Tap

  She puts her hand to her face to cover it. “I feel sort of stupid thinking back on the texts I sent to Ollie about you. You knew I liked you. Shit, that I wanted you to kiss me.”

  I grasp her hand and take it from her face. “And reading those words thrilled me beyond anything you can imagine. It’s why I came back that night. To kiss you. I felt exactly the same as you, Wren, but wasn’t sure I could follow through on what I wanted.”

  “A whole month. And half of it happened after we met. After we had almost sex. That’s a pretty big deception. And it makes me wonder what other lies you’ve told.”

  Okay. Fair enough. “I have lied to you but only when it was required to keep Stout’s secret. Everything else is the truth. I swear that to you.”

  “Why was he so adamant to keep me from knowing about the DUI?”

  “He was ashamed but mostly he didn’t want to disappoint you. And I think he was afraid you’d hear the words substance abuse and freak out thinking he was some kind of addict like your birth parents.”

  “Ollie obviously didn’t give you permission to tell me this.” I hate all the deceit. Not only in the text messages, but in all the things I’ve withheld from Stout and Lawrence. That is not me.

  “No, and I’d be very grateful if you didn’t mention it, no matter how mad you are at him or me.” I don’t want to lie to Stout, even by omission, but I don’t need him to have grievance with me right now. Not while Wren and I are so new.

  Prior to meeting the Thorns, Lawrence was treated like shit, and that’s probably why she seems to hold people at arm’s length until she trusts them. I want her trust. I want her in my life, but I value Stout’s friendship and our work relationship as well. As much as I don’t like asking her to keep anything from her brother, I need to work on us now.

  She’s quiet for a moment, and I adore that she isn’t simply throwing me out on my ass for deceiving her. This could be it, and fuck if I don’t hate putting us both in this position. But it could cause trouble later. And I want to start things with a clean slate.

  Finally, she looks up at me with her beautiful blue eyes, and I think I see forgiveness and understanding in her expression. Her eyebrows rise, and a small smile graces her lips. “You could have kept this from me. I would have likely never found out unless something slipped.”

  “I couldn’t chance you finding out a year from now and it causing trouble with us.”

  She twists to look at me. “A year from now, huh?”

  “Maybe. It could happen.”

  Wren moves over me, one knee on each side of my hips. She sucks my earlobe into her mouth and gently bites it. “Just for that, you’re about to get the best morning sex ever.”

  I'm scared as hell to want this woman. But here I am, wanting her in the bluntest of ways. Her mouth and hands are all over me. My cock inside her. “Something tells me I’m going to enjoy the fuck out of this.”

  * * *

  Wren looks hot as hell in her swimsuit. How the hell am I going to keep my eyes off her? Good thing I’m wearing dark shades.

  I’ve hopped from one deception to another. I hate that. I wish Stout could be open-minded about Wren and me.

  I’m ready to tell him everything but Wren insists it’s a good idea to keep things on the down-low for now. I guess she’s right. No need to stir a stink if things don’t work out for us. But I’m really hoping they do. I plan on giving it my all. That’s how much I like her.

  Stout elbows me as we follow Wren and Kelsey to the beach. “Damn, look at that ass on Kelsey. I’d love to sink my teeth into it.”

  Wren stops and turns, giving Stout the evil eye. “Shut up, jerk face. She could hear you.”

  “She’s not going to hear me.”

  “I did, you big dummy.”

  We find a spot on the beach and the girls help us set up our stuff. “Not very crowded today,” Stout says.

  “It’s getting late in the summer for vacationers. I’m already seeing a decline in tourists coming into the shop.” I hadn’t considered Wren’s boutique being seasonal because of vacationers but it makes sense.

  She peers at me over her glasses. “Maybe I can make some more trips to Birmingham since things are slowing down.” Yes. I would like that very much.

  “I enjoy Tybee more when it’s not crowded.” Kelsey flips the top on the cooler. “Still hot as hell though. Who wants a brewski?”

  “Me,” we say in a trio.

  Kelsey does the distributing. I get a Pale Hazel while Wren ends up with an IPA. “You take this one since it’s your favorite. I’ll take the India Pale.”

  “Thank you, Lucas. That’s sweet.”

  Stout looks at us as we make the swap. “Well, that was just fucking beautiful. I think the two of you could bring world peace.”

  “Shut up. I’m being a gentleman.” While you’re being a jackass.

  “Dude, you pretend to be a gentleman when you’re after a piece of ass.” He points at Wren and Kelsey. “You ain’t gettin’ none from either of them.” I can’t help but gloat about our secret, thankful I am getting some of that. A very hot piece of that.

