Chapter 20
“I’m so proud of you, Noel. That’s amazing!” I stirred the heaping skillet of apple pie filling, breathing in the sweet spices as Noel swirled her wine glass, leaning against the counter beside me. Noel and I had been working on her non-profit all year, and her calls and brainstorming sessions were some of my favorites.
“It’s just exciting to finally get going,” she said, but I didn’t have to glance up to hear the smile in her voice. “All the boring paperwork and startup stuff is done, and now we can really build on that foundation.”
“Absolutely,” I agreed, setting the wood spoon down on the edge of the steel pan. “You’re going to touch so many lives, babe.”
“Yeah?” she asked, not able to hide the hope in her voice.
“Yeah,” I assured, right as Jameson snaked his arms around her waist, stooping to kiss her neck. I grinned. Jameson had walls a mile high before she broke them down, and I loved seeing him so happy. Some petty part of me wondered if I was finally going to know what that felt like. Still grinning, I looked up to find Broderick, where he sat at the table, handing Max crust cut-outs of leaves and pumpkins so he could decorate our filled pies.
Jameson tugged Noel into his chest for a cute swaying hug dance to whatever Christmas music they had playing, and I flipped off the burner, grabbing my wine from the counter.
“Got room for one more?” I asked the crust decorating team of disgruntled men. There was a chorus of mehs, but Broderick’s eyes slowly dragged up my body, his lips quirking before he wet them. His nod was succinct. “Love the updates, Brod,” I noted as I pulled out a chair, raising my wine glass to motion to the surrounding room.
“Brightened it up a bit, I suppose,” he said humbly.
“More than a bit,” I countered. “It’s beautiful. Love the new countertops and that island is worth its weight in gold.”
“That might be an overestimate,” he chuckled, setting the tin cookie cutter aside and sliding the leaves over to Max, whose brow was furrowed with concentration. I hadn’t missed the two of them exchanging hushed words–like some clandestine pow wow–prior to Axel joining their lineup and made a note to interrogate one of them later.
“Hell no, did you see how many pies we could fit on there? That thing will pay for itself for years.”
His eyes dragged over my body before flitting to the expansive marble counter and back. “I can certainly think of some uses.”
My cheeks flamed, and I swirled my glass, if for nothing else than something to do. Lifting my chin and holding that smoldering gaze, I said, “I’d love a demonstration.”
“I’m sure you would.”
“Got anything specific in mind?” I asked innocently, smirking when Max scanned between us before he wrinkled his nose and returned to placing leaves around the rim of the pumpkin custard. There’d never been a part of my life the man wasn’t privy to, and as he’d had a conference play-by-play, he was my only chance for a sounding board this week. With mock scolding in my tone, I said, “When it comes to getting consistent results, details matter, Professor.”
He let his gaze drop over my body like a physical caress, and I squeezed my thighs together as the spring in my core wound tighter. We’d been dirty talking over text and on the phone all week, and at this point, a feather and a pretty promise would probably knock me right over the edge.
“Don’t insult me by insinuating I don’t account for the details, Rhodes.”
Incapable of suppressing my smile, I swirled my wine before taking a long pull. Axel, however, growled under his breath and scooted back from the table.
“Welp. My details suck,” he said, clapping his hands on his thighs as he stood. “You’re up, El. Grabbing a refill—anybody need one?”
“No thanks, I’m good,” Brod said. Max and I both shook our heads as Axel glanced between us. He gave an oblivious shrug and turned for the kitchen as I watched Broderick’s expression, wondering what kind of mischief was running through his head. With a smile, eyes trained on me, he added, “Got everything a man could want right here, anyway.”
“Can you two just go bang this out somewhere else?” Max muttered under his breath. His quiet tone didn’t keep us both from kicking him in the shins beneath the table. “Ouch,” he complained before we all burst out laughing.
“Come on, let me lend you a hand,” I said as I set my glass down, waving both hands in a motion to pass me the bowl of dough.
One dark brow winged up. “You’d enjoy that, wouldn’t you?”
“Down to the last drop—” I grabbed the bowl of pumpkin filling as my brothers and Noel wandered our way, “of filling,” I added, smirking as he slid over a prepared pie pan and I poured the last portion into the shaped crust. Using the plastic spatula, I scraped the edges of the bowl clean, ensuring all the filling landed as intended. I ran a slow finger over the spatula before flicking my eyes to his and sliding my finger between my lips. He sucked on a canine as I sucked off the pumpkin, shaking his head before dropping his eyes below the table and snagging the glass of whiskey he’d been nursing since I got here.
