by Lilly Holden
Need shot through me, spreading to my pussy as my clit pulsed with my arousal.
I opened my legs for him, wanting his touch at the same time I held my breath in anticipation.
“That’s it, beautiful.” He released my wrists and shifted to lie between my legs, his head now over my pussy. “You shave here?”
“Wax at a beauty spa. I like the feeling of being bare.” Why did telling him this information feel like a naughty confession?
I reached down, running my hands over his short hair and loved the way his shoulders pushed my legs even wider apart.
His fingertip traced over one outer lip and I drew in a quick breath. “Nice and smooth.” His warm breath caressed my pussy like a whispered endearment. “And wet.”
Using both hands, he spread my pussy lips wide. “Let’s see how you taste.”
Deke trailed a line of kisses from one inner thigh to my pussy, fanning the flames of my hunger. Then a sweep of his tongue on my labia before he circled my clit, licking the sides and dipping into my core. “So fucking sweet.” He ran his tongue the length of my pussy, stopping just before my clit. “I could eat you for hours.”
I felt the pull on the hood of my clit and I tensed, holding my breath…waiting, wanting.
Deke flicked his tongue over the tight bundle of nerves. I jolted, lifting my hips off the bed before he pressed down with his forearms to hold me in place. Another flick, and another. Then his lips closed over my clit as he sucked it into his mouth ever so gently. A swirling mix of sensation fired deep in my core, gaining momentum as Deke licked and suckled, teasing me one moment and driving me to the edge of climax the next.
I pressed my head back into the pillow. “Oh, Jesus, don’t torture me. Please, Deke.” Dragging my nails over his scalp, I dug my heels into the mattress as everything deep inside me tightened. I gripped the bed sheets, twisting them as Deke brought me to my peak with a flurry of quick, hard licks.
Pleasure ignited my clit, sending me flying as waves of pure ecstasy pulsed through my core. My thigh muscles shook as Deke stroked my clit with teasing licks, forcing me to ride out my release until the merest touch of his tongue was too overwhelming.
I lay there, clit pulsing, mind numb, already nearly shattered from the most explosive orgasm of my life.
Deke moved to lie above me, his weight on his forearms. His gaze swept over me. “Your face when you come is the most beautiful I’ve ever seen you.” Lowering his head, he captured my mouth, kissing me soundly.
I gripped his shoulders, loving the way his muscles bunched under my touch as he supported his weight with his arms. Holding him, his hard body against my soft curves, was so wonderfully erotic. All the more reason to frown when he moved to get up off the bed. “What?”
“Condom.”
“Ah.” Of course, I’d forgotten in the heat of the moment and watched Deke as he opened his wallet, pulled out a crinkled foil packet and suited up.
He climbed back on the bed and covered me with his body before using a knee to gently push my legs apart. His gaze flared with undisguised arousal. “I want to feel those nails of yours on my back when I make you come again, Soph.”
“I can make that happen.” Linking my arms around his torso, I traced my fingers over his back and tucked my head into his neck.
In one smooth motion, Deke buried himself deep inside me.
“Oh my God.” I gasped at the sudden overwhelming fullness.
“We’ve got all night, baby.” Deke eased himself out, then back in with slow, small thrusts. “There’s so many ways I’m going to make you come for me.” With expert care, he increased the tempo, the feel of him so hard and intimate as his cock rubbed against the walls of my pussy. Nerve endings fired to life, heating with pleasure, with his taking of me.
“Show me, Deke. Make me yell your name.” I wrapped my legs around him and lifted my hips, giving him greater penetration.
“Fuck, yes.” He drove deeper, filling me with his thick hardness. Each pounding thrust shot a sizzling torrent of pleasure along my core.
I gasped for breath, my head between his neck and shoulder, my fingers digging into his back, holding on in a desperate desire not to give in too soon. I wanted this moment to last, this precise moment of exquisite joy and inescapable torment as every sensation thrilled me.
