Restrictions

by Nicole Dykes

  His lips brush against mine before his mouth closes over mine, and we get lost in a kiss, one that sets me on fire and crushes my soul all at once because it’s good.

  It’s incredibly good. My mouth opens for his, and his tongue sweeps inside, causing a soft whimper to escape my mouth into his.

  And I know this date went well. Really well.

  He leaves little kisses against my lips as he pulls away, and I know I want to do it again.

  He looks back at Baz, his chest heaving with aroused breaths and then back to me. “Do you want me to carry him in?” He looks forward at the front door, and we both know Asher is inside. “I can calm my body down. I just need a minute.”

  I laugh at that, not daring to look at his lap, but knowing exactly what he’s talking about. I clench my thighs together, trying to ease the ache between them and shake my head.

  “I don’t think tonight's the night for you to deal with Asher’s wrath.”

  “You think you deserve it?”

  I bite my bottom lip again and nod. “Maybe.”

  “You don’t.” His voice is firm, and I smile, brushing the light stubble over his cheek and smiling.

  “I had fun.”

  “Let’s do it again.”

  I nod my head as I open the door. “Okay.”

  I climb out and take Baz in my arms, allowing Sawyer to take his car seat out and put it in the garage before he gives my lips another brief kiss goodbye and leaves.

  I balance Baz in my arms as I make my way up to the door, a feeling of dread deep in my belly, but I know I have to face him sometime.

  I can do this. I don’t owe him anything.

  She went out on a date with Sawyer. Fucking Sawyer. My best fucking friend since I can remember. He took her out on a date, and he didn’t even have the fucking balls to ask me first. Or hell, even give me a heads-up.

  Instead he let me look like a fucking jackass when he was already on his way over.

  To take her and my nephew out.

  Who the fuck is he trying to fool?

  She thinks I'm immature and can’t commit . . . That motherfucker is even worse than me.

  How can they do this to me?

  I feel sick as I pace the living room. It’s getting late. The sun is starting to set. I know the zoo closed hours ago.

  What the fuck are they doing?

  Is he touching her?

  I shake my head at my own thought. No. Baz is with them.

  I heard his car pull up what seems like an hour ago, but in reality, it was probably only ten minutes. I refuse to look out the front window. To spy. To see if his hands are on her.

  Fuck!

  I hear the key in the lock and know it’s too late to run downstairs as the door pushes open.

  Please don’t let him be with her.

  I’m instantly relieved when I see Viv walk in with Baz in her arms, his body draping past her knees as she struggles, and I walk over to them. I keep my voice low. “Do you need help?”

  I can already see the defiance in her eyes before she shakes her head no. “I can manage.”

  She starts for the stairs, and I want to beg her to come back, but I don’t. I just watch her disappear up the stairs, my stomach in knots, left to wonder if he fucking touched her.

  Baz. Was. With. Them.

  I hold onto that as I go downstairs to my room, changing into my workout clothes and then going into the gym, spending some much-needed time with the punching bag, trying my best to get rid of some of the pent-up rage I feel inside.

  They couldn’t have fucked. Baz was there, and even if Sawyer is a depraved motherfucker, Viv isn’t.

  My fist slams into the bag, and I try to get my body under control.

  I knew when I couldn’t love her that she would start dating. I’d hoped she would wait I don’t know, maybe another two or three years, but still. I knew.

  But her dating Sawyer?

  I didn’t ever see that coming.

  I’m angry and beyond frustrated.

  The only way I've ever known to dull those feelings is to fuck them out of me. I pummel the bag over and over again until my arms are unable to lift, and I rest against the bag, panting and still amped up.

  How could they do this?

  I’ve been fucking good. I mean, really fucking good. Yeah, maybe I've gotten laid since Viv, but never have I rubbed it in her face.

  Not fucking once.

  I go into my bedroom and strip, climbing into my shower and letting the water wash away the sweat but leave the festering rage inside.

  Did he fucking touch her?

  I turn the water off and dry with a towel before pulling on my boxer briefs and climbing under the covers, tossing and turning.

