Take the Fall

by Marquita Valentine

  Pulling away, he grabs me by my thighs and lifts. I wrap my legs around his waist. His cock brushes against me with every step.

  “I want you,” I whisper.

  “Be patient,” he says as he lays me down in the center of the bed. I watch as he gets rid of his jeans, boxer briefs, and socks, then rolls on a condom.

  Seth places a knee on his bed and then his hands. The muscles in his arms are cut perfectly, the veins bulging as he puts more of his weight on them. His dark gaze rakes over me as he licks his lips. I grow shamelessly wet.

  He grins like he knows it and crawls up and over me. Straddling my body, he sits up and runs the side of his thumb right along his lower lip in that way I love. His erection is rubbing against my chest, right between my breasts. I arch my back slightly and begin to move.

  “Take what you want from me,” I say, dying for him to finish this. I want him hot and hard inside of me. I want him wild and out of control. I want him—

  He flattens his palm against my collarbone and runs it up to my neck, lightly closing his fingers around it. “You have no idea how much you own me.”

  “That’s not my hand around your neck,” I say, but I make no move to push him away. A delicious thrill runs through me.

  “Yeah, I’m bigger than you, stronger than you, and could make you do whatever I wanted, but that’s not what I’m here for,” he says softly. Keeping his fingers lightly wrapped around my neck, he pushes his body back so that he’s laying fully on top of mine. My thighs cradle him, the head of his cock pushing against where I’m hot and needy.

  He dips his head, claiming my mouth in a hot kiss that makes my toes curl. The onslaught never comes, not like I expect. He devastates me one kiss at a time. He strokes my hair and the side of my face, then cups my breast. His thumb teases my nipple and makes me moan.

  But still he won’t move his other hand; it’s like he thinks I’ll bolt. I grab his wrist. He peers up at me through lashes so dark and thick it makes him look like he’s wearing eyeliner.

  “I need something to hold on to,” I say.

  The most wicked smile I’ve ever seen from anyone, including Seth, kicks up the corners of his mouth. “Hold on tight,” he murmurs as his hungry mouth covers my nipple and sucks it deep. His teeth nibble and torture me. His tongue soothes the sharp bites of pain that he leaves all over my sensitized skin.

  Lower he travels, to circle my belly button with his tongue and then to kiss my inner thighs. He runs his nose along my sex, then teases me with the tip of his tongue. “Smells so fucking good.”

  My grip tightens around his wrist in full anticipation of his erotic kiss, but when he sucks my clit into his mouth I scream and buck my hips.

  “Oh God,” I cry. “Ohgodohgodohgod.”

  My eyes close and my back bows as I urge him closer, as I try to get away but his hand around my neck prevents me from leaving. Yet he never increases the pressure. It stays light, his fingers gently caressing me.

  I’m his willing prisoner right now. I’m the one being owned by him. Tears spring to my eyes, not because I’m hurting, but because I’m free like this. His teeth scrape across my clit and I shatter.

  Seth moves again, positioning himself between my thighs. He grabs the base of his erection and pushes the broad head inside of me, sliding home in one long thrust. He braces himself on one elbow, watching me as he moves inside of me. The push and pull is driving me wild. He’s driving me wild. I writhe beneath him, wanting more, wanting him deeper.

  I tilt my hips back, and he slides in the smallest of distances, but it’s enough to make him groan. I smile, one hand going to his ass, urging him faster, harder, but he won’t obey. He hooks one of my legs over his shoulder, opening me up to him, and keeps his pace steady.

  “Touch yourself,” he orders harshly.

  I move my hand from his very fine ass to the top of my breast, slowly tracing the curve of it and then going lower. I’m wet and hot and desperate when I finally touch myself. He watches us, watches his cock go in and out of me, and my fingers show him exactly what I like.

  “Damn,” he mutters. “Hot damn, girl.”

  He rolls his hips, doing this figure eight movement that sends me over the edge. I press down hard on my swollen clit, rubbing it in the opposite direction of what he’s doing to me.

