Twenty-Nine
29
Tex
“Just so you’re here when Pepper hits the fucking fan,” Micah said to Liam over the video call I’d been summoned to since Liam was in Ocala.
Liam’s brows drew together. “The less Pepper knows, the safer she is.”
Micah shrugged. “And the more danger I am in. From her when she finds out this shit and knows I kept it from her.”
“What have you found out, Tex?” Liam asked, getting to what I knew was the point of this call.
“Salem knows nothing,” I replied without hesitation.
“And your proof?”
My gut wasn’t going to be the answer he wanted, but that was it. She was older, and she’d grown up, but she was still Salem. Sweet, beautiful Salem.
“She’s too naive. I’ve spent time with her. Talked to her. I’d know if she was hiding something. She talks about her hus—Eamon,” I corrected, hating the way it sounded to call the man her husband, “as if he were a straitlaced office sort. White collar and shit.”
Liam sighed heavily. “I need more than that, Tex. You have got to get her to open up about him. Get her distracted and take her phone while she’s passed out in your bed. Read her old text messages. She’s not going to have any new ones since Wilder broke into her account and froze her service. She’s only got Wi-Fi on it right now, which is run through the club. No cellular, but she’s not said anything, so she’s not trying to call anyone or expecting calls, which is a good sign.”
It was back to the fuck her thing. I had been hoping I’d not have to do that. Yeah, I wanted to fuck her. But not because I had been told to or because I wanted to read her text messages. That would make it twisted, and it’d feel like a betrayal.
“She has no idea. I swear it. She is clueless about the man she was married to,” I said with irritation.
Liam gave me a pointed look. “Get her goddamn phone, go through her texts, emails, recently deleted. If you can’t do this, then Lick is going to be briefed and given the job.”
I’d never hated Liam Walsh. I had even considered him one of my best friends. Until now.
Micah had stayed to finish the call with Liam, but I’d been dismissed. Going outside to this fucking party wasn’t going to help my mood.
This morning, I’d struggled with letting Nixie sit on my lap in front of Salem, which was the only reason I allowed it. I needed to stop whatever pull she had over me. Then all it took was the mention of Lick seeking out Salem, and I’d snapped.
If that brought out the jealous monster in me, then what the fuck would I be like after I fucked her? I had already lived that once. I knew the possessive beast it had created in me back then. Hell, just thinking about another man touching her all these years later and calling her his wife spiked my blood pressure.
Shoving the door open, I stalked outside to be met with the familiar smell of the bonfire and steaks on the grill, along with the sounds of rowdy laughter, talking, and…
Holy Mother of God!
I stopped, transfixed on Salem—or, well…her ass. She was leaning over the hot tub, giggling about something while reaching for a glass. But her almost-bare ass was sticking up, and I couldn’t breathe. I heard Nina’s cackling and Goldie’s voice, but I couldn’t look anywhere else.
She stood then, and I choked as I tried to suck in oxygen. Goddamn, her ass had matured into a fucking dirty fantasy. My eyes trailed up her back, stopping on the two dimples that sat just above her glorious, round backside and her narrow waist, which nipped in, giving her the perfect hourglass figure.
She held her glass up over her head, and Nina clapped and cheered. I had no idea what they were doing, nor did I care. I just wanted more of this view.
Then she turned and sauntered over to a pitcher that I recognized as Goldie’s margarita. Her tits bounced with each step, and I wasn’t sure if I wanted them to pop out of the scanty top or if I should go wrap a towel around her.
Pepper called out something, and I heard Dolly’s laugh, but my eyes didn’t waver.
“Brick’s already threatened to blind three guys, and Jars warned Anson he was going to rip off his balls for looking in that direction. I’d be careful where you let those eyes roam,” Fox said, coming up beside me with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth. “Anson was sporting wood though. Pecker sticking straight out of his shorts,” he added with a chuckle.
The sight of Nina and Goldie in bikinis was nothing new. All the men had seen them hundreds of times. The interest was in Salem’s ass. Covering her with a towel had just won for what I wanted to do more. She stumbled, then burst into a fit of giggles. She might be more than tipsy.
I tore my gaze off her to look over near the fire. At least five pairs of eyes were on Salem.
Motherfucker.
“But that ass though. Damn, the things I’d like to—”
“Don’t finish that sentence. I don’t make threats,” I snarled at him before stalking toward the pool, where the ole ladies were given the prime spot and exclusivity to the hot tub and pool until Dolly was ready to go inside.
