Chapter 5
Chapter Five
BEAST
I don’t know what I was thinking before now. Jealously took hold of me in a way I didn’t know how to wash it away without confronting Bristol. More than that, seeing her with my goddamn brother.
Fucking hell.
Scooping Bristol in my arms, I shove all other thoughts from my head for the time being and focus solely on kissing her. I carry her through the house and lay her on the couch, our mouths still fused together. The taste of her kiss is heady, and I want more. So much more.
I break away from her lips and kiss my way down her jaw, her neck, and nip at where her shoulder and neck meet.
“What are you doing to me?” she moans, arching into me, more than obvious she’s enjoying my touch.
I slip a hand between us and yank down the tank top she’d changed into.
Her tits spill out of the top, and fuck me if my mouth doesn’t water all the more at the pretty sight of her nipples.
Beaded little nips with hoops pierced through both of them.
“When did you get these?” I find myself asking, swiping a thumb over the hardened tip. “I never knew you to have piercings.
“You never really knew me, Beast,” she says, her voice sounding almost sad, but it’s mixed with arousal. The look in her eyes is the same. One thing about Bristol is she’s never been able to hide emotions. Not really.
Except that day in the hospital.
“Think it’s past time we remedy that, don’t you?” Bending down, I flick my tongue over the tip of her nipple.
Bristol responds with a moan, and I take it as all the encouragement I need to wrap my lips around the hard bud and suck deeply. The noises coming from her spur me on. I take my time enjoying one breast and move to the next using my thumb and forefinger as a way to keep playing with the other.
I want to give her more, and I intend to. That is until the moment is broken by the furious knocking on the front door.
“Bristol, open this door right this minute,” a scornful woman shouts.
“Oh my God,” Bristol breathes, shaking her head, eyes closed. The way her face pales alerts me to all I need to know, but I do need her to tell me who the woman is.
“Who’s at the door, Bristol?” I ask while readjusting her shirt back over her tits.
“My mom,” she whispers. “She hadn’t been to my house yet.”
“I mean it, Bristol,” her mom yells, knocking rapidly. “You need to open this door. Right this minute.”
“You want her to go away?” Getting to my feet, I pull her up off the couch with me. We’re nowhere near done, but for now, it’s on pause until we get rid of Bristol’s mother.
“I’m not on good terms with her,” Bristol finally answers and shakes her head. “You better go. I’m sure whatever she’s here for won’t be pretty.”
“Butterfingers, I’m not going anywhere,” I announce, using the nickname she’d earned the first night she started working at Keeper’s Pub.
That night, she ended up dropping two beers.
They slipped right from her fingers and spilled in my lap.
Instead of getting pissed at her, I laughed and called her Butterfingers.
That was the start of our friendship, and the name stuck all this time. “I’ll handle this shit.”
“You can’t just handle my mom, Beast,” Bristol remarks, licking her lips as we ignore the insistent knocking. “You don’t know what she’s like.”
“I guess I’m about to find out then.” Letting her go, I quickly stalk to the front door, throw the door open, and stand in the middle of it, blocking the entrance to anyone who dared try to step in.
“What?” I demand, meeting the gaze of not just one woman but two, both of which were well dressed in cashmere and pearls.
One older, the younger, seemed roughly my age. “Can I help you?”
“Who are you?” Bristol’s mother demands, looking down her nose at me.
“Doesn’t matter who I am,” I grunt, crossing my arms, both women watching as I do this. “I asked what I could help you with?”
“This is my daughter’s house. Move out of my way before I have you removed from these premises.” The older woman tries to push her way in, but I don’t budge.
“Lady, you ain’t about to have me removed from Bristol’s house, and I ain’t moving out of the way until you state your purpose for being here without her knowing you were coming,” I inform the woman, realizing she looks somewhat familiar. I just can’t put my finger on it.
“Beast, let her in. She won’t stop until she gets in here,” Bristol murmurs quietly enough for only me to hear.
“You sure?” Glancing over my shoulder, I take in the expression on Bristol’s face, seeing she blanked her face, stilling all her emotions.
“Yeah.” She nods and moves to pour herself another glass of wine.
That’s one thing I knew for sure about her.
She wasn’t big on beer or liquor, but she loved wine.
