Chapter 34
Brie
My hand trembled on the door handle. I’d stood here for three whole minutes, trying to find the words, trying to find the courage. Rav was right; some risks were worth taking, but that didn’t make the moment any easier.
I opened the door, and there stood Will—right there, his hands on his ID card, as though he’d just put it on. His eyes met mine, relief and uncertainty warring in his expression. “I was about to go looking for you.”
“Here I am.” That is not what you’d planned on saying, Brie.
“To be clear: I’m sorry if what I said hurt you,” he said carefully, his voice rough. “But I’m not going to apologize for how I feel.”
The careful distance in his tone made my chest ache. I’d done this—created this wall between us with my fear, my stubborn insistence that everything had to stay the way it was.
“I ran into Rav,” I said, taking a tentative step closer.
Will’s brow furrowed. “Okay?”
Two more steps. Close enough I had to tilt my head back to look at him properly. My palm found his chest, feeling the rapid thrum of his heartbeat through his shirt. “He told me about someone from his past. Someone he loved and lost because he was too afraid to take the risk.”
Will’s breath hitched, his body going rigid under my touch.
“I’ve been so scared.” My fingers curled into the fabric of his shirt. “Scared of change, scared of my life spiraling out of control, scared of everything. But you know what I’m more scared of now?”
He couldn’t seem to find any words. He just shook his head, his dark eyes scanning my face as though looking for a sign of hope.
“Losing you because I’m a coward.” The admission tore out of me. “I want to try. I want to see if we really could have what you think we can.”
“Brie,” he breathed, relief pouring out of him. He took my face in his hands, so gently. “Are you sure? Because I can’t— I can’t go back to pretending after this.”
“I’m terrified,” I whispered, leaning into his touch.
“So am I.” His thumbs traced my cheekbones. “But this past year, watching my mother fade, only having half of her left… it made me realize I can’t live with only half of you anymore. I need all of you, or I need to find a way to move on.”
The raw honesty in his voice broke something open inside me. “I want all of you, too.”
“The things I’ve dreamt of doing with you…
” His eyes searched mine one more time, as though giving me a moment to change my mind.
When I didn’t, he slid his hands up to my glasses, easing them off my face with infinite care.
The world went soft around the edges, but Will remained crystal clear as he set them on the desk behind me.
“Show me,” I said, finally ready to stop denying myself what I wanted. “Show me everything you’ve imagined.”
The controlled, careful Will I knew vanished. He crushed me against him, his mouth claiming mine. This wasn’t performance or cover or pretense. This was real—Will kissing me like he was drowning and I was air.
He walked me backward until my spine met the wall, his mouth traveling south. Heat exploded through my body—from my lips down to my core, settling as a deep, aching throb between my thighs.
“You have no idea,” he whispered against my throat, his teeth scraping along my pulse point. “I want to devour you whole.”
Holy shit. This was Will—my Will—talking to me like this, touching me like this.
My hands fumbled desperately with his shirt, suddenly clumsy with need. “Then take me. All of me.”
He lifted me effortlessly against the wall, and my legs locked around him. When he ground his hips against me, the hard length of him pressing right where I needed it most, I rolled my head back and moaned.
He wanted me. Desperately. His erection strained against his pants, imprinting itself onto my core through the thin barrier of our clothes. How had I never realized I affected him this much?
“Christ, you taste good,” his voice rumbled. “I want to taste every inch of you.”
“Will!” I gasped and dug my nails into his shoulders.
He carried me to the bed, and I was weightless, desired, wanted in a way I’d only been once before. When he lowered me onto the mattress and covered my body with his, I could barely think past the sensation of his weight pressing me into the sheets.
His hands were everywhere—caressing my throat, palming my breasts through my shirt, slipping under fabric to brand bare skin. Each contact sent fire racing through my nervous system.
We broke apart long enough to tear at each other’s clothes. When his shirt was off, I ran my hands over his chest, to his shoulders, tracing the familiar lines of his tattoos.
