by Vella, Wendy
Seconds later she was alone, as the door shut with a decisive click behind her. Annabelle took a deep steadying breath as she looked around. She took off her boots, then her jacket, and laid it on the bed.
Looking at the closed door, she made a decision, then headed for it.
CHAPTER NINE
“Go away, Annabelle.”
He was sitting on his bed, shoulders hunched, staring at his hands, so she walked to where he sat.
“FYI, I’ve already worked out that your dad’s an asshole behind that smiling, polite façade, but Brad, well, he’s one of those slick, smooth operators who think he was put on this earth just to pull off a woman’s panties.”
His laugh held no humor, but he lifted his head to look at her.
“I need to be alone, Annabelle.”
The pain in the blue depths of his eyes hit her in the stomach. Without realizing it, she’d reached out her hands to cup his face, running her fingers over his cheeks.
“You need to leave, Annabelle. This place makes me mean. I get ugly when I’m here and I don’t want to hurt you.”
“How will you hurt me?”
“I don’t know, and God’s truth I don’t want to, but my father makes me irrational.” He held her gaze. “I know I should be bigger than that., I’m a fucking adult, after all. I know that in the logical part of my mind, but when I’m here, I become this…this… Christ, I can’t even find a name for it.”
“You’re a better man than that, Ethan, a better man than him. Don’t let him do this to you.”
He closed his eyes as she ran her fingers through his hair.
“I hate him.” The words were flat and cold.
“Sssh.” She touched her lips to his, and it wasn’t just comfort that made her do it. Seeing him hurting and vulnerable was stirring something inside her. A need to touch him and feelings that were warm and heavy filled her body.
“Don’t pity me, Annabelle. I’m not a child.”
“I don’t. In fact, right about now, pity is the last thing I’m feeling.” She wanted him, and had finally given up fighting the desire she had for this man.
“You have great timing,” he rasped, his hands grabbing her hips to pull her onto his lap, her thighs now straddling his. One hand cupped her neck and then his lips were on hers. It was fierce and driven by emotion and hunger, and she took everything he gave. His hands moved over her body, roving every place they could touch as she and Ethan continued to kiss each other mindlessly.
Annabelle lost the ability to focus on anything but Ethan and the spiraling heat he was creating inside her. She felt his fingers lift the hem of her sweater and slip underneath. Fierce heat travelled through her body as his warm hands stroked her ribs and stomach.
“I’m not stopping.”
“Don’t,” she hissed.
His hands traveled upwards, taking her clothes with them, and then he pulled them over her head leaving her in her lacy pink bra. His eyes roamed her breasts and down her stomach. The hurt was gone, their blue depths now smoldering with heat.
“You have a killer body, Annabelle Smith.”
His mouth moved to her neck, kissing and teasing as he journeyed lower to trace the lace cups with a hot tongue. God, he’d only just started and she was on fire. The sensations were so acute they were almost painful and Annabelle couldn’t remember any of the few men she’d slept with ever making her feel like this.
“Yours isn’t bad either, Gelderman.”
Annabelle pushed up his arms, pulling his sweater upwards and tugging his t-shirt with it. His chest was broad, muscles bunched on his shoulders, and his stomach was corrugated with well-defined abs. She touched him, using her fingers to map what she’d discovered. He inhaled sharply as she traced the dark circles of his nipples. Leaning forward, she placed a wet, open-mouthed kiss on his chest, and then licked his nipples, which caused him to hiss.
“Annabelle, do you know how long I’ve wanted your mouth on me?”
“About as long as I’ve wanted yours on me,” she said against his skin.
She explored his body, kissing his shoulders, licking the skin of his neck, and felt her body ignite with each hiss of his breath.
