by Ashley Logan
“I’m sorry I pushed. If you want to hit me again, you can. I won’t stop you. I’ll still be here.”
Releasing her hand, I continue to rub her back as she slowly and peacefully diffuses her anger.
“Do your parents know that Kenny was off screwing Debbie while you were fighting to survive?”
Relaxing back into me, she shakes her head. “I didn’t want them to feel the same way about her as I do. It hurts too much.”
Sighing, I wrap my arms back around her. “You are a very good sister and a much better person than I think I would have been under the circumstances. This is one of the many reasons I love you.”
“Can you stop saying it so much? You know it makes me feel uncomfortable,” she says, trying to laugh a little as she swats my chest and tries to sit up a bit. “I’d like to love you back, but I’m too selfish. I can’t find myself dying in the woods again.”
“I would never leave you in the woods to die. Even if I couldn’t save you, I’d die along with you, so you wouldn’t be alone.”
She laughs out loud. Hard. “Oh my God! Do you even hear yourself sometimes? You’re like a cheesy, B grade movie!” Throwing her arm over her face she continues to mock me, spouting melodramatic phrases and overly mushy terms of endearment. By the time she’s begging me to take her to the ‘hayloft of love and adorn her hair with straw, oh mighty hero of the ‘gasm and stoker of smoldering lust’, I can hear no more.
Grabbing her face, I shut her right up with the kiss I’ve been wanting to give her all day.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
SCARLETT
I knew I was provoking him. I did it on purpose, as he did to me. This is what we do. We rage and we steam and I have come to learn it is quite a gratifying combination.
Bruno’s lips force mine into submission with the slightest touch and he savors every lick I give him, as if he might not get it again. It makes every kiss an intensely passionate experience and I can definitely see why people might commit to each other to feel this way more often. I just don’t know if I could do it.
I trust Bruno, but I don’t want to. Possibly, I might even love him, but that would be worse, so I push that thought aside as his fingers weave into my hair, making it hard to think anyway. All I know is, he is the only person who has ever made me feel this way, and I like how it feels. Beyond that, I’m lost.
Breaking away, I gasp for air. “So you like sweet talk?” I say, still panting.
“I like sweet lips,” he says, pulling mine back to his and taking my bottom lip between his teeth in a way that makes my insides sigh with pleasure. “And sweet freckles,” he says, kissing my cheeks as his hands work down my neck, over my shoulders and down my back to form a firm grip on my butt. “And sweet ass,” he whispers into my mouth before taking it again with his own. Swept away in the kiss, I vaguely register him rearranging his body beneath me.
Now straddling him, I feel his firm hands pull my ass closer so I’m sitting on his crotch. Feeling his arousal between my legs, I rub against it, letting him know I’m aware of my effect on him. Moaning into my mouth, his hands run up and down my jeans before slipping up under my sweatshirt.
Shivering under his touch as he gently strokes my scars, I deepen our kiss. Growling into my mouth now, Bruno unhooks my bra.
“I swear that growl makes me wet every time I hear it,” I whisper against his lips, causing another growl to rumble through him. His hands find my breasts and the heat between my legs only gets hotter. “How do you make me want you so bad?” I ask as his lips travel down my throat.
“Like I said, maybe you want me touching your buttons.”
I can’t seem to stop myself from moving against him every time I hear his voice, or feel his breath on my skin.
“Right now I want you to touch my buttons like crazy, but I’m very aware we are in a woodshed and there is a party of people about twenty yards away that are probably starting to worry where we’ve disappeared to.”
Bruno moans against my neck and does another quick maneuver that leaves me facing away from him. Relieved I won’t get side-tracked by another spine-melting kiss, I take a few breaths to get over the heady effects of them, but there is no time to recover. His hand has slipped down my jeans.
“I’m sorry,” he says in a rough whisper as his fingers find their mark and begin their debilitating movements. “I stopped listening after you said touch my buttons like crazy.” His other hand deftly unbuttons my jeans to give him better access and I gasp as his fingers enter me while grinding his palm against my clit. His free hand returns to my breast, taking the nipple between his fingers as he rumbles against my neck.
