Chapter 36
THIRTY-SIX
brODIE
I glare at the ceiling in an effort to stop myself from checking the time on my phone.
Because I’ve already done that about a million fucking times.
Brock sighs. “Could you be thinking any louder? It’s past midnight. Just go already. And please, bury your head under a pillow so we don’t have to suffer your sex noises.”
I don’t need to be told twice.
Clambering from the inflatable bed, I crack the door and peer out.
No sign of anyone. Mom and Dad’s door is firmly shut.
The house is dead quiet. I tiptoe down the landing to the last door on the right.
The smallest bedroom in the house, but then I’m the youngest. The youngest always ends up with the shittiest deal. Not tonight though.
I peel open the door. I’m well versed in every creak in this house—from sneaking in late at night to hitting the kitchen in the early hours for stealth gaming snacks.
I’ve never once, however, had a covert mission to get into my bedroom because a gorgeous woman is asleep in my bed.
I step inside and gently close the door.
It’s darker in here, the only light coming from an old digital alarm clock. I blink in an effort to get my eyes to adjust and then tug my tee over my head as I prowl to the bed. The single bed. Where I lived out all my teenage angst. And buried myself after I left Savannah the first time around.
If only twenty-five-year-old me could get a message to twenty-two-year-old me to say that it might hurt, but it won’t hurt forever.
That it’s only a temporary blip, and that three years later I’d be creeping into the same bed in the middle of the night to start the rest of my life with the woman in question. The most perfect woman in the world.
I pull back the comforter and Savannah turns onto her side toward me, her blonde waves splaying out behind.
Her eyes are closed, and her breath sounds soft and slow.
Sliding in next to her, I find her almost naked aside from a tiny pair of sexy lace panties.
I wrap my arms over her waist and cradle her close against my chest.
I’m home.
And instantly hard.
But I don’t move. No stroking or teasing. I ignore my dick’s yells for attention and simply hold her, relishing how perfect she feels in my arms. Marveling that even after all that’s happened today, I’m still hers, and she’s still mine.
I press a kiss to the top of her head, whispering against her soft hair, “I love you.”
Her eyelashes flutter against my chest.
Looking down, I see her blinking up at me, the whites of her eyes bright in the darkness. I smile, because how can I do anything other than smile at the beautiful, sleepy woman in my arms?
“Hey.” She breathes out the word, tickling my skin. “I thought you were never going to join me. It’s been ages.”
“I know. I had to make sure Mom wasn’t guarding the landing.”
She chuckles.
“What?”
“I can’t believe we’re holed up in your childhood bed, whispering in the middle of the night, trying to keep it a secret from your mom and dad, who are sleeping down the hall.”
I cringe. “I’m sorry.”
“Why are you sorry? It’s hot. All the pent-up hormones of teenage sexual awakening, but we’re old enough to know what we’re doing with the equipment.” She tilts her hips, pressing herself against my now unbelievably hard dick. “Why are you still wearing your boxers?”
“I thought you were sleeping.” I rock my pelvis. “Why are you still wearing panties?”
“They’re not just any old panties. They’re the sexy kind you can rip from my body with wild abandon.
” She wriggles against me, her body molten hot.
“Anyway, I was only dozing. I had to do something so I wouldn’t make myself come, alone, in your bed, while patiently waiting for you to get here so you can bury yourself deep inside me. ”
Fucking hell.
I roll us over in one deft movement so she’s underneath me, her legs falling open, her hands pinned in mine above her head. Lifting my torso, I grind myself against her. “We’re going to need to be so damn quiet. Can you do that?”
“Uh-huh.” She lifts her hips in a circular movement against me. “You?”
“I have no fucking clue.” I hiss out the words, already seeing stars from the shockwaves of pleasure her body is sending straight through to mine.
She wrestles her hands free, slowly dragging her nails down my back to the waistband of my boxers. Slipping her fingers inside, she tugs them down. “Well, if you’re struggling with your self-control, maybe you should let me handle this.”
Executing a maneuver as deft as mine, she escapes from under me and I find myself lying on my back, Savannah on top. She lifts up a fraction and I kick my boxers from my legs. It’s still pitch-black in the room, but my eyes have adjusted and her skin glows.
She’s a fucking angel.
