18. PAUL
Istretch my long legs in front of the roaring fire, rubbing one hand over my full stomach and placing my other on the back of the couch behind Sarah, snuggled up alongside me. Gazing out the window to my right, I see snow falling steadily, painting our backyard in a thick coating of pure white.
Life is good.
When I peek down, I find Sarah’s eyes closed and her lips faintly parted. The sight of her soundly sleeping against me causes a slight warmth in my chest. I reach for the beige sherpa blanket and pull it up around her, covering her legs tucked in beside her.
“I don’t think I can eat another bite,” Kevin grumbles, sprawled out on the floor.
“I might have a little room left for one more piece of pie,” I admit, patting my stomach.
As if on cue, my mom walks into the room. “Anyone want any more pie before I pack everything up?” Her eyes land on Sarah, glossing over.
“What’s wrong?” I ask.
She dismisses me with a hand wave. “Absolutely nothing.”
“I could go for a piece of the apple pie,” I say. Just the thought of it makes my mouth water.
Thankfully, there’s no more pumpkin pie after I roped in Kevin and Ray to help me finish it. The thing tasted like a hard-boiled egg, leaving a horrid aftertaste, and I now owe them both fifty dollars. But seeing Sarah’s heart-stopping smile as she watched us pretend to enjoy it made it all worth it.
“Okay.” My mom nods, looking between Sarah and me affectionately. Her eyes then dart around to the rest of the group.
“I don’t think I’ll be able to eat for a week,” Tina murmurs as she sits on the couch and snuggles against Ray. She just put Lucas to bed, leaving the adults to relax.
“I’m good,” Ray adds with a smile.
“Maybe just one piece of the apple pie,” Kevin notes. “And one piece of the chocolate pie. And maybe also—”
“I thought you said you couldn’t eat another bite?” I ask, chuckling.
“I’m a growing boy,” he counters, stretching. “My appetite is never satisfied.”
My mom shakes her head, laughing as she turns toward the kitchen. “Coming right up.”
Sarah shifts beside me, her eyes blinking open as she glances up at me. An adorable smile appears until she realizes her proximity to me and sits up, inching away. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to fall asleep on you. I must have gone into a food coma.”
I lean closer to her and whisper, “You can fall asleep on me anytime.”
She blushes as I tuck a loose strand of hair behind her ear.
“Get a room,” Kevin remarks.
Tina kicks him in the leg, shaking her head.
“I concur,” Ray says with a teasing grin.
She swats his arm. “Excuse them.” She faces Sarah when she says, “I’m afraid the Weston boys don’t know how to be romantic.”
“What?” Ray’s brows pinch together. “I’m romantic. Just the other day, you said you wanted me to take you out, so I did.”
Tina rolls her eyes. “You took me golfing with you so I could drive the golf cart.”
“Ouuuu,” Sarah and I remark in unison, laughing.
“You said you like to drive!” Ray exclaims.
Tina crosses her arms over her chest with a scowl. “And guess what? I’m going to return the favor. When I go Black Friday shopping tomorrow morning, I’ll let you come with me and hold all my shopping bags.”
Ray groans, rolling his head against the back of the couch. “I guess I deserve that.”
Sarah yawns beside me, standing up. “I think I’m going to head to bed now. It was lovely meeting you all. I had…a really nice time today.” She smiles, appearing happy, but a smidge of sadness is shadowing over her features.
“Good night, Sarah. I hope to see you again soon,” Tina quips.
“Keep my brother in line, Sarah,” Kevin mumbles into the carpet.
Sarah giggles, glancing at me.
“I’ll walk you up.” I start to rise, but she places a hand on my shoulder, stopping me.
“It’s okay. I know how to climb stairs,” she says. “Even if your stairs are intimidating as hell.”
My lips curve up. “Okay. Well, good night, Sarah.”
She smiles and turns, heading down the hall toward the furthest set of stairs leading to the guest room. I showed her the room earlier when I insisted she stay the night because I didn’t want her driving in the dark when it was snowing. She was hesitant about staying until I opened the front door, revealing her car hidden in a thick blanket of snow.
