The Living: A Reverse Harem Bully Romance (The Thorns of Rosewood Book 3)

by Cassie James

  After a few minutes of peaceful silence, I heave a contented sigh and head for the stairs tucked around the side of the two-story deck. For a short second, I consider stopping on the first story of the deck, but the water calls to me, and I find myself flying down the last of the stairs and out toward the sloping walkway that leads toward the private docks and the water.

  About halfway down sits a natural outcropping of rocks, the top of which have been smoothed over and evened out with concrete. Wind brushes against my skin as I stare at the unlit fire pit and circle of lounge chairs. The view is insane, the Howe Sound stretching before me in an unhindered view. I glance to the right, at the next sloping walkway, the one that leads all the way to the shore, and consider my next move carefully.

  Knowing this little outcropping of rocks is hidden from view of the house, I decide to stretch out on one of the loungers, tossing the borrowed throw blanket over my legs. There’s an early spring chill to the air, and I’m so grateful that it means the Hamiltons are tucked away inside, leaving me to come out here and be at peace for the first time in days.

  I’m not sure how much time passes as I sit there listening to the water and watching the sun sink lower and lower. But the dusk turns to darkness before the sound of someone shuffling down the walkway pulls my attention away from the water. I turn in the direction of the sound to see light bobbing in my direction, and a slow smile breaks over my face when I realize it’s Tyler shuffling slowly in my direction, his arms full of wood, and a lantern hanging precariously in his grip.

  “I figured I’d find you down here when you weren’t in your room,” he says before I can speak, and my heart melts as he smiles down at me.

  “You know me so well.” I offer a light laugh as he drops the logs he’s carrying and then sets the lantern off to the side on another chair. “Did you need help?”

  “Little late now, don’t you think?” he responds with an easy laugh. I shrug with a laugh of my own as he kneels down by the stone fire pit.

  I swing my legs around the side of the lounger and rest my elbows on my knees, dropping my chin on the palm of one hand as I watch him start to build a fire. I almost joke about him living a past life as a boy scout, but I completely lose my train of thought when he turns, his shirt stretching tight across his back in a way that makes my mouth go dry. It’s been too damn long since we had a private moment together. I get lost in savoring the sight of his body as he finishes getting the fire burning.

  When he eventually stands to face me, he’s bathed in the warm glow of the fire, the orange flames haloing his body like he’s some kind of ethereal being sent to earth for my pleasure alone. Not for the first time, I realize how damn lucky I am—not just because he’s a fucking piece, but because he’s also so gentle and sweet and… he gets me. In an easy way that I know doesn’t come around all that often.

  Tyler walks over, climbing behind me on the wicker lounger and pulling me back against his chest. He holds me tight, his chin resting on the crown of my head. We’re silent, and it’s not long before the sound of his heart beating under my ear has my eyes drooping. My heart beats in time with his, and a wave of emotion crashes into me just like the waves hitting the rocks below us. I’m so damn grateful for him, so thankful that after everything, we still managed to find our way back to one another.

  The words come easily.

  “I love you,” I murmur.

  After a few silent seconds, his arms tighten around me as he kisses the crown of my head. “I love you too, Piper. So damn much.” I smile and snuggle closer against him, content to let him hold me in this peaceful moment forever.

  The first thing I’m aware of when I wake up is that I’m cold. I peel my eyes open slowly, teeth chattering as I take in the smoldering fire pit and hazy quality of the pre-dawn sky. I snuggle closer to Tyler, hoping to steal as much warmth as I can after our unintentional night outdoors. The second thing I’m acutely aware of is the way his morning wood pushes insistently against my side.

  I bite my lip and glance in the direction of the house. Trees overhang the rocks, blocking our view of the house—and their view of us. A wicked idea fills my head as the sky slowly lightens around us, and it’s not long before I’m straddling his lap and laying lazy kisses over his lips until he stirs.

  “Mmmm,” he groans against my lips. I kiss a trail along his jawline, stopping at the spot right next to his ear as he murmurs, “G’morning.”

  “It’s certainly going to be,” I whisper as I nip at his earlobe. His hands find my hips. Suddenly, it doesn’t feel so cold outside after all.

