Slow Burn - a Novel: The Elite

by KB Winters

He dropped his mouth to my breast and flicked his tongue over the tip. “I’m not telling my secrets.” I moved under him and moaned, pleading for mercy as each lick of his tongue made me shiver and shudder.

  My hands wandered down his bare chest and went back to fussing with the fly on his jeans. “These need to go,” I said, laughing as my fingers fumbled with the button.

  Nick chuckled and got the fly free and shucked them off with no problem. The bulge in his boxer briefs made my eyes go wide. I’d felt it through his jeans on a couple of occasions and had lots of wandering thoughts of what it might be like, but as I dipped my hand into the soft cotton and stroked the whole length of his thick cock I swore again under my breath.

  “I’ll take that as a compliment,” he growled against my ear before running his tongue along the edge. He nibbled on my lobe before teasing me with the tip of his cock.

  Nick paused to retrieve a condom from his bedside table and once he was suited up, he sat down on the bed, braced against the pile of pillows at the head of the bed. He tugged my hand and I crawled to him and straddled his narrow hips. He swore as I lowered onto him and I bit back a groan of pleasure and pain as I rocked onto his dick. He filled me completely and I moaned at the pressure of his thick cock stretching me. I rolled my hips as Nick’s fingertips went to my breast to tease and torture my hard nipples. The added layer of sensations rocked my body and dropped my head back, giving him full access.

  His dick was amazing. Hard, yet velvety and oh so sweet. I was full. My pussy. My heart. My head. Full of this man and I didn’t want to let go.

  With each rock, the pressure built inside me until I was clinging to him tightly again. Nick took over the motion, grabbing my hips until his fingers pressed into my skin and pulled me hard against him. My breasts pressed against the hard planes of his chest and each thrust made them bounce against his chest and teased the hard buds.

  “Yeah, like that, baby,” Nick said, his cock getting thick and ready to release inside me. “Say my name.”

  I moaned into his shoulder and rocked onto him a final time. He dug his fingers into my hips even harder as he came and I knew I’d likely have bruises the next day. Not that I’d care. They’d been more than worth it.

  “Damn, Carly,” he panted. I laughed as he struggled to regain control.

  “Better than you thought?” I asked, a glimmer of teasing in the question.

  He pulled back so he could look into my eyes. “So much.”

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Carly

  “So, how was Mr. Williams?” Alesha teased over breakfast the next morning.

  My cheeks flushed at the question, realizing that she must have noted the late hour that I arrived home. “I was out with—”

  “Nick,” she interjected, smiling at me from her place across the kitchen table.

  “What? How did you…?”

  “We might not see each other all that often, Carly, but I’m your sister. I know when you’re lying.”

  “Oh.” I looked down into my bowl of oats and stirred a swirl of cinnamon through the bland contents. “Sorry I lied to you…”

  Alesha shrugged. “Don’t be. I get it. But, just so you know, I’m happy for you. Both of you. He’s a good guy. Hang onto him.”

  Her sage advice surprised me. “I think I just might.”

  Alesha smiled and spooned her oats into her mouth. Since finding out about the baby, she’d been eating three square meals a day, and snacking a lot more. I couldn’t figure out why I hadn’t noticed she wasn’t eating normally before being told by a doctor. I should have been keeping closer tabs on her. I’d been so wrapped up in keeping her out of trouble, that I hadn’t even seen the signs that she wasn’t taking care of herself properly.

  “Thanks, Leash. Your support really does mean a lot to me.” I reached across the table and brushed the back of her hand. “I want you to know that I’m here to help you in any way that I can with everything going on.”

  Alesha nodded down into her bowl, sniffling slightly.

  “Hey, it’s okay,” I said softly. “I promise.”