“Save some for me,” Axel complained, bumping into me as he dove for the bowl. I burst out laughing, turning my face into my hands, certain it was flaming red. But it was Broderick’s foot, tapping mine beneath the table that had me grinning back up at everyone.
“Fucking finally,” I muttered when Max headed out into the blustery evening, leaving us alone. Evidently, the sentiment was mutual, because before I’d clunked the deadbolt into place, Broderick was behind me, body enveloping mine. I stuttered in both step and breath, leaning my forehead against the door as his hands scraped up my sides, grazing over my breasts before making their way down to my waist, where he squeezed as he rocked into my ass.
A breathless little giggle escaped between me as he turned me around, pinning me to the front door with his hips. “You’re a cock tease.”
“Not my fault you can’t keep your head out of the gutter. I was just baking pie.”
“It was absolutely your fault, you little minx. Commando. Christ, woman.”
Laughing, I dropped my head back to the wall as he dove for my throat, kissing, sucking, nipping at the skin between my neck and shoulder. I’d never felt like a man was starving for me, but there was no denying that he’d missed me like I missed him. After grappling with telling me about his feelings for so long, Broderick certainly wasn’t shy about showing me. His hand dropped between my legs, hoisting a thigh up around his hips before he slipped beneath the hem of my dress, growling when he found me bare—and wet—for him.
“Are you trying to kill me, Pix?”
“Gotta keep you wanting, Professor. Can’t have you wandering off.”
“Never,” he snarled, and then plunged a blunt finger inside me, knocking the air out in a sudden rush of sensation. “Glad it’s not just me. You’re dripping, baby.”
“Since the moment we talked about your balls in my face and your cum painting my tits.”
“That wicked mouth,” he muttered, amused, before claiming it with his own. I giggled, loving that for all his filthy words, mine made him seem sheepish and uncertain, but it was swallowed by the overwhelm that was Broderick Allen as he slid his finger out, only to replace it with two. The sudden intrusion sent my back arching, pleasure overwhelming my synapses as he hit that perfect spot inside me. Leisurely strokes, as if he had no intention of rushing this, of satisfying that desperate, needy spring in my core.
The moment his lips were on mine, I needed him everywhere. As though the world fell out from below my feet, and I plunged down into the pool of him with no hope of surfacing for air as he pumped against my walls. I didn’t need air here. Just his decadent touch as he curled his fingers, that spiced scent filling my lungs, and the taste of his tongue as it plundered my mouth.
“I’ve got the shower warming up for you,” he breathed when he peeled away, slipping his fingers out of me to give my clit a little tap, every inch of my body protesting the absence of his mouth robbing me of oxygen.
“Mean.”
“I’ll just let you pretend that wasn’t your first thought when you landed.”
“You saying I stink or something?”
He gave my ass a little clap and squeeze, brushing his nose over mine as he shook his head. “I’m saying you spent your day hopping airports, and I’ve never seen you last this long without ‘washing away communal seats’.”
I wrinkled my nose, glancing down at myself before shrugging, “Couldn’t wait to see you.”
His smile was akin to pouring hot wax directly down my spine, heat blooming to life like it would consume me entirely. “I couldn’t be happier to have you home, baby.”
“Yeah? Not ruining your bachelor’s pad?”
“It’s long-past time this place filled with your light, El.” Smiling to myself, I leaned into his chest, breathing him in, memorizing the lines of his back with the pads of my fingers. “Now, if you want to wash the plane off of you, go do it before I snap and bend you over that island you were admiring earlier.”
Smirking, I said, “That doesn’t sound sanitary.”
“Believe me, there’s nothing sanitary about what I want to do with your ass in the air for me.”
Cheeks flushed, I shook my head, rolling my bottom lip between my teeth. Glancing down to the clothes that had seen a ride share, two planes, and a handful of very public benches, I wrinkled my nose. “It’s somehow sweet and irritating that you know me well enough to know that’s bothering me.”
“I’ve been studying you since you lost your cooties, Pix.”
“Just love what you see?” I teased, yanking the tie from my hair and sending it pouring over my shoulders in frizzy, undone waves. His pensive face twisted incrementally in the sweetest hint of a smile.
“Yeah, baby. Now, go, before I change my mind,” he said, clapping the side of my thigh and jerking his head back toward the hallway to his bedroom. The goosebumps on my neck told me he followed a beat before warm fingers brushed my hair off over one shoulder. By the time I got to the steam-filled bathroom, his hands were tracing my collar bones, warm lips pressing a line up the back of my neck. I leaned to the side, revealing more skin for him to work with as my heart ratcheted up in anticipation. Gentle fingers hooked my bra strap, pulling it down over my shoulder as he pressed kisses across the skin, breathing me in. His hands slunk down my body to the hem of the dress, slowly easing it up. When I raised my arms above my head so he could slip it up and over, he hummed contentedly.
