It Happens

by Vale, Lani Lynn

  Sometimes it was just easier to let her be disillusioned.

  “Oh, I won twenty dollars!” she cried out suddenly. “Woooo hooooo!”

  The men at the pumps putting gas in their vehicles looked our way, and one of them smiled.

  I narrowed my eyes at the man. He’d been here since we’d pulled in almost an hour ago. What was he playing at?

  There was no way in fucking hell he was still getting fuel. His car was a little Altima, with a tank that held about fifteen gallons at most.

  And I swear to God, he’d been putting gas in it when I had, too.

  He was also smiling at Jubilee like he knew her.

  With us being twenty minutes away from town, I wasn’t sure how he would. This place was well off the beaten path.

  “Who is that?”

  “Who?” She looked up from her card.

  “That man pretending to pump gas.” I jerked my chin in the man’s direction.

  “I don’t know,” she answered, going back to her game. “Hey, do you think this is twenty-two dollars or twenty-four?”

  She handed the card over, and I glanced down, tallying it all up with a quick glance.

  “It’s a hundred and twenty-two,” I told her. “Here and here means you have fifty and fifty. Not two.”

  Her eyes rounded to the size of saucers. “Score!”

  Fifteen minutes later, we were on the way once again, and Jubilee was still explaining why she shouldn’t have to pay me back in my ear.

  Her voice was even cuter in the microphone than it was in real life.

  She was also wiggling, causing me to want to wrap my hand around her back and pull her so tightly into me that she immediately got the message.

  Instead, I settled for putting my hand on her thigh and giving it a good squeeze.

  She immediately stilled and said, “What?”

  “You’re squirming, and making me want to pull back over and find a rest stop, and we haven’t even been driving two whole minutes yet,” I explained. “Can you please, for the love of God, sit the fuck still.”

  She started to laugh. “You’re not fun.”

  Sadly, she never managed to sit still, and by the time we arrived at our destination, I was once again a pent-up bottle of need.

  ***

  “Where are you taking me?” she asked, looking around like she’d never seen this particular part of the area before.

  “I’m taking you to a buddy’s cottage,” I said.

  “Which buddy?” she questioned, never one to let it lie.

  “Bayou’s grandfather,” I answered. “He’s letting me use this cabin while I’m here.”

  “But my aunt is expecting me,” she said, sounding not annoyed, precisely, but something close.

  “Sure,” I said, “And I’ll take you there…after.”

  “After what?” she questioned.

  “After I take care of something,” I said as I shut the bike off in front of the cottage.

  She got off moments after me and followed me inside. We didn’t make it halfway into the small one-room cottage before I had her around the waist and was following her down onto the bed.

  She squeaked, immediately dropping everything that was in her hand, and threw her arms around my shoulders as her mouth met mine.

  Our tongues dueled as our clothes were torn off, one article at a time until the only thing separating us was air.

  Then there wasn’t even that anymore as my body came down on top of hers.

  Her breath left her in a whoosh, not because of my weight hitting her—I gave her just enough of it to hold her in place, but not enough to leave her unable to breathe—but because of my warm skin meeting hers.

  Her body was so small under mine.

  I’d never given it much thought before, how small she was compared to me. But having her underneath me, my body practically covering every inch of her with room to spare, I could really tell just how small and delicate she was in comparison.

  My hand found her stomach, and I studied how my hand took up almost her entire abdomen. I could touch each of her hip bones with my thumb and pinky finger.

  And my hard, scarred hand contrasted almost obscenely with her smooth, milky skin.

  “Zee?”

  I looked up into her eyes, studying the pleasure written all over her face.

  “Yeah?” I rasped, unable to help myself from answering.

  I knew I shouldn’t. I knew what she was going to ask.

  “Are you okay?” she whispered.

  I licked my lips. “I’m going to break you.”

  I broke everything I held, eventually.

  I had multiple failed relationships. One girlfriend had passed away. I really didn’t have a positive track record, so to speak.

  I didn’t want the same for her.

  “I won’t let you,” she promised.

  I shook my head. “It’s not like you can stop me, Jubilee. I already hurt you. I took your virginity and can’t remember. Then there’s the fact that we can’t go more than an hour without somehow fighting over something…do you not see that this is going to end badly?”

  “I won’t let you. And not only that, but you won’t let yourself.” She paused. “And as for the virginity thing? Zee, that was on both of us…plus, from what I remember? That was never a problem on my end. It was only a very, very good thing.”

  Then she tugged me down with one hand around my neck, and I let her.

  I let her take my mouth.

  I let her open her legs and guide my cock to her entrance.

  I let her take me inside of her body.

  I fucked her slow and steady, keeping my rhythm almost inhumanly sweet.

  I didn’t want this to be a rough fuck. I wanted this to be a soft, sweet loving.

  I wanted her to experience a different side of me. One that showed her that I wasn’t always the slam-bam thank you type that I’d been showing her the last two times that I’d had her.

  And show her I did.

  Thrust after thrust, I built her up.

  I felt her build it from the ground up. Each thrust of my cock, I could feel the walls of her sex tightening, strengthening in their intensity, until finally, she tipped over the edge.

