Men In Control (Smith Brothers Complete Series)

by Brenda Ford

  “I… I don’t know,” she admits. “I don’t know if I can. It will be too hard.”

  Fuck. Everything sinks with a thump while I take this in. She doesn’t want to co-parent, I have fucked up, just like I knew I would. I kept telling myself that bringing romance in to the mix would make it too hard and send her running for the hills, but in the heat of the moment I got carried away anyway. I let my sensibilities get away with me and I ended up in bed with her. Why didn’t I stop? Why didn’t I think smart?

  “Okay.” I gulp down the thick ball of emotion that lodges in my throat. “So, things will need to change.”

  I don’t even need to phrase that as a question because it’s obvious. We can’t just carry on in the way that we are with everything up in the air. There are some desperate changes we have to make. It’s just a shame that things can’t change in the way that I want them to. All Zoe can do is nod and agree with me.

  “Jessica is here for a reason, isn’t she?” I ask with a shaky voice. “To take you guys back to New York.”

  It’s gut wrenching. Even if I knew that this was coming, and that she could leave me, it’s hard to know that I have lost. Even though I love having my family here, I mentally prepare myself to move to New York to be nearer to her. I will have to give up everything that makes me comfortable here, but I will.

  “She isn’t here for that reason,” Zoe shocks me by replying. “She has just come to visit. To give me some advice. I haven’t made any plans about what I am or I’m not going to do now.”

  “Oh right.” Advice… that scares the living hell out of me. Seeing in her eyes how much Jessica doesn’t trust me is worrying. I’m sure she’s going to tell her to keep away from me. “Okay, so she’s just visiting.”

  “That’s right. And her advice has actually been for me to stay here. To give me and you a try.”

  “Huh?” I must be dreaming. Either that or Zoe is playing some cruel prank on me. Not that she has ever been like that, and me assuming that she was five years ago caused all of these issues. “She did?”

  “I know,” Zoe giggles. “It was a shock to me as well. I thought that she would tell me to keep far away from you because it could easily get so messy between us. Plus, I know she likes having me around… but she thinks that as long as we are careful then me and you could actually have a shot.”

  The breath is completely stripped from my lungs. A shiver races up and down my spine. Without any problems at all, Zoe has just expressed exactly what I wanted to today. That me and her could really be.

  “And erm, what do you think?” I rasp out. “This isn’t about what your friend thinks, is it?”

  “I ran out last night because I was scared,” she admits. “I was freaked out thinking about how wrong it went before and how wrong it could go again. That has always been at the fore front of my mind.”

  “Mine too,” I confess right back. “But somehow, it has still felt right between us. Especially last night.”

  “I agree.” She smiles. “It has, and I think that we will always regret it if we don’t try. We didn’t get our shot five years ago because we made a mess of things. We both took a step back instead of forwards because it was all too much. I don’t want to do that again. I don’t want to have any more regrets.”

  “Losing you was my biggest regret as well,” I tell her. “I have always hated myself for it. Knowing that you had the same phone number the entire time and we could have been in touch is just killer…”

  “But you didn’t know about Maddie. You didn’t know that there was a reason to.”

  “We lost so much time because of other people,” I muse. “I don’t think we should do it again.”

  She slides off the bed and moves closer to me. Automatically, like a magnet is pulling at me, I slip to the edge of the chair and make room for her to sit on my lap which she does. Immediately, everything feels right with the world all over again. Even more so when she tilts her head down to press her lips softly to mine.

  I don’t just get fireworks in the pit of my stomach. Every cell, every fiber in my body explodes for her. Tingles race all over me and goose bumps pop up everywhere. She has brought me back to life all over again. I cling to her harder, almost as an instinctive reaction because I don’t want her to escape again.

  “I love you,” I declare as I pull back to look at her for a moment. This definitely isn’t the long winded speech I planned to say as I sat outside the hotel room waiting for her to come back, but long winded and complicated doesn’t feel right for me and Zoe anymore. We have been there before for too long. Simple is best.

  “You… you love me?” Her eyes pop open wide with surprise. “Are you for real?”

  “Oh, Zoe, do you think that I would say anything I don’t mean anymore?” I wiggle my eyebrows playfully. “Of course I love you. I have spent the last five years painfully in love with you. I just didn’t have the confidence to tell you before. But life is short and I’m only going to get one. So, now I’m telling you I love you.”

  She clings to me tightly, her nails digging into my arms. But she doesn’t seem like this is causing her any pain. She actually looks incredibly happy for me to tell her my true feelings. Brad was right, communication is the best way forward. Especially for me and Zoe because we have so much riding on this.

  “I love you too,” she whispers back. “I have loved you for five years too. There hasn’t ever been anyone else for me and I know for sure that I never will find anything like what we’ve shared.”

  “Me too.” God, is this really the start of us at last? Have we finally got there? It’s only taken us a life time.

  I tilt my head up and we kiss again, this time with love as well as well as passion and it truly is the best kiss that we have ever shared. There is so much more between me and Zoe now, we’re finally on the same page, and I can’t wait to see where this leads. The future is bright for me and Zoe. Maddie too. We still have to be cautious, to be careful with the way that we take things for our daughter’s sake, but I still can’t wait.

