Awaken Me

by Farrah Rochon

  “I’ve been dying to do this for weeks,” Reid said as he joined her on the bed. He shoved his hands underneath her and squeezed her ass hard, while his mouth went on an expedition of her body. He kissed and bit and licked his way around her, starting with her shoulder, then moving to both breasts and down her stomach. He treated the curves she so often tried to hide as if they were the sexiest parts of her body, gently biting that stubborn belly roll that refused to disappear despite the fifty stomach crunches she did twice a week.

  “You are so fucking sexy,” Reid murmured against her stomach. He started at her bellybutton, dropping light kisses against her skin. Then he traveled down her body, until he reached the spot between her legs. Brooklyn’s legs instinctively snapped closed, clamping his head between her thighs.

  “Sorry,” she yelped as she relaxed her legs.

  Reid’s response was a low, decadent laugh that reverberated throughout her throbbing sex. He lifted her legs and placed them over his shoulders, then he flattened his tongue against her and pressed deep.

  Brooklyn pulled her bottom lip between her teeth, but couldn’t hold back the mewl of pleasure that escaped when he used two fingers to spread her open and wrapped his tongue around her clit. Her bottom half lifted off the bed of its own volition, surging toward him, aching for more. More. More. More of everything.

  He gave her more.

  Brooklyn looked down the length of her body and saw when he sucked two of his fingers in his mouth. A second later, those same two fingers slid into her soaking wet body. He pumped his fingers in rhythm to the pulls on her clit, sucking the nub into his warm mouth. It was an assault on her senses, his knowledgeable tongue and fingers enrobing her in ribbons of hedonistic pleasure. It occurred to her that it would be the first multi-orgasm night of her life only seconds before the first wave hit her. Brooklyn unabashedly lifted her hips up and ground herself into Reid’s face. Any embarrassment she may have felt melted away as finding satisfaction took a front row seat.

  She collapsed back onto the bed, her jellylike limbs unable to sustain her a second longer.

  “Oh my God,” Brooklyn blew out on a tired breath. “And we haven’t even gotten to the good part, have we?”

  “This was my appetizer,” Reid said. He swirled his finger around her nipple. “You want to taste it?” he asked before lowering his head and dipping his tongue inside her mouth. Brooklyn tasted herself for the first time, the flavor melding with the flavor of Reid’s mouth. It was so erotic she nearly orgasmed again.

  After kissing her long and deep, he finally pulled away.

  “It’s time for the main course.” He reached over and opened a drawer on the nightstand, retrieving several condoms. He threw two on the nightstand and then tore open the third packet.

  “Three?” Brooklyn asked. “I guess it’s going to be a long night, huh?”

  “You up for it?” Reid asked.

  “I think you’re the one who needs to answer that question.”

  His answering grin was too wickedly sexy to put into words. He rolled the condom on, then reversed their positions, rolling onto his back and pulling her on top of him.

  She was attacked by a deluge of self-consciousness as she became aware of how she must look straddling his hips.

  “Can we please turn the light off?” Brooklyn asked.

  “Fuck no,” Reid answered. He clamped his palms on her hips then ran them up the sides of her waist, closing them over her breasts before running them down her stomach. “I want to see every inch of you.”

  He braced one hand on the mattress and lifted himself up, capturing her nipple between his lips and sucking. His erection pulsed against her ass, teasing her with what was to come.

  “Reid.” His name came out on a hoarse whisper. “I don’t want to rush this, but…” Brooklyn trailed off.

  She didn’t have to say anymore. Without another word, Reid wrapped his hand around his erection and guided it insider her. Brooklyn sank onto his solid length and held herself steady for several moments, giving her body a chance to get acclimated to his size. When she felt she was ready, she began to ride him the way she had in her dreams, lifting and plunging with long, deep strokes, flattening her palms against his solid chest.

  Her head fell back as she concentrated on the unbelievable pleasure coursing through her body. With every delicious slide, she fell a little deeper in love. She knew it was naive, possibly even dangerous, but she didn’t care. At this very moment, all she wanted was the very thing she had: Reid Holmes worshipping her imperfect body as if it were flawless.

