33. Skyler
33
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Waking to the smell of fresh coffee brewing, I stretch and take inventory of myself and find my hands are no longer cuffed and I’m deliciously sore in all the right places. Silently cursing myself for being so weak and allowing myself to succumb to the wicked ways of the very sexually talented pain in my ass known as Ethan fucking Anderson.
Remembering his cock stretching me, his tongue tasting and taunting me, and the pain of his teeth scraping and biting me in all the best ways while I came so hard I saw stars has me wet and wanting again.
Regret snakes its way into my heart. All this would have been magical and exactly what I wanted if it wasn’t so hard to forget all of Ethan’s harsh words and the way he tried to push me to leave town again. It’s almost like he flipped switch and suddenly I’m supposed to just accept that us having sex and him claiming me as his makes everything before disappearing.
I don’t work that way.
You don’t trust him.
How can I when all he’s done is hurt me since the day I arrived.
I need to wake him up and send him on his way. I can call Cash and get him to be my bodyguard and if he’s not available, I’ll ask Gabe to send a prospect. Hell, I’ll call Santiago if I need to, but Ethan cannot be my fulltime babysitter.
I’ll tell him to leave in a minute. There’s nothing wrong with enjoying the view while he’s sleeping and –silent.
Ethan laying here in all his muscular naked glory is quite the view. All the taut toned skin. Those broad shoulders he expertly wedged between my thighs. His firm ass.
God, that ass!
Ethan’s eyes flutter open, those watchful brown eyes locking with mine. The corner of his mouth slowly curves upward.
“You should go.” The words rush out of me. I know it’s not the best way to handle the situation, but I don’t know any other way to do this except to pull it off like a band-aid.
Ethan’s smile fades, but his eyes stay focused on mine. It’s unnerving.
“We need to forget last night happened. It was a mistake.”
“Forget it happened?” His voice gruff with sleep. “A mistake?” I watch as his eyes narrow and his teeth bite down on the corner of his bottom lip. We stare at each other in silence for a moment. I should probably put some clothes on since the only thing I have on is my camisole. Ethan tossed everything else to the floor last night.
His facial expression changes. Apparently, he’s come to the same conclusion I have. I feel the pang of disappointment knowing he’s going to agree with me as stupid as that may be.
“No.”
Shocked and confused by Ethan’s response, I ask, “What do you mean, no? You know what, never mind.”
I don’t care, or at least I don’t want to care. I jump off the bed and head for the bathroom, grabbing my robe from the floor along the way, closing the door behind me.
“God, he’s such a stubborn ass!” I say to the woman staring back at me in the mirror, looking well and thoroughly fucked. My hair is a tangled mess from Ethan’s hands, when he grabbed me as he plundered my mouth with his tongue. There are several small bite marks, on my neck and shoulders. Lifting my shirt up, Ethan’s marks adorn my body, from neck to navel. There are even small fingerprint size marks on my hips and thighs.
Good thing I know how to use make-up to cover shit up.
Fumbling through the cabinet, I find what I’m looking for and set it out then start the shower.
The door to the bathroom hits the wall making me jump. Spinning around, I come face to face with a very pissed off Ethan wearing only his jeans which are currently unbuttoned.
I watch him warily, not sure what his plans are, but mine don’t involve being taken by surprise and finding myself cuffed again.
“You need to get out of here, Ethan. I’ll call Cash when I’m done here and have him come stay with me.”
Jaw tightening, Ethan kicks the door to the bathroom shut, stalking toward me. My eyes fall to his chest and abdomen entranced with how his muscles ripple and clench as he moves.
“Cash isn’t coming. Now, if you’re done spewing your bullshit, let’s have a shower and then we can have a real conversation like adults. Isn’t that what you said to me last night?” Ethan’s hands land on either side of my body, caging me against the cold countertop. “Last night was not a mistake. And it wasn’t a one-time thing. We’ve got a lot of time to make up for, baby, and I intend on fucking you over and over again. Whether or not I have to cuff you to the bed to make you see things my way,” His nose rubs along my neck. “…is up to you.” He emphasizes his threat by nipping my ear with his teeth.
Closing my eyes, I clench my thighs trying to stave off the effects this man has on my body.
“Admit it, Skyler. You enjoyed everything I did to you last night, even the cuffs. You wanted me as much as I wanted you. And do you know what else you did, baby?” Ethan licks his tongue over my bottom lip. “You gave yourself to me.” He leans back putting us eye to eye and says, “I asked, and you said you were mine. I don’t believe in take backs, Sunshine.”
Before I can argue his mouth is on mine. My hands reach up and around pulling at the hair on the nape of his neck, hard. Ethan growls in my mouth. His arms wrap around me, lifting me off the ground then turning as he walks us both into the shower and under the hot spray of the water.
“Agggghh!”
Ethan chuckles, kissing my jaw, my cheek, then he’s back to devouring my mouth.
His hand travels down, grabbing my ass, lifting me so my legs wrap around his waist. My back hits the cold tile wall. He’s tilting my head back while his mouth continues its assault on my neck and chest. I try one more time to reason with him.
“You were supposed to regret it. You were supposed to wake up and realize this was all a mistake and move on. You don’t even like me Ethan! How could you seriously believe I could be yours, when you’ve seen me as enemy number one all this time?” Tears are streaming down my face, and it only serves to piss me off even more. “Please let me go. Let me get over you and we can both move on, because I am so fucking tired of crying, of hurting all the time.”
Ethan’s movements still. His head comes up, his gaze meeting mine. He’s scowling, looking at me incredulously.
“You want me to regret it?”
“Don’t you?”