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  Zoe

  With a cheeky smile playing on my lips, I slide off of Wesley’s lap and I grab my cell phone. I fire off a rapid text message to Jessica, asking her to give me and Wesley a couple of hours if she doesn’t mind, because we still have a lot of talking to do… not that I think we will be able to talk much, but my best friend won’t mind. Thankfully, it’s only a couple of seconds later that she messages back to let me know that she s taking Maddie to a play area for a while so me and him can have all the time that we want… combined with lots of winky faces.

  Once I get that confirmation, my eyes meet Wesley’s again, and I can feel the sheer and intense love flowing between us. This is different now, it’s less stressed and full of confusion, because we both know where we stand. It’s amazing what a difference just talking to one another can make. We must remember that.

  “Come over here,” I murmur quietly while wiggling my finger suggestively. “The love of my life.”

  As if I’m a witch and I have him under my spell, he rises to his feet with his gaze fixed upon mine the entire time. My breath catches in my throat as his body presses up against me and I feel every inch of him. My fingers tuck underneath his tee shirt, and I smirk and slightly pull it upwards, grazing the tips of my fingers over his flush, burning skin. He is excited for me already, I can sense it, and that makes me flutter.

  “Do we have time?” he whispers, his eyes darting nervously towards the door.

  “We have a couple of hours,” I reassure him. “So, you can do whatever you want with me.”

  Those words work the right magic and he returns to kissing me passionately. I yank his clothing off and he does the same to me. It doesn’t even matter that we were together last night, after all the drama afterwards, it feels like it’s been another five years since I last got my hands on him. I want to explore every inch of that gorgeous body of his and it seems like he wants to do the same
for me. He’s touching me everywhere, grazing every peak and every dip, setting me alight as he does. The flames are everywhere, all over me, sending me wild.

  I step away from him for just a moment, wanting to run my eyes all over his naked body. I don’t know if I have ever just looked at him nude before and drunk all of him in, so today feels like the absolutely perfect time to do that. My heart hammers against my rib cage as I scan my Greek God. That’s exactly what he looks like. Sculpted from the Gods and sent to Earth just to make my life better. I am one lucky woman.

  “Wow, you are beautiful.” I didn’t even realize that he was staring at me in the same way until he says this. “It’s no wonder that I have fallen in love with you. You’re perfect.”

  I step forward to close the gap between us and cup his cheeks in my hands. He’s trembling, shaking with lust, which I can also sense pressed against my stomach. He is rock hard for me; he wants me bad. That combined with him telling me that I’m perfect, plus the declarations of love almost have my head spinning now.

  I trail my fingers down his body, over his chest, and until I have his throbbing erection between my fingers. I stroke him at first, slowly, delicately, watching his face crumble. He tosses his head back, exposing some of that sexy throat to me, which I need to take full advantage of. I rise up on to my tip toes and take some of that skin between my lips to suck and nibble on him. The fact that he has beads of perspiration all over him only makes him taste better, makes it feel that much hotter, makes me want to taste more of him…

  “Oh!” But it seems that Wesley isn’t about to let me take full control as he spins me around rapidly and he hugs me from behind. His steel cock presses against my ass as his fingers work their way around my front. My hips buck and roll, knowing exactly where he’s headed before he gets anywhere near me. “Oh shit.”

  He parts my thighs and they fall to the side eagerly, wanting him to do whatever he needs. He knows just what I like, and he heads straight for my clit, circling through the wetness and making me vibrate. The speed, the pace, the pressure, it’s all absolutely perfect. So much so that my toes curl under and my stomach wants to scream for more. As Wesley’s free hand works its way up and begins to massage my breasts and nipples, I lean right in to him because I’ve turned to jelly. Right now, he’s the only thing supporting me and keeping me upright.

  “Fuck, Wesley,” I gasp out needily. “This is too much, you are too much for me.”

  As the pressure of pleasure builds, my thighs tense up to an almost painful rate. I think my body is so desperate for me not to fall so I don’t lose out on this pleasure, that it’s becoming overwhelmed by him.

  “Get on the bed,” he growls at me, seemingly knowing exactly what’s going on with me. “Now.”

  I do as he commands with my ass in the air and my face pressed in to the pillow. I half expect him to connect his fingers with me, but instead I get the pleasantly shocking sensation of his rough tongue instead. It sends a lightning bolt of burning hot bliss straight through me. The scream that blasts in to the pillow is way out of my control. I don’t even know what part of me it comes from.

  The orgasm that hits me this time completes blind sides me. It shatters through me and floods me with an absolute rocket. Wesley takes me off the planet completely and I love it. I want to remain up here in space with the stars sparkling and exploding inside of me. The last thing I want is to crash back to the planet with a thump.

  I love him. That’s what fills me along with the pleasure. I love him and he loves me.

  That makes the pleasure better, more intense, it lasts longer as well. I’m sure it must be the love that’s doing it, that deeper bond and connection that we have now. The bond that I hope will last forever.

