by Heather Long
The delicious combination had me gasping in turn as I came with a fierce shout and a rush of pure heat. She bucked back against me as I ground into her and teased that clit. Another sharp cry, too much or maybe not enough, and I kissed her damp shoulder and moved to nuzzle against her throat as I tried to keep my weight off of her.
With care, I pulled the belt free and eased her arms before rolling onto my back and bringing her with me. She trembled against me, and I cuddled her close, aware of the spreading dampness of cum spattering her thighs and running down her legs onto mine. I didn’t care about that, I just cared about soothing her until she was boneless and soft against me.
“Sir Ian,” she murmured, and a thrill curled through me. “That was very nice.”
“Nice?” I teased. “I need to step up my game.”
“And I am here for it,” she told me with an almost drunken laugh, and then she smiled up at me and I met her kiss as she rolled over to curl against my chest. I drank down her laughter and breathless little sighs, and kept running my hands up and down her back, until all the tremors quieted.
“What are you going to do when I tie you up and make you wait to orgasm for hours?” I whispered, and she gave a delicious little shudder.
“Have the time of my life,” she admitted, and I grinned.
She really was perfect.
Chapter Fourteen
When You Say Nothing At All
Frankie
The single best part of the guys sleeping in the same bed with me had to be them waking me up. Or in this case, Ian waking me with his fingers buried inside of me, teasing me as my hips writhed, and his mouth already latched over a nipple. Heat licked me right out of sleep, and my skin was on fire as I opened my eyes. A sound escaped my throat, and he glanced up with the most delighted grin.
“I wondered how long it would take you to join me.” Sleep-roughened, his voice had a hoarse and delicious quality. He chose that moment to crook his fingers and it scraped sparks through my system, and I went to reach his face, only I couldn’t move my arms.
Sleep fading rapidly, I twisted to find them tied quite securely with some extra sheeting. Then he’d looped it around my wrists so I could almost twist them a little, but nothing was coming free. We’d gone to bed naked and wrapped around each other, so there was nothing hiding me from him. My ankles were tied too, and I let out a little laugh. Apprehension slid into excitement, and I bit my lip.
Stilling all of his movements, Ian studied me for a long moment. I hadn’t expected to wake like this, but I wasn’t complaining either. He rolled his thumb around my clit in a gentle circuit, enough that it had my hips lifting, desperate for more pressure.
“Uh uh,” he said in a soft voice, and all at once, his hand abandoned me and I let out a little whimper. “Stay still, Angel. Can you do that?”
Was he serious right now? I stared at him, mouth open. I’d been asleep and he woke me up with all these loving touches, and now he wanted me to be still? Outrage curled through me, but there was a quiet kind of delight in his eyes and an adoration that had me swallowing the words unspoken.
We were still playing. That was why he stopped touching until it all registered with me. I shifted a little, testing the sheets, and then glanced at him. “I knew there was going to be a test,” was all I said, and his sudden smile and huff of laughter was totally worth it. Leaning forward, he kissed me with such deep caring and utter sweetness, he had me gasping back the emotion. The sharp pinch of his fingers on my nipple jolted me from one extreme to the other, and though I wanted to buck, I tried to stay still.
“My perfect angel,” Ian murmured. I didn’t know how perfect I was, but for the next what felt like forever, he petted, stroked, and teased me right up to the edge and then backed off, until I swore sweat dripped off me and my heart hammered so loud, he had to hear it. I wanted to scream from frustration.
When he nuzzled a kiss to the corner of my mouth and then pressed a path to my ear, he whispered, “So good for me…”
I kind of wanted to preen for those words, but he backed off and I bit my lip to keep from crying out, only to have him loosen the sheets around my ankles. I dragged my eyes open to find him kneeling between my thighs.
I was a mess.
A mess he seemed to be thoroughly enjoying, but the moment he began to stroke his cock teasingly along my slit, it took everything I had to not arch my back. Another little tortured sound escaped, and a part of me knew if I said anything, if I begged him to stop or if I just said stop, it would be done and he’d give me that orgasm he kept taking away.
