by Sam Crescent
“And I’m guessing with the way you look at her, and you’ve now felt her, you’re wanting those curves wrapped around you on a daily basis. Why don’t you admit it?”
“I’m not denying it, but you’re messing with people’s lives.”
“No, I’m messing with your life, which as your big brother, I can and I will do.” Callum stopped smiling, going all serious. “I mean it, Drew, you deserve some happiness after what Tilly put you through. I don’t mean with the kid or the divorce. With the bruises.”
“Man, don’t.”
“No, don’t tell me to stop. You could have reported her ass, but you didn’t.”
“I’m not going to report her because she likes to hit.”
Callum sighed. “You know domestic abuse happens to men as well. There’s no shame in that.”
“Look, I know what you’re saying, and I get it, I do. You don’t need to worry. I don’t flinch, and I’m not in any danger. I’ve got a PI looking into Tilly, and she will sign the papers.”
“When she’s good and ready?”
“She’s not controlling me.”
“You need to learn to take back your own control. Right now, you’re fucking failing, a lot.” Callum got to his feet. “Well, would you look here?” He opened the door to Meghan and Callie. “I can’t believe it’s lunchtime already. Callie, would you do me the honor of joining me?”
“Er, I’ve got Meghan.”
“My brother can handle Meghan,” he said. “Can’t you, brother?”
“Callum?”
Callie looked toward him. “I think I should stay with Meghan.”
Drew knew if he didn’t let his brother do this now, it was only going to be a matter of time before he found some inconvenient way to do his brother bit.
“No, it’s fine. Meghan and I can have our lunch together. Can’t we, munchkin?”
“Yes!” Meghan laughed as she bounced up and onto his knee.
“If you’re sure,” Callie said.
“I’m sure.”
She nodded.
He wanted to demand she come in and kiss him. Instead, he kissed his daughter’s head and watched as Callum closed his door and escorted his woman out of the room.
Now he was pissed. They had a rule to never bring up the abuse Tilly would throw at him, not now, not ever. He’d done that.
He was pissed off. But there was nothing he could do.
Callum wanted to be the big brother and even though he knew it was going to bite him in the ass, he’d let him.
****
Callie had debated all morning bringing Drew his food. Now as she sat opposite his brother in the diner, she wished she’d stayed home and brought up some lame excuse about taking care of Meghan.
Their routine was pretty basic, and she did enjoy taking food to Drew. He didn’t always take care of himself and even as she told herself she hated him, she still didn’t want to see him hurt. He was Meghan’s father. It was only right they took care of him the best way they could.
After ordering some chili cheese fries, she sat back and waited.
Callum settled on a burger and fries.
“How are you, Callie?” Callum asked.
“I’m great. Meghan is also wonderful. She talked constantly about her time with you and the kids this morning. She loves hanging out with you.”
“Let’s cut the crap, I know you fucked my brother.”
The charming smile was gone and in its place was a man down to business. Her heart raced. She didn’t know what kind of lawyer this man was, but clearly he was good at his job because right now, he was terrifying her.
“I … er … I don’t know, it wasn’t supposed to happen.”
“But it did. I know Drew was a dick to you in high school. I also don’t really fucking care, in all honesty,” he said. “What was in the past will stay there. I also won’t be calling your agency to say what I know or to report you.”
“What do you want?”
“I want you to keep on doing what you do. Drew likes you. I know he’s a little confused right now, but he likes you. I haven’t seen him this happy in a long freaking time. You haven’t been back in town long, but let me explain about the shit that went down with Tilly, it wasn’t good. She was … is … the worst kind of woman.”
Callie kept her lips shut.
Callum was on a roll and she didn’t want him to turn any of his clearly bottled-up anger when it came to his brother on her. She wanted to get out of this unscathed. If that was even possible. He looked like a man ready to hurt, to maim, to conquer, and if she wasn’t careful, she was going to be the one who ended up burned.
Not on her watch. Not ever.
“I want what is best for my brother.”
“If you’d like, I’ll hand in my notice. I have no intention of hurting anyone.”
“If you’d known it was my brother you were going to have to work for, would you have continued?” he asked, taking her by surprise.
“What?”
“My brother. I know your two’s history isn’t the best. I want to know if you’d known from the outset that Drew was the one in need of a nanny, would you have helped him?”
“I honestly don’t know,” she said. “I … I don’t … I hope I would help, yes.” She wanted to always believe she’d be the best kind of person and that meant not holding anyone’s past against them.
She and Drew were complicated. She didn’t exactly know where they stood, only that they were different. She still didn’t know if it was good or bad.
Their food came. She picked up her fork and dived in, eating the chili.
“Do you love my brother?”
She choked on a fry. Grabbing her glass of water, she swallowed it down. “Excuse me?”
“I want to know your feelings with regards to my brother. This conversation is doing the whole older brother protector bit.”
“Okay,” she said. “I get it. Don’t, ugh, I don’t like him half the time. He’s bossy and mean.” She gritted her teeth. “He’s an amazing father. I’ve watched him with Meghan. Asking me if I love your brother is really unfair. I don’t even know him, not really.”
“So it’s just sex?”
