“Famished.”
I grabbed my book to set it on the coffee table.
“No, please sit. I can get my own food.”
“There’s also garlic bread in the oven,” I told her as she took a plate from the cupboard.
She turned and smiled at me. “Thank you.”
I went back to reading while Olivia dished up. She went and took a seat at the stool I’d been sitting on earlier and ate in silence. I had to smile at how domesticated we seemed after hanging out for only such a short time.
About the time she was done with her food, I was at the climax of my book. I told myself just a few more pages, and then I’d go and help her clean up. But before I knew it, I turned that last page, and it was over.
“No,” I practically whined.
“What’s wrong?” Olivia said, walking over to me.
“I didn’t realize the book was a series. Now, I need to go and buy the next one.”
She came around my chair and sat on my lap. “You could always cave and read it as an e-book,” she said with a smile.
“You’re determined to convert me, huh?”
“Yes. Then, stuff like this doesn’t have to happen. You don’t have to wait to go to the store or to have it come in the mail. You just go on your device, and bloop, you have the next book.”
I ran my hand up her thigh until I cupped her butt. “Bloop, huh?” I said, giving her ass a squeeze.
“Yes, bloop.”
I kissed her neck and sucked on the tender skin there. “God, you smell incredible.”
She sighed. “If you’re trying to turn me on, it’s working.”
“Good.” I nipped at her jaw and turned her face, so I could kiss her.
She put her hand on my chest and pushed me away. “But no sex unless you try to read an e-book.”
I burst out laughing. “Are you serious?”
She tried to keep a straight face, but she smiled. “Yes. I want to introduce you to the whole new world of e-books.”
I shifted her around, so she was straddling me, and I rubbed my dick against her cleft. “But I want to show you a whole new world. It’s called Tommyland. There’s only one ride, but it’s fucking awesome.”
She chuckled and put her hands on my shoulders. Then, she surprised me by grinding down on my erection.
I was ready to rip open my jeans and shove my cock inside her.
“Woman, you are killing me.”
She smiled coyly. “Does that mean you’ll give an e-book a try?” She bit her lower lip and slowly pulled it between her teeth.
“I transformed you into a monster.” I grabbed my phone and shoved it at her. “Fine. Do what you need to do.”
She made a noise of excitement and jerked the phone from my hand. “Since you’re being such a good sport about this, I’ll let you try my account before you decide if you want to get your own. I have a subscription service you can use to borrow some books. It might save you money.”
“Good sport? You all but blackmailed me.”
She just laughed as she pushed buttons on my phone. “Okay, what book are you looking for?”
I gave her the name.
“Oh shoot. It’s not free.” She shrugged a shoulder. “Oh well,” she said and pushed a button.
I snatched my phone from her hands. “Did you just buy that for me?”
“Yes.”
I watched the screen as it showed my book being downloaded. “You didn’t have to do that.”
“I know. But now, you have no excuse not to read it.”
I couldn’t deny that I was a little excited to give it a try. But only because I could start right away and wouldn’t have to wait to find a copy.
I scrolled through her library, and my mouth dropped open.
“What’s wrong?”
I looked up at her. “Olivia.”
She looked worried. “What? Did it not work?”
“Oh, it worked fine all right. I’m just wondering, what is this book doing on here?”
Her brow furrowed. “Which one?”
I cleared my throat like I was about to make an important announcement. I guessed I kind of was.
“Spanked by the SEAL.” I scrolled a little more. “Tied Up by the SEAL.” I gasped. “Dominated by the SEAL? All by someone who calls herself Scarlett Letter. Why, Olivia, you naughty girl, you.” I put my phone down and looked at her with what had to be the biggest shit-eating grin on my face.
She had kinky books about Navy SEALs, and I couldn’t help but feel cocky.
Her eyes were huge, her mouth was wide, and her face was the color of the spaghetti we’d had for dinner. “I downloaded them a long time ago. I haven’t even read them,” she adamantly denied.
Her comment didn’t have the effect she’d thought it would. If the books were old, that meant she’d maybe downloaded them around the time she met me. As for not reading them…
“Well then, let’s start, why don’t we?”
“No.”
It was too late. I was already opening up Spanked by the SEAL. “As a librarian, my life was very boring,” I began to read. “Except for Fridays. Fridays were when Navy SEAL Flynn Bass—Flynn Bass? What kind of name is that?” I shook my head and continued, “Flynn Bass came in to drop off books and pick out new ones. If the library was slow, I would stare at him and fantasize about him taking me into the stacks and fucking me.” I whistled. “Damn, this girl is a dirty librarian. Too bad she’s not a dirty lawyer.”
Olivia covered her face with her hands and moaned with embarrassment.
“Let’s get to the good stuff.” I flipped through some pages. “Ah, here we go. Flynn ripped my dress right down the middle, and my breasts popped free, spilling right into his waiting mouth.”
Olivia pushed off my lap. “That’s it. I’m going back to bed.”
“But it’s just getting good.”
