by Sasha Devlin
“Yeah, it’s me, baby. I was trying to leave you alone, had every intention of leaving you alone, but how am I supposed to resist this?”
His finger dipped inside and he bit back a curse. How had he ever survived without touching her? Daniel circled her clit, her sleepy moan music to his ears. Her hips pressed forward, dragging him deeper inside.
“I don’t think you want me to stop. I think you want me as much as I want you. Isn’t that right?” Daniel scraped his teeth down the side of her neck and bit lightly at the base. He flexed his fingers, making her body clench against him. She was so tight and he wanted to bury himself inside and never come out.
“Yes, yes. Give me more.” Kaitlyn was awake and wild in his arms. Her hips rode his hand and her mouth, when not making the sexy sighs that made him want to take her fast and hard, was licking his arm.
“I’m going to make it so good for you.” Daniel withdrew his hand to seek out another condom he’d stashed earlier and jerked when she bit down on his arm. He popped the snaps on his bottoms and moaned when his erection bumped her ass.
“More, please, Daniel.” He’d give her anything she wanted as long as she said his name in that voice.
Daniel crooned nonsense words to her as he suited up. He raised her leg, moved her panties aside, then pressed the head of his cock to her entrance. He shook with the urge to shove inside her but forced himself to go slowly. When Kaitlyn would have forced him deeper, he grabbed her hips and held her in place. She whimpered and Daniel’s resolve vanished. He snapped his hips, going as deep as he could go, and still it wasn’t enough.
He’d wanted this time to be slower, softer than before, but he was helpless in the face of her need, which fed his own. Every unchecked moan pushed him higher until nothing mattered but their mutual satisfaction.
Having her at his mercy spoke to everything primal in him and he couldn’t loosen his grip on her hips or slow his frantic thrusts. His thumb and finger pinched her clit, teasing the tight nub until she shattered around him, her pussy tugging and massaging him until his cock stuttered and pumped his seed inside her.
Daniel’s head fell on the back of her shoulder and he kissed as much of her flesh as he could reach. So damn good. If every time improved like this, he’d be dead in a week. He smiled. But what a way to go. With a groan he rose and jogged down the hall to take care of the condom. He was back beside the couch in a matter of minutes, but Kaitlyn was already fast asleep. Daniel grinned and settled in behind her.
He dropped one last kiss on her neck, and then forced himself to concentrate on her breathing. In out, in out, he fell into the rhythm and then asleep.
* * * * *
“Well done, bro! I knew you could do it.” Deon’s voice woke him the next morning, and Daniel blinked rapidly to bring his brother’s face into focus. He reached to rub his face and found his hand buried in Kaitlyn’s breasts.
He must have looked like a deer in the headlights if his brother’s grin was anything to go by. He looked down at himself, stunned to find Kaitlyn sprawled across his chest. He jerked semi-upright, reaching for the blanket.
“Don’t cover it up, Dannyboy. You should be proud. That’s one fine piece of…”
Deon’s voice died off as he shot him a look. A quick glance told him it was almost seven o’clock.
“Morning, Kaitlyn.” Deon’s dimples flashed and Daniel closed his eyes. This could not be happening. He felt her go rigid in his arms and cursed his brother. Deon was a dead man. He just didn’t know it yet.
“Good morning, Deon.” The slopes outside would seem like Tahiti in comparison to her voice. He forced himself to confront it head-on and met her gaze. Yep. Pissed to the utmost degree. If the die-bastard-die look hadn’t clued him in, then the bite of her nails on his forearms would have.
“Kaitlyn, it’s not that bad. Please don’t freak out.”
“What’s there to freak out about?” Tina’s voice drifted from behind the couch and Daniel prayed Kaitlyn’s anger wouldn’t incinerate the couch. “You both are consenting adults. Besides, I think it’s cute that you’re wearing matching pajamas.”
Her face flushed and she looked at him like something she wanted to scrape off her shoe. “Tina, I need you in the kitchen prepping the griddle and getting the coffee going. I’ll be in shortly.” She turned to Deon. “If you’ll excuse me.” Without another word, Kaitlyn pushed out of his lap and exited down the hall, holding the edge of his shirt to her thighs.
Daniel stood and hurried after her, barely catching her at the bathroom.
“Kaitlyn, babe, I’m sorry.”
She turned hurt eyes to him and that was ten times worse than her anger. Her voice made his chest ache. She’d never sounded so defeated. “Why, Daniel? You got what you wanted. Why don’t you go back in and tell Deon all about it.”
She tried to close the door, but he shoved his foot in her way. Hurt like an SOB but anything was worth it if she’d just listen to him.
“Dammit, Kaitlyn, it’s not like that, and you know it.”