  Her eyes were rimmed with fresh tears as she brought them back to mine. “I just don’t know what to tell Dad. I know we have to…but…”

  My heart squeezed. I wished I could tell her Dad would take it in stride and help her figure everything out. I knew he’d come around eventually. But I couldn’t predict how he’d react to the news in the first place. It was especially complicated since he was on a different continent. Alesha’s pregnancy—his impending grandparenthood—wasn’t exactly something to announce over the phone, but we didn’t have a choice. If we waited until Dad and Kelli were back stateside, Alesha’d be halfway through her pregnancy and I figured it would be an even worse way to let them in on the news. At least telling them now would give them some time to adjust before being back home again.

  “He wants me to go to college and have a fancy career and now…I don’t know if any of that is even possible anymore.”

  “It’s possible. And you’ll have lots of help with the baby. Kelli works from home, so she can help out. Hell, maybe she’ll get pregnant too and then the babies can play together.” I smiled, hoping that my words sounded more confident than they felt. I knew my dad would eventually come around and support Alesha and his soon-to-be grandchild. Kelli, on the other hand, was bound to have a much harder time with it. I couldn’t imagine her being thrilled about being a grandmother—was step-grandmother even a thing—before she had her own child.

  Alesha pursed her lips. “What if—what if I stayed here? With you?”

  Her question shocked me in my gut. I pressed back in my chair to ground myself. It wasn’t even something I’d had on my radar—and I thought I’d pretty much covered all possible scenarios.

  “Never mind,” she said, waving her hand. “That obviously wouldn’t work.”

  “I didn’t say that,” I replied, trying to keep my head from spinning around like a creepy monster from a horror movie. The idea of Alesha living with me permanently, with a baby, in my house…

  “Let’s talk to Dad first. Then we’ll decide what’s best. Okay?”

  She nodded, but didn’t meet my eyes.

  “I hate to eat and run, but, I have to bake some muffins before I open today. It’s blueberry muffin day and I always have to make triple the normal amount. I swear I don’t put crack in them…but seriously…people go crazy for them.” Alesha smiled and some of the pressure in my chest released. “Do you want to come with me today? I promise you can have as many muffins as you want.”

  “Sure. I’ll come by after I take Lady out.”

  “Sounds like a good plan to me.”

  We said goodbye and I headed out to go to The Siren. As I walked, the crisp morning air took me back to the way the wind had blown in Nick’s bedroom window the night before and the way it felt on my sweat slicked skin as Nick brought me to the peak of pleasure over and over again. I must’ve came seventeen times. I didn’t know my body could even do that. I wondered if it was a sign. My thighs clenched as I remembered his face buried between them, and the moment he’d looked up at me, his face slick and wet and his dark eyes, glowing in the moonlight.

  “Whew!” I shuddered and flapped the lapel of my jacket to cool off.

  Yep, this was going to be a problem. I wasn’t going to be able to concentrate on muffins, coffee, or counting change if I kept thinking about Nick—especially the memories we’d made in his bed.

  I was able to successfully—for the most part—set aside my steamy thoughts as I got into my usual work flow, but when he came walking through the front door in the middle of the morning rush—my entire world flipped upside down. It was like flying and drowning all at once.

  Then he smiled at me and I damn near lost it.

  “Here, why don’t I take those so you can go talk to your boy toy.” Alesha was at my side, reaching to take the tray of muffins from my hand. She slid a sideways smirk at me as I handed it over.


  “Thanks.” I went to the counter and Alesha was there, seconds later, ready to help the next customer. Nick raised his eyebrows at me and I shrugged. With a tilt of my head, I gestured for him to come over to the other end of the counter, by the large carafes of hot coffee.

  “Good morning, beautiful lady.” he drawled, giving me another half-smile.

  “Morning. Sleep well?”

  “Exceptionally.” He leaned forward and before I could realize what he was doing, he landed a kiss. I jerked back in surprise but he was too much to resist. I melted back into the kiss, letting our lips linger for another heartbeat before pulling away. Even before my eyes swept the room, I knew that all eyes were on us and a calm quiet had washed through the shop.

  Alesha let out a wolf whistle and my cheeks went red hot. Nick chuckled. “Sorry, couldn’t help it.”

