Tug

by KJ Bell

  “Brady would never cheat on her.”

  “I know this, and you know this, but the woman and her fucking hormones don’t. I’m just going to go over, wait until she crashes, and then come home.”

  Tori’s passed out when I finally arrive. I write her a quick note that I was here and check on Drew before I leave and drive back to the loft.

  When I enter my bedroom, Javier is curled up in my bed with Maria sound asleep. I quietly close the door and head to the couch to sleep so I don’t wake them. I strip to my T-shirt and boxers and settle on the couch. As I try to sleep, I wonder what in the fuck I’m getting myself into with Tori, and how long Maria will be understanding?

  Maria’s warm lips press into mine as she straddles me. My hands mold to her hips. She’s only wearing underwear with her white tank-top and I groan into her mouth, feeling her smile against my lips. I shove her pelvis down onto my crotch, lifting my hips as I devour her mouth. Her hand slips under the T-shirt I slept in, her fingertips trailing lightly over my stomach and chest as she drops soft kisses along my jaw. The light and sensual moans coming from her mouth are my undoing. I have to have her and I have to have her now.

  My hands dip into her underwear and I hesitate, remembering we’re on the couch and Javier could catch us.

  “Tori stopped by to thank you and took him and Andrew to breakfast,” she whispers in my ear before sitting up and gazing down at me, her eyes weighted heavily with lust. I must have been out cold. I didn’t hear anything.

  Her sheer tank allows me to see the outline of her nipples through the fabric. I bring her hands to her breasts, cuing her to touch them. Her delicate hands massage her breasts while I press my thumb into her clit, her arousal soaking through her underwear and wetting my skin. With a growl, I grip onto the sides of her waist and rock her over the length of my cock.

  I lift my hips and push my boxers down low enough to spring my dick free. A second later, I hook a finger through the crotch of her underwear and push them to the side. Maria’s hand wraps around my shaft, aligning the tip with her opening before she sinks slowly on top of me, burying my dick deep inside of her.

  “Oh, fuck, Maria,” I scream out, digging my fingertips in to her hips to keep her from moving. “You feel so fucking good!” I want to absorb this feeling, the complete connection for just a minute.

  She laces our fingers together and brings our hands above our heads, joining our chests, her head just to the right of mine. My whiskers scrape against her cheek as she starts to ride me. Her movements are slow, yet powerful and the intensity is overpowering. I’m about to flip her on her back, but she knows my body well and sits up, increasing her speed and the friction. My cock pushes against the walls inside of her as she slides up and down, using her hips and the feeling is incredible.

  The smile on her lips, her heavy eyelids, and her perfect breasts bouncing are a going to make me explode. Her inner thighs quiver against my legs. She’s about to come.

  “Oh, God! Oh, God!” she cries out and her eyes roll back in her head as her thighs tighten around me. She stills and collapses on top of me, the muscles inside of her contracting around my dick.

  “I love watching you come,” I tell her, slipping an arm around her and flipping her so I’m on top.

  Her cheeks flush the shade of red I love. I shove my boxers down my legs, and tear her underwear from her body, before slowly slipping back inside of her with a loud groan. She feels so good, so right. I love this woman. Her fingers trail lightly through the stubble on my jaw.

  “I’m sorry for what I said.”

  “It’s over,” I say and lift my hips, slamming back into her. “I love you.”

  She shows off her flexibility by lifting her legs in the air and resting her calves on my shoulders. Her confident smirk tells me something dirty is about to come from her mouth.

  “This is make-up sex, so fuck me like you’re mad at me.”

  I let out a growl. “That dirty mouth of yours is going to ruin me.”

  “Good, now do what you were told.” She tries to keep a straight face, although her giggling gives her away.

  I accommodate her immediately by pounding into her hard and fast, struggling to keep my arms braced above her. As the pressure builds and the tingling starts, I close my eyes in anticipation. One more thrust and I stiffen, my ass flexing with release as a raging tidal wave of unbearable intense pleasure ripples through me, bringing with it an exhilarating feeling of euphoria, a drug-like high that I never want to come down from. I feel disconnected from reality as pure bliss weighs me down and I cry out.