She hooks her panties to the side and rolls herself over me, back and forth. Yep. Very happy to go wild. I grasp at the delicate scrap of lace and rip it away before placing her pussy right back where I want it. Sliding over my cock. She’s so wet, I groan, the noise falling out unchecked.
“Shh, pretty boy.” She dips down, pressing her lips to mine.
Her kiss is slow. Deliberate. Opening me up like she’s swallowing my pleasure and taking it for her own. And while her kiss continues, deepening, devouring me, she lifts herself a fraction and slides me into her.
We both moan, under our breath, our shared bliss eking its way out, and then she begins to move. Rocking back and forth. Her hips circling each time I’m deep inside her. Her pace is so slow it borders on torture, like she’s trying to stretch time, holding us in this moment for as long as possible.
Sitting up, she arches her back, her hair tumbling free, her palms pressing hard against my chest as she continues to roll over me. I can sense she’s close. My hands roam to her breasts and then trace a path over her stomach and lower, until my thumb grazes over her clit.
Words tumble from her mouth. “Oh my god. Oh, fuck…” Her breathing grows heavier. Harder. Her hips circling faster.
I’m so deep inside her I can feel every tremble as her pleasure builds, taking me all the way to the edge with her until she stills, briefly, and then crashes over.
I lift, clamping my mouth over hers as her body shudders, pulling me deeper still and making me throb until I’m also coming. Hard. So hard I see stars.
We fall back to the bed, locked in bliss, and I keep her held close as I soften inside her, vowing that I’ll never let her go again. Ever.
She lifts her head. “Don’t suppose you have any tissues? There will be no avoiding the wet patch in this tiny bed if we don’t clear things up.”
I laugh and nudge myself over to the nightstand, reaching inside the drawer. Bingo. I grab the box of tissues and pass them to Savannah.
“Anyone would think this was planned.”
“It’s a teen boy’s bedroom. Of course there are tissues next to the bed. To be fair, there’s tissues next to the bed in my grown-up bedroom too.”
She quietly giggles as we shuffle to clean up and then she nestles back against my chest with a sigh.
I settle with her, stroking her hair. “I can’t believe it’s not even twenty-four hours since we woke up in your bed yesterday morning. Before any of this happened.”
“I can’t believe I’m here with you.” Her limbs tense against mine. “I was so fucking frightened that my dad’s behavior had sent you packing.”
I trace my fingertips over her back. “Savannah, there’s never been anyone who comes close to how you make me feel. Sure, your dad’s stalking is unsettling, but that alone would never be enough to make me walk away from you. Him threatening your career however…”
She sighs, wriggling her toes between my legs. “Okay, let’s do this. Tell me what happened with him yesterday morning. All of it. What did he say to scare you so much?”
“You sure?”
“Yep. I need to know at some point. And I guess it’s better you share things while the details are fresh. Like I said earlier, the more I know, the more power it gives me over him.”
I nod and move us so I’m propped up on my side, facing her. She mirrors my movement, the whites of her eyes bright every time she blinks.
I tuck her hair behind her ear. “He breezed in all sharp and disarming. He asked me straight out about you and when I denied it, he dumped a pile of photos on the couch next to me. He’s had a tail on us since we reconnected.
Following everything. The photo on top was of us kissing under the blossoms. He then proceeded to lay out a deal.
He had a whole package worked out for me, flights, condo, and an editor job working at the Toronto Star—”
“Oh my god.”
I grasp her hand. “I turned him down. I don’t want his money or job. You’re so much more to me than any of that. But then he got nastier. He asked me the same question he asked when we were together in college. What’s most important to you?”
Her fingers twitch in mine. “And what was your answer?”
“That the most important thing in your life is your job, because every fire you fight is another step toward something good coming from your mom’s death.”
She lies back in the bed. Flat. Still. Her body radiating tension. “What was his response?”
I want to reach out and touch her but something tells me I shouldn’t.
Swallowing the urge, I continue. “He agreed. And then became colder. Insistent. The first time, back in college, he threatened to cut you off if I didn’t walk away.
This time, he threatened to end your career in the fire department.
Said he’d destroy Hall Eight. Fuck it up for everyone.
He knew it would work all over again. That I’ll always sacrifice the world to make you happy.
I didn’t see a way out. He’s too powerful.
I haven’t switched on my phone since yesterday morning in case he’s still tracking my every fucking move. ”