by Thorpe, Elle
“I just want you to know, we’re not done with this argument.” But I unbuckled the belt from around my waist, slowly, watching his eyes flare.
“You want to fight some more? Fine.” He gritted out the words like they were causing him physical pain.
His fingers clenched at his sides when I let the front of the coat open, revealing my nudity to him. He groaned, and I wished I still had the heels on. The coat slipped down my arms, pooling on the floor at my feet, and I closed the space between our bodies. His breath came in rapid bursts, and the muscles in his shoulders tensed with the strain of holding himself back. I’d told him to stop, and he was respecting that, waiting for some sort of signal from me, letting me know the ball was still in my court.
I untucked his shirt from his pants and pushed it up his torso until he pulled it off. He trembled slightly when I let my fingers trail over his chest and abs, down to the trail of dark hair that led into his tailored work pants. Brazen, I flipped the button and ran my hand down into his boxer briefs, palming his hard length. A hiss sounded from between his teeth and his resolve broke. He grabbed my wrist with one hand as the other fisted the back of my hair, yanking it back so I was forced to look at him. The tingling in my scalp only turned me on more.
“You don’t run this show, Bree. Not tonight.”
I whimpered. Fucking whimpered! Who was I right now? A puddle at his feet, that’s what I was. And I liked it. He roughly spun me around and slammed his chest against my back. His lips found my neck. He kissed and sucked his way down to my shoulders, nipping at the skin with his teeth. Each tiny sting, then smoothed over with his tongue. My legs parted as if they had a mind of their own, and his thick cock slid through the wetness there, searching for my entrance.
I leant into the wall in front of me, using it for support as his fingers found my clit, making me cry out. I pushed back into him, aching to be filled.
“Still want to fight? Cos I can fuck that desire right out of you.”
I’d already forgotten what we were fighting about, and I wanted nothing more than for him to fuck me senseless. His cock ran through my folds again, and I moaned when his fingers worked my most sensitive spot.
“I’m on the pill,” I whispered, desperate to have him inside me.
He stilled against my back. “I’ve never done it without a condom.”
“Me neither.”
The head of his cock slipped inside me, and we both groaned.
“You sure?” His words were husky, and I slammed my hips back, engulfing his entire length in answer. My fingernails pressed into the plasterboard and I arched my back, taking everything he had to give.
Damien pounded into me, one hand gripping my hip, the other alternating between my clit and my nipples as he leant over me, working until a spiral of pleasure built within me. He moved in practiced rhythm, and then the pressure became too much and I cried out my release. I twisted my head as far back as I could, and he met my lips with his, devouring me with his kiss, his tongue invading my mouth while his dick filled my core. He thrust into me, with long, hard strokes until I was a mewling mess, then with a final thrust, he yelled out coming inside of me, my body still clenching around him.
My legs wobbled, but his arm tightened around my waist and he buried his face into my neck.
“I had no idea it could be like that,” he murmured.
With every nerve ending in my body still tingling, I agreed.
Afterwards, we showered together, and I ran my soapy fingers over his chest and down his abs before shoving him to the bathroom floor and riding him again, unable to get enough of him. When we were finally done, we fell into bed in a tangle of arms and legs, and he pulled me on top of him. He propped his hands behind his head, and I kissed the light dusting of dark hair on his chest before resting my chin there so we were looking at each other.
“You know nothing is going on between your sister and I, don’t you?”
I nodded sheepishly. “I believe you. I’m sorry I was such a psycho in your office. I have some impulse control issues, if you hadn’t noticed. I tend to fly off the handle.”
He chuckled and pushed a lock of damp hair out of my eye. “I noticed. But I like you anyway.”
“I like you, too,” I whispered. Which was exactly why I’d gotten so crazy in the first place. Somewhere our fake relationship had turned into something real. Something I didn’t want to lose. The idea of losing it had sent me completely postal.
