by Brynne Asher
All of a sudden, I’m not in my chair any longer. I’m up and yanked around the corner of the table where Crew pulls me onto his lap.
“Hey—” I cry out in surprise as he buries a hand in my hair, his other arm clamping around my thigh with a hand on my bottom. He brings my face close to his where he’s a breath away.
I don’t have time to say anymore because he interrupts me. “You let me take care of you—you can let that go.”
I shake my head. “There’s no way. I’ve suffered from panic attacks for years. I can’t survive without knowing I have some sense of control.”
“You’ll learn to. I’ll help you.” He states this with conviction, like he knows for a fact he can best the challenge. I’ve been trying to best that challenge for years—I can’t seem to get over it. “I promise, this shit with O’Rourke won’t last forever. In fact, it shouldn’t last long at all. What they’re doin’ is bad, but from what I’ve learned, the government is closin’ in and wants to wrap this up as soon as possible. It’s gone on too long. If you trust me, you won’t need that control. I promise to take care of you, Addison.”
I sigh, barely shaking my head, mulling it over. I know what I need, but I also know what I want.
I think he sees victory ahead, the finish line in sight, because he keeps talking as he gives me a squeeze. “You’ll go in blind. For me.”
I frown, throwing my words back quickly. “You’re overly confident, you know that, right?”
I get a smirk. And a cocky one, at that.
Bringing my hands up to the side of his neck, I hold on. I don’t say anything but feel my face fall in defeat when I finally nod my answer. This buys me a slow growing smile, which, from this proximity, is downright beautiful.
I guess I’m going in blind, trusting Crew after barely knowing him a week. Apparently, I’m going to do it not knowing anything about him when he knows absolutely everything about me.
Right before he pulls me in tighter to kiss me crazy for the second time tonight, I melt into him, giving in completely.
I’d say I hope it’s worth it—that he won’t let me down—that in the end it will be worth following my heart instead of my head.
But at that moment, it was. It totally was.
And I’ve decided to blame it all on the dimple.
Chapter 13 – Tuesday Nightie on Friday
Addy –
For the second night in a row, Crew is in my bed. And just like last night, having him here makes my heart stir.
It hadn’t taken long to clean up the kitchen from his simple, but odd, dinner. Since it was already late when we started, it was late-late by the time his dimple talked me into trusting him. With everything.
When he took me by the hand leading me out of the kitchen, I asked what he was doing. He answered with a question as he pulled me along. “You liked me in your bed last night?”
My eyes flared and I bit my lip. I said nothing because he already knew the answer.
His eyes heated when he responded to my silence as he led me up the two flights of stairs to my room. “You can like me there again tonight.”
I had to fight against becoming a pile of mush, again. I didn’t fight him because he was right. I liked him in my bed.
I wash my face and brush my teeth. I have no idea what to wear, but after sleeping in my dress last night, it’s time to make a good showing.
Going to my closet, I shut myself in and strip down to my panties. I decide on a simple, but slightly skimpy, heather gray cotton nightie. It hits the middle of my thighs, has spaghetti straps and dips low in the front. It’s not lacy or racy, screaming, “Make me your sex slave, pretty-please.” What it is, is comfortable and cute with a side of sexy, even if it is sexy in a Tuesday-night sort of way. Friday-night-sexy would look like I was trying too hard.
Here I am, dressed in a Tuesday nightie with Crew waiting for me in my bed. When I finally open my closet door to find him lying there, he’s bare chested with the covers barely pulled up to his hips. The lights are dim with only my bedside lamp casting a dull glow.
This is different. Settling in bed with him last night because I was upset from all that happened seemed oddly natural. Tonight, going to bed with my neighbor whom I’ve only known a week is awkward, and I don’t like awkward.