Pushing his hips into mine, his hard cock pushing against my clit from behind his jeans. “No! I don’t fucking regret it! I want you Sky! I’ve always wanted you! I know about Emily and the mess she got herself into. I know all about the Matthews fucker and how Ghost helped hide the evidence and sent you away to keep the club and you from going to jail. I know that you called Vincenzo to sneak you out of the clubhouse because you’re terrified that what we have between us is a fluke and isn’t going to last. But I don’t care about any of that shit anymore.” He leans in placing his forehead against mine, closing his eyes as he takes a few deep breathes.
“I fucked up. I know I did. But so did you, Sky.” I move to turn my head, but Ethan’s hand comes up, his finger and thumb trapping my chin between them. “No. You should’ve come to me. You should’ve told me when you figured out Emily was an addict. I would’ve come home to help her. Hell, if you’d told me about Chase, I would’ve come to help you!”
“That’s exactly why I didn’t tell you.!”
His head snaps back so hard you’d think I slapped him.
“Explain.” I hate the torment I see in his eyes. Torment that I’ve caused. Placing my hands on his chest, I tell him the truth.
“I didn’t know Emily was addicted to drugs. As far as I knew she had been drinking and partying, but I didn’t know exactly what all that entailed. I knew she was dating Chase, but Emily never stayed with anyone for longer than a few weeks so I figured it would burn out like the rest of them, and then she would stop all the crazy behavior. When she started pulling away from me, I was concerned, but in all honesty, I had been pulling away from her too.” I take a deep breath, placing my forehead on his shoulder, not wanting to see the disappointment in his eyes when I tell him the rest.
“I had been sick and feeling tired for a couple of weeks. I hadn’t been going to school or if I did, I came straight home afterward and fell asleep on the couch. At first, I thought I was fighting of a flu bug, but then I realized I’d missed my period. When I went to the doctor to confirm my suspicions, the first person I called was Emily. Only, her words were slurred and slow, she didn’t sound like herself.
“There was loud music playing in the background, what sounded like a party was in full effect. When I asked where she was, that I needed to see her right away, she told me she would call me later and hung up.”
“I was angry and hurt. I didn’t talk to her for nearly two weeks, but she had Chase and her new friends. She didn’t seem to really notice my absence.”
Ethan shuts the water off and carries me out of the shower, wrapping me up in a towel before carrying me back into my bedroom and setting me on the bed.
“What are you doing?”
“Don’t move.” Ethan points a finger in my face. “The water was getting cold, and you were shivering. I figured we should come in here and get you warm to finish this conversation. Now, I need to get out of these wet clothes, but I want to hear the rest. So, don’t move off this bed.”
“I should get dressed too, then.”
“No.”
“Why?”
Ethan crowds my space, forcing me to lean back on my hands, getting nose to nose with me. “Because you’re less likely to run off on me if you’re naked.”
My mouth gapes open, but Ethan closes it with his finger, kissing me on the forehead as he stands. “Sit your ass still, Sunshine. Can you do that?”
I bristle a little at his tone but decide I don’t have it in me to fight anymore. I want to tell him everything. To finally free myself of the burden and then Ethan can walk away, and I won’t feel bad about keeping secrets from him. My conscience will be clear, and I’ll be able to move on, eventually.
Sure, you will.
I watch as Ethan reaches into a black duffle bag I hadn’t noticed before at the foot of the bed. He pulls off his wet jeans, his ass on full display.
“You don’t wear underwear?” I didn’t mean to say it out loud, but apparently Ethan’s naked body has short circuited my brain-to-mouth filter.
Ethan, chuckles pulling on a pair of grey sweatpants, sans underwear.
“They’re restrictive. And since I can’t seem to be around you without being constantly hard, it seemed like underwear would only get in the way. This way, my dick has room to breathe and…” He smiles, wiggling his eyebrows. “I can get to your sweet pussy faster.”
I roll my eyes. “Cocky asshole.”
“What happened with you and Emily? You told me she knew about the pregnancy. When did you finally call to tell her?”
My shoulders droop as I let out a long sigh. Ethan kneels on the floor in front of me, his hands rubbing my thighs through the towel offering his warmth and strength.
“Actually, Emily reached out to me.” Clearing my throat, I explain, “She came to my house one night when Daddy was on a run. She told me she and Chase had a fight. She didn’t want to talk about it and needed a distraction and I just blurted it out. It was the perfect distraction.
“Emily was so excited. She couldn’t wait to help me plan a way to tell you. I told her I didn’t want you to know until I was further along and certain everything was okay. So, we planned to tell you when you came home after your last fight at camp.”
“She ordered a bunch of shit online. A blue onesie she had customized with ‘daddy’s little fighter’ and a pair of tiny white booties. She found a super soft blue blanket and a bunch of other little things we would need, completely convinced it would be a boy. I don’t even know how she managed to pay for it all, but she ordered it and had it shipped to my house.”
“We hung out like we always did eating snacks and watching Rom-Coms. It was like we never spent any time apart. But by the second night she was acting strange. Scratching her arms like she was having an allergic reaction to something. Then she began to sweat and get snappy about every little thing I said. Eventually she decided she was tired and didn’t feel well and since she didn’t want me to get sick or hurt the baby in any way, she went home. I didn’t hear from her again, not even at school for a week or more. And when I finally did it was short and sweet. Like she couldn’t wait to be away from me.”
“Things went back to the way they had been. Emily off with Chase and his friends partying while I stayed home with my books or taking care of Daddy. It hurt, but she had a boyfriend, and I knew whenever you were home, it was like that for us. I wanted to spend every minute with you I could until you would have to leave again. So, I tried not to fault Emily for it.”
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