by Heather Long
The corners of his mouth curved into a dark little smile, and a shiver traced up my spine. “I can work with it. I’m getting the feeling you enjoy the idea of being bad. But I’m not completely caught up on all your extracurricular reading material.”
I grinned. “I knew you were reading them.”
“Because I told you,” he murmured, then kissed the tip of my nose before inspecting my hands. “Okay, we’re gloving you up, but don’t think just because you have those on you can go nuts.”
“Define nuts?” I bounced on my feet and jabbed at the air. “Is that when you and I go toe to toe in the ring?”
Amusement flickered in his pale blue eyes as he swept me from head to toe. “Baby Girl, the only place you and I will ever go toe to toe is full contact wrestling. You can spar against me, and I’ll hold the punch mitts for you and I’ll make sure you can land a hit that will hurt. But I’m never punching you back, Baby Girl. That’s just a hard limit for me.”
The gleam in his eyes went from humor to wicked teasing, and a shiver chased up my spine. “Interesting,” I said, and bumped his hip with mine. “We should talk about these limits more.”
“Happy to,” he agreed with a light slap to my ass. “But first, we’re going to work on your stance and punch, then the follow through. When we’re done, I want you to know how to break someone’s nose if you have to.”
“Not their jaw?” I was only half-teasing.
“Nose is easier, and it will half-blind them with pain,” he said and moved right up behind me, hands on my hips as we stood in front of the speed bag. There weren’t a lot of mirrors where we were standing, so it wasn’t like I could meet his gaze as he tightened his grip on me and stepped right up until the erection he was sporting pressed against my ass. “And you’re being a bit of a tease, Baby Girl. Don’t think I’m not paying attention.”
I glanced back and up at him. “I told you I didn’t want to be good.”
He grinned. “Give me an hour, and I’ll give you whatever you want.”
A shudder had my nipples tightening and my thighs clenching. “Promise?”
“Oh yeah.” He winked. “Now…let’s do this.”
I blew out a shaky breath and then rolled my shoulders. I could do this. “I’m all yours.”
He let out the faintest of groans, then nipped my ear. “You will be.”
I really wasn’t sure who won the game of one upmanship here, or if there even were any winners. Either way, I was down to keep playing. For the next hour, though, Jake dialed up the punishment as he drilled me on how to throw a punch. It wasn’t that I didn’t know how, I’d thrown my fair share. But as Jake pointed out, I didn’t train to fight people who were bigger than me.
Guys, as a rule, were all bigger than me. So the way I hit them had to take into account height and weight differences as well as circumstances. Essentially, if I was close enough to hit them, they were too damn close and could hurt me worse. First rule was always to get away. Second rule was to hit them hard enough to let the first rule come into play. Third rule, make a lot of noise while employing the first and second rules.
Despite the way he patiently walked me through everything and then worked with me to get my speed up, an undercurrent of dislike threaded through him. We went longer than an hour. In between giving me pointers, he demonstrated hits on the speed bag next to mine. We went until sweat soaked through my tank and my arms were spaghetti.
“And now I remember why I hate sports,” I complained as he peeled the gloves off my hands.
“You’re going to hurt more tomorrow, Baby Girl, so we’ll make sure we rub those arms tonight.”
“Oh, massage?” I perked up. I might not like going to other people for full body massages, but the guys were awfully good with their hands.
Chuckling, he untaped my knuckles and then pressed a fresh bottle of water into my hands. I’d already drunk a full other one. Despite having dressed for the workout and that the gym was all kinds of chilly, I was still hot and I needed a shower.
Badly.
That and the droplets of water skating down Jake’s chest were utterly lickable.
Hey, I focused for the last—I checked the clock on the wall—ninety minutes. He slid a hand against my nape, and I grimaced. “I’m all sweaty.”
