“Maybe.” He shoved up my dress, plucking at my underwear. “You make it easy when you’re being so fucking beautiful and wearing dresses like these.”
It had seemed like the perfect outfit for a picnic, and I’d thought that the blue color of it looked good with my eyes. Apparently, Jace agreed, and I was pleased beyond all measure, flush and filled with it, to know that.
“Oh dear.” I shimmed out of my underwear and then backed up until I was pressed back against the kitchen counter, my hands braced on the edge of it. “Have I been teasing you all day looking like this?” I batted my eyes at him.
Jace laughed. “You have, you horrible woman.”
“Well then you’ll just have to do something about that, won’t you?” I pulled him into me by the front of his shirt and Jace laughed again, kissing me deeply. It was like a caged bird in my chest had been set free and I clung to him, spreading my legs, giggling when Jace used his strength to lift me up onto the kitchen counter.
He’d always been able to manhandle me a bit, and I’d always loved it, but he was definitely so much stronger since coming back from the military. I worried about his knee a little bit, but holy crap, he was strong. It was hot as all get out and I shivered every time I got a good look at his muscles. He was one hundred percent red-blooded male. It was enough to make any woman swoon.
“I’ll just have to get you back for it a little bit,” Jace went on, bending down and tugging at my bra until my breasts were freed and he could put his mouth on them. I let my head fall back against the cabinet and moaned.
Jace chuckled and sounded terribly reluctant as he hushed me. “Can’t have Sammy waking up and disturbing us, can we?”
“You’re a menace,” I shot back, as he continued kissing and sucking at my breasts. God, he loved them and I certainly wasn’t going to be the one to stop him, not when it made me feel so goddamn good.
“You love it,” Jace replied, sounding supremely unconcerned with my hissing at him as he dove between my legs with those clever callused fingers of his. God, his hands, his hands. They were so rough from doing all of that handywork all the time but he was so gentle with me, and they were dexterous and soft and only rough when he was making me come and giving me the harsh fucking I’d asked for.
I didn’t know what had made him decide to come back to me. Or what I’d done to earn him still caring about me and wanting me all of these years. But I had him again and I didn’t want to ever let him go. I wanted to draw him to me and hold on and keep holding on for the rest of our lives.
Jace’s fingers slid into me easily, and he waggled his eyebrows at me, finding me so wet already. “Someone’s eager.”
“Just for you,” I promised him. And it was true. I was only ever like this for him. I’d dreamt about him all through high school, and I had been shocked that he’d chosen me when the time had come. And even afterwards, when my heart was broken, there had still only ever been him.
“Yeah, just for me,” Jace echoed, his fingers curling inside of me. “Fuck. I love watching you get like this. I want to make you so fucking happy—I love that I can do this for you. I love doing all the rest too but this—this—this right here, fuck, love watching you. That I’m the only one who’s going to see you like this. You’ve got no idea what you look like when you’re like this, fuck, it’s so fucking—you’re just so fucking—”
His voice was low and rough, and he couldn’t seem to even get the words out, like he was overwhelmed by what he was seeing. My brain was short circuiting with pleasure as his fingers twisted and curled inside of me and I moaned again, unable to stop myself. It was searing heat down my spine, between my legs, burning me like a cleansing fire and all I could do was give into it. It was so good, so unbelievably good, consuming me utterly, devastating me. My body writhed and I clawed at his shoulders, his chest, as Jace gazed into my face like it was the most fascinating thing he’d ever seen, like watching me build up to orgasm was the best thing ever.
“Yeah, that’s it, sweetheart, c’mon.” He coaxed me, his fingers speeding up, his thumb rubbing at my clit until I had to yank him in to kiss him again as I felt myself starting reach the edge of the cliff.
Fuck, fuck. I wanted to cry out his name, but I couldn’t, I could only moan it into his mouth instead as his tongue slid in and out, tangling with mine, like he knew what I wanted to say and he was stealing the word away, same as he’d stolen my heart away. It was so good, it was ecstasy, it was the best fucking thing, I could only hold on and shake and shake and shake on his fingers as he rubbed and thrust and played me like a fiddle.
