“I need you in me,” I tell him, fumbling with his belt buckle, while his lips close around my nipple, sucking deep. “Oh, God,” I whimper, when his fingers pull on my neglected nipple, tugging the tip, causing my hands to lose purchase on his belt and my back to arch.
Releasing my breast, he rolls to his back. His hands finish unhooking his belt and the button of his jeans. “Mouth around my cock, baby,” he growls, sending a thrill down my spine as his hips lift, exposing everything that is him. Helping him get his boots and jeans off, his knees lift and his hand wraps around the base of his cock, stroking once. Moving between his spread thighs, I wrap my hand over his and glide down his length, holding his gaze. “Give me that mouth.”
Leaning over him, his hand and mine move together as I lick across his lips. His free hand tangles in the hair at the back of my head, bringing me closer so he can kiss me deeper before his hand tightens and he forces me back an inch, then more pressure as he guides my face down. The dominance in his move has wetness spreading between my legs.
Licking around the tip, I slide my mouth down, meeting our hands. His hand moves from under mine to over it as I swirl my tongue and take him deep. “Jesus, your fucking mouth,” he mutters, and my free hand moves up his thigh, cupping his balls gently as I twist my other hand up with every downward glide of my mouth. Working him over, I feel him tense, and then his hand in my hair tightens once more as he pulls me away from his cock.
“I wasn’t done,” I tell him.
“You can do it again later,” he mutters, wrapping his arm around my back.
“I was doing it now,” I complain, as he moves me to my back, tosses my legs around his hips, and slams into me hard.
“You can do it again later,” he repeats, sliding out.
“Later,” I agree, pulling his mouth down to mine. His tongue slides in as his hand moves between us, zeroing in on my clit.
God, yes.
“You’re soaked, baby,” he groans, going deeper as I lift my hips higher off the bed.
“I know,” I agree, running my hands down his back and grabbing on to his ass, feeling his muscles contract as he plows into me. “I’m going to come,” I whisper, shoving my face into his neck, while he circles my clit faster and his hips buck into mine so hard that my breath catches.
“Hold it.”
“I can’t,” I whimper, digging my nails into his skin.
“Hold it, baby.”
“Ev, I can’t!” I cry out, trying, really trying, to hold it off, but the way it’s building, I know there is no way I will be able to hold the orgasm back once it takes over.
No way at all.
“Fuck, baby, come,” he growls, and I do. I come hard as his fingers pinch my clit, tugging once. My body arches and my legs tighten as he rides me out, thrusting twice more before planting himself deep inside of me.
Breathing heavily, my arms and legs tighten around him farther and my face moves to his shoulder, pressing there as waves of pleasure course though me. My skin feels undone and my limbs feel like jelly. “You okay?” he asks, pressing a kiss to my neck, dropping his elbow to the bed, while his hand sifts through my hair.
“Yeah,” I whisper, leaning back to look at him.
“Good,” he whispers back, and his face goes soft as the next words leave his mouth. “I saw it, baby,”
“Saw what?” I question, studying him and thinking he is beautiful.
“What you’re afraid to say. What you’re afraid to admit to yourself…to me.”
“Ev…” Tears fill my eyes as my heart speeds up.
“I know it’s there already. Maybe it never left, but I saw it, and I want it.”
“I…” I close my eyes, wishing I could make him understand what I’m feeling, why I’m so afraid.
“I’m not going anywhere. I’m not letting you go anywhere either.” His fingers sift through my hair again, and my eyes open to meet his.
“I believe you.” And I do. I see it in the way he looks at me, feel it in the way he touches me. I know deep in my gut he’s telling the truth, but I’m still afraid.
“I hate that you don’t have my last name anymore. It killed me when Colton introduced you as my wife and I knew it wasn’t true.”
“I didn’t like it either,” I say, as he rolls us to our sides, effectively severing our connection, and then adjusting me so I’m draped over him.
“He didn’t know. His mom and dad knew, because I worked the bar with them, and they eventually dug it out of me. But he didn’t know.”
