Chapter 14 Derrick
fourteen
Derrick
Jesse pushes Major, and the impact against his chest is a wake-up call.
My older brother shakes his head and releases a breath, but I don’t hang around to see if he comes to his senses.
With a last look at Jesse, he nods, telling me he can handle Major, and I rush down the hall, following the sour scent of her sadness.
With my long strides, I reach her before she manages to lock herself in her room.
“Darlin’,” I call, my hand closing over her arm as delicately as I can pull her back.
She tumbles into my chest, turning around, and I’m met with that gorgeous face breaking into ugly pain. No words are enough to explain how hard it is to watch this woman cry, so I hug her tight. Tears soak my T-shirt, and for the first time in my life, I hate my brother.
“Come on, breathe,” I tell her as I kiss her wet hair and pull her into her room.
The scent hits me at once. It’s like a goddamn bakery, if bakeries made me as hard as a rock. I push the feelings away, ignoring all the desire trying to take the front stage. If one brother can’t regulate his feelings, while the other can’t control his cock, she might get scared.
“I don’t know what happened,” she tells me, stepping away from my arms and pacing the room.
I have to sit. There’s no way I can stand here in her room and hold still. She’ll notice the hot iron pressing against my zipper. Unfortunately, there’s no place to sit in this place but her bed, so with a curse, I lower at the edge, leaning over my knees to hide the bulge between my thighs.
“Tell me everything that happened.” I swallow, trying to concentrate.
“As if I know. He’s been in a bad mood since this morning.
He was with the mechanic in the barn, and he completely barked at me.
I pushed it aside because whatever, maybe he was stressed, but then now he gets all angry because I said I need to go to Willow Ridge to get more bread.
” She shakes her head, looking so damn sad.
“I know it’s an inconvenience, but I even offered to drive down. He doesn’t have to do anything.”
It fucking breaks my heart, goddamn Major.
“Darlin’, no.”
“No, what?”
“To it all.”
How am I even going to start to explain this? I extend a hand to her, needing her close, and I’m surprised when she takes it and comes to stand between my legs. I use the hand that isn’t fucked up to play circles on her soft palm, but even my good side feels too rough against her skin.
“It’s not okay that Major snapped at you this morning, and you shouldn’t have to walk on eggshells around him. I know my brother, and I know he’s under pressure, but nothing matters when he makes you feel like this.”
I don’t need to ask Major to know whether the tractor died again.
He had to call Carver to fix it. I had no idea he was coming, and I wish Major fucking talked to us, especially when we need to protect Veda.
I understand the situation a little more now.
Major invited another Alpha to come here, and if he saw Veda, he would know what she is.
Fear prickles my skin, but Veda’s thumb caresses the top of my hand, and my shoulders relax. Nothing matters right now. I’ll have time to ask Major everything later. Right now, I want to make her feel better.
“Needing more supplies is not an inconvenience, darlin’. Feedin’ you is a privilege.”
Mesmerized, I watch as goose bumps run across her warm skin, causing a sigh to leave her mouth.
She perfumes right there. It’s so fucking sweet my cock pains me, begging for release.
I know I’m going to fuck my hand harder than ever tonight, but I don’t want her to know that.
It’s not her problem that I can’t control myself.
She shakes our hands apart, but before I can complain about the lack of contact, she surprises me by walking farther between my spread legs and hugging me.
She’s tiny, so even with me seated, we are just about the same height.
She’s so soft and sweet that it takes me a second to shake myself from the stupor caused by her proximity.
Once I regain my senses, I hug her back, wondering how I can ever let her go.
Her hands circle my neck, and I groan desperately when her nails rake through my hair, a satisfying hum escaping her.
“You have such soft hair, Derrick.”
“Yeah?” I ask, dizzy and barely opening one eye.
Her nails scrape my scalp, and I have to hold back not to come right here, right now. Her tits are squeezed into the dress, nipples stiff against the silk, and my mouth waters, begging to take a nibble. I avert my eyes and focus on her face. I don’t want to make her uncomfortable.
She looks fucking magical from here. A droplet of water drips from her hair and runs to the silk. I will it to run a little farther. I want to see this whole dress wet and off her body.
“Your hair is wet?” My voice sounds hoarse even to my own ears.
She smiles softly. “Oh yeah, I didn’t want to deal with it.”
“I can help.” As I speak, I stand, deciding that her eyes are safely on mine and not on my stiff groin.
Her hands fall from my hair as I tower over her, and she frowns. “Help how?”
“I don’t know. Drying it?”
“Do you really want to do that?”
I want to buy time here in her bedroom and with her. I want to play with her hair. I want a lot of things I shouldn’t want, so instead of listing them, I shrug. “I don’t know if I know what to do, but you can’t sleep with wet hair.”
She cocks an eyebrow. “Because I might catch my death?”
“Yes, better be careful.”
I watch as she takes a blow dryer from the wardrobe, plugs it in, and hands it to me.
I look at the thing in my hand as she makes herself comfortable in the spot I just left on her bed.
I’m obviously out of my depth. There’s a plate with spikes at the end.
It looks like a medieval torture device, and I have no idea what to do with it.
“It’s a diffuser for my curls.” She giggles as she takes the hair tie from her hair, and it all cascades down to her waist. “Here, let me turn it on.”
She shows me how it is supposed to be done, gently gathering her hair and using the diffuser to keep it bouncing at the top.
She dries it gently, and I nod, taking the blow dryer from her and taking over.
I move behind her, afraid that she can see too much if I let her, and I swallow dry, concentrating not to moan when I take her damp hair into my hands.
It’s torture.
The moment my hands start working on her strands, her perfume goes up a notch, suffocating me, yet I’d happily die like this. There’s no denying she loves being pampered, and I live to serve her.
Forget the ranch, this is my full-time job.
I wonder what it would feel like if I were chosen. If I was an Alpha with a real pack and not my older brother’s responsibility. I wonder what she would think of me if we met when I was on top of a bronco, with the crowd calling my name.
My questions remain unanswered, and I keep working until it’s all dry and I have no excuse to keep touching her. She stands as I turn the thing off, with a smile on her face.
“Thank you.”
“I like doing it. I could do this every day.”
Her laughter is musical, and it changes something in me when she pushes my chest in jest. “I don’t wash my hair every day, but I’ll keep it in mind.”
I don’t want to beg, so instead, I nod, my eyes searching every crevice of the room, wondering if there’s something else I can do around here. I don’t want to go, but eventually, the silence between us stretches for far too long, so I step back.
“Tomorrow, we can get you more bread. Write me a list if you need anything else.”
She shakes her head. “You’re going to spoil me.”
“Good.”