  I grind against him as our mouths find each other, morning breath be damned as I feel his hips pulse toward me. Heat courses through my body, burning me up from my very center all the way out to the tips of my fingers and toes. I reach between our bodies, snaking my hands toward the waistband of his joggers, but he catches my wrist in his hand and pulls away from my kiss, panting hard.

  “I don’t have anything with me, Pipe,” he says with a low groan, and I drop my head in the crook of his neck. I might not need condoms for pregnancy control, but I do need them as a matter of good general health. Especially since I’m sleeping with more than one person.

  “What’s the likelihood that we can sneak into your room and not get caught?” I ask as I wriggle against him. I’m positively aching for him right now and I need relief sooner rather than later. Some light dry humping just isn’t going to cut it.

  He groans, hands going tight around my hips to try to make me stop moving. “It’s still early, so everyone’s definitely asleep. But you have to go back to your room as soon as we’re done and you have to be quiet, Pipe.” He eyes me like he’s not actually sure I’m capable of that. I want to remind him of all the times we fooled around with his parents in the house, but this is taking things a step farther. And he’s not wrong, sometimes I may get a little loud.

  “I will be!” I insist, but he’s shaking his head at me even as I’m crawling from his lap and wrapping last night’s borrowed blanket around my shoulders. It’ll be a testament of my self-control if I manage to not wake the entire house, but that’s half of the excitement of it, isn’t it?

  Tyler practically drags me up the walkway, stopping only to fumble with the entry code at the back door. I barely stifle a giggle when he grumbles, “Come on you fucking piece of shit.” As soon as we step foot through the door, he spins me around to press me against the wall just inside the house, kissing me like he’s a starved man.

  “Ty, bedroom,” I moan against his lips when he tries to lift my legs around his waist, and he groans before pulling away from me with a jerk. He laces his fingers through mine again, though, and we scramble through the house to the third story guest room he’s staying in.

  My room’s on the level below, directly next to his parents, the idea being that he wouldn’t dare sneak into my room if it were next to them. I didn’t follow the logic that I wouldn’t sneak into his room, but none of the Hamiltons have ever had daughters, and it’s really fucking obvious. They have no idea the mistake they’ve made, especially considering the fact that I crave Tyler almost as much as he craves me.

  He presses my back against the bedroom door seconds after it closes, my fingers fumbling to click the lock into place as he lowers his lips to my neck and presses his body against mine. I run my hands over his back, digging my nails into the thick material of his sweatshirt as I go. When I make it to the hem, I yank until he pulls away just long enough to pull it over his head in one swift motion before reaching for mine, too.

  Our clothes pile haphazardly around the floor as we kiss and stumble our way toward the bed, hands fumbling over one another in our haste. We fall into the bed side by side, but Tyler’s quick to roll over me. I didn’t even see him grab it, but he’s suddenly tearing into a condom packet. I glance down as he rolls it over his length, my thighs clenching as I watch him pulse against his own hand. He’s ready to go and so am I.

  His eyes are ho
oded and dark with lust when they find mine again. He puts a hand on each of my legs, urging me to wrap them around his waist, and I do it no question. My heels dig into his ass as I immediately try to spur him on.

  He lets out a long, stuttering breath as he denies me. He’s apparently got his own ideas about what kind of pace to keep. He moves with excruciatingly slow precision as he parts me with one measured stroke. I let out a frustrated groan just in time to have him pull back and plunge into me much harder the second time. It’s enough to force a gasp out of me as he’s capturing my lips with his. My fingers twist around the blankets, desperate for something to hold onto, as he lets go and starts taking me with reckless abandon.

  His eyes pop open when a particularly loud groan escapes through my lips, and he goes wide-eyed and shakes his head frantically at me. “Sorry,” I mouth to him, but he’s apparently done taking chances. He shifts to holding his weight with one arm as he uses his other hand to cover my mouth, stifling the mewling noises that I can’t seem to stop now. The muffled noises only seem to make him fuck me harder. It’s rougher than the sex we’ve had before, which sends me over the edge faster than I anticipated.