“I like you all sweaty,” he murmured and tugged. Then his mouth was on mine. I forgot all about the sweat and the burning muscles as I wrapped my arms around his neck. The stroke of his tongue demanding entrance had me pushing up on my toes. Desire kindled and adrenaline flooded my tired system. Nipping my lower lip once, he sucked on it before he lifted his head and stared at me from half-lowered lids. “You did fantastic, Baby Girl. You were so good for me.”
I grinned. “I like this reward system.”
“I’m a little partial to it myself.” Then he gave me another kiss, and I groaned. “But we have to go home first,” he whispered. “And we have homework.”
“Blegh.”
He laughed at me.
The meanie.
Still, I got one more kiss in before we pulled apart and he dragged on his sweatshirt and jeans. Apparently, we weren’t showering here. I glanced toward the locker room and then away, but not before Jake caught me.
“Don’t tempt me,” he growled.
I made a face, but I was still smiling. It couldn’t be any riskier than the library, right?
I flicked a look to the three guys still working out on the weight benches studiously ignoring us. “Next time?”
Huffing laughter, he snaked an arm around my waist and dragged me back against him. “Definitely,” he said against my ear. “Though you’re playing with fire if you want to do it here.”
“I trust you,” I reminded him, and his groan sent another shiver through me.
“You’re killing me.”
“You love it.”
“Hmm.” But the fact that he squeezed my ass and then gave me another kiss was all the answer I needed. We grabbed protein shakes on the way home, for hydrating and muscle recovery, and also damn tasty. Once we got back, I half-expected Jake to follow me into the shower, but he’d snuck one on his own.
Wrapped in a towel, I stared at him in the living room where he had his phone in his hand and wore just boxer shorts.
Definitely as lickable as he’d been at the gym.
“Did I do something to offend you?”
He glanced up and grinned slowly at me. “What’s a matter, Baby Girl? You got an ache?”
Eyes narrowing, I squinted at him. “I thought I was a very good girl.”
“I don’t disagree,” he murmured, sending another message before setting the phone down with the open textbooks. He had the television on to something, but I couldn’t care less what he’d been watching. “But you also said you wanted to be bad.”
“So I’m getting punished for being good?”
Chuckling, he folded his arms, and if not for the fact that his muscles were all corded and tense, I’d have worried. But no, this was a game. Jake was fucking with me instead of actually fucking me.
“Are you feeling neglected, Baby Girl?”
Yes. This was a game.
“It’s okay,” I soothed him and let the towel loosen and fall. “I’ve got new toys that’ll fix the problem. Go ahead and get started on the homework.”
I pivoted and headed back up the hallway.
Four.
Three.
Two.
Jake scooped me up before I even reached the door. He dumped me on the bed and then half-pinned me as he leaned down, nose to nose. “Toys? You really want to go the toys route?”
“That or I can call Coop. I’m sure he’d be happy to talk me through it.”
Eyes flashing, Jake chuckled, and his beautiful, sensuous mouth pulled into a grin. “Who do you think I’m waiting on? He’s doing his last delivery and then he’ll be home.” Nipping my jaw, he traced a path to my ear. “Good girls get good rewards. Think you can wait that long?”
Oh.
I groaned and arched my hips because he was already nestled right between my thighs, and that sexy chest of his that had been torturing me for the last couple of hours was hot against my breasts. Jake’s grip on my wrists was gentle, but he had both of my arms pinned next to my head and his smile grew.
“No, my baby girl is a little too wound up and impatient, isn’t she?” Sympathy filled his tone as he nuzzled a kiss against my throat, and I couldn’t help but squirm as he pressed his hips into mine. The slow grind was making me crazy.
“She was good, but she’s seriously considering bad was the way to go.”
“Fine,” he said, huffing out a sigh as he straightened. “Let’s just take the edge off, shall we? I’m sure I can keep you busy for at least twenty minutes. What’s the going record right now?”
“For what?” The damp tousle of his hair was doing really good things for him, and so were his very smooth cheeks. Someone had shaved.
