CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
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Vesper
I COULDN’T KEEP IT TO myself anymore.
I loved him.
Unequivocally loved him.
I loved the way he understood my close-knit relationship with Polly.
I loved the way he ribbed his brother and doted on all of us as if we each meant the world to him.
I loved the way he fed us with flair and compassion and even cooked a stack of extra sausages for the dogs all lined up on the lawn.
I loved the way he made me welcome on his lap once we’d eaten our fill and done serious damage to the cooler full of alcohol.
I could go on and on but my point was clear. My heart was made up. My future set in stone.
I loved him.
I wanted him.
And the awesome afternoon of joking, hanging, and generally just relaxing as a foursome had shown me just how special family could be when they were welcoming and non- judgemental.
The sun hung lazily in the sky and my phone said it was half past four; I’d never felt so carefree, happily tipsy, or content to have the love of my life and my best friend together.
Even Polly looked better.
She laughed and gave as good as she got with Rupert, and I caught the sparkle in her eye whenever she looked at him.
Polly had always been the strong one of our duo. Her mother had died in a car accident when she was fifteen and her dad had passed away three years ago thanks to prostate cancer. She truly was alone, but it didn’t break her. If anything, it added steel to steel until she barely bent in a tornado and carried so damn much on her shoulders.
It was too much to hope that she’d find a friend and romantic interest in Rupert but watching her interact with him made me wonder…what if?
“I have to admit, you’re better than the rest,” Rupert said, toasting his beer in my direction. “My little brother has full permission to keep you.”
“Keep me?” I blinked.
“Yep. He said he wasn’t letting you go. I see why now.”
Ryder groaned behind me, pinching the bridge of his nose. “You’ve done so well up till now, Rupe. You behaved during lunch. You were good as gold during the drinking games. But now you decide to throw me under the proverbial bus?”
I’d been sitting on Ryder’s lap for the past hour, canoodling and being that annoyingly touchy-feely couple that sickens everyone in a two-kilometre radius.
“Hey, just saying how it is. You had terrible taste when you were younger. This one is much better.”
Polly giggled, tipsy and carefree. “Hear that, Vessie? You’ve earned the stamp of approval. You could put it in your passport and say you permanently live in the state of Ryder.”
It was my turn to groan. “You guys suck.”
Rupert turned serious, shifting on his chair to sit on the edge with his beer bottle dangling between his fingers. “No, I’ll tell you what sucked. Seeing my best mate and brother be made a laughingstock in high school. That sucked. Seeing him shunned when he had nothing but love to give ate me up inside.”
His gaze slipped to Ryder’s behind me. “I wished I’d punched that witch for you, seeing as you never stood up for yourself. Do you know the rumours still circulate? Kids are so fucking cruel.”
“Meh.” He shrugged. “I know the truth.”
“Yeah, but it made you give up on happiness because you lost the ability to trust.” Rupe shook his head, genuinely pissed for him. “Seeing you withdraw killed me. So…” He smiled at me, his gaze protective and kind. “Seeing how happy he is with you, Ves? I’m grateful. He deserves to be carefree again and not have to watch what he says or does.”
“Can we stop bringing up the exes now?” Ryder rolled his eyes. “Or telling the world how pathetic I was when I was younger.”
“Hey, we all have the dating horror stories. I have my fair share, too.” Rupert’s lips melted into such a sincere smile, he gave me heart-hiccups. “All I’m saying is, you’ve done well.” His gaze landed on me again. “Thank you for putting up with him. He’s a really good guy and I’m glad you put a collar on him and made him yours.”
“Goddammit.” Ryder growled with mock anger. “Don’t mention the collar again—especially not with town folk listening.”
“Why not?” Rupe took a swig.
“Because everyone thinks Vesper is his cousin and they’re having incestual naughtiness.” Polly ran her hands through her hair. “It’s all over the place. And apparently Ryder is, how do I say this nicely?” She giggled. “Not playing with a full deck and apparently gets naked inappropriately.”
“Can’t deny that.” Rupert barked with laugher. “The cousin part is new however. Well, Ves, if you are by some chance related to us, nice to meet you. If not, then welcome to the family.”
I lowered my gaze, slightly overwhelmed by the welcome. “Thank you, Rupert.”
Ryder threw back the rest of his beer, scowling at his brother. His fingers brushed aside my hair and placed a distracted kiss on the back of my neck.
The moment his lips touched my skin, I squirmed on his lap.
“Shit, that feels good when you do that,” he murmured in my ear just for me. “Your ass on my cock makes me so close to coming. I’ve been fighting the urge all day. ”
My thighs squeezed together as a sudden throbbing started in my clit. Ryder shifted beneath me as the tip of his tongue replaced his lips.
“Something very important just came up,” he whispered, arching his hips into me. Something hard poked me. “Are you ready to take care of it now or will you give me an even worse case of blue balls?”
“Take care of what?” I looked over my shoulder, blinking innocently.
Rupert and Polly drifted into the background as they fell back into conversation, leaving us in our own private lust bubble.
“This.” Ryder pushed up, prodding my ass again.
I shivered. “Oh that?” I purred. “I think I can guess what that is.”
“You think, Einstein?”
“Do you know Einstein holds a very special place in my heart now.”
“What on earth for?”
“Because he was there when you kissed me the first time. You pushed me against his nose.”
His forehead furrowed. “Whose nose?”
“Einstein’s.”
“Why the hell, and how the hell, could I kiss you while on Einstein’s nose?”
“At laser strike. It was a glow-in-the-dark artwork in the tent.”