  My heels dig so hard into the top of his ass that he has no choice but to stop for a minute and let his weight bear down on me. I convulse under him, hands struggling to find purchase in the sheets as I lose myself in the moment. I’m still riding out an orgasm when Tyler seems to get desperate and drags himself back up far enough that he can start pumping into me again.

  If I thought he was frenzied before, he’s downright chaotic now. He takes his hand away from my mouth to balance himself, and I have to replace it with one of my own as another too-loud moan is pried out of me. It feels too good to be silent.

  “Piper, fuck,” he mutters just before his hips jerk and he collapses over me. He lets out a ragged breath as he rolls to the side to give me room to breathe. “Well, that was one hell of a way to wake up,” he whispers after he catches his breath, chuckling quietly.

  He gets up to ditch the condom and gather up our clothes. I wish I could lay here with him forever, but I know I need to get out now or risk getting caught. I let him help me up so I can redress, which takes twice as long as it should have when he decides to “help.” And by help, I actually mean he wants to cop a feel a few more times before he sends me on my way.

  When I sneak out of his room a few minutes later, I’m sure a look a little worse for the wear, but I feel absolutely sated. My heart catches in my throat, though, when I run into Gran at the foot of the stairs, a curious look on her weathered face. “Oh, good morning,” I say brightly, hoping like hell the blush that’s trying to make its way up my neck isn’t coloring my cheeks. Gran looks pointedly from my messy hair to her wrist watch. “I just went to wake Ty up to see if he wanted to watch the sunrise with me at the dock. I was going to go make coffee if you’d like to join us?”

  She pats me on the arm gently but shakes her head no. “I’ll make breakfast while you make the coffee, but my old bones don’t like the walk down there when it’s so cold out. Besides, who wants their grandmother ruining a perfectly romantic morning?”

  I’m positive a blush flares over my face then, but I offer her a bright smile and rush toward my guest room to change clothes. I collapse against the door for half a second, letting waves of embarrassment crest over me before I head for my half unpacked suitcase on the chair in the corner. As I pass the bed, I notice a glass of water and two aspirin on the bedside table with a note. I hope you start to feel better, Piper. -Gran

  My stomach drops when I reach out to touch the glass of water. It’s room temperature, so it’s likely been there since the night before. The flush is back full force as I wonder whether or not she’d peeked her head into the room to check on me before I came flouncing down the stairs after my morning bout of corrupting her youngest grandson.

  Who wants their grandmother ruining a perfectly romantic morning? Her words echo through my head, and I’m certain I could die of embarrassment on the fucking spot. But damn, it was definitely worth it.

  13

  Tyler

  The break is already almost over, and it’s a real fucking pity. I’m out on the back deck tonight with my parents, grandparents, and Piper. The sun is setting in the distance, and for once the conversation flows without any robot questions being thrown into the mix. It’s the first night that it’s been just the six of us, and Piper is noticeably more relaxed around everyone, laughing and joking along with my grandpa’s terrible jokes while Gran shakes her head at them both.

  “Oh shoot,” Piper says suddenly, and my eyes dart in her direction as she shoots up out of her chair. My head tilts, and she smiles warmly down at me before turning a gracious smile on my family. “I’m late calling my parents. I’ll be back out in a few minutes. Sorry!”

  She’s gone in a flurry of movement, hair flying as she jogs into the house to retrieve her phone. She’s left it in her room for most of the week, much to my surprise. I’m sure if Brennan and Jude hadn’t been so inaccessible, it would have been attached to her like usual. I know she misses them both, and I get it, but it has been nice having her mostly to myself this week.

  I don’t realize I’m still staring after her until my dad clears his throat loudly, pulling my attention back to the group. He lets out a loud laugh as he tells me, “You’re a goner.”

  He’s not wrong. Still, I blush like a fucking schoolgirl now that they’re all staring at me with that knowing look in their eyes. They don’t even know the half of it. They might not laugh so much if they knew exactly what being with Piper means, particularly that she comes with two other boyfriends and a whole slew of confusing group sexual experiences.

  There are some things no one else ever needs to know.

