Caught Up in You

by Colee Firman

  After a few more tries I gave up and just parked outside. For all I knew maybe the house was dark because the feds had our electricity turned off too. They’d already taken away everything else. Tomorrow we were being forced to move out of our house—the only home my eleven year old twin brothers and I had ever known. None of it seemed real.

  I’d spent the evening babysitting for a family down the block. I’d been trying to pack as much money away as possible so my brothers could go on their class trip at the end of the school year. My Aunt Jen had convinced our mother to find a cheap apartment in the same school district so we could at least finish out the school year there.

  I grabbed my tote bag from the backseat and then got out of the car. The darkness around the house was eerie. Even the landscape lights along the hedges were off. The only thing stopping it from being completely dark was the snow on the ground. Using what little light was reaching the door from the street lamps, I fumbled with my keys trying to get inside.

  It was early for my brothers to be asleep, which meant they probably weren’t even home. They’d most likely stayed the night at one of their friend’s houses because Mom had taken too many pills again and passed out.

  If I wasn’t home when those things happened I was always the last to know about them. We didn’t have money for me to have a cell phone anymore, but Mom could always seem to find cash to get her prescriptions filled. Things sucked with dad gone.

  As soon as I pushed the door open and stepped inside, I was met with an odd odor. We’d gotten a bunch of moving boxes from one of the neighbor’s that had been stored in his garage. Along with the spiders inside, they must have also gotten some kind of chemicals on them.

  I dropped my purse and bag on the counter and then flipped the light switch. Just as I’d feared, the electricity had been turned off. That explained why the house was so cold. Now I really hoped the boys weren’t home. They’d been through enough already without having to spend their last night in our house freezing.

  I felt around on the counter for anything to make some light, but it was probably too much to ask that my mom had pulled out some of the candles or flashlights we’d packed. Saying she’d been useless over the last few months was giving her too much credit.

  If all the boxes full of our belongings weren’t in the way, navigating through the house in complete darkness would’ve been easy. I’d been living there my entire life. Random things in the way made walking through the kitchen to the stairs treacherous.

  When I finally made it to the steps, something odd caught my eye. Both of my brothers’ winter jackets were hanging on the banister. That meant they were home. The house was completely quiet though. There was no way they were asleep yet. Even on school nights I was constantly screaming at them to shut up and go to bed.

  My heart began pounding as I started up the steps. My pace gradually picked up until I was running. Something wasn’t right. It was so dark upstairs that I couldn’t see anything. I turned the corner and stopped at Tyler’s room. The door was closed and when I tried the handle it was locked.

  I beat on it with the side of my fist. “Ty? Open up…” When no sounds came after I continued pounding and yelling, I crossed the hall to Trevor’s room. The door was open but neither of the boys was in there.

  I turned back into the hallway and started toward my parents’ room. Before I made it two steps I was slammed into the wall—pressure that quickly erupted into unbearable pain exploded through my midsection.

  Someone was attacking me. I kicked and screamed, pushing them away in the dark hallway. Each time I held my hands up to protect myself I felt excruciating pain tearing through them. Hot blood—my blood, flowed down my arms.

  The scent of something burning filled my nostrils as I tried to breathe. A quick glance showed an orange glow emanating from downstairs. The horrible revelation washed over me that not only was I being attacked—the house was on fire.

  I could hear myself screaming—telling them to stop, but the voice didn’t sound like my own. Monstrous noises were coming from deep within me as I fought for my life. I crumbled to the carpet, unable to stay on my feet any longer. As soon as I was down, my attacker was on top of me, plunging the blade into my abdomen.

  Lights from a passing car flashed through the round window at the end of hallway just long enough for me to catch a glimpse of their face. My mother. My own mother was straddling me, forcing a knife into my body.

  I realized I’d known the entire time it was her. She’d been shouting things at me—cursing that it was my fault my dad went to jail. My brothers and I were spoiled and we wanted too much—more than dad could give us. We were rotten children who didn’t deserve to live—she hated us.

  I screamed at her, asking where the boys were, grabbing at her wrists with my bloodied hands to hold her off. She didn’t answer but I knew—I knew they were in Tyler’s room—she’d killed them and waited for me to come home so she could kill me too.

  Blind rage ripped through me knowing my brothers—the innocent little boys who’d never done anything wrong were gone. I hated her right back at that instant. I was bleeding and in horrible pain, but if my brothers were dead—if I was dying, that bitch was coming with us.

  I let go of her wrists and grabbed her by the throat. My slippery hands had a hard time holding on at first, but once I got a tight grip, I didn’t let go, even as I felt the blade cutting into my flesh I held on.

  She dropped the knife and started reaching blindly for me, settling for two fistfuls of my hair. I rolled over with her still on top of me, forcing her onto her side. She continued to fight, although losing strength as she flipped me over again. In one swift, final move, we were tumbling down the stairs.

  When we came to a stop on the hardwood floor, the silhouette of my motionless mother was lit by the flame building around us. She was on top of me and my hands were still around her neck—adhered to her flesh with my sticky blood acting like glue.