Releasing a pleasurable moan of my own, I try to find something to hold on to as the pressure within me builds.
“Bruno,” I manage to cry as I fist the collar of his shirt and my thighs grip his hand to keep him from leaving.
“I know. I’ve got you. Let go and come all over my hand, you beautiful girl,” he says against my skin as he tugs gently on my nipple. The combination of his words and his magic hands, send me over the edge and I come even harder than before as Bruno strokes every last whimpering spasm from me.
“You are so amazing,” he says, nuzzling my neck and rumbling with approval as he inhales my scent.
“Shut up, sweet talker,” I mumble, relaxing into him in a state of bliss. “You’re very good at birthday presents,” I say with a giggle as I rearrange myself to straddle him again. “You seem to get me exactly what I want, even if I didn’t know I wanted it.”
Chuckling a little himself, he runs his hands up and down my thighs as if he needs to keep touching me. “Your real present is at home on my bed,” he says, cupping my face and bringing my lips to his in a gentle, loving kiss.
Feeling desire build in me again, I slip my hands under his shirt, running them over his warm skin. I start undoing his jeans as we kiss, but his hand covers mine and he pulls away.
“You don’t have to do that, Scar,” he says, kissing me again. “Watching you is enough.”
“Not enough for me,” I argue. “Let me.”
Taking a deep breath, he exhales slowly, shaking his head. “I don’t want to disappoint you.”
“You won’t,” I whisper against his mouth before sucking his bottom lip into mine. He pulls away again.
“He’s fickle. He might die in your hands, but it would have nothing to do with what you were doing.”
I kiss him again to keep him quiet, my hands attempting to soothe his tense shoulders. “Just relax. You’re not even giving him a chance.” I continue to work his jeans open, keeping him distracted with my mouth as I take him in hand.
He’s bigger than I’d thought and I can’t help the surprised gasp as I pull him free of his jeans. Looking down, I bite my lip as I look Bruno in the eye.
“I may have bitten off more than I can chew,” I say, immediately regretting what that must sound like. “I don’t mean I’d chew it, but shit, Bruno. Even if we get him up, I’m not sure he’d fit.”
Chuckling, he plants a firm kiss on my lips. “I wouldn’t shove it in all at once, Scar. And as wet as you get, I’m betting he’d glide in just fine, but I’m not about to take you in your father’s woodshed. Don’t worry about it,” he says, making to tuck himself away again.
Knocking his hands out of the way, I resume the kiss I’d left in order to marvel at him. Bruno crushes my body into his as I pull his face to mine. Reaching between us, I stroke his length as we kiss, starting at the root and moving slowly to the tip. He growls into my mouth and I find my hips rocking into him of their own accord as I stroke him faster and he grows in my hand. I find myself wanting to know right now if he’ll fit and what it will feel like to have him stretch me and fill me.
Moaning at the need inside me, I tighten my grip around him. He curses under his breath in a way that only spurs me on.
“I want to know what you’d feel like inside me,” I whisper against his cheek as I hold his full erec
tion in my hands with such a carnal longing, I am actually aching for it.
“I know it can’t be now, but I want your huge cock in me in the worst kind of way. I know I said he wouldn’t fit, but I want you to make him fit. I want you to fill me up and make me come around him so hard you unload on impact. Why do you make me feel these things?”
“I love you,” he says, swallowing any response I might have with his kiss. His hands are all over me in some fevered search for something to pleasure. His lips break away to join the frantic mission and I feel myself climbing again as he draws my nipple into his mouth whilst grabbing my ass and pulling me even closer to his erection as I grind against him. He’s relentless. Even the sound of his phone ringing doesn’t stop him.
“Bruno,” I whisper as his teeth graze my nipple, only to ease the delicious pain with more heated attention.
“No,” he says against my breast as he drives me onward. The phone becomes a distant memory as his hand slips down the back of my jeans and his fingers enter me from behind as I rub against him.
