Until July

  “Saw that.” He kisses the skin behind my ear, pulling me deeper into him with a hand on my stomach. “I’m not sleeping under the same roof as you and not sleeping next to you.”

  “Oh,” I breathe. My body begins to wake up as his hips press forward so that his cock rests right between the cheeks of my ass. He feels huge and thick, and just thinking about it causes a shiver to slide down my spine.

  “Shhh,” he hushes me when I whimper as he lifts my tank top and rests his hand against the skin of my stomach. Every nerve in my body is in tune with him, every one of them reaching out to him, waiting for his touch.

  “Wes,” I whisper into the dark as his fingers slide along the elastic of my panties, causing the muscles in my lower abdomen to contract.

  His hips shift forward again, making my lungs freeze in anticipation and a rush of wetness to spread between my legs. Squeezing my eyes closed, I wait for his touch. His fingers move slowly down my pubic bone and over the bare lips of my pussy. I let out a harsh breath as the muscles of his body coil behind me and his fingers slip through my folds.

  “I haven’t even touched you and you’re fucking soaked,” he breathes against my ear while sliding a finger inside me, only to move it out again. His hand on my hip forces me to my back and he looms over me, the light of the moon making it possible to see him. His head lowers and his breath whispers against my lips. “Open your legs, baby.”

  My knees had bent and my thighs had somehow locked together, his fingers again playing along the edge of my panties. I fight myself for only a brief moment before sliding my legs apart. His teeth bite into my bottom lip, making me gasp. His tongue slips into my mouth and two fingers glide between my folds, over my clit, and into me, making my back arch and a loud moan to leave my mouth into his.

  My nails dig into his shoulders as he slowly works his fingers in and out of me, each thrust creating a slow burn. He moves again; this time, he slips between my spread legs pulls my tank top off over my head then lowers his body causing the cold metal of the necklace he wears to slide between my breasts.

  Sliding one hand down his chest under the edge of his boxers, I wrap my hand around him. My pussy convulses when I feel how wide and long he is. I know the first time he enters me he’ll steal my breath.

  He pulls his mouth away and places his forehead to mine. “I swear I know how you’ll taste by the way you smell, like vanilla and citrus. Your pussy would be sweet and tangy.”

  “Oh, God,” I whimper, lifting my hips and pressing into his hand while pumping him faster.

  “Your pussy is greedy for my fingers and soaking my hand. I want inside of you.” He groans against my mouth as my hand squeezes and pumps.

  “Yes,” I hiss, and he closes his eyes like he’s in pain then opens again, making my breath pause.

  “Not tonight, but soon.” His thumb circles my clit in sync with my hand that’s wrapped around him. I pump faster and his fingers pull up against my g-spot, making my legs shake and causing the slow burn to spread like wildfire until I’m screaming his name. His head drops to my shoulder and he groans my name against the skin of my neck as bright lights fill my vision, and my pussy sucks greedily at his fingers that are still deep inside of me as his hot cum shoots across my belly.

  My eyes close and my body completely relaxes, his heavy weight cocooning me, making me feel complete.

  “I’ma get you cleaned up,” he whispers. I nod, unable to speak, not even able to open my eyes, because my body is completely lax from my orgasm. “You’re gonna need to let go of my dick.” I hear the smile in his voice and my hand drops. I feel him leave the bed only to come back a few minutes later with a warm cloth that he uses to wipe gently between my legs and over my stomach. I hear a splat near my bathroom and smile as he lies back down with me, his body wrapping around mine.

  “Night,” I murmur, snuggling deeper into his embrace.

  “Night, baby.” He kisses my head and I sigh before drifting off to Dreamland.

  *

  My eyes travel over Wes, taking in his dark hair, tattoo-covered chest, and the necklace that is hanging around his neck…the necklace I felt glide between my breasts last night as he brought me to orgasm.

  He leans back against the counter behind him and lifts the cup of coffee to his mouth, taking a drink, watching me over the edge of the cup.

