by Linda Kage
I gulped and glanced around the room in a strange panic, wanting Hayden’s attention and yet—
“Is Brick still somewhere in the apartment?” I asked on a scandalized whisper.
“Probably,” he answered, sliding down until his face was between my legs and he was smoothing his hand up the outside of one of my quivering thighs before he coaxed me to curl it over his shoulder. “Which leaves us two options. You be as loud as you can possibly be in order to drive him crazy with jealousy, or two—you try to muffle yourself as best you can so he can only suspect but not really know what’s about to happen in here.”
Once he had the second leg up over his other shoulder, he glanced up at me. “Choose now.”
Before I could answer, he dipped his face.
The first touch of his tongue against me nearly had me coming off the mattress. I clamped my mouth shut, trying to swallow the groan. The man had no mercy, though. He dove straight to the heart of my womanhood and attacked, flicking his tongue against the straining bud and thrusting two fingers up inside me, massaging me from the inside with a heavenly stroke that had me rolling my hips against his rhythm and moaning out my pleasure.
“Oh, fuck,” I cried. “Jesus, Hayd—Hayden.”
Then I remembered I’d actually wanted to be quiet, and I slapped a hand over my mouth. But then more fingers crept up, and he rolled one of my nipples between his thumb and forefinger, pinching lightly. I whimpered behind my palm and slammed my eyes closed, trying to concentrate on not making a sound.
It didn’t work. He found that place in me that went crazy at his touch and he tortured it, making me come so damn hard and fast I don’t even know what kinds of sounds I made after that. By the time I returned to reality, I was clutching his hair with two handfuls and gasping literal sobs, my chest heaving and brow matted with perspiration.
Hayden looked dazed when he sat up and met my gaze. “Fuck me,” he breathed, tearing open his pants and shucking his shirt. “You are so fucking hot. I need to be inside you. Now.”
Feeling like a limp noodle, I merely watched as he stripped naked with a speed that seemed to surpass reality. Then he was kneeling in front of me as he rolled on a condom.
“Sit up,” he said, sounding strained.
I blinked at him, sure he’d lost his mind. “Huh?” Sit up? But it was taking all the energy I had just to blink at him.
“Up,” he encouraged with a grin that had me following his command without any kickback, my eyes on his and his on mine as I crawled up onto my knees, facing him.
Except as soon as I was up, mirroring his pose, he fell back onto his ass, sitting lower than me. Then he patted his lap in invitation. “Climb aboard,” he offered as he rested his spine against the headboard and stretched his legs out in front of him.
Eagerness sparked through me as I realized I could drive this time around. Licking my lips as I tried to decide exactly how I wanted to go about it, I slid my gaze over his splendid, naked form, only to get caught on the thick ready cock springing up from between his legs. The droplet of pre-cum beading out the top had my pussy tingling with anticipation that craved to have him deep inside me already.
So I stopped thinking and just clutched his shoulders in order to climb into his lap. He looked up as I hovered myself above him. Then he nodded and reached out to grab the headboard behind him, his elbows jutting out to the sides, so he could brace himself. Grinning because he seemed to know exactly how rough I wanted to go, I sat down hard, whimpering as I impaled myself.
God, he was thick. The stretch and friction felt amazing, though. The urge to move on him, massaging my own hungry inner muscles against his cock was strong. But I held back, just a beat, in order to watch his expression.
He grunted and clenched his teeth, seeming to squeeze the headboard even tighter. His hips jerked, letting me know he wanted the movement as much as I did, but he was trying to hold himself in check and let me control the reins.
Pleased by his restraint, I rewarded him by pumping my hips, starting at a quick, jerky canter, before I slowed to a lazy roll that drove him insane.
I might’ve enjoyed myself a bit too much, grinding down hard and then squeezing around him, until he was cursing and sweating, his dick pulsing desperately inside me.
“Mmm, yes,” I cooed, gently scraping the tips of my fingernails along his jaw. “Beg me, baby. Let me know just how much you want it.”