“It sucked, but it’s okay. He’s nice. I can see why you two are friends.”
“He’s a good guy,” he agrees, running his fingers down my spine. My eyes start to drift closed. The three orgasms I had, his touch, and the sound of his heartbeat against my ear lull me close to sleep. “Gonna marry you again, baby,” he says quietly, and with those words ringing in my ears, I fall asleep smiling.
Chapter 10
Evan
Tossing the ball for Ninja into the backyard, I pull my cell out of my back pocket when it rings, and sigh once I get a look at the caller ID. I’ve been avoiding this phone call for the last week, but I know I need to get it over with.
“Hello,” I answer, picking up the ball once more, watching Ninja take off before it is even out of my hand.
“I’ve been calling,” my mother says, and I can hear the drunken twinge in her tone even over the phone.
“Been busy.”
“Too busy for your family?” she asks snidely, and I grit my teeth. There was a time I wanted nothing more than to help my family, to fix what was broken between us, but I learned early on that shit was impossible. “Your brother is in jail,” she informs me, and that anger I felt when I watched the tapes of him pawning June’s shit comes back, coursing through my veins.
Seeing her sitting on JJ’s couch, wrapped in nothing but a towel, holding a pair of scissors in a death grip—it’s a vision that will haunt me for a long fucking time.
“And?” I ask, as Ninja bumps my leg with his nose then looks at the ball he dropped at my feet, telling me to pick it up.
“You don’t care?” she asks.
“He broke into June’s house, stole her shit, and pawned it. So, no, I don’t give a fuck.”
I hear her enraged huff on the other end of the line. “He’s your brother, your blood!” she cries, and I imagine her pacing the small living room of her house, ripping her hand through her hair in aggravation, or going to the kitchen and pulling down the bottle of vodka from the cupboard.
“He’s my blood, but he’s not my brother,” I say low.
Silence from her, and then, “He’s had a hard time. You… you were gone. And your dad is hard on him. He’s always been hard on you boys.”
“Stop making excuses for him,” I grit out. “Yeah, I know Dad can be hard. I know he’s mostly an asshole, but I also see why.”
“You’re agreeing with the things he’s done, how he’s treated your brother and me?” she asks in quiet disbelief.
“You’re a drunk,” I whisper, hearing her sharp intake of breath over the line. None of us has ever said it out loud, but we all know it’s true. A dirty secret. Something everyone’s been denying or avoids talking about since I can remember. “Jay’s a drug addict, and you denying your problems along with his isn’t helping. I don’t agree with Dad taking a hand to us in anger when we were younger, but you’re a part of the problem, part of his problem, part of Jay’s problem. You guys are all toxic, and together, you’re a fuckin’ deadly combination.”
“Oh, now you’re too good for us? June took you back, so now you don’t care about your family?”
Fuck. For as long as I can remember, it’s always been the same shit—guilt, and manipulation until they get what they want, whatever that might be.
“I’m starting my family with June,” I say quietly.
“I can’t believe you would do this,” she whispers. “I can’t believe you’re turning your bac
k on us.”
“I don’t want my kids around your mess. You, as my mother, should have protected me from Dad, and Dad should have protected me from you and your drinking. Neither of you did that, but I’m going to protect my kids from all of you.”
“I’m not a drunk.”
“You drink every fucking day, every fucking day. You don’t even know what it’s like to be sober.”
“If I was a drunk, how would I keep the same job for the last fifteen years?”
“Why the fuck am I even doing this shit right now? I’m not debating this shit with you, and honestly, Mom, you need to admit that shit to yourself. You need help.”
“So this is it? You’re just done with us?” she asks, and fuck me, but I wish it didn’t come to this. I can’t have their kind of poison in my life, though. I may not’ve been able to do anything growing up to shield myself from them, but I won’t let June or any kids we have, have contact with their toxic way of life. I won’t let them suffer the way I did, believing it’s okay for people to show up only when they need something, and then disappearing until they need something else.