But the rest of me wanted to ride this all the way out, and desperate and panting as I was right now, I didn’t want to lose. We’d made it this far.
The warmth of his hands skated up my chest to cup my breasts, and I let my eyes close as I wrestled with the need to arch something to stretch closer. I dug my toes into the covers, even as my knees wanted to pull higher.
“So, so good for me,” he whispered as his breath feathered over my lips and he pushed inside of me. I couldn’t stop it. The orgasm rattled over me, and he caught my cry with his kiss. I gripped at the sheets holding my arms wide and almost laughed when Ian wrapped my legs around him as he began to rock into me.
I splintered, everything going to white noise and bliss. Somewhere in the middle of that, I exulted to his words of praise and loving touches. I wanted to say something. Anything. Thoughts kept fading off, incomplete.
“Shit.” Coop’s voice penetrated the decadent haze. “Sorry.” The door closed abruptly. “I didn’t see anything,” he called, and Ian let out a groan and a laugh where he nuzzled against my throat. Oh, he sounded nice and relaxed. I tingled from head to toe. “But we’re going to talk about what I didn’t just see,” Coop added.
“Fuck off,” Ian answered, his voice calm and measured.
“Fucking off.”
I tried to drag my eyes open, but Ian had my wrists free and he cuddled me against his lap, and I sighed. Right there was where I wanted to stay. Nothing else mattered except that I was safe and warm and loved.
It was another hour before I opened my eyes all the way again. The pleasant floating haze coupled with being deliciously wrapped up against Ian made me want to just go back to sleep. At the same time, I didn’t want to miss anything more.
“Hey,” he murmured, stroking my cheek. “Back with me again?”
“Uh huh.” Giddiness bubbled through the floatiness, and I sighed as he kissed me. “I’m great.”
He chuckled. Though now that I was awake, he had me drinking water and helped me sit up, but I was boneless. It was Sunday morning and almost eleven, and I hadn’t gotten out of bed. Wow.
Eventually, I wandered toward the shower on wobbly legs, while Ian promised to go get food started for us. I didn’t even realize Jake and Coop were there until I wandered out after the shower to find them both sitting on the sofa, game controllers in hand.
“Hey,” I greeted them and wandered over on loose limbs. When Jake opened his arms, I settled right into his lap and curled up to him and tucked my head to his shoulder. I really could just go to sleep. Coop studied me with a small grin, and I wiggled my fingers at him and blew him a kiss.
“Food’s almost ready,” Ian called.
Right. Food.
I’d almost forgotten.
“What are we having?” Coop asked.
“Frankie and I are having omelets.”
“You can make an omelet?” Jake challenged.
“Yes,” he sounded almost smug. “I’ve been expanding my culinary expertise.”
I giggled at the description. “I don’t need culinary, I just need edible.”
“It’ll be that, too.” The scent of bacon hit me a split second before the plate was in front of me. Oh, fried potatoes. Cheese omelet. Bacon. I squirmed in Jake’s lap, and he lifted me over to sit between him and Coop as I accepted the plate. My stomach growled, and Tiddles let out a yodeling meow as he charged out of
the second bedroom. The boys’ room was what I’d begun to think of it as, and Tiddles had definitely made himself at home in there.
He leapt up onto the sofa and then rubbed against the back of my head.
“This looks amazing,” I almost gushed, but I was so freaking hungry.
“It does,” Coop said, reaching for the bacon on my plate. Jake smacked his hand, then tried to steal a piece for himself, but Ian smacked him and I laughed as they all glared at each other. Despite what he’d said, he’d made enough for Coop and Jake too, but when they got up to get their plates, Ian slid into Jake’s abandoned seat and gave me another kiss before stroking his hand over my hair.
“That was clever,” I teased, and he grinned.
“I thought so.”