  “All this bullshit about me being some kind of manwhore is getting old. I haven’t fucked around in a while.”

  “What’s a while?” Stout asks.

  Wren leans up and looks at me. She wants to hear my answer.

  I met her almost five weeks ago. I guess it was probably a couple of weeks before that. “Going on two months.”

  “Any particular reason?”

  Wren is still looking at me, interested in my discussion with Stout. “There’s a very special reason.” I’m in danger of grinning at Wren, and blowing our secret, so I look away.

  “Finally catch something?” Stout chuckles.

  I’m certain I’ve caught a bad case of infatuation. “I’ve found someone.”

  “You find lots of someones.”

  “No. I’ve found one someone. And I really like her. I don’t want to mess things up.”

  Stout slides his glasses down his nose for an unobstructed view. “You are shittin’ me.”

  “I’m not.”

  “Who is she?”

  “I’m keeping that to myself until we decide to go public.”

  Kelsey sighs. “Oh my God. A secret love affair. That is so romantic.”

  Wren is wearing her sunglasses so I can’t see her eyes. I wish I could though. “That is very romantic, Lucas. She’s a lucky girl.”

  “This beats any damn thing I’ve ever seen. Lucas Broussard is contemplating settling down.”

  “I think I could for this girl.” I really do.

  Lawrence Thorn

  “I was going to ask you what you thought about me making a play for Lucas but I guess that’s a no-go since the good-looking Cajun is already in love.”

  “I’m not sure he said he was in love.”

  “Sure as hell sounded like it to me.”

  Kelsey is one of my closest friends and I’ve not mentioned a word to her about my fling with Brou. I saw no reason to after Birmingham because nothing panned out. But now, we’ve made this agreement to try things. I’m dying to tell her what’s been happening between us.

  I look at Brou sitting in his lounger on the beach. “He is very good-looking, isn’t he?”

  “Hell, yeah. And that accent is almost enough to put me on my back.” She can forget getting on her back for him. He’s mine.

  “I know the woman he’s talking about.”

  “Lucky bitch, right?”

  “Yes. I am.”

  Kelsey slaps her hand along the top of the water, sending saltwater into my mouth and eyes. “Whudda fugue, Lawry? Spill it. How did this come about?”

  “I met him when I went to Birmingham for the sneak attack on Ollie.”

  She splashes me again. “That was a while ago, hooker. Why is this the first time I’m hearing about this?”

  “We met and had this crazy, instant attraction. We both felt it but knew it might caus
e business trouble between him and Ollie. I was bummed but I understood and didn’t want to be the reason for a fallout.”

  “Understandable but obviously it didn’t end there.”

  “He came to Ollie’s apartment the next day and the attraction was freaking insane. We couldn’t fight the pull.” We were like a magnet and steel.

  Kelsey growls. “You fucked that delicious bearded man and didn’t tell me?”

  “We didn’t get that far. Ollie came in on us. Five minutes later and he would have probably caught us in the act.” I close my eyes and scrunch my nose as I suppress a squeal. “Gah, cockblocked by my own brother.”

  “And yet the story still doesn’t end there.”

  “I left and we didn’t talk or text all month. I decided he wasn’t into me but then, bam. He shows up out of the blue at the shop on Friday night.”

  “When you were supposed to go out with Lee after closing?”

  “Yeah. I canceled.”

  “Of course you did.”

  I bob up and down in the water wetting my shoulders so I can cool off. “We’ve been together every minute since he arrived.”

  Kelsey looks over the top of her glasses. “And every night?”

  “Oh . . . yeah.”

  “I need deets.”

  “I’m crazy about him.”

  “Aww . . . are you in love with him?” I can’t believe she’s asking me that. She knows I don’t go around falling in love.

  “I’m in lust with him.”

  She lifts a brow at me. “And?”

  “Okay. I like him. A lot.” My heart races as I hear my voice admit that to someone beside myself. It feels like a wall is crumbling around me. It’s scary as hell but I like it.

  “I’ve never heard you say that about any man.”

  “I can’t explain what it is about him but he makes me feel safe.” Maybe because he’s Ollie’s friend and there’s an assumption, on my part, he won’t hurt me for fear of my brother killing him.

  “How fuckable is he?”

  “He’s out of this world, Kel. He makes sure I come, usually before him. And multiple times.” No man has ever done that for me.

  “So jelly.” She should be.