Where he’d branded me onto his skin years ago.
My pants and underwear hit the floor. His went somewhere else.
Once my bra was off, Will’s mouth closed over my breast, tongue circling my nipple before sucking hard. Pleasure speared through my body, and I bowed up against him.
God, when did my nipples become so sensitive?
He moved to my other breast, lavishing it with equal attention while his fingers teased the wet peak he’d abandoned. He breathed against my skin, “You’re so fucking beautiful.”
“More,” I pleaded.
He obliged, teeth grazing my sensitive flesh until I writhed beneath him, my core pulsing with need. All of my boyfriends had been gentle, careful, as though my shy exterior matched what was inside. Will knew me. The real me. Knew I wouldn’t break.
His mouth blazed a trail down my body, nipping at my hipbone. When he settled between my thighs, raw hunger flared in his eyes. His lips curved in a wicked promise. “I’m going to feast on this sweet pussy until you can’t think straight.”
His filthy words sent fresh heat flooding through me. When did he start talking like this? And why did it make me throb harder?
“Do it.” I challenged, spreading wider. “Make me come on your tongue.”
And when did I start talking like that?
He started torturously slow, with long, languid licks mapping every sensitive spot.
Dancing along my slit, teasing my folds, all while his stubble grazed my inner thighs.
I was already dizzy with need, but his thorough attention had me seeing stars.
When he found my clit, circling it with just the tip of his tongue, I squeezed my eyes shut.
It was like—fuck, like nothing I’d ever experienced.
I lifted my hips, seeking more. “Stop teasing.”
“Patience, Bug,” he murmured against my skin, then blew hot breath across my clit. “I intend to do this properly.”
Then his mouth sealed over me, sucking hard while two fingers plunged deep inside. I whimpered, and my hands fisted in his hair as pleasure overwhelmed me.
“Right there,” I moaned, my thighs trembling around his head. “Don’t stop, don’t fucking stop.”
He didn’t. He worked me ruthlessly, alternating between gentle licks and firm suction while his fingers pumped in and out of me. My orgasm built quickly. Not the gentle, quiet climaxes I was used to, but something powerful and mind-altering.
“That’s it. Come for me,” he commanded. “Fall apart.”
His order, combined with the relentless rhythm of his tongue, shattered me. My release crashed over me like a tidal wave, my body convulsing as pleasure ripped through every nerve.
I may have said his name. I might have yelled it.
Holy shit. Holy fucking shit.
I’d never come so hard in my life. Never surrendered so completely. Never been owned so utterly.
When my tremors finally subsided, Will kissed his way back up my body. When he kissed me, I tasted myself on his lips, and a new hunger prodded at my brain.
“My turn,” I breathed, pushing him onto his back.
When my fingers closed around his cock, he hissed. He was bigger than I remembered, thick and hard, the head already slick with pre-cum. This was all for me.
He was mine.
All I had to do was take the risk with him.
“I need this.” I stroked him slowly, fighting back a smile when his eyes rolled back at my touch.
I lowered my mouth, taking him deep. His sharp gasp vibrated through me. I worked him with my mouth, exploring every ridge and vein, pumping what I couldn’t swallow.
“Fuck, Brie,” he groaned, gripping my shoulder. “Your mouth is fucking heaven.”
The praise made me bolder. I took him deeper, hollowing my cheeks as I sucked, until he cursed and trembled.
But I needed more.
And knew he did, too.
I pulled off with a wet pop.
“I want you inside me,” I said, crawling up his body. “Fuck me.”
“I want to,” he gritted out, “but I didn’t pack condoms.”
Shit.
“Wait!” I scrambled to my suitcase, tearing it open, finally grateful for my sister’s overzealous packing. “Scarlett put some in my suitcase as part of our cover.”
I grabbed a handful and turned. He was propped on his elbows, watching me. His gaze—hot enough to blister—made liquid heat pool inside me.
“You’re a dream,” he breathed, and the insistent pulse inside me beat harder.