  Mom’s the first to calm her laughter, laying a hand on Dad’s arm and shaking her head at him. The two of them have always been solid. I can’t ever remember a time they didn’t seem hopelessly in love. When I look at them, I think about how easily I can imagine Piper and I in their place someday. And yeah, okay, I still picture Brennan and Jude there, too, but that’s not the point I want to focus on right now.

  “She’s really different,” Mom says after a long moment. Before I have a chance to get defensive and ask what the fuck that means, she continues softly. “It’s really nice, Ty. When you told us about her, we just—”

  “Well, it is a little weird isn’t?” Dad interrupts.

  Gran reaches over to slap his shoulder. Her jerks away from her with an overdramatic hiss, and I can’t help but shake my head at him. For being such a well-respected doctor, he’s not well known for taking shit seriously. When his eyes go hard, though, I’m not sure he is goofing around anymore. “I’m sorry, but it is. Who orders a replacement for their dead kid?”

  My mouth moves before my brain has a chance to catch up. “Dad, what the fuck!” Gran gasps, but it’s Grandpa who wags his finger at me. “Sorry,” I mutter. “But you can’t just say stuff like that.”

  “I guess no one ever accused Jackie Hawthorne of being the kind of woman who has her shit together,” Dad keeps on rambling. “Still, where the hell did that idea even come from? And how does a woman approach someone like Stanley Hyde, of all people, with that kind of insanity? I mean, I assume he was already working on something and didn’t just pull the whole project together from scratch. But it’s weird that he got the replacement so close to the real thing.” Gran’s face is red with embarrassment as she tries hopelessly to stop him from continuing. I’m sure she’s horrified right now about his serious lack of manners. Finally, Mom leans over and pinches him until he yowls.

  “Rick, you are being incredibly insensitive,” she hisses, shooting a pointed look in my direction. I huff a sigh at her and drop my head in my hands. Jesus Christ. They’re great parents, honestly, super supportive and loving, but damn if they don’t just miss the mark now and then. “Tyler, she’s wonderful. Really.”

  “Oh!” Dad exclai
ms suddenly, and I shake my head even though it’s still resting in my hands. For being the smartest man I know, he sure is a goddamn idiot sometimes. “Tyler, yeah, it’s not her I have the problem with! Not that I have a problem with anything at all. It’s just—you know, what a weird decision to make for your family. Ow, Evelyn, stop pinching me!” The laugh that falls from my lips lacks any real humor, but I appreciate his effort. “Seriously, Tyler, we love her.”

  “Who do you love?” My head jerks up to see Piper strolling across the deck with an easy smile on her face. She trails her hand over my shoulders as she passes me to take back her chair on the other side of mine. “Is it Gran? Because I love her, too,” Piper gushes as she blows my grandmother a kiss. She has a serious soft spot for Gran. I fucking love that.

  And Gran’s got a soft spot for Piper, too. Her face pulls into a wide smile as she leans forward to pat my girlfriend’s hand affectionately. Grandpa nudges my foot under the table. I can guess exactly what he’s thinking. Piper has charmed the pants off my entire family. Sure enough, when I glance at him, he gives a nod of approval in her direction.

  “We were talking about you, dear. Although, I’m afraid my son can’t seem to figure out how to do so without becoming a completely offensive buffoon.” Gran shoots Dad another disapproving look.

  Piper takes my hand and squeezes as she laughs breezily. Thank fuck she doesn’t look too bothered by that announcement.

  “Offensive?” she asks as one eyebrow goes up. I can only hope that my dad doesn’t decide to start in again, over sharing about how weird he thinks the concept of her existence is.

  I shake my head and tell her, “Trust me, you don’t want to know. Let’s just leave it at the fact that everyone thinks you hung the moon and stars.”

  “The moon and the stars?” she asks with mock surprise, and the same gentle laughter that’s filled the air almost all night rises from my family once more. “I mean, that seems a bit much, but I love you guys, too.” There’s genuine warmth in her voice, and my heart fucking thuds at the sound of it. “Thank you all so, so much for letting me intrude on your family trip. I really appreciate it. I’ve had an amazing time.”