“You’re remarkably beautiful, baby,” he said, words like honey over my skin as he trailed his fingers back down my arms, my ribs, my waist, fingers eliciting a flip in my low belly when he traced the crease between my thigh and hip. “I’m dying to be buried in you again. Hurry, okay? I mean—take care of yourself but do it quickly.”
Breathlessly, I nodded. “You’re cute when you can’t decide if you’re sweet or horny.”
“Can’t I be both?” He nipped at my ear before stepping away. Head spinning, I watched as he pressed a button on a plastic contraption in the corner. A moment of study told me it was a towel warmer.
“Boujee,” I teased, grinning as he chuckled. For as long as I could remember, the man always had exceptional taste in all things. He patted the doorframe twice before leaving me in the coastal-craftsman style bathroom. These old townhomes were a hodgepodge collection of decades worth of cheap updates, but Broderick brought it into this century with sophisticated gray and white subway tile. The black and white hexagon tiles on the floor and chunky window trim seemed the only remnants of its original bones.
As eager as I was to get my hands on him, the man was right. I didn’t realize how dirty and sore I felt until the hot water beat against my tense muscles. I dropped my head to my chest and let the onslaught massage my neck and shoulders. Bubbly suds spiraled and collected around my feet as I finally gave myself a moment to breathe. The week had been long, his glaring absence suddenly agonizing now that we’d poured ourselves out for each other.
Finished and feeling relaxed and squeaky clean, I headed out into his room. He was decently tidy for a bachelor. But the platform bed wasn’t made, and a jacket was haphazardly tossed over the foot of it. A stray shirt lay crumpled in the corner beside a luxurious looking, but likely uncomfortable armchair—too shallow to actually cozy up in. But that was the extent of the clutter in the space. A rich espresso brown bookshelf sat beneath the window, organized with his collection of favorites. I noted an intricate balance between classic names, memoirs and more contemporary stories. He had an entire shelf dedicated to the Alutiiq on the island, and my fingers traced over the titles. Some I recognized from school, and our great aunt who kept the old traditions alive. Others were foreign, their names tripping up my tongue despite years of effort to acclimate. Knowing Broderick, he had them all memorized.
Straightening, I turned for his closet, pulling it open and smiling at the heaps of unwashed or unfolded clothes spilling from the hamper onto the floor, relieved to see he wasn’t a total freak. At least he made it into the bins. My room usually looked like the lingering damage after a natural disaster. Running my fingers along the line of hangers, I found his gray Tom Petty t-shirt. I slipped it off the hanger and over my head before laying down across his bed. Every muscle in my body seemed to release a collective sigh, like they’d all held their tension until this moment, when we could finally melt into his mattress. Maybe it was the way his scent lingered on the sheets, or just subconsciously knowing we were back together.
I’d just drifted off into the strange place between sleep and awake when a floorboard croaked, bringing my eyes to a pensive, beautiful Broderick. My beautiful Broderick. He leaned against the door frame, a pinch in his brow as he looked down my body. I rolled to my side, dropping my knee to the bed, which pulled his shirt up to the edge of my ass.
“You okay, there? You look like you’re in pain. Not backing out on me, are you, Brod?”
He wet his lips, shaking his head softly as he confidently said, “Never, baby. Just… regretting all those wasted nights when I could’ve had you like this.” He closed the distance, sitting down at the foot of the bed, where his hand quickly settled on my bare leg to give it a squeeze. “Wearing my old shirt, smelling like my body wash.”
“The clove is quite refreshing.”
He smirked softly before leaning down to press reverent kisses down my leg, pulling it with him as he straightened. Strong hands stroked down the length as I rotated onto my back, bracing on my elbows so I could watch him.
“You and Max seemed to have a long chat before Axel intruded? He promise to ruin your life if you hurt me?”
A snort of amusement escaped him before he said, “I’ll give him points for creativity. Jameson would just threaten to break my face.”
Something sour twisted in my belly, knowing I’d asked him to keep this from him. Still, I said, “Slow, thorough, torturous destruction is more Max’s style.”
“I’m not going anywhere, so I’m not worried.”
“And if I ran off?”
“You won’t.”
“So confident in that? I haven’t exactly done serious.”
“That’s because you were with the wrong guys.”
“Willing to gamble your future against Jorogumo Defense?” Max’s firm certainly tiptoed the line between legal and not.