  “Seth,” I moan as my second orgasm washes over me. Everything goes bright and my body shakes at the intense pleasure. I know it’s because of him. I know that everything, especially sex, is better with Seth.

  I love you. I love you. I love you. I bite back the words.

  Growling, he pumps into me hard and then throws his head back, the tendons in his neck straining. He shouts my name and then he holds himself still, so deep inside of me that I know I’ll feel him for days later.

  Oh, who am I kidding? I’ll feel him forever.

  Seth

  I trace the lines of Rowan’s back while she sleeps. The house is quiet and peaceful, just like us. All the urgency I felt before, the driving need to consume her, is gone. Well, not gone, but it’s temporarily sated.

  She sighs dreamily. The sound makes my heart melt and my cock harden.

  “Dreaming of me, hopefully,” I murmur, kissing her shoulder.

  “Thinking about us,” she says, and I sit up.

  “Didn’t mean to wake you.”

  She turns over, regarding me with those beautiful blue eyes of hers. “You didn’t.”

  “Guess I should have gone for that last orgasm, huh?” I tease, leaning down to kiss her.

  She turns her face away from me so that my lips brush her cheek. “What happened tonight—this afternoon,” she stammers, then frowns. “However long—it doesn’t change anything for us.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “We’re not together.” Wrapping the sheet around her hot body as she sits up, she scoots as far to the other side of the bed as possible without falling off. “Don’t get me wrong. The sex is amazing. You’re amazing, and you’ve learned a lot, but let’s face facts. You’re leaving next week and time’s running out on learning the ropes of running Gardner’s. So you have two choices: Let me run it while you still own it, or sell it to me and I can still run it.

  “I’m sure I can make it worth your while and be very accommodating,” she adds in an uncharacteristic purr.

  Did she just throw my words back at me? Worse, is she trying to sway me with sex? “Are you trying to manipulate me with promises of more sex?”

  “Like you weren’t doing the same thing,” she says, but suddenly she doesn’t look so certain of what she presumes to be my motives.

  “Actually, I used you just for sex. That’s it. Nothing more, nothing less.” A lie, but damn it, I will not be played by her like this.

  She flinches.

  “Don’t act like the truth hurts you. I can’t hurt you. You made it loud and clear that nothing I do can touch your heart.” I shove away from the bed and begin to dress.

  “Leaving already?” she says, her brows lifting in an I-knew-it kind of way.

  I stop short of buttoning my jeans and stalk back to the bed, placing a knee on the mattress as I lean down. I grab her chin and force her to look at me. “You’d like that. You want me to prove you’re right. That nothing’s changed about me, and I’m still that bastard who nursed his hate and fed it your image each day while I was in prison and the first couple of years I was in the Corps. But I’m not, Rowan, no matter how badly you want that to be true. I’m just not that guy anymore.”

  She yanks her chin out of my grip. “You’re being that guy right now.”

  I grab her shoulders and haul her against me, dipping my head.

  “What the hell, Seth?”

  “I decided I’m not leaving.” Then I slam my mouth on hers and rip the sheet away. Her fingers go to my jeans, shoving and tugging at them. I help her, kicking them off and settling in between her thighs. “You’re wet.”

  Her stubborn chin lifts, all defiant. I ki
ss the dimple in it. I snatch a condom from the nightstand, rip it open, and roll it on. Her thighs widen and her arms wrap around me. She buries her head in my shoulder, as if she can’t bear to see me.

  I lift her legs and bring them over my arms. “You don’t have to talk.” I lean down, my chest brushing her hard nipples. “But you will give me those baby blues. You will see who’s fucking you.”

  She falls back on the pillow, staring at me with a mutinous look in her eyes before she screws them shut.

  Stubborn-ass woman. God, I love her. “Doesn’t have to be this way, Rowan.” My cock brushes against her and she moans in her throat. “Doesn’t have to be like this at all.”

  “Doesn’t change anything,” she gasps as I thrust inside of her. “Doesn’t change anything at all, you asshole.”

  I frame her face tenderly. “Be pissed at me tomorrow. Love me tonight.”