Back on the bed, I rolled the condom along his length, then positioned myself over his thickness. When our eyes locked, I paused. This really would change everything.
There was no going back to being just friends. It was this or it was nothing.
I chose everything.
And sank down, gasping at the delicious stretch. My body struggled to accommodate him.
“Take your time,” he managed, though the effort it took him to hold still was evident in the strain on his face.
But I wanted the burn. I wanted it all. I lifted myself and slid back down, finding my rhythm.
“Oh god,” I moaned, grinding against him. “So good.”
I’d always been self-conscious during sex, worried about how I looked or sounded. But with Will, all that vanished. He looked at me as if I were the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen. When he reached up to pinch my nipples, I gasped, my inner walls clamping around him.
“You like that?” he asked, doing it again. “You like having your nipples played with while you ride my cock?”
He sat up, bringing us chest to chest, his mouth finding my neck while his hands guided my hips. The new angle sent him deeper, filling me completely.
“Yes, yes, yes,” I panted. “I’m close—so close—”
Before I could finish, he flipped us over, his strong body pinning me beneath him. He drove into me with deep, demanding strokes, his intensity stealing my breath. My body ached for every brutal inch, craving the friction, and I locked my legs around his waist, pulling him impossibly closer.
“You are still so fucking wet,” he growled against my ear. “So tight, gripping my cock like it’s yours. Like you were made for me.”
“Come inside me,” I begged, nails raking down his sweat-slicked back.
He slid a hand between us to find my clit. The moment he touched me, my second orgasm hit like lightning.
“Will,” I might have yelled, “oh, Will!”
Two. Two earth-shattering orgasms.
But he wasn’t done. He thrust hard, burying himself to the hilt, and his control shattered.
A guttural roar ripped from his throat as his hips jerked erratically against mine.
His eyes clamped shut, face a mask of ecstasy.
His entire body tensed, muscles locked tight as wave after wave tore through him, his arms shaking where they braced beside my head.
He stayed buried deep, collapsing slightly, his forehead pressing against mine as he fought for breath. Sweat mingled on our skin. His eyes, when they finally opened, burned with questions.
As though he were searching for regret that wouldn’t come.
Then he rolled us to the side, pulling me against him. When had Will gotten so intense? And why hadn’t I noticed?
Honestly, he’d starred in a lot of my dreams over the years, usually as a friend. But every once in a while, we’d crossed this boundary in my dreams, and for a day or two, I saw him the way I had while I was asleep.
It always faded after I reminded myself that he was my best friend and he was completely off-limits.
He traced lazy patterns on my shoulder as our breathing slowly returned to normal.
This is what you’ve been missing, Brie. This is what sex is supposed to be like.
He pressed a kiss to the top of my head, and with a chuckle, said, “Tell me we’re going to do that again.”
‘Yes,’ was what I should have said. Instead, I nuzzled my face against his chest and sighed, “I love you.”
His hand paused on my shoulder, forgetting the pattern it was working on. “You don’t have to—”
I swatted his chest playfully. “I know.”
He separated from me, using his knuckles to force my head up. An irresistible grin danced across his lips. “If I tell you I love you, too, does that mean we get to do this a lot more?”
I shoved him this time, but he grabbed me, pulling me on top of his body.
“Because I do, Bug.” He lifted his head enough to give me a quick peck on the lips. “I love you.”
Maybe this mission wasn’t such a bad thing. It was a change, not running support from HQ. Challenging, yes. Stressful, yes. But the feeling when I helped the team procure my updated credentials? Or when I stood in front of that KVM and found the first details about my father?
Those moments were amazing.
And now this. Now Will.
Sometimes change was—
An alarm pierced the air. An automated voice came through the facility’s speaker system as a message began flashing on the wall display: “Attention all non-essential personnel: This is a Code Blue lockdown. Proceed to your quarters. This is not a drill.”
I bolted upright and launched myself off the bed. “What’s happening?”
“I don’t know.” Will was already reaching for our clothes. “What was Code Blue again?”