  I pull one leg up on the counter, wrap my arm around my calf, and take a bite of my bagel, ducking my head and trying to hide my blush. When I woke up this morning with his arms wrapped around me, his breath brushing against the back of my neck, I smiled. I have always been happy—my life is full; my family is amazing—but waking up wrapped in his arms was a different kind of happiness. It was something that was only mine.

  “I’ll be by the hospital to pick you up for lunch.”

  “Pardon?” I say when I’m finally able to swallow the bite of bagel I had taken.

  “Lunch, today.”

  “You were serious about that?”

  He closes the space between us and his hand cups my knee while his other hand wraps around the side of my neck. His thumb grazes the underside of my jaw and he lowers his mouth over mine, kissing me until I stop breathing.

  “I’m very serious about this,” he says when his mouth leaves mine and his thumb runs over my bottom lip.

  “It’s kind of hard to get away during the day,” I explain breathlessly.

  “I’ll bring food. I’m sure you can step away for thirty minutes to eat.”

  “I’ll try.”

  He smiles then steps back, leaning against the counter and crossing one bare foot over the other.

  “So, um…” My lips press together when I realize I have nothing to say, he smiles bigger and runs a hand over his hair, causing his abs to flex, making me fight myself when all I want to do is launch myself off of the counter and tackle him to the tile floor of my kitchen.

  “Babe, stop looking at me like that.”

  I take a large bite of my bagel to prevent myself from saying, ‘Or what?’ in hopes he will return with, ‘I will give you endless orgasms.’

  “Be back,” he mutters when his phone starts ringing from somewhere in the house. I say a silent thank you to whatever god that is preventing me from acting like an idiot, finish my bagel, and hop off the counter to wash my plate and cup, then feed Taser and Juice.

  “Is everything okay?” I ask when he comes back into the kitchen a few minutes later carrying his boots and shirt.

  “That was Mic; he just got to the shop and someone broke out the front window,” he says as his jaw clenches. He drops his boots to the floor and pulls his shirt on over his head then drops his ass onto my kitchen chair to put his boots on.

  “Listen.” He pulls me down to his lap and pushes the hair out of my face. “This is not on you, so get that out of your head and that look off your face.”

  “Isn’t it though?”

  “No,” he states firmly, squeezing my waist, and I go to stand up, knowing it’s pointless to argue with him, only to be pulled back down into his lap. His hand slides up into the back of my hair kissing me before standing us both.

  “See you later, baby.”

  “Later.” I say watching him shut the door behind him.

  *

  “I told you I didn’t need you to follow me!” Kayan yells over her shoulder at Z, who is sitting on his bike with his arms crossed over his chest, watching her with a smirk on his face.

  “Have a good day, Kitten,” Z tells her, and she shakes her head then storms over to me, stomping her feet across the gravel parking lot. When she reaches my side, she grabs my arm and starts to pull me with her towards the door of the building.

  “Can I close the door to my car and get my coffee?” I ask her while trying to control my laughter.

  “This isn’t funny,” she pouts, reading my face. “This is all your fault. Thanks to you, I had to have that guy in my house last night and this morning.”

  “I could think of much
worse problems, honey,” I tell her, slamming my door with my hip and grabbing my to-go coffee cup off the roof of my car.

  “You would think so. He was shirtless in my house. Who gets undressed in front of people they don’t know then struts around showing off their body?” She blows a piece of hair out of her face, which has turned a nice shade of pink.

  “You like him.” I smile, laughing at her.

  “I do not like him.” She frowns, watching as he pulls out of the parking lot.

  “Sure, you don’t.”

  “I don’t,” she says, stomping past me as soon as I get the door open. “And if he thinks he’s staying at my house tonight, he has another thing coming!” I hear her yell as I go to my office. I shake my head and put away all my stuff before heading out front to see who my first patient is.

  As I walk around the corner, I stop dead. The guy we followed to the bar is standing in front of the reception desk with his hands on top of it and his body leaning over the counter.