He rasped out a laugh of denial and shook his head, but the frantic glaze in his eyes and the way he couldn’t stop panting and straining against his own body to stay still said he was close.
I moved again, up, down, squeeze, then slow erotic grind.
“Fuck,” he whispered, trying to look up at the ceiling and not me. But I clutched his face between my hands and forced his eyes back to mine, just as I smiled and squeezed around him again.
He gasped, his eyes going unfocused and mouth dropping open.
Chuckling, I licked the side of his throat and scaled my nails down his back until I was tucking them under him on the mattress and gripping his ass as I ground down on him again. And again. And again.
“It’s okay,” I murmured in his ear, rising up just enough until I’d almost pulled myself all the way off. “You can trust me. I would never hurt you. In fact, I just wanna make you feel so very, very—”
“Jesus Christ,” he ground out, his eyes wild as they found mind. “Gabby. Please. Dammit, please!”
I gasped out a surprised breath, never in a million years guessing he’d actually beg. But seeing all that faith and trust and passion in his eyes was my undoing.
“Ah, fuck,” I whispered, completely overcome. This was more than I could take.
I kissed him hard and started to come, unable to stop myself as I crushed my body down on his with everything I had until he shouted in surprise and pulsed inside me, the heat of his release melting my resistance completely.
This man owned me.
As my body convulsed around his and he shuddered in me, he let go of the headboard to lock his arms around me and tuck his face into my neck, holding on to me as if I were the only thing left on the planet that felt real to him.
From there, we bulldozed our way into euphoria together. And I had a feeling, there was no coming back from this. We’d both just been intrinsically altered.
Chapter 28
Gabby
“Strange fact,” Hayden panted, slipping his hand over my hair as I began to climb off him, my legs as weak as jelly and heart still racing with a mixture of fear and panic.
Because I loved him, I realized. Holy shit, I loved this aggravating pain in the ass. Dazed, I licked my dry lips and mumbled, “What’s that?” hoping he couldn’t tell what I was feeling.
“I didn’t much like walking in the door to find my brother in bed with you,” he answered casually, seemingly unaware of the crisis that was happening inside me.
But fuck me, I loved a man who drove me crazy, who had insane family issues, who could piss me off like no one else. And, holy hell, I think I liked loving someone who was so messed up.
I lifted my face to peer into his eyes. At the moment, he didn’t seem too upset about seeing Brick and me stretched out on the bed together. But he’d also just come so hard he might’ve broken all the blood vessels in his medulla oblongata, preventing him from experiencing anger ever again.
“So you decided to fuck the shit out of me to show me who I really belong to, huh?” I guessed.
His eyes darted to me, and a rueful grin graced his sexy mouth. “Too archaic?”
“A bit.” I nodded only to run my hand up his hard, chiseled chest. “But I can’t say I didn’t enjoy your technique. You give a girl a good orgasm, Carmichael.”
With a satisfied sigh, I climbed off the bed and smiled down at him as he gazed up at me, his eyes glittering with warmth and awe. It was an overwhelming experience to have someone look at you as if you hung the moon. Made you realize how much you didn’t deserve it, and yet
how much you wanted to at least try to.
No man had ever made me want to put that much effort into him before. So I reverted back to my usual smarminess to deal with it, hiding all the fluttering nerves that quivered through my dazed system.
“To really seal the deal with me, however,” I said, crossing my arms over my chest and lifting one eyebrow, “you’re going to have to feed me because now I’m starving.”
Hayden chuckled and reached out his arm to snag the to-go bag off the nightstand. “In that case, I have bagels.”
“Bagels?” I wrinkled my nose, hoping for something full of a hell of a lot more sugar and sweetness to combat these jittery emotions. Like donuts maybe.
“With your choice of garlic herb, strawberry, or cinnamon schmear,” he added.
My eyebrows perked with interest. “Really?” I climbed back onto the mattress and reached out. “In that case, gimme!”
