by Brook Greene
“There you go, stroking my ego again, Tessa,” he says with a sexy grin on his full lips.
“Cheese, cheese,” Jackson starts yelling as he claps his hands together. We start to laugh as we pull away from each other, going back to what we’d been doing before my little meltdown.
“So do you want to go see? Or would you prefer I clean up before you go back?” he asks again.
“There are a few things I would like to see if they survived the Jakenado, if you don’t mind taking me over. Plus, I need some clothes to wear.” I look down at my chest, my nipples forever hard and sticking out of the T-shirt.
He turns to me with one eyebrow cocked, taking me in. “I personally like you walking around all nipped out and shit in my things.” I smile at him, blushing.
“Shit!” Jackson screams out. My eyes widen as I look at Matthew.
Matthew purses his lips and mouths ‘oh shit,’ then he smiles. “Guess we’re gonna have to start watching what we say.”
~~~~~~
My stomach’s in knots as his truck moves down the street to my house. I feel his hand on my thigh, which he gives a squeeze. “I’m right here, and Eno’s meeting us there too.” He looks over at me. “The son of a bitch better not show his fucking face.” His face is set, all hard lines and sharp angles.
We’d left Jackson with Avery, who lives just down the way from Matthew’s house. She’d been more than happy to take the little guy. She gave me a once-over with a knowing smile, but to her credit, didn’t ask or say anything.
We turn up the empty drive to see Eno sitting on a big black motorcycle, smoking. He stands when he sees us, letting one last breath out of smoke before dropping it and grinding out the fire with his booted foot. He’s handsome. Hell, they all are.
He takes off his aviators and tucks one arm in the collar of his black tee, hanging them against his chest. He opens my door for me, offering me his hand. “Hello, gorgeous,” he greets me, leaning in to give me a kiss on the cheek. “Jo says hello, and she wants you to call her when you get time,” he tells me. “She went through something similar to this a few months back, so she said she’s here if you need her.” I tilt my head at him, but keep my mouth shut. I want to ask a million questions.
I smile appreciatively, but feel a little stunned she offered. “Thank you,” I say, not wanting to ask why because I’d only met her and the others once, but Avery had been more than helpful to me and has kept my little secret, like she said she would.
I turn to Matthew. “Where’s my car?”
He smiles, coming up to snaking his arm around my shoulders. “Dalton towed it to the shop yesterday,” he replies as he tugs me to the front door.
“I didn’t think there was anything wrong with it?” I ask him, confused, as he leads me up the walk to my front door.
“No, but if Jake did this to you and tossed your house, I wanted to make sure he didn’t fuck with your car,” he answers me.
I stop turning to face him. “Do you think he would do something like that?” The thought has never crossed my mind, but by the look on Matthew’s and Eno’s faces, it shouldn’t surprise me if there is something wrong with my little piece of shit car.
“If he did this to you, Tessa, and your house, I wouldn’t put it past the fucker to mess with your car in some way.”
“Shitheads like Jake will do just about anything they can, Tessa. He’s fucked in the head,” Eno quips as he opens my front door for me.
~~~~~~
I stand in the middle of the complete chaos that used to be my living room with Eno and Matthew behind me. I survey the damage, and it’s utterly devastating to see what Jake has done to what little bit of a life I‘d carved out for myself. I shake my head and begin to shift through the wreckage covering the floor looking for anything that might be intact.
“I take it you’re not surprised?” Matthew asks as he comes up beside me to help turn what’s left of my coffee table over.
I scoff. “Not one little bit.” I rest my hands on my hips as the table falls to one side because it’s missing two of its legs, one which is sticking straight out of the drywall.
“Why don’t you go upstairs and see if you can find yourself some clothes, and I’ll take the pictures we’ll need to file a claim down here.” Matthew kisses me before nudging me to the steps.
I reluctantly climb the steps to the second floor of my destroyed home. The upstairs isn’t any better than the downstairs, and I highly doubt I’ll find anything intact. I pick up shattered pieces of my life as I make my way to my room. Stopping in the doorway, I survey the carnage left behind and feel as the world I thought I’s build for myself slowly crumble around me.