“Move.”
“To hell with that. We need to talk and I know that tone of voice. If I don’t talk to you now, you’re just going to let this fester and never talk to me again.” Daniel’s mind whirled, trying to pinpoint what set her off. Embarrassment would make her angry, but not like this. This went deeper than Tina and Deon finding them together.
“You know what? I’ve had enough of you pushing me around.” She advanced on him, her eyes narrowed to slits, her hand prodding his chest. Daniel backed up. “You just push, push, push! Well you got what you wanted, okay? You can now add me to the list of girls who were stupid enough to get naked with you. But you’re not going to add me to the list that quietly stood around and let you make a fool of them. You can go to hell!” She slammed the door, effectively stubbing his toes.
“Son of a bitch!” He jerked backward and she slammed the door the rest of the way closed. He tried the knob and found it locked. “This is not over between us, Kaitlyn!”
Daniel waited for a few moments, but couldn’t hear anything over the bathroom fan. He stalked back to the common room. Deon was still there, leaning against the couch. Daniel thumped him on the chest.
“Hey!”
“You’re such an asshole, you know that?”
“What?”
“Don’t. Just don’t. Playing the fucking innocent when I might have lost my shot at the woman I love.”
“She’ll be fine. I’m nobody.”
“No, you’re a guest. One that saw her half naked and commented on it. You came in with her employee, who also saw her half naked.”
“Wish I’d seen her completely naked. Ow!”
Daniel refused to rub his knuckles although that last hit had hurt. “I’m not going to tell you again to stop talking about her like that. You say one more word about her body and I’m going to flatten you.”
“Answer me this. Am I wrong?”
He rubbed his hands over his face. What was he going to do? “Of course not. She’s amazing, and her body is beyond anything I’ve ever imagined, and last night was the best night of my life and it wasn’t all about sex. And God as my witness if you say one more word about it, I’m going to bury my fist so far in your face that you’re going to be unrecognizable.”
Deon held up his hands in a gesture of meekness. “Dude, I’m done.”
“You’d better be. You and your big mouth ruined everything.” Daniel jerked the blankets up and began trying to fold them.
“Enlighten me. What did I ruin?”
“Are you fucking kidding me?” Daniel advanced on him, determined to wipe the smile off his face. “You embarrassed Kaitlyn, you ruined what was supposed to be the best morning of my life, and you made the woman I want to spend the rest of my life with look at me like I was king of the douche bags and slam a door in my face.” He leaned in until there was no space between then. “She won’t even talk to me.”
Deon’s smile dimmed a bit. “
What would you say if she were listening?”
“I’d tell her I’m sorry she was embarrassed by a jackass like you. I’d tell her how last night was all I could have wished for, but that I wished we had more time for me to love her properly. I’d tell her that I’m pretty sure I’ve loved her for years, and I’ve been steering our stupid Truth or Dare game to my advantage since I realized it a few months ago. I’d tell her I’d trade all of the other idiots I dated for one night with her. And I’d tell her I’d do anything, anything at all just to make her smile.”
“Even make an ass of yourself in front of the whole house, including your boss?”
“Damn straight.”
“Good, because I’m pretty sure you just did.”
Deon’s words hung in the awkward silence of the room. Daniel blinked and could only imagine how stupid he looked gaping at his brother. He manned up and turned around to find half the guests—including his boss—and Kaitlyn staring at him.
“Well that’s quite a speech you made, Daniel.” Oppenheimer’s voice probably carried halfway down the mountain. Daniel fought the urge to throw up and made his face blank.
“Thank you, sir.”
“Let this be a lesson to the rest of you. This is why clients say yes! The man has a silver tongue.” Oppenheimer clapped his hands and exited the room, most of the staff going with him. It was going to be an interesting Monday meeting next week.
“Why don’t you ever make speeches like that for me?” one of the other guests asked as she walked out.
“He’s also wearing monkey pajamas and clearly hasn’t showered. Do you want me to do that too?” her husband answered.
The rest of the gawkers filed out of the room, leaving Daniel and Kaitlyn alone. And once again he didn’t know what to say to her. Deon punched his shoulder and whispered, “Don’t screw this up, bro,” before he too disappeared from the room.
“Kaitlyn.” He took a step toward her only to stop when she put up her hand.
“Truth or dare?”
He barely contained his temper. “Kaitlyn!”
“Truth or dare.” She stepped closer, her face unreadable to him. “Or forfeit.”
“Truth then.”
She continued walking until her toes were an inch from his, her body just begging for him to grab it. She looked him in the eye for long moments as if searching for something and he prayed to God she found it soon.
“Did you mean it?”
Her voice was nearly drowned out by the blood rushing in his head. Daniel reached for her hand and held it between both of his.