  It was only after I felt the added wetness—a little too much—that I pulled out abruptly and started jacking myself off against her belly.

  She was panting slightly, her eyes were full of heat, and she watched me do it with barely concealed glee.

  I grunted at the sight of her enraptured eyes watching me with such interest, my balls drawing up as I did.

  It was as the orgasm tore through my body that I lost my mind.

  I don’t know why I did it. I’m not even sure what came over me.

  But as I was spurting out my release on her stomach, I, for some reason, fed my cock back inside of her body.

  She moaned and opened her legs wider, her breathing harsh and interested all over again.

  I slammed myself home, unable to keep the same slow pace, and didn’t stop until I was completely and utterly spent.

  It was with our breath mixing, my forehead pressed to hers, that I fully comprehended what I’d just done.

  And couldn’t find it in me to care.

  She couldn’t have children.

  Hell, there was no telling if I could.

  I mean, sure, I’d gotten Raine pregnant…but what if that was just a fluke? What if that was a one in a million chance?

  And I was pissed off.

  I had this weird need inside of me that felt incomplete now, after learning about her fate—her future.

  “I like feeling you come inside of me,” she breathed, her eyes not on me, but on the spurt of release I’d left on her belly.

  Her finger drug through the pearly rope of liquid, gathering a portion onto her fingertip before bringing it up to her mouth for a taste.

  I growled and felt my dick
twitch.

  “Hope you’re not expected to come as soon as you get here,” I said to her. “Because now I want to keep you in this bed for just a few more hours.”

  She licked her lips in anticipation. “You have one more round, then I really need to go.”

  I shook my head.

  Then we went two.

  Chapter 11

  If by clubbing you mean eating club sandwiches, then yes, I’m down with clubbing.

  -Jubilee to Turner

  Jubilee

  I pushed through the doors to Benton, Louisiana’s one and only funeral home, and took a look around.

  When I was building my business, it was with both my mom’s and my aunt’s businesses in mind.

  I took a little bit of both and morphed it into what I wanted. The best of both, and made them my own.

  “Hello,” the woman at the front smiled. “Can I help you?”

  I smiled at the woman. She was young, maybe early twenties, and had a shock of red, curly hair that went a little wild around her face.

  “I’m here to see my aunt,” I said. “Brittany?”

  Understanding lit her face. “I should’ve known. You look a lot like her.”

  I’d been told that before. But it was understandable seeing as my mom and Brittany were twins.

  “I know,” I smiled. “Is she downstairs?”

  The woman nodded. “She’s expecting you. Do you know how to get there?”

  I nodded.

  She swept her hand in a low arc. “Then please, show yourself down. I’d help make sure you got there all right, but I did this last night, and I don’t really want to walk if I don’t have to.”

  She held out her foot, and it was then that I saw the large walking cast that went from foot to just below her knee.

  “Oh, ouch.” I winced. “Broken?”

  “Very,” she confirmed. “But such is my life. I’m so clumsy.”

  I shook my head. “I feel ya. I am, too.”

  The woman smiled. “My name is Nancy. It’s nice to meet you…”

  She left the statement hanging, and I grinned and filled in the blank for her.

  “Jubilee,” I said, holding out my hand.

  She shook it. “Excellent. I love that name.”

  I blushed lightly. “Thank you.”

  Five minutes later, I was pushing through the door that led to the downstairs level where all the magic happened.

  I found my aunt bent over a woman, mid-fifties, with a caved-in skull.

  She looked up as I entered, and a look of relief crossed her face.

  “You made it!” she cried. “Thank God!”

  Snorting, I tossed my bag in the corner and tried to control the blush that rose over my face.

  “Yeah,” I said to the wall. “Sorry I’m late.”

  “Not late,” she said. “Right on time. I just finished with that one on table four. If you want to start the process on cooler three, that’d be super. Channing’s expected in about an hour. She just had to go to a recital for her youngest, first. Then she’ll be here.”

  Channing was Brittany’s Turner.

  Where Turner did the makeup on my clients, Channing worked miracles with Brittany’s.

  I hadn’t seen her in quite a long time, at least a couple of years.

  “Okay, great.” I turned to cooler number three and started doing my thing, pulling out the body and getting it situated on the table where I would start the process of embalming. “What happened to the family?”

  “Bad car wreck,” she muttered darkly. “Couple of kids were out drinking and joyriding when they hit this family’s car. The car was totaled. Honestly, they should’ve done a closed casket. You haven’t even seen the dad yet…but it’s bad. I’m going to have to get creative with him.”

  I winced. “What about the kids? Did they survive?”

  “Yes,” she said. “But they’ll both be in jail for a long time. That, and I’m fairly sure that both of them will never walk again. One had almost a complete spinal severance while the other only had a partial. Needless to say, they weren’t one of the lucky ones.”

  The next couple of hours went fast. Channing, at some point, had joined us and got to work right alongside us.

  At some point, my uncle Cabe had called and gathered our orders for lunch, and it was late afternoon when we all stopped and took a break to eat.

