“You don’t care?” The doubt was still in her voice.
“Oh, I care about lots of shit, but none of it is that,” I murmured. “I want in you in every single way you’ll give yourself to me. He isn’t even a factor. He isn’t even a thought. The only people in this room right now are me and you.”
I felt the give in her body, the relaxation of muscles. All her weight pressed into me, and I accepted it with ease. Ivy dropped her cheek to my chest, and I pressed my lips to the top of her head.
I let my fingers work through the strands of her hair and explored the length of her spine with my fingertips. Her body was all curve and satin skin. I could spend half my life touching her and I’d still find new things about her that I admired.
Eventually, my hands moved down to her ass, which tilted upward when I smoothed my palm over it.
It has been previously stated that I’m an ass man.
And being as such, I had full authority to declare Ivy’s ass the best one around.
I massaged the round firmness with both hands, and she purred. Slowly, I massaged farther in, toward the meeting of her thighs, and let my fingers delve down into the slick opening between them.
She was already wet for me.
I flirted with her opening until she started to move restlessly. Carefully, I moved, laying her out in the center of the bed. I took a moment to stare at every inch, committing it to memory and marveling at what a lucky bastard I was.
I took it slow, allowing my tongue and lips to linger on all the parts of her. I was selfish like that. I wanted every inch, especially when I’d been so afraid I’d never have her again.
I kissed the insides of her knees, slid my tongue down her calves and up the sides of her waist. I didn’t leave a single inch untouched. She was shaking when I spread her thighs and licked up her center.
She groaned my name, and I went in. I began with one finger, slipping it easily into her drenched core. She was warm, tight, and willing so I slid another finger in and began to pump them slowly. Her hips rocked in motion with my fingers, and I smiled, lowered my mouth to the swollen clit at her center, and pulled it into my mouth.
Her body arched up off the bed. Her hands left my hair and fisted the sheets at her sides. I kept on her, moving my fingers and mouth so the orgasm would go on and on.
After several long minutes, she shuddered and collapsed against the bed. My fingers gentled, but I continued to lick her. Her body still shook and she still moaned.
One hand found its way over and limply rested on my head.
“I can’t take it anymore,” she murmured.
I lifted my head and looked all the way up her body, the look in her eyes was unfocused and soft. I grinned. “You want me to stop?”
“No,” she moaned. “I want more…”
I covered her body with mine, cupped her face in my hands, and claimed her mouth. I wondered if she could taste herself on my tongue, hoped she could. I wanted her to know how fully she was part of me. I wanted her to know how delicious she tasted.
“I want to give it all back to you,” she whispered when I kissed down her neck. “But I can’t move,” she whined. “You totally made me worthless.”
Playfully, I bit at her neck and laughed. “I don’t need anything from you but exactly what you’re doing.”
I knew she’d try and talk some more. I was done with words. I kissed her deeply, penetrating her mouth with my tongue, and rocked my hips into her, allowing the hard length of my cock to stroke against her belly.
“Are you sure?” I asked, poised at her entrance, totally bare, my emotions stripped raw.
“Oh yes.”
With one surge, our bodies joined together, and I forgot to breathe. For a fraction of a second, my heart stopped.
Everything did.
The sensations rippling through my body were unmatched. Every time I made love to Ivy, from the first time to right now, was the best I’d ever had.
But this was a different level. It was because we’d somehow managed to endure through it all and we were still here together.
There was nothing left lingering between us that could potentially rip us apart.
“Can you feel it?” I asked her.
“More than ever.”
I started moving. Her teeth sank into her lower lip. We moved together, slow at first, and all I could think about was what it felt like to be skin to skin.
But eventually, those thoughts were replaced with need. Hot, hammering need. My hips surged harder into her, impatient for release.
She moaned, and I realized what I was doing and slowed.
Her eyes popped open.
“Did I hurt you?” I asked, mentally kicking myself for being so rough.
“I’m not so fragile, Braeden,” she answered. “I like it that way. I like feeling like you’re losing control.”
It’d been so long since I lost control with her. “I don’t want to scare you.”
“You didn’t scare me that first night. You won’t scare me now.”
I hesitated, and she reached down and pulled my butt in so I was buried deep. A groan ripped from my throat. My forehead dropped to her shoulder and my body shuddered.
“Harder,” she whispered in my ear. “Deeper.”
I gave in.
Bracing myself on my hands above her, I pounded into her like I hadn’t in so long. Her mouth opened, but no sound came out. Her legs fell open; she appeared boneless on the mattress.
I worried I took it too far, but then her nails dug into my back and she demanded. “More.”
I went at her like a shark after its prey, holding back my own release until my balls felt like they were going to explode.
Her nails raked into my back, and my teeth grazed her collarbone. When my arms were weak and shaking, when I couldn’t hold back any longer, I gave in.
I exploded inside her, my hot seed pumping deep into her accepting body. Ivy grabbed my ass and pulled me in, rocking so I was deeper than I’d ever been.
I swear to God, another orgasm ripped through me. I bucked against her chest like a bull at a rodeo and released a shout into the pillow right beside her head.
