29. twenty-seven
twenty-seven
. . .
CREW
I pulled into my driveway as Trey exited the house through the porch door. My brother didn’t stop to chat, merely waved and hopped into his truck before peeling out in a cloud of dust as I navigated into the garage.
Weird.
But I didn’t stop to give it much thought in my desperation to get inside and see Aspen.
After the ordeal with her car, I wasn’t taking any chances, and I closed the garage door before I got out of my truck, then ambled into the house. After kicking my boots off, I headed for my room, ready to curl around Aspen and fall asleep.
Only, my bed was empty and the door to the guest room was closed. Had Trey slept in here instead? I supposed that made sense. There wasn’t anything happening between me and Aspen, yet , and she likely wouldn’t want to draw attention to the distinct lack of something by asking Trey to sleep in the guest room.
Still, I hated that my sheets wouldn’t smell like her when I eventually crawled into them.
But after the interview with Parker this morning, I was too keyed up to sleep. Plus, I’d managed a decent stretch between calls last night anyway. I showered quickly, changed, then headed to the kitchen, got coffee brewing, and started on breakfast.
The smells must have enticed her out of bed, because a few minutes later, Aspen appeared.
“Hi,” she murmured as she slid onto a stool right as I placed a mug of coffee in front of her.
“Morning, gorgeous.”
Aspen’s cheeks pinked, and she hid her grin behind the cup as she sipped.
She pulled the mug away slowly, staring down at it as if it were a puzzle she wanted to solve.
“Something wrong?”
“You know how I take my coffee,” she whispered.
I grinned, immensely pleased with myself. “We’ve been living together for over a month, little phoenix.”
“I wasn’t aware you’d been paying attention.”
Holding her cinnamon gaze, I spoke my next words confidently and without hesitation.
“I’ve done nothing else since I met you.”
The gentle, healthy glow turned to a full blown blush that crept up the collar of her shirt and into the apples of her cheeks. She ducked her head, hair falling in a curtain around her, blocking her from view.
My smile remained as I turned back to the stove and finished our omelets.
Once our food was done, I placed our plates side by side and climbed onto the stool next to her.
“Between you Lawless boys and your mom, I’ve been incredibly spoiled by food since getting out of the hospital,” she said as she dug in.
“Told you Trey was a good cook.”
“Yeah, he’s…something.”
My fork paused halfway to my mouth as I noted the subtle discomfort underlying her tone .
“What did he do?”
She waved me off. “It’s nothing. Tell me why you got home so late.”
I quirked a brow, my brother momentarily forgotten. “You noticed?”
“You’re not the only one who’s been paying attention.”
The way she said it told me she was embarrassed, and that was the last thing I wanted.
“I like that you’ve been watching me,” I assured her, nudging her with my elbow. “Makes me feel like I’m not alone in this.”
“You’re not,” she said, glancing at me sideways for a beat before returning to her food.
We ate in silence, and I practically inhaled my eggs. Though I’d managed some decent sleep last night, I couldn’t remember the last time I’d eaten, and I hadn’t realized how starving I was until we sat down.
Although, once the hunger pains in my stomach were satisfied, I still found myself ravenous.
And it had nothing to do with food.
Side by side, Aspen and I cleaned up the kitchen, then retreated to the living room so I could tell her about my morning and the interview with Parker.
“Brave of him,” she said when I’d finished.
“I thought so too.”
“He’s taunting us now. The killer, I mean.”
“Yeah,” I agreed. “Looks that way.”
She didn’t respond, merely stared blankly at the wall, and I’d do anything to bring her back to me. I couldn’t imagine what was swirling around in that brain of hers, but I was desperate to find out. Her sudden silence drew me back to the way she’d responded when I brought up Trey earlier, so I decided to poke that bear again.
“How was Trey? What’d you guys do?”
“Oh, he made a pass at me,” she said absently .
Then as if realizing what she’d admitted, and so carelessly at that, she slapped a hand over her mouth and stared at me, eyes wide in horror.
