by D. L. Roan
“Does Dirk know?” Carson asked, taking a seat beside her.
“Yes,” she sighed. “Ford confronted him once, about a year before he died, but Dirk denied it. He’d said it was impossible because Ford was gay.”
“So he knew Ford was gay?” Carson asked, taking a seat beside her.
“Apparently.” She sighed.
“What an asshole,” Connor said, sinking onto the step at her other side. “But he didn’t deny the affair?”
“I don’t know,” she said with a helpless shrug. “The letter didn’t say, but knowing what I know now, I think it’s entirely possible. Pa was a drunk; always had been. He could barely feed himself most days. I can’t imagine he could get any woman pregnant. I remember seeing Dirk at our house when I was little, no older than two, maybe three. I couldn’t say for certain why he was there.”
“So if he was having an affair with your mother,” Carson continued, “do you think he could be your real father, too?”
“Which would make Pryce my half-brother,” Breezy said.
“Jesus Christ,” Connor sighed.
“No shit,” Carson said. “Dirk Grunion—Jesus Junior himself—had an affair with his wife’s sister, denies his own son, beats his other son to a pulp for being friends with Jonah because we’re some great family of sinners? How do people like that sleep at night?”
“They aren’t just friends.” Breezy buried her face in her hands and let out a desperate sigh. It wasn’t her place to reveal something so personal to Jonah’s brothers. He had a right to choose when or if to tell them, but they had to understand what kind of danger Pryce was in.
“Who’s not?” Carson asked. “Jonah and Pryce?”
“Oh my god,” Connor whispered. “Dirk did this.”
Connor shoved to his feet and Carson followed. “Dirk did what?”
“I can’t believe I didn’t see it!”
“Con, you weren’t meant to see it,” she tried to explain.
“Are you saying that Jonah and Price are...” Carson turned back to her, his eyes searching hers for confirmation.
“No, I can’t speak for Jonah,” Breezy said, “but I know what I saw just now. Pryce is in love with Jonah, and terrified for him.”
“I’m calling the Sherriff,” Connor said, pulling his cellphone from his hip.
“Con, wait! You can’t!”
“What do you mean, I can’t! If Dirk beat the shit out of Jonah because he’s gay, then he’s damn well going to pay for it!”
“You can’t do that to Jonah!” she pleaded, stilling his hand before he could dial the number. “You didn’t see him in the hospital. He’s not ready for this to come out. Car, tell him.”
“She’s right,” Carson said, a murderous look flickering in his eyes. “If it’s true, we can’t out him, bro. It’s not fair to Jonah.”
“I’ll be dammed if I’m going to sit here and let Dirk get away with this.” Connor fumed.
“We don’t know for certain what happened to Jonah, and we can’t force him to do something he’s not ready to do,” she argued. “We can help Pryce, and maybe stop something like this, or even worse, from happening again. That’s why I wanted your keys,” she explained. “I need to go see Dirk. If he knows that I know about him and my mother, and that he could be my real father, I can...I don’t know. He won’t want this to become public.”
“You can’t go there,” Carson said, taking the keys from her hand. “And for God’s sake, if you knew about this, then why didn’t you tell us? We’ve been going out of our minds trying to figure out what happened.”
“I didn’t suspect this had anything to do with Pryce until I saw him just now.” She glanced up at Carson, seeing only more questions in his eyes. “I didn’t say anything about Dirk and my mom and all the other stuff because...because I was afraid it would change the way you felt about me.”
“What?” they asked at the same time. “What does that have to do with anything between us?” Connor asked.
“The disdain you have for the Grunions is palpable,” she pointed out. “I know you have reason, but if you knew that I could be one of them...I wasn’t ready to lose you.”
Carson reached out and pulled her into his arms. “You’re never going to lose us,” he said, his arms clutching her so tight she could barely breathe.