“For most orgasms in that time frame? I think it was four. Might be five.” He slanted a look at me, and his grin grew. “Shall we go for six?”
“Six…?” But the thought stuttered out as he released my wrists and slid down my body. I was so wound up, it only took the pressure of his mouth on my clit and his hands spreading me wide to trigger the first orgasm. His laughter had me arching up and digging my toes into the bed, but Jake settled my legs over his shoulders and glanced up at me.
“Settle in, Baby Girl. We’re hitting six before Coop hits that door…”
I was crying by the time we hit number five, and Jake was absolutely ruthless in pushing me right up to and over the edge. At some point between orgasms three and four, he’d slipped lubed fingers into my ass and had begun to stretch me, and that just made me hungry for more. Jake let me writhe on the bed as I ground against his mouth.
Six was right there, when the door shoved inward and Coop stared at us. The grin on his face was wide, and his eyes were hot when he focused on me. Honestly, we hadn’t had this kind of time in a while. Not where it was just the three of us playing. Not since we’d been back. We’d come close, but not like this.
Coop shoved the door closed. “Player three entering the game.”
The comment was just so out there and unexpected, I burst out laughing. Jake’s laughter against the inside of my thighs sent another spark through me as he hooked his fingers, and then I was gasping as I came and tears spilled. Coop swallowed the gasps with a kiss, and I clung to him as Jake eased away from me.
Everything ached and I couldn’t possibly still be trembling, but Coop dragged me up into his kiss and held me there suspended before he settled me back against the bed and then stroked a hand down my face. “You have a preference?”
I laughed. The last time they’d asked me that, my whole brain had stuttered. Right now, my brain was drunk on Jake, but not so much I wasn’t eager for Coop to have made it. “We were waiting on you,” I told him, and his grin grew.
“Aww, that’s ’cause I’m your favorite.”
I laughed. “You all are.”
“I can live with that,” he said with a wink and dragged his shirt off. Oh, he was pretty to look at. Jake slid his palms up along my thighs and tugged my attention to him.
“What do you want, Baby Girl?”
Pushing up on my elbows, I dragged my gaze from Jake to where Coop finished stripping and licked my lips. I kind of wanted everything, and at the same time, I didn’t want to have to decide. Then again…
I crooked my finger at Jake and he crawled up to me, then his mouth closed over mine as I wound my shaking arms around him. Everything trembled. Quivering muscles made it hard to maneuver, and tasting myself on Jake just reminded me of how much pleasure he’d just poured into me. With very little urging, he rolled over, and then I was straddling him.
A laugh broke free as I shook, trying to grip him and get him in place.
“I think you broke her,” Coop murmured from behind me as he settled his hands on my hips and helped me slide down onto Jake. He hissed, and so did I, at the contact. But I leaned my head back against Coop’s shoulder and laughed.
“Not broken…just happy…and oh that feels good.”
Jake thrust up once, and then Coop was easing me forward to rest my hands on Jake’s shoulders. He helped balance me when my arms threatened to fold. The stroke of Coop’s hand down my back to my ass had me arching my back.
“You sure?” The question came from both of them. It was written in Jake’s eyes, even as Coop whispered it.
“Oh yeah,” I said, and a giggle escaped me. “I need your massive cock, Coop.”
With a laugh, Jake thrust up. “Just his, Baby Girl?”
“No, I need your magical cock almost as much as your delightful tongue.”
That had him fisting my hair and dragging me in for a kiss, even as our hips rocked, but Coop slowed us both when he pressed two fingers against my ass and spilled more lube along the crease. We needed to practice this more, but at the same time, I was aching for him to just push in. Even if he was huge.
I could handle it.
I kind of felt like I could handle anything.
Between biting kisses and loving pets, they eased me between them, and then Coop was pressing inside. The stretch had me gasping as Jake went totally still and stroked my hair as he whispered encouragement.
