by Katie Reus
“Eight slices,” she said automatically.
He blinked once, then laughed out loud at her cheesy joke. The happy sound wrapped around her, infused her with warmth and a whole lot of feelings she wasn’t sure she was ready for. Unable to resist, she leaned in and kissed him again.
Immediately he took over, his tongue teasing against hers in the most erotic strokes. Prickles of awareness danced along her spine and out to all her nerve endings as she leaned into him. Now was the most inappropriate time to do anything, but the feel of him under her, his taste, his spicy cologne, his damp hair… She realized he must have showered before heading over here and now all she could think about was sharing a shower with him later.
Groaning, he pulled back. “We’ve got to stop or I won’t be able to face your family soon.”
Even though stopping was the last thing she wanted to do, getting busy in her parents’ guest bathroom with her family nearby? Not happening. Later, though. Things would definitely be happening later. As soon as they were alone and had privacy. Laughing, she stood and held out a hand. “You need any first aid?”
“Nah. Your kisses did the trick.” He brushed his lips over hers again before taking one of her hands in his, linking their fingers. “Let’s do this.”
She filed out with him, ready to go face her family. She might have no idea what the future held for them, or where this thing would go, but she could enjoy tonight with the sweet, sexy man who’d gone to play hockey with her brothers even knowing he’d likely get a beating.
She’d never brought a guy home before, and while technically she hadn’t brought him over, it was pretty much implied he was here for her. This was going to be very interesting.
Chapter 7
“How badly do you want to ditch me and get out while you still can?” Fallon was only half-joking as she and Brad strolled around one of the local parks. The near full moon and splash of stars across the night sky illuminated everything. Snow tipped some of the pine trees and covered the plastic seats on the multicolored swing set. After dinner with her parents, they’d decided to go for a walk—and she needed to get space from her family even if she was chilled.
They’d all been perfectly nice to Brad, but it had been weird having him in her family home when she was casually dressed with no makeup, and her brothers were acting like he was their friend all of a sudden. Whatever had happened out on the ice must have been serious for them to be so welcoming. The way they’d treated him had been authentic, and she wasn’t sure how she felt about it. She loved that they accepted him, not that it had ever been in doubt. There was just still this deep-seated fear that things between them would end badly—with her getting her heart broken.
“Are you kidding me? Your family is great. I always wished I had siblings.” His fingers were linked through hers and he squeezed lightly.
Sometimes her brothers were a giant pain in the ass, but she wouldn’t trade them for anything. No matter what, she always knew they loved her. “Okay, so what happened with my brothers? Because you couldn’t have wanted something like that growing up.”
He let out a low laugh. “I was in the Marines. Trust me, what they put me through was nothing. It was basically just roughhousing on ice. And I gave as good as I got.”
She shot him a sideways glance. She had noticed that both Maguire and Nolan seemed to wince when they moved wrong so he’d probably nailed them in the ribs. Which they totally deserved. She couldn’t believe they’d basically ambushed him. “You have a black eye. Speaking of, which brother did that to you?”
“I’m definitely not telling you that.”
“It was Maguire, wasn’t it?”
Brad just lifted a shoulder and she knew she had her answer. Oh, her brother was definitely going to pay.
“I knew it,” she muttered.
The park was quiet since it was pushing nine o’clock. Something she was grateful for. She liked the peace and silence of the place. “I used to come here when I was a kid.” It was within walking distance of her parents’ house, so she and her brothers had spent many hours here playing.
“Yeah?”
“All the time. Over the summers, I think the only reason my mom brought us here was so we’d tire ourselves out and give her a break.”
“She’s something else.”
“No kidding.”
“I like her. And at the risk of you biting my head off, you’re just like her.”
“I know. Trust me, I know.” Fallon wasn’t sure she’d ever measure up to her mom. “God, she’s incredible. Both my parents are. Raising four kids and keeping their sanity?” She shook her head. She wasn’t even sure how they’d afforded everything, but she and her brothers had never wanted for necessities.
Brad wrapped his arm around her, the action coming to be way too familiar. She leaned into him, tightened her own grip around him as she buried her face in his chest and inhaled.
“You don’t want that many kids?” he asked.
This seemed like heavier territory, but she found herself surprisingly okay with it as she looked up at him. “Ah…I’d like two. Maybe three, but spread out.” She grinned, shaking her head. “But two seems more manageable. What about you?”
“Two, for sure. I was an only child, and even though I never felt cheated I always wanted a brother.” His tone was slightly wistful.
She had the most insane thought that if things worked out with them, he’d gain three brothers. Just as suddenly as the thought entered her mind, she jolted, nearly tripping on her own feet.
He steadied her, moving his hand to the small of her back. “You okay?”
Clearing her throat, she straightened and leaned into him again. “Fine, just clumsy. And since you’re clearly not going to tell me, did my brothers ask you anything? Grill you about me or us?”
“Oh, that’s against the guy code. I can’t tell you what we talked about.”
Stopping on the sidewalk, she turned and pulled him close against her. “I bet I could make you tell me.”