  “I’m sure,” I teased. I turned to address the room. “Okay, people, nothing to see here. We now return you to your normally scheduled broadcast.” Nick laughed and everyone lurched back to the way they were, though the dull roar of whispers was hard to ignore. “Now you’ve done it…” I groaned, unable to stop smiling long enough to properly scold him.

  “They were gonna find out sooner or later. Small town.”

  “I suppose.” I reached up and ran my fingers over the lapel of his leather jacket. “You working today?”

  “Yes ma’am. The air show is in a couple of weeks and we have a lot of work left to do. But, I’m free tonight.” He waggled his eyebrows and I smiled at his subtle invitation. He was just as eager for a redo of last night as I was.

  Alesha was speaking with a customer and the sound of her cheery voice reminded me that there was something that needed to be tended to first. “Well, as soon as I close up here, Alesha and I have a phone call we need to take care of…but after that?”

  “Works for me,” he said, not letting on that he knew about the reason behind the phone call.

  “All right. Let me get your coffee and send you packing before you completely sidetrack me,” I said, before pushing off the counter and heading to the espresso machine.

  Minutes later, Nick left the shop, coffee and muffin in hand. I followed him with my eyes as long as I could, jolting back to life when he was out of sight, and joined my sister at the counter to continue helping the line of regulars waiting for their orders.

  * * * *

  “I can’t do this.”

  “Alesha, you can,” I insisted, sitting on the couch beside her. My laptop was propped open on the coffee table in front of us, just waiting on one of us to hit the call button and bring up a video chat with our dad. “Come on, let’s get this over with. It’s already the middle of the night for Dad. I’m pretty sure he’s not going to be any more receptive to the news if we make him wait up any longer.”

  Through a series of emails earlier in the day, I’d arranged a time to do a video call with Dad, even though thanks to the shop’s hours and the time difference it wasn’t exactly the most convenient for him, but I wanted to get the call over with before Alesha made herself sick with worrying about it.

  She drew in a shaky breath. “Okay,” she said, releasing it just as slowly. “Call.”

  I clicked the buttons before she could change her mind and within seconds, Dad’s face was on the screen. “Hi, girls,” he greeted. He was smiling but there was a hint of apprehension etched in his expression. “How is everything?”

  I glanced at Alesha, waiting for her to dive in but she looked paralyzed on the couch. “Things are good, Dad. Alesha and I do have something we wanted to talk to you about though.”

  “Well, I figured that much,” he said, his brows raised. “Go ahead.”

  I nudged Alesha with my elbow. “Go on…”

  “Okay, okay!” She jerked her arm away from me and took another deep breath. “A couple of days ago, I got really sick and had to go to the ER—” she started. Dad’s eyebrows went even higher, wrinkling his forehead. “I’m okay,” she rushed to add. “I passed out but the doctors ran a bunch of tests and it was because I hadn’t been eating or drinking enough.”

  Dad nodded to indicate he was following along, but was obviously aware there was a “but” coming soon.

  She licked her lips and glanced at me out of the corner of her eye. “Umm…but…they did find something.”

  “Alesha?” a quiver of panic took over Dad’s tone. He leaned in closer, his face growing larger on the screen as he moved into the camera as if to get a closer look at her.

  “Daddy, I’m going to have a baby. I’m pregnant.”

  I watched as Dad’s face froze, long enough that I wondered if the camera was glitching out. When he finally reacted, he blew out a long puff of air and sagged back in his chair like a deflated balloon.

  Alesha started crying and I wrapped an arm around her, silently pleading for our dad to say something. Anything. His silence was unnerving.

  “I’m sorry, Daddy! I know you probably hate me…but I didn’t mean for this to happen. It was a mistake.”

  “A mistake?” he repeated, his tone sharp. “A mistake?”

  I held my breath.

  “Who’s the father?” he demanded.

  “My boy—ex-boyfriend, Brian. He’s the only one, you know, that I’ve been with.”

  My dad cringed. TMI, Leash.

  “And does he know?”

  Alesha nodded and I sat up straighter. She hadn’t told me that part yet. “I called him today and told him. He—he doesn’t want anything to do with me—or the baby—”

  “Oh, well that’s too damn bad, isn’t it? That little fucker’s gonna pay!”