  That’s how he made her feel. Perfect. As if she embodied everything he could ever want in a woman.

  “Reid.” Brooklyn moaned his name as, once again, that pleasurable sensation began to build low in her belly. She pumped faster, reaching for release, craving the exquisite rush that awaited just on the other side. She felt herself tighten around his thick length seconds before the blinding orgasm burst through her body.

  Reid clamped his hands on her hips and held her steady as he pumped once, twice, three times, finding his own release within moments of hers.

  They lay there for several minutes, their breaths coming out in loud pants. He left the bed only long enough to rid himself of the condom, before diving back under the covers and fitting her against him. Brooklyn found peace in the methodical rise and fall of his muscular chest against her back.

  She snuggled more securely in the cocoon he’d created with his arms. As she stared out ahead, her eyes were drawn to the picture on the nightstand. Reid, dressed in khaki slacks and a button down shirt, towered over the much shorter Diane Holmes. She wore a yellow suit with a smart yellow church hat. The love shining in her eyes as she stared up at Reid told the story of how much she loved her son.

  “Your mother was such a beautiful woman,” Brooklyn said.

  “Hmmm,” Reid murmured. “Her outside beauty had nothing on the woman she was on the inside,” he said. He reached over and set the picture facedown on the bedside table. “I love that picture, but I really need to move it to the living room. One day I’m going to look over and see it while I’m doing what we just did, and that’ll be the end of my sex life.”

  Brooklyn pitched her head back with her laugh. “Probably a good idea to move it,” she agreed. She pulled Reid’s arm more securely around her middle. He immediately moved his hand to her breast, filling his palm with it.

  “Have I told you how much I love your body?” he whispered, pressing a kiss to her damp shoulder as he began to toy with her nipple. His erotic play sent ripples of pleasure cascading through her.

  “In both words and action,” Brooklyn answered. Her eyes fell closed, renewed desire stirring within her as Reid continued to tease her nipple.

  “This feels so surreal,” she said.

  “What does?”

  “This. You. Me. It’s hard to believe it’s happening. The object of a crush only falls for the person crushing on them in YA novels.”

  “Okay, first, what’s a YA novel? And who’s crushing on who?”

  She laughed. “YA stands for young adult.” She turned so she could face him. “Some people may consider it a guilty pleasure for an adult to read books written for teens, but I don’t buy into that. There’s enough crap in life that we should find pleasure wherever we can, without guilt.”

  “Agreed,” he said. “And the crush?”

  She rolled her eyes. “You’re the crush, Reid. You’ve been my crush since about ten minutes after I first met you.”

  His cocky grin made her want to take the words back, but there was no denying that she’d moved well beyond infatuation when it came to Reid Holmes. She was wholly in love with him.

  “Tell me something,” Reid purled as he dipped his head and sucked her nipple into his mouth. “At what point does a crush become the real thing?”

  It was as if he was reading her mind. Brooklyn refused to answer. She couldn’t, because at that moment he grabbed another c
ondom and lowered her onto her back.

  This time he took complete control, directing the pace of their lovemaking in a way designed to make her lose her mind. He would take her to the very edge, then pull back, continuing the maddening rhythm over and over and over again, until Brooklyn thought she would surely die. When she finally came, Reid came along with her, their twin shouts of pleasure resonating in the air.

  “God, it’s been a long time since I did this,” Brooklyn said as she settled back against the pillows.

  “I could tell.”

  She pinched his arm. “Not that,” she said with a laugh. “Although it has been a long time since I did that too. I mean this. Allowing myself to just…just exist for a minute and not worry about the million things I’ve had to worry about these past months.”

  “What’s been on your mind?” he asked, his thumb slowly caressing her arm.