The weatherman said this area had already received up to nine inches. Sarah told me it looked like only a few. So, I promised to show her what nine inches looks like later, and I’m a man of my word.
“Man, you have it bad.” Kevin sits up, leaning on his elbows as he watches me with an obnoxious grin.
“What?” I ask, shifting in my seat.
“You love herrrrrrrr,” Kevin coos.
I roll my eyes. “Are you twelve?”
“Just admit it,” Kevin counters.
“Paul, I have your pie here!” Mom yells from the kitchen.
Saved by Mom.
“Well, I would love to answer your question, but Mom’s calling me, so…” I jump up from the couch, jogging into the kitchen.
Mom is divvying out slices of pies on plates as I enter, glancing up at me. “Honey, since I have you alone, I wanted to talk to you about something.”
“Shoot,” I say, taking a seat at the island.
She leans against the counter, crossing her arms over her chest. “I saw Ron, the family’s financial advisor, at the bank the other day. He mentioned that you haven’t touched your trust fund since it came into your possession four years ago. Why?”
I shrug. “There hasn’t been anything I wanted to spend it on.”
She tilts her head. “Is that the only reason?”
I purse my lips. “Sometimes, it drives me crazy how well you know me.”
“So sue me,” she remarks with a smile.
I shake my head. “I don’t know. I mean, I have my other accounts I use, but that trust fund, well, I guess I think of it as Dad’s money. Nothing has felt good enough to spend it on. I just want to make sure that whatever I use it for, Dad would approve of it.”
“Honey, your father would want you to do whatever you want with that money. He left it in his will for all his children for that very reason. He just wanted his kids to be happy.”
“I know.” I shake my head, looking down. “I just don’t want to mess this up. You know?”
She walks over to me, placing her hand on my shoulder. “Your father loved you, Paul. Very much. And know that he would approve of whatever you decide to do with that money.” She presses a kiss on my forehead. “Now…” She reaches for a pie in the middle of the counter. “Take this pie.”
“Mom, I know I’m a big guy, but there’s no room in my stomach for all of this,” I joke.
“I just figured your girlfriend might want some too.” There’s a twinkle in her eyes.
“Mom, I told you we’re just friends.”
“Mm-hmm.” She purses her lips, raising a single brow. “I don’t think the two of you know what that word means.”
I shake my head. “She just went up to bed anyway.”
“Well, go give her some pie before she falls asleep!” My mom pushes me out of the kitchen.
“I know what you’re doing,” I say, amused.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Oh really? Because I think you engrained in me that the way to anyone’s heart is through their stomach.”
She shrugs. “Well, we’ll never know if you don’t go give her a piece of the pie. Now, will we?”
When I don’t move, she swats me out of the kitchen.
I shake my head, laughing. “Okay. I’m going. I’m going.”
“Wait!” She turns around and grabs a can of whipped cream from the fridge. “You can’t have apple pie without whipped cream.” She places the can in my free hand and gently pushes me toward the end of the hall.
After walking up the stairs, I head toward the guest room and lightly knock on the door. “Hey, Sarah. It’s me.”
There’s no answer.
Maneuvering everything in my hands, I wrap my fingers around the doorknob and nudge it to open the tiniest bit, peeking inside. But the room is empty.
Hmm.
I push the door open and walk inside, heading toward the bathroom. But the door is wide open, and she’s not in there. I spin around, seeing her bag on the floor by the closet, but as I inspect the room closer, I notice a blanket and pillow missing from the bed.
My brows furrow. Where did she go?
I move out of the guest room and look inside my room, but it comes up empty as well. With the pie and bottle of whipped cream still in my hands, I descend the spiral stairs leading to the basement.
When I walk to the other side of the room, I find Sarah curled up on the sofa, watching TV. She sits up when she sees me, appearing guilty. The only thing she’s wearing is one of my oversized T-shirts.
Goddamn.
“Oh, hey…” She tucks a piece of hair behind her ear nervously.
Placing the pie and can of whipped cream on the coffee table, I plop myself on the couch beside her. I rest my elbows on my knees and nudge her with my shoulder. “Want to tell me why you’re sleeping here instead of in the guest room?”