  Every faint beat of my heart resonated through my body and echoed in my ears, each thump was further from the last. The silence between them was filled with the wailing of fire trucks—the last sounds I heard before slipping into darkness.

  Twenty-One

  Myles

  If Brantley’s mother was still alive, I would’ve found a way to kill her myself. Even an hour after she’d fallen asleep, she was still whimpering as I held her in my arms. She’d completely broken down as she relived the nightmare. By the time she was finished it took all the strength I had not to fall apart with her.

  Before she fell asleep, she asked me if I still wanted her now that I knew. When I got over the shock she’d even ask something like that, my answer was that I wanted her more than ever. What I wanted to say was that I loved her—I loved her more than I ever thought I was capable of loving anyone.

  My flight was leaving in twenty-nine hours and she still didn’t know about it. She’d poured her most painful secrets out to me so we could have a relationship built on honesty and I couldn’t even tell her one simple truth—I loved her but I was leaving.

  I reached over and turned the lamp off, hoping the darkness would help me sleep. I was completely torn up inside. I didn’t want to leave Brantley—especially now. Pete was my best friend though and I had to keep my promise to him.

  We’d already been paid a ton of money by the company who bought the rights to the game we were developing. It was all contingent on seeing the project through to the end. If we breached our agreement, they’d want their money back and probably haul our asses into court.

  If Pete wasn’t part of the deal I’d just say fuck it and let whatever was going to happen go down and stay with Brantley. I couldn’t do that to him though. He had the entire future he was planning with Ashlee riding on the money from our project.

  To prove I’d changed—that I was a better person and friend than I’d been in the past, I had to put my life on hold and do what was necessary, even if it meant I might not get what I wanted
in the end.

  Brantley stretched as she slowly twisted around in my arms to face me. The sadness was gone from her face and she looked completely content. She was beautiful. I brushed my lips across her cheek as I whispered. “Are you ok?”

  “I’m more ok than I’ve been in a long time.” She inched closer and nuzzled into my neck. “Are you?”

  “I’ll always be ok if you are,” I whispered, holding her against my chest.

  “That’s not a real answer…” She put her hand flat against my chest. “Your heart is beating so fast I think it woke me up.”

  “Get used to it—that’s what being close to you does to me.” I hadn’t even realized I was breathing so hard or that my pulse was pounding. The stress of the situation was crushing me. “Just go back to sleep. Everything’s fine…”

  Brantley slowly wiggled in against me, eliminating any gaps between our bodies. After a few minutes of fidgeting she pulled back enough to look at me through the darkness. “I don’t wanna go back to sleep—not yet…”

  “What do you want?” That was such a bad thing to ask—I already knew the answer by the way her body was moving against mine.

  “Myles…” Her lips locked onto my neck, creating a line of soft wet kisses up to my ear. “I want you…”

  Those three words had me scooting back so she wouldn’t feel how hard she already had me through my thin boxers. For the first time in my life I felt conflicted about how far I should let things go with a girl.

  Brantley didn’t waste any time filling the small space between us by throwing her leg over my hip and pulling her body against mine. Apparently she knew exactly what she wanted and was determined to make damn sure I knew it too.

  “We don’t have to rush things.” That was a total cliché bullshit line I felt obligated as a guy to throw out there. In reality the majority of my brain cells were tied up trying to figure out how fast I could get her panties off. “We can wait until you’re ready.”

  “If I wasn’t ready I wouldn’t be asking.” She met my eyes as if searching for some hidden meaning behind my words. “Unless you don’t want me…”

  I was barely able to stifle a groan as she pushed against me and gave her hips a little twist. “Jesus fuck…” I pushed back hard, making her catch her breath. “You know damn well that’s not true.”

  “Say it.” She whispered against my ear. “Tell me you want me….”

  “Brant…” I was more turned on than I’d ever been before. I needed inside her so fucking bad it hurt. “I want you more than I want my next breath… I’ve imagined throwing you on my bed and having you a thousand different ways…”

  “Then do it…” Brantley’s mouth covered mine before I could take another breath.

  My hand moved down her back and settled on her ass, grinding her against me. Her hips moved at the same rhythm as her tongue, circling at a steady pace that nearly pushed me over the edge.

  The girl was driving me out of my fucking mind. I loved it and hated it at the same time. I was in a situation where I couldn’t win no matter what I did. Assuming I was even capable of stopping things at that point, putting on the brakes would make her feel like I didn’t want her. Ripping off her clothes and giving her what she was asking for—what I wanted, would make leaving on Saturday even more excruciating. I was fucked either way.

  My mental tug-of-war ended when her hand wiggled between our bodies and under the waistband of my boxers. The second her fingers found their mark there was no going back. It felt fucking incredible.

  Being in love with the girl who was kissing and touching me made everything she was doing feel better than it ever had before. I was fucking ruined now—there was no way I could have it any other way again.

  Brantley pulled away, my body ached at the sudden distance between us. When she turned back, her free hand pressed a small foil square into my palm. Before I knew it, I was on my knees in front of her tearing open the package. Telling her I was leaving was going to have to wait until morning.