Ryder laughed. “If you think I remember anything about that place, you have a higher opinion of me than I deserve.” His voice dropped as he cupped my chin with beer cool fingers. “From the moment we stepped inside that acid trip all I could think about was shoving you against a wall and shooting you with a different weapon than the one intended.”
“Is that the weapon I feel currently?”
He winked. “You guessed it.”
“In that case, I do agree something important came up. I heard it’s bad to store live ammunition for too long. ”
“You read my mind, woman.”
Nuzzling my throat, his arms tensed around me as he helped me to my feet. Keeping my body in front of his, to hide the fact he had a giant erection, we ambled toward the bifolds leading toward the house.
Rupert and Polly were chatting in a mixture of chuckles and murmurs but of course, we didn’t get away scot-free.
“Gonna bang, huh?” Rupe laughed.
Ryder froze, looking over his shoulder. “You always did have a dirty mind. We’re off to get some more supplies.”
“Not the way you’re walking you’re not.” Rupert snickered. “Unless you smuggled a sausage down your shorts from the BBQ.” He glanced at Vesper unapologetically. “Better serve my little brother, Vessie. He so needs your magic touch.”
The fact he’d used the nickname that only Polly had used up till now seemed to annoy Ryder. He growled, “Back off.”
Grabbing my wrist, Ry dragged me over the threshold and into the shady lounge. The relief on my eyes from the hot sun was immediate.
I instantly felt guilty for leaving Polly.
Untangling myself from his hold, I said, “Wait just a sec.” Darting back to the deck, I met Polly’s eyes. “You’ll be okay, right? I’ll only be five minutes. I don’t see any donkey moments happening in that time.”
Polly laughed out loud. “Yeah, I’m good. Go be a cowgirl on that very eager pony.”
Striding back out, Ryder did his best to rearrange his unavoidable condition. “Why are we talking about ponies and donkeys?”
“No reason.” I bit my lip, snickering with Polly.
He scowled, impatience and mirth glowing in his gaze. “Girly secrets are quickly deflating the mood.”
“Could’ve used a better choice of words, baby bro.” Rupe chuckled. “And from where I’m sitting, nothing’s deflated.”
Ryder slashed a hand over his face. “Jeez, Rupe, give me some remaining respect.”
“Vessie, you better go. I know an animal in pain when I see one.” Polly laughed softly. “I’ll scream if I need you.”
“Are you sure?” I glanced at the shadowy house then back to her. Once again that damn guilt for being so ecstatically happy and rubbing it in her face swarmed.
Ryder rubbed the back of his neck. “Ves, don’t worry about it, it’s—”
“If you two don’t leave, I’m going to swat you with the last lamb chop. Now go,” Polly ordered. Taking a sip of her fifth watermelon vodka, she smiled. “If I don’t hear moaning in three minutes, I’m coming in there and getting the whip out.”
I felt as if I’d been given a pass to ditch school on hot summer days. Joy! I swayed toward the house. “Okay, then. If you insist.”
“I insist you go get ridden.”
“Oh wow, I like your thinking.” Ryder beamed. “Come along, Vesper. Can’t disappoint the woman.”
Smiling, I clutched Ryder’s hand. “I agree. She’s bossy when she wants to be. Let’s sort out this matter of importance of yours.”
“Fucking finally.”
Our fingers interlocked as we bolted from company, laughing under our breath.
We didn’t get far.
I didn’t think we would.
The minute we made it to the foyer, we turned at the same time and pounced. Stumbling against the wall, our lips collided and body parts tangled. We rolled along the freshly painted surfaces until we left the wide-open entrance and tripped into the gloomy corridor.
It would have to do.
Because God, I couldn’t stop how much I needed this boy. We would just have to hope no one decided to pop by and appear at the front door because it was wide open to encourage a breeze through the house and we couldn’t move another step .
Ryder slammed me against the wall, his lips hard on mine, his hips pulsing in time with his raging heartbeat. “ Christ, it’s been the longest day in history wanting you.”
Luckily, I’d worn a dress today and his fingers vanished up the billowing red and white material to find my knickers.
“Do you mind if this is fast?” he grunted as he shoved aside my underwear and plunged two fingers inside me.
Oh, God.
“No.” I scratched his back. “Fast is good. Fast is very good.”
With his right hand up my skirt, he struggled to undo his belt and free himself with his left.
“Here, let me help you.” My fingers fumbled with his. I moaned in pleasure as his cock popped free and his legs trembled, positioning himself in just the right place.
Removing his fingers, he lined me up with his erection, hoisting one of my legs over his hips.
“Fuck, Ves…” He paused, teasing me. His hand clutched my jaw, holding me immobile for a sinful kiss. The second his tongue plunged into my mouth, he thrust inside me.
Oh.
My.
Yes!
He fucked me fast and deep against the corridor wall.
My fingernails latched onto his waist, finding bare skin, loving the way his hips pumped. “Yes, damn that feels good.”
“I’ll never get enough of you.” He kissed me, rode me.
We panted and grunted, clawing for more.
We’d done a fine job at christening this house. In his shower, kitchen, lounge, bedroom, even the outside veranda when I’d tried to leave one night and it proved too much for both of us. The pole holding up the porch had creaked as I held on, moaning as he took me from behind.
But this? This corridor hadn’t been christened yet and holy hell it felt amazing .
The only thing that wasn’t perfect was the open front door that had a perfect view to the shadows where we fooled around.
It shouldn’t have mattered.
Rupert and Polly were chilling on the side of the house away from hearing or seeing our frisky business.
So it didn’t compute in my sex-obsessed brain when a silhouette suddenly appeared in the entrance and a feminine voice said, “Hello?”