  The thought of his hands on her makes me want to fucking vomit.

  I throw the covers back and sit up, knowing that the idea in my head is terrible, but I can’t stop my body from moving up the stairs to the main floor.

  Seeing it’s completely dark and knowing that Viv must have done a quick sweep down here, probably to clean up and then turn off all the lights, I silently trudge up the stairs toward the top level of the house.

  Baz’s door is closed, and I make my way to Viv’s, trying to steady my breathing. I walk through the open door and see no sign of her but see the bathroom light is on.

  Seconds later, she comes out of the bathroom, and I freeze at the sight of her wrapped in a pale pink towel, her hair wet and her lips parted in shock as she stares at me. “Asher? What are you doing in here?”

  I can’t look away from the tops of her full breasts, my anger unsatisfied but my arousal only heightened. My eyes lift slowly to hers. “Did you fuck him?”

  I can’t calm myself down, my fists clenched tightly at my sides, feeling a rush of jealousy taking over, something I've never felt in my entire life.

  Her chin lifts, and I can tell she’s going to fight me on this. “You can’t ask me that.”

  I take another step toward her and notice those tits that demand my attention under that towel, are rising and falling with quick breaths as I approach. “I just did.”

  I see a flicker of fury in her beautiful eyes as she shakes her head from side to side. “Well, I don’t have to answer.”

  I take another step toward her and then another and she backs away until she’s pressed against the wall and my body is a foot from her. “Did you?” My hand slides over her bare arm, it’s a light touch, barely there, but I watch as the fine blonde hairs stand on end. “Were his hands on you?”

  “I did feel his hand a time or two.”

  I fight the nausea that causes and glare down at her. “Where?”

  Her eyes meet mine as her head shakes from side to side. “I’m not doing this. I refuse.” Her voice is hoarse but still strong. “You had your chance with me. You told me that it wasn’t love, that I was confused. So we’ve moved on, Asher.”

  My face moves way too close to hers, her Hawaiian smelling shampoo fucks with my senses. “Have we?”

  I hate how her lips turn up into a cold smirk. “I have.”

  It’s a challenge, and I can’t believe this is the same woman I moved in with almost a year ago. “Is that so?”

  She nods, but it’s not so sure as my finger trails over her collar bone. “Baz was with you tonight. I know he couldn’t have fucked you.”

  My eyes meet hers, and I expect her to back down, to calm my fears, but instead I watch her full lips move as I listen to her voice. “That’s true. Baz was with us most of the day.”

  What the fuck? I study her eyes now, hoping to see the lie in them. “What are you talking about? Like you would leave Baz somewhere just so you can go fuck Sawyer.”

  She puffs out her bottom lip, a sinister look on her beautiful face. “Not just anywhere. He loves spending time with his grandma.”

  No. No. No. I examine her face, as I watch her and don’t see any deceit in those eyes. “You went to Kansas City.”

  “We did.”
>
  My hands plant against the wall as I stare down at her, my chest rising and falling with the fury flowing through my veins. “Did you fuck him?”

  “Why does it matter, Asher? I’m not yours. I’m not anyone's, and I’ll fuck who I please.” Her hand pushes against my bicep, but I stand firm.

  “Did he touch you?” It’s a growl between us, and I can tell she’s turned on as her breasts swell over the top of her towel, struggling to steady her breath with my body this close. My thumb grazes her bottom lip. “Here?” My mouth hovers over hers as I breathe against her lips. “Did he touch your lips.”

  “Yes.” Her answer pierces my heart.

  “With his?”

  Her head nods slowly, and I can’t escape from the sick feeling deep inside me.

  “You kissed him.” There’s no need for it to be a question.

  “Yes.” Her answer is breathless as I watch her chest rise and fall. She kissed him tonight, maybe more, but her body sure wants mine.

  “Where else did he touch you?”

  Her eyes flutter closed, and she bites that goddamn lip, pulling an angry growl from my throat.

  “Vivienne.”

  Her eyes open as she looks into mine. “We just kissed.” She leans into me, her chest against mine as her mouth goes to my ear. “But I wanted more.”

