Life of a Fool (London Brothers Book 2)

by Cm Hutton

  “Yeah, I went to my office to work. Ask Craig. I called him the minute I sat down at my desk.”

  “I don’t need to call him. I believe you, and you don’t have any obligation to tell me where you went anyway. I just…”

  Both of Jason’s hands came up and cupped my face, his thumbs gently rubbing the edges of my lips. It took my brain a few seconds to notice the intimate change. If he noticed, he wasn’t letting on. “You just, what?” he asked, staring at my lips.

  Oh hell, I was in trouble because I realized right then just how much I wanted my best friend, and I let it slip out before I really thought about it. “I just want you, Jace. I can’t share you.” I took a breath and attempted to recover from my confession. “You’re my best friend, and I need you.” And I can’t handle any more hell like what Antonio has put me through.

  There was a long pause before Jason responded. “Is that all? You don’t want to share your friend?” His eyes were both sad and suspicious.

  “No,” I said, unable to stop the truth.

  “No? What else?” He still held my face with both hands but pulled us closer, his lips just a fraction from mine. God, he was going to make me say it.

  “I’m scared.”

  “Why, baby?”

  I closed my eyes and took another deep breath. “Because I want you.”

  Jason sucked in a huge breath before laying his forehead against mine. “I want you too. So much it hurts.”

  I leaned closer and let my lips brush his as he said, “I’m not sure I can stop myself if I start touching you. Tell me what you want. Please.” He placed a soft kiss on my lips.

  “You.”

  “Are you sure? You’re married, Legs.”

  “I know, but only on paper. He gave up the right to be my husband a year ago, the moment he hit me. I’ve known for a long time that I wanted more.”

  Jason shook his head, trying to wrap his mind around the moment. “All I could ever think about was you, Lori Ann. No one has ever measured up to you, baby.” He kissed my lips, this time pressing a little harder and longer before pulling back and asking, “Can I stay in here tonight?”

  I smiled and kissed his lips again. Everything about us felt right and there was no room for Antonio’s evil mind games. It was time I focused on the present and lived for me…for Jace. “Yes, please stay with me.”

  “Thank God,” he said before moving his body even closer as he licked the seam of my lips. The feeling sent chills down my back and I opened for him, letting his tongue slip inside. The kiss started slow, as if we were testing each other, but quickly became a sensual devouring of each other’s mouths. I could feel my body heating up as Jason licked, nipped, and sucked every bit of my mouth. I didn’t know how long we’d been kissing, but at one point Jason slowly laid me back and carefully pressed his body next to mine, lying only halfway on my right side, his leg draped between mine. I could feel his erection and his subtle rocking against me as his hand rubbed over the silk, lifting it slightly.

  “Jace?” I whispered between kisses.

  “Yeah? You okay?” His worried face made me smile.

  “Yes, but you still have your shoes on. Why don’t you change? I want to feel your body closer to mine. And your belt is sort of poking me.”

  He laughed, “Oh, sorry. Here.” He shifted and climbed up to stand next to the bed, then stared into my eyes as he stripped—yes, stripped—down to just his boxer briefs. My God, how had I missed what a glorious specimen my best friend had become, had always been? He crawled back into bed and took up his same spot, our bodies skin to skin, only a layer of silk separating us. “Better?”

  “Hell, yes!” I laughed.

  “You are so beautiful.” His face was suddenly serious. “I’ve missed you so much. Tell me this is okay. Tell me I can have you.”

  Oh my heart. It completely shattered, letting all of Antonio’s cruel words fall away only to be put back together by the sweet man in front of me. “Yes, Jace. It’s okay,” I said as I held his face in my right hand. “I’m yours, baby. I’ve always been yours.”

  Jason leaned close, but didn’t kiss me. Instead, he said, “Say it again.”

  I smiled and repeated the words. “I’m yours, Jace. I want this as much as you do.” His eyes closed, so I gently rubbed his cheek and lips with my thumb. “Kiss me. Touch me. I need to feel loved.”

