11. Bonding
eleven
Bonding
At two o’clock on Sunday afternoon, when Mikey still hadn’t emerged from his office, Brandi decided to change tactics. Waiting patiently was a perfectly respectable gameplan for some people, but in truth, impatience was a personality trait she and her soon-to-be husband had in common. And in her mind, giving him basically the entire morning and early afternoon for whatever family business was being patient.
She was no Daria in the kitchen, but she threw together a hearty sandwich under the presumption that Mikey wouldn’t keep ingredients on hand if he refused to eat them. She grabbed a drink from the refrigerator in case the minifridge he had in his office lacked anything hydrational, and then she took the items down the main hall to her fiancé’s home office.
Her gaze snagged on one of the displays of beautiful, multicolored zinnia blossoms along the way. The delivery the previous afternoon had been a little untimely, but she couldn’t say she was upset to see the vivacious energy the flowers brought to the manor. If she’d had a spare hand, she might have grabbed a stem or two and taken them with her to slip into Mikey’s office as a reminder of the changes beyond those walls.
She did not, so she let the idea remain in her head for future reference if the conversation she intended to push didn’t do the job.
“—fuck is the hold up?” Mikey’s voice was angry, though she couldn’t see him beyond his veritable wall of monitors. “Big Brother doesn’t like delays. If I have to tell him we’re behind schedule, I better have a good fucking reason to go with it. It won’t be my ass catching fire for this.”
Brandi rounded the desk and quietly set down the plate and drink, unsurprised by the phone Mikey had to his ear. Of course, she’d picked a bad time.
His eyes snapped to her, dropped to the food, then shifted the opposite way toward one of the lit displays. His lips curled in a soundless curse.
A male baritone drifted out from the phone, responding to Mikey’s words.
Feeling guilty now, Brandi reached out and laid her hand over Mikey’s nearest forearm. When their eyes met again, she mouthed an apology and quietly stepped back. She really should have known he wasn’t in here browsing social media or something equivalently asinine.
Mikey’s hand shot out before she could step out of reach, his fingers curling around her wrist just tight enough to hold her in place. “Yeah, I’ve heard enough. It’s my fucking Sunday, too. If you don’t like where you are in the rotation, get your job done right the first time and wait for someone else to fuck up. Being the fuck-up doesn’t usually get you promoted.” He pulled the phone from his ear, jabbed the screen with his thumb, and dropped it loudly to the desk with a groan.
Brandi leaned toward him. “I didn’t mean to interrupt.”
“No, I’m sorry,” Mikey said, turning his chair to face her better. “I lost track of time chasing idiots who don’t know how to communicate.” He tugged her closer, encouraging her to step between his thighs. “Thank you for the sandwich.”
Brandi reached out and slipped her fingers into his hair, watching the tufts of dark brown glide against her skin for a beat before she whispered, “It’s kind of a bribe, if I’m being honest.”
Mikey chuckled. “Lonely?”
Her lips twitched. “You wouldn’t think I would be. I did actually live alone before you brought me here.” Not that she had no one she talked to, but she wasn’t exactly a social butterfly, either. She took a deep breath and added, “Mostly, I was hoping we could talk about a couple things. Things we probably should already have talked about.”
His thumbs stroked over her hips and he hummed. Then he moved one hand away, reaching over to swiftly close out of the open programs and shut down the system. While the shutdown sequence was still running, Mikey pushed to his feet, his other hand remaining branded to her hip.
Suddenly she was flat against his chest and distinctly aware of the way his simple touches had woken up her body.
“Let’s find somewhere more comfortable, and I’ll listen to whatever’s on your mind.” He dipped his head, breath teasing her skin. “It’s the least I can do.”
Brandi offered no resistance when he sealed his lips over hers, or pushed his tongue inside. She had resolved to talk to him before losing any more of herself, but the man had slipped under her skin like a surgeon’s blade. It was all she could do not to start rubbing against him in a shameless search for release.
Mikey broke the kiss slowly, his tongue trailing across her lips, and the smirk he flashed her was searing. “Thanks for the interruption, by the way. I feel better already.”
She huffed out a laugh and forced herself to step back. “You can carry your own food this time.”
They walked side-by-side from the office, down to the same den where she preferred to lounge. Where he’d fucked her over the sofa the day prior.
Her body heated at the memory. The entire encounter had surprised her, but in the best way. She hadn’t expected him to have such a filthy mouth or to be so dominating. For those few minutes, she’d forgotten about everything else—her lingering pains, her fear, her guilt, even her anger. She wanted to forget again. She wanted to feel that euphoria again.