He flips back the covers and he’s wearing nothing but a pair of boxers. All of a sudden, I’m no longer ill at ease. Seeing him practically bare takes my breath away. His muscles are molded into one another and ripple down his body, doing that V-thingy before disappearing into his underwear. And his legs are thick and long, attesting to the fact he runs, works out, or does a shitload of squats every day. Although, I doubt he does squats. He probably leaps to the tops of trees, setting up cameras to spy on me. Either way, the results are delicious.
Realizing my eyes are everywhere but his, I look up and his are heated, dragging his gaze over me from top to bottom. I even hear the heat in his gravelly voice, ordering, “Come to bed.”
I shouldn’t be nervous. I slept with him last night, but when I reach the side of my bed, I have to tell him because I won’t be able to sleep otherwise. “You’re on my side.”
He frowns. “You have a side?”
I only move to tip my head. “You don’t? Everyone has a side.”
“I don’t.”
“Well, I do and you’re on it.”
“You didn’t have a side last night.”
“I was upset last night. I wasn’t in the mindset to think about it.”
One side of his mouth tips as he keeps on, “If you get in, I’ll make sure you won’t think about it tonight, either.”
“Crew,” I drawl his name, complaining with my tone.
“Baby,” his voice softens even as he sounds frustrated. “You said yourself you liked me here, but I’ll bet your sweet ass I liked being here more than you liked having me here. It’s late and even though tomorrow’s Saturday, I’ve got a shitload to do. Now, come to bed. You look tired.”
Maybe it’s his tone or letting on he thinks my ass is sweet. Or maybe it’s him telling me he liked being in my bed more than I liked him there—which is impossible, but the sentiment is sweet all the same. Whatever it is, I find myself once again relenting to Crew Vega.
Perseverance must be his middle name.
Crew Perseverance Vega.
It’s strange, but it fits. It also doesn’t bode well for me.
So I crawl into bed, on the side I never sleep on and Crew pulls me into his arms. Then, he kisses me crazy, and since I’m lying prone, I actually do turn to mush.
When he finally slows and looks down at me, his big hard body partly covers mine.
I decide to speak first. “Why can’t I have my side if you don’t have one?”
“You don’t give up, do you?”
I raise my brows at him. “Well?”
He completely rolls on top of me and I separate my legs to make room for him. His voice dips, becoming as intimate as our new position.
“I’ve traveled for almost ten years with my work. Unless I’m visiting my mom or my brother, I’ve rarely slept in the same place for more than a few nights at a time. It’s become habit to sleep on the side by the door. Your door’s over there.” He tips his head toward the entrance of my room. “I sleep on that side. Simple.”
There’s so much there. His family, him not having a home or hardly sleeping in the same place for ten years. I forget all about our sleeping arrangements, asking, “Do your mom and brother live here?”
He shakes his head. “He lives in Florida and my mom’s outside of Atlanta. She moved a few years after my dad died. She wanted a new start. I see ‘em a few times a year.”
I give him a small smile because I’m happy he has them. I’m not sure why I say what I do next, but it pops out before I can make myself stop. “I don’t have any family.”
His grin disintegrates as he leans in to kiss me slowly. His hand comes to the top of my head, stroking my hair, wh
ispering, “I know.”
My body melts into his when I keep talking because I want to know more. “You have a brother?”
“Yeah.”
“Older or younger?” I’ve always wanted a sibling. It obviously never happened, but I love that he has that.
“Younger. Twenty-nine. His name’s Steele.”
I raise my brows and smile. “That’s as strange as Crew.”
He returns my smile. “I know.”
“Is there a reason your parents named you such strange names?”
He gives me a shrug. “You’d think it was my dad, but it was my mom. She said she wanted us to stand out—be different. She also said the best way to do that is giving a child a name they have to live up to. Strong names make strong individuals. Or so she says.”
I run my hands down his thick arms. “She must be onto something.”
Shaking his head with a smirk, he replies, “I don’t think that’s what she meant.”
“Your mom sounds like a smart woman.”
“She is.” It’s not only his words, but also his expression, that tells me he believes this wholly. Just when I was feeling pretty damn good right where I am, that makes me feel even better.