I walk in, picking up the ripped and bloody sheets from my broken bed. The mattress I’d laid on is shredded and stained. I walk to the dresser drawers that have been busted up and begin to shift through all the clothes that had been dumped out of them. There are very few items that haven’t been torn to pieces. Finding a bag, I begin to fill it with the meager items. Slipping on one of the only bras I have left, I follow it with one of the three pairs of panties I have left. I dress in a tee and a pair of my gym shorts, and stuff Matthew’s clothes into the bag with what is left of my undergarments.
I cross to my closet and the clothes in there haven’t fared any better than the clothes from the dresser. I find a pair of blue jeans and a few shirts that had survived, and tuck them into the bag as well. I find a box and begin to fill it with the few photos and knick-knacks left unbroken, pieces of my heart crumbling every time I pick an item up. When I’m finished, I have only two boxes of my things, everything else is a complete loss.
Feeling emotionally drained, I descend the steps to Matthew’s waiting arms. I fold myself into his warmth, laying my head on his hard chest. He rubs his hand gently up and down my back, soothing away the despair Jake has caused.
“You ready to get out of here?” he asks me.
I nod and look over at Eno, his face hard and his black eyes sharp as he takes us both in. His resemblance to his brother is striking. His build is a bit smaller than Leo’s, but they both possess a fire under their icy facades.
We have a phone full of pictures and we load the two meager boxes of things I was able to recover into the truck. The whole experience has been taxing on me, and all I want to do is go back to Matthew’s and crawl into bed, pulling the covers over my head to block out the world.
I turn in my seat towards Matthew. “What now?” I ask him. “I mean, my job, which is pretty much an afterthought, I’m sure, but damn.”
“About your job…” he starts. “I made a few calls, and your application and hiring history has been put on hold for now. Claire did me a solid. She wants to help you and wants you back at the office, so she made the three days you worked last week disappear.” He looks over at me. “So when you’re ready to go back, you’ll just go through the hiring process again with a clean slate. The only thing is you’re not going to get paid for the days you’ve worked.”
I look at him in shock. Who is this man, and why is he doing this for me? Nobody in my life, aside from my parents, even remotely did things like this. He’d told me he knew people and had a few of connections, but shit.
I say the only thing I can think to say, something I’ve been saying a lot lately. “Thank you, Matthew.” I know I should be fighting this, tell him I can do it all by myself, but for some reason, I have a feeling that wouldn’t sit well with him. He’s practically come into my life and taken it over in a good way, not the sadistic way Jake had. Matthew uses kind gestures, while Jake just used the back of his hand to get what he wanted from me.
Matthew amazes me with how much he gives of himself to a person he’s only known for seven days. There’s no way I’ll ever be able to repay his kindness. I have nothing to offer him.
~~~~~~
Matty
Going back into the house has my anger level and blood pressure through the roof. I’ve gotten used to seeing the b
ruises on her face, but it doesn’t make stomaching the fact of what he did to her any easier. But when I had to take the screws out of the back door, the fury from the day I’d found her slammed back into me. We can’t find that fucker fast enough.
I thought the arrogant asshole would’ve surfaced by now, but he’s dropped off the grid. The whole situation doesn’t make sense. I can’t figure out the details of it in my head. I’ve read over the information Eno had been able to pull together about her a million times, but I still can’t put the details into any kind of working order.
Killing him with my bare hands is a tangible thing, but since the police are involved, it might raise a few flags if his body turns up in the local river. He’ll pay for what he’s done, and it’ll be my fists collecting the debt he owes her. My father has been working on her divorce. As he’s one of the best lawyers in the South, I have no doubt he that he’ll get the end results she needs.
She’s quiet when we finally pull away from her house. She watches it disappear from view with a pained look on her face. I remember how Josie had reacted, seeing how her life had been turned upside down, and it’s the same way Tessa is reacting now. I reach for her hand, lifting it to my lips kissing the back of it.
