“Dude, how long have we known each other?”
“Uh, twenty years, give or take. Losing your memory in our old age?”
He smiled. “No.” I knew he had more to say, so I kept my mouth shut and waited for him to say it. He looked out as the street, the lights twinkling in the distance. “You know, I never told the others this, but that wasn’t the last time Lulu came to me for advice.”
“And why are you telling me?”
Oscar shrugged. “You were interested before, thought you might like to know that she told me more about his mystery guy.” He leant against the wall beside me and crossed his arms. “It wasn’t that long ago. She didn’t think it seemed to matter she loved him, because he’d never love her back, but she still considered dumping Tommy over him. She still wouldn’t tell me who he was, but I gotta wonder if the guy does love her and she just can’t see it.”
“If you don’t know who he is, how would you know?”
“Call it brotherly intuition.” He shrugged.
“Did you tell her that?”
“Totally, not that she believed me. Now I’m just going to wait until she works it out.”
Great, so now my chances with her were even less than I could have possibly ever hoped for. Not that there were any chances, I had to remind myself of that. She might have been getting interested in my body, but that’s not all I wanted from her.
10
Lucy
Holy shit. Was that actually Lucy Sykes out on the dancefloor with some groping arsehat? I knew she’d changed since I’d left – I’d noticed it plenty myself in the last week – but that?
I watched as she ground against him, laughing and smiling, not even noticing when Brit headed over to us for a moment. Brit landed among the four of us like an exhausted tornado, batting her eyes at Carter and Oscar. I smiled as I realised she hadn’t grown out of that particular crush.
I smacked Luther on the arm and pointed at Lucy. “Are you not going to do anything about that?”
Luther followed my hand and grunted. “Ugh, I know it’s gross. Just don’t look. It’s what we do.”
I wanted to tell him it being gross was far from my problem. But I’d never known how to broach the subject of Lucy with them; how she made me feel more alive than any near miss on all my missions, how her smile lit me up inside like a Christmas tree, how I wanted to be more than just a brother to her. But, as much as I’d never known how I’d tell the three overly protective wankers next to me I was in love with their sister, it didn’t matter when she’d never shown any inclination to feel the same. Sure, she’d shown an interest in me physically this week, and it was a good start, but it wasn’t good enough to tell her brothers I was in love with her.
She was only fifteen when I started to see her differently, after all, feeling all wacked out and pervy and weird. But I hadn’t been able to help myself, my love for her had irrevocably changed and there wasn’t a damn thing I could do about it. Leaving had seemed like a good idea, so I’d packed my stuff and put some distance between us. We’d emailed now and then, and she chatted with me the way she always had with Carter, Oscar or Luther. Distance had helped, and I’d convinced myself I was over her.
But after a week of semi-flirting and seeing her tonight – wearing a denim skirt more suited to being a belt than clothes and a plunging red halter top, her hair spilling around her shoulders – I knew there was no way I was getting over her. And when I saw her dancing with those shithead guys who looked at her like nothing but a cheap score, I knew I had to tell her soon. In love with another guy or not, I couldn’t go on with my life without her knowing.
“At least Tommy hasn’t shown his face,” I said, more to take my mind off the way her hips were swaying than I really wanted to talk about that wanker.
Luther shrugged. “Yeah, total dick. Can’t believe he thought she was in love with someone else. Insecure wanker.”
“Ah, it’s not Tommy’s fault,” Brit giggled and I wondered just how many drinks the girls had had at the bar before they started dancing.
“How is disbelieving our girl not his fault?” Oscar asked. The only time I’d ever seen him get remotely angry or…well, like the rest of us, was when he was jumping to Lucy’s defence. The rest of the time, God knew I loved the guy, but he was a little bit of a sissy.
“Because there might have been a very good reason Tommy thought what he did. Not that Lucy will ever admit it.” Brit giggled again and looked very pointedly at me.
I frowned at her, but she just put a finger to her lips and winked at me before draining Carter’s beer and sweeping back off into the crowd.
“I swear, she gets weirder every month,” Luther said, popping a chip into his mouth, his mind obviously moved onto the sorts of things Carter was thinking about.
“Do you know anything about this guy?” I asked Oscar. I held a small, niggling hope, but I wasn’t going to fan it until I knew more.
He slid an odd glance at me. “Huh? Nope. If there was a guy other than Tommy, the last Lulu said anything to me was…” He paused, thinking, “probably a couple of years ago now. She asked me how to tell a guy she liked him. I told her you just go up to him and say ‘hey, I like you’ but she was adamant it wouldn’t work because he’d never like her. I told her he might but she just might not realise it. Then, she burst into tears and ran into her room.” Oscar shrugged. “That was the last time she said anything about anyone before Tommy came along.”
“How do you know she wasn’t talking about Tommy?”
“Not sure why you care all of a sudden,” Oscar raised an eyebrow at me, “but I just knew. Whoever this guy was, he was special to her – like special, man – and she was devastated he’d never like her back. Personally, I wanted to find the guy and bash his head in until he realised he was an idiot, but I never knew who he was. When Tommy came along, it was different somehow.”