  “Daddy!” Alesha yelped at the same time I cried out, “Dad!”

  “He’s going to pay child support if nothing else,” he growled.

  I rolled my eyes. “Of course, because this is about money right now! Dad, Alesha has a lot of things to think about, I don’t think money should be one of them. Not when we all clearly have enough to help her get settled and make sure her baby has everything he or she needs.”

  My dad turned his eyes on mine and held me in his sights just long enough to make me squirm. Normally we had a very adult relationship, we talked business, politics, and big, life stuff, but he could still make me feel like a little kid. “I’m not saying the logistics aren’t important, they are, obviously. But right now, this is more of an emotional adjustment.”

  He sighed and pressed his eyes closed as his finger and thumb went to pinch the bridge of his nose.

  Alesha sobbed harder and I hugged her close. “It’s okay, Leash.”

  “I’m just disappointed, Alesha,” he continued, opening his eyes again. “I’m not mad. But I wanted better for you. I wanted you to finish high school, college, get settled, fall in love, get married, and then have a baby.”

  “I know, Daddy.” Her sniffles petered off and I loosened my grip on her. “I can still go to school and get married and all those things.”

  I nodded my agreement.

  “How far along are you?” Dad asked, his voice evening out. He was starting to accept the news.

  “Fourteen weeks…” Alesha answered, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear.

  Dad nodded, clearly doing some mental math. “All right. Well, Kelli and I can fly home as soon as the end of the month. I can wrap up some things here and come back early.”

  Alesha cut a desperate glance at me. “But I want to stay with Carly.”

  “Not up for debate, Alesha. You’ll come back to Phoenix so we can make a plan to get you through school. We’ll hire a tutor and then we’ll need to find a nanny so that you can complete your senior year as planned…” he continued to tick off the items like a to-do list and I tuned out. Alesha sank into misery as she realized there was no way out. As soon as she got back home, Dad was going to completely take over and she’d spend the next year battling him to get control back over her own life.

  My heart broke for her. Dad wasn’t mean, but h
e was strict and had very high expectations. He wasn’t going to let her out of his sight once he got home. I knew it wasn’t what she wanted, but I didn’t know what I could possibly do to help her either.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Nick

  “I can’t believe she’s really leaving this weekend…”

  My fingers stilled on their way down to Carly’s stomach under the thin cover of the sheets. I’d woken up ready to pick up where we’d left off the night before, but clearly her mind was elsewhere. “I’m sorry, baby.”

  Life in Holiday Cove had been on some kind of fast forward mode for the last three weeks. I’d been so busy getting the F-4 ready for the air show I’d barely had time to come up for air. And whenever I did, it was to spend time with Carly—most of which was spent burning off our excess stress in my bed. Carly and Alesha had been busy making preparations for their dad to come visit, afterward Alesha would be going back with him and his wife by the end of the long weekend.

  Carly rolled over to her side so she could face me. Her eyes were dark and distracted. “Do you think I should let her stay with me?”

  It was a question she’d asked me half a dozen times over the past few weeks. I’d never been able to come up with a good answer. It wasn’t my call to make. Selfishly, I wanted Alesha to go home because it would free up what little time Carly had left after running her business seven days a week. With things set to slow down at the Rosen Air Museum—at least in the shop—I was looking forward to spending more time with her. That wouldn’t be possible if her sister and soon to be niece or nephew were living with her full time. I wanted to tell her—to be honest with her—but now wasn’t the time.

  “You know I can’t answer that for you,” I replied, tucking a strand of her pink hair behind her ear, fingering it before letting go. “How’s Alesha taking it?”

  “She’s been quiet lately.” Carly chewed at her lower lip. “I know she’ll be okay. My dad’s already got everything figured out as far as renovating one of their bedrooms into a nursery and then the practical stuff, like a bigger, safer car for Alesha to drive that will fit a car seat. Knowing Dad, he’s probably already got the kid a college fund set up.”