He groaned, his hips rolling against hers once as he fully embraced her. “You probably could.”
“I’ll let you keep your secrets for now. But,” she said, shifting so that she fell in step with him and continued walking, “I do have another question. What’s the deal with the story of you saving the puppy? Is that true?” She’d heard about it years ago, but he was six years older than her so it was only a vague memory in her mind since she’d been twelve at the time.
He groaned and rubbed a hand over his face. “I’m never going to outlive that, I swear.” Frowning, he glanced down at her. “Is that why you call me Boy Scout?”
“Well, yeah. Part of it, anyway. So…details.”
He let out an overexaggerated sigh. “I was eighteen and some jackass threw a bag of puppies—I’m talking newborns—over the Reindeer Bridge as he drove by. I wasn’t sure what was in it, but me and some other guys were walking home from school when we saw it. I jumped in and was only able to save a couple of them. Most of the litter died, but the vet found the two of them good homes.”
“So you saved puppies, as in multiple?” The man really was a hero.
His cheeks flushed crimson as he cleared his throat. “What was I supposed to do, not save them?”
She tugged him down to her and crushed her lips to his. This man was determined to melt her completely.
“Fallon?” Brad murmured against her mouth.
“Hmm?”
“Want to go back to my place?” He looked at her, his eyes dark pools she wanted to drown in.
Did she ever. And there would be no turning back after this. “Oh yeah.”
* * *
Brad pushed Fallon up against his front door as he locked it behind them. “I’m clean,” he murmured against her mouth. He hadn’t been with a woman since moving back to Holly and he’d been tested before that.
“Me too. And I’m on the pill.” Her voice was as unsteady as he felt.
And his hands
were shaking. His. He’d been in more firefights than he wanted to think about. He’d faced down the barrel of a rifle with only his wits to keep him alive.
But this—being with Fallon, knowing what was coming—made him crazy. In the best way possible. As he crushed his mouth to hers, she hoisted herself up, wrapping her legs around him. He grabbed onto her ass, held her as close as possible.
There would be no interruptions. Unless he got called in—but he wasn’t going to think about that. Not when she was with him and they were on the same wavelength. Using his body weight to hold her in place, he slid his hands into her thick hair and cupped the back of her head. She tasted sweet like the mint candy she’d popped in her mouth on the drive over. He didn’t even remember the drive, not when he’d been so focused on getting home and getting her naked.
“Upstairs or the living room?” he managed to rasp out. Because he needed to get her out of her clothes and underneath him immediately.
“Living room.” Her blue eyes were bright with longing.
That was all he needed to hear.
He couldn’t wait to see her completely naked with her gorgeous red hair wild around her face. As he strode through his living room, he grabbed a big throw blanket off the couch. Once they reached the fireplace, he tossed it down, and though he hated to let her go, he did. “I just want to start the fire first.”
Out of the corner of his eye he saw her straightening the blanket and grabbing pillows as he lit the gas fire. By the time he was done and turned to face Fallon, her jacket and top were already off.
He sucked in a breath at the sight of her. She had on a plain black bra that didn’t do much to hide the perfect, full mounds spilling out. All that smooth skin was just begging for his touch, for his mouth.
Staying where he was, crouched down, he just stared for a long moment. “Take off everything.” His voice was low, raspy.
Her eyes widened slightly, but then she grinned before doing what he ordered. Slowly.
She hooked her fingers against her leggings and shimmied out of them so that she was standing on the blanket in just a pair of simple black underwear that matched her bra.
When she went to take them off, he shook his head because he’d changed his mind. “I’ll do it.” His voice was as raspy and unsteady as he felt. He might have tasted her once before, but that wasn’t nearly enough. Now he got to see all of her, undressed and his for the taking.
Skimming his fingers up the outside of her legs, he marveled at how smooth her skin was. She shivered as he reached her hips. He let his gaze trail up her body as he tugged the bit of material down her legs. Faint triangle tan lines marked her breasts and the light pink nipples he planned to tease with his tongue.
The firelight flickered around her, casting shadows and giving her hair and creamy skin a soft glow as she looked down at him. She was everything he’d ever hoped for but hadn’t even known existed.
She’d gotten under his skin before the first time they’d ever spoken. He’d never believed in fate or bullshit like that until Fallon walked into his life.
“I’m never going to forget the way you look right now,” he murmured.
Her expression softened as she reached for his face, cupping his cheeks with her soft hands. Moving lightning fast, he had her flat on her back in seconds.
He grinned at the little yelp she let out even as she arched against the blanket. “This soft enough?”
“I’m not made of glass…and you’re still dressed.” She cupped his cheeks again, watching him with an intensity that unnerved him.
He wished he could get in her head, figure out exactly what she was thinking. Because he wanted something real from her, real for them.
“You’re going to climax before my clothes come off.” And that was that. That primitive force driving him needed her to climax well before he did, before he slid inside her. He wanted to see that pleasure on her face, taste it on his tongue again.
