by Susan Arden
She suspected they’d been sexually abused, but before she could begin the process of deep therapy, the twins required strict structure and boundaries. Whenever they asked something out of line, they got a warning.
Today, there was not one.
“Thanks for coming with me,” Mia said as Brandon held open the door to his truck.
He planted his hands on either side of her head and leaned over her. “I’d follow you to the ends of the earth. Walk on hot coals. And yes, visit your patients. Name it.”
His heated gaze filled her and made her bubble of joy expand. She longed to tell him how much he meant to her, but the words tangled on her tongue.
“I like having you near—I mean really near—too.” She grinned, her pulse thudding.
She watched him walk around the hood, pressing her legs together from the familiar coiling in her belly.
“Any other stops?” he asked, climbing into the cab.
“Nope. We’re free to hit the road,” she replied.
“Then first things first before we set out.” He lifted the center console, and pulled her next to him, squeezing her thigh. “This is where you sit. Buckle up, baby.”
She and Brandon were finally on the road, something else new for them, and the butterflies fluttered nonstop in her stomach. She didn’t know if she wanted to grin or throw up. Brandon had handled Beau with much more class than she’d have done if the boot were on the other foot. And then to end up in a committed relationship…how the heck had that happened? A boyfriend hadn’t even remotely figured into her plans, and no amount of denial would sugarcoat that she was playing with fire. Something would have to give: her desire for one hot cowboy or her plans to leave Paris.
The scales were starting to tip if she let her heart do the thinking. Sitting next to Brandon, she relaxed to the country Western music and his deep, calm voice answering her questions about where they were going. This getaway felt like a piece of the perfect plan. With each stroke of his large, warm palm down her thigh, she silently questioned her goal of skedaddling after graduation. In fact, she was beginning to question everything, except being near him.
Every so often, their gazes would connect and the world around her dissolved. At one point, he pulled off the highway into a rest area and had her straddle his lap, giving her a breathtaking kiss as his fingers unbuttoned her jeans. “Let’s get these down and then I’m going to have my way with you,” he said with his mouth on lips.
The slow separating of the zipper teeth sounded loud as she stared into his fiery blue eyes, and she could feel her resolve beginning to melt. How could she ever leave a man who rocked her world this doggone well?
“Brandon,” she panted, on the verge of telling him…what? Pressing her forehead to his, she held back from spilling her heart and whispered, “A minivan just pulled up with children in it.”
Without missing a beat, he zipped her up, and set her back down next to him. “I dislike children.” He scowled. “They’re so nosy.”
They drove for a few miles and she asked, “Do you really dislike kids?”
The heat in his eyes blistered her face. “I love the idea of making them. Practice make perfect and with you, it’s the team effort that has me going.”
“You’re avoiding,” she said, opening her eyes innocently. “Do you have any kids?”
“Not a one.” He directed his gaze back to the road. “I have a new niece and nephew. Another niece on the way. And tons of cousins. I like children. Better when they’re done with diapers, but don’t hold that against me. I’ll change my own babies, just not someone else’s.”
Her mouth went dry at the thought of Brandon cradling his—their—baby. “You’d make a terrific father,” she whispered.
She imagined him shirtless and holding a baby, and she leaned her head against the neck rest, closing her eyes to gather some self-control. What is happening to me? This is moving way too fast. If I don’t get hold of myself, I’ll be thinking about how I can keep a man who spends his time in a club with naked women. Not bright! That spells out disaster loud and clear, no matter how interested he seems now. Eventually, his sizzle would fizzle. She’d lay odds he wouldn’t make the full three months, no matter what he said.
“Penny for your thoughts,” he said, rubbing his hand down her calf. “How’re your knees feeling?”
“Much better. Thank you.”
“I have an idea of how I’d like you. Naked that is.”
She flashed a look over to him. “Are you thinking of breaking out the adult toys?”
“If you’re interested, we can.”
“That’s an affirmative,” she whispered, swiveling on her hip and rubbing her hand up his jeans and finding him ready and able. “When was the last time you got head driving down the highway?”
