“She has a smart-ass answer for everything,” Bryan grumbled, feeling his own chest puff with pride.
“I know how that is,” Marc chimed in, not sounding like it bothered him at all.
“And she is so damn stubborn…”
“Again, something I understand,” Marc once again mumbled.
“And when I’m not around her…” Bryan didn’t stop the humorless laughter, stuffing his hands into his front pockets. The idea of not having her around and the possibility of his reality almost brought him to his knees. “It doesn’t matter.” He shrugged.
“Why?” Marc asked, still acting as if he was checking out the car.
“I can’t be that guy for her. Not in the long run, anyhow,” he reasoned more to himself than his brothers, though a voice in his head called him a liar. “I can’t give her what she needs.”
“And what is that?” Garrett asked, making Bryan swallow hard, the words on the tip of his tongue, but they didn’t come out.
“Doesn’t matter.“
“Donnie saw Courtney,” Marcus announced, and he looked at his pretty-boy brother.
“She’s back in California?” he asked, a frown on his face deepening into a scowl.
His brothers hadn’t lied earlier. Six months almost to the day from when the divorce was finalized, she married the guy she’d admitted having feelings for. Two months later, she had transferred to the Chicago offices for work, according to some mutual friends. He liked the idea of her being far away. Not because he was somehow still hung up on her. He wasn’t.
Time had gifted him clarity. Clarity he had not had during his time with the one woman he had grown into an adult with. She had her good sides, but mostly she was a whiney, spoiled brat.
“Apparently.”
“Good for her.” He cleared his throat, trying to figure out a way to change the subject.
“Whatever you couldn’t give Courtney… maybe it was because it wasn’t meant to be with her. Have you ever thought of that?” Garrett suggested. Bryan wished. He wished it could have been that easy.
“You have no idea what you’re—”
“Then fill us in, man,” Marc pushed. Bryan fixed his eyes on the boxes on the other side of the garage. “Or don’t. But whatever you think you can’t give, make sure Valerie even wants it before you push her away for some stupid fucking reason.”
“And if Valerie wants a family, has her heart set on it, maybe you guys could consider different ways of creating one,” Garrett bluntly put out there. Bryan’s body stiffened completely.
“You know?” he breathed out, shame burning his cheeks, not looking at them.
“According to Don, she was tipsy and chatty,” Marc filled him in, and he shook his head.
“You guys tell…” He swallowed hard. Fuck. He didn’t want to see the pity on their parents’ faces.
“No. We aren’t going to say shit. You know we wouldn’t,” Marc calmly shared.
“It’s no one’s fucking business,” Garrett added, and Bryan nodded knowing no matter what happened or how they bumped heads, his brothers and Don were men he could count on having his back.
“Not Mom or Dad’s, or Nicola’s. Unless you want them to know,” Marc said. He heard the car’s door open and gently close. He knew Marc was doing it to keep the atmosphere calm and easy to talk about the shit they were talking about.
“We just don’t want you to fuck this up,” Garrett blurted, and somehow, Bryan felt his lips twitch upward.
“Right,” Bryan muttered.
“Come on, we should really get going. Grace should be done writing, and I wanna make sure I keep inspiring her writing those book boyfriends,” Marc remarked. Bryan couldn’t stop the chuckle that came out.
“You’re an idiot,” Garrett muttered, patting Bryan on the shoulder as he slipped out of the garage. “See you guys this weekend, yeah?”
“Yeah,” he mumbled, his throat too tight with emotion and gratitude over how lucky he was to call his brothers his friends.
Standing at the end of the driveway, he watched them slip into Garrett’s truck and drive off. But he stood in the darkness that was dimly lit by the lone streetlight for a while after the truck had disappeared from his sight.
A weight had been lifted off his shoulders knowing someone knew his secret. What he felt was his biggest failure. And they had been supportive, not once uttering the stupid jokes he’d feared. To top it off, they liked Valerie. They liked his little goddess and didn’t want him to mess it up with her.
He didn’t want to mess things up with his sassy little Blondie, either. Maybe it was time to ask her what she wanted in her future. Would she want a family one day? Would she be open to other avenues to create one?
Walking back into the house, he felt lighter and more hopeful than he had in a really, really long time.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
BRYAN
“Are you sure about this?” she asked, and he smiled.
“Yeah, why not?”
“I don’t know, because it feels a little fast, maybe?” she sarcastically answered, and he bit the inside of his lip.
“Babe.”
“They think we live together!” she exclaimed, clearly frustrated. He pulled her hand to his lip, while his other one was on the steering wheel. His lips touched her soft skin with a gentle kiss.
“We do live together,” he reminded her, stealing a glance at her, not missing the fire in her eyes.
“You know what I mean!” she exclaimed, her round cheeks reddening, and he smiled as he looked away to pay attention to the road.
“It will be fine.”
“We shouldn’t kiss or touch with them around. They will get the wrong idea and—“
“Val, come on,” he scoffed. “No touching? I don’t think you would be able to resist.”
“Resist?”
“Yeah.” He shrugged, raising a shoulder. “Face it, Blondie, when I’m around, you are all hands and touchy-feely.”
