by Jenika Snow
What that task didn’t involve, didn’t revolve around or come close to, was taking Lake to his room, getting her naked so he could touch, lick, suck on every part of her body like he was starving and she was the only thing that could sate him.
Fuck, he wanted her bad, and that was so fucking bad and wrong.
Chapter Seven
Several weeks later
Lake was either losing her mind, going through some kind of sick phase, or she really had feelings for a man she shouldn’t. She didn’t want to think it was the two latter that made her want Reese the way she’d been fantasizing about. But it wasn’t just about thinking of him touching her, kissing her, making her come like she’d never gotten off before. It was also about the fact she liked being in his presence.
He was so smart, so knowledgeable of the world. Listening to him tell them about his time in the military, about the things he’d done¸ the things he’d experienced, was as fascinating as it was enthralling. And she could swear when their eyes would meet she’d see this spark of awareness go across his expression. Or maybe that was just her wanting to see something that wasn’t there?
It didn’t matter though, because wanting Reese and having him were two totally different things. She couldn’t cross that line, and not just because he was so much older than she was, or because he was Ginny’s brother. It just wasn’t right. He was technically part of the family, by marriage or not. He was still family.
When Lake got to her room she grabbed a change of clothes and headed to the bathroom. A hot shower was exactly what she needed, was exactly what would help wash away the day and relax her. As it was she felt kind of dirty, somewhat in a good way, but also in a not so honorable way because of the lewd thoughts she’d been having for Reese.
She knew that thinking about things she wanted with Reese wasn’t necessarily wrong, but it felt like it was. She felt like she was betraying Ginny, tarnishing something that she didn’t really have with Reese, even if that made no sense. She didn’t want to think of him as her step-uncle, because she’d known him for such a short time. But with all those factors bunched together, he’d also just gone through a divorce. Knowing she wanted a man who was older than she was, who might even be emotionally unstable over the shit he had just gone through, made Lake feel like a bad person.
Once in the bathroom she undressed and stared at herself in the mirror. She looked at her body, at the fact she was lumpy where most girls weren’t, saw the way she wasn’t this perfect size four. Back in the day she’d hated herself, hated how she looked. But with time she’d realized she was beautiful in her own way. Those high school years hadn’t been anything but a pothole in her road to life.
She smiled, not feeling any shame in her appearance anymore, and hadn’t for some time. She’d outgrown that awkward teenage stage in her life, and was feeling more confident in herself.
Once she was showered and dressed again, she finished getting ready for bed, trying to get her mind off Reese. Just yesterday he’d been helping her study once again for a test. He helped her so much, took time out to make sure she understood things. Even though she knew he probably didn’t see her as anything but this little girl that was his sister’s daughter by marriage, she hadn’t been able to stop thinking about him, or focus on anything else.
He’d never be with you for probably more than one reason. Stop this. You’ll only end up embarrassing yourself.
The shirt she wore rubbed against her nipples, causing the buds to tighten even more and unbearable pleasure to course through her. She felt like this dirty girl for wanting a man like Reese, as if a man so much older, more experienced, and who probably was attracted to the thin, gorgeous super model types like Brittany had been, would even look at her twice in a sexual way.
She’d lost her virginity to Alex that night at the wedding two years prior. Lake had told herself after that unmemorable night she wouldn’t be with anyone else, not until she felt this all-consuming desire, this breathless need.
So, aside from that one night two years ago she’d not been with another guy. Oh, she’d touched herself, of course, but it certainly wouldn’t be the same as how it felt to be with a guy that actually knew what he was doing. Alex had been drunk, sloppy, and the sex had been gross, in a way. Losing her virginity hadn’t been something she thought she’d want to get rid of so badly, but after he’d taken it, then promptly passed out, she realized she’d most definitely made a mistake.
Well, that was the past, and all she could do was move forward, like she’d been doing with her chin up. After washing her hands,, Lake opened the door and turned off the light. The house was silent with Ginny and her dad gone for the night. Reese’s car hadn’t been in the driveway when she’d gotten home, so it seemed like Lake was alone in this big house for at least the night.
As she started walking to her room the sound of a car pulling up, and the flash of muted yellow light from headlights coming through the window had her stopping. Then she heard a door opening and closing, and the car driving off. She stood at the railing, looking down at the entryway. The sound of keys jingling, and then of someone clearly trying to open the front door and failing several times, given the fact his deep curses rang through the front door, told her it was Reese. When the door finally unlocked Reese came stumbling in, his keys hanging from the lock, and his gait and posture clearly showing he was drunk.
“Fuck,” he said in a slightly slurred voice. He braced a hand on the wall beside him, made a soft groan, and straightened after a second. He turned and went to grab his keys from the lock, but continued to curse, as he clearly couldn’t get them disengaged.
She was tempted to go down and help him, but when she took a step toward the staircase he finally got his keys out and shut the door with an audible slam. He didn’t move for a second as he rested his head on the door, but then turned and went into the kitchen. She should have helped him, made sure he was okay, but she felt frozen in place.
The sound of the faucet turning off and on, of a glass being set on the tile counter softly, and then of him groaning again and saying something under his breath, filtered up to where she stood.
