“Don’t go out with him anymore.” I might as well be honest with her about the way I feel if I’m to keep her out of his bed. “And don’t fuck him. For me. At least until we know what this is.”
“Okay.”
Her pledge satisfies me. For now.
“Any idea what you’d like to see in Savannah today?”
Sure do. “You in my bed naked.”
Lawrence shakes her head and laughs. “You’ve already seen that once today.”
“I could go for some more of it.” Like all day long. I’m getting hard just thinking about it.
“You’ll get more of me tonight—the after-drinks me. That should be fun.”
“I like the before-drinks and after-drinks you.” And everything in between.
Lawrence pulls her Wagoneer onto the road. “I think we’ll skip the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist. You’ve probably seen St. Louis Cathedral a bazillion times so it probably wouldn’t feel a lot different.”
“I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen it although it’s been a while.”
I need to make a trip home to see my grandparents soon. Babette and Pops aren’t getting any younger.
“Would you be terribly upset if I cheated and took you on the historic on/off bus tour. I think it would be more fun than getting in and out of my car all day, especially since it’s so hot. And I’d like to enjoy sitting and talking with you rather than driving around the city squares.”
“That works for me.”
“We can hop off the bus if something interests you and get back on when we finish.”
I rub my thumb over the top of her hand. “I have the only attraction I need sitting next to me right now.”
“Are you trying to use your southern charm to woo me?”
“Maybe. Is it working?”
“Possibly.”
Lawrence parks at the welcome center and we board a trolley bound for historic Savannah.
“I’m surprised by how much Savannah reminds me of New Orleans. I wasn’t expecting that.”
“New Orleans isn’t a whole lot older than Savannah. Maybe fifteen years or so but we don’t have the melting pot of cultures like you have.”
“Which are still very much alive. Your belief in the effects of oils, herbs, and stones would be highly accepted there.” She would fit right in.
“Being an oddity doesn’t bother me. I don’t need to be accepted by closed-minded people to be happy.”
No shit. “I gathered that.”
I reach for her hand and intertwine our fingers. “Where do things stand with your biological mother and the transplant?”
“I told her that I wasn’t doing it. She called multiple times every day for a week begging me to go through with it. Things got so bad that I had to stop answering the phone.”
“I’m pretty sure that’s called harassment.”
“She doesn’t care if she kills my chances at having a baby one day. She told me I could adopt a kid if I wanted one.”
Based on the things that Lawrence has told me about her mother, I’m not surprised by her response. Doesn’t sound like much has changed since Lawrence was a child.
Lawrence moves our clasped hands to her lap and places her other on top. “I’m not sure she’s actually dying. I don’t think someone who is as sick as she claims to be would have the strength to harass me as much as she does.”
“You think she’s healthier than she claims to be?”
“I suspect that she may want the transplant because she’s tired of doing dialysis.”
“You think she’d ask you to sacrifice that much so she’d no longer be inconvenienced?” Wow. That’s shitty.
“The more I’ve thought about it, the more I’ve decided that I think she would do that to me. I mean, I believe she’s in renal failure and a candidate for transplant but not knocking on death’s door like she says. I think that was all a guilt trip to make me agree to do it.”
The trolley comes to a halt. “This is your stop for Forsyth Park,” the driver announces over the speaker.
“Let’s get off here so you can see the fountain. It’s an iconic symbol of Savannah so it’d be a shame for you to miss it.”
We exit the trolley and she laces her fingers through mine. “I don’t know much about you. Who is Lucas Broussard?”
“I love the outdoors. I hunt, fish, go boating.”
“What kind of hunting?”
“Mostly deer. Sometimes turkey.”
She crinkles her nose. “You eat those sweet creatures?”
“Yeah. Deer is delicious.”
She puts her hand over her heart. “You shoot them?”
“Sometimes I use a gun. Sometimes I use a bow. Depends on the season.”
“Ahh, poor Bambi.” She closes her eyes and shivers. “Let’s not talk about killing sweet creatures anymore.”
“Okay. Tell me what you like to do when you’re not at the shop.”
“I’m crafty so I enjoy making a lot of the items that I sell.”
“Like what?”
“Jewelry, dream catchers, and sometimes I refinish old furniture.”
I notice the necklace, bracelet, and earrings she’s wearing. “Did you make these?”
She touches the stone hanging around her neck. “I did.”
“It’s beautiful.”
“Peridot. I picked it for today because it restores new energy to the body. Turns out that I chose well because I needed those things pretty badly after last night.”
“I could a use a little energy restoration myself.” It was a long night. And early morning. But oh so good.
And I plan to do it again.
14
Lawrence Thorn
Ollie is already waiting at a table when Lucas and I arrive at the Distillery. “Hey. How’d the tour go?”
“We got to see Forsyth, the squares, a quick visit to City Market, and Leopold’s.”
Those are my favorite things, particularly the ice cream parlor. I enjoyed watching Lucas lick his cone after he told me that he was practicing for tonight. Lucky, lucky ice cream. The look in his eyes and the glide of his tongue over the ice cream made me long for the next few hours to pass quickly.