  Its only when I feel her fist slam into my chest, and she struggles to get out from underneath me that I realize what I cried out. I grab on to her and pin her down to the couch.

  “No, fuck. I’m sorry.”

  Her brusque laugh is followed with, “You’re sorry?”

  “It’s not what you think. I was thinking about her.” Her hips fly up, attempting to buck me off of her. “Fuck … that came out wrong, okay. My brain was ready to go again, and I was thinking about when she’d be bringing Javier back and if we had time for the counter in the kitchen, my desk, the shower. I knew who I was with, because you’re the only woman who knocks me into fucking oblivion like that.”

  “Okay.” She exhales and a smile touches her soft pink lips. “I trust you and I believe you, because I know how your greedy mind operates when it comes to sex.”

  My eyebrows shoot up. “Does that mean we can try the desk?”

  She bites her lip. “I was thinking the balcony.”

  My head falls forward. “You’re really are trying to ruin me.”

  I stand and haul Maria into my arms. Her letting the incident go so easily, if possible, makes me love her even more. I was honest with her about why Tori was on my mind, but a part of me knows there’s more than what I shared. That the guilt consuming me about almost kissing Tori weighs heavily on my conscience.

  Tug had dinner catered and it’s on the table when the doorbell rings at seven. He holds my hand, brushing our noses together. “You can do this.”

  He answers the door. My father enters first, dressed more casually than our first meeting in tan slacks and a navy blue polo shirt. A boy and a girl follow behind him much younger than I expected, maybe eight and ten. The boy is older and looks like my father, but the girl is a direct reflection of me at her age. It’s surreal, the feeling so intense I can’t speak. Tug greets my father as I stand staring at the two children before me, their expressions mirroring my own. My father’s voice snaps me out of my trance. “Maria, this is Alejandro and Leticia. You’re brother and sister.”

  Alejandro is also my father’s name, I found out on the flight home from Monterrey. Both children say hello. My mouth finally forms a full blown smile as I shake each of their hands.

  “Javier,” I call down the hall to his bedroom. “Come out here, please.”

  He skips down the hall, stopping next to me, his body glued to the side of my leg. With a hand on his shoulder I say, “Javier, sweetheart, I’d like you to meet Alejandro and Leticia, your … aunt and uncle.”

  It feels so strange to say, not only because I never knew I had siblings, but because they’re barely older than Javier. They both say hello to Javier. He squishes his nose up, and I can tell he’s confused.

  “Remember when I told you that I hadn’t seen my dad in a long time, but he was coming to dinner tonight?” He nods. “These are his kids, so that makes them my brother and sister, and your aunt and uncle.”

  “Like Aunt Tori and Aunt Liv?”

  “Exactly.”

  “But they’re little like Drew, doesn’t that make them cousins?” The room erupts with laughter.

  “You know what. You can think of them as cousins. No problem,” my father says, and my skin bristles with anger.

  “Are you my uncle, too?” Javier asks.

  “No, Javier.” I take a deep breath before I tell him this man is my father.

 
; “So what does that make him to me?”

  His question hits me like a brick and I don’t know how to respond. I’m not ready for Javier to think of my father as his grandpapa. Before I say anything, my father responds. “For now, how about a friend you’re having to dinner.”

  “Okay.” Javier smiles and invites Alejandro and Leticia to play in his room.

  Once they’re gone, I turn to my father. “Thank you for that.”

  “You don’t have to thank me. With time, I hope to be Papa, but I didn’t come here to pressure you.”

  Tug goes to the bar and corks a bottle of wine. I offer my father a glass but he declines and sits down at the table.

  “You two have a lot to talk about. I’m going to hang out with the kids for a few minutes,” Tug says, leaving me alone with a man I feel strongly connected to. A part of me craves the connection and another part of me is repulsed by it.

