by Karen Ferry
Before I’d even finished speaking, he’d snaked one arm around my back, pulling me roughly against him. I squeaked, but he didn’t listen. Instead, he plunged his fingers into my hair and bent his head, taking my mouth while his possessive grip on my head kept me locked in place. My knees buckled as the arm holding me flush to his chest tightened for a short moment, only to brush down my spine until his fingers swept between my ass cheeks and one finger brushed my damp pussy. I moaned at the gentle touch, feeling lightheaded from his intense assault on my senses, and I soon forgot all about breakfast.
Sadly, he didn’t seem to forget, and his deep kiss ended too soon.
“Believe me, darlin’,” he murmured against my lips, “whenever you’re with me, you’ll only ever find pleasure, even when it hurts.”
Mouth gaping, I blinked at him as he kissed the tip of my nose and left me alone in the bathroom. My head spinning at Ethan revealing yet another side to him he’d never shown before, I turned slowly around, shut the door and faced the big shower hidden behind a frosted glass door in front of me.
What the hell just happened?
18
Utter Cuteness
“Want to help me get a dog today?”
“Today?” I beamed down at Ethan from my place on the table top. He’d been adamant about clearing the table himself before he proceeded to kiss me stupid. I’d turned into a big puddle of goo in his arms, and was in danger of falling into a heap on the floor then and there. Thankfully, he held me up and then proceeded to plant me on the cold table, demanding that I stay put.
The shy smile that crossed his lips made my heart turn to mush.
“Yeah, it’s time. Plus, a co-worker from the animal shelter texted me while you were in the shower. Seems someone dropped off a litter of pups – five of them – late last night and she asked me to come in today and do a check-up on them.” He clenched his jaw. “She found them tied up to a tree on the side of the road.”
I gasped. “That’s horrible! Why would anyone do that?”
“I don’t know.” He straightened from loading the dishwasher. “You don’t mind that I have to go in, do you? I know it wasn’t part of our plans, but…”
“Don’t you worry about that,” I waved him off. “Sounds like the perfect kind of day to me.”
The warmth in his eyes made my tummy do another round of excited flips. I really needed to get that under control, or he’d soon learn that he only had to look at me like that and he’d be able to convince me to do anything he wanted.
He stepped in front of me, caging me in. On a low sigh, he leaned closer and brushed his lips over mine. My breath hitched when his teeth pulled on my lower lip, setting my skin on fire, and I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him closer until he nestled between my legs.
“I love the way you respond to me,” he murmured as his mouth explored my face. “Always eager. As if you crave the taste of me as much as I crave yours. I could spend hours, no days, kissing you.”
“We already have,” I chuckled, squirming when his stubble tickled me.
His eyes sparkled with mischief as his big palms rubbed up and down my thighs. “I know. Doesn’t mean I ever want to stop.”
“But we have to stop, or we’ll never get out of here.”
“Very true.”
Still, he took his time, just like always, and kept kissing me until my body was tingling with need. And my body wasn’t the only one feeling needy.
“You always make me hard, darlin’,” he rasped, pushing his cock into my crotch. “Let’s get going, and when we get back, I’ll fuck you in the shower.”
His words sent a delicious shiver through my body and I nodded against the crook of his neck. “All right.” I nipped the sensitive skin behind his ear. “I can’t wait.”
“I fucking hope not.”
He brushed my hair away from my face and gave me one last kiss, his tongue sweeping in to play with mine in one slow, commanding dance, and then pulled back. His nostrils flared as his dark eyes perused my face for the longest time.
“What is it?” I whispered.
“Nothing. I’ll go get dressed and then we’ll take my truck.”
I nodded and watched him go through his loft, up the three steps, and licked my lips at the sight of his ass hidden behind gray sweatpants.
Then I hopped down from the kitchen counter and ran my hands through my hair. Looking out the floor-to-ceiling windows to my left, I quickly tied my hair back and up into a messy bun and thought about what we were about to do. Excitement at getting to see Ethan examine the animals at the shelter made my smile widen.
