28. Chapter Twenty-eight
Chapter Twenty-eight
Roman
Ben lived by the motto Idle hands are the devil’s playground . He didn’t do well when he wasn’t busy, but he’d been forced to take a month off from training and playing rugby. We were two weeks into his forced sabbatical, and he had become everyone’s problem.
I had seen my twin more in the last two weeks than I had all year. That I couldn’t complain about. It was his running commentary on the most mundane activities that was driving me up the wall. He’d gone on daily strolls through my new neighborhood, exploring all the cafés and art galleries, and offered me a full, written report when I returned from work. He’d also cleaned my house from top to bottom and weeded my, Shira's, and Bea’s lawns, documenting all of it through an alarming number of texts he sent throughout the day.
Today, I’d marked a couple hours out of my schedule to have lunch with him and Adrian. I was hoping Ade would be convinced to entertain Benny for a while. If he didn’t, I suspected I’d go home to all my walls repainted and Ben climbing them.
The three of us were seated at a secluded table in our favorite pub, each nursing a pint. I had a burger in front of me, Ade had a steak salad, and Ben was plowing through a massive plate of fish and chips.
If Adrian wouldn’t entertain Ben after this, I was aiming for him to get full and buzzed enough to go home and take a nice, long nap.
But the fact was, Adrian owed me. We’d spoken since he was an asshole in Ben’s hospital room, but we hadn’t addressed the root of his assholery. To be frank, I’d been dealing with one brother. This one could wait.
“...and then I stopped by the Sheridan Gallery. Tomahawk was working, and they let me have a sneak peek at the new exhibit debuting next week—bags of the artist’s blood stapled to canvases. Tomahawk cried when they showed it to me.” Ben balled up his napkin as he recounted his morning. “Honestly, I don’t get it. If I was allowed to expand my brain, I’d do some reading on modern art, but Dr. Jack prohibited me from reading until next week.”
Adrian wagged his fork over his salad. “You could have your computer read aloud to you.”
Ben’s brow pinched. “Not sure if that’s kosher. I’m supposed to be on brain rest. Seriously, Dr. Jack told me no learning.”
I swallowed my burger, feeling it go down my throat like a lump of coal. The seriousness of Ben’s brain injury unsettled me. Fortunately, he was following the doctor’s orders, but he planned to get back on the field as soon as he could. I understood that desire, but it wasn’t going to be easy to step back and watch him do it.
“Are you planning on moving back to your place anytime soon?” Adrian asked.
Ben shrugged. “When I go back to work. It’s more convenient to get to the stadium from the condo. For now, I’m digging Rome’s house and the neighborhood. The neighbors are a pretty strong incentive too.”
Adrian grimaced without saying a word. Not that he needed to. His expression said it all. Ben had caught it too.
“What’s that look?” he asked.
Adrian sawed at his steak, avoiding looking at both of us. “Nothing. I wouldn’t get too used to the neighborhood. I doubt Rome will stay there long term.”
My brow dropped. “Why do you doubt it? My son is going to be living there.”
“I understand that and why you’re there now. But once he’s no longer a newborn, it won’t be imperative you live right beside him. You can get back to your real life once you have an ironclad custody agreement with his mother.”
Cocking my head, I studied him, trying to figure him out. He’d been the youngest when our mother left and undoubtedly the most traumatized by it, though he’d never admit it. He’d also been jerked around by women in the past, vaulting him into this place where he very rarely trusted anyone outside our circle.
In my eyes, Shira was firmly in our circle. Adrian clearly didn’t agree.
“Shira,” Ben stated. “Her name is Shira, and her house smells like lavender and vanilla. Plus, she has a cool cat and great taste in snacks. She’s a terrible cook, though. Avoid her cooking at all costs—if you can.”
My foot found his shin beneath the table. “You’ll never say that to her face. Ever .”
I’d taken up making dinner most nights to avoid Shira’s attempts at cooking. I still ate her food when she served it. The thought of her eyes filling with tears if I told her she used an obscene amount of garlic and overcooked chicken until it was little more than leather was motivation enough for me to choke it down. If Ben wanted to see tomorrow, he’d do the same.