A thought occurred to me and filled me with horror. “Is my outburst today going to cost you your promotion? Shit, Damien! I’m so sorry.”
He grimaced. “I’ll sort it out. I’ll just tell the bosses that you’re one of my patients and full of fertility drugs. They tend to make people a little crazy.”
I laughed and slapped him across the chest. “You’re such a shit.”
He shrugged. “Never claimed to be a saint.”
He may not have been a saint, but he was a nice guy. But I still needed to know…
“Why was my sister at your office today?”
“You know I can’t tell you that.”
Something clicked in my head. “She’s your patient?” The thought hadn’t even occurred to me when I’d seen her in his arms.
He gave me an exasperated look.
“Right. I’ll ask my sister.”
“Good. I’m glad we got that out of the way. Because I don’t really want to be talking about your sister while you’re lying naked on top of me.”
I sniggered. “No?” I wriggled, his cock thickening beneath me.
He flipped me on my back and dropped his lips to mine for a hot, lingering kiss. “No, Bree. Talking is the last thing I want to do right now.”
15
Bree
I shifted my weight from foot to foot as I waited on Lou and Tim’s doorstep.
The door swung open, and Lou’s face appeared, a mixture of surprise and relief. “Bree!”
She stepped forward, raising her hands, and for a moment, I thought she was going to hug me. But then she obviously thought better of it and dropped them like a dead weight.
“I’m really glad you came. I’ve been trying to call you. Did Damien talk to you?”
I nodded. “Can I come in?”
She stepped aside, and I led the way to the kitchen we’d eaten dinner in a few nights before. Tim was sitting at the table, but when he lifted his head and saw it was me, his eyes darted straight to where Lou stood. I don’t know what sort of look she gave him, but he offered a tight smile and hightailed it for the safety of the living room.
We took seats across from each other, and Lou opened her mouth to speak, but I cut her off. “Wait. Please. Let me go first. I really stuffed up yesterday at Damien’s office. I just… I jumped to conclusions. Damien told me nothing is going on. You know, romantically, between the two of you.”
Lou shook her head rapidly and grabbed my hands from across the table. “There’s not. I swear. I know I haven’t earned back your trust yet, but I swear. Things are different now. I was a stupid teenager when Tim and I …well. You know what we did. I didn’t realise what I’d be throwing away.
“I did recognise Damien, when you brought him here on Saturday night.” She cast a glance over her shoulder at Tim in the living room, but he was engrossed in a football game and not paying us any attention. “Damien is my fertility doctor. Was. I went in yesterday to see him and to tell him I needed to change doctors, because now he’s dating you, it would be a conflict of interest.” She gave me a wry grin. “And also super awkward for my sister’s boyfriend to be, you know, down there.”
I choked on a laugh. There was that.
She sobered. “He agreed, but he’d already done some tests, and he had the results. They weren’t good. And I was upset. He was just being a nice guy, Bree. I swear. There was nothing more to that embrace than him letting a patient cry on his shoulder.”
I squeezed her fingers. “I didn’t realise you guys were trying. You
’re so young still to have fertility problems. It never even crossed my mind. What’s going to happen now? You’ll find another doctor?”
She bit her lip. “Yes. Damien referred me to a friend of his. He said I’ll have to have a small surgery, so they can get in there and really have a proper poke around. And that will determine where we go from here. Maybe it’ll be IVF. Maybe we’ll foster or adopt.” She looked past me to where Tim sat. “We’ll make it happen, one way or the other. Tim is meant to be a dad. He’d be great at it.”
“And you’ll be great at being a mother, too. You practically raised me.”
She nodded. “Let me give you some motherly advice then. Don’t wait to have babies. Find the right guy, then make me an aunty.”
I sat back in my chair. “Settle. I’m not even thinking about babies yet.” I wasn’t even sure I wanted any. Lou had always been the mothering type, but I wasn’t sure I had any maternal instincts.
