11. Chapter Eleven
When I wake the next morning, my first thought is that I can’t wait to find out how Bethany’s dance went. My second thought has my dick standing at attention. The way Autumn took me in her mouth last night and made me come so hard I thought my head might explode has me wishing I had time to take care of the erection I’m now sporting, but I don’t.
No amount of convincing on my part could have her agreeing to stay with me all night. She didn’t want to confuse Bethany in case she came home early and found us together. While I appreciated her concern for my daughter, my dick wasn’t quite so understanding.
It took entirely too long for me to fall asleep last night and it’s all thanks to the redhead staying in the guest room downstairs. I haven’t been taken over with thoughts of a woman in, well, forever, but now she’s all I can think about.
With maturity and hindsight, I can see it never would have worked long-term with Elena. Eventually one of us would have met someone else we wanted to be with. Like Autumn.
I also now know that Bethany would have been fine. She would still have had two parents who loved her whether they lived in the same home or not.
My thoughts are interrupted by the sound of a crash from downstairs and it has me jumping out of bed and pulling on boxers before going to find the cause. I stop just outside the kitchen and smile when I see Autumn holding a skillet in one hand and muttering a string of curses at the pile of pots and pans on the floor around her.
I’m not paying attention to anything other than the sight of Autumn in an oversized t-shirt which reaches just below her gorgeous ass. As is usual when Autumn’s around, my dick perks up at the sight and I use my hand to readjust myself. I nearly swallow my tongue when Autumn bends down to collect the pots and pans from the floor and it becomes obvious she’s not wearing any panties. Fuck me.
She still hasn’t noticed me as I take three strides across the kitchen and come up behind her. I can’t resist the urge to put my hands on her hips, causing her to stiffen before she relaxes into my touch. I slowly slide her t-shirt up her back exposing the beautiful cheeks of her ass. My dick is hard as nails at the sight and even though Autumn has a skillet in her hand, it has no effect on his eagerness to be freed from my boxers, although I’ll admit it does concern me a little. I absolutely wouldn’t put it past Autumn to whack me with it.
“Easton! What are you doing?” she squeaks.
“I did warn you, Red. I told you your mere presence has me hard and here you are in my kitchen wearing nothing but a t-shirt. I’m only human.”
She tries to straighten, but I keep her where she is and use my left foot to move her legs further apart. The hitch in her breath, coupled with the quiver in her thighs, tells me she’s not as immune to me as she’d like me to believe. If I thought for one second she wasn’t enjoying this game, I’d absolutely let her go, but her involuntary response tells me otherwise. Autumn and I have been intimate in every way imaginable and I’m an expert in knowing when she’s turned on.
She’s as affected by me as I am by her, even though she’s trying to fight it. Hell, I’m trying to resist whatever this is between us too, but I’m close to tapping out and giving up the fight.
I lean over and brush my lips lightly over her spine, smiling against her soft skin when she shivers at the contact.
“Put the skillet down, Red,” I say against her skin as I trace feather-like kisses over her spine. She drops the pan to the floor and the sound echoes around the kitchen, making me grin. Slowly I slide my hands up her back and push the t-shirt over her head and arms until she’s gloriously naked in front of me.
“You’re so fucking beautiful,” I tell her.
She shudders at my words and I wrap my arm around her middle, underneath her breasts, and pulling her upright so her luscious ass is pressed against my aching dick. When I bring my hands to her breasts and brush my thumbs over her nipples, a low moan escapes her lips.
“Easton,” she whispers as she attempts to straighten again. “We shouldn’t—--, Bethany—-”
She doesn’t get to finish her sentence when the front door slams shut.
I let her go and she spins around and picks up her t-shirt from the floor, putting it back on a second before Bethany walks into the kitchen sporting a huge smile on her face. She looks at me curiously, then flops onto one of the island chairs. “How was the dance, baby? Did you have fun?”