She told him to shush as she looked around the diner.
“Are you embarrassed?”
“No, my job is important to me as is my reputation. This conversation is very strange. I don’t think we should talk to each other for a little while. Let’s eat and then we can head back.” She wanted to be in the company of a four-year-old more than this man.
“Fine. I’m going to warn you now, if you hurt my brother, I will make you pay. You will never get a job, ever. No one will touch you. I will make your life a misery. Do I make myself clear?”
“Perfectly.”
“I have to do this. I’m his big brother and I failed him before. I’m not going to fail him again.” He bowed his head.
The depth of his voice. The pain.
She detected it.
Whatever happened between Tilly and Drew, Callum in some way held himself responsible, but why? She didn’t get it. There was a lot about Drew she didn’t understand.
Why did Callum know they had sex? Was it that obvious or had they been talking about her when she turned up?
She finished her food and by the time she arrived back at Drew’s office, he was on the phone while Meghan walked around his office in circles. There was no time to talk, and she was more than happy with the quick and lucky escape.
She’d been an only child, so there was no one to offer Drew the same kind of warning. There was more to Callum’s warning, though. A hint of pain, of regret? Was she reading more into their meeting than was necessary? Either way, she was going to find out.
Chapter Seven
Drew had read the entire book to Meghan, even after she fell asleep. To avoid heading downstairs, he’d read the book a second time. Then for a good ten to twenty, maybe even thirty minutes, he’d watched his little girl sleep.
>
She looked so peaceful in sleep, charming.
He loved her so much. Without waking her up, he’d kissed her forehead and saw no other reason or excuse to stay far away from the woman who was plaguing his thoughts.
He found her in the kitchen, sitting at the counter, nursing a mug.
“Hot chocolate?” he asked. She always liked to have one at night. They were her weakness.
“Yep, one hot chocolate. How’s Meghan?” she asked.
“Asleep.”
“It took her this long to put her down?”
He was tempted to lie. He didn’t. “No, I was avoiding you.”
“Oh, okay. At least you’re honest.”
“My brother is an amazing dad, lawyer, and grade-A asshole.”
“Your brother loves you, a lot.”
“But he can be a pain in the ass and he’s not the subtlest when it comes to being protective. I didn’t get a chance to talk to you after he stole you away.” He grabbed a beer from the fridge, removed the cap, and took a seat opposite her. “Well, what did he say?”
“He was just being very protective of you. I think he feels guilty about something. I don’t know.” She folded her arms. “He hinted at things with you and Tilly. Did something happen between the two of you?”
Lies would be easier. He tipped the bottle against his lips and watched her. “Do you want the truth or the lies?”
“I want whatever it is you can give me.”
He took a deep breath. He stared at his cold bottle that had already gotten droplets of condensation. “Tilly and I, we were doomed from the start. I didn’t love her. Sleeping with her was the biggest mistake I ever made.” He ran a hand down his face. “I think she thought we had a lot of money. I make good money, but with the time I’ve been away, my savings have dwindled. She wanted the high life that you see on the movies with lawyers. Drinking champagne, being on the celebrity party list. I’m a small-town lawyer. Once we had Meghan, there was no way I was going to move to the city life. Tilly didn’t like that.”
He didn’t talk about this with anyone. Not a doctor, not no one. “Our relationship had never been great, even in high school. We used each other. After Meghan, I don’t know, Tilly got mean. She got resentful. She hated that she had a kid. When I got home, I’d have to clean and cook. I did what I could, you know. Anyway, she got mean. We got into a lot of fights, but Tilly didn’t stop at screaming at me. No, she liked to use her fists.”
“She hit you?”
“Yep. Punched me. I went to work once with a black eye. There were times I had to take Meghan to my brother’s, or I’d stay with him. She once came at me with a skillet. I stopped her from hitting me. She was a violent woman.”
“Wow, I’m so sorry.”
“Anyway, since all of that, my brother believes I should have reported her.”
“Domestic abuse?”
“Yeah, I wasn’t going to do that.”
“Drew, maybe you should have. You’re trying to get a divorce, reporting her could have worked in your favor.”
“I’m not going to do that shit. I could handle it.” He wasn’t some kind of weak person. He was twice the size of Tilly. If he truly wanted to, he could have snapped her neck. When she got really violent and no amount of restraining her would work, if she kept coming with her fists and kicks, he’d leave her to cool down.
He knew in the back of his mind he was wrong. It didn’t make him any less of a man for taking the beating, but, damn it.
Callie pushed her chair out and moved around the counter. Her hand rested on the surface and he saw her nerves. The shake of her fingers. Her hesitation.
He turned toward her, looking into her eyes.
There were a few times during high school he’d stared into those brown depths and he’d seen tears. She’d never cried in front of him. She’d always run away from him and right now, he wanted to go back in time and beat the living shit out of his past self.
He expected her to pat him on the shoulder and walk away.
Callie always liked to surprise him though. Rather than walk away, she wrapped her arms around him, sinking her fingers into his hair and kissing him.
She was offering him comfort.
He wrapped his arms around her waist.
“I think I understand why Callum was so worried. With our history, he thinks I might be like Tilly. I’m not. I’m not going to hurt you.”