“Okay, my turn.” He pushed her upright, unhooked her bra, then eased it down her shoulders. When she was naked from the waist up he began to torment her, licking the slopes of her aching breasts, teasing and taunting until she threw her head back on a long moan. His tongue brushed her neck and it was wonderful, the sensation jacking up her pleasure, pooling heat between her thighs. He tormented her until she could stand no more. She grabbed a handful of his hair and tugged, and only then did he take her aching nipple deep into his mouth and suck it hard.
She was swimming in desire; the need to feel him inside her was mounting. While his mouth teased her breasts, his hands were busy unzipping her jeans. Lifting his head, he eased her off his lap. Then they were both standing and he was stripping her, then himself.
“Now, that is much better.” His voice was deep and throaty, his eyes running over her body just as hers were his.
He was a beautiful man, big and strong, thighs sprinkled with hair, long tapering legs, a body she would never tire of looking at. He lifted her again, the gesture effortless, and lay her on the bed. His body followed, covering her, and he started kissing her mindless again. Any and all doubts had long since fled in their desperation to take each other, both touching everywhere they could reach until their sighs and moans were mingled. He moved down her body leaving a trail of fire in his wake as he mapped her with his mouth. Annabelle opened her legs and then he was there, his mouth on her, teasing the small, hard bud, tracing the wet folds of her sex until she was sobbing for him to do something about the tension inside her.
“Now, Ethan!”
He didn’t obey, of course, instead pushing his fingers inside her as he bit down on the small bud. It was swift and fierce and rolled over her with an intensity that stole her breath. She had scant seconds to haul in air before he was sheathed deep inside her. His hot, hard length filled her with more ecstasy, more pleasure. He growled something as he braced himself on his arms above her and began to move.
Arching upwards, Annabelle wrapped her legs around his waist and clenched her muscles around him, making his eyes close. He drove into her again, harder, faster, and soon the feeling was building inside her again, and she was riding a wave of pleasure. Grabbing a handful of his hair, she pulled him into her kiss, plunging her tongue inside, mimicking his body’s movements as they both came. It was hard and fast and hit at the same time. His body slumped onto hers, pinning her to the bed, and Annabelle simply wrapped her arms around his neck and held on.
Ethan knew he should move but didn’t have the strength to do so. He could feel the thud of Annabelle’s heart beneath him and the breaths she was struggling to draw in, but he wanted to keep her here, trapped under him. Reluctantly he rolled to one side as she pushed a hand against his chest.
What they’d done had been hard, hot and fast, and he’d lost all reason at the first touch of her mouth on his. Ethan rarely lost reason. It was what had made him a good helicopter pilot in Iraqi; it was how he ran his life, how he had learned to live his life in this house with a father who continually tried to break him. He was level-headed, always looking before he stepped in any direction, but not today, not here and now.
Yes, he’d always wanted the woman beside him, and he’d always hoped they’d hook up at some point, a joining of two consenting adults, but he’d never ever planned to take her like this, in his parents’ house.
“We just had unprotected sex, Annabelle.”
“I’m on the pill, Ethan, and while I’m an advocate of condoms, I have regular checks.”
“Me too, and I’m clean, I promise,” Ethan added. “I’m sorry, I just lost the ability to think straight when you kissed me.” Lying on his side, he braced his head on one elbow to look down at her.
"And there's my smooth talking Texan," she s
aid.
Her lashes rested on her cheeks, and her breathing had slowed. Letting his eyes run over her body, he mapped her lush curves. She was beautiful. Her body was strong, and held no spare flesh, all taunt and trim. The planes of her stomach were smooth and flat, the long lines of her legs toned.
“You have a spectacular rack, Smith.” She snorted but kept her eyes closed. “Really, I knew these were pretty special, but nothing prepared me for seeing them in the flesh, so to speak.” They were full and perfectly shaped, nipples the color of raspberries. Unable to resist, he traced the silky skin. Her eyes opened, and their soft brown depths still held the lingering heat of what they’d just done.
“I’m not sure how I feel right now, about this.” She lifted a hand, then let if fall back to the bed, as if the effort was too much. “But give me time and I’ll have it all worked out.”