She fidgets with the end of the blanket, shaking her head.
“Are you ever going to tell me what happened?” I ask softly.
She slowly nods, her attention solely on the blanket. “I just don’t want to ruin today.”
I nod, understanding. “Okay. Move over.”
She looks up at me. “What?”
“Move over.” With one hand, I reach over my shoulder, whip off my shirt, and stand, unbuttoning my pants and letting them fall to the floor. Sarah’s eyes graze over my body, appearing in a lustful trance.
God, I love it when she looks at me like that.
I slide in behind her and pull her body on top of mine. “That’s better.”
She rests her head on my chest. “This can’t be comfortable for you.”
“Actually, it’s very comfortable.” I enclose my arms around her, my hand splayed over her back, sliding under the T-shirt she’s wearing. I feel a shiver take over her as I glide my hand up and down her smooth skin, warmth seeping through my fingertips. Her tattooed arm on my chest catches my attention, and I can’t help but move my other hand to her wrist, tracing every flower.
“What was the first tattoo you got?” I ask.
She points at the white flower on the inside of her wrist. “On my eighteenth birthday, I went and got a lily tattoo. It…was my mom’s favorite flower. Mine too.” She looks overcome as she says, “This one means the most to me. The rest are just floral designs I liked.”
“I love them.” Lifting her wrist to my lips, I press a kiss on the lily, feeling a slight tremble spread over her.
She nuzzles her face into the crook of my neck. “Thank you for inviting me today. I honestly can’t remember the last time I celebrated Thanksgiving.”
“Really? Not even with your family?” I ask carefully. I had a feeling when she told Natalie she wasn’t going home for Thanksgiving, it was because of her family. Maybe they don’t get along. Or maybe they live far away. But I didn’t want to push her into telling me when the last time I tried to force her into telling me something, she ended up in the middle of the woods having a panic attack.
I’ve realized I just need to tread carefully and be patient with her. Let her come to terms when she’s ready to tell me her secrets.
“I…umm…” She clears her throat. Silence fills the room until she says softly, “I don’t have any family.”
My heart splinters. That’s not what I was expecting.
“No one?” I hold her tighter.
She shakes her head.
“It’s been just me for a long time now.” She sits up, looking down at my chest as she traces a circle on my skin, keeping herself distracted. “When I was seven, my mom was diagnosed with an aggressive form of breast cancer. The doctors told us to prepare for the worst, and, well, that’s exactly what happened. She died… She died on my eighth birthday,” she whispers.
“Jesus, Sarah. I had no idea.”
“How would you when I never told you or anyone?” She tries to smile, but it falters as she shakes her head. “After that, my dad went down a bad spiral of depression. He stopped going to work. He stopped showing interest in everything he once loved. He stopped caring about anything and everyone, including me. And it was on the one-year anniversary of my mom’s death, my ninth birthday, that I came home from camp and found a couple of police officers and a service worker waiting for me.”
Her fingers pause on my skin as my heart beats rapidly beneath her touch, knowing and fearing where this story is going.
“They were waiting for me because…my dad had an accident. His car veered off the main bridge in our town, and he didn’t make it.” She shakes her head, drowning in her memories. “I knew. I just knew in my heart it wasn’t an accident. I saw the way my mom’s death affected him. I saw how it destroyed him. And I knew how much he missed her and wanted to be with her again.” She blinks away the fresh tears clinging to her lashes. “I love my dad so much. He was caring and kind, and I know how much he was hurting to have done to himself what he did, but…I’ve never been able to forgive him for putting me through that. For…leaving me when he was the only person I had left in my life.”
I hold her tighter, needing her to know I’m here.
She’s not alone anymore.
I catch the tears sliding off her chin, her bottom lip shuddering under my touch.
“I’m so sorry, Sarah.” What is the right thing to say to this? She lost both of her parents within a year of each other on her fucking birthday. One from cancer and one from taking their own life.