I nodded and looked back over to Lucy. I was with Oscar on this one, I’d be quite happy to bash the guy’s head in until he realised how amazing she was. Funny how the Sykes boys didn’t actually want anyone dating their little sister but, if someone didn’t like her back, there was hell to pay.
Carter and Luther had disappeared, working on some ladies no doubt, bloody tossers. Although I was glad some things never changed, Lucy Sykes going from wonderful, beautiful and intelligent to also pant-tighteningly sexy was one change I had not bargained for when I came home. And it was getting worse by the day.
“Come and dance with us, boys!” Brit and Lucy appeared at our sides, grinning widely.
“And what about the bloke you were just wiping your arse all over?” Oscar asked.
Lucy laughed, her blue eyes bright, and my cock twitched. “Lecherous Brett? No thanks, palmed him off on some other unlucky girl.”
She grabbed my arm as Brit grabbed Oscar and pulled us to our feet.
“No, I really don’t think you want to dance with us,” I said, holding my hands up in surrender, watching Brit lead Oscar away.
Lucy laughed again and I felt the need to rearrange myself. “Come on, the Sykes boys always dance with us.” She sobered a moment and looked down. I panicked she’d seen my hard on – not that she hadn’t felt it before – then she spoke. “Unless your leg will hurt. Then I’ll give you a free pass for now.”
Something made me shake my head. “No, my leg won’t hurt.”
“Good.” She took my hand and pulled me along behind her.
Not for the first time, I marvelled at how well her hand fit in mine. We’d held hands hundreds, millions of time over the years for different reasons, and it had never not felt right.
She squeezed us through the crowd, almost getting lost until I brought her to my chest and manoeuvred her through with my wider body. I had to try very hard to think unsexy thoughts as I felt her against me, and resist the urge to pull her against me harder and let her know exactly what she did to me.
She spun before I r
ealised she’d stopped and I kept walking, catching her against me as she giggled and put her hands on my chest. She was so tiny and she was in my arms again. We stared at each other for a few moments and, for a second, I had that hope that maybe she felt the same way I did. Then, damn it, I was distracted by the sight of her breasts pressed against me and threatening to spill out of her top.
She chuckled, “You like what you see, Cade?”
She’d had more to drink than she probably should have. But then again, so had I while I’d watched her dry hump a bunch of arseholes.
“I doubt I’m the only one,” I replied with a wink.
And the part where you don’t indicate you like her so she doesn’t freak out and you get jumped by the Sykes boys?
She bit her lip as she smirked up at me, but she didn’t say anything. She only turned around and started dancing against me. If I’d thought she was dry humping those other guys, I’d been wrong. What she was doing to me now…there was no hiding how hard I was with her pressed right up against me. I looked around for the Sykes boys in panic, but Oscar was dancing pretty similarly with Brit, and Carter and Luther were well busy.
“Come on, Caden. Dance with me,” she said as she brushed her hand down my cheek.
“I don’t imagine you usually dance with your brothers like this,” I replied, unable to stop myself moving with her.
“You don’t seem to be complaining.” She slid her other hand up my thigh.
I pressed my hand against her stomach, pulling her towards me. “How many guys do you know who’d complain with a sexy vixen like you doing that to them?”
She moaned softly. “You think I’m sexy?”
My hand slid down her stomach and pulled her into my crotch. “I think you know I do.”
Reece, you arsehole, what are you doing?
I took both her hips in my hands and leant towards her ear. “I need some air, I’ll be back.”
I hurried outside, avoiding looking towards any of the boys and leant against the wall, closing my eyes.
“What are you doing, Reece?” I sighed.
“I could ask you the same thing.”
My eyes flew open. “Fuck. Oscar man, you scared me.”
“Bloody useless secret agent you make.” He laughed.
I grinned. “Yeah, because I go on all my missions drunk and distracted.”
“Dude, how long have we known each other?”
“Uh, twenty years, give or take. Losing your memory in our old age?”
He smiled. “No.” I knew he had more to say, so I kept my mouth shut and waited for him to say it. He looked out as the street, the lights twinkling in the distance. “You know, I never told the others this, but that wasn’t the last time Lulu came to me for advice.”
“And why are you telling me?”
Oscar shrugged. “You were interested before, thought you might like to know that she told me more about his mystery guy.” He leant against the wall beside me and crossed his arms. “It wasn’t that long ago. She didn’t think it seemed to matter she loved him, because he’d never love her back, but she still considered dumping Tommy over him. She still wouldn’t tell me who he was, but I gotta wonder if the guy does love her and she just can’t see it.”
“If you don’t know who he is, how would you know?”
“Call it brotherly intuition.” He shrugged.
“Did you tell her that?”
“Totally, not that she believed me. Now I’m just going to wait until she works it out.”
Great, so now my chances with her were even less than I could have possibly ever hoped for. Not that there were any chances, I had to remind myself of that. She might have been getting interested in my body, but that’s not all I wanted from her.
11
Caden
I didn’t need telling twice. Her top was in my back pocket and I was taking those stairs three at a time – limp be damned – before my brain registered her words.