  “Everything. Life has been such a rollercoaster.” Brooklyn rested her head against his biceps, amazed at how perfect she seemed to fit. “I haven’t had much chance to breathe since we hung up the ‘closed for business’ sign on LeBlanc & Sons. You’d think being out of work would have led to having more downtime, but for the first time in my life I found myself having to look for a job. I knew it was something I’d eventually have to face, but I hadn’t been prepared for it to happen this quickly. It’s scary.”

  “I get that,” he said. “I’m sort of in that same boat. This is all I’ve ever done—worked for Alex, I mean. It’s a pretty nice safety net.”

  “Exactly. I counted on that safety. Having that is worth more than gold.”

  He groaned. “Great, now I’m questioning if I’m making the right decision.”

  She looked up and was surprised by the torment etched across his features.

  “Reid? What is it?”

  He blew out a deep breath and looked down into her eyes. “This is weird, you know? This talking after sex thing. I don’t think I’ve ever done this with a woman I’ve slept with before.”

  “I can tell,” Brooklyn deadpanned. “Because if you had, you’d have known better than to bring up previous sex you’ve had while the woman you’re currently having sex with is in your bed.”

  “Sorry.” A chastised grin tipped up one corner of his mouth. Brooklyn had no doubt he’d gotten away with just about everything as a kid because of that grin.

  “Back to what we were talking about.” She was not about to let him derail the conversation with his sexy smile. “What decision are you questioning?”

  He released another of those exhausted sighs. “It’s just that lately I’ve been feeling…I don’t know…stuck. Don’t get me wrong, I love working for Alex. I’m good at it and I owe my cousin everything for taking a chance on me when most people would have kicked me out the door.”

  “But?” Brooklyn prompted.

  “But…I’ve been thinking about moving on.”

  Her eyes widened. That wasn’t what she’d expected to hear. “Moving to another construction company?”

  “No. Starting my own. Well, not just me. It would be me and Anthony.”

  Her forehead furrowed as she peered up at him. “It sounds like more than something you’ve just been thinking about.”

  He nodded. “The app Anthony is building is nearly done. It will be ready for beta testing in the next few months.”

  “An app? I didn’t realize you knew about computers.”

  “I don’t.” He went on to explain about the app-based handyman business Anthony had developed. It was genius in both its simplicity and its use of video-telephony technology.

  “This sounds amazing, Reid. What are you afraid of?”

  He huffed out a humorless laugh. “Everything. I’m afraid it’ll flop. I’m afraid Anthony and I won’t be able to cut it. I’m afraid Alex will hate me for leaving.”

  Brooklyn flattened her palm against his chest, directly over his heart. “Take the advice of someone who has allowed fear to rule her life for far too long. Don’t. Don’t let fear stop you.”

  “That’s easy to say. Not so easy to do,” he replied. “On one hand, it feels as if I’ve let too much time pass already, yet on the other it feels as if both me and Anthony still have so much growing to do.”

  “Do you know how old Steve Jobs was when he started Apple Computers?” Brooklyn asked. “Twenty-one. If he could start a company that would eventually revolutionize the entire world at twenty-one, you can surely make this work at age thirty.” She pressed a kiss to the center of his chest. “You can do this, Reid.”

  “You really think so?” he asked.

  She cupped his jaw and lifted her head to kiss him again, this time on the lips. “I know so.”

  Chapter Eleven

  Reid arrived at the corner store/barbershop/gas station/hot plate lunch spot not too far from the senior citizen’s center Holmes Construction had built a couple of years ago in the St. Roch neighborhood. He spotted Anthony’s car parked next to the air pump, noticing the broken hose just to the right of it. He pulled alongside him and climbed out of his truck, chuckling at the grim look on his buddy’s face, as if he knew Reid was prepared to give him shit.

  Who was he to disappoint?

  “You would be the one to get a flat tire at the one joint in town with a broken air pump and that doesn’t carry Fix-A-Flat,” Reid said by way of greeting.

  “Just give me the damn thing,” Anthony said, jerking the aerosol can from Reid’s grasp. “I’ve got somewhere I need to be.” As the tire slowly inflated, Anthony looked up at him. “You busy?”