“He what ?” I exploded, coming off the couch and damn near flipping the coffee table over.
“Fuck,” she breathed, standing and putting her hands out as though to steady me.
But there was nothing steady about me, nothing calm in the way my blood roared through my veins.
Trey had made a pass at Aspen?
My Aspen?
That stupid fucker.
I was going to kill him.
“Were you even going to tell me?”
“Of course I was. I was working my way up to it.”
“Why?”
“Because I knew you’d react like this! And frankly, I don’t see what the big deal is.”
“The big deal? The big deal? ” I roared. “Why are you acting like it’s not a big deal?”
After everything we’d shared, how was she being so cavalier?
Had I misread the situation that badly?
Completely disregarding the rage obviously coursing through me, Aspen stepped closer. Right into my personal space. Wrapping me in her goddamn intoxicating scent, making it difficult to breathe.
“Why wouldn’t I?” she asked. “I’m not in a relationship. In fact?—”
My hand came up to her face, squeezing her chin between my thumb and forefinger.
“Do not finish that sentence.”
Her palm pressed to my chest, tiptoeing her fingers upward to the curve of my shoulder, around the back of my neck and into the short hairs at my nape .
Everything within me and between us moved, like a seismic shift of the very foundation we’d built our friendship on. Because that’s what we were—friends. Through the late nights and early mornings, long talks about life, this fucking serial killer, and the weeks spent sharing this space, a friendship had blossomed between us.
Now, I wanted to be so much fucking more than her goddamn friend, I thought I might go insane with the force of it. Genuinely might lose my mind without an outlet for how badly I wanted her.
In a flash, my anger became desire, the heat licking at my veins morphing into the need to own her.
“There’s nothing happening here, Crew,” she pressed, though I noted with no small amount of satisfaction that her chest was heaving, her small, perky tits brushing my upper abdomen with every inhale.
“The fuck there isn’t,” I growled.
Then I crashed my mouth to hers.
There was nothing soft and sweet to be found in that kiss. I was savage and claiming, my tongue shoving carelessly into her mouth, teeth dragging over her lips, opening her wider. I fucking moaned with that first taste of her, coffee and something so purely Aspen , a heady combination I hungrily drank from her lips.
Gripping a handful of her hair, I tugged, angling her where I wanted her. She whimpered into my mouth, her tongue meeting each stroke of my own.
Fuck, I loved that sound. I wanted to see what other ones I could get her to make. Wanted to see if she’d make it again with my tongue buried in her pussy.
My blood damn near boiled, my skin tightening. I needed to have her. Now. Right here in the middle of this fucking living room. I’d fuck her into next week bent over the back of the couch.
We were all hands and savage teeth, sighs of pleasure and moans of desperation. I’d never had a kiss like this, one so all-consuming it seemed to sink deep into my bones and root there.
A kiss could make a man crazy, and hers had set me on fire.
Aspen was an addiction—and for once, I wasn’t afraid of getting hooked.
I peeled my mouth from hers, and Aspen gasped for breath, but I didn’t let her go. My hands remained at her waist and in her hair, fingers digging into her skin. I was too far gone to give a fuck about hurting her. I wanted to see my marks on her skin. Remind her exactly who the fuck she belonged to.
“How do you feel now, Aspen?” I asked, resting my forehead against hers. “Still think there’s nothing happening here?”
She tilted her face to nip at my jaw. “Take me to bed, Crew. Make good on everything you just promised me with that kiss.”
I hauled her over my shoulder before she’d fully finished speaking, carrying her down the hall, though I took a quick detour into the guest room where she’d been sleeping.
“What’re you doing?” she asked, her voice floating up from somewhere around my ass. God, I was fucking feral for this woman. The fact that she was letting me manhandle her like this? I was a fucking goner.
I didn’t answer her, simply rifled through the drawer of the nightstand until I found what I was looking for, then continued to my room, slamming the door shut behind me before I dumped her in the center of my mattress.
Aspen lifted onto her elbows, those cinnamon eyes darkening as she watched me twirl her vibrator over my fingers.