Connor’s warmth blanketed her back. Carson loosened his hold long enough for Connor to wrap his arms around her waist. “We don’t care where or who you came from, baby. The only thing that matters is that you’re here, and you’re ours.”
“The Grunions are assholes because of what they do, who they are,” Carson said. “Not because of their last name.” He released his hold and cupped her cheeks, tilting her head up to look her in the eyes. “I love you for all those same reasons. I was wrong to judge you back then.”
“The way you’ve judged Pryce?”
Carson’s eyes narrowed, then closed. He took a deep breath and gave her a single nod before he opened them again. “Fair observation.”
“He’s done nothing to deserve your ire, Car.”
“I know,” Carson said. He looked up at the sky and released a heavy sigh. “You’re right.”
Connor chuckled, his breath tickling her ear. “You’d better get used to saying that, bro. I have a feeling she’s going to be right a lot.”
“I know, dammit. You don’t have to rub it in.”
Carson looked past her to Connor. They shared one of their cryptic twin glances before Carson released her and Connor stepped around in front of her. He took her hands, passing one of them to Carson. “Baby, I know the timing is terrible. We were going to do the whole romantic thing with champagne and candles—”
“We can still do that,” Carson said out of the corner of his mouth.
“Yeah, but she needs to know now,” Connor argued. “I need her to know.”
“Know what?” Oh, God. What else could there be? She didn’t think she could take one more secret.
Connor smiled down at her, his eyes revealing so many emotions she couldn’t tell what he was thinking. “Even before I knew you, I believed in the idea of you. I want forever with you. I want forever with us. With everything that’s happened, I don’t know what that forever looks like anymore, but every idea, every splintered image in my head has you and Car in it.”
Breezy forgot how to breathe.
“I’ve been working on what I wanted to say to you,” Carson said, “how I wanted to ask you this. Con’s always been better with words.” Connor cleared his throat and Carson gave him a sideways glance. “All I know is that, in one way or another, you’ve always been a part of me. When I met you I was too young and stupid to notice, and since the night of the accident I’ve been too screwed up to see the truth.” He glanced down at their joined hands, his thumb caressing the top of her ring finger. “I can’t believe I almost missed this. I was so lost for so long. You helped me find my way home—to my brother, my family, to you. You are the single greatest thing that’s ever happened to me, and—oh darlin’ please don’t cry.”
She crumbled against Carson’s chest as he drew her back into his arms. “I can’t help it.” Tears flowed uncontrollably down her cheeks. “That was beautiful.”
“But I wasn’t even finished.”
“Good place to leave it, bro,” Connor whispered to him.
A giggle bubbled up through the lump in her throat. “I’ve loved you both for so long. I was so afraid to come here, but I couldn’t say no after everything your parents did for me, and-and I never thought any of this would happen. And then when it did, I was afraid to believe it was real.”
“It’s very real,” Connor said as he stroked her hair.
“You are my real,” Carson said. “Nothing has ever felt more real or more right.”
Breezy reached up to wipe away her tears. When she saw the wet spots on Carson’s shirt, she took a step backwards and stumbled as the world around her tilted a little. “Whoa.” Carson caught h
er by the shoulders and pulled her back to him.
“Let’s get you inside and off your feet,” Connor said, taking her hand.
“We have to help Pryce,” she reminded them.
“And we will.” Carson scooped her up into his arms before he climbed the stairs. “But first we need to take care of you.”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
“I’m fine,” Breezy insisted, but Connor wasn’t buying it.
“You barely touched your food last night and we could all use a shower.”
“Great idea,” Carson said and ripped his t-shirt over his head. “I’ll go turn the water on, let some steam build up.”
“So you’re okay with PB&Js for lunch?” Connor sent him a sideways glance.
“Guys, I’m fine.” Breezy sank down onto the bench beside the front door and removed her shoes. “I’ll grab a quick shower and a banana or something before we go.”
Connor turned his incredulous stare to her. “You and I both know you need more sustenance than that.” He glanced back at his daft twin. “And Car knows that I’m not equipped with the skills to provide said sustenance.”