She laughed. “I don’t know. Maybe you’ll be thinking about it sooner than you think. What’s happening with Damien?”
“I like him,” I admitted. “I like him a lot.”
“He’s a nice guy.” She smiled fondly at the back of her husband’s head. “The good guys are few and far between. So when you find one, you should hang on to him.”
She looked back and gave me a wink. “Lock it down, little sister.”
16
Damien
two weeks later…
Too impatient to wait for the elevator, I bounded up the stairs of my apartment building two at a time and sprinted down the hallway to Bree’s door. We’d spent every day for the last few weeks together, and I always came home straight to her apartment. I’d really only left it to get fresh clothes and go to work. The rest of the time we’d been holed up in our own little love nest. Normally I just let myself in, but today I slid to a stop as the deafening wailing from inside caught my attention. What the fuck?
I knocked, but nothing happened so I tried the doorknob. It twisted in my hand, and I poked my head around the corner. “Bree?”
She looked up and grinned from behind a microphone, then turned back to finish belting out the song she was massacring. Jess and Millie sat on her lounge. Millie had a glass of wine in her hand and sang along with Bree, while Jess painted her nails.
“Hey, stranger! We haven’t seen you in weeks!” Jess cried when she noticed me.
I looked from woman to woman, with no idea what I’d just stumbled upon. There were already two empty wine bottles on the coffee table in front of them. “Does someone want to explain why you’re all home from work, day drinking and murdering a Bryan Adams song?” I’d liked that song, before I’d entered this room. I wasn’t sure I’d ever be able to unhear Bree’s rendition, though.
The world’s worst duo ignored me and kept up their butchering, but Jess turned to answer my question. “Millie and I played hooky from work. And Bree had an early call time, so she was home. What else is there to do on a Friday afternoon? We knew you’d come straight here after work.”
I undid the top button on my shirt and dumped my stuff on Bree’s kitchen table before I walked over to her and pushed the microphone away from her mouth. “Hey, rockstar.”
She grinned and stretched up on her toes to kiss me. Her mouth tasted sweet from the wine, and I pulled her close as her lips parted. Her eyes were glassy when we broke apart, and she gave me a huge grin. “You’re here just in time!”
I tugged her over to the single armchair and sat her down onto my lap. “In time for what?”
“We were just about to play Truth or Dare!” Millie announced, pouring me a glass of wine and handing it across the table.
“What are we, twelve?” I took a sip, and it was sweet as sugar. Not what I’d normally drink, but alcohol was alcohol. And on a Friday afternoon, I wasn’t too concerned with what I drank.
“You can go first for that smart-assery then, Damo,” Millie declared, shooting me a filthy look. “Truth or Dare?”
“Truth. But go easy on me, because you’re all tipsy, and I’m very sober.”
“Fine. I’ll save the juicy ones for when you’re drunk and more willing to spill your guts. Why are you home from work before five anyway?”
“Is that your question? I’m home because I got the promotion, and the boss said I could leave early to celebrate.”
Bree twisted to look at me. “You did?”
I nodded. Then all three women were on top of me, yelling their congratulations and slapping me on the back and messing my hair up. I laughed and pushed Jess and Millie off, who sank back into their seats with a laugh.
“I’m so relieved,” Bree spoke against my ear.
I knew she still felt bad about the scene she’d created in my office, but as I’d told her, I’d smoothed it over with a little white lie, and evidently, nobody had held it against me.
“Your turn, Millie.”
“What? No, you haven’t had your turn! That wasn’t a truth or dare question!”
“Was.”
“Nope.”
Jess rolled her eyes. “Don’t start, you two.”
Millie and I could go on ribbing each other like children for days, but it was all in good fun. I winked at Millie, and she laughed.
“I don’t think that was a proper turn either. And actually, I have one for you,” Bree said quietly. She had been smiling and laughing but now she suddenly looked serious.