Brandi shook the thought as far from her mind as she could. She hadn’t gone looking to seduce her fiancé. There were certain subjects that really needed addressing. It would have been nice, preferable even, if they had just been a normal couple exploring their attraction to each other. But she recognized neither of them would have crossed that line under ordinary circumstances. Just as she recognized that the spark she’d come to believe they both felt could still easily be snuffed out … perhaps by the thing she most needed to tell him.
“So,” Mikey started, leaning back and holding the first half of his sandwich in his hand, “what’s on your mind?”
Brandi watched him sink his teeth into the bread. It was the first meal she’d prepared for him, if making a sandwich counted. It was ridiculous to feel like that meant anything. Still, she shifted around, sitting sideways and pulling her feet up between them. “I know I should have said something when I saw it in the contract,” she said, “but my head was in about five different directions and I didn’t … well, I didn’t really think it would matter.” She saw his brow pinch and she understood. She was speaking evasively, which she hated. All she could do was push through. “Technically there are two things we should talk about, but what I’m referring to is that I can’t—”
The words clogged in her throat. For so many years, it hadn’t mattered to her. It had been a perverse kind of relief, even. But right now, watching Mikey try to read her and wondering if what she had to say would drown out the little flame that had sparked between them, she felt differently. She didn’t want to say the words. She didn’t want the words to be true.
Of course it mattered. Men like Mikey cared about that shit. Mikey was named after a grandfather he’d never met, for crying out loud. This conversation she was pushing could be the end of something that had only just started to feel like a very strange blessing.
Mikey looped his arm behind her ankles and dragged her feet into his lap. In a quick reversal, his arm came around to rest over the top of her calves, pinning her in place. His hand angled up, fingers massaging the side of her outer ankle. “Can’t what , kitten?”
Brandi swallowed hard. If she was going to tell him, she might as well tell him the whole thing. “You probably know I was homeschooled most of my childhood, right?”
Mikey nodded.
“That meant no teachers or classmates for my father to worry about, and it’s not like we had a lot of drop-in guests. I knew he felt like he owned me, but I had access to the internet and media. I was actually being educated. And when I turned sixteen, I decided I was ready to start dating. I wanted that bit of normal teenage life.” Brandi rolled her eyes at own words.
Mikey swallowed his latest bite. “Wesley disapproved?”
She choked on a laugh. “We argued about it, I pretended to get mad but give in, and eventually snuck out of the house to go meet up with a boy. We went for ice cream and were going to maybe hang out in the arcade or something, and I was so proud of myself. Until my father showed up at the ice cream shop.”
Mikey set his plate on the side table, frowning as if he already knew where her story would lead.
Brandi continued. “Needless to say, I was dragged home and grounded. But he was so mad. He started calling me disgusting names, accusing me of just being some nasty whore.” The tears burned behind her eyes as she forced herself to think back on the argument that had led to the story she had to tell, and the experience that had followed. “My father still had money back then, remember. And even though he hates spending it, he will if he thinks there’s a purpose. Except his idea of a ‘purpose’ doesn’t always line up with someone else’s.”
Mikey’s grip tightened around her ankle. “What the fuck did he do to you, Brandi?”
“About two months after my first attempt at a date, I woke up really groggy and confused, and not in my room.” She fought back the tears that threatened with a shaky exhale. “Turned out, my father had drugged me and taken me to a private clinic run by a friend of his—who is now serving a lot of time for a host of unethical practices. He paid his doctor friend probably an obscene amount of money to make sure he doesn’t have any other heirs to worry about paying for.”
Mikey’s eyes flew wide. For a moment, it even looked like he stopped breathing. Then, in a low, strained voice, he asked, “He did what ?”
Her mouth was dry. “The pill I take in the morning isn’t birth control,” she whispered. “It’s hormone replacement. Because my father’s doctor took everything out of me ten years ago.”
If the room hadn’t become so still, she might have missed the faint tremor that shook Mikey’s hand. His muscles were too tight for the non-bruising grip he had of her leg. But then he pushed her legs forward, almost off the sofa, and pitched himself to the side in the process. Brandi squeaked, startled, and the next thing she knew his arm was around her belly and he’d wedged himself between her and the back of the couch. He hooked a leg around her ankles to hold her legs up and close, and pressed his lips to her temple.
To call it cozy would have been an understatement. It was a tight, intimate, inescapable embrace.
“Mikey…?”
“I’m gonna kill your father,” he rumbled against her skin. “If that upsets you, I’m sorry. I’ll apologize. But I’ll still do it.”
She sucked in a breath of conflicted, stupid emotion and let her eyes close. She’d always thought her father’s bad decisions would get him killed before his time. Would it be ironic if he dies when I finally choose to save myself? And was it so wrong of her to hesitate? “I … don’t know how I’ll feel,” she finally whispered. “I can’t say I love him. I’ve just never thought about being the reason someone dies.”