“Every word. And more words than that. Prettier ones. I meant to tell you last night, but you were so bent on avoiding me. And while I certainly didn’t want to tell you while wearing ridiculous pajamas after my brother embarrassed the hell out of you, I love you.”
Her eyes went soft and he pulled her closer. “I think maybe I’ve always loved you. Or at least since you punched me in the face for being ‘too stupid to hug’.”
That earned him a laugh so he pulled her closer. Hope was beginning to bloom in his gut. Daniel slid both arms around her, pulling her flush against him. “I’ve known I loved you for a year. I really did break up with Sarah because she wasn’t you, and it wasn’t fair for her to be in a competition that she couldn’t win.”
Kaitlyn opened her mouth, but he put his finger on her lips. He wanted to trace them and lick them, but he forced himself to focus.
“Let me finish before you say anything. All I want is for you to be happy. I’d be a dirtbag liar if I didn’t admit that I want you to be happy with me. If you don’t feel the same way or think I’m still too stupid to hug, then I understand. But at least I tried. At least I told you how I feel.”
He grabbed her chin and kissed her with all the love in his heart. This might be the last time he got to taste her, and it was over all too soon. Daniel lifted his head and pressed one more hard kiss against her perfect lips and grinned when he saw how dazed she looked. She seemed content just to stare at him, which made him antsy.
“Your turn. Truth or dare?”
“Daniel!” She smacked his chest. “Why can’t you stop playing that infernal game, especially now?”
“Worked for you.” He grinned. She was stalling and still in his arms. “Because I want to know what you think. I need to know.”
“What if I told you that you didn’t need to waste a turn to find out?”
“I’d tell you I don’t really give two shits about the game. I just want to know.” His arms tightened around her. “Just tell me.”
“Truth.”
“How do you feel about me? Do you love me? Could you love me?” His insides felt hot at being laid so bare, but if that’s what it would take, he’d do it every day until he died. He held his breath while he waited for her words.
“I love you.” The rest of her speech was squeezed out of her as he grabbed her up and twirled her around. She was still talking as he took her mouth, holding her as tightly as his arms would allow as he slanted his mouth across hers. He wanted to brand her as his. He let up when he heard the applause. Turning with Kaitlyn still in his arms, he saw that they once again had an audience.
“Well done, Daniel,” Oppenheimer roared. Kaitlyn flinched in his arms, but he held her tighter.
“Thank you, sir.” He noticed Trudy wiping her eyes and nudging her husband. He met Deon’s gaze. And got a thumbs-up.
“Why don’t you guys go and get cleaned up and I’ll do breakfast this morning?” Tina suggested, her eyes alight with mischief. It was clear she thought they could use some alone time.
Kaitlyn looked like she might protest, but Daniel squeezed her silent. It wouldn’t kill her to let someone help out, and he seriously doubted any of her guests would care. He waited until the last straggler left before turning to her.
“You were saying something before we were so rudely interrupted?”
“Not in the least.”
“Hmmm.” He dropped a kiss on her upturned mouth. “I believe you were telling me you loved me.”
She lowered her eyelashes and smiled at him. She seemed so much softer without that pinched look from earlier. “I was?”
“Don’t tease me, woman. Put me out of my misery.”
She grabbed his face and held him still. “I love you. I have for a long, long time. I don’t know how we’ll make it work with the bed-and-breakfast and your job, but I want to try. You’re worth a little misery.”
She kissed him and he let her take the lead, feeling the love wash over him. He pulled back when someone cleared their throat.
“You have the worst timing, D.”
His brother grinned. “I just wanted to tell you that if you wanted to use my room, you could. I didn’t exactly sleep there last night.” He gave them a cocky grin and went back to the dining room.
“You know what this means, right?”
Kaitlyn shook her head, her eyes smiling.
“It means you lost that bet and owe me fifty dollars.”
She was still cursing him as he threw her over his shoulder and walked to Deon’s room. She pinched his butt as she berated him and he smiled. They were going to be okay. He pinched her butt in return. Better than okay.
The truth was, they were already perfect.
About the Author
Sasha discovered erotic romance a few years ago and has been addicted ever since. Her first read was an Ellora’s Cave title (The Changeling, if you’re curious) and she was blown away. Here were the stories she’d been imagining but not finding anywhere. She’s thrilled to have found a home for the stories that were cluttering up her head.
Though she spends her days elbows-deep in computers, Sasha’s mind is never far from some creative endeavor. If she’s not writing or reading, she’s knitting or singing (albeit poorly). No matter what she’s doing, she loves email! Feel free to contact her.
Sasha welcomes comments from readers. You can find her website and email address on her autho
r bio page at www.ellorascave.com.
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