Dutton
Chapter
Twenty-Four
“You made it!” Wren beams as I walk through the glass doors of Lovers Lodge’s bar and onto the patio. Today is a nice September day. It’s perfect for the dinner my mom is having for Wren.
“Of course I did. I’d never miss it.” I wrap her in a hug as I glance around the patio, noting that all the warmers are on. Even though we are fully into the cooler season, you would never know with how warm we keep it out here.
Tonight it’s blocked off for a special event.
Wren’s twenty-fifth birthday. I see some of her friends from college, who clearly rode back with her, in one corner and our family in another.
Grace is making her way to Wren’s friends; she hates when everything gets divided like this.
Grace is definitely the best Richford to make time for every guest at events like this.
But I can't blame the friends. Henry has always been hard on Wren, and from their perspective, he’s a complete and total dick.
They aren't wrong.
What they do seem to fail to notice is that Henry is not here yet.
Truth be told, Wren might not even care if he shows up, but I will. It’s one thing to cheat on your wife and continuously do so even when the wife knows, but to not be there for your kids?
Fucking pathetic.
Wren hugs me for all of a second before she squeals and pushes me away so that she can talk to Brooke.
“Hi!” Wren’s smile is so big, you’d think she was meeting a celebrity. “I can’t believe you’re dating my brother.”
“Hey,” I say, pretending to take offense, but honestly, each morning I wake up with Brooke in my bed, I think the exact same thing.
Brooke laughs and hugs my sister. “Happy Birthday.”
“My birthday isn’t actually for a couple more weeks, but this weekend worked best for all my friends to make it here. I wanted to show them where I grew up.”
“Then this is the best weekend to have it.”
“Hi, dear,” my mother greets me as she approaches. She leans in for a hug from me and then one from Wren. I’m sure they’ve been together most of the day, but I don’t see my mother nearly as much as I should, considering we live in the same town.
I work a lot, and she avoids the lodge when she can.
I can’t blame her.
“Mom, you remember Brooke,” I say and pull her closer to my side.
“Of course. It’s been a while since I've been to the bakery, but I’m very well aware of it and of you dear. I mean, look at this son of mine. He’s been more himself the past few weeks than I’ve seen in years.”
And as if on cue, Brooke is enfolded in another hug.
“Mom,” I say before she can embarrass me. Yes, me, a grown-ass man can still be embarrassed by his mother.
Wren laughs as Mom shrugs, gives us a yikes look, and then waves as she walks away to chat with other guests.
“I want you to meet my friends,” Wren says and grabs Brooke’s hand.
“Hey, what about me?” I ask, faking offense.
“Later,” Wren says over her shoulder as she pulls Brooke along.
Grace moves to stand by Brooke at the table, and by the laughter and chitchat that quickly follows, I’d say they are all hitting it off very well.
“Dad’s not here,” Gavin points out, planting his feet next to me.
Layla walks right by us to join the rest of the girls.
I nod, taking my drink from the waiter who approaches us. Being a part of a place like this has its perks. One, they know my drink of choice, and two, it’s a family function and they know to bring it to me before I even make it to the bar to order.
Mom is just sitting over there, smiling and engaging in conversation with my aunt as if she's not fazed by a single thing.
As if her life is flawless.
I know she knows, and I know she knows that I know.
We’ve never spoken about it, but after the flower show incident as a kid, Mom defended me when Henry tried to ground me.
Sure, I probably still deserved it, but after he picked me up at the station, we argued on the way to the front door.
Mom was waiting in the kitchen for us, and Henry was going on and on about how my retribution for not agreeing with his choices is unacceptable.
We both froze when we saw Mom, and when she looked at me, I knew she was aware of what Henry was doing.
I was both mad and sad for her. Mad that she wasn’t doing anything about it, and sad because she deserves so much better.
Now that I’m older, it feels weird to bring it up. I fully believe she never left him because they had the four of us. She put giving us a good life over herself. I know she did.
I just don’t understand why, now that we are all grown, she’s still here.
Mom catches my eye across the patio and smiles sweetly.
God, I hate Henry so much.
“Well, he’s a prick. What did we expect?” I finally say.
“For him to show up for his daughter's birthday.”
“Are you really surprised?” I ask, tilting my head and staring at my brother with raised brows.
“I just don’t understand him lately.”
“Lately?” I huff a laugh. “Try ever.”
“What are you two grumping about over here?” Grace asks, joining the half circle we have formed.
“Henry and how he sucks,” I say, giving her the short version.
She groans. “Dutton, you have got to tone it down when it comes to Dad. Not everyone hates him like you do. It honestly makes me sad for you, that you can’t just drop this thing you two have going on.”
The truth is on the tip of my tongue.
Tell them.
Do it.
They need to know.
They deserve to know.
But like always, I don't.
Both of them have always had a fairly decent relationship with our father. As much as he doesn't deserve the respect they give him, he’s never actually treated either of them poorly.
It’s … fuck, it’s a hard place to be.
Fixing this issue before it affects either of them is still the plan.
I’ll take over the lodge, and if this secret of his ever gets out, it’s on me. Not them.
“Wren seems happy,” I say, changing the subject.
Grace sighs, and Gavin shakes his head with a smile.
“She does,” Grace replies. “I wonder what it’s like to go to school and be able to pick any career you want?”
“What do you mean?” Gavin asks.
“Well, the three of us always knew one of us would run this place one day. Wren never had that responsibility.”
“No, she—”
“Hello, everyone.” Henry's booming voice fills the patio, and everyone stops what they are doing.
Wren moves first, rushing to him and wrapping him in a hug.
That smile right there on my baby sister's face is why I can’t tell them.
