares at the TV. I smack him upside the back of his head. "I said let's go work it out."
; He glances up at me over his shoulder then sends a dismissive look to Loralei again. "Not worth it."
I smack him a lot harder, and his head bobs forward. "Ow."
He lurches up and back to take a swipe at me but misses when I duck. I throw my arm out to hit his temple, but he blocks it.
"You ready to fight?" I ask him.
"Yeah." He puts down the remote and stands up from the couch. He gives me an evil glare as he walks past Lola.
"This really isn't necessary," Lola says timidly, but it's way too late for that. He's disrespected both of us, and he needs to pay for it.
I follow him out and hear my mom say, "What's going on?"
My parents and everyone else follows us out.
I hop over the rail of the homemade octagon we have in the outdoor gym. I whip off my shirt and Remy copies. We're both wearing jeans, which are not great for kicking, but comfortable enough for fighting. Lola grabs the rail with her fingernails. "Don't worry. It's—"
A thump hits the back of my head. Remy took a cheap shot paying me back for what I did inside. I turn around and glare at him. "Now we're even."
"Oh then we're done here?" He holds up both hands, palms up. It's his last ditch effort to get out of this. Signaling his hands are empty. We don't have to fight.
My hands curl up into fists. "Not yet. You're gonna apologize to Loralei by the end of this."
"Pfft. She's the one who owes a huge apology to all of us."
I step up to him and get in his face. "Did you ever stop and think why she did what she did?"
"You brought in her dad? So we all pay for years?"
"Yeah. Then her dad died in prison. It screwed her up. She blamed me."
"And now she doesn't?" He circles me, showing me he’s getting ready to fight.
"She forgave me. We're good. She's with me now."
"With you?" He stands and glares at me.
"She's mine. She's gonna be here. Accept it, or we'll fight like this every Sunday until you do."
"You'd fight me over her?"
"We're in here, aren’t we?" Another reason we need this fight. I need to make it clear I'm serious. To him and everyone else including Loralei. There's a lot at stake here. I don't know when she became so important to me, but she has, and I'm saying it out loud right now for the first time.