“It’ll all be okay, Tessa, I promise,” I mumble, my lips still against her soft, sweet smelling skin.
Her green eyes are sad when she looks at me. “You can’t promise that.” Her voice is soft, sounding defeated.
“Yes, I can.” I lace our fingers together and squeeze her hand tight to mine.
She sighs, all the fight gone from her. “If you say so.”
“I do.” There’s no other way to relay how true my words are to her except to come clean about who I really am. That will come soon enough, and I’m afraid it will drive such a large wedge between us, we’ll never get back what I feel we’re building.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Tessa
I just leave his last comment hanging in the air between us, hoping he’s right, but I have a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach that this is only the beginning. Jake will stop at nothing to make me understand I belong to him and get me back under his control, and I’m afraid Matthew will be the casualty of this war.
This is my life, not his. He doesn’t deserve to be drug through this hell, and I have no right to do this to him or his son. Me living with him is only going to make things worse, and if Jake found me at my home, it’s only a matter of time before he finds me at Matthew’s, and God only knows what he’ll do.
I watch as Matthew carries a sleeping Jackson to his room, then I turn heading for his. I feel like I’m walking through a fog, trying to find my way out of a haze I’ve been struggling to find my way through since I was sixteen. I slump to the bed, leaning to hold my head in my hands. Is it worth all this to be free? Would it just be better if I went back and saved Matthew from the storm that’s coming?
I shake my head, freeing it of the thoughts. I can’t go back, but I’m afraid if I stay here, Matthew and Jackson will get hurt. I lay to the side, curling my legs up and wrapping my arms around them, fighting back the tears.
I feel him as he glides a hand up my thigh. “Tessa?” I open my eyes to see he’s knelt down beside the bed and is eye level with me.
“Yes?” I ask, trying to keep my voice from breaking.
He raises his hand and brushes the hair out of my face. “Would you like some tea?” His voice is so soft, and his eyes hold so much kindness in them. I feel his soft touch warm my cheeks as he lets his fingers drift over my skin.
I reach up to take his hand and tug him onto the bed. When he sits, I climb onto his lap, wrap my arms around his neck and ghost my lips over his. “Make me forget,” I plead as I begin to rock my hips back and forth on his hardening cock.
His big hands grip my hips, digging into my skin to still me. “Tessa, I really don’t feel comfortable—,” I lower my mouth to his, cutting off his protest.
When I take my mouth away, we’re both breathing heavily from the passionate kiss. “Let me be the judge of what my body can take.” I cup his face in my hands, continuing to rock on him as he grows harder beneath me. He turns and lays us both down on the bed, his elbows keeping most of his weight off me as he kisses my like it’s the first time.
His takes his mouth away from mine and looks down into my eyes, his thumbs rubbing the sides of my face. I gaze up into his beautiful hazel eyes, seeing everything I’ve ever wanted staring back at me. A good man who cares for me, loves the people around him, always giving of himself and asking nothing in return.
“Raise your hands above your head,” he growls, his voice deep with lust.
I do as I’m told as he raises up on his knees that are on either side of my body. He takes the hem of my tee and peels it up and over my head. Stopping at my wrists, he ties it into a knot, holding my hands together. “Don’t move them from here,” he orders as his eyes devour my little white lace bra I’d put on at my house. He takes his index finger and runs it along the top of my breast, dipping it down below the material as he moves it across my skin. My body is coming to life under his touch, and the feeling of him on me, around me, and in me is exactly what I need.
I’m unable to lie still. I roll my hips under him, searching for the friction that will give me the release I need. “More,” I moan out. He pulls the cotton away from my heavy breast, taking the pert nipple into his mouth. “Oh, Matthew.” I bow my back off the bed, forcing my breast up. He bites and flicks the bud. With my hands above my head, I’m stretched out for him, a Tessa buffet for his feasting.