“Yes,” I think she murmured, rocking in small motions against me. Her hands and arms quivered.
The roaring in my head gave way enough that I heard her satisfied mewling. I’d been so lost in my orgasms.
Two.
I just had two fucking orgasms.
I hadn’t even realized she was having one too.
Unable to hold up my body, I collapsed on top of her. I knew I should move, that I was way too heavy for her, but I couldn’t. I was completely drained.
Her graceful arms wrapped around me and her hands rubbed the muscles in my back.
I shuddered under her delicate touch.
I was a goner.
So far gone under her spell I’d stay that way even after I was dead.
She could’ve asked me for anything, and I mean anything, in that moment and I would have agreed.
The after sex fog had been taken to a whole new level.
Hells yeah.
“B?” Ivy said after a long time.
I grunted, still on top of her.
“Did you, um… did you go twice?”
The pillow muffled my laughter.
“Have you ever…?”
Finding the strength, I rolled off her and stared up at the ceiling. “Nope, never before. That was the best sex I’ve ever had in my entire life.”
She giggled.
Then she giggled some more.
“You’re pleased with yourself,” I drawled, rolling on my side to look at her. I tucked some hair behind her ear. “You should be. You’re good for me, baby.”
“You’re good for me too.”
“I know.”
She rolled her eyes. “There isn’t enough room in this bed for me, you, and your ego.”
Goddamn, it was good to have her back.
“Tell me you like m
y cock,” I teased.
“No!” she cried, suppressing a laugh. “You’re so gross.”
“That’s not what you were saying a minute ago.”
“Braeden James Walker, do not make fun of me!”
“Ooh, pulling out all three names.”
She pushed a hand into my hair. It had grown longer ‘cause I’d been too lazy to get it cut, so now it could curl around her fingers and she had something to grab.
“Your hair is messy.” She tugged at the strands above my forehead.
“You like it?”
“I really do.”
I kissed her quickly. “Wanna help me wash it?”
“Does a giraffe have a long neck?” she quipped.
“Aww, baby. That was terrible.”
She threw a pillow at my head. “It was good!”
I jumped out of bed and grabbed her ankle. She screeched as I towed her to the edge of the mattress. Then I picked her up, sheet and all, and headed toward the bathroom.
“Braeden!” She gasped. “I’m naked!”
“I’ve seen it all before,” I said, dry.
“We can’t go into the hall like this! What if Rimmel sees! My brother!”
“Close your eyes!” I yelled.
She screeched and hit at my back. I kept walking but made sure the sheet covered her up completely. I flung open the bedroom door and stepped out toward the bathroom.
Romeo was coming down the hall, a pair of jeans hanging off his hips. He carried two mugs of coffee, so I figured he was delivering to Rim.
“I’m guessing things are better?” he drawled.
Ivy started screaming and tugging at the sheet.
I laughed.
“Dude, you better not be looking at my woman’s naughty bits.”
“Braeden James!” Ivy yelled.
I cackled and shut us in the bathroom. Romeo’s laugh floated down the hall.
I knew she was still gonna need a lot of time heal. Hell, maybe even some professional help. I knew we still had issues to work out, but I didn’t think about that stuff just then.
All I could think and all I could feel was…
Damn. It’s good to be back to normal.
Chapter Forty-Nine
Ivy
My hair was still dripping from the shower when Rimmel knocked on the bathroom door and announced it was pancake Sunday. This would be the first time we were all together for our traditional pancake Sunday since Romeo left for the NFL.
Just the mention of the diner had my stomach growling loudly. It took me a little by surprise because I hadn’t thought of food at all for a long time.
“Someone’s hungry,” Braeden said, coming up behind me and wrapping his bare arms around my towel-clad body.
“I could eat,” I murmured, enjoying the feel of him so close. I marveled at the fact that even after everything, it still didn’t color the way I felt with him. If anything, I felt closer. I felt safer.
“You need to. My B handles are shrinking away.” He kissed the side of my neck, then moved back.
I made a sound. Yeah right, those curves were here to stay.
“You feel up to going out?” he asked, running the towel over his damp hair. When he pulled it away, the dark strands literally stuck out all over the place.
“Yeah. It will be good to hang out. Just like old times.”
“They aren’t old times,” he corrected. “They’re current times. Nothing will change with that.”
“What the hell is pancake Sunday?” Drew yelled from down the hall.
Braeden made a sound.
I opened the bathroom door a crack and yelled. “Food!”
“Count me in!” he yelled back.
“Is he, like, moving in?” Braeden grumped.
I contemplated myself in the mirror. I was pale, my eyes were kinda puffy, and my lips were dry. I had a lot of work to do just make myself not look like death warmed over.
“B?” I asked.
“Yeah, babe.”
I was still contemplating my reflection when I spoke. “I’m sorry.”
He fell silent, like he was surprised I would apologize. I turned and leaned against the sink to regard him with an honest stare.
“I’m sorry I shut down. I was so selfish. I didn’t even think about how hard it must have been for you. All these months… you haven’t had anyone to talk to.”