And after food and coffee, I curled up with Ian while Jake and Coop played their way through three levels of their game before Ian joined them. At some point, I’d need to get up and do homework, but I wasn’t in too much of a hurry to do anything. As soon as Archie got there, it would be perfect.
“Jake, move your ass,” Archie called through the door. “I need to shave, and Coop’s still in the other shower.”
This was a new one. For the most part, we had the morning routines down. But Jake and Archie had been pulling late hours on their super-secret project that even Coop had taken to guessing what it was.
“It’s a space ship,” was his latest inane thought. “Or at least a remote control one you fly using VR technology.”
My favorite had been an alien encounter because they were going to pull the most epic senior prank ever.
Still, they weren’t telling us anything, and I had decided I would not beg for the info. When they wanted to tell me, they would.
“Did I leave my wallet in here?” Ian asked as he ducked into my room. I was sitting on the bed tying my shoes.
“I don’t think so,” I told him as Archie called out to Jake again and rapped on the door. I pulled back the pillows and then we both ducked to look on opposite sides of the bed. I found Archie’s wallet and held it up with a wry smile, but not Ian’s.
We split up, and I headed for the living room, pausing to give Archie a kiss and his wallet, just as Jake opened the door to the bathroom. Archie glared at him, but I scratched my nails gently against the stubble on his cheeks. “It’s kind of sexy like this,” I murmured and winked.
“Yeah?” All at once, Archie’s irritation with Jake seemed to fade, and he gave me another long kiss. “I still need to shave, but nice save.”
I laughed and actually managed to slap his ass as Jake swatted mine, and then Ian was hustling us all out of the way. His wallet was in the fridge for some reason, and I found Coop’s shoes stuffed under the television. No one claimed the socks hanging from the mini-blinds with a resounding chorus of ‘not its,’ but Jake at least took them to throw in the dirty clothes.
After double-checking I had everything in my backpack, I got to the door first and opened it to let us out, only to frown at the note taped to the door. It was the kind we got from the apartment’s main office, usually when they were informing us of exterminators coming or they needed to get in to do some maintenance.
I slit it open and scanned the contents as the guys trailed out one at a time.
My stomach sank.
“Babe,” Archie said, leaning over my shoulder to stare at the note. “What’s wrong?”
It was a notice of intent from the apartment complex. They’d been notified that the lease holder was no longer staying in the apartment. More, that new residents had moved in, a number in excess of those on the lease.
“They can’t kick you out,” Archie told me flatly. “You’re paid up through the end of May. They can try, but they cashed the check.”
Panic scrabbled against the inside of my gut and dug its claws into my spine as I read the legalese and warning. They’d been informed.
Maddy’s last message.
Call me. Don’t make me do something you’ll regret.
“Hey,” Jake said, rubbing a slow circle against the small of my back. It was cold outside, our breath fogged in front of us, but I barely felt any of the chill. At least not the external one. “What can we do?”
“I’ll take care of it…” Archie began, but I shook my head.
“No,” I told him, not losing my grip on the paper. “I have to do this one. I need to call Mr. Wittaker, if he’s still my attorney.”
“What do you mean if?” Archie cut a look at me. “He’s your attorney, babe. If he wasn’t going to represent you, he would have notified you already.” He scowled.
“Maddy mentioned that she knew I was using one of Mr. Standish’s attorneys.”
“He’s your attorney now, and this isn’t a matter against Edward,” Archie reminded me. “But call him and let him set your mind at ease, then we can tackle the apartments.”
I chewed my lower lip and caught Ian and Coop studying me. Coop radiated quiet support right now. He would be right there if I needed him, but Ian looked like he was trying to assess where best to help, even as Jake and Archie both hovered.
Hovered wasn’t the right word. They were right there, ready to throw down. But this was also my fight. My fight with Maddy, and this was her way of getting my attention.
“I’m going to take my car today,” I said, fully prepared for that to not go over well.