Deke changed the angle of his thrust, rubbing right over my g-spot as he moved his hand between our bodies and pressed his thumb down hard on my clit.
“Deke, oh, my God!” My mind hazed. Color exploded behind my eyes. My muscles clenched around his cock as overwhelming spasms of pleasure wracked my body. Over and over again, Deke pounded into me with hard, driving thrusts. I clawed at his back, bit his shoulder, and still I couldn’t get enough of him.
His claiming of me was utterly devastating and so, so wonderful.
Still riding my own climax, I felt his big body tense above me and looked up to see the corded muscles in his throat straining as he bit back a curse. “Christ, Sophie, you’re so fucking unbelievably tight.”
And he couldn’t fight any longer.
Feminine pride filled my chest with a burst of utter joy. I wanted to push his limits as much as he’d decimated mine. I squeezed my muscles around him, loving the roughness of his answering growl.
“You’ll regret that move when we start the second round. I can be a—” He broke off, his breathing hard as he bit out another curse. “—merciless…aahhh…bastard.” Deep tremors shook his body. Deke groaned and I gazed, mesmerized, as his magnificent body shuddered with the throes of his release.
I held him as we rode out our passion. Satisfaction sang through my body and I lay there, languid and thoroughly taken.
Deke eased himself out of me and rolled to the side. He lifted his hand to stroke my hair. “You’re full of surprises, Soph.”
I turned to face him, a smile beginning on my face, but a sudden wetness between my legs had me sitting up. My heart pounded as I realized what was happening.
“What’s wrong?” Deke levered himself to sit beside me.
“I’m wet. The wrong kind of wet.” I jumped off the bed and ran out of the room to the bathroom next door, feeling stickiness down the inside of my thighs.
Deke cursed loudly in the bedroom, and I heard his footsteps behind me.
Freaking hell.
I grabbed a handful of Kleenex and wiped myself. Sure enough, my fears were confirmed.
“Fuck, I’m sorry, Soph.” Deke’s pained expression likely mirrored my own. “The condom broke.” He grabbed some Kleenex and wrapped the spent condom before throwing it in the small trash basket beside the vanity.
I threw the Kleenex in the toilet and flushed. “It’s not your fault, Deke.” And it wasn’t. “These things happen.” I forced a smile on my face. “Besides, I’ve only stopped taking the pill a couple of weeks ago. My doc advised I needed a break after taking it for so long.”
I’d heard stories that it was hard to become pregnant for a few months after being on the pill as long as I had. Was that just an urban myth? My girlfriend Janice had confided in me that she’d had a scare once with a torn condom and she hadn’t gotten pregnant.
I decided positive thinking was the best solution.
What else could I do right now?
Deke drew me into his arms and studied my face. “Soph, if anything happens, I promise I’ll—”
“I’ll track you down and demand a shotgun wedding.” I laughed inwardly at the idea. Not this guy, a man who wanted little or no ties to the past and was planning to move on in a couple of days? I laid a kiss on his chest and gave him a wry smile. “There’s no point in panicking.” As his gaze remained concerned, I added, “But thank you. I appreciate what you’re saying, Deke.”
He studied me a moment longer before seeming satisfied by my answer. “Just so you know.” Dropping a kiss on my forehead, he squeezed me tight. “Right now, we both need a shower.”
He lifted my chin with his finger and kisse
d me with enough pressure to leave me giddy. This man had always been by protector, from defending me against school bullies, to reassuring me over the scare of a torn condom. “Let’s get you cleaned up, baby.”
We probably could have had fun in the shower and been creative in our lovemaking, but after the sobering experience with the condom, the mood shifted to getting clean and dry. But that didn’t stop Deke from caring for me in his touch and attention to detail as he washed every inch of my body.
By the time he’d dried me and carried me back to the bedroom, my nerves had calmed, and all I wanted was to be held in his arms.
I don’t know which one of us got to sleep first, but lying with my back to his front and his arms wrapped around me, I wouldn’t have traded the night for anything in the world.