“And they call me the drama queen.” Carson rolled his eyes and tossed his shirt in the general direction of the laundry room. “Why don’t you just say you want to take a shower alone with her?”
“I want to take a shower alone with her.”
“Then go take a shower already.” Carson leaned down and gave Breezy a quick peck on the cheek. “I’ll see what Mom has in the refrigerator and be up in a few.”
Carson disappeared down the hall as Connor led Breezy upstairs. Her steps were slow and heavy and he wondered if they shouldn’t postpone going to see Dirk altogether until she’d gotten some rest. He wasn’t sure about the whole idea of confronting him in the first place. “Our mom and dads have the biggest bathtub known to man. Would you rather take a hot bath?”
Breezy shook her head. “I’d probably fall asleep and drown.”
Locked away in the bathroom, the steam billowing from the enclosed shower, he undressed her and then himself. His cock was fully erect by the time he stepped into the shower behind her, but contrary to his brother’s beliefs, he had no intention of satisfying that particular need. He’d take care of that after he’d taken care of her.
“Let me.” He took the bar of soap from her hand and worked up a frothy lather. “Lean under the spray,” he said, sliding his soapy hands along her spine up to her neck. Hot water sluiced down and over his hands as he worked the muscles in her neck and shoulders, chuckling at her moan. “I may not be able to cook, but I have other valuable skills.”
“Valuable indeed.” Her reply was slurred and breathy all at the same time, sending signals to his cock that he’d rather it not get.
He re-lathered his hands and began again, this time working his way down her arms, her shoulder blades and lower back, paying special attention to the two small dimples at the base of her spine. He wanted more than anything to put his mouth on them, feel the indentions beneath his tongue.
As if in silent invitation, she braced her palms against the wall and pressed her hips into his hands, sending a sharp pang of need straight to his cock. He flexed his fingers into her soft flesh, kneading her cheeks, stealing glancing touches of places he desperately wanted to more fully explore. “I’m trying to be good,” he said when she pushed against him again. He moved his hands away from the overwhelming temptation. “I know you’re worried about Pryce.”
“Shh.” She reached back and grabbed his hand. She pulled him against her and placed his hand on her breast, pressing her hips hard against his cock. “Remember that place you talked about that day in the field, where everything is silent? I need that place,” she said, gripping his thigh with her other hand. “Just for a few minutes, before we go. Let me feel you.”
Connor’s eyes fell closed as every ounce of breath whooshed from his lungs. Without thought or hesitation he gave her what she wanted. He wrapped himself around her, his hands kneading her flesh, moving in soothing circles over her hips. He lifted her leg and placed her foot on the ledge in front of them, opening her up for him. He trailed his fingers along her soft skin until he reached her hot, wet pussy.
Her achy moan echoed off the tile as his fingers slid inside her, the evidence of her arousal slick and hot inside. Reaching between them, he positioned his cock, thick and heavy with need, at her entrance and pushed deep inside, stretching her, filling her, stealing her breath, and his too. She was so warm, intensely so. She was perfect. He traced her spine with his lips, stealing a taste of her as he sipped the water from her skin, pushing himself deeper inside her with every stroke.
She writhed around him, pushing back for more, and he gave it to her. Whatever she wanted, for the rest of his life, he would give it to her. As the water rained down over them, he took her to that place he loved. He was too entranced by the silken feel of her around him to go there himself, but he wanted her to feel it, to know that he was her safe place.
He caressed her soft flesh, drawing out another mindless moan. Long strokes sped to short strokes, and then back again as the first undercurrent of her orgasm rippled along his cock. Pumping back and forth inside her, he closed his eyes and tightened his grip on her hips. As he felt her tighten around him, he tongued her earlobe in the way he knew drove her mad, sucking it between his lips and nipping it with his teeth.