“Oh baby, too long to remember. Maybe back in college.”
“You’re overdue, then.” She unzipped his jeans. “I need a little room to get these down.”
“Devious girl,” he murmured. “We’re not far away.”
He tensed his legs and buttocks, pushing up from the floorboard, giving her enough room to lower the denim down his narrow hips and expose his cock. A drop glistened from the tip and she salivated like a Pavlovian pooch at the sight of his hard-on.
“I’ll see what I can do,” she replied. “God, I could do this to you every day.”
“Best girlfriend ever,” he groaned.
She laughed and licked across his crown, inhaling his musky scent, and felt the space between her legs clench. Swell. He was the first guy that prompted this reaction in her. She relished sucking him fully into her mouth. The salty taste of him had her rocking her body and swallowing him, bursting past the back of her throat.
“That’s it. Damn, how do you do that?” Brandon pulled off the highway, driving until the truck began to jerk, then she heard the engine cut off. He fisted her hair, coaxing her to take more of him. “Do you know what a turn-on this is?”
Kinda. She was ready to explode herself. She wanted to master the trick of relaxing her throat to drive them both wild. She’d made the mistake of reading up on deep-throating and now, after last night, that’s all she could think about when it came to Brandon. Sucking on him, she squirmed on the seat, digging her nails into his thigh. A surge of heat flooded her body until she teetered on the brink.
“Mmm,” she moaned, sucking him deeper, needing to take more of him into her mouth and down her throat.
It was crazy. He didn’t order her to withhold and she didn’t as she swallowed his length, nuzzling her nose in the clipped, dark hair at his crotch. With his hands on her head and fucking her mouth—she got off. She clenched as the sparks ignited and roiling ripples swirled in her belly. She didn’t understand how, except that this erotic act between them was enough to get her to come. Hard.
“Brandon,” she sighed, pressing her sweaty forehead to his thigh and stroking his cock.
“Jesus. Did you just come?” he asked, pumping himself against her hand. “Baby, you’re so hot.”
Breathless and dizzy, she panted, “Umm, yes.”
He pushed his fingers down into her jeans and rubbed them between her legs. “Fuck. You’re soaked.”
She arched upward, gyrating against his fingers. She curled her fingers around his arm, pressing her body to his touch, and was at the point of screaming. “Brandon, please.”
“Gotta get inside you.” He hauled her out of the truck. They were parked on a tiny dirt road with flat fields going on for miles on either side. He unzipped her jeans and knelt in front of her, pulling off one boot and yanking her pant leg free from her foot. With both of them half-dressed, he lifted her. “Wrap your legs around my waist.”
He thrust into her and leaned against his truck, hoisting her up and down his dick until they were both groaning, their breaths coming out in gasping puffs, with his face buried in her neck. She squeezed around him, coming undone, and he released, one hot pulse, then another into her. “Fuc
k. You drive me wild,” he moaned.
In a dreamy haze, she let Brandon carry her back inside the truck and redress her. “Feels like I’m buzzed.”
“You too? What a way to start a weekend.” He kissed her lips, taking possession of her completely with his mouth, his tongue moving deep and slow this time. His fingers caressed her face and when he released her mouth, he stared down at her, murmuring, “We’re almost there, Mia. Mine.”
They didn’t turn off the dirt road, but continued down it until they came to a fork and took the left side. Driving a bit more, they swung into an opening through a hammock of trees and a private gate and sign advising ‘Private Property’ lay before them.
Brandon punched in numbers on a keypad and the gate rolled open. “The cottage is pretty secluded out here. No worries that we’ll be disturbed.”
“It’s lovely,” she said, surveying the open fields. They passed a thicket of trees that gave way to rolling hills, and over a crest they headed down a driveway.
“I don’t believe it,” he muttered, lowering his window. “You’re about to meet two of my knuckleheaded cousins.”
Up ahead, two men wearing camouflage gear and holding rifles waved. Brandon pulled up alongside them and they smiled, connecting gazes with her. Each man nodded and broke out into a round of laughter.