“Fuck!” I cry, coming hard around his hand again. Falling against his chest, I realize I’ve lost his erection in another selfish wave of hunger.
“I will never tire of the sounds you make when you come. I’m so glad you let me hear it,” he whispers against my hair as his breathing continues to settle. “You’re quite the sweet talker yourself, you know,” he says with a chuckle as he mumbles my words about his huge cock.
Punching him in the shoulder only makes him laugh harder, so I choose to ignore his joke instead. Tucking him back in and buttoning him up, I meet his eyes. “Sorry I left you behind, soldier. I got carried away.”
“Mmmm,” he rumbles into my neck as he pulls me closer. “It was my pleasure. And you got him to stand up all the way, so that’s a miracle in itself,” he says, clearly not disappointed in the least, which makes me feel better.
His phone rings again and he sighs as I start buttoning my own jeans.
“Back to reality, huh?” he says sadly as he feels his pockets for his phone.
“Looks that way,” I reply just as sadly.
Frowning at his phone, Bruno answers, his posture becoming rigid. There is hurried talking from the other end, but too quiet for me to hear.
“What do you mean she’s been out?” he says, looking through the gap in the door at the rain. “It’s pouring out there. Where did she go?” His eyes widen in alarm. “The school? Was anyone there? Who was meant to be watching her?”
I get off him as he gets more agitated, giving him room to move. His eyes lock on mine and I can see him struggling with something.
“This can’t be allowed to happen,” he says, his voice bold with authority. “I don’t care if she did! You’re meant to be looking after her! Is she alright? Stitches?” Holding a hand over the phone, he swears out the woodshed door.
“You never said anything about her being hurt! That’s what you should have started with! Where is she now? I’m on my way.”
Shutting off his phone, he shoves it back in his pocket, and runs both hands over his short hair as he exhales through pursed lips. Turning back to me, he pulls me in for a hug and kisses the top of my head.
“I’m sorry, Scar. I have to go.”
“Sounds like it,” I reply, still unsure of what just happened, but hugging him back because it feels right. “Anything I can help with?”
He opens his mouth and closes it. “Not tonight. I’m sorry to leave like this. I’ll explain when I can, okay? Just give me a chance to figure this all out,” he says, putting his phone in his pocket and looking around the woodshed. Picking up Dad’s parka, he drapes it over my shoulders and checks my feet. Nodding to himself, he kisses my forehead, takes my hand and leads me back towards the house.
Everyone looks at us as if they’re trying to guess what happened outside. I’m sure my face gives nothing away, because I’m not sure if I could explain it if I sat down and really tried to work it out.
Bruno keeps moving. Thanking my parents for having everyone over as he’s collecting his keys and his coat, he explains he’s had a family emergency and has to leave. Donning the coat over his already wet shirt, he looks over his shoulder at me with an apologetic smile. Waving to everyone else, he excuses himself and steps back out into the rain to brave his next mission, whatever it might be.
THE VAN IS ROWDY ON the way home as everyone pesters me about what did, or didn’t happen outside. More sober than most, I find it easy enough to avoid giving any actual details, considering I haven’t quite made up my own mind about what happened in the woodshed other than the fact that the intoxicating effects of Bruno Jackson are only enhanced by the smell of freshly cut wood. A shiver runs through me as I recall his body under mine, his lips and hands lighting me up everywhere they went. That man can kiss like crazy, not to mention his magical fingers, and massive dick that begs attention.
I shiver again thinking about it and Vi snuggles closer in the seat next to me as we get nearer to home.
“You cold?”
“Uh, yeah,” I reply, leaning my cheek on her head as she rests on my shoulder. “It’s getting cold now, huh?”
“Mm,” she agrees, sighing sleepily. “Did you have a nice time tonight?”
“Yeah. Really good. Thanks Vi. I know you and Mom sorted it all. It was kinda nice for Dad to meet everyone too. He worries.”