  Chapter 8

  Rowan

  It’s Friday morning, and Seth hasn’t spoken to me since he got out of bed Tuesday. He actually walked to work instead of riding with me. It pissed me off so badly that I’ve been crashing at Piper’s ever since.

  The door opens and he strolls inside, once again ignoring me as he laughs at something Boyd says. My heart pinches and I rub the spot, but I refuse to cry over it, over him, or over this situation.

  Although, it is strange to be in the same building and not talking to him. No, not strange. It’s like losing him all over again. Stupid for me to think, really, since he wasn’t mine in the first place. He hasn’t been mine for years.

  “I used you just for sex. That’s it. Nothing more, nothing less.”

  Worse, I feel like I crossed a line—that I ventured into territory I had no business visiting. I never should have listened to my brother, but I got desperate. Time is running out, and instead of concentrating on my future, I’m sexing up my ex.

  I can’t work like this, much less live like this. I haven’t experienced this constant state of flux since I was a little girl. It has me on edge. So much has changed in my life in the nearly two weeks since Miss Myrtle’s frail body got tired of fighting the cancer that had ravaged her.

  But there is a bright side. Jase is finally coming home, and I think I’m going to move back in with him. The house is big enough for the two of us, and I know he’s not planning on settling down anytime soon. Neither of us has ever thought about the future in terms of marriage.

  Even as much as I loved Seth growing up, I always thought he’d eventually find someone else. I hold my hand out, splaying the fingers and taking note of the black stains along the cuticle beds. Someone who isn’t quite so rough around the edges and doesn’t like to get her hands greasy on engines. A girl more like Piper or Brooklyn—ladies with brains and class.

  There’s a crash, and I start, my heart pounding.

  Boyd appears in my doorway. “We’re going to the Double Deuce tonight to celebrate Xavier getting a job. You coming?”

  I flash him a smile. “What time?”

  “Right after closing.”

  “I’ll try to make it. I’m picking Jase up at three and there’s no telling what he’ll want to do. If I can’t, then I’ll make a point to take Xavier to lunch on Monday, with you as our chaperone, of course.” I grab my phone to make a note to myself. “Hey, did you get my email about Jase’s party tomorrow night?”

  “Yeah, we all got it. Not sure why you sent it by email, though.”

  “Figured it was easier.” I glance at him. Boyd looks like he wants to say something more, but he shakes his head and walks out of my office.

  I blow out a breath. The last thing I want to talk about is Seth and me, and what we’re doing. Or what we’re not doing.

  God, why did he have to come back into my life like this?

  —

  Anticipation and excitement zip through me as I drive to Western Prison to pick up my brother. I’ve put Seth completely out of my thoughts. When Jase sees me, all he’s going to get is a happy, chipper sister.

  I roll my eyes.

  If Jase got a happy, chipper sister, he’d immediately suspect something, or think an invasion of the body snatchers had happened.

  Pulling up to the checkpoint, I hand the guard my ID. My name is on the list, so they wave me through pretty quickly. Following the signs to visitor parking, I find an empty space and cut the engine, then get out and lean against my car. Unsure of where I’m supposed to pick him up, I figure here is as good as anywhere.

  To pass the time, I start playing one of those mindless games on my phone.

  “Rowan!” Jase shouts.

  I almost drop my phone in my hurry to shove it in my pocket and run to him. He meets me halfway, grabbing me up in a bear hug.

  “I can’t believe it,” I cry. “You’re out. You’re finally out.” Leaning back, I look at him. He’s different without his prison uniform. His blue eyes are vibrant and his smile is gleaming. It’s as if the cloud that’s been hanging over him has been blown away.

  “Shit, girl. Stop crying.” He looks away, but not before I catch the sheen in his own eyes.

  Holding up my car keys, I shake them. “Feel like driving?”

  He lets go of me and snatches the keys, kissing them. “Fuck, yes.”

  We run for the car and get in at the same time. Jase flashes me a grateful smile as he cranks the engine. His eyes close as it roars to life and then begins to purr.

  “Sweet, right?” I say with pride. I’d taken Tony’s POS and turned it into a real showstopper. No one who treated a car like he did deserved to keep it.