“I didn’t have any family who could take me in, so I was sent to a group foster home, where they tried to help me find my forever home like some sad puppy. But I didn’t. I was moved from home to home, but no one wanted the quiet, depressed little girl. Can’t say that I blame them.” She lifts a shoulder. “But the second I turned eighteen, I came into some money my parents had left for me in their will. It wasn’t a lot, but it was enough to help cover what my scholarship wouldn’t for LU, and it paid for a roof over my head. I was lucky in that regard,” she says quietly. “My mom left me, even without meaning to. My dad left me purposely. And every foster home left me feeling unwanted and a little more broken. They all just…let me go.”
Her words leave a gaping hole in my pounding heart, my chest aching unbearably.
Silence fills the air around us, her eyes appearing translucent as she copes with releasing her story out loud for what I assume is the first time.
Her trust in me to share her story causes a rush of protectiveness to swarm within me. “I’m not letting you go, Sarah.”
Her eyes hold mine, void of any emotion, as tears continue to trickle down her face.
She doesn’t believe me. And why would she when no one has ever stayed?
My fingers glide over her cheeks, wiping away every tear from her face. “So, when we met on your birthday, and you told me to make you forget, you meant—”
“Yeah.” A forced half smile appears. “I don’t know why. Maybe it was because it was my twenty-first birthday, or maybe it was because…” She shakes her head, lost in thought until her eyes catch mine. “I never did thank you for that night. You were the best distraction I could have ever asked for.”
“Sarah, you never have to thank me for that. That night…” I grip her chin. “I don’t want to scare you away, but the night I met you was the best night of my life. It’s me who should be thanking you.”
She looks down, biting her bottom lip as the prettiest shade of pink covers her cheeks.
“I’m so sorry you’ve had to go through all this alone,” I offer. “But thank you for telling me. I can’t even imagine how hard life has been for you. How lonely it’s been.”
I’m starting to wonder if this is maybe why she distances herself from people. She’s been alone for so long, taking care of herself, that she doesn’t know what it means to have someone take care of her—someone in her corner who wants to be there for her no matter what.
Someone who won’t let her go.
She shrugs it off. “I’ve had over a decade to grieve. You’d think I could talk about this without crying.” She rubs a spot on my chest where a few tears landed.
“There’s no time limit on grieving. I still miss my dad every damn day.”
She nods. “I thought since you lost your dad, you would understand the feeling,” she admits in a broken whisper.
I hold her tighter, wishing I could take away her pain and sorrow. “I understand the feeling of losing a parent. But Sarah, I still had my mom and brothers and a roof over my head. What you went through is beyond words. It’s nothing I can comprehend, and I don’t even know the right thing to say to you because I’m starting to think there isn’t a ‘right thing’ to say.” I let out a rush of air. “Family is the most important thing to me. I don’t know what I would do without mine. They have my back every day of the year. They’re there for me even when I’m not there for myself. But you lost your whole family, and that’s…” I stop myself when I see her suck in her trembling bottom lip. “I’m here, Sarah. You know that, right?”
She nods, lost in thought. “Thank you for listening.”
“If you have something to say, I’ll always listen to you.” I tuck a strand of loose hair behind her ear. “I wish my dad were here to meet you. He would have really liked you.”
Her eyes meet mine. “You think so?”
“I know so.” The tips of my fingers trail down her spine. “You’re smart, ambitious, talented, beautiful… I can keep going if you want.”
She suppresses a smile, nuzzling her head against my chest.
We lie in silence for a moment, and I’m pretty sure she’s fallen asleep until she says, “Can you do something for me?”
“Anything.”
She leans up, slowly gliding her lips over mine.
“Tell me what you want, Sarah, and I’ll make it happen.”
“I want…” She pauses as my hand slides down her back. “You to distract me.”
I hesitate. “Are you sure?”
“Yes. Make me forget,” she breathes. “I know I’m an emotional mess right now, and I just laid out some pretty heavy shit, but all I want to do is spend the next five minutes in a bubble with you.” She bites her bottom lip. “Distract me, Paul. Please.”
I lean toward her, brushing my lips against the shell of her ear. “I’ll do anything for you. But I’m going to need a lot more than five minutes.” Her eyes sparkle as an understanding passes between us. “Now sit on my face, and I’ll make sure my tongue is the only thing you’re thinking about.”