“You’re not,” Mikey said fiercely. The arm not locked beneath her slid up, until his fingers could graze her cheek. “I’m not asking for your permission or if it’s something you want. All you’ve done is relay stories of experiences he’s put you through. He brought that karma on himself.”
Brandi exhaled hard, the breath shaking from her. “Does that make me a bad person?”
“You might be asking the wrong man if it’s moral absolution you want, kitten.” Mikey kissed her temple again. “But if you want someone to support you and protect you, I can do that.” His hand lowered to her shoulder. “Speaking of, just a thought, but we have a psychotherapist on payroll. She’s trustworthy. I can set you up an appointment with her if you want.”
An unexpected laugh bubbled out of her. “The De Salvos have a therapist on hand? Do you have everything ?”
“We do try.”
She reached up and laid her hands over his forearms, just to maximize their points of contact. “Doesn’t that … change things, though? My infertility, I mean.” She hated that word. It never felt like an accurate description. But it was probably the easiest description.
“Not for me,” Mikey said. “I never especially wanted kids. As long as my brothers continue the family line, that’s enough. And Romeo handled that like eight years ago.”
A little more tension slipped from her. “With how family oriented you all seem, I thought family lineage would be a big deal.”
“Objectively, but not so much that we’re all required to reproduce.” The pitch of his voice lowered when he added, “It is nice to know I can fill your hot pussy without worrying about the consequences.”
A very different shiver rolled through her and Brandi squirmed as much as his hold allowed. “You didn’t seem all that worried yesterday,” she managed to reply.
He chuckled. “Worth it.” His lips teased the shell of her ear for a second before he asked, “What was the other thing?”
Brandi blinked, trying to chase the fog of fresh lust from her mind. “What?”
“You said there were multiple things.”
Crap. “Right.” She drew a breath, which did little to settle her, and forced out the awkward question. “We should probably have also discussed, you know, whether or not we’re both clean.” Would he want to get updated tests done?
“I am,” Mikey replied.
“Me, too.” Was that enough?
Mikey trailed his raised arm down her torso, over her breasts, until he was holding her hip. “Kinda feel like getting dirty, though.”
Her lips twitched. “You literally put us in this position.” She could feel his arousal now, pressing into the top of her butt.
Mikey angled his head to brush kisses across the side of her face. “Don’t expect me to apologize.”
Brandi squirmed again, a little more intentionally. “The sofa’s a bit tight this way, don’t you think?”
He hummed, the hand at her hip sliding beneath the hem of her shirt. His fingers grazed her skin, burning a direct path to the snap of her jeans. It came loose as his lips closed to suck on the sensitive flesh behind her ear.
The sudden ringing of his phone shattered the heady mood, startling both of them.
Mikey growled, withdrawing his hand. “Motherfucker,” he grumbled.
Brandi shared the sentiment of his irritation entirely.
He hauled them both upright and reached for his phone with the hand that had been moments away from sinking inside her, his other arm remaining locked around her waist. He swiped his thumb across the screen and quickly tapped the speaker button, saying, “Go ahead.”
Brandi adjusted to lean into his shoulder, her gaze lingering on the caller ID. Someone from the guardhouse at the front of the property was calling, and she’d been living at the manor just long enough to find that odd.
“My apologies for disturbing you, sir,” said a vaguely familiar voice. The older guard who’d first approached her the day before. From what Brandi had learned the previous evening, the only hits that specific guard had taken were in his vest, so while he probably had a bruise or three, he was fine.
The guard who’d taken the first shot was out of work for a while, having taken a bullet clear through his shoulder. Another had also suffered injury, but Mikey swore only the one she’d seen was serious enough to require rehabilitation.
“I assume there’s something going on outside I need to know about?” Mikey asked.
“Yes, sir,” the guard said. There was a note of discomfort in his voice. “You have a visitor. He’s not on the approved list, but considering who it is, I thought I should call.”
Both of Brandi’s brows lifted at the obviously avoidant phrasing.
“Spit it the fuck out,” Mikey snapped.
“It’s Wesley Richardson, sir.”
Brandi shot upright. “What?” What the hell was her father doing there?
Mikey growled. “Take him around to the guest house and have someone sit with him. If he fucking smudges a wall, slice off his finger.”
“Yes, sir.” The line disconnected and Mikey moved the phone to the arm of the sofa.
“I don’t understand,” Brandi mumbled, pressing her fingers to her forehead. “He wasn’t home yesterday, and today he shows up here?”