He unhooks the clasp, exposing both my breasts to him. “Fucking perfection.” He takes the other bud into his mouth. “All of you, a god damn masterpiece,” he murmurs. Sitting back up, he slides down the bed, taking the waistband of my shorts and pulls them down my legs, along with my panties. When he has me bare, he places his hands under my knees, propping my feet up on the bed and pushes my knees apart so they fall open, exposing my bare pussy to him. His tongue flicks out, licking his lips as his eyes devour the sight before him. My naked body is willing and waiting for him to do as he pleases.
He reaches back, dragging his shirt over his head and tossing it to the side with the rest of my clothes. I take him in. His cut and toned body is that of a Greek God. The tattoos covering his body makes him a complete work of art. I want to sit up and run my fingers over his beautiful torso. He leans back down over me, taking my mouth with a white-hot passion so intense, made even more powerful by the fact that I can’t touch him.
I want to feel him, touch him, give back as much, if not more than what he’s offering me. “Matthew!” I cry out, and then I feel as his hand smoothes down my body, stopping at the apex of my legs. He glides his fingers through my wet folds, making my body jerk at the touch. He buries his nose in the cruck of my neck, inhaling deeply as his fingers find my clit and begins to rub gently at first, then with each pass, increases the pressure.
I fight to not lift my arms, needing to touch him. “Oh, Matthew, please.” He’s pushing away the pain with his touch and branding my soul every time he kisses me.
“You’re my drug, Tessa,” he whispers into the soft skin of my neck, his hot breath washing over me. He pushes one, then two fingers into me. My belly flutters when he finds the bundle of nerves just inside my entrance. “I’m gonna make you come with my fingers, then I’m going to fuck you and mark you from the inside out as mine forever. Shit, baby, we’ve got to get you on birth control so you can ride me bare.” My body shudders, tingling with excitement, anticipating his promises. All the fear and disappointments of the day are melting away with his every touch and caress. He’s doing exactly what I asked him to do, making me forget. All I feel is him and the emotions growing in me from him.
~~~~~~
Matty
I kiss a trail down her beautiful body, stopping at her sweet pussy where my fingers pump inside of her. Her heady smell of arousal fills my nose. I’m trying my
best not to go all beast mode on her by taking her body and ravaging her. It’s been too long since I’ve been inside her, and now I’m struggling to hold back the flood of lust threatening to take over my judgment.
I nestle my big body between her spread legs. Looking up to meet her green eyes, I smile when I see the unadulterated desire I’m feeling reflected back at me. With her hands bound above her head, it pushes her perfect, full breasts up into the air, serving up the pink budded nipples to me. I never take my eyes off of her as I take lick through her wet folds. Her body shudders and her mouth falls open as she gasps for air.
I lower my head, sucking her clit into my mouth, caressing it with my tongue. I curl the fingers I still have inside her to rub her spot in time with my licks. I feel the soft walls of her pussy close in around my fingers and the wetness rush past my hand. Her legs tighten around my head, her body writhing with pleasure from my touch. I look up to see her head pushed back into the bed. “Shh, Tessa.” Her body jerks as my breath hits her dripping wet pussy. She nods, panting heavily.
“Oh.” She moans as I intensify the pressure of my tongue, and with a spasm, her pussy clamps down around my fingers as her body arches up off the bed. “Matthew.” She sighs as her wetness runs around my fingers and onto the sheets of the bed.
“God, you get so fucking wet, baby,” I tell her, giving her clit a few more licks, making her body shiver. I stand and undo the button of my jeans, ripping it open as I’m no longer able to hold off the burning need to be inside her. She looks up at me, her cheeks flushed a beautiful pink.
She gives me a satisfied smile. “You have a very talented tongue.”
I smile at her, wiggling my eyebrows as I push my jeans down my legs. My cock springs free, slapping against my stomach, and I watch as her eyes devour my length.
I crawl up the bed over her, forcing her back down. I reach up and untie the T-shirt from around her wrists. “I want to feel your hands on me, baby.”