She continued walking, so I got up and chased after her. “Flynn shoved his face between my tits, and his pulsating cock—”
Olivia yanked my phone out of my hand. “Fine. You win. No e-books.” She spun and marched toward her room.
“No, wait. I want to keep reading.”
“No.”
I ran up behind her and picked her up.
She screamed and laughed as I tried to wrestle my phone back.
I kissed her neck for a few minutes, and her body slowly started melting into mine.
“Okay, I’ll give it back.” She relented. “But no more reading that book.”
“What book?” I wanted to hear her say it.
“You know what book.”
“Say it out loud. I’m not sure.”
She sighed. “Spanked by the SEAL.” She shoved away from me. “You’re such a butt. Making fun of a woman for what she reads.”
“I thought you said you haven’t read it,” I teased.
“You know what I mean.”
I pulled her into my arms and kissed the top of her head. “I’m sorry. You’re right. You can read whatever you want. How about I make it up to you?”
She put her chin on my chest. “Oh, yeah? How are you going to do that?”
“By having you get spanked by a SEAL.”
22
Olivia
The sign reading Brook Creek—10 miles loomed in the distance as Tommy and I headed back. If I was being honest, I wasn’t looking forward to getting a lecture from Addison about receiving threatening letters and not telling anyone.
She had already texted me several times, wanting to know more information. Apparently, Tommy had given Maddox a brief explanation of what had happened yesterday.
I knew she meant well, but I didn’t want to think about those notes right now. I wanted to enjoy the rest of my little vacation. Especially since it was Friday and it was Brook Days this weekend.
“Are we going over to Addison and Maddox’s right away?” I asked.
“I thought I’d stop off at my place first, so I can drop off my stuff. That okay
with you?”
I sighed. “Yes. I’m not ready for Addison to give me a speech about the letters and how I shouldn’t have kept them a secret.”
“Can you tell her not to?”
I shrugged. “I could, but I know she’s going to do it because she’s worried about me. If the situation were reversed, I’d be upset, too. I realize now that I did the wrong thing for the right reasons. No one needs to remind me that I made a mistake because I already know I did.”
“Hmm,” was all Tommy said.
He’d been serious this morning with packing up and making sure my house was secure before we left. He was nothing like the guy who’d teased me last night about my erotica collection. I had completely forgotten I had downloaded those books. It had been a couple of years earlier. I was very thankful that he hadn’t asked me why I had downloaded them. But he’d probably already figured out it was because of him.
Even though I had been pissed about what he’d said to me the first time I met him, he had piqued a curiosity in me that I only felt comfortable exploring through literature.
I glanced at him.
At least, until recently.
We made it back to our temporary apartments, and we went our separate ways. I dropped off my laptop and the few things I’d grabbed from home.
Before I went back outside, I looked through the window into Tommy’s place. It seemed like months ago that I had watched him undress instead of only a few nights.
A lot had happened in the last two days.
When I walked out the door, he was waiting for me, leaning against Maddox’s SUV, typing on his phone.
“Hey,” I said.
He looked up and smiled. “Hey.” He stood. “You ready?”
“Yep.”
When we got to Addison and Maddox’s home, Tommy pulled into the driveway. After getting out, I immediately noticed the loud music coming from the house.
“What the heck?” I asked. “It’s only ten in the morning.”
“I guess we’ll find out.”
We walked into the garage, where Tommy knocked once and opened the door.
I put my hand on his arm. “What if they’re having sex again?”
He laughed. “Then, I’ll cover your eyes.”
“I’m serious.”
“Relax. They’re not. I just talked to Maddox.”
“If you say so.”
He might be right, but I still waited for him to go inside first.
The sight that greeted us was definitely different than the last time I’d walked in. Addison and Spencer were dancing in the living room, which explained why the music was blasting from the speakers.
They didn’t see us, so Tommy and I stood there, watching them for a few seconds. The two of them were pretty cute together, and I felt a tiny pang of longing for a child. That was unusual for me, as I had never been big on having kids.
Maddox came down the hall with Thane in his arms. “Hey, guys.”
Addison’s head whipped up. She ran over to her phone and turned off the music, and then she surprised me by rushing over and throwing her arms around me. “I’m so glad you’re okay.”
I hugged her back. “I’m fine.”
She stepped back. “You scared me.”
“I’m sorry.”
She fake punched me in the arm. “Don’t do it again.”
“I won’t.”
“Good.” She looked at her husband. “Is Thane ready to go?”
“Yep. You want me to put him in the car seat?”
“Please.”
“Where’s Thane going?” I asked.
“Day care. Come on, Spence. Let’s put your shoes on. It’s time to play with your friends.”
“Fwiends,” Spencer said and sprinted for the door. He came back five seconds later with his footwear.
Addison got down on the floor to help her son. “Maddox and Tommy are going to finish up the windows today, and the boys are going to day care, so I thought you and I could go do something. Just the two of us.”
“That…sounds great.” I was confused as to why she wasn’t yelling at me or at least telling me why she was disappointed in me.
