Chapter 19
“How’s the baking going?” Barrett whispered in my ear.
I almost jumped out of my skin. He’d been at school, one of his late nights, so I was alone in the kitchen making a homemade cake for the twins.
Or trying. It was ridiculous. They had a Michelin starred chef cook their birthday dinner before, and with my lack of experience, I was attempting to follow a recipe from a cookbook. It likely would be a disaster.
I glanced at their older brother, who I adored so much, and confessed, “This may not be my thing.”
“Can I help?” He squeezed me from behind, nuzzling into my neck, and I decided I enjoyed his brand of assistance. He so rarely showed easy affection. I turned in his arms to note his loose muscles and easy expression..totally relaxed.
“Good day?” I asked.
“Good now.”
He hoisted me up onto the counter next to the bowl where I was trying to make icing. I scooped some of the chocolate out of the bowl onto my finger and offered it to him with a wink. “Want to taste?”
Holding eye contact the whole time, he bent over and licked it off my finger, wrapping his tongue around the digit and sizzling my nerve endings. I gasped, heat rising in my body as my heartbeat raced. I wanted him. . .and them. When should I tell them we could try more than just kissing?
I figured if I got brave enough to say it aloud, it meant I would be brave enough to do it.
I dipped my finger back into the bowl, reveling in his reaction. He did it again, closing his eyes and moaning as he laved my finger and then bit the end.
Practically transfixed, I watched him with hot cheeks. The twins were at water polo—I had skipped their game to bake—and Phoenix was at Joe’s, leaving us utterly alone in the apartment. For some reason, the knowledge we were alone made me brave, so I took what I needed from him.
I wrapped my arms around him and drew him closer to me, pulling him between my legs so his hardness bumped up against me. Without hesitating, I kissed him, my lips hungry for his mouth and my tongue bold.
He responded with equal enthusiasm, pushing me back at first, but when he tried to pull away to give us time to breathe, I didn’t let him. Instead, I twined my legs around his waist and ground up against him. Barrett took the hint.
He kissed and kissed me, his hand fondling my breast until I gasped for him. His whiskers scraped at my cheek and neck as he dragged open mouthed kisses over my skin until I sizzled with heat for him.
Barrett picked me up and carried me over to the couch. Once he lay on top of me, he picked up where he had left off. As he dragged my shirt lower, revealing my shoulder blades, I couldn’t get enough of him.
I kissed him, my mouth hungry for whatever tastes I could find. I memorized his flavor, knowing I would be addicted to it. He tugged on my shirt and then stopped, meeting my gaze with concern. “This okay?”
I nodded. “Yes, I want your hands on me.”
He kissed my lips again. Once. Then twice. “You always set the rules. I get to be here with you. It’s amazing.”
I didn’t want to set rules, but I couldn’t lose my head until I got some kind of birth control from the doctor.
Not just yet. He pulled my shirt over my head and his gaze traveled over my chest, taking in my black bra.
My cheeks heated, the hunger in his gaze so obvious.
I wanted him to touch me so much but did he. . .think I am pretty like this?
He met my gaze, whispering reverently, “You’re so beautiful.” His voice sounded hoarse. “Can I?” He motioned toward my bra. “We could be skin-to-skin.”
Since it meant he would take his shirt off too, I nodded. “Sure.”
“Pants still on.” I didn’t know if he said it to reassure me or to remind himself. Either way, I wasn’t worried in the least.
Then again, maybe he was reminding me, too.
I tugged at his shirt while he fiddled with my bra. Both went flying, and I gasped as his body was revealed to me. Barrett was strong, with defined muscles. I ran my hands over his abs, amazed when his skin seemed to jolt where I touched him.
“Just in case you wonder what you do to me,” he said, and placed my hand lower. He felt very hard under my hand.
I bit down on my bottom lip. “You know I have no experience, and you have some so…”
He shook his head. “Everything is new with you. Everything.”
Barrett pressed his body into me, touching our chests together, skin to skin, heartbeat to heartbeat.
He licked his tongue over my bottom lip before he kissed me again.
Over and over, until I felt drunk on the taste of him.
I kissed him back, my enthusiasm and curiosity making up for my inexperience for the most part.
Sometimes I led, sometimes he did, until we both squirmed with needs building inside.
I could feel the hard press of him practically pulsing against me with promise.