I caught her outside her bedroom door and pressed her against the wall. She smiled and I took a moment to appreciate her lacy bra before I kissed her. God, she was just as sweet and perfect as before, but this time I was ready to give back the passion she’d shown me, not just run on autopilot.
I couldn’t think about the fact she’d just broken up with her boyfriend and there was this other guy in her heart right now, all I could think about was that, for tonight at least, she was mine. And I was going to show her what she meant to me, even if I never got up the courage to tell her.
She slid her arms around my neck as I wrapped mine around her waist and I was almost lost in her; the feel of her, the smell of her, the taste of her. I raked a hand over her soft skin and slid my hand between her legs. Even with her panties on, I could tell she was wet for me. She moaned my name as my fingers rubbed over her clit and she arched towards me.
Then, she was pushing me into her bedroom and kicking the door closed behind us. She was in control now and I just had to wait and see what she wanted. And what she wanted was my shirt off as she slid her fingers along my abs and my chest, my muscles twitching involuntarily at her touch. I shrugged out of the shirt and she dropped it on the floor before running her hands over me again. She stopped as she found my scars.
“Seeing it is one thing, feeling it another,” she said softly, pressing herself against me and threading her arms around my neck again.
“What doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger.”
She chuckled. “I see that. You always looked amazing, but this…” She leant up to my ear. “I’m surprised you can keep the ladies at bay.”
“There’s only one I want.”
She frowned for a split second then kissed me again as she walked me back to the bed then pushed me onto it. She was on her knees in front of me before I could pull her down with me. Lucy unbuckled my belt, undid my jeans and pulled them off.
She looked up at me in surprise when she saw the piercing.
“Did Gunner get one too? Scratch that, I don’t want to know. Didn’t it hurt?”
“It was worth it.” I grinned.
She raised an eyebrow in question.
“You’ll see.”
She smiled as her hand started to stroke me swiftly, then her mouth was over me.
I gasped her name and rested my hand on the back of her head. Fuck, she was better than all my wildest fantasies put together. When I thought I was close to blowing my load, I pulled her up to straddle my lap and kissed her, letting my hands touch every inch of her beautiful, soft body. My fingers found the clasp on her bra and undid it quickly. The straps fell down her arms and she stood up.
I was about to bemoan her getting off me until she let the bra slid down her body and took off her panties.
“Fuck, you’re gorgeous. Come here. Wait, no. Back pocket of my jeans.”
She gave me a humoured smirk before reaching down and pulling the condom out of my pants.
I held my hands out to her. “Come here, beautiful.”
She straddled me again and I took the condom from her fingers, ripped open the packet and slid it on. After a shadow crossed her face for a split second, Lucy picked herself up and lowered herself over my cock. She went slowly, her eyes pinned to mine, until she’d taken all of me.
“You’re so tight,” I said, kissing her neck as I slowly began thrusting, “Oh, babe. You feel amazing.”
Her body relaxed and small moans escaped her. I found her mouth and devoured it with mine while my hands gripped her tightly. She had an equally strong grip on my shoulders as her body moved up and down on my shaft. She started moving faster and I matched her rhythm. Her breathing got shallower and she started saying my name between moans.
Suddenly, the front door burst open and we heard Oscar’s laugh and Luther’s muffled voice. We both tensed, but then Lucy started moving against me again.
“You want them to catch me balls deep in their little sister?” I grunted in her
ear.
“No, but I’m so close, Cade,” she whimpered and I could hear in her voice just how close she was. And I mean, really, how do you say no to that?
“All right, but we have to be quiet. I love you, but I’d rather they didn’t see us like this.” Yeah, I let that one slip, but Lucy seemed too busy to notice, thank God.
She nipped my shoulder and made an affirmative noise as she ground against me. God, she turned me on. It was like she knew exactly what I liked, even if I hadn’t known it before.
I kissed her hard to hide her moans and she kissed me back with equal ferocity and passion. Her hands were in my hair and she moved faster and faster. At that rate, I was worried I wouldn’t hold out long enough, but I met her thrusts with my own, pounding into her.
Just as I couldn’t hold on any longer, I felt her clench around my cock and her whole body tensed, sending me over. She bit my lip and she moaned softly as I said her name over and over.
We held each other as we came down. I had no idea how she felt, but I was pretty sure that was the best sex of my entire life. I kissed her gently and tasted blood.
She pulled away and her teeth caught her lip. “Shit, I’m sorry,” she said quietly, brushing her finger over the bite mark she’d left on my lip.
I smiled at her and shook my head. “I’ve had worse wounds.” As if to emphasise my words, she ran her fingers over my scars. “And I’ll happily take anything from you in the throes of passion.”
She grinned then looked around as a door banged. “Shit, you better get out quick before Oscar decides to check on me.”
She scrambled off my lap and I couldn’t help but reach for her.
“I’m serious, Cade.” She threw me my pants. “You’re the one who didn’t want him to know you were balls deep in his little sister!”
I dealt with the condom, got dressed and took her hands as she hastily pulled a jumper on. She stopped fussing and looked up at me for a moment. I kissed her softly.
Caden (Loving the Sykes Book 1) Page 7