Girls like her always had a vibrator. Likely because no man had ever fucked her good enough to make the toy obsolete.
That was, of course, because she’d never been with me .
“You wanna play, Aspen?”
“I’d rather have the real thing.”
I chuckled darkly. “All in good time, pretty girl.” I palmed myself through my sweats. “You’ll get this all day long. In fact, by the time I’m through with you, you’ll be begging me to stop.”
“Promises, promises.”
“You know I’ll make good on them.”
Aspen rose and crawled to the edge of the bed, then sat back on her feet, toying with the hem of her shirt. Finally making a decision, she gripped it and pulled it over her head.
Leaving her topless and looking like every fucking fantasy I’d ever had come to life.
Her body was gorgeous. Pert little tits with dusky rose-colored nipples. Trim waist and a flat abdomen shadowed by muscle. Thick, delicious thighs that strained against her silky pajama bottoms.
“Goddamn,” I breathed. “You are…stunning.”
She grinned shyly, and as she shifted slightly to hide her left side, suddenly it occurred to me why.
Her burns.
“Don’t hide from me,” I said softly, moving closer and lifting one of her hands from her lap before placing it on my forearm.
Aspen gasped as her fingers traced the skin that was marred beneath my tattoos—the reason I’d started getting them in the first place.
“What happened?”
“I’ve got all kinds of these. Hazard of my job. But this one was my first, and it’s the worst. It was the first major blaze I’d worked after finally moving up from candidate to full-fledged firefighter. There was a woman trapped in a room, and I thought I could get to her. Went in way too cocky. Half the ceiling ended up collapsing on me.”
“And the woman?”
I shook my head. “She didn’t make it, and I spent a few weeks in the hospital and another four rehabbing until I could go back to work. ”
Moving to her side, I reached out and trailed my touch over the fresh pink skin spanning her left side.
“The point I’m trying to make here is your scars don’t determine your worth.” I met her gaze. “In fact, I think you’re even more beautiful because of what you’ve endured.”
“Little phoenix,” she whispered.
Grinning, I nodded. “Exactly. So don’t hide from me. Let me explore all of you.”
“Okay.”
I relaxed, grateful she felt so at ease with me to give in so quickly.
“Now where should we start?”
“I took a bath in here a few weeks ago, you know,” she said, almost conversationally, nodding at my en suite then the vibrator. “Brought that guy with me.”
“This puny thing?” I said, waving the toy through the air.
Aspen smirked. “It got the job done.”
“What’d you think about?” I asked as I flipped it through my fingers like some sort of baton. “All alone in my bathtub.” Twist. “Naked.” Flip. “And soaking wet.”
“You,” she said simply. “Imagined what your hands would do to me.” She reached for me, palm rubbing against my cock where it tented the front of my sweatpants. “How well this cock would fill me.”
My answering grin was downright feral. “Wicked girl. I’ll make every one of those daydreams a reality.”
Aspen tipped herself back on the bed and slipped out of her pajama bottoms, the silky black fabric sailing across the room. That left her in only a pair of pale pink panties that wedged between her pussy lips as she spread her legs for me.
“What do you want, Aspen?”
“You. All of you.”
The answer was immediate and final.
“Then that’s what you’ll get,” I assured her, moving until my knees bumped against the foot of the bed. “But make no mistake, little phoenix. The second I fit myself between those pretty thighs and get my first taste, there’s no going back.”
Her hair swished against my comforter as she shook her head.
“I don’t want to go back. I only want you.”
And that was enough for me.
So I dropped my pants and shed my tee, leaving me entirely naked before her.
“Fucking hell,” she breathed. “You can’t possibly be real.”
“I’m very real, baby. This is real.”
“I’m about to become a real big slut because of you,” she mused. “That nipple ring gives me all kinds of dirty thoughts.”
With my free hand, I reached up and toyed with the hoop pierced through my left nipple, pinching and tugging it. “You can be as slutty as you want, baby. But only here . Only with me.”
She grinned. “Deal. Now show me what you got.”