“Do you need to put a label on it?”
One chocolate-colored eye looked his way. “Yes, and that label would say wrong in big red letters.”
“It sure didn’t feel wrong to me, honey.”
“Whatever. I can’t deal with that now, so instead do you want to tell me what the hell is going on with your family?”
He didn’t. It was a twisted wreck, and he wasn’t sure he even knew how to explain it.
“It’s fucked up, and you’re better off not knowing. While we’re on that subject, don’t get into it with them over me, Annabelle. You won’t win.”
The smile she gave him made his chest ache, because it was sweet and genuine.
“By ‘them’ I’m thinking you mean your dad and the Bradster, who by the way is a serious jerk, but I suspect that’s mainly from your dad’s influence.”
“There is no winning in this house, Annabelle. The path of least resistance is always the best one, so keep clear of both of them and don’t stand up for me,” Ethan said.
“You ever known me to back off, Tex? Ever known me to be cowed by a man?”
“Annabelle.” The word was meant to be a warning but it came out on a sigh. “This shit is complicated, and I’m used to it now, so I don’t need you getting in the middle. Let’s just get through tomorrow, and then leave without shedding blood.”
“Why’d you let them talk about you like that, Ethan? Your dad had a smile the entire time he was insulting you, but Brad was just an asshole. I’ve never seen you take a backwards step to anyone, but you let those two put you down without even trying to defend yourself.”
“Because there’s no way you can win here, not with both of them. I’ve tried, believe me, but the others just end up getting hurt. If my father can’t get me to do what he wants using manipulation, then he uses Hope, Taylor or my mother to get at me.”
“I could see when Hope and Taylor came up to you that they were hiding how they felt about seeing you again,” she said, placing her hand over the one he still had on her breast.
“Yeah, they’re the toughest part of not being here more often, but we catch up every few months when we can.”
“So, what’s the deal? Your dad wanted you to follow in his footsteps and you rebelled?”
“That about sums it up,” Ethan said, bunching the pillows behind him before he lifted Annabelle into his arms and lay back on them. She was now resting on his chest.
“So we had great sex and now we’re cuddling. I’m not sure that’s how this should work, Gelderman.”
“Shut up.”
Surprisingly she did and let him hold her. The tension inside him had eased, and having her in his arms felt good and right and he wasn’t going to analyze why, so he just rolled with it.
“Funny how you and your father look alike yet are worlds apart.” Her breath brushed his chest as she spoke.
“He has to have total control of everything. Every decision is run by him, every piece of furniture in this house is approved by him. My mother can’t even pick her own clothes. He does all that, and he does it with that smile, never raising his voice, and so he comes off as the good guy.”
“You’re kidding me.”
“When I was ten, my father decided my education should begin.” He would rather talk about anything but his family, but he owed Annabelle an explanation, seeing as she was here, right in the middle of it.
“You didn’t go to school until you were ten? I guess that explains quite a bit about you.”
“And there’s that smart mouth.” He tugged a lock of her hair. “No, the education I’m talking about was learning to step into my father’s shoes when he felt the time was right.”
“At ten?”
“My father believes in planning.”
“What happened?”
“I told him I didn’t want to, so he sold Hope’s pony, and she cried for weeks.”
“What’d your mom do? Surely she had something to say about that?”
Ethan remembered pleading with his mother, but all she’d done was shake her head and say that father knew best.
“My mom does what he tells her to do.”
“Wow, poor her. Her life must have been hell. I mean, this is all pretty impressive, but if he’s that much of a bully, she must have suffered over the years, especially if she wasn’t tough enough to fight back.”
Ethan knew what Annabelle said was right. He’d just never really forgiven his mother for taking her husband’s side in everything.
“So you towed the line, then, to keep everyone safe?”
Ethan liked touching her, stroking the smooth skin of her shoulders, pushing his fingers through her hair, and she hadn’t bitten him yet so he kept on doing it.