  “Can I help you?” I ask then sweep my eyes over my friend to make sure she’s okay.

  “Like I was just telling your friend, you guys need to mind your business.”

  “I need to mind my business?” I step toward him and poke my finger in his chest. “You made whatever it is you’re doing my business when you started dropping dead dogs off at my hospital.”

  “I was trying to do the right thing, but I won’t be able to save your stupid asses again. They will kill you,” he says, and I take in his appearance. He looks younger than I first thought. He’s maybe twenty-one. His hair is covered with a baseball cap that is sheading on the brim. His eyes are a crystal blue that is almost startling, and you can see stress and exhaustion in his gaze.

  “I know people who can help you,” I tell him gently, but his eyes change and he takes a step back. “They can help; I promise.”

  “Just mind your fucking business,” he shouts then turns around and pushes so hard against the door that the glass cracks as it hits the outside of the building.

  “I wonder what we’re missing,” I say aloud as I watch him pull out of the parking lot.

  “I don’t know, but he seems scared,” Kayan says, and I see her eyes are still on the door.

  “Yeah,” I agree, swallowing.

  “Do you want me to call Wes or Z and tell them what just happened?” she asks, and I look at her and shake my head. I know the first thing Wes would do is track down the kid, and I don’t think that boy could handle anything else right now.

  “No, if anything else happens, I’ll tell him,” I promise.

  She eyes me doubtfully, but nods her head anyways. The rest of the day passes without much drama, and I’m even able to stop and have a quick lunch with Wes in my office. I avoid telling him about the kid, and manage to find out from him that the window at his shop was broken with a brick. He believes whoever did it was probably young and dumb, so he didn’t believe it had anything to do with me.

  Chapter 8

  “Who stopped by this morning?” Wes asks as he walks through the door to my house. I look at him then my front door and wonder how the hell he was able to get in. I’m pretty sure I locked the door when I came home.

  “How did you get in?” I question, feeling my brows pull together.

  “I have a key. Now tell me who stopped by the hospital this morning.”

  “Um…pardon?” I cross my arms over my chest, ignoring the fact that he somehow found out the dog guy stopped by to warn me off, while zeroing in on the fact he just said he has a key to my house.

  “You heard me; don’t play dumb.”

  “Yeah, I heard you.” I lean forward and point at my front door. “You have a key to my house that I never gave to you.”

  “That shit doesn’t matter. Now, tell me what the fuck you were thinking keeping that from me.”

  “No, you tell me how you think it’s okay to take a key to my house that I never gave you.”

  “You think I don’t know what you’re doing?” He points a finger at me and a vein in his neck begins to pulse. “Answer my question before I take you into your room and spank your ass,” he roars, and I take a step back.

  “Do not threaten me¸” I hiss.

  “Do you know what can happen to you? Do you understand the guys this kid and his father are involved with drug women until they have no idea what their doing and put them on the street, only letting them quit when they are broken and can no longer make them money? Do you want to be one of those women? Do you think I want to come looking for you, only to find out you have been kidnapped and sold into prostitution?”

  “Stop,” I whisper as tears fill my eyes and my bottom lip begins to tremble.

  “Do you think your family will understand that it happened because you were so bullheaded?”

  “Please stop,” I tell him, taking a seat on the couch. “I didn’t know, and he looked scared. I didn’t want you to go after him.”

  “That is something you could’ve said when you talked to me about it,” he says quietly.

  “He looked scared,” I repeat, lifting my eyes to meet his. “I don’t know what happened to him, but he looked terrified, and I could tell he didn’t want us to get hurt.”

  He nods and gets down in front of me, taking my hands in his. “His dad owns Mamma’s Country. It was one of the first places me and my boys started going to when we moved to town. His dad is a good man, but over the last couple months, he’s gotten mixed up with some bad dudes. We don’t know what’s going on, but my guess is he owes these guys money.”

  “Can you help them?”

  His eyes search my face then he mutters a quiet, “Fuck,” as he pulls his hands from mine, stands, and runs his palms over his head.