“Wait,” I start. This has been the strangest week of my adult life—bar none. There’s so much I don’t know, especially about him. “How old are you?”
“Thirty-four.”
“Oh,” I breathe. I’m not sure how old I thought he was, but for some reason I’m relieved. “I’m thirty-one.”
His smile slowly spreads into a grin. “I know that, too.”
I roll my eyes, looking away from him, perturbed. “Of course you do.” When I finally look back, I ask, “Is there anything you don’t know about me?”
“Addison,” his voice dips as he gives me more of his weight. To feel him against me, pressing me into my bed, is more than good. Knowing I don’t have to be anyone but me with him? I don’t even know how to describe it. I’ve never had that with anyone but my mom. It’s impossible not to feel him everywhere when he wraps me up tight as he keeps talking. “What I know of you is on paper. Your family, where you’ve lived, things you buy. Anything that has a paper trail, I know. But you?” He presses his hips in between my legs, making my nipples harden. I pull in a breath when he continues on a whisper. “There’s a world of you I don’t know. I get to figure that out for myself. For now, you’re tired, I’m tired and when I do explore every bit of you, I want us to be rested. I want all of you and I don’t want you to be sleepy when I get it.”
Oh.
So, wait. We’re just going to sleep?
I tip my head and can’t help my body from shifting under his. Maybe in confusion or objection, but definitely with disappointment.
I can tell he doesn’t miss this when he gives me a small smile. “Trust me.”
I don’t answer when I narrow my eyes, frustrated. I’m flat out tired of him telling me to trust him.
He must see this on my face because he starts to laugh, but does it silently. As his body moves against mine, it feels good. Really good. Which makes me more perturbed because I can’t lie to myself that I’m not disappointed we’re simply going to sleep. I guess I wasted my Tuesday night nightie on him for nothing. I should have gone all out and done something with lace, a weekend nightie, for sure.
I exhale as he presses into me further, his hand dragging up the side of my body. Opening my mouth to say something, probably to lie about not being disappointed like I know I am, he takes it for a searing kiss. For the first time, I let my hands explore the bare skin of his back. Hard muscle over smooth, warm skin. Like magnets, one of my hands floats north into his thick, dark hair as the other drifts south. As soon as I hit the rock hard muscle of his ass, his hips press into me where I’m warm, wet, and wanting.
Oh, he’s big, and he feels good. And oh so big.
I pull my knees up for more, but he breaks his kiss, breathing against my swollen lips. His dark eyes search my face and his voice turns ragged. “Was it just a week ago I met you walking your cows?”
I’m pretty sure this is a rhetorical question, but I get what he means. So much has happened in the past week, it feels like a blur. My only answer is to lift my hips where his cock rubs against my clit.
He gives me what I want, pressing into me as his words keep coming against my lips. “Never wanted something so much. Can’t stay away from you, can’t even get you out of my head. I’ve never had a shot at anything good, let alone someone like you.”
I wrap him up tighter in my arms. “Your words seem honest and real, but I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“I didn’t realize it back then, but I put my life on pause. For almost ten years, I’ve been in a holding pattern. Circling, doing what I needed but not knowing what was next. This shit swirlin’ around you landed me in your life and your bed in record time. I won’t lie, Addison, the first time I saw you, I couldn’t help but wonder what it would be like bein’ right here.” He presses his cock against me harder, emphasizing his words. “I was going to wait ‘til your shit settled to make my move, but after you fell apart in my arms last night, I can’t be anywhere but here. I fought it, but I’m done. This feels right. We’ll figure us out while we wait for them to take down O’Rourke. You okay with that?”
I don’t have to think about it. I want that more than anything, but I’m honest when I answer. “I’d be more okay with it if I knew why your life was on hold the last ten years.”
Looking down at me, he exhales before rolling, taking us to our sides. There, he gathers me up and kisses my forehead—something I’m learning is common for him. This is good for me, because I think I’m becoming addicted to it.