  His eyes popped open. “I won’t be able to stop, Lori Ann. You have to be sure. Your whole body, your whole being will be mine, and only mine. I can’t walk away. Is that something you want, something you can handle? I won’t share you with him or anyone else.”

  His voice, the possessiveness, didn’t scare me. It wasn’t threatening like Antonio’s. It was so full of raw emotion that I felt like Jason was worshipping me with just his words. “Yes, Jason. I’m sure.” Easiest decision I’d ever made.

  “Thank God,” Jace murmured just before slamming his mouth onto mine. His hand slowly and carefully slipped under the hem of my gown and rested on my naked belly. As our kiss deepened and our tongues danced, his hand moved higher until he cupped one breast and gently began toying with my hard nipple.

  “Yes…” I hissed.

  “Feel good?”

  “Mmm, yes,” I whispered between kisses. “I need you.”

  “I need you, too. But I don’t want to hurt you. Let’s go slow, okay?”

  “Okay. Anything. As long as I have you right here with me.”

  “You have me.” Jason barely got the words out before dipping his head down and replacing his hand with his wet, warm mouth around my nipple. Everything felt so surreal as I watched my best friend worship my body. “My God, how I’ve wanted you, Lori Ann. All. These. Years.”

  I held the back of his head and ran my fingers through his hair. “I love watching you touch me, love seeing you kiss my skin. Never stop.”

  Jason lifted his face and looked into my eyes, groaning out, “Never,” before grinning and leaning back down to cover my other breast with his mouth, his eyes still on mine.

  My eyes shut for just a second as the pleasure rushed through me, but I forced them open so I could keep watching. Jason’s body was slowly rocking against my side as he sucked and gently bit my nipples, making me desperate for all of him. He must have known because in a slow, sensual move, he lifted the silk the rest of the way over my head and tossed it aside.

  I watched as he stared at my naked body and could see the pain in his eyes when he took in all the bruises still healing. Without a word, he leaned down, licked then kissed every last bruise around my chest, ribs, and stomach. Tears filled my eyes at the sweet, gentle gesture. He worked his way back up to my neck and behind my ear before stopping at my lips. He froze and whispered, “I’m so sorry.”

  “Why, baby?” I wrapped my good hand around his neck, keeping him close to me.

  “I wasn’t there to help you, to save you. He hurt you…my girl…he hurt my girl, and the rage in me is indescribable. I don’t know how to stop the anger. I want him dead, Legs.”

  I wanted to help Jason, wanted to console him, but truthfully, I wanted Antonio dead too. But all I could do was try to make a life for myself back home in the States without him interfering.

  “Jason, just love me. Help me forget. We’re here now, together…me naked beneath you.” I smiled, trying to bring him back to me, away from the ugly side of how we got here. “I’m here, with you. All for you.”

  “Yes,” he hissed. His hand traced a soft line from my shoulder, down the side of my body, and to my white lace panties. I’d imagined my best friend doing exactly the same thing at different times in my life, but now that we were here in each other’s arms, it was more magnificent than anything my brain tried to come up with.

  As Jason kissed down the side of my neck, his fingers lifted the waistband of my panties and slowly pulled them over my hips. The anticipation of being completely naked in front of Jason for the first time was incredibly erotic, to the point that I moaned as
he finished removing the tiny lace covering. Jason leaned back slightly and stared at my body. He’d never seen me like this, but the lust in his eyes told me he was happy.

  “More beautiful than in my dreams.”

  Before I could respond, his mouth crashed onto mine, his hand dipped into my folds, and both his tongue and his hand started slow tandem circles of my mouth and folds. “Jace…” I managed to get out.

  “Mine,” he growled. “You are mine now. Forever.”

  “Yes.”

  Chapter 12

  Jason

  It was unbelievable.

  I was in bed with Lori Ann, my girl, my best friend for all these years. She was naked, and she was finally mine. Or at least I hoped she was mine. Every inch of her was perfect, even the bruises, which really played games with my psyche. I wanted that bastard dead.

  But right now, I just needed to feel my Lori Ann under me. Needed to feel her wrapped around my cock and to drive into her so hard that I marked every part of her as mine. She was still healing, so I needed to be careful. But I was going to make her mine…no doubt.