Red being her favorite. I don’t drink the stuff, but that doesn’t mean I don’t know wines.
It’s one of the businesses my family dipped their toes into.
The winery is my mother’s passion, her baby, just as it was my grandmother’s.
I shove the thought away before I can end up down that damn rabbit hole.
No way do I need to think about anything to do with my family right now.
Not until after I get things sorted with Bristol.
My brother showing up at the garage the way he did, not only was it to piss me off but he was sending a message.
One that was very clear to me. He’s going to fuck with me and try and get me back in the family fold.
That shit’s not about to happen. I left that life for a reason.
I don’t fit in it and won’t return to it.
I’m not a hotshot, and I don’t do suits and ties.
I also don’t do conference rooms and board meetings.
Fuck that. I prefer to get my hands greasy and handle things with my fists.
I step to the side, and both women outside barge right in, Bristol’s mother huffing. Slowly, I close the door, taking in the three women.
“What can I do for you, Mom?” Bristol asks, sounding void of all those emotions I know her to have.
“You can start by telling me why I’m just finding out you bought a house. Then, you can move on to other things. Are you trying to embarrass this family?” Bristol’s mother snaps, planting one hand on her hip, the other waving erratically around the space in front of her.
“Mother, calm down,” the other woman says, softly holding her fingers in front of her. Eyes cast slightly down in front of her.
“I will calm down once I have answers.”
“I suggest you calm your ass down or you’ll be back out on your ass, and the cops can see you off the property then,” I state, moving from my position at the door to stand next to Bristol and curling her into my side.
The two of us might have issues to work out, but she’s not about to take these two on without someone at her back.
“You will do no such thing. This is my daughter’s home, and she will not do anything. Considering she used the money from her trust for this house, I have a say in this as I didn’t agree to it.”
The hell does that mean? Bristol’s trust?
“I didn’t buy my house with the money from my trust fund, Mom,” Bristol announces, sounding annoyed. “I saved to be able to buy my house, and for the record, Dad knows I did this and is proud of me for doing it all on my own.”
“Your father is an idiot. He doesn’t know what’s best for you or this family,” the woman snaps, narrowing her gaze.
“It’s time you come home. I’m done playing these games with you.
You have a duty to this family, and I won’t see you embarrass us further.
Your sister has done as she was told. She married the man we chose for her.
Your brother is working and is courting the woman chosen for him.
Now, you need to do the same thing and finally accept the proposal and marry the man we arranged for you. ”
Seems Bristol and I have a hell of a lot more to discuss than I thought.
“You mean the man you picked for me,” Bristol snaps. “I told you I will not be doing anything of the sort. I will not live a life where I’m not happy. If that’s all you came here for, then you need to leave.”
“I will not.”
Done with the bullshit, I drop my arm from around Bristol’s shoulder and step forward. “Bristol’s told you to leave. If you don’t, I’ve already told you what I’ll do, and don’t think I won’t.”
“Come on, Mother,” Bristol’s sister says softly, placing a hand gently on her mother’s arm. “We will finish discussing this when you’re calm. I’m sure Bristol will listen to reason when we do so.”
“Not a chance.” I hear Bristol utter sarcastically, but the others don’t hear her.
“Fine,” her mother sneers. “You best be at the dinner party this weekend.” The woman shoots me a harsh, calculating glare and storms out of the house.
Bristol’s sister stops at the door and looks back. “Please make sure to come to the dinner party, Bristol. You know how Mother can be. But I promise to try and talk to her. Maybe Dad can talk to her.”
“Like you talked her out of the marriage you entered?” Bristol huffs and steps forward.
“I can see the bruises you’re trying to hide, Giselle.
I won’t follow in your steps because I know who it is she wants me to marry, and I won’t do it.
Where your husband only beats you, that best friend of his would kill me, and you know it. ”
I stiffen at the conversation between the two of them and hate it. I notice the tears in Bristol’s sister’s eyes and know she knows Bristol is speaking the truth.
“When you’re ready to get out of that life, Giselle, you’re Bristol’s sister, and my club will help you.”
Giselle stares at me for a long moment and then looks back at Bristol. “I’ll see you at the dinner party,” she whispers and closes the door behind her.
Letting out a breath, I shake my head, unable to wrap my head around all this.