The Competition

by Riley Rollins

  Just promise me you won’t come… not until all of this…,” she wrapped her hands around my rod, holding it tight, right next to her mouth, “is buried between my legs.” She licked me and my whole body turned rigid. “I demand complete satisfaction,” she said, “and you’re going to give it to me…”

  “What can I say…?” I breathed, letting my head fall back, surrendering to her sweet dominance. She engulfed me in a swirl of liquid heat, punishing and demanding… and rewarding…

  “you’ve caught me.”

  45

  Emily

  The last dizzying surges slowly gave way to warm, wet waves. The first morning light was just beginning to break, and the birds outside the window just starting to sing. My heartbeat was still too fast, but my breathing was finally coming slower. I reached down to feel his thick, dark hair and ran my fingers through it. He lifted his head and smiled at me, his lips wet from my climax. He rested his head warmly against the inside of my thigh, and I smiled back, satisfied… at least for now…

  “You’ll spoil me rotten if you wake me up like this every morning,” I said, caressing his shoulders and pulling a deep, steadying breath. His bed was soft, luxuriously warm from the heat of our bodies. He moved up alongside me until he could rest his head on my breast, letting his fingers continue to swirl slow circles down below. His mouth had only made me even needier and he knew it. He traced a finger lazily through my damp curls and teased the very tip… in and out of my swollen pussy.

  “I can’t think of anything I’d enjoy more,” he answered. “Ben has the business on track for now. And I’m only a phone call away if he needs me. I haven’t taken time off since Envisager began…” He pushed his fingers a little deeper, making me lift my hips and push too. “Stay with me, here at the cabin… I can hire someone to fill in for you at the bakery, even provide someone to stay with your grandmother, if you like.” He looked into my eyes with his dark, soulful ones. “I want you all for myself…”

  I pushed his hair back and smiled into the calm, grey sea of his beautiful eyes. The love between us met in that gaze, like something real, tangible… something that could be held and protected. Tears pricked at the back of my eyes and slid, salty, down the back of my throat. In the back of my mind, I remembered his words… How the salt makes the sweet almost more than we can bear…

  “Gran’s fine,” I said, with difficulty. “She’s going to be spending a lot more time with May these days. And Henry too, her new gentleman friend.” I thought back to the glow on her sweet, wrinkled face, blinking at the depth and mystery of the human heart. “She told me things about herself I never knew… never understood before. How she lost the love of her life once, a long time ago. She told me she didn’t want me to ever have to live with that kind of regret.

  I love you, Chase. And there’s nothing I’d regret more than to wake up without you. I’ll stay for as long as you want me.” He shifted, his big hands spanning my hips. “You’ve brought me love and excitement, but more than that. You have the kindest heart I’ve ever known. And you’ve helped me to find myself… to explore and learn about who I am and what I want in my life. In a way, you’ve set me free.”

  “And you’re the only challenge I’ll ever need… ever want,” he said, lifting me up to settle me on top of him. I straddled his hips and caught his heavy cock in my hands, rubbing myself sensuously against him. He’d taken me hard and fast, slow and gentle throughout the long night. But it only seemed to make all our desires grow even more powerful. I could see the aching need in his face as he looked up at me. His eyes lingered greedily over my bare breasts, my hardening nipples… my belly… And my core clenched, making impatient demands of its own.

  I lifted up on my knees and let myself slide slowly down onto his shaft, spasming along its towering length. We held our breath together until my clit finally touched his base. I was stretched tight… deliciously tight and wavered, impaled, my heart pounding in my pussy. I could see in his eyes that he felt every beat against his cock. We held still, holding back only until the need in us both stripped the last of our control. There was only that single heartbeat and fast shallow breath until…

  “You’ve caught me,” I whispered with the last air in my lungs.