Whatever happened tomorrow, or in the days after, I’d never regret this night with Deke.
CHAPTER THREE
Deke
The smell of percolating coffee filled the kitchen as I scanned the contents of the fridge and the meager supplies I’d purchased when I’d arrived Thursday night.
A loaf of bread, cheese, milk, coffee and beer. Not exactly a buffet to offer Sophie, who was still sound asleep upstairs.
Damn, she had looked cute as hell, cuddled up under the covers, her face soft in sleep and her hair spilled out over the pillow.
Waking up next to Sophie had been like living a fantasy. The girl of my dreams, the one who had always had my heart and soul, was right there in my arms. A precious gift. One I didn’t deserve. How many times had I imagined defying the odds and having that moment with her?
But as sunlight streamed through the blinds, I was reminded my time with Sophie had an end date. One I’d imposed to protect us both from giving in to any urge to take this beyond what it was—one night. I’d never lied that I was moving on. If anything, my leaving reinforced my stance that Sophie was better off staying away from me.
I’d always been an early riser, and the military had strengthened that trait. Not wanting to wake Sophie, I’d used the bathroom to dress in jeans, black t-shirt, sweater, and my favorite pair of boots.
Now in the kitchen, I closed the fridge. There was no way I was serving Sophie dry toast and a slice of cheese for breakfast.
Searching through what I remembered was the kitchen’s junk drawer, I found a pen and grabbed an old envelope laying near the stack of outdated phone books on one of the counters. After writing Sophie a note, saying I’d gone out to get us some breakfast, I left the message on the table and headed to the door, grabbing my leather jacket on the way.
Careful not to make too much noise, I closed the front door and went to walk down the porch steps.
“What the hell are you doing, Deke?”
I turned to see Rob, dressed in jeans and a flannel checked shirt under his jacket, sitting on one of the old wooden outdoor chairs.
The tight expression on his face told me his question wasn’t referring to where I was headed this morning.
Fuck.
“Rob—”
“She’s my little sister.” Rob stood, his tone pissed as he sprang from the chair. “You’re home one day and you’re fucking her?”
I stiffened at the insult to Sophie. “Watch your mouth,” I warned in a harsh voice.
Rob’s snort of disgust didn’t bode well. “Christ, Deke.” He shook his head. “Last night you told Andy and me you were moving on, planning on renting out the house here, and making a new life, working for some private security firm based in Denver. Time for a clear break from the past. I get it, what with all the shit that went down here when you were growing up. Then today, I swing by my parents’ house for a coffee before I start work and find out from Mom Sophie’s here with you.”
“That’s none of your business, man.”
Stepping forward, Rob got in my face. “She’s. My. Little. Sister.” He punctuated each word with a hard push with his hand against my chest. The gesture wasn’t Rob letting off steam; it was a challenge.
I could have disabled him, had the man on the ground, but he was the guy I’d grown up with. Sophie’s brother.
More than that, I hated the look of betrayal in his eyes. I’d broken a bond of trust between us, crossed a line by sleeping with Sophie.
I’d taken something pure and corrupted her with my touch.
Hadn’t I used that same argument to keep my distance from her all these years?
“What were you going to do? Give her a kiss and send her on her way?” Rob shook his head, his voice dripping with scorn. “You know she’s hero worshipped you since we were kids. No matter what she says, you leaving is going to break her heart, you son of a bitch.”
Rob threw a punch. I ducked, his swing catching nothing but air.
Rising, I grabbed him by the front of his jacket and forced him back against the wall near the front door.
Gone was any trace of our childhood bond. This was a protective brother facing down the man who’d slept with his sister.
Rob gripped my arms and tried to push back with all his might. But I was stronger, a trained fighter.
“I’d never purposely hurt, Sophie.” Pulling Rob away from the wall, I slammed him back with a bone jarring shove. He answered with an ‘oooff’ sound and glared back at me, knowing he was caught. I pressed my advantage. “You don’t know me at all if you think I’d be so fucking callous.”