The guy standing farther back with red hair raised both his eyebrows. “Boy, what are you doing up here?”
With a wry quirk of his lips, Brandon answered. “Question is, when are you both leaving?”
“Naw. We just got here,” the redhead answered.
“For crying out loud!” Brandon shook his head. “I haven’t been here in months and we pick the same time to escape.”
“Don’t sound so enthused. We aren’t pleased to spend any time with you, either.” The other man said while pulling on a dark ski cap, then asked the red-haired man. “Are we?”
Brandon shook his head. “Mia Santero, may I have the pleasure of introducing Cade and Rodney McLemore. My cousins, who couldn’t follow a rule if their Marine lives depended on it.”
“Call me Rod. And it’s a pleasure, Mia.” The cap-wearing man reached in front of Brandon, laughing, and his hand engulfed hers.
Cade, the redhead, smiled and waved. “Nice to meet you, Mia.”
“What in tarnation are you two roustabouts doing here? Thought you were overseas, hiding out.” Brandon turned to her. “They’re scout snipers.”
“We got leave for your brother’s wedding. You going?” Rod asked.
“Yes. Why does everyone keep asking me that?” he retorted.
Cade casually shrugged. “Black-tie affair, I don’t know. Heard you still hadn’t gotten your tux fitted. We got the same question.”
“There are other places than Clarkesville to get a tux. Places that don’t gossip,” Brandon snarled good-naturedly, even though a muscle clicked in his cheek.
“Either way, looks like we’re all here. So, you staying?” Cade asked, grinning and looking between her and Brandon.
“Mia is the boss.” He swung a glance over to her. “Well?”
“Yes,” she said softly. “I’d like to.”
“I can’t deny her anything.” Brandon reached over and lightly stroked a knuckle across her jaw. She swallowed, willing herself to keep it together and not let the shiver building along her nerve endings overtake her. It would be just great to openly demonstrate how easily he aroused her.
“And who in his right mind would want to?” Rod winked over to her.
“You all coming back from hunting or leaving?” Brandon asked.
“Given your tone of voice, glad to say we’re setting out. Got our blinds set up. Don’t think we’ll be back before sundown. We’ve got steaks and beer.” Cade remarked.
Brandon threaded his fingers with hers. “We’ll have dinner ready. Say eight?”
“First day we’re taking it easy. How about seven?” Cade shifted his rifle on his shoulder.
“You’re on. Take it easy,” Brandon opened his door.
“Likewise,” Cade replied and bowed in her direction. “Mia. Watch yourself with this one.” He adjusted his goggles.
She and Brandon watched his cousins striding over the frozen ground. “Those two have seen a lot. They’re back after their third or fourth tour of duty overseas.”
“What did Cade have on his head?” she asked.
“Night vision goggles. They’re serious about hunting.” He looked over at her. “You ever go?”
“No. I don’t like the sport. You all must have a lot to talk about,” she mused aloud.
“Damn shame I’m not in a talking mood.” He got out and walked around the front of the truck, opened her door, and pulled her out. Setting her down, he hugged her, tilting her face up to him, and claimed her mouth. He swept his tongue across her lips, and she pulled him closer. For moments—she lost count—he kissed her until her mind cleared and she clung to him. “I’m hungry for you. Let’s get unloaded and then I’ll show you around,” he said, patting her bottom.
She craned her neck to see the top floor of the sprawling house before them. Copper downspouts and gutters reflected the sunlight along with artsy rain chains on either side of the porch. The exterior walls were composed of slate and rough wooden shingles. A wide porch took up the front of the house, decked with brightly painted shutters and stained glass insets. Wind chimes knocked together, releasing deep timbered notes.
“I thought you said this was a cottage,” she remarked.
“It started out that way…oh, about a hundred years ago. Each generation adds something. My brothers and cousins and I put in a new kitchen about two years ago. Now, we meet here for the Fourth of July or Labor Day.”
“Kinda like a family reunion?”