  As I kissed her open, soft mouth and touched her wet folds, I thought of all the ways I wanted to claim Lori Ann. I quickly slipped off my boxer briefs and pressed my cock next to her side. Then lifting my mouth off of hers, I said, “Naked. This is new for us.” She laughed.

  “Yes, and I love it.” Perfect. “I need to see you, though.” I smiled, then leaned back slightly so she could look at me as her words filled me with contentment. “If I’m yours, then you are mine. No others, Jason. Promise me.”

  I turned my body and leaned over Lori Ann, our bodies lining up, and said, “No others. You and me.” I kissed her lips and aligned my cock with her entrance. “Are you sure you’re ready for this, for us?”

  She was panting, and the lust in her eyes told me the answer before her words had a chance. “Yes.”

  “I want you without barriers, nothing between us. Can I, baby?” She knew what I was asking.

  “Yes, Jace. Yes.” I slowly pushed into her opening and watched as her body arched off the bed. “So. Right.”

  We fit perfectly together, my Lori Ann and I. We were made to be joined in the most intimate way. I stilled my body when I was fully inside, and as I laid my forehead against hers, I whispered, “I’ve wanted this moment for so many years. Never leave. Please. I can’t lose you again.” I hadn’t meant to lay my soul out for her to see, but all the emotions of the last several weeks had caught up with me and stripped me raw. She needed to know my intentions, my heart. I could never let her go again.

  “I’m not going anywhere, Jace. I want this too.” Lori Ann shifted and placed a sweet, gentle kiss on my lips as she rocked her hips upwards into mine, earning a huge groan from me.

  “Again,” I managed to say. And she tilted her hips a few more times, taking me deeper. “My girl.”

  “Yes. Yours.” Her hands came up to cup my face. “I’m so happy to be here with you. I never realized how much I missed you until this very moment.”

  “I know.” I kissed her lips and slowly pulled almost completely out of her before pushing back in at the same pace. She closed her eyes and let her hands fall above her head. She was so damn beautiful, lying there fully exposed, open to whatever I wanted to do to her. She had no idea what that did to me, how much I needed control. I made a mental note to tell her, but tonight was not the time. I wanted to savor our first time to make love even if it was torture not to completely ravage her body, marking every inch with mine, claiming her forever.

  “Jace…” Lori Ann’s breathing was getting faster, more erratic, and it was ripping at my control.

  “Yes, baby? What do you need?” I asked between slow thrusts as I placed a trail of kisses down her neck.

  “I need faster, please. This is torture.”

  I smiled against her skin and pushed my cock in deeper, earning a small gasp. “I like this torture.”

  “Ahh…me too, but now I need release.”

  “Not yet.” I pumped in and out several more times before I felt her body clamping down on me. The tight squeeze on my cock snapped what was left of my restraint. “So good.” I couldn’t help myself as I thrust hard, speeding up our rhythm. I tried to focus on being careful of Lori Ann’s injuries, but it was difficult when all I wanted to do was flip her over and pound into her.

  “Jace, I’m going to…” she moaned, arching her back, causing everything in my body to suddenly need release too.

  “Yes, come for me.” I felt my own orgasm begging to explode, but I held on, waiting for Lori Ann. “Now.”

  “Yes…” she screamed, her whole body stiffening as she grabbed the back of my head, pulled my lips to hers, and shoved her tongue into my mouth. Her frantic kisses and tight, warm body wrapped around mine had me coming so hard, I had to break our kiss to catch my breath. I hadn’t meant to come inside her, but it was too late now. And truthfully, I didn’t care. She was mine, and it made every one of my ancestral, caveman, testosterone-filled cells pound on my chest at the thought of a part of me spreading all through her, staying in her long after our love-making was done. I smiled as our breaths slowed and carefully rolled to the side taking Lori Ann with me, my cock still buried in her.

  I kissed the end of her nose. “You are so beautiful. God, how I’ve wanted you, wanted this.”