Mikey pulled her into his lap, gripping her chin to catch her focus. “Look at me, kitten. Everything’s fine. It doesn’t matter why he’s here—saves us trouble.”
Brandi shook her head, sure they were missing something. “It doesn’t make sense.” She could feel her anxiety spiking the way it always did when her father behaved unpredictably. That always meant he felt desperate, and desperation on him never failed to mean pain for her.
Mikey rubbed one hand over her back. “What are you afraid of?”
She closed her eyes for a second and did her best to stabilize her breathing. Her fingers curled in his shirt as she searched for the most sensible words. “I know he’s not the most terrifying man in the world,” she whispered, “but to me … he’s the source of all my problems. Everything that’s ever scared me, ever hurt me, goes back to him. Most of it starts there, too. That’s hard to shake.”
Mikey tugged her closer, pressing her into his shoulder, and she felt him reach in the direction of his phone again. “Then let me cut him down for you.” A moment later more ringing filled the air, but she couldn’t lift her head to see who he’d dialed.
She figured it out when Dante’s voice answered on the second ring. “What can I do for you, little brother?”
“I have an unwelcome visitor,” Mikey said. His words were calm, but there was a hardness to his voice that said everything about his feelings on the situation. “And I want him to suffer.”
“You have my attention,” Dante said. “Does your visitor have a name?”
“Wesley.”
“Where’s Brandi?”
She forced her lips to part, tilted her head slightly away from its comfy position, and croaked, “Here.” Was she supposed to address him a certain way? She dearly hoped she wasn’t supposed to refer to her soon-to-be brother-in-law as ‘sir’ after the way Mikey had claimed the word.
She was distracted enough she almost didn’t notice Dante’s slight pause. “I understand. Cris and I will be there in ten minutes. Just keep him waiting until then.”
Mikey set his phone aside again, slid her off his lap, and twisted around until he was on his knees in front of her. “That means we have about eight minutes.”
“Eight—what?” Her eyes widened as his hands went straight to her waistband and pulled the zipper down. Too many conflicting things surged through her. “Mikey!”
He clicked his tongue, gaze dragging up her even as his hands slipped beneath the loosened waist of her pants. “What did I tell you, kitten? Oral counts, you know.”
Heat burned her cheeks. “We don’t have time, and—”
“We have time for this,” he said. He pushed his hands down, causing her body to arch and allowing him to shove down the suddenly bunched material all simultaneously. “The other reason is exactly why we’re doing it. Now lean back, spread your legs, and enjoy yourself.”
Brandi had little choice in whether or not to obey as Mikey stroked his hands over her thighs. His fingers deftly avoided the healing wound that was thankfully not as tender as it had been, and then he rolled a thumb over her clit. Oh, fuck.
He leaned forward, a low groan rumbling up from him, and pressed his face into her center without preamble. His tongue swept through her, tasting her, and his fingers closed on her hips.
Tendrils of pleasure shot through her and Brandi gasped out loud. She tried to watch as he ate her out, but it felt so good that it quickly became too much of a struggle to hold her head upright. Her fingers dipped into his hair again as the first whispers of her pending orgasm teased through her.
His tongue slid down to her entrance and he tongue-fucked her for several long, delirious seconds. Long enough for her to start rocking with the rhythm he’d set. Then he licked his way up again, circling her clit.
She was lost to the sensations at this point. “S-so good, sir,” she panted. It felt as though she was spinning tauntingly around the edge of the precipice when she so desperately wanted to fall.
Mikey moved a hand from her hip and plunged two fingers deep inside her. His growl vibrated through her body and she felt his fingers curl as he dragged them through her depths. His tongue swirled around her clit before he sucked the entire thing into his mouth.
The combination had her hips coming off the sofa and a strangled cry of ecstasy tearing from her throat.
He eased back slowly, riding the wave with her until it was almost too much. She could hardly breathe, her heart hammering wildly, and when she dragged her eyes back to his she thought she might explode all over again. She’d never seen a hunger so palpable.
Mikey licked his lips. “Fucking delicious.” He held two glistening fingers in front of her lips. “Open those pretty lips and taste yourself on me. Tease me with what I can’t have just yet.”
Brandi complied immediately. Her mouth opened and she leaned forward, taking his fingers into her mouth to lick her own essence off. She didn’t question it, didn’t question how his words could have her body suggesting she was ready to go again so soon. She just did what he asked, unable to break his stare, and whimpered when he growled low and leaned closer.
“Fuck, you’re so tempting,” he murmured, yanking his fingers from her mouth. He crashed his lips to hers in a rough, fiery kiss that assured her she wasn’t the only one who wanted more.
His phone buzzed once on the side table.
Mikey broke the kiss with another curse. “They’re here. We better wash up.”