I looked over at Tommy, and he shrugged, as if he knew what I was thinking.
Maybe he did.
Addison stood. “You have anything you want to do in particular?” she asked me.
I shook my head.
“Why don’t you think about it while I run the kids to day care? We can do anything you want, but tonight, the four of us are going out. Maddox’s niece already agreed to babysit.”
“Oh. I didn’t bring anything for going out,” I said.
She laughed. “We’re in Brook Creek. Nobody dresses up here. But if you want, we can go shopping. Shopping is only twenty minutes away.”
“I’ll think about it.”
“Sounds good. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”
23
Tommy
While Maddox and I headed to the backyard, Olivia and Addison left to go to the next town over. It was nowhere near the size of Des Moines, but the next town did have the important amenities you wanted in a city, like a few clothing stores. It wasn’t large enough to have a Home Depot or a Menards though, or Olivia and I could have saved a trip to Des Moines. But then, if we hadn’t gone there, I never would have found out that Olivia was in trouble.
“So, did the police seem concerned?” Maddox asked.
“Not really. But I’m not all that surprised. She defends the people they arrest, and whoever is writing the letters hasn’t done any physical harm to Olivia.”
“If you need me to call the police chief, I will.”
I raised my brow. “You’re friends?”
Maddox laughed. “Friends is a very strong word. We are acquaintances.”
Acquaintances was better than nothing.
“I’ll let you know.”
He wiped sweat off his forehead with the back of his hand. “You’ll let me know?”
“Yes.”
“Not Addison? Not Olivia herself?”
“You literally just said, ‘If you need me to call the police chief.’ Why are you acting like it’s weird that I’d let you know?”
He grinned. “Maybe I was just waiting to see what you’d say.”
I put my hands on my hips. “I don’t follow.”
Maddox jumped down into the window well. “Where’d you stay last night?”
“At Olivia’s house.” I lowered a window down to him.
“But where did you sleep?”
“In a bed.” I hopped into the window well next to him.
He wiggled his eyebrows at me. “In Olivia’s bed?”
“What are you, fifteen?” I picked up the new window while Maddox picked up the other, and we slowly set it in the frame we had already built.
“No,” he answered. “Why won’t you tell me?”
“Fine. I slept in her bed, all right?”
“Damn, man, you don’t waste any time.”
“Look at that. Maybe women aren’t scared of me after all.”
Maddox laughed but abruptly stopped. “You didn’t take advantage of Olivia’s vulnerable nature, did you?”
“Believe it or not, she came to me.”
“You could have said no.”
“No, you don’t understand. She came to me on Wednesday night.”
Maddox’s eyebrows almost hit his hairline. “No shit?”
“No shit.” I smirked. “Apparently, seeing you and Addison having sex made her realize she’d been missing something. And I was the one she asked to help her.”
He frowned. “Say that again?”
I started laughing. “Addison didn’t tell you that Olivia caught you two in your living room? FYI, I’m never sitting on your couch again unless you plan to get it steam cleaned.”
“No, Addison didn’t tell me.”
“Huh. Look at that. You two do keep things from each other.”
“I’m going to kill her.
”
“Who? Olivia? Or Addison?”
“Addison. Why would I kill Olivia?”
“Why would you kill Addison?”
“Because she didn’t tell me that her friend caught me fucking my wife.”
I studied Maddox. “Are you embarrassed?”
He scowled at me. “Fuck no. I don’t have anything to be embarrassed about.”
I tilted my head.
He sighed. “Fine. I’m a little embarrassed. When I’m making love to my wife, I don’t expect there to be an audience.”
“Don’t be embarrassed. It was so hot that she needed me to take the edge off.”
I swore I could literally see his chest swell with pride.
“Ugh. Go get a room.”
He looked around. “With who?”
“Yourself. You two make me sick.”
“Us two?”
“Yeah. You and your ego.”
Maddox rolled his eyes at my joke. “I’ll get a room with my ego as soon as you do.”
“Hmm.” I gave it a thought. “That’s fair.”
“Ya think…Flash?”
“Whatever. Why don’t you just get in your basement and make sure this window is in place, so we’re not here all night?”
He braced himself on the edge of the well and jumped out. He turned and put his hand on my shoulder. “Just remember, no matter how good you think you are in bed, I’m better.”
I swung to knock his arm off me, but he was already standing. I waited for him to get downstairs and face me in the window. When he gave me a thumbs-up, I gave him the finger.
24
Olivia
Addison and I walked into the dark small-town bar and took two seats at the counter.
We had gotten back to Brook Creek about an hour ago. We’d picked up her kids from day care but left as soon as Maddox’s niece, Serena, showed up.
Tommy and Maddox had still been working in the backyard. They barely even acknowledged the two of us; they were so busy. So, Addison and I had changed clothes, refreshed our makeup, and come downtown. Brook Creek’s downtown was so small that I would have less than a block to walk home after we called it quits tonight.
Take Me in the Dark (Take Me #2) Page 10