  She smiled and stared into my eyes. “All these years, I’ve wondered what would have happened had we really tried at a relationship. I know it was me, my fault. I pushed you away back then because I was scared. I was so afraid of screwing up our friendship, and I needed that more at the time than a boyfriend. But I’ve always thought about it.”

  “I know. I’ve always known what you need, Legs. And back then, well, I knew you needed a friend. I guess that’s why I never got upset or angry about you pushing me away. I could’ve easily been so hurt or embarrassed that I ruined our relationship. Hell, I wanted you, was so in love with you, but…”

  Lori Ann kissed me, stopping me mid-sentence as her lips opened, inviting me in. I pulled her closer and pushed my tongue inside. I didn’t know for sure what the sudden need was, but I had an idea. When she pulled back to look at me, I saw it in her eyes. Regret.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “I’m sorry, Jace.”

  “Why?”

  “I never told you that I felt the same way. I loved you too.” A small little smile crept across her face.

  “What? You did?”

  “Of course I did. You were my best friend. We did everything together, talked all hours of the night, and shared more than just a few secrets with each other. I suspected you had deep feelings for me, but I didn’t know if I should bring it up. Then, when we kissed…like really kissed that first time and ended up half naked a few weeks later? Well, I freaked out. Those few months that we tried to date each other were so good. I loved holding your hand, having you kiss and touch me, but all I kept thinking about was what if we ruin us? I was moving across the globe and you were leaving for training, and I knew how much we would need each other. It was so hard to walk away from having all of you. Even when Antonio came along, I kept thinking, ‘What would Jason think? Would he be jealous, tell me not to marry him, come find me and stop the wedding?’ I know that sounds crazy, but it’s true.” The grin on her face was so cute.

  I smiled and let out a little laugh. “I was jealous…hell, I was out of my mind with it…and pissed, and hurt but I couldn’t tell you that. I thought you were happy, and I was a world away. Just for the record, I nearly did fly to Italy when you told me you were engaged. I wanted you to look me in the eye and tell me you loved him and not me.”

  “What stopped you?”

  “Craig.”

  “He did? Why?”

  “He told me I needed to get a fucking life.”

  “Sounds just like him.” Lori Ann chuckled.

  “Yeah, he was right. But damn, it was hard.”

  “Well, in hindsight, I w
ish you would have stopped me.” Sadness washed over her face.

  I leaned in and said, “I know. I’ve been thinking that very thing for weeks now. I’m sorry, baby. I hate that he hurt you. It kills me to think about you being scared for even one second.”

  Lori Ann kissed my lips and said, “I’m so glad to be here with you.”

  “Me too, more than you know.” I deepened our kiss and rolled us over as I ran my hands through her hair. I was still inside her, and as I got harder, she groaned. “Now, I need you again before I take you to the shower and curl up next to you all night long.”

  “Yes, Jace. Yes.”

  Chapter 13

  Lori Ann

  My whole body hurt.

  Mostly, the pain was from all the twisting and turning of my broken body during my incredible night with Jason. I worked hard not to show any of the pain, and for the most part, it was easy to ignore. Jason worshiped me, made love to me three times, the last being in the shower, before crawling naked into my bed. He firmly gripped my body next to his as if I might vanish into thin air. I slept better than I had in over a year.

  *****

  I grew up in an incredibly loving home, the only child of second-generation immigrants from a small town in Italy. My grandparents, my father’s parents, had had an arranged marriage, which I always thought was completely crazy, but my grandmother used to tell me how much she respected my grandfather even from the beginning. She’d told me that together, they’d made the decision to leave Italy, immigrate to the United States, and start a life here, away from all the traditions of their families. They wanted to love each other, to start fresh. And a few years into their marriage, she said she fell head over heels for her husband. My grandfather used to get the biggest grin on his face when she’d tell the story. He’d shrug his shoulders and say, “What’s not to love? Look at me.” Then, he’d laugh, walk to my grandmother, and kiss her so tenderly just before giving her a swat on the ass.

  Of course, my grandmother would chastise his behavior, but always with a slight smirk and a wink. So in love and committed, they died within hours of each other during their sleep not long after Antonio and I married.