Chapter 36
Brodie
Brodie sensed Jess behind him, moving around the carefully curated space of his apartment. The art on the walls. The leather couches. Low coffee tables. Imagining what she made of it made him realise that it had never really felt like home.
He hadn’t felt remotely triumphant that she’d agreed to come with him.
He’d felt like he’d had to move fast in case she changed her mind.
And now she was here and Brodie needed to curb the urge to devour her.
But that kiss... It had made a total mockery of him having had any sense that he’d been in control of himself since he’d let her go.
Everything he’d done in the last two weeks had been through a prism of her. Wondering about her. Wanting her approval. Realising that he was dissatisfied. Reconnecting with people who made him feel whole again. And yet it hadn’t been until they’d kissed that he’d actually felt any sense of peace.
Shite. Peace. Since when had he craved peace? Since always, he realised. He opened the sliding doors. The view from the terrace took in the Thames and iconic London landmarks.
‘Wow.’ Jess said as she walked out. ‘This is really impressive.’
Brodie leant his elbow on the railing, looking at her. The breeze was flicking her hair around her face; she’d taken it down. Had she got more freckles in the last couple of weeks? Insanely it made him feel jealous. Of the freaking sun? He really was losing it. She glanced at him. ‘What?’
He smiled. ‘You think this place is pretentious.’
She affected outrage. ‘No, I don’t. It’s a beautiful space. I’ve always wondered what the view would be like from one of these apartments.’
‘Liar.’ He found it didn’t bother him in the slightest.
She wrinkled her nose. ‘Sorry. But it’s not really my style. We’re very different.’ She said this almost as a provocation. Or to prove something.
He chafed at that, but he hid it. Then she turned around to look back into the apartment. She cocked her head on one side. ‘Actually, I don’t think it’s you either. I’m not sure what your style would be, but this bachelor playboy pad is not it and believe me I can’t believe I’m saying that.’
Could he blame her for accusing him of being a playboy bachelor when he’d been adamant about reminding her he just wanted sex?
Her elbows were behind her on the railing. It made her T-shirt pull across her chest. Brodie kept his gaze up. He admitted, ‘I guess it’s not really my style. I’ve always liked the mix of modern and old. Like the stuff they’re doing down at the Coal Drops Yard.’
She looked at him, ‘So why didn’t you go there?’
Brodie shrugged. ‘I’ve been so focused on work.
.. I bought this because it was a good investment.
I think any sense of home was ruined after my folks split up, and Skye and I went to different boarding schools.
She’s always been fixated on going back to the house and renovating it. I couldn’t imagine anything worse.’
‘I get it,’ Jess said. ‘I feel bad about not going back up to our place in Scotland more, but it’s hard...it’s where Callum isn’t.’
She walked back into the apartment then, kicking off her sandals as she went. Something about that – making herself comfortable – was ridiculously pleasing to Brodie.
He pushed aside the fact that if it were any other woman he would be hustling her out of here so fast her feet wouldn’t touch the ground. This was different. They were both on the same page.
She turned around. ‘Did you choose any of the stuff in here?’
‘Not really, it was an interior designer.’
She spotted something on a shelf and went over. It was the one personal picture he had. In a frame. Skye and Brodie outside Montgomery House in Dublin. She plucked it off the shelf. ‘Your sister?’ He nodded and went over. ‘Wow, she’s gorgeous.’
Brodie’s chest squeezed. ‘She is. She looked really beautiful on her wedding day.’
Jess put the picture back. ‘What was it like to be back there?’
Brodie thought for a second. ‘Not that bad. They’ve done a lot of work on the place. Both my parents were there, but my mother is married again and they’re really cordial now. It’s changed.’
‘I’m glad.’ Jess didn’t seem so combative now.
Brodie tugged her down with him onto the couch. They fell in a sprawl and he came up on an elbow. ‘I’m glad you’re here.’
Jess just looked up at him and then she reached for him, putting her hands on his jaw and touching her mouth to his. It was like putting a match to dry kindling.
He pushed the material of her T-shirt up and pulled the cups of her bra down, massaging her breasts, pinching the hard nipples lightly, and Jess groaned softly into his mouth. It was the sexiest sound he’d ever heard.
She was reaching for him now, undoing his fly and finding his hardening cock and pulling it out, wrapping her hand around him.
Brodie broke the kiss and moved down; he couldn’t get enough of her breasts, teasing her nipples with his tongue and revelling in her taste and feel again. Sweet and tart. Spiky and soft.
When she wiped a thumb over the head of his cock, he pulled back. They were both panting. Her T-shirt was tangled. His trousers pulled down. He rested over her on two hands.
She put her hands on his hips. ‘Kneel over me.’
Brodie’s cock twitched. ‘Jess?’
She scooted down the couch so that she was under him and then she took his cock in her hand again and brought it to her mouth.
Shiiiiiit. All of Brodie’s universe was centred on her mouth and where she was licking him like a popsicle before putting him in her mouth and sucking, and subjecting him to the kind of exquisite torture he could usually handle.
But this...her...looking up at him with those huge golden-green eyes? After two weeks of aching for her again? He was coming into her mouth as she squeezed him before he could stop himself.
Brodie’s brain slowly started functioning again and Jess was smiling up at him, delighted with herself.
He shook his head. ‘Oh, no way, two can play at that little game.’ He got off the couch and scooped Jess up into his arms to bring her into his bedroom.
He put her down on the bed and for a moment he couldn’t move, arrested by the sight of her.
Hair spread across his pillows, breasts bared, that sassy smile on her face.
She pulled her T-shirt up and off, and opened her jeans, pulling them down and off along with her underwear. ‘Well? What are you waiting for, Montgomery?’
The truth was that he’d thought by bringing her here it would feel like some sort of closure, but it didn’t feel like that now. It felt like the start of something. But Brodie was too hot for her to dwell on that little disturbing nugget.
He stripped off, made sure he had a condom nearby. Then he reached for Jess, pulled her towards him by her hips and came down between her legs, hooking them over his shoulders. ‘First, I’m going to fuck you with my mouth and then I’m going to fuck you with my dick. Any objections?’
She shook her head and let out a moan as Brodie proceeded to do exactly what he’d promised.