Her lips parted—in pleasure or surprise, he wasn’t sure—right before he dipped his head and did one thing he’d been fantasizing about. He sucked one of her tight, pink nipples into his mouth.
She dug her fingers into his back, calling out his name as he flicked his tongue over it, again and again. She squirmed under him, her breathing erratic as he kissed a path to her other breast. Couldn’t have one feeling neglected.
“Love your mouth on me,” she rasped out.
He smiled against her breast before oh so lightly pressing his teeth around her nipple. Not hard, but with enough pressure that she groaned and dug her fingers into his back.
“Biggest tease ever.” Her voice trembled, her nails biting into him.
He loved the nip of pain.
“Next time, you’re wearing your uniform.”
He could get on board with that. His cock kicked against his pants as he moved lower, lower… As he reached the top of her mound he had to brace himself for a moment.
Splayed out like this, spread open for him—it took all his control not to strip and sink deep inside her. When he inhaled her scent, how turned on she was, he shuddered and shifted a little lower.
“You’re perfect,” he murmured before teasing a finger along her slick folds.
She lifted her hips in response, her harsh breathing music to his ears. She wanted this as much as he wanted to do it. If she was leaving—and he wasn’t letting her go even if she did—he wanted to make sure she had a damn good reason to come home. Yeah, binding her to him with sex was just step one. But it was a start.
Because he was jumping feet first into a serious relationship with her.
Slowly, teasingly, he slid a finger into her tight wetness. A groan tore from his lips as her slickness coated his finger. The proof of her arousal had his erection straining even harder against his pants.
Well too bad for his dick.
Not able to wait another second, he flicked his tongue over her clit, smiling against her when her hips rolled up and she tightened around his finger.
He added another finger even as he increased the pressure against her clit. She was like a drug, and making her climax was the best addiction to have.
She slid her fingers through his hair as he continued stroking her, over and over. Time had no meaning as he thrust his fingers in and out of her, her hips rolling up with every stroke, and she let out these breathy little moans that seriously tested his control.
Fallon was better than his fantasy. The reality of her was something he couldn’t have expected, even as she was everything he wanted. Needed. He just hoped she felt the same.
As her inner walls tightened around his fingers faster and faster and her movements grew jerkier, he knew she was about to fall over the edge.
He just had to get her there. Because he wanted her in a free fall of pleasure before he slid his cock deep inside her, before he made her come again.
Before he made her his.
“I’m—”
“I know.” He tightly massaged her clit in a little pattern he’d learned she liked, making her arch off the blanket with a raspy cry. Her inner walls milked him as her climax hit hard and fast.
She tore her hands from his head, fisted the blanket beneath them as she rode through her orgasm. When she started making little whimpering sounds, he lifted his head and watched her. Her eyes were closed, head thrown back, and all that wild red hair around her face. Oh yeah, this would be captured in his memory forever.
Desperate with the need to be inside her, he withdrew his fingers and sat up, stripping off his clothes with no control.
Fallon was still coming down from her high as Brad started undressing. She wanted to be the one taking off his clothes, but she needed a minute as the effects of her orgasm subsided. Her entire body was oversensitive and fully sated.
And watching him frantically unwrap that delicious body of his? Forget television—this was the kind of show she wanted to watch 24/7.
When he was fully naked, his thick cock jutting out proudly
, another rush of heat flooded between her legs. Seeing the outlines of his muscles under his uniform was nothing compared to all of this.
He was all cut lines, hard muscles, defined striations, and his cock… Her nipples beaded even tighter as he fell to his knees on the blanket.
For once, she wanted to take a little control. Not to get back any power or the upper hand, but because she wanted to bring him as much pleasure as he’d brought her. He was so giving and she wanted to give right back.
“On your back,” she murmured, pushing lightly against his chest as she got to her knees.
A moment of indecision flashed in his gaze. She could see him fighting it, wanting to take over. Because that was the kind of man he was. Something she was more than okay with. But she needed to know he could give and take, especially in the bedroom—where he’d already proved to be a giving lover.
And she wanted to give right back.
Groaning in almost part frustration, part hunger, he did as she said, stretching out on the blanket before her.
He was definitely better than any dessert she’d ever made. And he’d already stolen her heart, whether he’d meant to or not. She had some serious decisions to make later, but for this moment, she just wanted to enjoy what was between them.
Looking up his sculpted body, his thick, muscular thighs, the erection that had her mouth watering… “I don’t know where to start.”
“Wherever you want.”
Straddling him, she slid up his body, moaning as her slick folds slid right over his cock. Instead of pushing down on him, she teased the head of his erection with her opening, watching his expression change as she did.
Oh yeah, teasing him like this could become her hobby. Moving her hips, she couldn’t help the little laugh that escaped as his jaw clenched as tightly as his fists around her hips.
“Who’s the tease now, baby?” His voice was unsteady as he reached for her.
Leaning down, she crushed her mouth to his, needing to feel linked with him, to know this was more than just sex. Because it was for her. So much more. Their tongues teased each other as she held back from fully sliding onto him.