“This wasn’t about me. It never was. This has always been about you.”
I shook my head. “It’s about us.”
“I love it when you say us.”
“I still feel pretty… raw inside, you know?”
His face turned solemn and he nodded.
“Like all the scabs on a wound have flaked away and left the unprotected skin exposed.”
“That’s kinda gross, baby.”
I laughed lightly. “Yeah, but that’s exactly how it feels, and kinda gross is part of that.”
“I’ll be your really good-looking Band-Aid.”
I ran a hand across his chest. “I don’t want you to be my Band-Aid. You can’t fix this, no matter how hard you’ve tried. Just like any wound, it’s gonna take time to heal. But I don’t want you to be careful with me like you have been. I want it to be like this morning in bed, when it was just you and me and nothing else.”
I saw the doubt form in his eyes, and I pressed on.
“You don’t remind me of him, Braeden. There’s nothing about you that frightens me. Except maybe the thought of losing you.”
“That’s not going to happen.”
He was so sure. It made me feel sure too.
“I’ve been dealing with this—with what happened—for a long time. Yes, some of the facts and pieces are new, but deep down,”—I pressed a hand to my chest—“I’ve been dealing with this a long time.”
“Just tell me what you want, Blondie. You’ll have it,” he vowed softly, pulling me close.
“I want everything. Don’t hold back. Some days I might need a little patience.”
“Woman, you’ve always required patience,” he drawled.
I pinched his nipple lightly.
“Was that supposed to be a punishment?” Desire clouded his eyes.
I groaned. He was absolutely incorrigible.
He caught my hand and brought it up to kiss the knuckles. “Go on. Tell me what else you need.”
“I guess what I’m trying to say is I don’t know where to go from here. Right now I feel stronger. I feel like I want to get back to life. I want to eat pancakes, go to work, be with you.”
“But…” he encouraged.
“But sometimes what happened feels like a storm cloud on an otherwise sunny day.”
I couldn’t quite get out what I was feeling. I couldn’t quite put it into words.
“You’re still healing. You’re still dealing. I got it.”
Well, gee. He made it sound so simple.
“I love you.” That feeling was so easy to convey.
He kissed me. “I love you,” he said against my lips.
I pulled back. “Promise you’ll never keep anything from me again, Braeden. Even if you think it would be better for me.”
“I promise.”
I ran my fingers through his wild hair, trying to tame the strands.
“We good?” he asked.
“We are.”
“I’ll go feed Giz while you get dressed.” After a kiss on the tip of my nose, he left me to try and fix the mess I’d made of my face the past five days.
Thank goodness for eye cream, moisture masks, and lip balm.
And for luminizing foundation, highlighter, blush, mascara…
Basically, I’d like to thank every product in my beauty arsenal, because I had to whip every last one of them out this morning.
Good thing I’d had a lot of practice and was able to pull it together before Braeden threatened to eat the southbound end of a mule or something equally disgusting.
By the time I went downstairs (I was the l
ast one down there, of course. I swear, did no one else worry about the way they looked?), I had my face looking fresh and awake, my dry lips were soft, and my hair was shiny and sleek around my shoulders.
I chose a casual outfit (it was pancake Sunday after all) of dark-green leggings, tall brown UGG boots, and a chunky knit oversized cardigan in soft cream.
The diner wasn’t that busy, probably because we were there a little later than we usually were, but it wasn’t empty.
I was surprised when we pulled up to see Trent waiting in the lot, but almost just as quick, I was glad he was there.
“You called Trent?” I asked Braeden.
“That would be me,” Drew said, sheepish. “Is this like… a family thing?”
“Trent’s family,” B said.
I was glad to see whatever kind of tension he felt toward Trent was gone. I’d have to remember to ask him about it.
We had to wait for the staff to pull together two tables for us, but once they did, we had coffee, juice, and our orders placed in record time. I sat between Braeden and my brother. Romeo, Rimmel, and Trent sat across from us.
As I sipped my coffee, I thought briefly of Missy, I felt a pang of sadness she wasn’t here. But Missy’s part in my life was over. It was time I let go of that as well. Finding out she knew about Zach and used it against me was the final nail in the coffin of the friendship we once shared.
She couldn’t hurt me anymore. She’d already done her worst.
Under the table, B entwined his fingers with mine. I left my thoughts behind and smiled at him. The waitress brought heaping plates of food and set them in front of all the guys. Then she handed Rimmel and me much more sensible portions.
“So,” Romeo said, around a huge bite of eggs, “what’s your deal, Drew? I thought you were staying in North Carolina after Thanksgiving.”
“I think what he meant to say,” Rimmel corrected, “was you are welcome to the guest room.”
Romeo didn’t bother to agree, but he did smile and wink when he saw me looking at him.
“Why did you come back, Drew?” I asked, picking up my coffee and cradling the warm mug in my hands.
“‘Cause I knew you needed me.”
“And I love you for it, but I think it’s more than that,” I said.
“It’s the man crush he has on Trent,” Braeden announced while shoveling pancakes in his mouth.
#Poser Page 28