  “He’s been bringing me dogs, even if they’re on their last leg. I know the person running the fights isn’t telling him to drop them to me, so that leads me to believe he’s a good person.”

  He gets back down in front of me and swipes away a tear I didn’t know had begun to fall.

  “Me and Jax are looking into what’s going on. If I can help him, I will.”

  “Thank you.”

  “You’re a pain in my ass,” he says, shaking his head, but the words are soft, and so is the look in his eyes. I take a much-needed breath and then remember we were fighting about the key before he somehow turned this around on me.

  “So, how did you get a key to my house?” I ask, and he stands back up and crosses his arms over his chest.

  “I took it off one of your key rings.” He shrugs.

  “Do you think that’s something I should maybe give to you willingly?”

  “How long do you think it would take for you to give me a key?” he asks, looking down on me, so I stand up, wanting to have every advantage I can get. Even if the advantage is just a couple feet.

  “I don’t know.” I shrug. I don’t even know why I’m arguing with him about this. It doesn’t even matter he has a key. I would have given him one if he asked me to. Even if we have only been an us for a few days this seemed like something bigger then I could ever even understand.

  He looks me over and his eyes drop to my mouth. I cover it with my hand and he smirks.

  “We’re back there, huh?” he questions, taking a step towards me. I take a step back and my knees hit the couch, and I fall to my ass on the soft cushion. “Now you’re caught.” He smiles, putting his fist into the couch on each side of me.

  “What are you going to do to me?” I question, and his eyes heat as they roam over me.

  “I can think of a few things, but you’re gonna need to uncover that hot mouth of yours.”

  “We need to eat,” I tell him, uncovering my mouth and placing my hands on his shoulders.

  “Eating is definitely on my list of things to do.”

  “Holy crap,” I whisper, and he lowers his mouth over mine.

  “July, open the door right now.” Kayan yells from outside breaking into the moment.

  “
Goddammit,” Wes growls, punching the cushion next to my hip and looking at the door.

  “Kitten,” is growled, and the pounding gets more frantic. I regretfully slip out from under Wes and go to the door, opening it up only to close it back again when I see that Z has Kayan in his arms, his hand tangled in her hair and his mouth on hers.

  “My neighbors are going to sign a petition for me to leave the neighborhood,” I tell Wes, shaking my head.

  “You can’t just kiss people,” I hear my friend say breathlessly from the other side of the door, and I open it again and move out of the way as she comes tumbling into the house, Z catching her around the waist before her face hits the hardwood floor.

  “What’s going on?” I ask as he rights her and she swipes his hands away from her waist.

  “I came to make sure you were okay,” she tells me, looking between Wes and me.

  “Why wouldn’t I be okay?” I frown.

  “I may have been frustrated about Z being at my house when I got home and told him about the guy coming to the hospital. I told him not to tell Wes, but no sooner did the words leave my mouth did this big lug call Wes.” She points at Z, who is smiling at her. She glares at him in return, only to have his smile become wider. “You’re annoying.”

  “You’ve said that, Kitten,” Z tells her.

  “You couldn’t call?” Wes asks, and I look at him and narrow my eyes.

  “Don’t be rude.”

  “I’m hungry,” he states, making my core tighten.

  “I’m hungry too,” Kayan says, and my eyes leave Wes when his head tilts back so that he can look at the ceiling.

  “I was going to make tacos.” I sigh.

  “Do you have enough?” Kayan asks.

  “No,” Wes says as I say, “Yes.”

  “Yes, I have plenty.” I narrow my eyes on Wes, daring him to say something else. “Why don’t you help me make dinner, while Wes and Z do guy stuff.”

  “Guy stuff.” Wes shakes his head, looking at Z.

  “Yeah, drink beer, scratch your balls…guy stuff.” I throw my hands up in the air then roll my eyes when Z laughs.

  “I’m going to start cooking,” my poor, distressed friend says, walking to the kitchen.