He pressed his face against her chest, breathing in her vanilla scent. Her tits were nice and big. A cushion for his head. He breathed her in, never wanting to let go. “Don’t pity me,” he said.
“I don’t. I’m offering you a hug, Drew. I’m not pitying you. Have you told anyone about what happened?”
“No.”
“You’ve only shared this with me?”
“Callum doesn’t even know the extent of it.”
She pulled away and stared at him. “Why me?”
“Why not you?”
“I don’t know. I’m a stranger. Callum is your brother. He loves you and he wants to protect you.”
“And what about you? What do you want to do?”
“I don’t know,” she said.
He ran his hands down to her ass, squeezing the cheeks. “I won’t report you.”
“I know.”
“Not because I don’t want people to know we fuck.”
“Why then?” she asked after a second of hesitation.
“Because what goes on behind closed doors is our business. If I want you on my dick, that’s between me and you. I’m not going to destroy you to get what I want.”
“Then what are you going to do?” she asked.
“Simple, I’m going to tell you to stop overthinking everything. You want me, and I want you. We can make this work with each other or we can turn this into a nightmare. It’s really up to you.”
“You’re so sure of yourself, aren’t you?” she asked.
He ran one hand up her back, sinking it into her hair and pulling her down close to him. Forehead to forehead. He breathed her in.
How could he want her scent, love it? She made his mouth water.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m kissing you. I’m proving to you that your head may not want this, nor your heart, but I know your body does. We’re both two consenting adults. Why not give in?”
“You hate me.”
“No, I don’t. But you hate me.”
“No, I don’t.”
He smiled. “So if we don’t hate each other and both of us want to fuck, why don’t we give in and take what we’re both so hungry for?” he asked.
He was done fighting this between them. They both clearly wanted it, even if they continued to deny each other. He couldn’t fight this anymore. Pulling her down, he kissed her hard. He stood up and pressed her against the counter. She wrapped her arms around his neck, moaning as he plundered her lips, tasting her. He lifted her up onto the counter, spread her legs, and stepped between them.
She whispered his name and he pulled her to the edge of the counter.
It was still too high up.
As he lifted her up in his arms, she broke the kiss, letting out a gasp as he carried her through to the sitting room.
“What are you doing?”
Rather than telling her, he showed her. He kissed her before spinning her so her stomach was pressed against the edge of the sofa. He reached in front of her and flicked the catch of her jeans, opening them up for him. Sliding a hand inside, he found her lace panties. Diving beneath them, he started to explore her pussy.
She was wet. The fine hairs already soaked.
“You can say that we shouldn’t do this, but we both know what our bodies crave, and I’m tired of denying it, Callie. I want you in my bed every single night. I want to explore this with you.” He pulled down her jeans and admired the pattern on her lacy panties before pushing them down as well. He angled her pussy so it was just right for him, and then, he released his pants and pull
ed out his stiff cock.
A bead of pre-cum spilled out of the tip and he didn’t even bother to grab a condom. He already wanted inside her so badly. They hadn’t used any condoms, and as he pressed the tip of his cock to her entrance, he took his sweet time to slide in deep. Closing his eyes, he felt every inch as he sank inside her,
Inch by inch, she squeezed his cock and he watched as her pussy took him in. He spread the cheeks of her ass so he could get a good view as he didn’t want to miss a moment of it.
Letting go, he grabbed her hips and slammed the last couple of inches inside her, only to pull out before going back inside. He pounded her, watching as she took him.
“Play with your pussy. I want you to come all over my dick. Come on, baby. I won’t come, not until you give it to me. Let me feel you come all over my dick.”
She started to tease her clit and as she did, the pleasure tightened around his cock. His balls ached from the simple contact.
Over and over, she milked him, and he relished the feel of her tightness.
He didn’t let up. He fucked her harder still and when he came, he shoved in deep, flooding her womb with his cum. In the back of his mind, he wondered if she used any protection or if he was going to knock up the woman he’d once bullied.
****
For the next week, everything was normal. She got up in Drew’s bed, that was the only part of her morning routine that hadn’t stayed normal. She went downstairs, made him breakfast, and assisted Meghan. Like always, Drew refused to take a lunch. She and Meghan would clean, and they’d garden, or they’d go to the shops. Afterward, they’d grab lunch, take it to Drew, either sit with him or leave him, depending on how busy he was. In the afternoon, she started to teach Meghan spelling and helped her learn to read. Later in the day, they’d make dinner, she’d bathe Meghan, and they’d eat with Drew if he was early enough, or she’d put her to bed and come downstairs when Drew arrived. He’d go and put Meghan to bed, read to her for however long he needed, come downstairs, eat dinner, and then the nights were not so normal. Drew’s appetite for her was insatiable and she couldn’t exactly get away with it either because she couldn’t seem to get enough of him.
They were both hungry for the other, and no amount of trying to convince herself it was the last time ever worked. Each night, she ended up thoroughly fucked and in Drew’s bed. Each morning, she woke up in his arms, and for a few short minutes, she’d panic, relax, and allow herself to wish, to think this was more than a friendly fuck.