  Brantley

  All six foot four, two hundred twenty pounds of Myles Franco was on me, licking and sucking my bare skin, his fingers dipping into previously untouched places. My entire body quivered and my breaths were short and quick. He knew exactly how to make me come undone. Again, I hated every other girl he’d ever touched.

  While I was practically dying from the anticipation, he was taking his time, whispering sweet words as he touched every inch of my flesh. He was making the build up to my first time unforgettable.

  Myles let the weight of his body rest on me and propped himself up on his elbow. One of his hands smoothed down the sensitive skin on the inside on my leg and hooked behind my knee, pushing it to the side as he settled between my thighs.

  I brought my hands up and plunged my fingers through his dark hair. “Myles, please… ”

  “Brant…” he whispered, letting his hot breath fan across my neck. “You sure this is what you want?”

  “Oh my god yes…” I was ready to beg—to do whatever it took to get him inside me. I ran my hands down his back, kneading his flesh with my fingertips, urging him to move. “I can’t take waiting anymore…”

  “I know the feeling...” His hips inched forward as he gently pressed himself against me.

  The first push made me catch my breath. Pressure that gave way to a burning sensation—then pain brought tears to my eyes. I buried my face in his shoulder and fought to hold in every sound, worried he’d stop if he knew he was hurting me.

  In a slow, steady rhythm, he pulled back and drove deeper with each movement. The more he did it, the more bearable it became. When he finally worked himself completely inside, I got past the pain—my entire body screamed for more.

  “I’ve never felt anything like you…” Myles was raspy and out of breath— the sound was incredibly sexy. He breathed out my name as he rocked into me. “I won’t fucking survive without you.”

  I moaned softly into his ear as he pushed into me harder. “I’m not going anywhere…”

  His breath was hot against my skin. He withdrew almost all the way and plunged back inside me. I dug my nails into his back, causing a deep gravely growl. I could tell by his tight muscles and quick breaths against my lips he was holding back, taking it slower than his body wanted him to—slower than I wanted him to.

  “You can be a little—rougher,” I whispered between kisses. “You’re not going to hurt me...” I was a little unsure about that last part, I just didn’t care right then.

  The corners of his mouth pulled into a sexy smile. “I just thought maybe this was your first time...”

  I looked into his eyes as I spoke, knowing my next four words weren’t a lie anymore. “I’m not a virgin.” I paused a few seconds, waiting for him to call me out. When he didn’t I continued. “Don’t hold back. I want you to...”

  “You want me to what?” Myles propped himself up on one elbow. He continued moving in a slow circular motion inside me. “Fuck you?”

  That wasn’t exactly what I was going to say, but close enough. The way the words rolled off his tongue sent a new wave of need through me—all I could do was nod.

  He lowered his lips to my ear, speaking in a breathless whisper. “Every time I think I’ve got you figured out you prove me wrong…”

  Myles covered my mouth with his as he hand cupped my ass, lifting me slightly from the mattress for leverage. There was no more holding back—he began driving himself into me. It was an excruciating mix of pleasure and pain—exactly what I wanted.

  The firm thrusting of his hips made my insides flutter. It wasn’t long before I got my gratification for enduring the rough way he was taking me. I was swept away—my body writhed underneath him, filling the room with moans and cries.

  With every sound I made his movements became faster, harder, deeper—more deliberate. The groans escaping his lips were low and deep, I’d never heard anything like them. The muscles in his arms contracted. His movements were erratic as his bo
dy twitched. He was falling off the same cliff I’d just plummeted over.

  Myles finally collapsed, burying himself in me with one last hard thrust. He pulled in sharp breaths through his nose, his chest heaving. I raked my hands through his sweat soaked hair, still trying to come down from what he’d done to me—what we’d done to each other.

  After three years of feeling lost and alone, I was finally where I belonged—next to Myles. I’d been stuck in place before I met him—each step toward a normal existence felt impossible. He breathed life into me—because of him I was living again.

  Twenty-Two

  Brantley

  “Oh shit—no, no, no!” I untangled myself from Myles’ arms and the twisted sheets, dropping my feet on the floor and running for the bathroom.

  I turned on the shower and held my hand under the water cursing at how long it took to get warm.

  Just as I stepped into the tub, knocking started on the bathroom door. “Brant, what’s wrong?”

  The scratchy, still half-asleep sound of Myles’ voice made my stomach do flips. “I overslept,” I yelled over the sound of the shower curtain scraping along the rod as I closed it. “Livvy is gonna be here any minute. I’m not sure what I’m gonna wear and I haven’t even packed.”

  A whoosh of cold air made the shower curtain blow in against my leg. “Where are you going?”

  “Masonville and then into the city for the night.” I popped my shampoo covered head out of the curtain and smiled at Myles standing there with the worse case of bed-head I’d ever seen. “My Aunt Jen is in town for her bachelorette party tonight.”

  “Wait…” he said, closing the door and walking toward the tub. “You’re not gonna be home tonight?”

  I shook my head and then ducked back behind the curtain to rinse. “I’ll be back tomorrow, probably late afternoon. We’ve got the last fittings for our dresses since the wedding is next week. Speaking of, you’re coming with me, right?” A few seconds passed and he didn’t respond. “Myles?”