“You get your shit together and we’ll talk, but I’m not helping you bail Jay out, and if you’re smart, you won’t help him either. He needs to grow the fuck up.”
“I liked June, but now I’m seeing I shouldn’t have,” she hisses, and my stomach knots.
“She’s the best thing that ever happened to me, the one fucking thing I have in my life that’s good and pure. You should want that for me,” I say, then pull the phone from my ear and press End.
Fuck.
Putting my hand to the back of my neck, my eyes drop to my boots, and then I feel hands slide around my waist and June’s warm body press to my back. Dropping my hand from my neck, I cover hers.
“Are you okay?” she asks softly. My answer is an immediate, “Fuck yeah.” Having her back in my life, knowing the future we’re building together, makes everything else seem really fucking unimportant.
Her body moves to the front of mine and my hands settle on her hips as she searches my gaze. “That phone call seemed…” She pauses, looking up before meeting my gaze again. “Kinda sad.”
“The only thing sad about it is how in denial my mother is when it comes to the fact that her family is in shambles and the role she plays in that. That, baby, is sad,” I agree, giving her a squeeze.
“I’m sorry,” she whispers, dropping her forehead to my chest, and that alone is enough to make me fall in love with her all over again.
“It was going to happen. I’ve been putting that phone call and that conversation off for awhile.”
“I only caught the last part,” she confides quietly, like I’m gonna be pissed she was eavesdropping, when she absolutely wasn’t.
“Then you heard the most important part. Unless a miracle occurs and my mother gets help, she’s out of my life for good.”
Her head tips back at that and her eyes meet mine, looking confused. “I… when we were together…” She pauses again. “You didn’t seem to have a problem with her.”
“I didn’t have contact with her often, baby.” I give her a squeeze then move us toward one of the chairs and tug her down into my lap. “I had my own place,” I say, wrapping my arms around her waist. “Jay was in jail, and my dad was doing what he’s always done, meaning he took off for parts unknown. When she’s not surrounded by them, she’s not sober, but she doesn’t drink as much,” I say, as she tucks her head under my chin and pulls her legs up, so her knees are pressed to my side and her arms are around my waist.
“Has she ever tried to get help?” she asks, and I run my hands along her smooth skin from the edge of her shorts to her knees.
“No one’s ever told her, as far as I know, that they know she has a problem.”
“How can that be?” she asks quietly, putting her hand against my chest, sitting up, and turning in my lap to study me.
“At first, she hid it well, but then it became our norm to find empty vodka bottles shoved under the sink in the kitchen or the bathroom behind things or full ones tucked away carefully, where she thought we wouldn’t find them. We knew she was hiding it, and I’m guessing, like me, my dad and my brother didn’t want to be the ones to bring it to her attention that they knew what she was doing.”
“Until now,” she says, leaning in and running her finger over my bottom lip.
“Until now,” I agree, grabbing her hand, kissing her fingers, and then wrapping my hand around her neck. I pull her close, kiss her forehead, and tuck her head back under my chin to hold her against my chest.
“Do you think you bringing it to her attention will wake her up?” she asks softly after a few moments.
“Probably not, but I learned awhile back to never say never,” I answer just as quietly, and her body goes tight before melting further into mine. “What do you want to do for dinner, beautiful?” I ask, wanting to take her mind off of her thoughts. I know she’s scared. I can feel her fear. See it seeping into her eyes or her body on occasion, but I know there is nothing I can do but wait her out and let her see I’m not going anywhere.
“I don’t know. What do you want to do?” she answers, then sits up when her cell phone rings in the house. “I was looking for that earlier.” She kisses my chin, climbing off my lap. Shaking my head, I know she’s talking about her cell phone; she never has it, or is always leaving it someplace she can’t remember.
Whistling for Ninja, who’s walking the fence and sniffing the ground, his head comes up and he runs full tilt toward the house then in through the open backdoor. Walking into the house, I slide the door closed behind me and watch June stroll toward me through the kitchen, holding her cell phone to her ear.