  “Thank you for agreeing to see me,” my father says, pouring a glass of water from the pitcher on the table.

  “It’s Tug you need to thank.” I’m curious why his wife isn’t with him and ask.

  “She’s in Guadalajara with her sister.” His lips turn down, and something in his expression tells me there are problems in his marriage, but he volunteers nothing.

  I sit next to him at the table. “I’m not happy with you using Tug to get to me, but I will listen to whatever you came to say.”

  He holds his hand to his mouth, stroking his top lip with his index finger. “I’m not using Mr. Hunter. I require his services to please both my wife and yourself.”

  “That’s a somewhat evasive answer. If you expect me to listen, I expect you to get to the point.”

  He smiles, almost proudly, and then takes a drink of water. “You’re so much like your mother.” I don’t respond, and he continues. “The cartels have always been a dirty business, but they’ve lost integrity over the years. It used to be cartels had a mutual respect, lines that would never be crossed. Slowly the lines blurred until they completely disappeared.”

  His words are still murky, and I have no idea where he’s going. “I don’t see your point yet, and, you’re running out of time. I understand why you made the choices you did, but if you have no intention of abandoning the lifestyle, then I’m not sure we have anything to discuss.”

  “And that brings me to my point. Recently, my family has been threatened by rival cartels. Like you, my wife wants me out of the business. I’m a tired old man that wants to stay married and have a relationship with my daughter. I want to quit.”

  “You said that isn’t possible.”

  “Nothing is entirely impossible. I’m old enough now that I can pass my empire onto someone else, but the money is cartel money. It stays with the empire. I refuse to be poor again. I came to see Mr. Hunter, hoping he could help me with some investments that could make sure I retire with enough money to live comfortably.”

  I sit quietly, soaking in everything he just said. “Can you do that?”

  His shoulders lift. “No one ever has, and I don’t have any idea if it will work. From what I know of your boyfriend, he’s brilliant, and I believe if anyone can make it work, it’s him.”

  “And if it doesn’t work?”

  “Then I’m a dead man,” he says so matter of fact, as if dying doesn’t terrify him.

  “You would risk death for me?”

  “I would risk anything to have you in my life.”

  Three weeks have flown by since Maria made peace with her father. His account is in fact the largest Gibson Capital has ever taken on, and it’s already seeing lucrative returns. Soon, and with some help, I’ll transfer the cartel’s money back to him, creatively re-routing the dividend portion to his personal account, minus Gibson’s share, and he can turn over everything to some eager volunteer.

  It didn’t take long for Javier to start calling him Papa, and we’ve been to Monterrey a couple of times to spend time with Alejandro and his family. His wife, Guadalupe, welcomed Maria with open arms. Seeing them together is heartwarming. Maria’s mother died when she was so young, and although Guadalupe will never replace her, Maria is growing extremely close to her.

  Harrison seems to be steadfast in proving his commitment to Liv. He’s still difficult to stomach, but I make an effort to make my sister happy.

  I spend more time with Tori than I undoubtedly should, and Maria is more understanding than she probably should be. I know it bothers her, but her trust in me is absolute, and there’s a tiny voice in the back of my mind, telling me I don’t deserve it.

  The stories about Brady fucking different women every night continue to circulate, and I can’t get Tori to stop reading them. Brady assures her nothing is going on, and that it’s all publicity tactics by the record label that he has little control over, although he hates it as much as she does. Her hormones are all over the place, and I think she believes him, but it makes her depressed all the same. So, I try to help by being a good friend, spending time with her, and letting her vent her frustrations.

  It’s Thursday, and I took the day off to spend with Maria and Javier. We have lunch at a new restaurant that opened up near the beach, one of those ones where the games outnumber the tables and it’s more like an amusement park than an eating establishment. My phone rings right after the food arrives. It’s Tori and I see Maria’s face twist up in irritation. I promised her and Javier an uninterrupted day together.