She lets out a nervous laugh. “You’re joking, right?” When I don’t say anything, she widens her eyes in horror. “You’ll suffocate.”
I smirk. “If I die with my head between your thighs, I’ll die the happiest man alive, baby girl.”
She opens her mouth to protest, but I’m too fast for her. I lift her hips so she’s straddling my chest. My fingers trail over the tattoos on her thigh, running my index finger up the inside of her leg. “Have I ever told you how sexy these look on you?”
She clears her throat. “You might have mentioned it before.”
I smirk, remembering our first night together and how I spent a lot of time memorizing every image imprinted on her skin with my lips and tongue.
She hasn’t moved, and I’m becoming impatient for a taste.
“A little further up, baby girl.” I squeeze her thighs and wink as she looks down at me, but she’s frozen. “Sarah?”
“Mm-hmm?”
“Everything okay?”
“Yeah. Totally fine.” She slides her fingers through her hair and then fans herself. “Is it hot in here?”
“Are you nervous?”
“Nervous? What? No.” She adamantly shakes her head. “Sex with you doesn’t make me nervous.”
“But what we’re about to do isn’t technically sex, so—”
“No one has ever done this to me before,” she admits, staring up at the ceiling.
I’ll be her first.
“Sarah, look at me.”
Her beautiful green eyes lock on mine.
“Do you trust me?” I ask.
“With my life.”
“Then let me take care of you.”
One sentence.
Seven words.
That’s all it takes for her face to soften and for her hips to lift toward my mouth.
“That’s it, baby girl. Just like that.”
She hovers over my face, her shaking fingers gripping my shoulders.
“Now what?” she asks breathlessly.
In one swift motion, I rip the underwear off her and grip her hips. “Now, I need you to hold the back of the couch while I enjoy my new favorite dessert.”
I yank her down, smothering myself in her pussy, and the second my tongue swipes through her center, I feel her body relax as she lets out a soft moan of approval. My tongue laps up every inch of her, concentrating on her clit where I feel her tremble with each swipe of my tongue and every suck from my lips.
“Fuck. I knew your pussy would taste delicious.” I groan, flattening my tongue against her as I take a long, leisurely stroke. “So fucking sweet.”
I dreamed of this moment. Tasting her decadent pussy for the very first time, and it’s better than I ever could have imagined.
“Oh God. Right there. Right. Right. Oh… Oh… More!” she pleads.
Sarah’s pussy starts grinding ravenously against my face.
“That’s my girl. Ride my tongue.”
Without any warning, I shove two fingers inside her soaking wet pussy, thrusting frantically, feeling her clench around me as she screams out in pleasure.
“Fuck. I’m almost… Oh my God.”
My thumb strums across her clit before I replace it with my lips, and I suck hard, still thrusting inside her with my fingers when her whole body shudders, and she screams against the back of the couch, unraveling. As the orgasm begins to fade, I slowly slip my fingers out of her and lift her small body, sitting up to bring her right against my chest that she sags into.
“I got you.” I rub her back over the T-shirt, holding her in my arms. “I’ve always got you.”
She looks up at me with her glossed eyes and rosy cheeks, telltale signs that her orgasm was satisfactory, but I still need to know. I need to hear it from her lips for the sake of my own damn pride.
“How was it?” My knuckles stroke her cheek.
“You’ve ruined me.” Her forehead presses against my shoulder. “I think that was the best orgasm of my life.”
She places the palm of her hand on my chest, like when we were in the woods. And I watch as she matches her breathing to mine, coming down from her post-orgasmic high, looking serene.
She tilts her head, staring at what’s on the coffee table. “Why did you bring a whole pie down here?”
“Thought you might be hungry.” I tap the tip of her nose.
“Well, I am a bit hungry now.” Her eyes move from the coffee table back to me, with a playful gleam bouncing over them. “But I think just for whipped cream.”
My brows raise. “Oh yeah?”