“Um, sure, we can do that,” she murmurs and then asks, “What time?” She nods. “Okay, see you then.” She ends the call, taking the cell from her ear and tossing it in the vicinity of the couch to be lost once more.
Feeling my brows draw together, I ask, “What’s up?”
“Mom and Dad are having everyone over to their place in an hour, so they want us to come by,” she says quickly then bites her lip. “I guess now we don’t need to worry about dinner.”
Fuck!
I knew this was bound to happen. The Maysons are close. I knew this before, from stories June would tell me when we first got together, and then learned it firsthand when I moved to town. The difference between those times and now is that before, I had to suffer hearing about June and what she was up to secondhand from her uncles and cousins, and even her dad a couple times. Now, they know we’re together, and know we had been very fucking together, as in married, before. I don’t expect tonight to go well. The men in her family, just like her cousin Sage, who I’m still pissed at, are protective. I know this isn’t just a get-together. This is them wanting to see first hand June and I together.
“Do you want me to tell them we can’t go?” Feeling her hands on my chest, my gaze moves to her. I was so caught up in my thoughts, I didn’t even realize she had closed the distance between us.
“No, baby,” I mutter, wrapping my fingers around her hips.
“Are you sure? I don’t mind.”
“I’m sure,” I say on a squeeze. Her eyes search my face. Her mouth opens and closes, as if she wants to say something before thinking better of it, and then she lays her cheek to my chest, wrapping her arms tighter around my waist.
“It will be fun, I promise.”
“Not sure about that, baby.”
Her head tilts back and her bottom lip disappears between her teeth once more. “We don’t have to go.”
“Do you love your family?” I ask, and her face softens when she nods. “Then we do. I’m not going to let us have them between us.” I know she knows what I’m saying. I should have done so much shit differently before, but this time, I’m not going to make the same mistakes.
“We can leave early if it becomes…” She pauses, giving me a small smile. “Intense.”
br /> Ignoring her comment, I pull her closer, until her body is pressed the length of mine, and breathe against her mouth “You can make it up to me tonight.”
“I can do that,” she replies, leaning even closer.
“What do you want, baby?” I smile down at her, watching her eyes slide half-mast.
“You to kiss me,” she murmurs, pressing closer, rolling up onto her toes, but still not close enough to reach my mouth. Sliding my arm around her waist, I haul her up and drop my mouth to hers, kissing her until I hear her moan then rip my mouth away and rest my forehead against hers, breathing in through my nose in an attempt to get myself under control.
“Let’s cancel,” she says, and my eyes open, meeting hers.
“Go get ready,” I say with a laugh, standing to my full height. “I’m gonna feed Ninja.”
“I’m really okay with not going,” she insists, sliding her hands up my chest to the back of my neck, putting pressure there.
“Baby, as much as I want to fuck you—and I really do want to fuck you right now—I can’t,” I mutter, clasping her wrists and pulling them from behind my neck.
“But—”
“Go get ready.” I kiss her swiftly then move away a step before I toss her over my shoulder and take her to bed, which is what I really fucking want to do, especially when she’s looking at me with heavy eyes, her nipples hard through her thin tank, and her lips swollen from my kiss. “Baby,” I growl.
Her eyes widen, as she says, “I’m gonna go get ready.”
“Good idea.” I grin, watching her ass sway as she takes off toward the bedroom.
*
“Here,” Sage says, holding out a beer to me while folding his body into the chair next to mine. Since our blow up, we haven’t spoken unless it has had to do with work. I’m still pissed about the shit he spewed, even if I do understand it.
Taking the beer, I mumble, “Thanks,” and move my eyes to where June is standing with her mom.
“Look,” Sage starts, and my eyes move from June to him. I watch him sit forward, putting his elbows to his knees. “I know you love her, and you’re still breathing, which means we all know you love her,” he says, and I raise a brow and his eyes narrow. “I’m trying to apologize.”