“You got to see a lot today.”
A waitress appears and places a glass in front of each of us along with three bottles of beer. “Anything else for you?”
Displaying a charming grin for the cute brunette, Ollie shakes his head. “Not right now but thank you.”
Oliver pours a sample into each of our glasses and the steps of evaluation begin.
“Has good head.”
I watch Lucas for a reaction and I smile inside when I see a single brow lift and one side of his mouth pull upward into a half grin while he toys with his scruffy chin.
That mouth. That scruff. Both were all over me last night and again this morning. And I can’t wait until they are again.
“It’s decent,” Ollie answers before taking the first drink. “Personal preference, I’m not a fan. What do y’all think?”
I take a drink and wait for the aftertaste. I shake my head briskly when it hits. “Shit, that is hoppy.”
“Don’t care for it,” Lucas says.
Ollie grabs the second bottle. “Moving on.”
We go through a dozen craft beers in an hour, which may not be much for them but it’s a lot for me. More than I’m accustomed to drinking and I’m feeling no pain.
I’ve made two bathroom runs by the time Lucas finally gives in and makes his first. I’m sort of glad. I want some alone time with Ollie so I can pick his brain. I want to know if he would truly have a problem with me dating his business partner.
“So… Lucas. He’s a pretty nice guy, right?”
He nods and takes another drink of beer before scrunching his nose. “Whew, that’s skunky.” He pushes the glass away. “Yeah. Lucas is a good friend.”
“We had fun today.”
“I’m glad. I was a little afraid you mi
ght be pissed off at me for asking you to show him around without talking to you first.”
“It was fine. I didn’t mind.”
He looks at me for a moment before saying, “He was well-behaved, I hope.”
“Oh yeah. But I guess he would be since you told him I was off-limits.”
Now seems like as good a time as any to bring that up again.
“I did that to protect you.”
I’m thirty-one years old. Almost thirty-two. I do just fine on my own. “I don’t need my little brother to protect me.”
“Listen, sis. Lucas is a great guy but he’s not for you.”
Oliver is wearing brown pants. That’s good. Because he may shit. “I like him.”
“Don’t you dare even think about going there with him, Lawry.”
“Why not?”
“Because I’d have to kill him if he fucked you over, which he would eventually do because no woman’s heart is safe with him.”
“He wouldn’t mistreat me. I wouldn’t let him.”
“Says every woman that he’s ever fucked and dumped.”
Lucas was right. Oliver isn’t going to willingly let anything happen between us. It’s probably best to back off before I stir up too much of a stink. “Calm down. It’s not like I’m going to ask him out or anything.”
“Damn right you’re not.”
I don’t want Lucas to catch hell from my brother about me so we have one choice. Keep this relationship, or whatever it is, a secret.
I avoid Lucas’s eyes when he returns from the bathroom. “What did I miss?”
“Horse piss. That’s what you’ve missed.” Ollie pours a sample of an IPA. “Tell me that’s not horrible.”
Lucas lifts the glass of amber and gulps it down in one drink. “I’d say that calling that horse piss is too kind.”
This tasting has been for naught so far. “You’re trying to choose a brew for next winter?”
“Right.”
“People crave heavier, warmer, deeper flavors when it’s cold. Have you considered a chocolate stout or maybe some type of coffee beer?”
Ollie and Lucas look at one another and grin. “Damn. That’s not a bad idea, sis.”
Lucas punches me in the arm as though I’m one of the guys. “You may be onto something there.”
I fist my hands and use my thumbs to point to myself. “It was my idea so I think you should name it after me.”
“We’ll see,” Ollie says.
“That sounds like a solid no.”
We finish our samples and leave, standing as a trio on the sidewalk in front of the bar. “I’m about tight so I’m leaving my truck here and getting a ride to Mom and Dad’s.”
I look up at the sky. “It’s a beautiful night. I think I’ll walk home.”
“Only if Lucas walks with you. I don’t want you out alone this late.”
For someone who wants to protect me from the big bad wolf, he sure keeps sending me right into his arms.
“I’m happy to walk her home. It’s the least I can do after the wonderful tour I got today.”
Ollie makes a V with his fingers and points to his eyes before using them to point at Lucas. As if I don’t know what that means.
“I know,” Lucas whispers.
“Are we still doing Tybee tomorrow?” Oliver asks while we wait on the corner for his Uber.
“Planning to if you’re up for it.”
“My question would be are Ivy and Kelsey still up for it?”
“Kelsey is coming but Ivy has to work.”
“Fuck, that’s too bad. I was hoping to see both of them. It’s been a while.” My brother has always liked both of my friends but I suspect he likes Ivy just a little bit more.
The last time we spoke about dating, he had a potential in mind. “What happened to Katherine, the counselor?”
“Katelyn.”
“Right. You were waiting for the right time to ask her out on a date.”
“That didn’t go anywhere.”
“Oh. I’m sorry to hear that.” He acted as though he really liked her.
A small foreign sedan pulls to a stop in front of us. “That’s my ride. See y’all tomorrow.”