  Before I can really gather myself up, Wesley’s cock is teasing my entrance, begging to be let inside, and despite the fact that I have just been given the best orgasm ever, I roll my hips backwards and slide him all the way in. He plunges in deep, managing to give me even more of his inches from this angle, which is phenomenal. I lift my head up from the pillow, sure that my hair must be all over the place, making me look like a mad person, and I tilt my head back and look over my shoulder at him. His face is thick with lust, I can see him losing his mind as well which makes me cry out with bliss all over again. Every deep thrust makes me yell out more.

  “I need to look in to your eyes,” he suddenly declares, while gripping his fingers on to me. “I want you on your back, Zoe. I want to tell you how much I love you. I need to… to…”

  He can’t get the words out, but that’s okay, I know exactly what he means. So, as he flips me on to my back, I go willingly, and as soon as he is deep inside of me, it feels perfect. He’s right. This is how we need to be. I can look in to his eyes and embrace every single part of him. We are one.

  “I love you,” he murmurs while running kisses all over me with each and every thrust. “I love you so much.”

  “I love you too. I love you so much, Wesley. You have no idea.”

  I kiss him hard to swallow up his cries of ecstasy while he explodes and erupts like a volcano inside of me. In this moment, I don’t know where I end and he begins, and I love it. I adore being this connected to him, it’s everything. Now, I don’t just feel like we’re in a bubble of me and him, I feel like we’re in the world, presenting a united front, acting as a team and I love it. This is how I want to be for the rest of our lives.

  “Oh wow.” We collapse on the bed next to one another, panting and gasping. “That was something else.”

  “I know,” I agree. “So much better than usual. You are incredible, Wesley.”

  He turns to hug me, and I fall happily in to his arms. I press myself against him so I can feel our hearts pounding in unison. To keep that connection going because I love feeling like we’re a part of one another.

  “Are we going to tell Maddie?” Wesley suddenly asks me. “Or work things slowly.”

  “Hmm. Well, I’m sure that she will guess because you know how switched on she is, but at the same time I don’t know if we should rush things because she might get too carried away.”

  “So, I suppose I can’t ask you to move in with me right away?”

  I can’t help but let out a little laugh. “Maybe not right away, no.”

  “Ooh, that doesn’t sound like you’re going to refuse forever though.” He wiggles his eyebrows. “I like that.”

  “Well, if we’re going to move forwards together, then that will come, won’t it? So, no I guess I’m not refusing forever. But we need to all to move at a pace that’s right for all three of us.”

  He kisses me again. Softly at first, but I can soon feel that passion shining through once more. I’m pretty sure I can even feel him hardening against me as if he wants to take me again. We have time, I’m sure that we do, but I didn’t think he would be up for round two. Knowing that he is though only excites me as well. The flames of desire are tearing through me like wild fire instantly, so I wrap my legs around him.

  “Is this what it will be like?” I ask him in a teasing tone. “If we live together? No time for anything else?”

  “Oh, for sure.” He laughs. “Especially if that gets you to move in with me quicker.”

  Oh God, now all I want to do is live with him right this second. I can just see me, him, and Maddie living in that apartment all together, being that real family. I do want to rush in to it and I’m sure that if she was asked, Maddie would want to as well, but this is long term. This is forever so we have all the time in the world. We can do things in the right way; we don’t need to move at the speed of light. We have done everything backwards in the past, we don’t need to make that mistake again. We need to do everything right.

  Anyway, I don’t need to live in the future, I need to live in the right now where he’s making me feel phenomenal. His hands, his lips, his tongue, his cock… all of it is amazing and I need to make the most of everything he is giving me.

  Chapter Thirty-Se
ven

  Wesley

  I tap my pen on the desk, banging it against the piece of paper in front of me, the paper that I need to read really because I’m supposed to be signing some stuff off, but in all honestly my head is somewhere else entirely. It’s off with Zoe who is moving into her new apartment today with Maddie. I wanted to be there to help her, but she has Jessica and the moving guys who have brought her stuff from New York, and she told that they would be fine, so I have forced myself to come here. To sit in this office, even though I hate it.

  To think that this place used to make me happy, I used to think that it was everything… what a fool. Work is nothing to me. Not working here anyway. I think I would be happier somewhere else. I maybe should start looking for something else that would be more suited to me. The work is fine, but the environment not so much. While there are too many changes going on here at the moment, so maybe I shouldn’t make this one as well, I kind of want to go that extra step as well. Have a real clean slate from absolutely everything from the past.

  “Hey, Wesley.” I’m dragged from my lovely thoughts of the woman that I love by Court who has taken to sitting on the edge of my desk again as if we’re friends like we were all that time ago. “How’s it going?”

  “Hmmm, good,” I reply coldly. “Just getting all of this paper work done.”

  “Right, sure. Looks like it.” He rolls his eyes. “So, when is Zoe coming back? Is she going to be manager?”

  Urgh, I hate the mention of her name on his tongue. It feels all kinds of wrong. He shouldn’t be allowed to talk about her ever. If it was up to me, I would completely ban him from talking about another person.

  “She isn’t coming back. Nothing around here is changing, you don’t need to worry.”

  “Right, right. So, I take it you have seen her to know that? Are you two friends again?”