“Jesus, man,” Rob shouted. “You’ve got one fucked up version of your self-worth. You think she’d sleep with you and then shrug it off like she’d given you a one-time special goodbye?”
I stared back, not wanting to hear his words, but knowing they were the truth. At least the part about Sophie not being so carefree with her emotions.
Fuck.
Yes, Sophie had told me she was fine with one night. Hell, she had initiated the idea. And I’d been clear I was moving on to Denver. But…this was Soph.
I fucking should have known better.
Our heads turned toward the sound of the front door opening.
“What’s going on?” Sophie stepped through the doorway, dressed in her top and jeans she had worn last night, her hair mussed and her eyes wide at the scene that greeted her.
Letting go of Rob’s jacket, I moved back. “That’s between Rob and me.”
“Bullshit,” she snapped. Her brown gaze, bright with anger, flashed between Rob and me. “This is about me being here, so I’d say I’m fully invested in this conversation.”
“Sophie,” Rob said in a calm voice as he reached out to take her arm. “You don’t even have a coat on. It’s freezing out here.”
The woman we both adored snatched her arm away from her brother, grabbed her coat from the stand in the hallway and focused her anger on me. “Did you tell him staying here was my choice? That I’m the one who pushed for what happened last night?”
I wanted to take her in my arms, kiss her anger away and never let her go, but Rob was right. Sophie’s heart was invested in what had happened between us. How much I had no idea. But it made no difference. I had one option. That was for me to make her passage of moving on from last night as easy as possible.
Using all my training on shutting down my emotions, I focused on achieving my goal.
“It doesn’t matter who instigated what happened.” I ignored the way she blinked at my flat tone. Keeping my expression blank, I continued. “Last night was great. We had fun. Now I need the house to myself so I can make plans to have the place cleared out after I leave.”
Thus removing any trace of anyone who had lived here.
I watched the way she struggled to swallow. “You don’t have to do this, Deke,” she said, her voice soft, full of reproach. “You’re not this man. You’re not a bastard.”
My gut twisted. Of course she’d assumed I was doing some noble act of pushing her away. Partially true, but the fact was I was no good for her.
I moved toward the front door, using my bulk to force her to step aside. “Not sure wha
t you’re talking about, but nobody makes me do something I don’t want, Sophie.” I crushed the urge to kiss her one last time and moved to enter the house.
I felt a hand on my arm and stilled under her touch. “Goodbye, Deke.” She whispered as she rose on tip toe and left a feather-light kiss on my jaw, before turning away and heading down the stairs.
A gut-churning ache consumed me, burning into my soul and leaving me barely able to speak. “Goodbye, Soph.”
No matter where I’d been in the world or how long since our last contact, I’d always had the luxury of knowing in some small way Sophie was still in my life, tied to me with this house and our shared memories as kids growing up.
As I walked down the hallway I refused to look back. The sound of Sophie’s retreating footsteps on the porch heralded not only her leaving, but me losing the one precious thing in my life.
PART TWO
Present day
CHAPTER FOUR
Deke
Dropping my pack on the ground beside me, I sat on the bench in our locker room at Marshall Security. Bone weary from a ten mile run with my team mates in the Colorado Mountains while wearing a full pack, every muscle in my body ached. The kind of satisfying ache that came from knowing I’d given myself a solid workout.
I grabbed my canteen from my pack and took a drink of cool water.
“Good run today.” Eli Ford, a fellow former SEAL like the rest of our main crew, sat beside me and started unlacing his boots and getting ready for a shower.
“For years I was used to seeing your ugly bald head,” I joked. “It’s weird seeing you now with that dark hair.” It wasn’t long, only an inch maybe. Eli was growing it in line with the requirements for an upcoming mission.
“I’d tell you the brand of shampoo I’m using, but then you’d have the same body and fullness, and I’d get jealous and have to kill you.” Eli’s blank expression was a perfect match for his dry sense of humor.