Vi chuckles a little. “With good reason, Scar. His daughter’s a stripper.”
“Well he doesn’t know that, and I’m glad everyone managed to hold their tongues about it,” I reply as Kat pulls the van into the lane behind the club. “And it was good for Mom to see I have a bunch of special people in my life. She worries I’ll run away to become a hermit.”
Violet laughs. “She knows you better than that. But I think she’s pleased you’ve found a life of your own, even if it’s a stripping life.”
“Well it’s not like I’ll be a stripper forever,” I say as we head from the back of the club, through to the stairs. “I know you’ve been dancing more and stripping less since you and Serge hooked up - is it something you think you’ll be done with now you’ve found true love?”
Shrugging, Vi climbs the stairs, holding the rail as she sways a little. “We’ve only known each other a few months, Scar. It’s complicated,” she says with a sigh. “The club has helped me so much in terms of a safe outlet for venting my sexual frustrations. But being with him, I don’t feel like I need it anymore. I love him,” she says quietly as we walk down the short hall to our rooms. “And I know he loves me, but it’s still new and I don’t know what the next step is and I’m scared.”
“Have you talked to him about it?” I ask, following her into her room and throwing myself onto her bed as she takes off her shoes. “He might feel the same way. Seeing you two together, I would think the next step is you moving in with him, dumping the nightlife of a stripper and resuming a grown up schedule to finish the work you actually want to do in the education sector, and maybe one day get married and make beautiful babies.”
Staring at me, Vi takes off her sweater and jeans and climbs into her bed, kicking me out of the way so she can get comfortable.
“This is the shit that scares me, Scar. It’s like I said. We’ve only known each other a few months. It’s too soon to say ‘hey let’s move in together because one day I’d love to marry you and have your babies’. That’s too much pressure for such a young relationship.”
I shrug. “The way he looks at you, I think maybe he’s thinking the same thing. That’s why you should talk about it. And when you do have babies, I have a strict look, but don’t touch policy.”
“What?” she asks, laughing a little. “Why?”
“They’re cute, but they freak me out with their soft heads and projectile vomiting and shit. And when they get bigger, they just get more annoying with their backchat and their ‘I wants’. No kids, no thanks,” I say with a firm nod, before a horrible feeling creeps into my gu
t.
Vi stops laughing when she sees my face. “What’s wrong?”
I look at her, still trying to work through the probabilities in my head. “Do you think Bruno has a kid?”
“Why? Thinking of marrying him?” Vi asks with a grin.
“No!” The word shoots out at speed. “Of course I’m not thinking of marrying him! Don’t be weird.” Though tragically, I think I’m definitely leaning towards liking him very much; but if he has a kid, that is something I don’t think I could handle.
“You’re the one being weird,” Vi shoots back. “Why are you asking if he has a kid?”
The sinking feeling in my stomach intensifies.
“It makes sense, doesn’t it? I mean obviously not since his army days,” I say, thinking out loud. “It would have to be before then. Why else would he give up a college scholarship because he needed a paycheck? He knocked up some chick in high school, and tried to do the right thing and support her, because he always does the right thing. Shit changed. They didn’t work out or whatever, and now he has some what - ten year old maybe? - running around Buffalo while he’s struggling to make ends meet for her and be a part-time parent?”
Slumping against the wall, I can’t believe how I have never seen it before.
“What were you and Bruno smoking out in that woodshed?” Vi asks, giving me a very strange look. “Why are you inventing him a ten year old daughter?” she asks, sitting up. “Is this you talking yourself out of being with him? Because anyone with eyes can see you’re meant to be together. None of what you’re saying is making any sense.”
“Does too,” I say, more to myself than Violet. “That’s where he goes all the time, when he just disappears and nobody knows where he is. That’s where he is tonight. The phone call he got,” I say, pausing to run it through my head.
“There was an actual phone call?” Vi asks, scooting closer. “I thought it was just an excuse for him to leave in order to keep embarrassment to a minimum after you guys shagged in the shed.”