“It wasn’t all bad, honey. Look where I live.” Ethan gave her a smile she didn’t answer.
“Don’t bullshit me, Gelderman. You were miserable, even living in this place.”
He was, but it surprised him that she knew that. Doing whatever his father asked of him had taken its toll on him; even at a young age he’d become introverted and angry. “The hardest part of it all was that everyone thinks he’s a good guy because he’s so good at manipulating people.”
“How did you get away?”
She rolled on top of him, her hands one on top of the other, chin on top as she looked up at him.
“I planned and plotted for years. Uncle Mitch is dad’s brother, and he kept me sane by teaching me to fly a helicopter. He convinced Dad to let me learn, and in all honesty, if I hadn’t had those lessons I think I’d have gone crazy.”
“So you kept your head down and learned to fly and when you were old enough you joined the Army. I bet that was a day to remember, the one when you told your dad what you were doing.”
“It wasn’t pretty. I had told Hope and Taylor what I intended to do, and they wanted me to do it.”
“What’d your dad do?”
Ethan remembered the day clearly, and the memory never got any better. “Hope was away at school, and Taylor and Mother were visiting family for a couple of days, so it was just me and Dad.”
“Where was Brad? You haven’t mentioned him in all this.”
“He was away at college.”
“But were you ever close with him like the others?”
“Yeah. It started to change, though, when he realized our father was only interested in me and not him. He would run to him every time I did anything wrong.”
“He’s a bit sleazy, but I’m sure most of that is your dad’s doing again. He has to have some of you and the others inside him, I’m guessing”
“Women fall all over him, Annabelle. Sleazy is not something he’s ever been labeled before, I’m sure, and yeah, he was once a pretty good guy.”
“Believe me, I’ve been hit on by plenty of men and I know sleazy when I see it.”
The bite of anger he felt at men hitting on her was totally unreasonable, but Ethan felt it anyway.
“So your dad must have been pissed when you told him?”
“Yeah, we fought, and it was the first time I can remember that he lost his cool and raised his voi
ce. We roared at each other and then he threatened to cut me off, but I’d made sure he couldn’t hurt me. Financially I was pretty independent because I already had my grandparents’ inheritance and he couldn’t touch that.”
“So you just left? Packed up your stuff and walked out?”
“Uncle Mitch walked into Dad’s office as he threw the first punch, and I got in a couple of my own before he separated us. I just walked out then, and didn’t look back.”
“You said Uncle Mitch is your dad’s brother?”
“Yeah, he’s a hardass too, but he’s fair with it, unlike his brother. He came to my room while I was getting my bags. I told him how things had been and why I was going, then asked him to watch over the others. He didn’t say much, just shook my hand and told me if I ever needed anything I could come to him.”
He fell silent as he remembered that day, could feel the emotion welling inside him as he recalled walking from the house and climbing into his pickup. It was as if someone had been standing on his chest for years, and was finally stepping off. He’d driven down the driveway crying like a baby. The relief had been so intense his hands had shaken for an hour.
“It must have been a wonderful feeling to finally get out from under your dad, but I bet there was sadness, too, for your siblings?”
One of Annabelle’s hands settled on his chest. The gesture was meant to comfort, and surprisingly it did, as had talking about his past with her while she lay in his arms.
“So now you know why I want you to stay out of the battle, Annabelle. He’s a mean son of a bitch, and I won’t let him hurt you.”
“It’s not going to be easy, Gelderman. I’m a confrontational kind of girl, and if someone pisses me off or goes after someone I care about, I don’t usually back off. But I’ll try, and that’s the only promise you’re getting from me.”
Ethan could feel the smile on his face. “Nice to know you care about me, Smith.”
“Don’t let it go to your head. I care about a lot of people, in a purely friend-based capacity.”
“No, you can’t get out of this one. You said you care, and I’m not allowing you to take it back.”