“Why?” Archie and Jake said in damn near the same voice.
“Guys,” Ian cut in before I could answer. “If she wants to take her own car, we’re not going to fight with her about it.”
“We’re not fighting,” Coop jumped into the fray when Jake glared at Ian, but Archie ignored all of them, even if I was all too aware we were having this conversation just outside the apartment door where anyone could hear us. “We’re expressing concern and asking why. She hasn’t taken her car in months, I don’t think it’s an unfair question.”
“It’s not,” I told Archie. “But I may need to cut out at lunch and go see Maddy.”
“Fuck no,” he swore, then grimaced as he raked a hand through his hair, disheveling it. A myriad of expressions rioted across his face, and he wasn’t alone. I started away from the door to let them work through it, but Archie fell right into step with me. “Babe, can we discuss this before you put yourself through that?”
“I don’t know that I’m going, but she apparently wants to talk enough that she’s going to pull this with the apartment. I didn’t even think about the fact that she’s the one on the lease.”
“Except the apartment is paid for,” Archie reminded me. “And while leases matter and names matter, money also matters. They couldn’t throw you out as long as it’s all paid.”
“Do we know that for sure?” We were now standing between Jake’s SUV and Archie’s Ferrari.
“I’m about eighty percent certain,” Archie assured me. “But it doesn’t matter what she does, we can fight her and we will.”
“Agreed,” Jake said, and Coop nodded. “You don’t have to see her.”
I didn’t want to see her, that was the difference. At the same time, avoiding her wasn’t a long-term strategy, at least until my emancipation was decided.
“What do you want to do, Angel?”
“Dude, you have got to stop being Mr. Super Reasonable now,” Archie informed him. “That’s Coop’s schtick. He gets through when none of us can.”
I bit back a smile when Jake snorted and Ian just rolled his eyes. “I’m not being super reasonable. I’m trying to figure out what Frankie needs us to do based on what she wants to do before we all bulldoze through this and make it worse.”
My heart squeezed. “You’re not going to make it worse,” I told them, all of them, and I put a hand against Archie’s chest. “I love you for wanting to just dive in and take this on for me. And I may very well need your help. But I also need to know why Maddy has suddenly declared war again.” Could it have something to do with the DNA tests? They’d been here all along. So either she
already knew the answers, or she didn’t care about them.
Knowing her, it could be both.
“And I may call Erin and see if she can squeeze me in today before I talk to Maddy.”
“That’s a good plan,” Coop said. “Do you mind if I ride with you?”
“Subtle,” Jake said. “I can ride with you too.”
Ian chuckled softly, but it was Archie who grunted, “If she wants privacy, us riding with her isn’t going to give her that.”
That was a concession. He did not want me fighting this alone. To be honest, I didn’t want to fight it alone either. But I needed… “I need to establish some boundaries with Maddy and take back some control. Not talking to her the other night was absolutely the right call.”
I wasn’t ready to deal with her then, not when I’d been in a safe, focused mood. The ambush had unsettled me a lot. Not letting her in had been what I needed then. Taking the fight to her…that was what I needed to do now.
“I’ll talk to Wittaker first,” I said finally. “Since I am suing for emancipation, I shouldn’t talk to her without my attorney.”
Archie’s smile warmed me inside and out. Which was good, because the cold was starting to sting my cheeks.
I caught Ian’s eye and then Coop’s, they were both just waiting, but a muscle ticked in Jake’s cheek and the sound of his teeth grinding had me leaning into him as I wrapped an arm around his waist. “Drive me to school?”
The minute I asked, the relief draping the guys wrapped around me almost as tightly as Jake did. “You’re humoring me, Baby Girl.”
“And you’re going to let me,” I answered him.
It took us a couple of minutes to sort out cars. Ultimately, we all rode with Jake, which meant the five of us would have to stick together.
“And if you can get an appointment,” Jake said, “I’ll take you, or we can ask Rachel. Deal?”