  “Then you’re mine forever,” he whispered back. I felt his shaft pulse and surge inside me… like it was writhing all on its own, impatient to have its way. “Today, tomorrow… every day after… ever last night… Promise me…”

  “I do,” I answered, choking back the flood of love that swept my body and moved me of its own accord. “I promise…”

  I felt his powerful arms encircle my body. He held me, supporting me, strengthening me… allowing my emotion and desire to move me. He leaned up, holding me as his heart met my heart, and hard muscle met tender, swollen breasts. His shaft formed the core of my whole being, filling me with the power of his love and the strength of our unity. Our legs wrapped in a perfect circle, and he took my mouth with his as my hips drove us on. I rode as he bucked, thrusting inside me, and filling my body. I rocked, stroking and squeezing, the need inside me growing into a sweet, sweet ache. I bit into his lip, clawing at his muscled back… crying out as he exploded inside me and I felt my climax swallowing up his thick, hot seed. I threw my head back as I surrendered, swaying on his pulsing, pounding cock. His coming was my coming, and I heard my name on his lips as I collapsed against him. There was only Chase and only me… the race had reached its end and I spilled over the length of his body, replete at last… and joined still. I rested my head against the damp heat of his chest, and listened to the steady, blissful beating of his heart. I fell asleep to its rhythm, setting my own pulse to its pace and knowing I would always keep my promise, just as he would keep his.

  And as I slept in his arms that morning, I dreamed. They were long, sweet, languid dreams that came and went, like waves of mist, like whispers of truth… quickly forgotten, only later remembered…

  I dreamed of a baby I didn’t yet know I carried. And I dreamed of a wedding only a few short months away. I knew that Gran would live to see our firstborn son, and that he would have his father’s dark hair… and his great-grandmother’s sharp, bright eyes. I dreamed of Chase and me, wrinkled and grey… in a far-off future welcoming grandchildren of our own.

  And I dreamed of a life without regrets, knowing inside, that Gran would be proud…

  It was many years ago.

  And every day since, has taught me that dreams do come true. For I have the love of my life and he has me. Our Justin was born, followed a year later by a daughter. I write this now, having just found out our third is on his way. We are truly a family, we live from the heart… and with our whole hearts. We share a life where every challenge is met with the strength of our love and our commitment to one another. Every day he tells me he loves me. But in every moment, he shows me it’s true.

  Our hearts beat in time with each other, and I know that after a long and wonderful life together, many, many years from now, they will one day slow and finally cease together too.

  For I cannot imagine life without him, nor can he without me. And that, above all things has been

  the sweetest gift of all.

  Little Sister Next Door

  Me, break my promise to marry my best friend’s little sister?

  Come on. I was a kid, and hell, so was Maggie.

  Promises like that are made to be broken.

  But now I’m back in town, and I’m hooked on that hot f*cking blonde in boots.

  After all these years... Could it really be her?

  Trouble starts when I find out she is my Maggie. My best friend’s little sister is all grown up, and she’s off limits. Way off limits…

  I’m Decker, the biggest news name in the south.

  Maggie’s a young college grad, hell-bent on saving the world.

  A match made in heaven…? Only till we collide.

  She’s adventurous and demanding, a passionate whirlwind. Loving her
means I could lose an empire. Loving me means she could lose the only family she’s got left.

  Storm season’s here and the temperature’s rising. We can’t happen… Except we already have. The girl next door is becoming my everything.

  So f*ck the consequences.

  For Maggie, I’m charging in...

  ...to the eye of the storm.

  1

  Maggie

  May forecast: Unseasonably hot, humid. Highs nearing 100.

  Shit… not again…

  The thuk, thuk, thuk of ragged rubber on asphalt had me easing off the gas and gripping the wheel for all I was worth. Only a hundred damned miles outside of Texas and this was my second flat in the last six hours. I let the jeep slow on its own and pulled off onto the shoulder. Hell, I was getting good at this.

  I shut off the engine and took my last long swallow of tepid water. Leaning back in the seat, I allowed myself a few quiet moments to watch the thunderhead growing on the horizon. It was hot. Fucking hot for spring, and I’d already stripped as far as I dared. Tiny pink tee and shorts. Sweat trickled down the back of my neck and I sighed impatiently. I wasn’t up for this.