She came hard and fast around him, trembling, arching beneath a storm of sheer pleasure. He gripped her hips and moved her back and forth on his cock until a shudder rolled through him. He buried himself to the hilt and came with a pained curse, pumping hard and fast until he no longer could. Desperate to draw out their pleasure, he slowed his thrusts, feeling her pulse around him.
They clung together, panting and gulping for air. Her body melted like hot taffy in his hands and he crushed her against the shower wall, absorbing the feel of her, naked and wet against him, his throbbing cock still inside her as the water ran between them.
No words were spoken, the blissful silence she sought enveloping them like the cloud of steam rolling from the shower. He was content to stay there, adrift in the moment, just the two of them. He hadn’t realized how much he’d needed this time with her, alone, connected in that way that only lovers could be. He enjoyed those times when he and Carson took her together, but this was different, special, something only shared between them.
When she began to stir, he pushed against the wall and reluctantly separated their bodies. He steadied her as she turned to face him, her hands spreading wide over his chest, touching, caressing him as if she needed to know he was real before she rested her forehead against his chest and wrapped her arms around his waist. They stood there, unmoving, until the water cooled and he reached over and turned it off.
He tipped her chin up and captured her mouth in a languid kiss. “I didn’t use a condom,” he said, caressing her bottom lip with the pad of his thumb. He didn’t regret it, not even for a second. He could already see her carrying their child, her slim belly rounded and heavy. The vision was so real his hand moved to touch her there, wanting to feel their baby moving inside her.
“It’s okay. I’m on the pill.”
A small arc of disappointment flickered through his chest. They had plenty of time, but he hoped that time would come soon. “I’ll get us a couple of towels,” he said and placed a gentle kiss on her forehead before he stepped from the shower.
After they were dried and dressed, he pulled her into his arms for one last hug. Soon they would reenter the craziness that was their life and it might be the last chance he had for a while to just be with her.
“Thank you,” she said, and kissed the center of his chest.
Connor chuckled. “Trust me. No thanks needed.” He pulled his head back a little and looked down at her. “Just don’t tell Car about the no condom thing, not yet anyway. He’ll have you bent over Mom’s kitchen table in two seconds flat.”
A bright pink flu
sh colored her cheeks and she wrinkled her nose. “Good idea.”
“What’s a good idea?” Carson asked from the other side of the door. “And the food’s ready, by the way.”
Connor rolled his eyes. “I guess I’ve stolen you away long enough.” He opened the door to find Carson standing on the other side, his head turned as if he’d had his ear pressed against the door. “Were you listening to us?”
Carson’s eyebrows bounced a couple of times. “Nope. I didn’t hear anything about not using condoms.”
“Ass,” he said, popping his towel against Carson’s bare chest as he passed by.
“Ouch!”
As Connor walked to the top of the stairs, he heard Carson kiss Breezy. “Mmm, I’ll be down in a minute,” he told her. A few seconds later, the door closed and Breezy followed Connor down the steps. He couldn’t help but notice her furrowed brow.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” she said and he dipped his head, giving her a warning glance. They weren’t back to that again, were they? “No, ugh.” She shook her head, a bashful smile pulling at her lips. “I feel a little weird, for not, you know, including him.”
“Baby, don’t.” He reached up into the cupboard and snagged three plates. “I mean, you can go back up there if you want, but that’s not how this works.” He set the plates on the table and cupped his hands around her neck, pulling her into a kiss. “Every relationship is different, but in one like this, there’s no room for jealousy. Don’t ever feel like you have to choose or be with one of us just because you were with the other. And if it helps, I’ll slip away and give the two of you some time to yourselves tonight. I’m sure he needs it as much as I did.”
“Really?”
He loved the little crinkle that appeared between her brows when she was surprised by something perplexing. “Really.” He kissed that very spot and then turned back to the stove to grab the huge pan of fried potatoes and eggs Carson had prepared. “It’s important that we both get alone time with you, but we all know life can get crazy. If either of us begins to feel neglected, we’ll let you know.