A hot guy taking care of a bunch of adorable puppies?
It couldn’t get more perfect than that.
“You’ve lost your fucking mind,” Ethan scowled down at me, fisted hands on his hips, as I sat on the floor at the animal shelter, surrounded by yapping puppies that looked like a cross between a Labrador and a Yellow Retriever, except they were huge. When we got there, Ethan’s boss, Charlie Jameson, was there. If I wasn’t totally over the moon in love with Ethan, I’d have been crushing hard on this guy – he was just shy of six feet tall, with chocolate brown skin and a smile that showcased the most attractive dimples I’d seen in a long time, and with mischief written all over his face.
Charlie told us he thought that the puppies might be a breed called Broholmer, but we wouldn’t know for sure until they were fully grown.
I gave Ethan my most innocent look.
“Why? Remember what my dad used to say? A home isn’t a real home unless there’s…”
“Unless there’s a dog or two in it,” he finished my sentence but shook his head. “I agree with Henry, but come on, Pen. Two dogs? I mean, I love them, but I only want one.”
I balanced two of the puppies in each hand and batted my eyes at him. “Aww, how can you resist such darlings, baby?”
He narrowed his eyes. “Don’t you baby me.”
“Look,” Charlie butted in, grinning as wide as me, “why don’t you buy the one you want and then simply foster the other until we have found a steady home for him?”
“I love that idea!” I enthused and barely avoided getting French kissed by one of the squiggling puppies. I glanced between its legs and saw it was the boy. Go figure.
I knew I was close to getting to Ethan when his lips quirked, and he rubbed his hand over his hair, a sure sign that he was giving in, but that didn’t stop me from turning my pleading eyes back to Charlie.
He quickly caught on and slapped Ethan on the back.
“Plus, they can entertain each other when you’re busy or out, Ethan. It’ll be the perfect arrangement for y’all,” Charlie continued.
“And I bet Bernie will love spending time with them as well,” I beamed at my man. “He could also do with the exercise. Mama had been spoiling him loads while I was away, and he’s a bit on the chubby side.”
Ethan swung his head to Charlie and back to me. “Fine, fine. You win,” he sighed. “But they need to get fixed first before I take them home with me.” He turned to Charlie and jerked his head to the front desk. “Let’s get the paperwork done, and then I’ll do the procedure on both of them. That works for you?”
Charlie nodded and winked at me.
“Perfect.”
My heart clenched but I had to admit it was the sensible thing to do. I brought both puppies close to my face and nuzzled into their soft furs.
“You’re such cuties. Ethan will be the best new daddy for you. Just wait and see.”
“Pen, you going to get up from the floor, or do you plan on moving in here?”
I rolled my eyes and carefully placed the puppies down before I straightened from my spot. I gave them one last scratch behind their ears and then went to the desk at the front. Charlie gave me a friendly look while Ethan went about signing some papers.
“It’s been nice meeting you, Charlie,” I smiled at him.
“Likewise.” He bit his lip and rested a hi
p on the table, settling in for a visit. “Want to grab a cup of coffee?”
“Hey, man, I’m standing right here,” Ethan grumbled and thrust the wad of papers at Charlie’s chest. “Don’t try to steal my girl.”
Charlie’s eyes widened. “Your girl? Sorry, man. I didn’t know you two were serious.”
“Yeah, well, now you do.”
Ethan narrowed his eyes and I couldn’t stop grinning at the caveman tendencies I was witnessing.
Charlie held up his hands, palms out.
“Hey, all right now. Chill.” His curious eyes flickered between the two of us. “You’ve always referred to Penelope as part of your family. Threw me for a minute there.”
Ethan shook his head, clearly still annoyed, before his head swiveled to mine. My insides melted at the intensity of his eyes.
“I’m very serious. Always have been when it comes to this girl.”
Swoon!
He was so getting more than he asked for this morning when we got back to his place, but right now, I needed to leave, and do it fast, before I jumped him right then and there.