  I threw on my beat-up old Stetson and climbed out to survey the damage. Not good. The tire was the newest one on the vehicle, and the tread trailed in shreds. I used the elastic band on my wrist to bundle up way too much hair, and crammed my hat down to hold it in place. I dug out the lug wrench, again, and went to work.

  But not before I gave the tire the ass-kicking it deserved with the pointed toe of my boot.

  “Well, hey there, honey. You look like you could use a cold drink.”

  The waitress was thick around the middle, a nametag perched over her generous bosom, and wiping down the lunch counter with a cloth. The little bell tinkled above me as I paused in the doorway, and the first cold wave of blessed air conditioning washed over me.

  “You sit right on down here,” the little woman waved her hand. “My name’s Doris, and you just take your time with the menu.” She eyeballed me hard. “How long you been drivin’, honey? You look done in.” She wiped her hands on her pink and white apron.

  I picked up the glass of ice water she put in front of me and downed it in two swallows. She refilled it, and I resisted the urge to pour it over my head. Just barely.

  “Two days, more or less,” I answered, holding the red plastic glass to the side of my neck. “Should’ve made it in one.” I shook my head and she smiled, wrinkles lining her face.

  “Well, the road usually has its own timing,” she said, nodding. “Where you headed?”

  “Home,” I blurted. “Well… Texas anyway. I’m not sure if it is still home. Or if it ever really was.” Doris cocked an eyebrow, waiting. “My brother Dean still lives there,” I offered. “I guess that’s close enough.”

  I ordered the club salad special and watched as Doris handed the order slip back to the cook. He stared at me a little too long as he took it, just like the old man who’d patched my first flat back in Kansas. But I was used to it. All through college it had been the same. Guys with eyes. And little else. I wasn’t much interested, then or now. I hadn’t gone to Kansas U to have a good time. I’d gone there to get my degree. And I had.

  The Decker family matriarch had reluctantly condescended to pay my tuition… and my brother’s as well. So long as we kept our noses clean and our grade point averages up. I’d figured it was probably the only chance I’d ever get, so I’d worked my butt off. I might have left Texas a scared kid, but I was coming home a magna cum laude graduate with a degree in social work. I was coming home to help people who’d grown up just like me, helpless as their lives fell in around them. Only now I was a grown woman, strong and capable. And no one was ever going to see me as helpless again. Especially Joe…

  “There you go…?” Doris put the heaping plate of salad in front of me, an expectant look on her face.

  “Maggie,” I supplied.

  “There you go, Maggie.” She smiled and tipped her head over her shoulder. “Looks like Jimmy’s got a sweet spot for you. He never gives anybody extra bacon bits.” I sighed and dug in, wishing I’d had the sense to pull a shirt on over my tank top.

  “You plannin’ to push on through tonight?” Doris asked kindly. “I gotta work the overnight tonight, and you look like you could use a shower and a little shut-eye. Tell you what. I got a little motel just a quarter mile down the road. Only three units and one is mine. But the others are empty right now. Won’t hurt me any if you take one for the night.”

  She reached in her pocket and selected a key from the tangle of others. She pushed it across the counter. “I have a daughter who looks a lot like you. Haven’t seen her in ten… no, twelve years now.” She patted my hand and I smiled into her warm, tired eyes. “Just drop the key back in the morning, honey. I know all about goin’ home again. It’s bittersweet, for certain. Sometimes a touch heavy on the bitter…”

  I reached for my bag, searching for my wallet. “I can’t thank you enough,” I said, relaxing for the first time since I’d loaded up the car and left the last four years of my life behind me. “But I’m happy to pay…”

  “Not a chance, honey.” Doris pushed a lank curl back under her hairnet. “This’s my treat. You just think of this as home sayin’ it’s happy you’re back.” She slid the glass door open and reached into the pie case, pulling out a slice of banana cream. “On the house,” she said, smiling. “You sure do favor my Alice. She was beautiful, too…”

  “Why’s she been away from home for so long?” I pushed the remains of the salad aside and took a cold, creamy bite of pie. Pure heaven.