From the corner of my eye, I see Brooke moving toward me. I hold my arms out for her, and she settles into my side, her hand sliding across my lower back to hold onto me.
Henry looks at us with zero emotion before he moves on to my next sibling, greeting them all as if I weren’t here.
“I have Wren’s gift in my office. Come with me to grab it,” I whisper into Brooke's ear.
She nods, moving the hand now wrapped in a bandage into mine as I pull her behind me.
We weave through the halls of the lodge, and once we are in my office, I close the door behind us.
“Oh, it feels good in here,” Brookes says, sitting on the edge of my desk. “The thermostat seems to be fixed, which is a bummer because I’d been hoping you would show me more pictures of you reading steamy books with your shirt off.”
I chuckle, remembering that day very well, how every word of that scene made me think of Brooke.
I stalk toward her, rest a palm on the desk on either side of her, my lips dangerously close to hers but not touching.
“If you want to see me in this office with no clothes on, Books, you’re going to have to take them off for me.”
“You don’t have to tell me twice,” she says.
“Good.”
She puts her hands on my shirt and starts to bunch it up higher until I’m forced to lift my hands for her to pull it over my head. Undressing me with one hand isn’t an easy task.
She closes her eyes and her head falls back, exposing her neck to me. I brush a soft kiss to her silky soft skin, slowly trailing kisses down the front of her V-neck top.
Then my lips are on her desperately. In a way that says I need you now more than ever. It’s been too long since we last kissed.
My hands smooth around her back and pull her to the edge of the desk to meet my body, but I’m too fucking tall to feel her where I need her most, so I pick her up and move us to the couch along the back wall.
I sit, letting her straddle me. Then I run my hands up her thighs, moving the skirt she’s been wearing higher and higher until I spot the light pink panties covering her pussy.
I tear them.
She gasps. “Dutton, now I have to go back out there with no underwear on.”
There is a smile on her face as she scolds me.
“Or,” I say and grin at her, “you’ll be too busy thinking about how I just fucked you in my office and my cum is starting to run down your inner thighs to think about the fact you aren’t wearing panties.”
Her smile disappears, and her chest expands on an inhale. Then she’s kissing me hard and grinding on my lap with pure desire. I reach between us and brush my thumb against her clit.
“Fuck,” she whispers in my ear, her lips now on my neck. “Do that again.”
The moment I do, she starts to unbuckle my pants. Once she has them undone, I lift my hips for her to pull them down just enough to free my firm cock. She wraps her hand around it and starts to stroke it.
“Damnit, Books, how in the hell does a hand job make me harder?”
“Just wait,” she says and a wicked smile touches her lips.
I watch as her hand reaches between her legs. She moans the moment she touches herself, but then she pulls her hand out and uses her own arousal to lubricate my cock.
Fuck.
Fucking hell that is hot.
She strokes me faster and faster. When she just can’t take it anymore, she scoots back up my lap and rubs her wet pussy against me.
I grip her hips to steady her and help her keep the pace.
I don’t want this to end.
I never want this to end.
My tip nudges her entrance, and I let my head fall back.
Fuck.
Her eyes lock with mine.
My cock jumps as she positions me against her wetness. Then she lowers herself slowly, pausing when she’s fully seated with my cock inside her.
Goddamn, she feels perfect.
So warm. So wet. So mine.
“Dutton,” she moans into my ear, and the pleading way she says it is like she’s reading my mind.
Anytime we have sex, it’s captivating, and the connection we have is unmatched.
“I know, Books. I know.”
Then I grip her hips and gently move her back and forth. Each time I slip away from her, I hate it, but then I slide her back over me, and it’s pure ecstasy all over again.
Our movements become quicker, jerkier. As if that sensation of bliss is building faster than either of us expected.
“Shit,” she says and then moans so loudly, I swear she’s beckoning my orgasm out of me.
“I’m close, baby.”
“Me, too,” she says and then bites my shoulder. “Dutton!”
Her walls spasm around me and grip me so tight, drawing my own release right along with hers. I flip us mid-orgasm, never letting us part, and pumping my hips to drag it out.
“Oh my god,” she calls out as everything starts to calm inside of me.
I swear to the god she called that I blacked out just now.
Voices outside the hall steal our attention and I back up, pulling out. But before pulling my pants back up, I glance at her core and see my cum spilling out of her.
Without thinking twice, I reach for her, scoop it up with two fingers, and push it back inside of her.
“I want you to think of me for the rest of the night, remember?”
She bites her lip and nods, her sedated gaze turning heated as I press my fingers in and out of her.
Fuck.
I’m ready to sink inside of her again right now.
“Stop looking at me like that,” she says after I manage to keep my hands to myself and adjust my pants.
“Like what?”
She moves to the mirror by the door, fixing her hair. “Like a man who just can’t get enough.”
I buckle my belt and wrap my hand around her, looking at our reflection in the mirror.
“I can’t,” I tell her and kiss her cheek as she keeps her eyes on me in the mirror.
She smirks.
“Good.”
I keep my gaze on her for another moment before hearing voices outside again.
“All right, let’s grab this present and give ourselves thirty more minutes.”
“That's it?” She turns, and the concern on her face is clear as day. “You don’t want to spend more time with your family?”
I shake my head.
“What I want is to spend more time with you.”
I spin her and then spank her butt.
She laughs as she walks out the door and heads down the hall to the bar. I follow her, watching her hips sway with every step.
She glances over her shoulder with a cheeky grin. “Just so you know, I’m already reminded of you in just these ten steps.”
My jaw ticks and she laughs, walking out to the patio.
Yeah, as soon as this half hour is up, she’s all mine.
And I'm going to make sure she knows it.