“You know, don’t you?” Jace whispered, his voice soft but raw and hoarse, like he was scared to let the words out but like he also couldn’t help it, he had to tell me— “You know how I feel, don’t you? How I’ve always felt about you…”
He kissed me a final time, harsh and soft all at once, and I sobbed into his mouth and came.
23
Jace
Leigh looked so fucking sexy when she came.
Watching her orgasm was a fucking revelation. She wasn’t thinking about how she looked in that moment, she wasn’t thinking about anything other than taking her pleasure, in basking in it, and I’d done that to her. Me. I had drawn that out of her and made her come. It was fucking exhilarating. A bigger adrenaline rush than anything I’d done in the goddamn military.
I knew my knee was going to kill me for it tomorrow, but I didn’t care—I had to fuck her, right there, just like this. I spread her legs wider as Leigh came down from her orgasm, shaking and mewling into my mouth.
She had to know how much I loved her. How could she not, after all of this? Fuck, I loved her so fucking much. I wanted to do this with her every single night. And during the day when we could get away with it. I’d have to get us a place where I could soundproof the bedroom so that we could be as loud as we wanted without disturbing Sammy or any other kids.
Other kids… I’d love another kid. One that I could be there for the entire way this time.
I shook myself. I was getting distracted. I focused back in on the moment, on the beautiful woman smiling dazedly at me. I’d made her look like that. I’d made her that happy. It made my chest swell with pride.
“Jace,” she murmured, and my voice had never sounded so damn sweet as when it was in her mouth. “Make love to me.”
Make love to me. Hearing her say it like that… God, it was the best fucking sentence in the world.
“Of course,” I replied. Because I was never going to be able to deny her anything.
Leigh scooted forward towards the edge of the counter as I drew my cock out of my pants and stroked it a few times, smearing the precome so that I was slick for her. Leigh was pretty damn slick herself from her orgasm, but I wanted to be sure. I would never hurt her, or cause her discomfort.
“Yes,” she hissed through her teeth as I started to enter her. It was a fucking revelation every single time, but it was also so goddamn normal, like I was starting to get used to it again. Like this was starting to become a beautiful, normal part of life and fuck, yes, that was what I wanted, and I lost control and thrust into her completely.
Leigh gasped and I kissed her so that she wouldn’t cry out and startle Sammy upstairs, swallowing the sound she made. Fuck yes. Fuck, yes. I thrust into her shallowly, unable to get a really deep angle from here, but it didn’t matter. It still felt good. The fast, frantic pace, where I couldn’t fully pull out of her, was a knife’s edge of pleasure.
“Yes, yes, come on, yes, please,” Leigh chanted under her breath, hooking her ankles around behind my back and encouraging me to keep fucking her. I kept going, harder and harder, encouraged by her breathy little moans and her chanting. It was like she wanted to see me come more than she wanted to come herself, and I was fucking drunk on her voice, on the clench of her around me, on her body, on Leigh. All of her, every bit of her.
I buried my face into the crook of her neck where it met her shoulder and
groaned into her sweet, sweaty skin, biting down as my hips started to thrust unevenly. I couldn’t hold my rhythm, I wanted her so badly and I couldn’t—oh fuck I couldn’t—
Leigh clung to me, dug her heels in, kept me inside of her as I jerked and came hard, feeling like I’d gotten punched in the gut. All of the air was knocked out of me and I groaned long and loud into her shoulder, the sound only muffled by my teeth and her skin, and I lapped at the mark I’d made to soothe it. Thank God her shirts would hide it—I didn’t want Sammy asking questions or people gossiping.
“So good,” Leigh gasped, rubbing my back. “God, you’re so good—that was so good, Jace.”