My body was hot, maybe hotter than ever before, so I jerked against him, seeking some relief.
My nipples hardened, and he reached between us to stroke my breasts.
His body seemed to vibrate, and the sounds he made deepened. I ground against him while pressure surged inside of me. I needed…something. I wasn’t sure how to reach for it. But it was so close. I dug my fingernails into his back, gasping with the unexplained need.
He stopped moving to stare down at me, and I practically mewled in complaint. “I love you. I’m never going to forget this.” He kissed my chin, pinning my wandering hands above my head. “We need to stop.”
“Why?” I asked with a pout, jerking my hips into him again so we both moaned. I really didn’t want to stop. I wanted him to kiss me again, hungry for more of him.
He thumbed my lips. “Because I’m getting too excited. I’ve got to take a breath, Baby. Believe me, it’s not lack of interest.”
I growled at him, even if it made sense. He kissed me one more time, as if he couldn’t resist one last taste. “And you have icing to make, right?”
Shit. Yes, I did.
Barrett helped with the icing, and since he was good at absolutely everything, of course it came out perfect. We cleaned up together, still touching as much as possible. I put the cake in the oven, crossing my fingers it came out okay.
“Come on,” he said and jerked his head for me to follow. Where are we going?
He sat on the piano bench then patted the seat so I would sit next to him. He kissed my cheek when I sat, lingering for a second while electricity charged the air between us. Things had changed a little bit between us, although I couldn’t define it. Can he?
“Do you play?” he asked, his voice low.
“No. Piano lessons never came up when I was young, and since Mom died, well. . .nobody really bothered with stuff like that.” I smiled. “I like hearing you play. It makes this place feel like home, because wherever you go, there is music.”
“You mean me stumbling through songs?” He shook his head. “I like to play, but I am by no means very good.” He touched a key. “This is middle C.”
The city lights touched his profile, carving out his face as if from ivory. I considered his handsome face carefully as he watched me, and finally I asked, “Are you going to teach me to play?”
“I am.”
The door swung open as the twins got home from school, Jer coming to an abrupt halt as soon as he spotted us. “Why does it smell like something is baking?”
He dropped his bag on the floor and Barrett laughed. “Because something is baking. She’s making your cake.”
“Well, I am trying at least. It will probably be awful,” I confessed, and Julian dropped a kiss on my cheek.
“Nothing you’ve made has been awful.”
I shook my head. “You lie or you have an iron stomach.”
Jeremy slid down on the couch as Phoenix got home, flopping onto the chair as soon as he arrived. “Hey, something smells good. I’m hungry.”
Barrett kissed my cheek again, whispering in my ear, “Another time.”
I shivered because he was right, wasn’t he? More times. The idea made me hot, suddenly, in the way his kisses made me hot.
Julian yawned. “You guys look awful cozy.”
Phoenix held up his phone and wiggled it. “I’m ordering food. Anyone want something?”
Jeremy sunk into the couch. “Depends. What are you getting?”
I love my life.
The sun woke me from my heavy, dreamy state, pulling me into consciousness as if through mud.
Some nights, I slept harder than others, as if exhaustion sometimes just won.
But other days aren’t the twins’ birthday.
I grinned. Phoenix surrendered his side of the bed and slept on his own mattress in the room—a good sign for his recovery—but it gave the twins the space for their special day.
I worried a little bit about having Jer and Jules both snoring in my ears at the same time. Usually, it was one or the other, but since I slept like the dead, it didn’t matter.
I glanced at the light, deciding it was later morning sun before I even checked my phone for the time. The room was quiet, only the sounds of breathing around me. Everyone is still asleep. Usually, one or another of them had to be up early to leave, so I never got to be the first one up.
I hated to wake anyone, but I had to pee, so I wiggled myself free from entanglement.
As quickly and with as little movement as possible, I climbed out of bed.
Jer rolled toward Julian when I left, but didn’t touch him, completely dead to the world.
Birthday snoozes. They were eighteen years old, and therefore legally adults.
I wondered if it felt different? I should ask them.
Maybe Barrett will remember. I used the bathroom to clean up a little bit.
Getting ready for my day of movie watching in bed with Jules did not require me to dress up, but I also didn’t want to be disgusting.
When I came out of the bathroom, they were all awake, which meant I failed at stealth.
“Happy Birthday,” I said and smiled at the twins. “You’re eighteen.”