Only then would Micah allow the others to venture toward it. The gazebo, however, remained off-limits. Ole ladies were the only ones with the privilege to use it.
“Oh, look, I won,” Nina called out cheerfully. “Pay up, Goldie.”
Salem paused and seemed confused, then turned to look in my direction. The small frown on her face slowly spread into a massive grin. Unlike any she’d given me since I’d found her again. It hit my chest like a hammer as I remembered how that smile had once owned me. The smile that had always been mine alone. No one else had made her smile like that. Just me.
She probably smiled like that for her husband . The thought weaseled its way into my head like poison burning into my soul. I didn’t want to think about that.
What all he’d had—that was mine. The burning only got worse.
“Rome…” My name came from her lips with a slur.
Yep. She was drunk.
Her brow puckered, and then she shook her head. “No. It’s Tex. Not Rome. Rome is gone.”
The sadness in her tone wasn’t helping things. It only pushed me closer to the edge of my sanity.
I shot Nina and Goldie a glare. “How much did you let her drink?” I demanded.
Nina smirked at me and took a pull from the cigarette in her mouth.
“I’m not a child,” Salem said, bringing my eyes back to her. “I’m an adult. They didn’t let me do anything. I did it.” She placed one of her hands on her hips and wobbled some.
Dammit. She could drown like this.
“Calm down. She was nervous about wearing a bikini. Something about her butt being too big for it, which is bullshit, but she’s convinced. Anyway, drinking calmed her nerves,” Nina informed me.
“I did tell her to take it slow,” Goldie added, sounding apologetic.
“She could fucking drown if she fell in,” I snapped as I reached her.
She tried to move back but lost her balance. I grabbed her wrist with one hand and her waist with the other to steady her.
“She’s not going to drown. I’m here,” Pepper called to me from inside the gazebo, where she sat with Dolly. “Let her have some fun. It’s been a shitty week.”
“Yeah, lemme have some fun.” Her words ran together, and she leaned into me and laid her head on my chest and sighed. “You still smell the same,” she mumbled, burying her nose against my chest to inhale. “Mmm.”
My arms wrapped around her of their own accord and held her there against me. I liked this too much, and the idea of her moving away made me feel violent. My left hand rested just above the swell of her ass, and the urge to slide it further and get a handful was strong, but she was drunk, and we had an audience.
She shivered against me. “You’re warm,” she said. “I’m cold.”
My eyes searched for a towel to cover her up. I’d turned her so the dicks down at the bonfire could no longer see her ass, and that had calmed me down some.
“Where’s a towel?” I asked them.
Nina pointed toward a stack of them just as Salem shook her head.
“No. Don’t go. This is nice.”
Fuck. Yeah, it was nice. It was the kinda nice that fucked a man up.
Pepper came walking out of the gazebo, holding one. “Here, I’ll take her inside.”
Salem’s hands fisted my cut as she held on to me tighter.
I held out my hand. “I’ll do it.”
Pepper raised her eyebrows. “She’s drunk, Tex.”
As if I wasn’t aware.
“I picked up on that,” I replied with sarcasm lacing my tone.
“You take me where it’s warm,” Salem said against my chest.
I glanced down at her, then back at Pepper. “You heard her. Give me the towel.”
Pepper reluctantly held it out to me. “She’s vulnerable. Especially where you’re concerned.”
What had Salem said to Pepper? Had she been talking about me?
My arms tightened around her, and she made a soft purring sound. Damn my dick for getting hard. There was no way I was touching her while she was trashed. When I sank my cock into her again, she would remember it.
Taking the towel, I wrapped it around her back. “Come on,” I told her. “Let’s go inside.”
She didn’t move. “I like this. You feel good.”
So do you, Angel Face.
“Let me wrap you up and get you inside. Once you get dressed, you can do this until you fall asleep,” I said close to her ear, not wanting the rest of the women who were all watching us to hear me.
She tilted her head back and gave me an endearing smile. “Really?”
I nodded.
She let go of me then, and I was able to get her fully covered. At least the parts that had the other men ogling her up. Her body leaned into my side, and I kept my arm around her shoulders as I walked her back to the clubhouse.
“I didn’t think you’d notice me with all the naked boobs down there with y’all,” she said as we reached the door.