  “I’m surprised Seth allowed you to drive it.”

  My smile falls as I scowl at him. “I paid for it, fair and square.”

  Jase tilts his head to look at me. “He won it, fair and square. Hell, Ro, he went to jail for this car.”

  “So did you.”

  “Rowan,” he warns. “This is Seth’s car. You know it, and I know it. Even that prick Tony knew it. You only paid for it to prove a point.”

  “I’m not giving it to him. He won’t appreciate it.”

  We coast along the highway, Jase kicking her up to a speed that will get him a ticket if we’re stopped, and he needs to get his license renewed. Not something someone fresh out of prison should be taking a chance on. With a little smile, I shake my head. Some things never change.

  “Is this about the car or you?” he asks.

  “Omigosh, can we leave the psychology crap back where it belongs—in prison?” While Jase served, he was required to attend anger management classes, and boy, did he get into them. Usually, we couldn’t have a five-minute conversation without him trying to analyze me.

  He lets up on the gas, his tattooed fingers gripping the wheel. “Bring me any—”

  Twisting in my seat, I grab a carton of cigarettes. “Yep, got your cancer sticks. Anything else you want that can kill you?”

  “Little shit,” he says affectionately. “What about a phone?”

  I grab my purse and pull out his new smartphone. “I took the liberty to order a protective case in your favorite color.”

  He laughs at the orange case, grabs it from me, and flings it in the backseat. “Mind if I drive straight home? I need a shower and food. Please tell me you filled the pantry and fridge.”

  “Yes, master. I performed all the tasks you assigned me.”

  He grabs me with one arm, pulling me close, and kisses the top of my head. “Missed you, brat.”

  “Missed you, too.” I lean against him, the comfort and familiarity of Jase making me relax. When we were younger, Jase would always protect me—at school, from our mom’s latest perv boyfriend, and whenever one of his buddies started sniffing around me. The only guy Jase ever let get close to me is Seth.

  “Jase?”

  The windows are down and the music is blasting, but he hears me. “Yeah?”

  “Why did you let Seth date me?”

  “Because he wasn’t like the rest of us,” he says, as if tha
t explains everything. “He didn’t belong in our neighborhood, just like the Gardners, but we kind of took the place over. Still, that boy was too good for all of us.”

  “Including me?” I ask in a small voice.

  “No, baby doll. No one in the world is as amazing as you. You’re in your own league. Seth was the only guy who realized it and didn’t want to drag you down to his.”

  I let that sink in for a moment. He’s right, the only time Seth ever treated me like I was worthless was when he went to prison. At seventeen. But the years he ignored me are hard to discount.

  “Have you thought about where you’ll work?” I ask, changing the subject. “Boyd’s the head mechanic and he has a wife with a kid on the way, and I—”

  “I’m straight, Ro. A buddy of mine is hooking me up.”

  I scoot back to my side of the car, narrowing my eyes at him. “Nothing illegal, right?”

  “On the up and up. He’s making room for me at his shop.”

  “Which buddy is this?” My nose wrinkles as I try to sort through the guys who’d stuck around.

  “Emmett.”

  “You’re going to work in a tattoo shop?” I know tattooing is something Jase loves, almost as much as racing cars. He’d started tattooing for cash when he was fifteen, after Emmett’s dad had taken him under his wing and taught him the finer points.

  “Jesus, Rowan. Get your nose out of the air before you drown.”

  I make a face at him. “I’m shocked, not uppity.”

  “Yeah, well, I’ll believe that once you get some ink,” he says, grinning at me. “I’ll give you the family discount.”

  “Charging me twice as much as everyone else is not a discount.”

  “Fine, I’ll only charge you half.”

  “Jase!”

  “It’s not like you’ll ever sit in my chair, so why are you worried?” That cocky grin of his that I love comes out, making a dimple appear in his right cheek.

  “Maybe I’ll think about getting one.” The only reason I haven’t gotten a tattoo yet is because I haven’t found what I wanted, not because I think my body’s too good for it. “Maybe I’ll bring Piper with me.”