He raised his hands in innocence. “You saw me eating that muffin, didn’t you? You know, people have died from eating that much cinnamon at once. I was in peril. Did you hear me complaining? Not once. I’m not gonna hurt her feelings. No way.”
Ade blinked at him. “All right. Cooking aside, you liking her means next to nothing since you like everyone.”
“I like her too,” I intoned. “Does that mean something?”
He put down his fork. “It’s not about liking or disliking. I don’t know her, so I can’t form that kind of opinion. I do know she married a man for money. Kept his daughter away when he was dying. And by some strange coincidence, which I cannot suspend disbelief far enough to accept as an actual coincidence, got knocked up by you weeks before you took over GoldMed. Excuse me if I—”
“No,” I snapped.
He raised a brow. “No?”
“Yeah, no. I’m not excusing you. I will not go into the details of how Shira and I met, but unless you think she has the technical skills to hack MHC’s app, it was a cosmic coincidence she and I met and hooked up. The other things have been explained to me in a way that I understand where she was coming from, but they aren’t my story to tell. So, you can accept I have sound judgment and get on board, or you can be on the outside looking in when it comes to my life with my son and Shira.”
Ben let out a guffaw muffled by his fist. “Shira—shy little Shira—was on MHC’s app? You have shocked me through and through.” He fanned his face with all the drama he possessed. “Oh, my, lordy be, I am flummoxed.”
I snapped my napkin at him. “When did you turn into an old southern belle?”
“When you told me my pal Shira used the app,” Ben quipped. “Where are my smelling salts? I feel faint.”
Adrian calmly folded his hands on the table and stared at me. “The app hasn’t been hacked.” He tilted his head, searching my face. “I do think you make sound decisions, but I also believe you’re letting your emotions lead you this time.”
I leaned forward, making sure he heard me. “I moved into that house to be near my son, who is, for the time being, growing inside Shira. Those were my emotions then. Through time, gathering information, and being open to learning who Shira is, I’ve formed the intention to stay in that house because I want to be near her as well. If you see a problem with any of that, I suggest you work that out on your own. I won’t have you behaving like you did in Ben’s hospital room ever again. She doesn’t deserve that from you. I want her to feel safe with my family and like she’s a part of it.”
“She isn’t,” Adrian insisted.
Ben swatted the back of his head. “Stop being a jackass. Our nephew is her kid. If that’s not family, I don’t know what is.” He waggled his brows at me. “Plus, if I’m not mistaken, Romeo has the major hots for her.”
I did not admit he was right, but I certainly didn’t deny it. My attraction to Shira was profound, and my desire to be in her presence was almost overwhelming. I hadn’t worked out how much of that had to do with the baby and what was all her yet. Luckily for me, she was willing to break bread with Ben and I most evenings, and when she’d fallen asleep on my couch a few nights, I’d convinced her to stay over in my bed after I’d carried her there. I had time to sort my feelings out with her.
Adrian groaned. “This is what I mean. You’re clouded, Rome. On a normal basis, you’d never look twice at—”
I was a breath away from cutting him off, but Ben got there first, slamming his fist on the table. Silverware rattled, and water sloshed over the edges of glasses. Ade’s eyes rounded, but he clamped his mouth shut as Ben leaned into him.
“I’ve had enough of you. If you say one fucking word about her looks, brain injury or not, we’re throwing down,” Ben hissed. “That is my friend you’re talking about. That is the mother of our nephew. Put some respect on her name, Adrian.”
Closing his eyes, he pulled in a deep breath. On a slow exhale, he opened them, looking back and forth between Ben and me.
“I’m sorry. Clearly, I’m in the wrong.” He shoved his fingers through his hair. “This entire thing is a departure from anything I’m used to.”
I blew out a puff of air. “It’s new for all of us, but you’re the only one who’s being left behind.”
He nodded once. “I see that. I’ll get a handle on this.”
“That’d be good. We only have a couple months until our boy is here, and I won’t have you around him if you’re going to bring any negativity.”
Adrian’s mouth dropped open, his eyes stricken. “I don’t want that.”
I didn’t either. “Then, like you said, get a handle on it.”