I pushed myself up on shaky arms and kissed her until I felt drunk on it. Today’s the first day of the rest of your life was one of those trite “go get ‘em tiger” phrases that I’d never really taken stock in before. It was all just a bunch of meaningless positivity, if you asked me. But now… now I really felt it. Today was amazing, and it was the first day of the rest of my life with Leigh and Sammy. Soon, every day would be like this one.
We rested there in the afterglow, and of course I wanted to bask in it a little, but I couldn’t let too much time pass. I wanted to remind Leigh that I was serious. “I meant that,” I told her. “When I said I wanted to make every day great. I want every day, with you and Sammy. I want to be a part of the family. I want to try and make this permanent.”
Leigh looked torn. I could read the hope in her face, but I could see another emotion in there too and I wasn’t sure what it was. Was she scared I’d change my mind and leave again?
I pulled her in and kissed her, deep and slow, gently coaxing her mouth open and sliding our tongues together, sucking on hers, exploring her mouth. I stroked my fingertips lightly down the side of her face and smiled at the shiver she gave. “I wish I didn’t have to go.”
Leigh pushed me back, gentle but firm. “Sleepovers are going to have to wait. I have to talk to Sammy first. Prepare him. This’ll be a big change for him and…”
“I get that. You can take the time you need.” I didn’t want Sammy to get upset. This would take time, and kids adjusted more easily to new situations than I thought most people gave them credit for, but that didn’t mean we shouldn’t be considerate. I stood up. “I should, uh, clean myself up a bit.”
Leigh laughed softly, and we set ourselves to rights. “I’ll see you tomorrow?”
She nodded, blushing. “Yes. I’d like that.”
Whatever her concerns were, Leigh still wanted me around and she still wanted to give this a try. I was willing to wait until she figured out the rest.
She walked me to the front door, opening it for me, but before I could go—I just had to kiss her one last time. One for the road. A reminder for both of us.
“You’re insatiable,” she murmured against my lips as I wrapped my arm around her waist, all her soft, inviting curves pressed against me. I chuckled. Oh, yes, I was. That was what six years of separation would do to a person—
There was the sound of a car pulling up, and I pulled away from Leigh’s lush mouth, surprised. I turned to look at who it was, and Leigh immediately pushed me away from her. Was she ashamed? What?
But then I recognized the car, and the furious guy getting out of it and walking up to us. Andy. Fuck. Of all the people to catch us right now, before we’d even told anyone we were giving a relationship a try…
“What the fuck is going on here?” Andy demanded. He had a bag in his hand, one that he tossed onto the porch chair. I saw Leigh wince. Poking out of the bag was what looked like a paintbrush. Ah, Leigh must’ve asked Andy to bring some for her from the hardware store or one of their suppliers.
Great. Well. I could work with this. Andy was going to know eventually, seeing as I had every intention of marry his sister. It was probably best to get this whole damn thing out of the way sooner rather than later.
“What does it look like’s going on here?” I asked, unable to completely keep the testiness out of my voice. “Look, Andy, I know that you don’t like this. And I understand. It was shitty how I just left and never talked to any of you. But I’m serious about being with Leigh.”
“Yeah it’s serious all right. Seriously fucked up.” Andy’s hands were on his hips, his stance wide, like he was ready to throw a punch. As if he actually could’ve taken me, the idiot.
“There’s nothing fucked up about it,” I snarled, anger and possessiveness getting the best of me. “I’m sorry I left, but I’m here now and I want a future with your sister. I want to be with her.”
“What, after you ran out on her the first time? Knocked her up? Why should we trust you?”
Behind me I heard a horrified gasp, as my stomach turned to fucking lead. What—what the fuck was Andy talking about?
I turned to look at Leigh, who had tears standing in her eyes. She was staring at Andy like her heart was broken—and then I saw fury take its place. I’d always thought Leigh was tougher than Andy or most other people gave her credit for being. Raising Sammy as a single mom was proof of that. And now that was coming into full play now.
She marched past me, walked right up to her brother, and slapped him. Andy looked just about as stunned as I felt. Even though I still felt sick to my stomach over what Andy had said, I couldn’t help but feel impressed by Leigh.
