19. Brax
19
brAX
“Where is he?” Iris asks as I collapse into her bed, exhausted from the last few hours.
Nothing about the night went how I’d planned. Did I have a nice evening with my girlfriend? No. Did I get to bed at a decent hour curled up with her? Absolutely not.
“I don’t know,” I tell her, wishing I could make the last few hours disappear.
Iris looms over me, still dressed with her makeup on. “You don’t know?”
“He’s not our problem anymore.”
Her eyes widen as she gazes down at me. “Did you…” Her voice falters as her eyes widen. “Did you call Malakai?”
I push myself up on my elbow as she falls back on her butt, looking completely shocked. “He broke in to your apartment. He could’ve hurt you or, even worse, killed you. He was becoming a thorn that would never go away. I made sure that prick has been removed from the possibility of ever hurting you again.”
Her mouth hangs open as she stares at me. “I can’t believe…”
“Baby, I’ll do whatever it takes to keep you safe, and that includes handing over your demented ex-fiancé to a man he borrowed two million dollars from, knowing the consequences if he didn’t pay him back.”
“They’re going to kill him,” she whispers behind the palm of her hand.
“Does it matter?”
God, I sound cold. Maybe I am. I can’t feel bad for a guy like Lucas. He was willing to put her life at risk in order to save his own. I can’t have anything except disgust for men like him. He’s a weasel and a thief.
Iris blinks a few times, gawking at me. “But…”
“Would he have let you die?” I ask her.
“I…”
“Would he have given you to Malakai to wipe his debt away?”
“I…” she says again.
“Would he have shed a single tear if you were hurt because he borrowed the money?”
This time, she doesn’t open her mouth in response.
“Would he pick you over the money?”
Her head falls forward because she knows the answers to my questions. A man like Lucas would never pick her over his own life. He was ruled by money and never by love.
“I feel so foolish,” she says as she twists her hands in her lap, unable to meet my eyes. “I thought he loved me.”
I reach out, taking her hand in mine. “He probably did in his own way, Iris, but not in the way you deserved.”
She lifts her head, dragging her gaze to mine. “He loves money and nothing else. How could I be so stupid, Brax?”
I pull myself up to sitting, facing her on the bed. “You’re not stupid, baby. You trusted someone with the most precious thing of all, and he stomped on it. Never give your heart to someone again until they prove they’ll put you above themselves. Got me?”
She nods as her lip trembles. “All of this put your life in danger. Getting wrapped up with Malakai at all was a risk for you and your grandfather.”
“Don’t worry about us. We’ve dealt with men like Malakai our entire lives, and all that matters is that you are safe from here on out. Safe from Lucas and Malakai.”
“Do you think Malakai killed him?”
I shake my head. “No. What good is he dead? Malakai would still be out the two mil, but I think Lucas will be paying off the debt for the rest of his life and probably get more than a few broken bones and bruises along the way.”
Iris winces. “I don’t know if that sounds better.”
“It’s his problem. Not ours or yours.”
Iris slides across the bed, climbing into my lap. “I was so scared tonight.”
I wrap my arms around her, holding her tight. “I can imagine. I’m sorry.”
She snuggles against me, nuzzling her face into my neck. “The only thing that kept me from losing it was knowing you’d save me.”
“I’d do anything to keep you safe, Iris,” I whisper against her hair as I stroke her back. “Anything.”
“Brax,” she whispers and pulls away from me to peer up, staring me right in the eyes. “I love you.”
“I love you too,” I say, the words sliding off my tongue far easier than I ever imagined.
I’ve never uttered those words to anyone except my closest friends and family. They are too sacred to me, something not to be said lightly. Any relationship I’d had before ended when the woman professed her love and I couldn’t bring myself to say it back…until now.
Iris takes my face in her warm hands, her eyes searching mine. “You do?”
I nod, pulling her closer to me. “I would move heaven and earth for you. I would choose you over me if it meant that you could experience another hour, another day. You are the most important thing in the world to me.”
It’s funny how fast life can change. Two months ago, I didn’t even know Iris existed. Now, she is the center of my world. It happened so quickly, I’m not sure I can wrap my head around the way it all went down.
“I can’t imagine my life without you now. How wild is that?”
She’s thinking exactly what I am. None of it makes sense, and somehow, I understand it completely.
I fall backward, taking Iris with me. I slide my hand up her spine until my palm finds the warm skin at the back of her neck. “I hope you never have to find out what it’s like,” I whisper, staring up into her dark-brown eyes.
I pull her head down, wanting and needing to taste her lips and remember she’s alive. She’s okay. Lucas didn’t hurt her before I had a chance to save her. If my brother hadn’t shown up and told me to go hang out with my girl, what the hell would’ve happened?
I push that thought away as her lips touch mine, making the entire world disappear except for us in this moment.