That night, I had Shira in my bed. She was sleepy by the time I’d deposited her on my mattress, but she lifted her arms by rote, allowing me to take her top off. I reached around her and unhooked her bra. She groaned as her breasts were freed from the cups and in my waiting palms.
“Stop wearing bras when you come over, baby.” I kneaded them, hefting them in my palms. Shira’s tits were gorgeous, big by any standard, but especially for her small frame, and had only grown during her pregnancy. Her nipples were bigger too, and darker. My mouth watered at the sight of them, and a mental image of them dripping milk brought my dick to full mast.
“Maybe if Ben wasn’t here.” She leaned her head against my arm as I caressed her. “I don’t think your brother should see my nipples trying to poke a hole through my shirt like it's their job.”
A green slash of jealousy hit me like a lightning bolt. “He absolutely should not. But you can throw a sweater on. He won’t notice.”
“I don’t know, Rome. My nipples are powerful these days. They’d probably break through the strongest wool.”
She was joking, and normally, I would have chuckled, but her pretty tits were in my hands. I was rolling one of those powerful nipples between my fingers, so I wasn’t feeling very humorous.
I dropped down to my knees in front of her and opened my mouth to take as much of her breast in as I could. Her groan was immediate, and her fingers dug into my hair to cradle me there. She was addictively soft and so damn sweet I craved the taste of her skin when I didn’t have it on my tongue.
Moving to the other breast, I drew deep, filling my mouth with nipple and her lush, round breast. As I sucked, I wrapped my arms around her, scooping her ass into my hands. She’d gotten a little bigger there too, and fuck, did I like it.
“Rome,” she sighed. “That feels really good.”
I raised my eyes to find hers, and when I did, she immediately slammed hers shut. It was a habit she had, and I didn’t like it—her letting me have full access to her body but not her eyes. I had to guess that was her keeping a part of herself back from me. A form of self-preservation. I’d address it soon, but not now. Not when she was giving me so much already.
I broke from her breast to rid her of her pants and underwear, then I propped her on a pile of pillows and spread her legs. She was swollen and slick, too pretty for me to look at for long without putting my mouth on her. I let myself play with her for a minute, sinking two fingers inside and rolling her beaded clit under my thumb. Shira cupped her breasts while I moved my fingers in and out of her, curling to press on the spot that made her entire body shake.
Once I got her close, I laid down and covered her pretty cunt with my mouth, lapping up her arousal and bringing her over without any effort. Her moans of pleasure were dulcet, barely above a whisper. She kept her fingers in my hair and her feet on my back, sliding and digging in.
“Rome,” she cried. “That’s so good.”
I had to rock my hips into the mattress to find a fraction of relief. Having my mouth on her and her taste on my tongue turned me on in an almost uncontrollable way. My need for her was too big to keep locked down, my urge to bring her pleasure the only thing stronger.
She fell apart like a house of cards. Utter destruction, which barely made a sound. Whole in one moment, fluttering to pieces in the next.
I would have kept going, but she gave my hair a tug, drawing me up her body. First, I got rid of my pajama pants, then I settled on my side behind her, nestling my cock between her slick lower lips.
I put my mouth to her ear. “Say it, Shir.”
“What?”
“Tell me where you want me.”
She slid her foot up the inside of her opposite leg, opening herself to me.
“Words,” I demanded gently. “I want to hear them.” She didn’t have to give me her eyes, but I had to have her voice. It had turned me on to levels I didn’t quite understand the first time she said it, and I’d been seeking out that same high ever since.
“Inside me, Wim.” She reached between her legs to wrap her fingers around my cock, giving it slow, firm pumps. “I want to feel you inside me.”
There it was. A shudder ran through me as the rush hit my veins. This woman had so much power over me, and she had no idea.
I pushed inside her, slow and easy, one arm hooked under her leg, the other wrapped around her so I could hold her close and play with her breasts.
“Turn your head and kiss me, Shira.”
Complying, she twisted around, and her lips sought mine. Warm and giving, I let her peck and suck, responding but not taking charge. I liked when Shira took what she wanted. It didn’t happen often enough, so when it did, I reveled in it.