She nods, reaching over for the can. “Do you like whipped cream, Paul?” Her voice is sultry and sweet. Her nails trail down my chest, leading to the edge of my boxer briefs.
I swallow, watching as she gets up from the couch and kneels on the ground between my legs. “Yeah. I ahh…I like whipped cream a lot.”
“I was hoping you might.” With sensual movements, she removes her T-shirt, giving me the best view of my life.
Sarah, naked between my legs.
My eyes roam over her body, tracing over every delectable curve. Her breasts heave with each inhale and exhale, her nipples hardening under my stare. All I want to do is reach out to her, touch her, taste her, but I sit back, giving her complete control in this moment.
Because this moment is all hers.
The palm of her free hand slides up my bare thigh, right over the hard bulge between the dead center of my legs, eliciting a groan from me.
She bites her bottom lip, her hand rubbing against me. Her fingers tuck under the waistband, pulling the fabric down until my hard cock springs free. I watch as her eyes widen and her tongue comes out, licking her lips, appearing as though my cock is her favorite guilty pleasure.
“You going to show me how much you want my cock, baby girl?” My hand cups her cheek, my thumb brushing over her bottom lip. Her iridescent green eyes connect with mine as she shakes the can in her hand.
“I’ve wanted to do this for so long,” she confesses.
The palm of her hand glides up the inside of my thigh, pushing my legs apart so she can get closer to me.
“Do whatever you want to me. I’m all yours.” My cock throbs at the sight before me. Does she know how many times I’ve envisioned this exact scenario? Well, maybe not with the whipped cream, but that’s an added bonus.
She positions the can over her hand, squirting a dollop onto her finger. Her tongue darts out of her mouth as she slides her finger between her lips, sucking off the cream.
Holy fucking fuck.
“Mmm.” She releases her finger. “I forgot how much I love whipped cream.”
Her free hand grips my cock, stroking me. Providing the perfect amount of pressure to send me over the edge.
“Fuck,” I hiss, letting my head roll back but still keeping an eye on her. There’s no way I’m missing a single second of this.
She places the palm of her hand underneath my cock to hold it while she takes the can of whipped cream with her other hand, slowly dispensing a line down my hardened length.
“You’re so big. I hope there will be enough,” she muses.
“You sure know exactly the right thing to say, don’t you?” My fingers reach out to her, running through her silky strands of hair as she tosses the bottle to the side.
A devilish little grin appears on her face right before her tongue sneaks out between her lips, and she licks off the whole line of cream as her hand massages my balls.
“Fuck. Fuck. Fuck,” I groan uncontrollably.
There’s not a second of hesitation as she opens wide and takes almost all of my cock inside her, sucking on it like it’s her favorite thing in the whole goddamn world.
Her head bobs up and down like a pro, her fingers gripping my thighs, holding me to her.
My hand rests on her shoulder, stroking her skin. “You’re fucking perfect.”
The tip of my cock hits the back of her throat, making her eyes water, but she keeps pushing herself, getting as much of me inside her warm mouth.
It doesn’t take long for me to feel myself start to lose control, so I gently push on her head before it’s too late. “I’m about to come.”
She shakes her head. “Swallowing,” she mumbles around my cock, picking up the pace.
Well, fuck me.
I let out a groan as I come, my cock pulsing inside her mouth, my eyes not getting enough of her, watching as she swallows every last drop.
She backs away on her knees, looking up at me, licking her lips. “How did I do?”
I let out a breathy chuckle, rolling my head against the back of the couch. “How did you do? Sarah, that was the best fucking blow job of my life.” I reach for her, gripping her at her waist, and pull her back onto my lap.
“I’ve never done that before,” she quietly admits, hiding her face in the crook of my neck. Her lips press against my skin over and over again.
That admission fucking does something to me.
My arms hold her closer, possessively against my chest. My lips brush over her forehead. “That was perfect.”
We hold each other tightly, neither wanting this moment to end. Eventually, when I look down at Sarah’s closed eyes and parted lips, letting me know she’s asleep, I glide us down onto the sofa, holding her snugly against my body. My bicep slides under her head as a personal pillow as I fall asleep beside her, wishing we could spend every night like this together.