“I am, huh?” she asked. Glancing at her, he could see that she was finally starting to relax.
They were on their way to Marcus’ place after he worked very hard to talk her into going. Thankfully, Bryan was both creative and resourceful the night before, having talked her into a full body massage after her last work day. A full body massage that turned erotic, and afterwards, he had teased her mercilessly, had her squirming beneath his tongue to the point he was sure he could have talked her into donating a kidney. Instead, he had asked her to go with him and she had agreed. The memory made him grin and aroused at the same time.
“Well, who can blame you, really. I mean, I do look like this,” he teased, pointing to himself.
“So humble,” she mumbled under her breath, and his lips twitched.
“I really I am.” He sighed, enjoying their playful banter.
Turning right to exit the freeway, he looked at her. She was a little more relaxed than when they had first left, but he could still feel the tension she was radiating in his SUV. His hand fell to her thigh as he looked out toward the road.
“What are you doing?” she asked cautiously.
“Undo your jeans,” Bryan ordered without looking at her, hoping she would give in without too much trouble.
“What?”
“You should have worn a skirt,” he muttered, stroking her thigh.
“Bryan.” He heard the small hitch in her breathing and licked his lips. He knew exactly how he was going to get her to relax.
“Undo your jeans, Blondie.”
“But—“
“Now.”
“Okay,” she huffed, and he wanted to high-five himself. “You are so bossy.”
“You like when I’m bossy,” he reminded her, pulling into an empty park, driving toward the back of the parking lot that was mostly covered with trees.
“This is such a bad idea.” She might have complained, but she was doing as he’d told her. Her hands were at her waistband. His heart was beating furiously
against his chest.
“Now what?” she asked haughtily, and he skimmed his teeth against his bottom lip.
“Slip your hands down your pants.”
“What?” Her head popped to him as he set the car in park.
“Slip your hand down your pants, but outside of your panties, Val.” He heard the sharp intake of her breath and pushed her further. “Now.”
“But…” He could tell that as nervous as his order made her, she wanted to comply. She wanted him to touch her. He would.
Just not yet.
“Do as I said, or when we get home, you’re not going to like the consequences.” He pushed, and her eyes moved to his.
“Handsome—“
“Now,” he repeated, swallowing hard as he tracked her hand.
She had beautiful hands. Feminine with long fingers. He watched as she undid her seat belt and shifted her sexy-as-hell ass up, her right hand slipping down the front of her jeans. He took in a labored breath. Holy hell, that is hot.
“This is illegal, you know?” she commented, her voice thick with lust, and he knew she was just talking because she was nervous.
“Shut it, my little goddess. We are going to have a very nice visit with my family. You are going to be relaxed when we get there, and while we are there, we will deal with whatever fucking shit my grandmother comes up with, because we have no other choice,“ he shared, his eyes moving back to her face.
“God, I love it when you talk dirty.” She shook her head, slipping her hand out of her jeans, and his moved, quickly grabbing her wrist softly. His heart was beating furiously in his chest.
“We are going to do that, remembering how we looked coming… together.“ He would rather touch her and she touch him, but he was fixated on the idea of watching her get herself off.
“Together?” she asked with a little nervous giggle, but he didn’t let her see how fucking adorable he thought she was.
His face remained serious. “I’m rock hard, Valerie.”
Her eyes met his, and he watched her more than ample chest heave up slowly and then back down. “I want to close my eyes and still be able to see you, hear you. “
“Bryan,” she whispered, and a deep ache ran through him.
“I want to be able to smell how much you want me when I get back into my car tomorrow morning.”
“Shit.” Her hand slipped back down, and her head hit the headrest
He undid his own pants, and his erect cock popped out. He held his shaft tightly. Looking around, knowing exactly how empty the parking lot was, his eyes went back to enjoying the show.
He couldn’t see her. She was fully dressed, yet it was one of the hottest things he had ever laid his eyes on. Her mouth parted just as her eyes closed and a look of unadulterated pleasure fell over her face. His eyes were pinned to her gorgeous-as-fuck expression. Thumbing the bead of lubrication at his tip, he started to stroke his dick, slowly moving his hand up and down, his grip firm. Even though it had only been about a week since their first time, he didn’t need to see anything. He knew every inch of her.
But something about seeing her like this, touching herself fully clothed, was going to go down as one of the most erotic moments of his life. She opened her eyes, and he felt her gaze move down his throat over his chest to his now aching cock. It was like the fucker had a mind of his own and was a compass pointing right at her.
“I like watching you,” she panted, moaning as she swiveled her sexy hips. Knowing that she had just rubbed her pretty little clit had his entire body burning to touch her.
“You like this?” he asked, licking his lips, stroking his length from root to tip in slow jerks.
“Yes,” she whimpered, and he took a deep breath trying to prolong the moment, but breathing in, his lungs filled with her scent.
“Damn it, I can smell you. Love the way you smell, baby.” he hissed. “You smell so good…” he grunted.
“Bry…” she moaned.
“Under your panties, Val,” he pushed, needing to get her there. He was losing his control watching her. “Rub that pretty clit for me.”