When the kitchen light turned off, she made her way away from the banister and toward her room just in time to hear Reese climbing the stairs. Lake should have gone in her room and shut the door, but here she was, watching him from the shadows like some kind of creep. But she told herself she was just making sure he was okay. She didn’t want to see him this drunk, didn’t want to see this vulnerable side of him, which, to be honest, was a first.
She gripped onto the doorframe as she watched him hold onto the banister. For a second he stood there, not moving, at the top of the stairs. Then, surprising her, she watched as he grabbed the back of his shirt and pulled it up and over his head. Even in the darkened hallway, from where she stood, she could see the sight of his chest, could see the definition, the muscles, the dips and hollows of all that toned, hard male flesh.
He shook his head, rubbed his jaw, then started moving toward her, where his bedroom was located right next to hers. She swore her heart beat so loud he had to have heard it, and just when she moved back into her room the sound of him stopping, his boots making a slight scraping nose on the hardwood floor, had her freezing as well.
“Lake?” He said her name in a deep voice, slightly slurred.
The smell of his expensive cologne and the sight of him, reminded her all too well of what she really wanted … all of him. As if her body knew what was right before her, what she really wanted, desire like a freight train slammed into her, far fiercer than any other time.
“Yes,” she said softly, her voice sounding breathless.
He stared at her for a moment, but the shadows were wrapped around him even more now, slightly concealing his face. “You should be in bed. It’s late,” he said, and leaned forward, braced his hand on her doorframe, and continued to look at her. Lake should have moved back, but she felt his body heat and these little goosebu
mps popped out along her skin, making her want to stay right here, right in front of him.
“I’m sorry you have to see me piss ass drunk.”
The smell of the whiskey lacing his breath didn’t turn her off. In fact, it made her even more aroused.
Lake swallowed the lump that suddenly formed in her throat. It was like they were in a standoff, neither moving nor speaking, but their gazes locked on the other’s. Her lips were dry, and her heart thundered behind her ribs. “It’s okay, Reese.” Even her voice was laced with the arousal that beat through her veins. “I know life has been hard, and letting loose on occasion seems like the natural thing to do.”
God, why was she still talking? She stared into his face, feeling herself fall deeper into the web of arousal that refused to let her go.
What she wouldn’t give to have Reese feel it, too, to have him just pull her into his chest, hold her close, and refuse to let her go.
“Drinking isn’t the answer to solving someone’s problems.”
She knew that, but surely if she was going through something like he was she’d want to drink as well, at least to numb the pain.
“But I’m not upset about Brittany or the divorce, and that’s not why I got wasted tonight,” he said a little more sure this time, his voice a little less slurred.
He wasn’t?
“It’s not about Brittany, not about the divorce?”
He shook his head slowly. “I feel free now, if that even makes any fucking sense.”
She nodded. “It does.”
“I thought I wanted more with her, but after it was all said and done I realized I didn’t.” He breathed out slowly, and the scent of whiskey filled her head, and could have made her drunk from the fumes alone. “But when I signed those divorce papers and things were settled, I understood that if I would have tried and stayed longer, tried to make it work, I would have been pretty damn lonely.”
She swallowed, heard the emotion and truth in his voice, and knew that although he was drunk, right now he was being genuine. “I’m glad everything is working out, Reese.”
He moved an inch closer, reached out, and, shocking the hell out of her, he snagged a piece of her hair. He stared at that strand, rubbed it between his fingers, and finally lifted his gaze back to her face.
“Is everything okay?”
He didn’t answer her right away, and she swore her heart stopped beating as she stared at his face, took in the sight of the dark scruff along his jaw, and the way he was so masculine and raw it left her breathless. She didn’t know how long they stood there, her question hanging in the air, but then he finally leaned forward slightly.
“Yeah, everything is good, Lake. Everything is really fucking good.”
Her heart thundered harder as she watched him lower his head toward her. Oh God. Is this really happening? She didn’t move, couldn’t move. This was what she had wanted for far longer than she really ever let herself understand or comprehend. A twinge of fear mixed with her desire, causing her to understand that this could be construed as wrong in some people’s eyes.
His lips were now a hair’s breadth away from hers, and the smell of whiskey swirled around her and seemed to make her intoxicated as well. Of course his being intoxicated played a big part in why he was being so forward, but she didn’t have the same excuse. She was sober, stone sober, and yet she wasn’t stopping this.
“Yesterday I couldn’t stop staring at you, Lake, couldn’t stop looking at the lushness of your mouth, the way you are so fucking beautiful,” he said close to her lips. He lifted his hand and touched her bottom lip, stroking it, as if mesmerized. “And then I couldn’t help but imagine what it would feel like to kiss you, stroke you, have my mouth on every part of your body.”
She was so wet, and her clit throbbed in time with her heart.
“I shouldn’t want you, not because you aren’t drop dead gorgeous, so fucking smart and sweet, but because of the many other things that stand in the way of this.”
Yeah, she knew what he meant, knew her age, the family, all of that could cause problems. But she didn’t want this to end.