“All right, I’m going to go grab a coffee around the corner.” I squirmed underneath his smoldering look and forced my eyes to settle on the scrambling puppies instead. Gently, I nudged the female away from demolishing my really cute, white-with-pink-glitter, but also rather expensive, sneakers.
“I’ll text you when I’m done.”
I nodded and backed slowly away. “Cool. I’ll see you later.”
“Later, darlin’.”
A shiver coursed down my spine at the endearment. It wasn’t just the word in itself, though it made my heart soft and buttery like a marshmallow every time he said it to me. It was the fact that now I knew it meant that he was turned way the fuck on and wanted to have his wicked way with me. My back hit the front door and both men sent handsome grins my way as I fled the animal shelter.
Once outside in the burning sun, I took a deep breath and rummaged through my clutch to find my phone. I opened a group chat and sent a quick text to Eliza and Ella. I needed a couple of hours with my girls.
“So,” Ella sat down in front of me and Eliza, “how’s your week of sex going?”
I grinned at her.
“Crass, Ella. Cute, but crass.”
She rolled her eyes at me. “I prefer direct. Spill the beans, my friend.”
Ignoring her, I turned to Eliza. “I’m such a bad hostess, ditching you and Hugo like this. Forgive me?”
She waved off my apology. “Don’t be silly. We’re enjoying ourselves, exploring the town and the hiking we can do around here.” I felt more at ease at her reassuring smile. “Plus,” she continued, “it’s not a hardship staying at your grandfather’s while you’re off with the love of your life. Oh, but Frederik has started to ask me some very uncomfortable questions, so you’d better ring him and have a chat with him.”
I cringed. “All right, I’ll call him – and my mom – later.”
“Wait, hang on,” Ella squinted at me. “Let’s get back to the love of your life part. Really? I thought you’d gotten over your crush on Ethan while you were away? That’s what you wrote in your emails, anyway.” She narrowed her eyes in suspicion. “Or was that a lie?”
I took a sip of my latte, avoiding the scrutiny in her gaze. “It’s too early to talk about love,” I hedged. “We’re enjoying getting to know each other in a different way, that’s all.”
“Come on, Pen,” Eliza scoffed. “You know there’s a whole lot more to it than that.”
I sat back in my chair and crossed my arms. “All right, maybe there is, but I’m not about to confess my undying love to Ethan at this stage. I just want to spend time with him, and…”
“Fuck his brains out,” Ella teased.
“Ugh,” I groaned, embarrassed. “That’s not all we’re doing.”
She shook her head at me. “Maybe not, but don’t lie and tell me there isn’t a lot of that going on.”
I smiled at her and nodded. “Well, let’s just say that I never knew my butt had that many muscles. Until now.”
The girls looked at each other before they burst out in a fit of giggles that I couldn’t help but join. I’m certain we were quite a sight in the café, but I honestly didn’t care.
“All right, wait, wait,” Ella wiped away the tears of mirth from her eyes. “Are you really not going to give us any details? I’m like a nun these days, what with Luke and me being so unsteady and up in the air all the time.”
“I’m so sorry.” I hated to see the sadness in her eyes and wished I could help, but the truth was that Ella wouldn’t talk with me about their issues. Whenever she’d alluded to their rocky relationship in her emails, I’d tried to get her to open up to me, but emails weren’t the same as real conversations. She’d clammed up on me, but maybe that would change now that I was back home.
Home. It seemed so surreal that I was back…surreal but good.
“What can I say?” she grimaced. “My love life isn’t really that interesting. Not compared to yours, anyway.” She folded her hands underneath her chin and batted her eyes at me. “Come on, babe. Just one, tiny, little detail?”
Tongue in cheek, I leaned closer. “There’s definitely nothing tiny about Ethan,” I whispered and nodded sagely. “He’s a beast, in more ways than one.”
“Oooh, do tell us more,” Eliza bent her head, making the three of us look like we were conspiring against something we shouldn’t, no doubt.
Ella nodded, her mouth grinning as wide as the Cheshire cat’s.