“Go to sleep,” he whispers as he slowly fingers my hair, all the while, ignoring my comment.
I yawn as I complain into his chest. “I’m pretty sure with all your cameras, sensors, and my security system—that no one can get through but you—you won’t need the side of the bed by the door. I’m not going to be able to sleep on this side, Crew.”
I feel his chest move with laughter when I hear him smile. “Baby, we’re in the middle. Let it go.”
“If we flip, I’ll be able to sleep.”
This time, I feel him sigh. Then his hand drops and he yanks my Tuesday nightie up around my waist. Cupping my ass over my panties, he squeezes me tight when his lips come to my ear. “I like this. You always wear stuff like this to bed?”
“Well…” I take in a breath, smelling him. “Sometimes. Sometimes a t-shirt, but I have other things, too.”
He pulls away enough to look down at me. “Yeah?”
I raise an eyebrow and smirk. “Yeah. I promise to show you if you switch sides with me.”
His smile slowly grows, the dimple appearing as he shakes his head. Grabbing my ass again, he hauls me close and starts to slowly draw random patterns there with his fingers.
“I’m never going to be able to go to sleep if you do that, Crew.”
“We’ll see,” he whispers into the side of my head.
I sigh, realizing I’m not going to get my side back. As I take a deep breath and try to relax, which truthfully isn’t hard in Crew’s arms, I start rearranging my room in my head. If I move my bed to the other side of the room, I’d get my side and Crew can have his by the door.
Just as I’m measuring wall space in my head, I drop off. Proving something else that I’m sure doesn’t bode well for me.
Crew can talk me into anything.
*****
Crew –
With her back to me, she starts to stir.
It’s eight-thirty, I don’t know the last time I slept this late. I’ve got a shitload to do, but I can’t make myself leave her. Unlike yesterday morning when I heard someone entering the house, today I get the opportunity to wake up with her. I’m not giving that up.
Her sweet nightgown rode up on her, right below her tits, and I woke up with my hand on her stomach, her back
pressed into my chest. As she stirs, she presses into me farther, wiggling her ass into my crotch.
Well, fuck. Now I’m really glad I stayed in bed.
With a mind of its own, my hand drifts up to cup her tit as I use my chin to move her hair, putting my lips to her neck. Hell if she doesn’t give me exactly what I want, tipping her head to give me access, at the same time arching her back. This thrusts her tit into my hand at the same time she grinds back onto my throbbing dick.
I twist her hard nipple just enough for her to groan before putting a hand to her belly. Moving away, I press her back to the bed and find her face sleepy but turned on. Feeling like I’ve waited a decade for her—since I have but didn’t know it until this week—I can’t wait another second. Fisting the bottom of her nightgown, I yank until it’s up, over her head, tossing it to the floor.
She whispers my name, and just like every time she does, I feel it deep in my chest. Pushed up on one arm hovering over her, I take a second to drink in her mostly bare body for the first time. I grasp her hip over her tiny panties and barely hear myself mutter, “Fuck, you made it all worth it.”
She reaches for my face and I give her what she wants, taking her mouth and feeling her skin against mine. Covering half of her, I explore her body while her nails lightly scrape down my back. I feel a hand dip into the back of my boxers where her small hand grabs my ass.
No hesitation, no shyness.
There’s nothing more for me to want. She’s everything.
“You’re rock hard everywhere,” she breathes against my lips.
I smile and knead her tit again, rolling her nipple between my thumb and index finger. She presses her chest into my hand, but before I know it, she plants a foot to the bed, trying to roll me.
I decide to allow her what she wants and roll, letting her climb over me. She rocks her pussy against my dick and I delve my hands into the back of her panties, cupping her ass. I wasn’t lying when I said it was sweet, but it’s sweeter in my hands. She rocks one more time before scooting down my thighs and when I look, she’s reaching for my cock.
“Unh-unh,” I growl, grabbing her hips, lifting her easily.