  “She ran off with some no-good. I told her as much… and never heard from her again.” It was my turn to pat Doris’s hand. I could see her tears starting to build.

  “What about you, Maggie?” She wiped at her eyes brusquely. “You got a man waiting for you at home? Forgive me for sayin’, but you’ve got the look of a woman who’s been apart from her man too long.” She smiled shyly. ‘You know… sorta’ impatient?”

  I smiled back and let out my breath. “Joe,” I said, more to myself than to her. It had been so long since I’d said his name out loud. It felt foreign on my tongue. Sweet.

  No… bittersweet, just like Doris had said. I wasn’t coming home to Texas. I was coming home to Joe. And I had no idea what that meant. I couldn’t even be sure he remembered me… Last I saw him was four years ago, just before I left for my freshman year. But he hadn’t seen me. He’d been too busy with the hot little redhead on his arm.

  And the last time he’d seen me, I’d been only seven years old. A scared little kid with knobby knees and unbrushed hair. Dad was still alive then, but too deep into the bottle and his flashbacks to care. Dean had been fifteen, and more interested in his own friends than a needy little sister.

  Joe had been my whole world back then. And ever since, I’d never been able to completely shake that feeling. He’d watched out for me, the way my dad never had. Joe had wiped my nose and bandaged my scraped elbows. He’d read me stories and told me jokes until I’d rolled with laughter. He’d been the one bright spot in a lonely childhood, and I’d grown up loving him. How the hell could I not?

  Will you marry me someday, when I get big? You’ll keep me safe, won’t you, Joe? Promise me…?

  I still cringed whenever I remembered begging him to promise me… and seeing the pity in his eyes. But that was a damned long time ago. So long, he might not remember. Or recognize the woman I was now.

  I looked back into Doris’s careworn face. She was searching mine gently. “Is Joe your boyfriend, honey? Is he a good man?”

  “He is a good man,” I answered softly. “The only man I ever looked up to in my whole life… The best man I ever knew…”

  “You two gonna get married?”

  “We’re kind of engaged,” I said with a wistful smile, thinking back. I shook my head slowly. “But I don’t think so… We’re from two different worlds.

>   And by now, he’s forgotten all about me…”

  2

  Joe

  Imperious. That’s the word for it.

  Bess was the grande dame of the Decker empire and all that was left, except for my brother Ryan and me. She’d outlived her three children, including our father. And by the tone of her voice, she wasn’t going to be kept waiting any longer…

  “Joseph!” Her voice cut through the warm air. “Tea, now. And don’t go running off. I want a word.”

  I took the tea tray from Maria and headed out to the patio. The housekeeper shot me a look of gratitude and turned for the kitchen. It was her job, not mine, but I could hardly blame her.

  “Grandmother,” I said cheerfully, setting the tray down in front of her. “You’re looking well this morning. Picture of health.”

  “Hhmmph,” she replied testily, as she poured and handed me a steaming cup. “Damnably hot for spring,” she muttered, her voice surprisingly strong coming from such a tiny old woman. White-haired and wrinkled, her eyes were as bright and clear as they’d been in her youth. They were Decker blue, brilliant and flecked with violet. She was still a startlingly attractive woman, even in her eighties.

  “You’re heading in later than usual.” It wasn’t a question.

  “I am,” I replied. “The managing editor took the morning meetings. I had some details to tie up late last night on the Fairfax shootings.”

  She shifted and blew into her cup. “Well, just don’t make a habit of it. I didn’t make you executive editor just for show, just because you were the eldest… the next in line after my poor Davis.” Her eyes always misted over when she thought of my dad. He’d died only two short years ago. The wounds were still fresh.