  “Apparently not,” Reid deadpanned. “I’m here, ain’t I?”

  “Let me rephrase that. Are you too busy to follow me to my cousin’s place out in the Bywater?” He screwed the rubber cap back onto the tire nozzle, stood and turned to Reid. “Gabriela had a rush of inspiration. She’s been huddled up in her house for the past two weeks, working twenty hour days on the app.”

  “Isn’t that what I suggested weeks ago?” Reid said.

  “Except I didn’t ask her to do it. She just kinda did it on her own. Said a fix to a problem she couldn’t figure out popped into her head, and once she found herself in the zone, she couldn’t stop. And just like that—” Anthony snapped his finger. “The app is finished.”

  “Finish?” Reid asked, something akin to panic lighting up his chest. “Completely finished? As in you’re ready to pull the trigger?”

  Anthony slowly nodded, a huge grin stretching across his face.

  “Gabriela said that we can start beta testing in a couple of days. That’ll give us a few months to work out the kinks. We can launch this thing by Mardi Gras.”

  Reid quelled the surge of anxiety that threatened to overwhelm him.

  “I thought we had at least another six months, but hey, if we’re ready to launch, we’re ready to launch,” he said. “I guess it’s time to tell Alex.”

  “Yeah, I guess so.” Anthony shifted from one foot to the other. This time, a tinge of nervousness colored his laugh. “I know I gave you a lot of grief about not being ready, but now that it’s finally happening.” He shook his head. “This is real.”

  “Yeah. And? This is what we said we wanted to do.” Reid frowned at the apprehensive lines creasing Anthony’s forehead. “Don’t tell me you’re the one getting cold feet now?”

  Anthony stuck his hand in his pocket and pulled out a small velvet box. He opened it, revealing a simple diamond ring. “I went ring shopping today.”

  Reid’s eyes went wide. “Holy shit, man! Congratulations!”

  He clamped a hand on Anthony’s shoulder and gave it a squeeze, genuinely happy for him. It occurred to him that his immediate reaction to news of one of his friends getting engaged wasn’t pity, or relief that it wasn’t him. He felt envious. And hopeful.

  “You planning to pop the question tonight?” Reid asked.

  Anthony shook his head. “Ciara’s birthday is in two weeks. I’m taking her to see Johnny Gill at the casino i
n Bay St. Louis. I’m going to ask her there.”

  “Congratulations, man,” Reid said again. He chuckled. “So that’s why you look nervous. For a minute, I thought it was about the app.”

  “It is about the app,” Anthony said, that apprehension creating lines around his mouth. “Is it crazy to try to start a new business when I’m about to ask the woman I love to marry me? We’ve talked about having kids. How am I supposed to support a family? What if this doesn’t work out? We’re still a couple of knuckleheads, Reid. What do we know about going off on our own?”

  Reid was so stunned he wasn’t sure he could speak.

  This was it. It was the out he’d been looking for.

  For months he’d been vacillating back and forth, trying to come up with his own excuses about why going into business with Anthony was exactly the wrong thing to do. He’d fed himself all the same excuses. He was still too young and irresponsible for this kind of responsibility. What if it failed? Why would he want to leave the safety of working for Alex?

  It was time they both stop playing it safe.

  “Did you know Steve Jobs was just twenty-one when he founded Apple Computers?” Reid asked.

  Anthony looked at him as if he’d just stepped off a spaceship. “Dude, we’re no Steve Jobs. He was a genius.”

  “But could he fit a pipe into a quarter-inch elbow socket in less than ten seconds?” Reid asked. “Look, you know that I haven’t been one hundred percent sure about this, but it’s not because I think the business will fail. It was fear. That’s what you’re feeling right now.”

  “Damn right I’m scared,” Anthony said. “There’s just so much that can go wrong.”

  “And even more can and will go right,” Reid said. “It’s time to stop being scared, man. Alex was younger than us when he laid the foundation for Holmes Construction. And it’s not as if we’re going into this completely blind—we both know enough about construction to make this work. We can do this, Anthony.”