“Angel Face, I don’t think there’s a man down there who didn’t notice you. And I was never down there. I was in a meeting. I walked outside and came straight over to you.”
She looked up at me as I led her inside. “Why?”
I smirked. Was she serious?
“Why do you think?”
“Because I could drown,” she said slowly.
Chuckling, I nodded. “Yeah, that was a reason, but not the initial one.”
We reached the steps, and she paused, glancing at them as if they were an obstacle course. I gave her two solid seconds to think about it, then figured fuck it and scooped her up. She squealed as I did so, and her arms flew to my neck.
“Why’re you carrying me?” she asked, then sniffed my neck and made a pleased hum.
“Because it’s quicker and I don’t have to worry about you tripping.” And it gives me a reason to hold you against me without taking advantage of you.
“M’kay,” she agreed, snuggling against me as if she was trying to burrow into my chest.
When I reached the top of the stairs, I looked down the hallway at their room and decided it wasn’t safe for her to be alone without supervision.
What if she left the room and fell down the stairs?
Deciding that was a solid concern, I headed for my room. She could put one of my shirts over this damn bikini and pass out in my bed.
Pushing open my door, I carried her inside and sat her on the end of my king-size bed.
She looked around. “Where are we?”
I turned from the sight she made, sitting there, and ignored the things it did to my cock, and then I got the biggest damn shirt I could find to cover all her tits, ass, and legs up.
“It’s big,” she said, then giggled.
I glanced over my shoulder to see her flip over and begin to crawl toward the pillows, giving me a close-up view of her wiggling ass.
Fucking hell. My cock pressed against my zipper with a jerk.
“What are you doing?” My question came out harsher than intended.
She stopped and looked back over her shoulder at me. “I want to smell your pillows.”
I ran a hand over my face and groaned. She was trying to kill me.
“Can I get your ass covered up before you go sticking it in the air?”
A stricken look replaced her giddy one, and she spun and plopped down quickly. “Sorry,” she whispered, not looking at me but at her knees as she pulled them up to her and wrapped her arms around her legs.
What the fuck was that about? Women were confusing sober, but get them drunk, and it was like trying to understand another species.
I snatched the first shirt I came to and headed to the bed to put it on her.
“I’m sorry if I snapped at you. I didn’t mean to.”
She nodded, then covered her face with her hands as she rested her forehead on her knees. “It’s the alcohol. I drank too much and forgot about what I was wearing and that my butt was fat and gross.”
What?
I stood there, studying her to see if she was being serious or if this was a drunk joke. When she didn’t lift her head or laugh, I realized she’d meant it.
“Salem,” I said, wanting her to look at me.
“Yeah,” she replied, keeping her face covered.
“Your ass is the reason I came to get you. It’s also the cause of several hard dicks tonight. There isn’t one thing gross about it.” Although you might think the things I want to do to it are gross.
She lifted her head and frowned up at me. “Did you see it clearly? It’s got dimples, and it’s jiggly.”
God, if she wasn’t so damn serious, I would burst into laughter. Who the fuck had told her that her ass was gross?
“Why don’t you look at my dick trying to break my damn zipper, and you tell me if you think that’s the case?”
Her eyes dropped, then widened as she sucked in a breath. “It’s hard,” she said, still looking at it.
“Yeah, it is. It has been since I walked outside and saw your ass in the air as you were bent over the hot tub,” I told her. “It may be fuller than it once was, but that jiggle you seem to be so worried about…” I hissed and bit my bottom lip. I wasn’t helping matters. My cock was throbbing, and I needed to go rub one out in the bathroom, thinking about just how it would jiggle and bounce when I fucked her in that position she’d been in on all fours. “I’m one hundred percent positive my cock is leaking pre-cum like a damn teenager right now.”
Her mouth made a small O as she studied my crotch as if she were looking for a wet spot.
“Will you put this shirt on for me?” I asked her, tossing it beside her, not sure I could trust myself to dress her.
She nodded, then reached up to begin untying her top.
“No!” I said, stopping her. “Just leave that on.”
“But…it’s still damp. It will chafe my skin.”
Fuck. I should have taken her to her room.
Deciding I knew just how to handle this, I started for my bathroom. “You can do that while I go use the bathroom.”
I barely had the door closed when I frantically began unzipping my pants, and I pulled out my swollen cock. Gripping the edge of the counter with one hand, I slowly started to stroke my length with the other. I closed my eyes, holding back a groan, and thought about Salem.