“How could you,” she snapped. “How could you do that, you selfish bastard? How dare you keep treating me like a child? I told you to keep this secret. I don’t give a fuck how you feel,” she added, when Andy opened his mouth to try and argue. “It’s my child, my choice, my problem. Not yours. It wasn’t your secret to tell him or keep secret, it was mine. How dare you disrespect me like that? See if I ever respect your choices ever again? I’ll gossip about you from here all the way down to Jersey and up to Newfoundland. Not a single thing you do will be safe if I know about it, I’ll tell everyone.”
Andy’s mouth was open as he gaped at her. Andy could be a stubborn guy, and I was pretty damn sure he hadn’t even thought about how in trying to get one over on me, he was screwing over his sister.
Because, well, Leigh was right. I felt like I’d been punched in the gut, but I could admit that much. It was Leigh’s secret to tell me or not. Not Andy’s. Fuck, it wasn’t like I’d known the truth about the kid! And Andy had to know that, Leigh would’ve told him that.
Although… it explained why Andy’d been such a damn pill this whole time.
“Get away from my house,” Leigh snapped, pointing down the road. “And don’t expect me to come into work for a few days. Get someone else to help you out, I don’t care who. Just get it done. I don’t want to see you. And don’t you dare come near Sammy, either. You’ve lost that privilege.”
Andy looked like he might say something, but Leigh raised her hand dangerously. I knew Andy was stronger—he could’ve stopped her impending slap if he’d wanted to—but it wasn’t really about the slap. It was about the threat of it, the anger behind it, and the tears of betrayal still shining in Leigh’s eyes.
Swallowing hard, Andy backed away, got into his car, and drove off without another word. I could see Leigh’s shoulders slump, and part of me wanted to go and comfort her. It was like someone had wrapped a string around my heart and tugged on it, hard. But I couldn’t. Not when I was also feeling so—so hurt, so betrayed.
“He’s mine?” I asked, my voice coming out as a croak. I cleared my throat, but the damage was done. I’d let her hear how upset I was.
Leigh turned around and wiped furiously at her eyes. “Yes.” She walked back up onto the porch, her gaze darting around like she couldn’t dare to meet my eyes.
Yes. Yes.
Sammy was mine.
It felt like the entire world had been ripped out from under me.
24
Leigh
I waited, practically shaking, to see what Jace would say. I was so angry with Andy I wanted to chase him down and hit him again, a real hard punch with my knuckles this
time and not just a slap. At least he seemed to see how much he’d fucked up. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d been this angry. Possibly never.
For all of my brother’s anger, I had never expected him to betray my trust like that. Andy could be stubborn, yes. But this was crossing a line. A painful one. It was going to be a long time before I could forgive him, and he damn well better realize that.
But worse than that was Jace. I couldn’t bear to look him in the eye, even though I knew that made me a coward. I should be able to look at him. I should be able to stare into his face, let him stare into mine, as I shared this secret with him. The truth about my son, about me, about all of us. It felt like I’d used all of my bravery up on Andy.
Jace seemed to be at a loss. He looked angry, sure, but more than that, he looked hurt. Like I could’ve slapped him a thousand times over and it would’ve hurt less than this did. It made my heart ache, my stomach churn like a washing machine. I wiped at my eyes again. I didn’t want to cry, damn it!
“Why didn’t you tell me?” he asked at last.
“What was I supposed to do? You left without any warning. You told Andy you were enlisting and then the next morning you were gone.”
“You could’ve found me.”
“That wasn’t the point. The point was that you didn’t tell me you were leaving, you didn’t give me any time to plan.”
“You were going to art school in New York!”
“And!?” Anger was replacing my fear. I told myself it was a good thing. It meant I could look him in the eye again. “You knew about those plans. Because I told them to you. That’s what partners do. That’s what family does. They tell each other about their plans. If you just up and left without any warning—how could I trust you? How could I tell you something like this?”
Second Chance with Brother's Best Friend: A Single Mom Secret Baby Romance Page 13