  I have the urge to punch a hole in the fucking wall but hold back as she moves away from my ear, looking me in the eyes again. My hand rests on her hips, pulling her against the erection straining under my briefs and hear that gasp come from her mouth when she feels it.

  “He wouldn’t give it to you? Doesn’t sound like Sawyer.”

  Her gaze dips down to the obvious tent in my blue briefs and then flicks back up to my face, our mouth an inch apart. “I’m sure he would have if Baz weren’t asleep in the backseat.”

  My lips brush over hers, and my tongue darts out, sweeping over that puffy bottom lip, and I feel her body shudder against mine. “I don’t think you’re thinking about Sawyer right now.”

  “Asher . . .” It’s a desperate plea as my fingers tangle in her wet hair, pushing her mouth into mine, and I kiss her, trying like hell to erase him from her.

  Hating that anyone else’s lips have been where mine are now, I use my hand to brace myself against the wall next to her head as I press my body flush against hers, my fingers still in her hair as she whimpers with need into my mouth.

  Did he warm her up for me? Am I just giving her the relief from something my best friend started?

  Fuck!

  My hand moves from her hair to the corner of the towel tucked between her breasts. She doesn’t object, and I tug the soft fabric, letting the towel fall and leaving her stark naked before me.

  My thumb sweeps over one hardened nipple, my voice gravely as I struggle to think straight with the sight of her naked body in front of me. “So he didn’t get to touch you here?”

  Her head falls back against the wall, her throat pulling tight. “No.”

  My hand continues its torturous descent down over the curve of her hip and her smooth stomach to between her legs as I cup my hand at the apex of her thighs. My mouth moving to her ear. “Are you this wet for him? Or for me?”

  Her hips thrust forward, seeking the friction from my hand. I hate that she doesn’t answer me.

  My cock jerks in my briefs, begging me to stop talking and fuck her.

  And I oblige.

  Because I want her to think of me.

  Every time she thinks about her first date with Sawyer, I want her mind to go to this.

  My lips smash against hers as I punish her mouth and push my briefs down, my cock free and thrusting between her legs, but not entering her.

  Instead I grasp it, holding all of the control as I slide it along her wet slit, making her moan for me, making her desperate for me as I caress her clit with the head of my dick. Her pelvis jolts forward, begging me.

  But I don’t grant her wish. Or mine.

  I release her from my kiss and spin her body around, her hands flattening against the wall with her legs spread for me. I line my cock up at her entrance, my lips finding her ear again. “Tell me no. Tell me you don’t want this.”

  She doesn’t say a word, just a whimper as I rest between her legs.

  “Fucking lie to me if you have to, Viv. Tell me no.”

  I see her head shaking from side to side, and her voice is quieter than I’ve ever heard it. “I want this.”

  Fuck.

  That’s all I need as I slam into her, showing no mercy as we both groan. She presses back against me, her hands against the wall and her head tilting back in ecstasy as I move inside her. Our bodies punish each other because we both know this is going nowhere.

  Tomorrow, she’ll talk to Sawyer like nothing happened between us.

  I’m close, and I can feel her tight walls clenching around me, signaling that she is as well, that she craves our finish.

  That she wants this for right now. Because that’s what I fucking am.

  I’m temporary.

  And she’s ready for permanent.

  I’m a fool. Asher Sterling should really come with a warning label. We did so damn well for seven months.

  Not so much as a single graze of a hand, and the moment he comes at me with his bullshit possessive alpha-male attitude, caging me against the wall, I'm putty in his hands.

  I roll over in my bed to the empty side that still smells like Asher even though he didn’t stay long after we finished our second round of stupidity.

  I hear the doorbell and sit straight up in the bed. Who could that be?

  My first thought is Sawyer.

  I groan as I climb off the bed, my body sore from my time with Asher and grab a wrinkled nightgown from my bedroom floor and my robe, pulling them both on and fastening the robe at the waist.

  Sawyer.

  I had such a great day with him yesterday, and then I came home and had sex with Asher.