My other hand finds the hem of her nightgown and slips underneath, splaying against the warm and bare skin of her ass. I growl in appreciation as my cock grows so hard and stiff, the denim of my jeans becomes painful.
I want to be in her. I need to be in her.
I push us up, breaking the kiss to pull off my T-shirt as Iris watches me, her eyes skating across my bare chest.
“God, you’re so pretty,” she whispers as her hungry gaze lingers.
Climbing off the bed, I start on the button of my pants, making quick work of it and the zipper. My pants are off a few seconds later, and my cock waves around in appreciation of being set free.
“I’ll never get tired of seeing that,” she says, her eyes homing in on my dick.
“I’ll never get tired of showing it to you,” I tell her before I slide back into the bed.
Her nightgown is gone a second later before she tosses it to the end of the bed, wanting me as much as I want her.
This isn’t going to be a long, drawn-out lovemaking session. There is a burning need deep inside me that has been building since the moment I heard Lucas was in her apartment.
A need to know she is alive and well.
A need to know she is safe.
A need to know she is mine.
“Fuck me,” Iris says against my lips as I turn us over, pressing her into the mattress with my weight.
God. There is something so dirty about hearing those words come from her lips. Something that draws the feral part of me out of hiding.
I nestle myself between her legs, my stiff cock pressing against her opening. “I’ll be gentle,” I promise her, knowing she hasn’t had any action besides me in the last handful of years.
“Don’t,” she begs, the message so clear in her eyes.
She wants rough.
She needs rough.
Any semblance of control I had slips as my lips find hers. I kiss her hard, demanding every bit of her mouth to fuse with mine, and she gives it willingly, devouring me back.
Iris lifts her legs, placing the soles of her feet against my ass, letting me know she’s ready. I can’t just ram my cock into her. That would be too much, too rough even if she’s asking me to do it that way.
But I push my hips forward as the tip of my dick drives into her at an excruciatingly slow pace. She lets out a small moan before she whines at the speed with which I’m moving.
But she doesn’t have to wait long. As soon as my cock is fully inside her, I pull back and drive into her harder and deeper than the first time.
Her fingernails bite into the skin at my sides as she holds on to me, our bodies moving as one. I’ve never felt something so carnal before. It’s like I’m not in control of everything that is happening .
“Fuck,” I groan into her mouth, wishing I could make my body move faster.
It doesn’t feel like enough. It’s as if I am chasing a high that I can never attain, no matter how quickly I move or how deep I go.
It doesn’t take long before Iris is panting, and her body is tightening below me. But to my utter surprise, she uses all of her strength to push me over, putting herself on top.
My hands find her breasts as she starts to grind on me, taking over the entire situation. The view is out of this world as she tips her head back, hair spilling down, almost grazing my thighs. Her body comes up and thrusts down so hard, I almost become winded by the force. She is going for it, taking me harder than I was willing to take her.
“I won’t last,” I tell her through gritted teeth, knowing her pace is something that will push me over the edge quicker than I ever thought possible.
She ignores my words, moving faster, grinding harder against me. She is using me, and far be it for me to stop her.
I hold out for as long as I can, which isn’t long compared to other times in my life. With Iris above me, using me like I’m her personal comfort toy, I can’t stop what is happening.
My entire body locks up as the orgasm crashes over me, stealing my breath and making my entire body come alive. Iris follows me over the cliff, moaning out her pleasure for half the neighborhood to hear.
She collapses forward, our hearts beating at a frantic pace in time together. “I’m sorry,” she says, her voice rushed and harsh. “I couldn’t stop.”
“Don’t ever apologize for taking what you want and need, baby.” I trail my fingers down her bare spine, following the path to her ass. “It’s yours for the taking.”
She pushes herself up on one hand and stares down at me. “Is it always supposed to be this good?”
“What?” I ask, my eyebrows pulled tight.
“Relationships.”
I haven’t had a ton of experience. I was always more of the casual type of guy. Anything I had that lasted longer than a few weeks happened during high school, and I wasn’t banging my way through the female students.
“I don’t know, but it will be with us,” I promise her.
She smiles, making my heart stutter in my chest as she lies back flat against me. “I like that.”
“Me too, baby. Me too,” I tell her with my cock still buried inside her, although it’s slowly making its way out.
I close my eyes, focusing on our hearts beating together, and drift off, dreaming of the woman I’ve waited for my entire life.
We are summoned before noon. My father heard about what happened last night from my grandfather. I thought the old man could keep his mouth shut for once, but of course, he had to open his big yap.
“First, are you okay?” Dad asks Iris.
Iris nods as she runs her hands down the front of her jeans as she sits in front of my dad. We’re in the kitchen at my parents’ house, and Tilly’s gone, already at the bakery for hours.
“What happened?” he asks me, not her. “I want to hear it from you.”
“Am I in trouble here? Last time I checked, I am a full-grown man.” I take one of Iris’s hands in mine, trying to calm her already frayed nerves.