Coop only eased forward a little before he began to rock, and he let out an almost pained groan. “So fucking tight…” The ragged words left me almost boneless, and I relaxed as he filled me all the way. Then he was kissing my shoulder, and I forgot anything but how it felt to be impaled between them.
I don’t know who started the motion, but it was all sensation and heated kisses, sometimes pulling me forward or back. They traded me between them like they’d been practicing it and took me apart so expertly, all I could do was hold on as they found their rhythm. Jake came first, following me as I spasmed around them and clenched down. Coop followed so swiftly after that, then we collapsed together in a tangled, sweaty heap and I never wanted to move again.
I didn’t think I could.
Even softening, they felt so huge inside of me, and the faint stirring of desire tugged at my belly. I would never get used to this, and I kind of liked that I wouldn’t.
“Fuck,” Coop whispered. “Now I have to move.”
A giggle escaped and then another. Jake stretched his arm out and thumped him, but Coop just laughed, and when he pulled out, we were all gasping. He didn’t go far, rolling onto the bed next to us, and I turned my head to meet his gaze while I still sprawled over Jake.
“I totally kicked ass at fight training,” I told him.
“I bet you did,” he whispered, and brushed his fingers down my cheek.
My eyes were heavy, and the soft, deepening of Jake’s breathing had me lifting my head.
“Shh,” Coop murmured. “He dozed off. It’s only nine. We can nap, then clean up before round two.”
“Round two?” Oh, he’d piqued my interest.
“Definitely round two,” he answered. “I missed all the foreplay, I should get that turn, don’t you think?”
Reaching over, I traced my fingers over his face. “You okay?”
Kissing my fingertips, he whispered, “I’m okay. It’s hard, Mom, Trina. Dad. The whole mess. But I’m okay.”
“I’m here for you.”
“I know you are.”
Jake rumbled beneath me, and I smiled. “Jake’s here for you, too.”
“Yeah,” Coop said, then leaned over to kiss my nose. “Lie still and I’ll go get a washcloth for you, but you should try to sleep. I think we might be pulling an all-nighter.”
“Oh, cramming for a test?” I teased.
“I’ll be cramming something.” Then he was off the bed and walking out of the room naked. I let out a little sigh, and Jake trailed his fingers up my spine.
“He’s okay, Baby Girl.”
“I hope so, I worry abo
ut him.”
“That’s why he’s going to be okay.”
They weren’t wrong about the all-nighter.
Worth it.
Chapter Twenty-Five
In Your Eyes
Me: Are you back this week?
Rachel: Yep. Sorry I’ve been spending
a lot of time at the hospital.
Me: You don’t have to be sorry. I just worry about you.
Rachel: I’m fine, you control freak.
Me: Don’t pretend you aren’t enjoying the fact that I’m missing you.
Rachel: You have a point.
You free later this week?
And want to do me a favor?
Me: I can be, and it depends on the favor.
Rachel: And here I thought you missed me.
Me: LOL I also know you.
Rachel: Fair point. I’m working on a project,
and I need to borrow your bod.
Totally safe and clean. Promise.
I’ll pick you up,
or you want to just drive over?
Me: Your place?
Rachel: To start… Oh and wear pretty lingerie.
Me: Why?
Rachel: You’ll see.
The days seemed to be flying by. Maddy had all but vanished after the meeting at Wittaker’s office. Her attorney had forwarded the trust details, and I’d gone to a meeting with Archie where we learned that the trust itself had an attorney. Maddy had no signing power over the trust, she was just legally tied to it until I turned eighteen. The trust had indeed been set up by my grandparents—plural, not singular.
The trust attorney would not speak to me directly until when and if the legal emancipation finalized or I turned eighteen. Really not useful. As for the actual terms of the trust, those had been sketchier. My age was a factor, as was my academic status, but the trust attorney had been deliberately vague with Wittaker. Something in his demeanor told me this wasn’t normal.