I still gripped her toy, so I wrapped my other hand around my cock and held them side by side, wanting to see how I compared to the thing she’d been using to get off.
Aspen choked on a laugh.
“You better not be laughing at me,” I warned, palm rasping up and down my shaft once. God, even that one simple touch was almost too much. I felt like a teenager again, ready to combust with a single tug.
“Of course not. Your cock is beautiful, hotshot. I’m laughing because I have no fucking idea how it’s going to fit after I’ve been using that for so long.” She gestured toward the vibrator, the bright pink silicone dwarfed by my broad palm.
And, yeah, next to my dick? I hadn’t been lying earlier when I called it “puny.”
I grinned. “Don’t worry. You can take it.” Finally, I crawled onto the bed and laid down on my stomach, my shoulders pressing her thighs wider as I came face to face with her cunt. “But how about we warm you up first?”
“God, please.”
“Not God, little phoenix. Just Crew.”
“Please, Crew .” She squirmed closer as I lifted the toy and brushed the blunt tip through her sex, the silicone coming away glistening. Her eyes were glued to me as my tongue darted out and worked around the toy, tasting her arousal for the first time.
My eyes closed and a moan fell from my lips. “You taste incredible. But next time, I’m taking it from the source.”
Aspen reached down and hooked her hands behind her thighs, spreading herself wider.
“Now, please .”
“Fuck, you’re so pretty when you beg. You want me to eat while I fuck you with this little thing?”
She bit down on her bottom lip and nodded. “You can tease me. I…I like to be edged.”
“Aspen…” I groaned, her name a prayer.
I’d met my match with this one.
Too many of my previous partners had rushed or wanted to skip foreplay entirely, but I fucking loved it. Loved toying with women until they were panting, sweaty messes desperate for my cock. Until my dick was weeping with the desire to fill them. I had…urges that maybe went beyond what was normal. Somehow, I didn’t think Aspen would balk or judge me for them. I had a feeling this woman would be down for whatever I threw at her—and would come back for more and more and more.
The toy buzzed in my hand when I powered it on, but I ignored it for the moment in favor of bringing my mouth to her flesh, groaning when her taste exploded on my tongue.
I wanted to make this good for her, wanted to drag it out until she was clawing at me, begging for release, but I wasn’t sure I had it in me to wait. Especially not when I inserted a finger into her and felt how hard she clamped around me .
“Fucking hell, woman. This tight little cunt is going to destroy me.”
“Crew,” she whimpered, wriggling her hips and grasping at the sheets. I’d barely touched her and she was already strung out.
Good , I thought. Now she experienced a fraction of the hell I’d been in since the first time I laid eyes on her.
Withdrawing my finger, I lifted up on my elbow and brought it to her lips.
“Suck.”
Aspen’s eyes widened but she opened up, and I shoved into her mouth. Her lips and teeth closed around the digit, tongue swirling as she lapped me clean—and moaned.
“See how good you taste?” I asked when I pulled free. “Now you’ll understand why I’m happily going to die right here between your pretty thighs.”
My name fell from her lips, begging me to touch her, and at last I relented.
Bringing the toy to her sex, I ran it up and down her seam, coating it in her arousal before slowly inching it in, flipping backward so the little bunny ears designed to stimulate her nub rested against her taint.
Her clit was mine, and as I began to work the vibe in and out of her, I flicked my tongue against it. The skin was silky smooth and I sucked it between my lips, working it against my teeth and tongue. That sharp scrape had Aspen’s hips bucking against me.
“That’s it,” I murmured, pulling away slightly to speak. “Ride my face.”
Tentatively at first, trying to find a rhythm that worked combined with my mouth and the toy, Aspen’s hips swiveled against my face. But she settled in quickly, the easy undulation timed perfectly to each flick of my tongue and pump of the vibe.
Soon, she was riding out my ministrations like I hoped she’d ride my cock—roughly and with abandon, like the only thing that mattered was her orgasm .
And to me, it was…which is why I quickly jerked the toy free and removed my mouth from her body.