Her ass as she had shimmied up my bed. How it would bounce when I slammed my cock into her. The sounds she’d make.
God, the way she used to cry out my name still replayed in my dreams at night.
“What are you doing in here, Salem?”
She slipped into my bedroom, wearing one of my T-shirts. “You know I’m scared of storms,” she said quietly as she walked over and climbed into the other side of my bed.
“What if Mom finds you in here?” I asked as she scooted close to me.
“She took her sleeping meds. She’s out cold,” Salem said, then sighed as she moved one of her legs between mine.
“Baby.” My word sounded like a groan.
“Shh,” she said, reaching up and putting a finger over my mouth. “It’s okay. I’m scared, and I want you to make me feel safe.”
I nodded, trying not to think about her hot little body pressed against me as I wrapped my arms around her, giving in. My fingers brushed just below her waist, and I inched them further down, searching for the edge of her panties but finding nothing.
“You’re not wearing panties,” I growled.
She giggled and pressed her face in the crook of my neck. “I don’t sleep in panties.”
“Fuck,” I muttered. I swore she did this shit to drive me crazy.
Sliding a leg up, she draped it over mine, then rocked her hips against the rigid erection in my boxer shorts.
“Ah,” she breathed in my ear as it hit her clit.
“Salem,” I warned, my entire body now humming with need.
“I want to feel you inside me again,” she panted. “I don’t want to wait. It’s just a month. Please, Rome.”
Fuuuuck.
When I’d ended up taking her virginity on the damn sofa like an animal while Mom was gone two weeks ago, I’d sworn I wouldn’t do it again until she was eighteen. My craving for her had only gotten worse, and having her like this and begging didn’t help.
“I don’t have a condom,” I said as her mouth found mine.
“S’okay,” she said, rubbing slowly. “I’m on birth control.”
My hands gripped her waist. “You saying you want me to fuck you bare?”
She nodded. “Yes. Yours is the only cock I’ll ever want inside me. So, why not come in me?”
A month seemed like a stupid time frame.
I flipped her onto her back, and she opened her legs for me. The wet folds glistened with her arousal in the moonlight. I’d never fucked a virgin until her, and I’d expected the blood, but not her getting off and enjoying it the first time. All I had ever heard were horror stories, but after the initial pain, Salem’s body had trembled and shaken with her orgasm.
“This is what you need?” I asked, stroking myself as I looked down at her body.
She nodded. “Yes. So much.”
Pressing my swollen head against her tight entrance, I wanted to shout that this was mine. My tight virgin cunt, and it was needy for me. That alone drove me insane.
“I’d stay inside you and never fucking leave if I could,” I told her.
“Ohh,” she moaned, her head thrown back and tits jutted out as I slid deeper into her tight sheath.
The pleasure of having no barrier there and her slick, heated cunt sucking me tight—this was going to be an addiction.
“Are you sore?” I asked, not sure how long that lasted.
“A little, but in the best way. Stretch me, Rome. I want to feel it again.”
She needed to stop talking, or I was going to bust a damn nut inside her now. It was enough that those eyes of hers could look at me and I’d get hard, but having my dick in her tight hole raw and listening to her say what she wanted was too much.
“God, baby, that’s it. Take my dick like a good girl,” I said, keeping my voice low. Lost in a memory. One that had remained embedded in my brain.
“Rome, oh God, please.”
“You like that? Taking my big cock,” I asked under my breath.
Then the scene in my head changed. Salem’s ass stuck up for me as she looked back at me from over her shoulder. The face of the woman she was now, not the girl she’d been.
“Fuck me,” she panted.
Grabbing handfuls of her ass, I slammed into her. The loud cry that came from her drove me wild.
“This the cock you need?” I asked her, letting go of a butt cheek so I could slap it and watch it bounce. “Did you miss it? Having it stretch you?”
My balls tightened as I fantasized about her bouncing her ass back against me with each thrust.
“Goddamn, that’s a good girl,” I panted as the crest began to spread through me. “Yeah, fuck, that’s it,” I groaned.
The first thick rope of cum shot out, hitting the black marble countertop. My knees buckled as I released another, then one more. I continued to pump until there was nothing left.
Lifting my eyes from the mess I’d made, seeing myself in the mirror, I knew my days of beating off to the girl I’d loved had just been replaced by the woman she had become.