“Like a boisterous reunion of characters.” Today Brandon’s eyes mirrored the blue sky above him.
Being with him was easy. His company was so much different than what she’d first imagined. The sexual tension hadn’t lessened, but being around him didn’t require a constant stream of chatter. He made her laugh, both with his expressions and his dry sense of humor. What it must have been like for his mom, raising a troupe of on-the-go boys. “What’s your sister like?” she asked, curious to know if he was as overprotective with all women in his life.
“Spoiled rotten. Youngest of six, and five of us brothers.”
“Doesn’t seem like it was by choice. I bet she keeps you all in line.”
“She’s got her hands full. Like you, she wants to make her own way in the world.”
“Women have to nowadays. More than ever,” she said fervently into his grinning face.
“Simmer down. I get an earful of that speech every time my sister blows into town, worse when she’s surrounded by her friends.”
She followed him around to the back of his truck. “Yeah. I suspect you do.”
The wind swirled off the lake, tossing her hair up, and Brandon’s gaze darkened in the way that spoke to her of the things he’d rather be doing, besides discussing his family. He’d come here to do other things…naked things.
“Your eyes have that glazed look. Let’s get inside.” Lowering the tailgate, he slid a box to the edge. “This shouldn’t be too taxing.”
He handed her the box, which didn’t weigh much at all. “Funny,” she huffed. “This isn’t heavy.”
“Did you look inside?” He arched a brow. “I never said the box was heavy, darlin’.”
She flipped open the lid and quickly closed it again, after seeing a gigantic dildo inside. A flush burned her cheeks and spread all the way down her neck. “Seriously?” she hissed.
He sidled closer and with a wicked grin, whispered back, “Very.”
She swallowed, trying to picture what he had in mind, then she gasped and he laughed. Husky, low, and saturated with seduction, it was the kind of sound that made her body instinctively clench in anticipation. She swung around and walked a couple of steps away from him, then gla
nced over her shoulder. He was staring at her bottom, biting his lip, and she wasn’t about to ask the direction of his sexy thoughts. Oh, she knew all right. His cock was massive. The dildo was not as big, but still. And he believed he could fit both his hard dick and a dildo inside her body—all at once?
“In your dreams,” she muttered.
He caught her arm. “Trust me,” he said, staring down into her face. “I won’t have you worried all evening.”
She lowered her gaze. He was accustomed to all sorts of women. Like red-leather-dress-wearing ones, who could easily take whatever he had to give. Her body trembled. “I have never done that.”
Brandon curled his fingers around her arms. “Used a dildo?”
“I have a vibrator, just not one like that. And done…you know.” Oh, God, she could feel the heat on her face get hotter.
He stroked her hair behind her ear and lowered his face, brushing his jaw over her cheek. The sandpaper feel made her breath hitch. “You’ve never had your ass fucked?”
“Bingo,” she said—a little too mouthy in tone.
Brandon feathered his fingers over her cheek. “Suck.” He pushed one of his thick fingers into her mouth. He watched her work the skin of his finger, his nostrils flaring, and his lips parted. “Just like you suck my dick…I’ll show you how good it can feel, if you’re willing.”
She lightly bit the tip of his finger then sucked it far back into her mouth. His lids lowered to give him a predatory appearance. He took her other hand and straightened her fingers then laid it along the bulge in his jeans. “Baby, you have me hard just thinking that I’ll be your first. The man who can show you how erotic that type of sex can be. Believe me, I’m going to have you begging for it.”
She stopped sucking his finger and arched a brow, lifting her mouth. “Or you! Full of yourself, aren’t you?”
“I just know how good we are together. Like, how I feel with your lips wrapped around me. Begging, baby.” He lightly traced her lips with his finger before he pushed his hand down the front of her jeans. She rocked against his touch, harder when he slipped his finger inside her, and she swayed from the overpowering sensation. He pumped his hand as she rode his finger, heat blasting up her body. “You’re so right. I very well might be the one begging to fuck that sweet ass of yours.”