“But I’m not going to stop,” he said, his gaze still on her lips. “I can’t.” He looked at her, his eyes at half-mast, almost drugged-like. “I want you, Lake.” He slid his hand over her shoulder, down her arm, over her belly, and finally stopped between her legs. She was frozen, stunned that he touched her so intimately. The move was so sudden, so powerful, that she actually pressed her body, her pussy, down on his hand, seeking more pressure.
“That’s it,” he said softly, leaning a little closer to her mouth until she felt his lips rub along hers. He pushed the material of her lounge pants down and cupped her pussy again. She still wore her panties.
He started moving his fingers gently over her clit and pussy lips, having a gasp leaving her at the amount of pleasure coursing through her. In an instant he had her panties pushed down her thighs. When he had his bare hand on her exposed slit her toes curled and a small cry left her. His fingers were thick, big and long, and his skin so very hot.
He moved them into her room by forcing her to walk backward using his body. When they were inside he closed the door, pushed her back up against the wall, and breathed out heavily.
“I want you so fucking badly, baby, even if it seems a little wrong.” He took possession of her mouth in a searing kiss. His tongue was like silk against hers, demanding, probing, dominating. And the hand he still had between her thighs was like fire, scorching her, inflaming her, and having her feel like she’d burn alive. He used his thumb to rub circles against her throbbing clit while he kissed her. This kiss was fierce and urgent. It was exactly how she felt at the moment.
He moved his other hand over her breast and cupped the mound. Her nipples were hard as rock, and she knew he could feel it through the thin material of her shirt. He pinched the turgid peak between his thumb and forefinger, and she gasped against his mouth.
“Does it feel good, Lake? Do I make you feel good?” he murmured against her lips as he continued to pull at the sensitive tissue. She nodded because she couldn’t find her voice. “Tell me how good it feels. Tell me how good I make you feel.” He kissed a path across the side of her face and down her neck. She couldn’t hold her eyes open any longer, not when his mouth on her flesh felt like fire.
“It feels so good. You make me feel so good, Reese.”
The hand that cupped her pussy started moving back and forth, rubbing her, making her wetter. The friction caused a delicious burn inside of her. She was so very close to finally feeling what it would be like to get off at the hands of the man she’d been lusting after for far longer than she cared to admit.
“You’re soaked for me,” he breathed out along her neck. “Your cream is slipping down my hand.”
She reached up and grabbed hold of his biceps, held onto him tight, and dug her nails into his skin in as her pleasure mounted. Faster and faster he rubbed, moving the palm of his hand against her clit while he pressed his fingers slightly into her body. He didn’t fully penetrate her, though, and for that she bit her lip and moaned.
Her body wasn’t her own any longer, or at least it didn’t feel like it was. All she could focus on was how good he made her feel. He pressed his chest more firmly against her, the wall stopping her from retreating if she’d wanted to. But she would have had to be a fool to want to stop this. And when his lips met hers once again she felt his hard, extremely large erection press against her belly. He was drunk, that was clear, but he was also hard … so hard and big. His cock was frighteningly big, but that fright had her pussy clenching and her clit throbbing.
Legs braced apart and breasts thrust forward in invitation, she prayed he took the hint and stopped torturing her.
“You’re so fucking primed for me, Lake.” A deep, almost feral growl left him as he took his thumb and pulled one side of her labia out.
She nodded at his statement.
The cool air didn’t ease
the inferno between her legs in the slightest.
He placed his other hand on the other side of her pussy, pulling that lip apart as well. The sound of suctioning flesh coming undone should have embarrassed her, but she was far too gone to give a shit.
“Spread your legs even further, baby.”
She did as he said, so lost and drunk on her lust she couldn’t have broken this moment for the life of her. With her pussy lips spread apart, he slid his fingers against her inner flesh, knowing exactly how to touch her to make her nearly come right then and there.
Up and down, expertly placed and paced, his movements were those of a man that knew what he was doing. She found herself thrusting her hips slowly at first, moving her pussy back and forth on his fingers, and seeking her orgasm. Her eyes were wide, feeling like saucers as she watched him. As he rubbed faster, she pushed her hips against him harder.
“You want more than just my hands on your body, Lake?”
She nodded, her lips parted, her breathing erratic, her throat so tight she couldn’t actually form any words.
“Then tell me you want my mouth sucking at this pussy, getting you off.” It was strange hearing him speak so erotically, so dirty good.
Never had any man put his mouth on her down there. Instead of getting on his knees right there, lifting her leg up and spreading them further like she envisioned and fantasized about, he removed his hands from between her legs and brought his fingers up to show her how glistening they were, Then, shocking her once again, he spread that cream on her lips, and immediately leaned down to run his tongue over her mouth. He licked and sucked at her lips, cleaning off her arousal, but also having her become wetter because of the act.
“You taste so fucking good. Sweet and addicting.” He gripped her ass and lifted her effortlessly, but also kept her back to the wall for a suspended moment. Lake instinctively wrapped her legs around his waist, and immediately felt the hardness of his cock right between her thighs. He still had his jeans on, but God, could she feel the outline of that huge shaft adding pressure to her pussy.