When he held the bag away before I could snag it, I glowered at him, non-impressed.
But all he said was, “Thank you.”
The seriousness in his tone made me melt until I dropped all playfulness as well. “For what?” I asked quietly.
His gaze went wistful as it wandered over my face. “For last night,” he answered. “For this morning. For every moment I’ve breathed since I met you.”
And that was it for me.
There would never be any coming back from Hayden Carmichael.
We exited Hayden’s room about ten minutes later in search of something to drink in the kitchen. His brother was just finishing a pot of coffee and pouring himself a cup when we entered. I pulled to a surprised halt, having forgotten about him.
Whoops.
Lifting the mug to his mouth, he turned and paused when he caught sight of us.
“Ahh,” he said in pleasant greeting, appearing completely oblivious to what Hayden and I had just done. His eyes glittered with approval as they wandered over me, however. “And you still look hot with your clothes on, too. Sweet.” Then he held out the cup he hadn’t yet sipped from, offering, “Coffee?”
I shrugged and took the mug. “Thanks.”
Brick grinned engagingly over my easy acceptance and turned back to fix himself another. As I sipped and he poured, Hayden crossed his arms over his chest and rested his back against the counter on the far side of the room.
When his brother came back around with a new cup, he caught Hayden’s glare, so he said, “You can get your own,” before he took a long sip, sighing in delight and closing his eyes through the swallow.
Hayden shook his head and frowned. “What’re you doing here, Broderick?”
Brick frowned at him before sending me a telling glance.
Hayden followed the stare before he groaned and rubbed at a spot in the center of his forehead. “You can talk in front of her,” he finally answered. “It’s fine.”
Brick whirled to gape at him. “What, really?”
“Yes.” His brother rolled his hand impatiently. “So what do you want?”
Too busy sending me a curious once-over, Brick could only shake his head in awe. “You’re serious about her, aren’t you?” He sent Hayden a wide-eyed glance. “Are you going to marry this one or something?”
“It’s a bit soon for that,” Hayden bit out. “Now, speak.”
His brother only rolled his eyes. “Isn’t it obvious why I’m here? I want answers. Like why the hell did you need me to get our mother dearest out of her apartment last night, especially after what she did to me this week? You’re lucky I didn’t strangle the old bat on sight. She crossed the line by stealing my department’s presentation. So whatever you needed at her place better well have been pretty fucking important.”
“It was.”
When that was all Hayden said, Brick lifted his eyebrows. “Okay, so what was it?”
Hayden didn’t answer, so his brother glanced toward me.
“Do you know?”
I opened my mouth and hesitated, not sure how to answer. Hayden had a lot to tell him, so maybe he didn’t want to get into all that quite yet.
Thank God, he finally decided to talk then. But what he said was, “It was about her,” which shocked the shit out of me. I glanced his way, and he met my gaze. “Lana has some information on Gabby to use against her,” he told Brick, “so we tried to find it.”
He could tell from the pinch in my expression that I thought he should’ve just told his brother the truth, but since he’d always so readily helped me out and gone along with my on-the-spot, spur-of-the-moment role plays, I decided to go along with his now, as well.
Nodding, I gave a sickeningly weak smile to Brick when he glanced questionably my way.
“Hmm,” Brick murmured thoughtfully. Then he grinned. “Was it a sex tape?” His eyes flared with interest. “Did you find it? Can I watch it?”
“No,” I said.
He paused, then held up a finger. “No, it’s not a sex tape? Or no, I can’t watch?”
I blinked before answering, “Both.”
“Huh.” Looking extremely disappointed by that, he turned back to Hayden. “So, I’m guessing you weren’t able to find whatever boring thing you were looking for, then.”
“With the timeline you gave us?” Hayden lifted his eyebrows like a scolding older brother. “Of course not. We barely got inside the front door before she was returning home again.”