Ollie does the “my eyes are on you” hand signal again before getting into the car.
Lucas laughs as the car pulls away. “He’d shit his pants if he knew what we’d done.”
I wrap my arms around his shoulders and lean close, pressing our bodies together. “And what we’re about to do again.”
“We have at least six blocks to walk and you’re giving me a hard-on.”
I kiss him quickly. “Sorry. I’ll make it up to you when we get to the room.”
We speed walk to the Bohemian and I have fun things in mind for the elevator ride, but unfortunately, we aren’t alone on the way up.
Dammit. Why’d these people have to get on the elevator with us? The radiating sexual tension inside this small space is suffocating.
I want Lucas so badly it hurts. I need to touch him, to feel his skin against mine.
The elevator pings and the doors open for our floor. “It’s too bad we had company on the ride up. I really wanted to be naughty in that elevator.”
He grabs me from behind and pushes my hair away from my neck. The touch of his lips against the skin there sends chills down my body where a tingle lands smack between my legs. “We can be naughty in the hallway.”
He passes the keycard to me over my shoulder so he can explore my body with his mouth and hands. I work to slide the card into the door, but it’s a difficult task with what Lucas is doing to me.
He shimmies my dress up my legs and slides his hand beneath it. He wastes no time pushing my panties aside so his fingers can dive into my slick center. “You’re already wet.”
I get the green light on the door but I’m unable to move while he finger-fucks me. “That feels so good.”
“I’ve got something for you that’s gonna feel a lot better than that.”
“I’m going to come before we get through the door if you don’t stop.”
He takes his fingers out of me and I suppress a whimper. “I want to lick you until you come so I can taste your sweet climax.”
We enter the room and he takes my hands, leading me to the bed. “Sit.”
I take my messenger bag off my shoulder and toss it in the corner chair before taking the place he has chosen for me.
He drops to his knees and kneels between my legs before dragging my bottom so it hangs over the edge. He removes my flip-flops and places the soles of my feet on his chest. “Lift up.”
He reaches beneath my dress and drags my panties down my legs. He fists the garment and brings it to his nose, inhaling deeply.
“You smell so fucking good but I want to taste you.”
He drops my panties to the floor and grabs my thighs, pushing them apart. My upper body is propped on my elbows, and I have no intention of changing that. I’m watching this time.
Our eyes—different shades of blue—are locked when he places his tongue against my center and drags it in an upward sweep. Feeling it is one thing, but feeling and seeing it while it happens is an extra special treat.
Lucky, lucky me.
He licks me a second time, slow, soft, and so damn good that I want to scream.
“Do you like that?”
“You have no idea how much I like that.” Or maybe he does.
He licks me with his flattened tongue and then changes it up, using the tip to circle the spot where all my erotic nerve endings meet. He starts slow and gradually increases the speed of the motion like some kind of erotic massage.
He stops the massage and replaces his tongue with two fingers inside me, palm side up. A whole new sensation begins when he rubs that sensitive area hidden beneath the arch of my pelvic bone. That spot has been waiting for the skill of a man like Lucas.
My body jolts with the first contraction in my pelvis. My legs tense, my toes curl. Tingly warmth floods my face
, neck, hands, and feet as I ride out my orgasm to its fullest extent. Ultimate sexual gratification has been achieved.
“You are so beautiful when you come.”
I fall backward on the bed, my legs propped on his chest. They’re trembling and he places his hands on my knees to steady them. “Trembling legs are always a good sign.”
Lucas is a generous lover. He has ensured that I come—before him—each time we’ve had sex. I want to give him the kind of pleasure that he has given to me.
I rise to a sitting position and tug on the button of his jeans. “Stand up and take off your shirt while I work on this.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
He’s standing completely bare in front of me, waiting for my next move. I could shove him down on the bed and suck him off that way, but I think every guy loves the visual of a girl on her knees. And that’s what I’m going to give to him.
I sink to the floor and look up at him. I want to give him the same eye contact that he gave to me while he made me come.
He laces his fingers through the back of my hair and massages my scalp, as though he’s petting me. “I’m never going to last. I’m to the halfway point of coming just by seeing you on your knees like that.”
I smile and open my mouth, showing him my tongue before I place it against the underside of his hard cock next to his sack and lick him base to tip in one long stroke.
“Fuck, Lawrence.”
Gripping the base in my hand, I watch his eyes when I drag my tongue across the tip from side to side. Mmm… pre-cum.
I lick my lips and swallow before sucking his cock fully into my mouth, taking the tip to the back of my throat and swallowing around it.
“That feels amazing.” Below his breath, he mutters something about me not having a gag reflex.
He grasps the back of my head and lightly thrusts into my mouth. I’ve never enjoyed giving head but with Lucas, it’s different. I love hearing his moans of pleasure and satisfaction.
“I’m not going to last much longer like this. Shit. There it is. It’s coming.”
I grip his ass and hold him tightly as his hot jets of semen—empty semen—hit the back of my throat. I swallow once, twice, three times.
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