Bethany nods excitedly. “It was the best time of my life. Autumn, I have to thank you again – everyone at the dance was going on and on about how good my hair and makeup were.”
Autumn grins back at Bethany before glancing at me and saying, “You’re welcome, sweetie. I had fun too.” She’s trying hard to act as if I hadn’t just had my hands on her moments ago, but there’s no mistaking the faint blush on her cheeks, which causes me to smirk at her.
Thankfully, in the typical narcissistic fashion of pre-teens everywhere, Bethany’s completely unaware of the tension in the air. “I’m going to head upstairs to shower and change my clothes. Can we go out again today, Dad?”
I nod. “Sure. I’m going to get lunch with your aunt this afternoon, but I’m free as soon as I get back.”
“Awesome. See you guys later.”
As soon as Bethany’s out of earshot, Autumn looks over at me and says, “Do you want something to eat?”
Oh, so that’s how we’re going to play this, is it?
A lightness I haven’t felt in years has taken over my body and I can’t help but see how far I can push her into admitting she wants me as much as I want her.
“I absolutely want something to eat, Autumn. Namely, you.”
She gasps and her cheeks turn bright red. I love it.
“Easton! Stop that. Listen, we need to talk—-.”
I stride over to her and take her face in both of my hands, looking into her beautiful eyes. Suddenly serious, I say, “We absolutely do need to talk, but I can’t right now. Let’s have breakfast together. Not the breakfast I’d like, but I can wait. We’ll talk later, okay?”
She stares back at me and some of the stiffness leaves her shoulders and she relaxes. “Okay,” she whispers. “Later.”
Savanna is already sitting at our usual table when I walk into the diner and she smiles when she sees me. “Where’s Bethy?” she asks.
I scoff and roll my eyes. “She’s at home with Autumn. She had her big dance last night.”
“Oh, that’s right! How did it go?”
“She had fun, which is the main thing. She didn’t mention her date, if you can even call it that at her age.”
“I can’t wait to see pictures. I’m sure Autumn made her look so cute! She’s so great at that sort of thing.”
Which gives me the perfect opening I need to bring up Autumn.“I actually need your advice on something, Sav.”
“Oh?” She leans over the table once we sit down and smiles mischievously at me. “Does it have anything to do with a certain redhead who’s living with you at the moment?”
“Is it that obvious?”
Savanna shrugs. “Not really, but she’s already shared a few things with me.”
I sigh and run a hand through my hair while looking around the diner. If anyone sitting close to us overhears anything, it will be a total of five minutes before the rest of the town knows about it. “I can’t seem to control myself around her.”
“Is that a bad thing?”
“Yes,” I answer immediately, then sigh. “No? I don’t know, Sav. It’s difficult for me, you know that.”
She smiles and nods. “I get it, but maybe this is exactly what you need.”
“Unlikely,” I mutter.
“Is she really so bad?”
Autumn is anything but bad. She’s sassy, fearless and bright. I want to see her smile on a daily basis. I think about her all the time. She makes me feel things I’ve never felt before and that scares the shit out of me.
It leaves me wide open for the hurt that accompanies these feelings.
“What do I do about this, Sav?”
She shrugs. “There’s not much advice I can give you because I’m all for you smashing those walls down and letting someone in, but I know how hard that is for you. It all depends on how you feel, Easton.”
Why does my sister have to be so… not helpful? I thought maybe she’d squeal excitedly and go on and on about how she’s been waiting for this moment for years. Maybe I hoped she would tell me that I’m not allowed to get involved with her best friend, which would make everything a million times easier to avoid, but she’s not giving me any of that.
Which means I’m nowhere closer to figuring out what to do about Autumn than I was before.
The conversation moves on to other things. She happily tells me about the wedding planning and Dawson’s work. Apparently he’s been working longer hours lately after a few police officers got booted from the station. I got that much, but I’m not paying attention like I should be. My mind keeps going back to Autumn.
I still have no clue what I’m going to do even after I say goodbye to Sav and walk out of the diner.