“Well, since I’m finally in the know now,” Brick started, rolling his eyes over the fact that he hadn’t been in the know before. “We can try again today if you want. I’ll make sure I hold my temper with her long enough to—”
“No.” Hayden shook his head. “I already pulled you into this once; I don’t want to again. She might realize something’s up and figure out you were involved in helping me. Then she’ll go after you, and—”
Brick snorted and waved a hand, unconcerned. “You think I care what she might dish out against me? Think again, bro. I say bring it on, bitch.”
Hayden glanced my way, his stare hard and worried. Then he turned back to Brick. “Maybe you wouldn’t say that if you knew—”
“You know what your problem is?” Brick asked, cutting Hayden off. “You expect too much from her.”
Hayden furrowed his brows in confusion. “I expect too much?” Then he glanced at me, his expression asking if I knew what that meant. I could only shrug, so he turned back to Brick who was nodding.
“Yes. You expect Mother to be good and honest and pure. I mean, look at you. You’re still holding out all these years later, just hoping she isn’t the evil person she actually is. But newsflash, bud, she’s fucking rotten to the core. There is no hope for her.”
Hayden glanced my way again, probably remembering how I’d also told him he was full of too much hope.
Then he turned back to Brick and mumbled a petulant, “Whatever. I don’t expect shit from her.”
“Hell, yes, you do,” his brother argued on a snort.
“I gave up on her years ago,” Hayden insisted, even as he sent me a warning glance, asking me to stay silent about the subject.
“No, I gave up on her years ago, and look.” Brick spread his arms wide and smiled big. “Here I am, happier than I’ve ever been.” He paused, frowning slightly. “Well, mostly happier, anyway.” Then he winked my way. “I’d be much happier if this pretty thing tossed you aside and tried me on for size, instead.”
I paused in the middle of smearing my bagel with garlic spread to eye him up and down. Then I turned my attention to Hayden so I could give him the same perusal. After checking them both over thoroughly, I returned my gaze to Brick and answered, “I’m good, thanks.”
He didn’t seem offended by the rejection. Actually, he smiled as if charmed by it before shaking a finger my way and telling Hayden, “You really should marry her.”
Hayden sighed. “I’ll take your suggestion into consideration.”
“You do that.” Brick hummed as if satisfied and dumped the rest of his coffee down
the drain. “And remember: try to be more like me. I never expect anything but the worst from Mother. Ergo, nothing she does can disappoint or hurt me. See, I just don’t care what she dishes out. And in return, life is so much better. You worry less that way. And avoid premature wrinkles.”
“Except it’s not me I’m worried about her disappointing or hurting,” Hayden shot back, shaking his head at Brick as if he couldn’t believe his brother could have such a screwed-up theology. “It pissed you off when she messed with your portfolio, right?”
Brick narrowed his eyes before gritting out, “Yes. What’s your point?”
Hayden splaying out a hand. “My point is that it didn’t just affect you; it affected your entire department. The people you do care about.”
Brick glanced toward me, before turning back to his brother. “I might be beginning to see your point.”
“Right?” Hayden murmured softly. “I could stop caring about her completely, sure. No problem. But I’d have to stop caring about everyone and everything to truly stop worrying about her.” His shoulders sagged as he exhaled a long, exhausted sigh. “And I’ve tried that path, thanks. But it sucked. So I guess I’ll just keep expecting her to straighten her shit out until someone can truly stop her.”
“Stop her?” Brick blurted out with an incredulous laugh. “The only way to stop Lana Judge from being Lana Judge is either death or, like, sending her to jail forever, and good luck accomplishing that, brother.” Shaking his head, he patted Hayden sympathetically on the shoulder as he moved past him to set his empty mug on the countertop. Then he pointed my way. “See you around, Gabby. And try to lay off so many clothes, all right? Naked’s a good look on you.”
After he walked out, Hayden turned to me, looking more determined than ever. “I’m calling the detective,” he announced.
I nodded, beginning to realize just how important this mission was to him. He couldn’t stop worrying so much about his loved ones and just be free to be himself until he was free of Lana.