“That’s my girl,” I drawled against her wet lips. “Give me that for a thousand more years. I could live off it.”
She whimpered, and I closed in, kissing and fucking with all the built-up greed within me. Not hard. Steady, deep, gentle. I didn’t have any need to be rough with this woman. My urges were centered around making her come until she was wrung out and limp then planting myself inside her as long as I could stay. There, we matched. She might’ve had trouble asking for what she wanted, but her nonverbal responses told me everything.
Her fingers grasped mine, following me over her curves as I caressed her. Breasts, hips, ass, belly, she let me touch it all, but when I tipped her face to mine, she closed her eyes like always. I growled, and she mewed, but those eyes stayed closed.
She was going to give them to me one of these days. I’d work for it until she felt comfortable enough to share that with me.
“Shira,” I groaned, thrusting into her deep and stilling.
“Rome.” Her inner walls clasped around me, pulling me in. “I’m close.”
“I feel you, baby. Give me one more.”
“Okay.”
She gave me another and another until I gave up the ghost and followed her into writhing, moaning, gasping pleasure.
Cleaned up, lights out, we lay in bed, Shira’s head on my chest, my arm around her, the other hand on her belly. Beanie was stretching and rolling, and I was grinning like an idiot in the dark. I didn’t think I’d ever get over this. Not ever. Even when he was in my arms, I’d remember him making himself known to me from inside his mom’s stomach.
Shira laughed softly. “He’s wild tonight.”
“Comes by it honestly.”
“Benny,” she whispered. “I can’t believe he’s having a sleepover with Mary.”
My grin widened. While Shira was here, Ben insisted Mary couldn’t be alone all night, so he was spending the night in her guest room with her cat.
“I can. Soon, you won’t be surprised by anything Ben does.”
She lifted her hand, hovering it over the center of my chest, and my breath hitched, waiting for impact, but it never came. Instead, she balled her hand and tucked it against herself. If she were less skittish, I would have taken it and placed it there for her, but I wasn’t sure how she’d react. So, just like her eyes, I let her hold back.
For now.
“He seems to be doing better,” she said.
“Yeah, but he could lose a limb, be gushing blood, and he’d never let on it bothered him. He doesn’t like to be down and out. I’m not sure how he’s really feeling, but I can tell you I’m worried about him taking another hit like that. And Adrian keeps sending me studies about the long-term side effects of multiple concussions. Like I’d be able to get Ben to retire even if I tried. That means I’m juggling Ben’s recovery and Ade’s neurosis. Luckily, Nate’s pretty chill.”
“You sound like their dad.”
Sighing, I slid my fingers through the back of her hair and stared up at the shadows dancing on the ceiling.
“I’ve heard that from them more than once. Nate’s the oldest. By rights, he should be the one in charge, but they always looked to me. We kept those roles as we grew up. Ade might be pushing thirty, but he’s still my baby brother.”
It was quiet, but I didn’t miss her huff.
“Shir, he’s a good guy, but he was a dick to you at the hospital. You should’ve heard Benny letting him have it today at lunch. I had some words too. He won’t treat you like that again.”
She shook her head. “You guys don’t have to defend me. I promise; I’m used to making a terrible first, second, third, etcetera impression.”
“Well, that’s bullshit.”
“Your first impression of me was terrible, and not just because of what you thought you knew about me. It’s okay, Roman. I know I come off as cold. It’s up to me to either rectify that or accept when I’m disliked. Adrian’s your brother and Beanie’s uncle, so I’m not giving up. I have a game plan.”
My throat was tight. I hated that she was so used to people misunderstanding who she was that she’d accepted it as fact. But I loved that she wasn’t giving up on my asshole brother.
“What’s the plan, baby?” I asked.
“Kill him with kindness. If he scowls at me, I’ll just pretend it’s a smile, smile back, and ask him how his day was. If that doesn’t work, I’ll bribe him with Beanie snuggles.”
“Like that plan, but I hate that you think you have to do it.” Kissing the top of her head, I inhaled her lavender scent. “He’ll dig his head out of his ass.”
And if he didn’t, we’d have words—and they wouldn’t be pleasant. If I had anything to say about it, the days of Shira accepting mistreatment were over.