“I’m so wet,” she murmured with a whimper, and his hand tightened around himself. Hell, yeah, she was wet for him.
“For me,” he growled deeply, almost incoherently, trying to swallow, his throat suddenly dry from how hard he was breathing. Gulping for breath, he was going to lose his shit. He needed her to come first.
“For you,” she whimpered. “Only you,” she panted, their eyes meeting. At her admission, he knew he was at the point of no return.
He quickly grabbed a napkin with his free hand from the center console. He was on edge. Something inside of him had digressed to a primal caveman state of being; something about her telling him she was wet for him, only him, made him want to beat furiously on his chest. He wanted her to only ever feel that way about him. Mine, his mind roared, his eyes pinned to her.
“Come, Blondie. Come for me. Only me. Do you hear me?” he gritted out, trying to do anything to hold off until she came.
“You…. You,” she panted, his stubborn, sassy-mouthed woman.
“Say my name,” he rumbled, pinching the tip of his weeping dick.
“Bryan,” she stuttered softly.
His eyes were fixed on her. Her face twisted in pleasure as she cried out his name and shuddered on the car seat.
He breathed in her feminine scent as it mixed with the sounds of her pleasure that were distinctly hers and only hers. And he followed her descent. Going over his own edge, ribbons of his cum spurting onto the napkin.
Inhaling deeply, he tried to calm his heavy breathing. When he turned his head to hers, his dick jerked, still spilling cum, wanting more, but he couldn’t. She looked at him through hooded eyes as she caught her own breath, a sexy smile on her face.
Without thinking, he wiped his hand clean with the napkin, never breaking their stare. Then he reached for her hand. Bringing her fingers up to his face, he closed his eyes and took in the mouthwatering scent of her passion and release. He took them into his mouth and sucked on her fingers deeply, letting her flavor burst on his tongue, his cock twitching in his pants. He let her fingers go with a pop.
Grinning wolfishly at her wide eyes, he delightedly took in the sexy blossoming of color that filled her gorgeous face.
“See? You can’t keep your hands off me,” he barbed and grinned like an idiot at the sound of her carefree laughter filling the inside of his car.
VALERIE
Bryan was the most infuriating, challenging man I had ever met.
He was pushy, handsome, opinionated, funny, and so damn sexy I was sure he was turning me into some kind of sex addict. He had woken the sleeping monster with an insatiable hunger and was the only one who could soothe the ache. Everything we did pushed what I had ever thought about sex out the window, raising the bar each and every time. What we had done in the car was nothing to snub your nose at.
If anything, I wanted an encore at home. Though I would want one with him naked and able to touch each other this time.
“You okay?”
“Yeah.” I smiled looking at myself in my compact mirror, then slipping it back in. “Good thing I had wet wipes in my purse,” I embarrassingly added. His chuckle tampered my need to hide my face behind my hands.
“Have you ever done anything like that?” he asked. I looked at him through wide eyes.
“What?” A nervous flutter ran through me.
“Before. Have you—“
“No,” I confirmed, and he nodded, a devilish smirk on his way too handsome face.
“I like that.”
“What?”
“Being the one to do this with you for the first time.”
“Oh.” My cheeks burned. I liked it, too. But a small whisper of doubt crept in. He likes being the first, but will he want to be the last? Stop. Have fun, I reminded myself. Looking at him, part of me wondered when he would walk out of my life.
“Yeah.” His hoarse
tone made me glance downward, unsure of why the thought of Bryan walking away bothered me. “Don’t do that,” he growled. My head popped up.
“What?”
“Look at me like that. We gotta get to my brother’s”
“I know.” I smiled brushing away the thoughts that had started to seep in. His hand holding mine brought me closer to him, while his other hand moved to my hair.
“I want to do so many things with you, and knowing that I’ll be the first you do them with…”
“I like that, too.” I trusted him to guide and teach me. I wanted him to be my first with those things. And last, that damn voice whispered again. I shook my head trying to bat the thoughts away. “We are going to be late.”
“Okay. Let’s get going.” He kissed me.
Not gently or tenderly, but completely. His need for me more than evident with every swipe and nip and scrape of his teeth against my lips.
“Bryan…” I groaned, pulling away.
“Okay, okay, okay,” he whispered sexily against my mouth,
The nerves that had washed away started to bubble up in the few miles it took to get to our destination.
“You sure I look okay?” I asked him.
“When did you become so vain?” he teased.
“What?” I scowled, knowing he was just trying to make me mad so I would forget that my top was kind of wrinkled from our little parking adventure. He slipped out of the car and was opening my door before I knew it.
He held his hand out for mine and I took it. Pulling me close, his hands wrapped around my waist, and I looked up at him. Something melted away inside of me, deeper than my heart. Something that was closer to the core of my soul. The way his eyes shined bright and his smile was one hundred percent genuine. The beauty reflected in his gaze made me realize how far I had fallen.
I am deeply and utterly in love with Bryan Wright.
How the hell had that happened?
“Shit,” I whispered. His eyebrows went up with curiosity.
STEAL (Right Men Series Book 2) Page 17