“Worth the risk,” he said, grabbing onto my calf possessively, which did strange things to my insides. The alien sensations intensified as he kissed and touched up my legs until he hit the apex, my cheeks flaming as he inhaled my sex before peppering my pussy with kisses. Raw, primal sex was one thing. It felt…physical. Chemical. But this near worship level of adoration? That was a kind of vulnerability I’d never known before. Something in his soft touches stirred a part of my soul that had laid dormant. It made me squirm, which, infuriatingly enough, made him chuckle.
The hot exhale of his humor against my clit was the last sensation before he sucked that bundle of nerves between his lips, making mine pop open as my ears went buzzing.
“It’s not possible for you to feel this good,” I breathed, struggling to stay composed as he lavished me in licks and kisses, hot palms pinning me in place for him. There was a satisfied spark in his dark eyes when they flicked to me.
“You watching me eat you out is an insane turn on.”
“Yeah?” I asked, smirking as he nodded into my pussy, breathing me in before lapping straight up my center, silencing any remaining thoughts my mind might have had. His fingers sliding home would’ve done it if his tongue hadn’t already rendered me silent. Torturous pleasure wracked through my body, collapsing me into the mattress as I arched into him.
Riding Broderick’s face and fingers set my heart racing, that coil in my core winding tighter with each hungry pull and precise curl of his fingers. It was like he was calling my release forward with each movement, pleasure building pressure through my veins as my breath went ragged, hands grappling for purchase on his neck, shoulders, the sheets, anything within reach as he pushed me toward that edge. Right as a cry tore from my throat, he halted, sliding out and leaving me empty.
Disbelief popped my jaw open as I gaped down at him. “Hey!” I croaked. “Not fair.”
“Trust me, baby, you’ve had me on edge for a decade. I think I owe you this.”
“Oh, fuck off,” I barked, mostly teasing, but not bothering to hide the desperation in my voice as he chuckled, raising his brows expectantly.
“It’ll be better this way anyway, or that’s what I’ve heard.”
“No—nono. Orgasms are better. Orgasms are always better.”
“And you’ll have one?—”
“Was about to,” I interjected petulantly.
“When I say so.” Okay, so that was hot, but not nearly as hot as his warm palms clamping down on my thighs and tugging me beneath him in one solid yank, towering over me with expectation written over every inch of his face. “Do you know how long I’ve wanted you in my bed, El?”
Panting, desperate and a little pissed, I shook my head. God, he looked so victorious, so determined that my frustration ebbed away as he moved his fingers to his slacks to undo the buttons. I reached for him, but he froze, a mischievous smirk lifting his cheeks as he jerked his chin toward the headboard.
“Trust me, baby, I’ll make it worth it. Keep your hands above your head.”
“Excuse me?”
“Or I can just leave you laying there panting after me?” He shrugged, as though the outcome had no effect on him. The bulge straining against the zipper of his pants told a very different story.
“I never realized you were evil under that nice guy fa?ade.”
“Remind me how evil I am when I have you spilling all over our bed, okay?”
“Not gonna happen.”
“We’ll see about that.”
I laughed, but pure, horny desperation saw his confidence and wanted to raise the bet. Eyes rolling, I stretched my arms over my head, grasping one wrist in the opposite hand as he stripped, and I watched, mesmerized by each revealed masculine line of muscle. Was it possible for him to be more breathtaking after a week apart? It shouldn’t have been, but my mouth popped open, chest pulling in ragged gulps of air, just as expectant as the first time.
“Good girl, keep your hands up there or this stops again, understand?” The man must’ve robbed me of my brain cells when he robbed me of that orgasm, because suddenly, I was nonverbal, hands fisting in the supple fabric over my head as a very naked Broderick dove between my legs, kissing my swollen, pulsing clit before using his fingers to rub tight circles as the other slipped two fingers inside me, curling again, and sending me into a feral kind of frenzy.
“Oh shit,” I breathed. “Fuck, baby. Oh fuck.” My muttering continued as my body writhed under the overload of pleasure. “Broderick!” I cried out as the first roll of an orgasm wrapped around my core.
He withdrew, a defiant squawk tearing from me as he leaned back, but before I could protest, he hooked my feet onto his shoulders, hands on my thighs, and lined up with my entrance. The spark in those eyes promised me we’d relish every moment of this night.
One inch at a time, he smoothly slid down into me, the sensation rippling through me, head falling back. “Oh, God,” I panted.
“That’s a generous upgrade from Professor.”
My laugh only tightened the tension in my center before he started a steady rhythm of gentle thrusts.
“So damn beautiful, baby. Look how you stretch for me.”