  “Hello,” I answer, holding my hand over the ear not attached to the phone so I can hear over the music. Maria hands Javier a card, loaded with funds and sends him over to the racing game we can see from the table.

  “Tug, you have to come quick,” she yells into the phone, crying. “It’s Drew. He fell off the rope swing, and I think he broke his arm.”

  “What? Where are you? I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

  “El Seguro. Please hurry. He’s asking for you.”

  I end the call and look across the table. I expect annoyance, but am greeted by anger. “Really, you’re going to bail on the fun afternoon you promised Javier to run to Tori’s side, yet again. This is getting ridiculous.”

  “Drew hurt his arm. She thinks it’s broken.”

  “And last week, she thought he had meningitis.”

  “She’s having a difficult time and I thought you understood.”

  “I did the first three times you went running over there. Hell, I even understood the sixth and seventh time. I understood when you screamed her name while you were fucking me, but I have to say it’s getting harder and harder to understand. We stop by her house twice a week to check on her as it is. Tori has other friends, yet she always calls you?”

  “Liv’s been too busy rekindling her relationship with Harrison, Jessica is away, and her parents live out of state.”

  “And you have a fiance with a kid, and a demanding job. Here’s another thing, Tori and I are friends. How come my phone never rings?”

  I stand and slip my phone in my pocket without looking at her. “I’m sorry. I’ll talk with her, but I can’t argue with you right now. Drew could be hurt. We should go. I’ll drop you and Javier at the loft if you don’t want to come.”

  She huffs. “We’ll stay here. He’s having fun. I’ll get us a cab back to the loft.”

  I promise to make it up to her before I leave the restaurant.

  Thankfully traffic is light, and I make it across the border quickly. I rush through the emergency room doors and see Tori and Drew walking toward me, his arm in a brace.

  She hugs me. “Thank you for coming. I was so scared.”

  “Is it broken?”

  “It’s just a sprain,” Drew answers, sounding like a tough guy.

  I go back to the house with the two of them and hang out until after dinner, before going home and facing the music.

  Maria is surprising calm when I walk through the door. “Did you speak with her?”

  My head falls. Fuck! I meant too, but every time I opened my mouth,
I couldn’t get the words out.

  “Not yet. Drew’s in a brace. She was upset. But I will, soon. I promise.”

  Her lips smirk. “I thought you don’t make promises.”

  I pull her into my arms, brushing our lips together. “Only with you, because you’re exceptionally forgiving.”

  “Don’t mistake my forgiveness for a weakness. Running over there every time she calls for you is coming between us.”

  My face burns. I feel like I’ve been slapped. “I know. I’m going to stop. You and Javier are the most important people in my life. I don’t want anything to come between us.”

  She smiles, batting her lashes. “Good, now take me to bed, lover. I missed you.”

  It’s been a week since Tug’s promise to resist Tori’s every call, and so far he’s kept it. We’ve seen her on the usual nights we stop by, and she seems her usual self.

  My father made a small fortune off of his arrangement with Tug, and soon his transition away from the cartels will be complete, as will my transition from hating the man I considered a donor to loving the man I’m fond of and proud to call my father. My life seems like a dream most days. I never imagined I would find love—in a man, or a family, or a father. I’m blessed, a revelation I know would make my papa extremely proud.

  Liv picked up Javier this morning before Tug left for work. She’s taking him and Drew camping with her and Harrison for the weekend at the beach. The campground isn’t far from the house, but to the boys, it’s a dream vacation. It’s Friday and Tug and I will have at least two uninterrupted nights together. We rarely have any alone time. Our sex life has been reduced to our bed, behind a locked door, while I do my best to stay quiet so Javier doesn’t hear.

  Tonight, I plan to mix things up, stir that spark, and a little before five, I pop into Tug’s building to surprise him. I’m wearing only his favorite red heels and a nylon red trench coat as I enter the lobby of Gibson Capital. His secretary walks toward me, appearing to be on her way out for the evening, and stops. “Oh, hey Maria, if you came to see Aidan, he’s not here.”