My mouth dried because something gave me the impression this question wasn’t going to be as easy as why I was home from work early.
“Okay, shoot,” I agreed, while Millie mumbled something about playing favourites.
Bree shifted on my lap so we were face to face. “What are we? Are we a couple? Are we just friends that hook up? I’m falling for you and I don’t want to fall on my face.”
From the corner of my eye, I saw Millie’s mouth drop open.
“Oh wow, look at that. Time for us to leave!” Jess yelled, picking up the half-empty wine bottle with one hand and pulling Millie off the lounge with the other.
“What? No, I want to hear what he says!” Millie whined. Then she glared at me. “You’d better answer this one correctly, Damo. Or it won’t just be Bree who’s out for your balls. We like this one.”
I shook my head as Jess dragged her out of the front door.
I turned back to Bree who hadn’t cracked a smile.
“Sorry. That probably wasn’t the best time to ask you, but I’ve been trying to ask you all week.”
“You have?”
She nodded. “I’m sorry. I know I’m putting you on the spot, but I just need to know. I don’t want this to be casual. I like you. A lot. A whole lot more than I ever thought possible, especially considering we met when you mowed me down on your bike and gave me a concussion.”
“So wasn’t a concussion,” I chuckled.
“We joke around, but I’m serious. I want this. Do you?” She twisted her hands on her lap.
I grasped her chin between my fingers, angling her head so she couldn’t look down. “I’ve wanted this from the moment I knocked you off your bike, Bree. Truth is, it wasn’t just the phone call that had me distracted that day. When I saw you lying there on the ground, all beat up and bruised and swearing at me, all I could think was you were the sexiest woman I’d ever seen.”
“You have some serious issues, you know that, right?”
“I know. But you were, and you are. And now you’re so much more than just a pretty face. You’re smart, committed, and driven. And you’re a wild cat in bed…”
She elbowed me in the chest, and I grunted but found her fingers and threaded mine between them. I’d held her hand dozens of times over the past few weeks now, and each time it was a comforting gesture. Her hand fit in mine like it had been specifically crafted to do so. “I like being around you, Bree. You bring out sides of me I didn’t even know existed.” She blushed, and I wondered if she was thinking about the sex we’d had in every room and i
n every position all over this apartment. She let me boss her around in bed, and I let her boss me around outside of it. We worked. “You were mine from the minute I met you. You didn’t know it, and maybe I didn’t either, but we were always going to end up here. I should have said it out loud before this, but as far as I’m concerned, we’ve been a couple this entire time. And I intend to be a couple for a whole lot longer. Because the truth is, I’m not just falling for you. I’ve fallen for you.” I trailed the back of my fingers down her soft cheek. “I think I’m in love with you, Bree.
“You think?” she whispered.
I shook my head, trying to smother my grin. “No. I just said that because I didn’t want to scare you. I love you. I do. I have for a while now.”
That smile of hers nearly bowled me over.
“You love me.”
“Yep.”
The grin reached her eyes, and they sparkled like fucking diamonds, stealing my breath. She was stunning. And she was mine. I didn’t need her to say it back if she wasn’t ready. This thing between us was so damn right, and I was so confident in it that I knew without a doubt she’d get there in her own time. I pulled her head down so her lips met mine and I kissed her like I’d never kissed her before. She moulded her mouth to mine, and I ran my tongue along her lips, pushing my way inside her mouth, finding her tongue with mine and loving the little moans she made as I stole her breath.
She eventually pulled away, pressing her forehead to mine. “I love you, too. I was so scared of my feelings. I didn’t even want to admit them to myself. This thing between us? It’s right, isn’t it? I know it started off as a fake relationship, but it never really felt that way to me. I can’t believe we’re here just a few weeks later saying I love you. I would have never picked this in a million years.”
She laughed, and the happy noise echoed around the room, filling my heart. I wanted to see that look of pure happiness every day. And if she’d let me, I’d do my best to always keep it that way.