  Not that I owe Sawyer anything at this point, and who knows, he could have gone out and done the same thing last night.

  Would I be upset if he did?

  I shrug, unable to process how I really feel as I make my way down to the front door and see Lola through the window next to the door, perfectly put together with a smile on her pretty face.

  I feel my hair with my hand and know it is an out of control mess. The nightgown I have on is sheer with thin straps, so I make sure my robe is pulled tight and open the door. Lola smiles at me again, taking in my appearance. “Late night?”

  I nod and laugh nervously, trying to tuck my unruly hair behind my ear. “Yeah.”

  Her eyes fall on my neck. “Whoa. Very late night.”

  I instantly cover my neck, remembering Asher’s mouth and teeth there last night. He for sure left a mark. “Uh, yeah.”

  “Are you okay?” She holds up both hands, her face so kind. “No judgment.”

  And I know she means that. “I’m fine. I just wasn’t expecting you. In Kansas.”

  She laughs. “Asher didn’t tell you? I’m here to help mom and Tony pack.”

  That’s right. Nora and Tony bought a beach house in California. They’re moving there. I was slightly devastated when Nora told me at Christmas, but she assures she will be back here as often as she can to see Baz. “That’s right, Nora told me.”

  Asher didn’t say a word as he was thrusting into me over and over again.

  My cheeks flush as my thoughts run dirty, and Lola eyes me with curiosity. “Can I come in?”

  “Oh, of course.” I move out of the way, allowing her to step in. And as she does, Asher hits the top step, wearing only black sweats with his hair still a mess from my fingers.

  “Hey, sis. What are you doing here?”

  “I told you I was coming over today.” She walks to him. And I feel like I might die when I notice a very prominent bite mark on his shoulder.

  Why can’t he ever wear a shirt?

  “Wow. You got some actio
n last night too, huh?”

  Asher’s slick smile is menacing as he looks over at me, not even trying to hide it, and my eyes close tightly as I try to convince myself not to murder him.

  Lola’s eyes follow his, and it clicks in her head, and her eyes roll. “Oh.”

  “We all make really stupid mistakes in our lives, right?” I’m talking to Lola, but my eyes are on Asher.

  Whose eyes roll at my statement, and he walks toward the kitchen. “Who needs coffee?”

  We both follow, and again the sickening embarrassment heats my face when I see claw marks down his muscled back as I walk with his sister behind him.

  Bless Lola, she doesn’t say a word as we all grab cups of coffee and sit at the kitchen table.

  “So last night was a mistake, huh?”

  But she does love to face things head-on.

  “Huge.”

  Asher’s eyebrow kicks up, and I want to slap him again. As I shake my head, having to warn him not to make a dick joke around his sister.

  “Fucking massive.” He says it with a smirk into his coffee cup.

  Asshole.

  “Um, okay.” Lola nervously brushes her bangs out of her eyes and takes a drink of her coffee. “So, I don’t even know what to say.” She laughs as she places her mug down.

  “Nothing to say, sis. Yesterday was kind of a weird day here.” Asher’s eyes don’t meet mine, but I can hear the low growling tone of his voice matching last night. “Viv here went out on a date with Sawyer, then came home and fucked me.”

  Lola’s eyes meet mine. “Sawyer. As in Sawyer?”

  “I . . .” Feel horrible.

  “Yup. That Sawyer.” Asher takes over while I stutter like an idiot. “My best friend all through school. The kid who came over and stayed the night at our house more times than I can count. The kid who broke his leg at our house jumping down from the treehouse like a fucking asshole trying to show off. The fucker who slept with sisters because he fucking could.”

  My stomach turns as he speaks because I know he’s hurt.

  Lola looks shocked as she listens to him, and then focuses on me. “How did that happen?”

  “Which part? Her going out on a date with him or her fucking me last night?”

  We both turn to look at Asher, who’s fuming. And Lola clears her throat quietly, stuck in a totally awkward situation that she certainly wasn’t expecting to be in when she came over this morning. “Um, dating Sawyer.” Her eyes stay trained on me.