  I threw myself into my uncle’s arms the moment he set the food and drinks down on the table and his arms were free.

  He hugged me to him and squeezed me tightly.

  “God, you’ve gotten more beautiful,” he teased.

  I rolled my eyes.

  “I look a hot mess,” I countered. “I rode all the way here on the back of a motorcycle, and I haven’t had a chance to get my hair tamed and under control.”

  He messed up my hair, causing some of the tendrils of hair to fall loose out of my ponytail.

  “Always loved your aunt’s wild hair,” he said. “I’m jealous our girl didn’t get her hair. Your hair.”

  I smiled warmly at my uncle.

  He never missed a chance to tell my aunt how much her hair was loved. Hell, he even extended that to my mother and me when he saw us.

  My mother, my aunt and I were all very much the same, at least looks wise.

  “And how is my cousin?” I asked, taking the French fries that my aunt handed me, as well as the burger that Channing held out.

  Brittany and Cabe had adopted a troubled teen about six years ago, and it was amazing to see how far she’d come.

  “A pain in my ass,” Uncle Cabe replied. “Her and her friend, the girl you saw out in the front?”

  Nancy.

  “Yeah,” I said, popping a few fries in my mouth.

  “They went out last night and got themselves in a spot of trouble. Nancy got a broken foot for her trouble, and my girl found out the hard way that you can’t outrun a pissed off drunk. Got herself slapped.”

  “Oh, shit,” I muttered. “Bet her clients loved that.”

  “Yeah,” Brittany said, annoyance tinging her voice. “I lost my shit when I saw her face last night. It looks even worse this morning.”

  I could imagine.

  “Wasn’t she out with her boyfriend?” I asked. “He just let that happen?”

  “No more boyfriend,” Cabe grumbled. “She got a shot of that loser and decided that life was better without having a douchebag to date. He probably wouldn’t have done anything anyway. He’s a pussy.”

  Laughing, I took a big bite of my hamburger and then moaned.

  I hadn’t realized just how hungry I was.

  Pairing the last few hours with the hour before that I spent underneath Zee? Yeah, I was completely and utterly ravenous.

  “You running still?” Cabe asked.

  I nodded, swallowing my large bite of hamburger before I said, “Sure am. I’m up to twelve miles this week. I’m running that tomorrow, by the way. You up for a couple of miles?”

  Cabe pursed his lips. “My long run day is Saturday. If I run with you tomorrow, I’ll be tired Saturday. Sorry, but no.”

  “It’s his recovery day,” Aunt Brittany said. “He ran and lifted weights today, and if he runs with you, he’ll blow out his legs and then whine because he did too much.”

  I snickered. “Uncle Cabe whine? No!”

  Channing started to laugh at that, causing me to look at her.

  “You look good, Chan,” I said to her. “How’s your husband doing?”

  Channing practically beamed. “Loki’s doing great. He solved a murder case that’s a couple years old just a few days ago, and we celebrated last night. I swear to God, I’m tired as hell. I can’t remember drinking all night being this hard on me a few years ago.”

  Brittany snickered. “Just wait. One day you’ll go from being able to drink a glass of wine with dinner, and following up with one for dessert, and the next you’ll be goi
ng to bed before dessert even arrives.”

  I smiled and was just about to say something in reply to that when the door to my aunt’s office opened and Zee poked his head in.

  I hated the way that my heart did an erratic titter the moment he came into my sight.

  “Um,” I hesitated. “Hey, Zee. What’s up?”

  He looked around, stared at the spread of food in front of me, and then nodded once. “Just making sure that you ate. The girl at the front said to come down here. She said you ate, but I just wanted to make sure.”

  His thoughtfulness washed over me, and I had the urge to walk over there and peck him on the lips.

  “Who are you?” Cabe asked.

  There was no annoyance that a random man had shown up in his wife’s place of business. Only curiosity.

  “Ezekiel,” he held out his hand. “I’m the guy that gave this one a ride.”

  He came farther into the room, and it was then that I saw the bag he had behind his back. A food bag.

  “You bought me food?”

  Zee’s eyes came to me. “Actually, I bought myself food. To eat tonight. I was on the way to the cottage, and then I thought maybe I should ask before I went all the way home.” He looked over at Cabe. “You’re going to take her home with you?”

  Cabe nodded. “Yes. Or Brittany will. Either way, she’ll get there.”

  Zee nodded once, and I felt a chord of discontent flow through me at not being able to stay with him tonight.

  “Actually,” I blurted out before I could stop myself. “If you’ll wait, I’ll just come with you. No offense or anything, Uncle Cabe, Aunt Brittany. But I’d like to sleep on a bed, and that cottage has extras.” Lies. All lies. “I love your couch, but my back’s stiff from riding the bike all the way here today.”

  More lies.

  Shit.

  I was so going to hell for that one.

  Cabe nodded in understanding.

  When their last child moved out of the house, Cabe and Brittany moved to the lake and into a tiny house. It was great—for them. Anybody else that wanted to stay over? They had to take the couch, and although it was nice and comfortable, it was a good reason to use not to stay over with them.