“He’s so…intense, I guess? When he kisses me, he takes his time, and phew! That man can kiss…every kiss feels like it’s new, but hot as hell at the same time. So hot, in fact, that I cease thinking altogether…just like a kiss is supposed to do. I’ve never felt that way before.”
“Shit, now I’ve got a lady boner,” Ella muttered, making me snort.
I wet my lips. “I’ll ignore that, just this once, because you’re my friend. But no more lady boners for my man, got it?”
She grinned and winked at me. “Sure, babe.”
I shook my head, exasperated at her.
“Tell us more,” Eliza sighed dreamily.
“He gets this determined glint in his eyes when he’s turned on, as if he wants to absorb everything about me – about us – especially when he’s inside me.”
Eliza fanned her face. “Oh, bloody hell, I love the sound of this.”
I sighed, not caring in the least that I sounded like a lovestruck fool. “Yeah. And when we’re not busy tearing each other’s clothes off, he’s attentive, funny, and…he listens. I mean, really listens to me. I never knew how much I needed it – that I missed having a man like that – in my life until now.”
I fell silent and looked each girl in the eyes before I took a deep breath. “But…”
“Fuck me, I knew there was a ‘but’ coming,” Ella groused and slumped back in her chair.
I ignored her outburst and rested my head on the palm of my hand. “He has a second job that he’s being quite evasive about, and even though he asked me to trust him, to give him the time he needs before he tells me about it, I’m worried. Well, a little freaked out, to be honest.”
“Wait, what?” Eliza jumped in, a worried frown between her eyes. “That’s odd.”
I nodded. “Yeah, it kinda is, isn’t it? But I don’t want to seem like this super invasive girlfriend who doesn’t trust her man, so I’m giving him time.”
“As long as it’s not illegal, I wouldn’t worry too much.”
I raised my eyes at Ella, surprised she felt that way. “He’s assured me it isn’t, so I’m not worried about that at all. It feels like there’s this huge cloud hanging above my head, waiting for disaster to strike. I don’t know, it’s just…weird. We’ve never kept big secrets from each other before.”
The words had barely left my mouth before I started doubting them. Were they even true? I’d kept my crush from him for
so long, and even Ethan had admitted he’d lied to me about his own feelings.
My thoughts automatically veered off to Astrid.
“And then there’s this other thing,” I sighed.
“Dang it. I was beginning to think this guy was pretty perfect.” Ella pointed an accusing finger at me. “All my illusions are torn to shreds today.”
I wrinkled my nose – I guess it did seem that way.
“What is it?” Eliza asked.
“We were out having brunch yesterday, and this woman came up to our table.” I glanced back and forth between my friends. “You should have seen her – she was gorgeous. Curvy, with this amazing brown hair I’d kill to have, and her make-up on point…”
“And?”
I pushed my hands under my thighs, preventing myself from fidgeting. “Apparently, they work together at the secret place that Ethan won’t yet tell me about. She was all over Ethan, girls.” I frowned at them. “I mean, she touched him in ways that I can only describe as intimate even though nothing would suggest they were to an outsider. But she…ugh, she made me mad with jealousy, especially when she kissed him.”
“She did what?!” Ella almost shrieked and I hurried to shush her.
“Yeah, well, at least there was no tongue.”
“Hang on,” Eliza sat back in her chair and crossed her arms. “What, pray tell, was Ethan’s reaction to her touching what so clearly belongs to you?”
I shrugged and looked around, avoiding their intense eyes. “He did jerk away from her, and when I tried to leave, he apologized…and promised me that he wouldn’t let her touch him like that again.” When I thought about how sweet he’d been the rest of the day, how caring and considerate, my lips tilted up at the corners. But then Astrid’s speculative look entered my mind and I deflated in my chair.
We fell quiet, and I looked anxiously at them.
“So, do you think I should let this whole thing go, be patient like he’s asked me to?”
“What does your instincts tell you?” Eliza asked, a crease between her eyebrows.