I did, my mouth hanging open as it took every ounce of willpower to keep my eyes from slamming shut. But that attempt was futile the moment he began a vicious thrust.
“Oh, shit—” I threw my head back, eyes sliding shut as he jackhammered into me. There was sex, and then there was a claiming. There was pleasure, and then there was euphoria. Shattering beneath Broderick was the latter in every sense.
“That’s my girl. God, you look so good, El. So damn perfect. So responsive.”
I think I nodded, but my soul was hovering somewhere outside my body, looking back, watching as he obliterated me entirely. My hands slammed down onto his shoulders, nails digging into his skin as he stuttered to a stop.
“What?” I breathed, the tone as close to begging as a woman with any sense of dignity could manage. Everything in my body had a pulse. “Broderick,” I groaned as he slipped free.
“What’d I say, Pix?”
Blinking, I scrambled to catch my breath. Scowling up at him, I barked, “I can solve this myself, you know?”
The wry smile that painted his features would’ve had the best woman liquefying at his feet. “Sure. But you won’t.”
“Who’s the tease now?”
“Who broke the rules?” he countered without missing a beat. That cheeky self-satisfied smirk would’ve irritated me if it wasn’t so damn cute. Rules. Hands. Above my head.
“God dammit,” I growled, throwing myself onto the mattress. “Move over. I have a vibrator in my purse.”
His laugh wrapped around my chest, filling my heart with some kind of molten oil. “Oh, but you’d miss out on watching me fuck you until you come so hard you see stars as you soak my cock.”
Dammit. My eyes fell to said cock as one of his broad hands wrapped around his length and gave it one steady tug. Another. Eyes narrowed in accusation on his face, I hurled my hands above my head and relished how hard he seemed to fight his need to smile.
“That’s my girl. I promise to earn your trust, baby. I’ll always take care of you. You’ve just got to let me.” Before I could make sense of up or down, he’d plunged his fingers back inside me, the tender touches from earlier gone, and in their place was a ferocious, expectant thrust, his demanding fingers finding my clit as his mouth descended on a breast. Lavishing it in demanding pulls, Broderick had me whimpering beneath the sensations. He was too good. I needed him everywhere.
“Broderick!” The keening cry sounded far away, my back arching as I flexed and balled my hands to keep them in the sheets above my head. Writhing and bucking beneath the onslaught of pleasure, my throat felt raw, eyes heavy as release barreled forward.
“You come all this way to see me, Pix?”
“Yes,” I panted without hesitating. It was true. As much as I loved my family, this trip had nothing to do with pie day. Eyes closed under the weight of impending detonation, I could hear the joy in his next words.
“God, do you know what you do to me, baby?” His movements got impossibly more intense, sending me soaring toward that beautiful abyss. “You came so far to see me. I think I can give you more than one of these.”
And like he’d flipped a kill switch, Broderick curled those fingers, hitting that perfect spot. I imploded in a release so violent, I did, indeed, see stars.
But it just. Kept. Going.
Even as my legs shook, rolls of pleasure waved through me, and he stayed relentless. My thighs clamped down on his hands as the pleasure overwhelmed me. This time when my hands wrapped around his arms, he didn’t relent, ripping wave after wave of pleasure from me as I came down his hand, soaking his wrist, warmth spilling from my body.
“There’s my girl,” his voice rumbled through me as he dragged the release out in slow steady strokes. My body shuddered as he slowed and stilled.
“H-holy sh-shit,” I stammered, incapable of inhaling as the last shockwaves stuttered through me. The world spun like I had cartoon birds flying around my head. “That’s why people edge.”
“You’re welcome,” he chuckled. When Broderick pressed his fingers against my lips, I opened automatically, his warm chuckle heating my cheeks. “Suck, baby. God, you’re so beautiful. You taste so damn good.” He slipped his fingers into my mouth and my eyes fluttered open as my tart release hit my taste buds, landing on a satisfied smile. “That’s my girl. Told you you’d spill all over our bed.”
Ourbed. I hummed at the realization that he made this place mine, too. On one hand, the feminist in me was freaking out because how could he possibly when we just got together? But… the rest of me? Being with him came as naturally as breathing. As though it always had been. And while the sex was new, the man was not—no, this was a long time coming. Perhaps we’d gone our separate ways to become who we needed to be, and now it was just about finding a way back home.
Home to me was Broderick. Even if I couldn’t say that yet.
Needing to tread on safer territory, I breathlessly whispered, “I was promised I’d get to come on your cock.”
“And you will,” he stated simply. In the next breath, he swooped in for a kiss, snaked his hand between us to line himself up, thrust home, and made damn good on his promise.