He draws in a deep breath, the same way he used to when I exasperated him when I was a little kid and he needed a moment to compose himself. “You’re not in trouble, Brax. I just need to know what happened in case there’s any blowback.”
“Blowback from what? We already had the blowback, and his name was Lucas.”
“Malakai is dangerous.”
“I know, Dad. Everyone knows that. Our business with him is done. He has Lucas, and we’re out.”
He stares at me with a blank face. “You think it’s that easy?”
“We were never involved. Malakai only wanted Lucas, and since he decided to break in to Iris’s place, I figured I’d deliver him to Malakai directly.”
“Your grandfather could’ve done it without you.”
I shake my head. “My woman. My problem.”
Dad’s one eyebrow rises. “Noted.”
I’ve never said those words or anything close to that to my father. He knows what it means. I’ve heard him say it multiple times in my life about Tilly.
“Your grandfather said the same thing, but he doesn’t always give the whole story.”
“Well, he did this time. I’m not interested in Malakai. He’s not interested in me. He has everything he wants, and so do I. Lucas is out of Iris’s life—and mine, by default—forever. Case closed.”
Dad leans back in his chair, scratching at his beard. “Well…”
“Why don’t you shave that? You’re always scratching your face now.”
“Your mom bought some new balm shit I keep putting on it, but I think it’s giving me hives.”
“Just use soap like the rest of the world,” I tell him.
Dad rolls his eyes. “She thinks she’s doing me a favor.”
“Clearly, she’s wrong.”
“Don’t tell her that,” Dad whispers, finally using his palm to rub his skin rougher.
“Never,” I mutter .
“You’re done with Malakai?” he asks, somehow still not believing me.
“Forever.”
He exhales loudly as his hand finally falls away from his face. “Okay.”
“Do you think I’m that stupid?”
He shrugs, which shocks the shit out of me. “I’d hoped I raised you better.”
“You should be talking to your father. He obviously has made some bad life choices.”
“You have no idea,” he tells me with a pained expression on his face. “It’s surprising he’s still alive.”
“I’m home.” Ma’s voice fills the kitchen.
“She wanted to come home early to bring Iris some cupcakes,” he explains when I turn toward the doorway, surprised to see her in the middle of the day.
“That’s so sweet,” Iris says, and I can almost hear her belly rumble from beside me.
Everyone’s a sucker for Tilly’s cupcakes, and if they’re not, they’re not human.
“I brought your favorite,” Ma says to Iris as she kisses my father on the cheek where he sits across from me.
It doesn’t go over my head that she brought Iris’s favorite and not mine, but something about that makes my insides warm.
“You’re the best, Mrs. G,” Iris says, taking the box of cupcakes from Tilly’s hands .
“What about me?” I ask as Iris pops open the lid to a dozen cupcakes. My eyes instantly find one of my favorites. One.
“I didn’t forget you, sweetheart,” Tilly says as she slips off her coat and takes the seat next to Dad.
I’m not going to get grumpy about one cupcake. She could’ve left me out entirely. “Thanks, Ma.”
“I had more, but they sold out before I could snag them from the front. Sorry, kiddo.” She smiles at me, and I know she would’ve brought me more if she could’ve.
“It’s okay. I would’ve had to spend hours in the gym trying to work off all the sugar and butter.”
“Not all women want hard planes,” Tilly says to me like my body isn’t a work of art.
“Do you want me a little softer?” I ask Iris as she stuffs half a cupcake between her sweet lips.
She chews the cupcake, holding up a finger while she swallows. “As long as you don’t make me work out or give up cupcakes, I don’t care how much time you spend in the gym or how hard your body is.”
“Good,” I tell her, but the cupcakes are better than the gym. I’m not one of those gymbros who lives for working out. I do it to keep in shape and because I don’t get much exercise standing behind a bar all day.
“Everything sorted?” Ma asks Dad.
“Sorted,” Dad replies with a soft smile.
“Good,” she breathes, placing the side of her face against his shoulder. “I can stop worrying so much. ”
Dad and I bark out a laugh.
“That’ll never happen, doll,” he tells her.
Tilly’s a worrier. Always has been. Always will be. But we both chalk it up to her past trauma. I know losing my mom at an early age has shaped how I act in ways I’ll never fully be able to understand, no matter how much therapy I do.
“I just want all my kids to be as happy as we are,” she says to my father.
I turn my gaze to Iris, who’s in cupcake heaven. I don’t think I’ve ever been this happy in my entire life. If not happy, then content. Everything around me is comfortable, which is a feeling I don’t think I’ve ever had in such abundance before.
“I’m happy,” I tell her, reaching into the box to get my lone cupcake. “Tate’s happy. That leaves Mason. He can be your new project.”
She groans. “He’s been a project since the day he was born.”
“Of course he is… He’s a Gallo,” Dad tells her, and no truer words have ever been spoken.