  Xavier was too rough and possessive. David was always high and would end up spacing out in the middle. Isaiah was a freak, always begging me to let him fuck me in the ass because he wanted to claim it. The other two were simply unimpressionable.

  But Brou is perfect. And it scares the hell out of me. I can’t stand the uncertainty of knowing I’m all in and he could decide to end this at anytime. But it’s a risk I’m willing to take.

  “He says I’ve bewitched him but I swear I’m the one who’s enchanted.”

  “And Stout doesn’t know?”

  I shake my head. “We opted to see where things go before we tell him. No need in causing a ruckus if we part in two weeks.”

  “But you’d love to see this be successful. I can see it all over your face.”

  Am I that obvious? “I want this but it’s iffy from the start because we live so far apart. I don’t know how the long distance thing will go.”

  “All you can do is try it out and see.”

  I look in Brou’s direction on the beach again. “I’m giving him one hundred percent.”

  There are so many layers to Brou, some very damaged. He says he never wants to marry again or have children. That’s fine for now. But we want different things. It could become a deal breaker for me in the future.

  “Here he comes. I’ll go flirt with Stout and keep him occupied so he doesn’t have time to notice you with Lucas.”

  “Push your boobs up. Ollie won’t even look our way if he’s staring at those.”

  Kelsey says something to Brou on her way out of the water but I’m unable to make out what it is. He’s wearing a large grin so there’s no telling what she said.

  “Kelsey has taken it upon herself to keep Ollie busy so he doesn’t pay attention to us.”

  “Maybe so, but I still can’t touch you the way I’d like. You can’t possibly know how hard it is to be with you today, especially while you’re wearing that bikini, and keep my hands to myself.”

  I trail my fingers down my chest and stomach until it disappears into the water. “I’ll let you touch me any way you want tonight.”

  His eyes follow my hand. “That’s so many hours away. And you’re making me hard right now. I may combust before then.”

  “Please don’t. Instead, think of how we can make this our best night since it’ll be the last for a while.”

  “I already know I’m not going to want to leave you in the morning.”

  “It’s going to kill me to watch you go. But who knows? Maybe being apart will make us better appreciate the time we have together.”

  “We’ll figure this out.”

  It is pure hell being so close to Brou without the freedom to act like the couple we’ve become. He’s mine and I want to behave as though he is. It feels wrong to not touch him when his skin calls out to me. Not hold his hand when it grazes mine. Not hug him when our shoulders brush. “Being in this water with you is killing me. We gotta get out.”

  Kelsey and Ollie look cozy sitting next to one another on the beach. “Hey, sis. I just got a text from Mom. She’s asking if we want to meet her and Dad at The Olde Pink House for dinner. One last Savannah hurrah for Tap before we go home.”

  Even if it’s known as a touristy attraction, I still love that place. “I can go.”

  “What about you, Kelsey?”

  “Thanks for the invite but I already have plans.”

  “Reservations for five,” Ollie says as he texts back.

  Too bad it won’t be a romantic table for two in the old bank vault room.

  Perhaps another time.

  * * *

  Dinner with Brou, Ollie, and my parents was brutal. He continually touched me beneath the table in one form or another. He was intentionally driving me crazy. What he doesn’t know about me is I can do the same in return. Makes me no difference if we’re in the back of a taxi.

  I put my palm on Brou’s thigh and glide it upward until I find the outline of his dick through his jeans. He leans over and presses his mouth to my ear. “Wrennn.”

  “What, Brou?” I brush my hand over his crotch and he instantly hardens. I love how my touch can do that to him.

  “You know what.” Yes, I do. But it doesn’t mean I’m going to stop.

  “You were merciless with me earlier.”

  “I brushed your leg. Your hand. This isn’t the same thing at all and you know it.”

  “I’m stepping it up.”

  “Shhhit.” I think I hear at least a dozen extra shs tacked on the beginning of that word. “I’m not going to be able to walk into the hotel if you don’t stop.”

  I suck his earlobe into my mouth. “I think you will. You want my mouth wrapped around your long . . . thick . . . hard . . . cock too bad to not make it. I bet there’ll be a drop of pre-cum on the tip waiting for me to lick it clean with my tongue.”

  “Fuck, Wren. You have a dirty mouth tonight.”

  We get out of the car and Brou adjusts himself in his jeans before we walk into the lobby. “Issue?”

  “A big one I’m going to need you to take care of soon.” I love being the fix for his problem.

  We’re barely through the room’s door when he hoists me over his shoulder. He tosses me in the center of the bed and slowly crawls up my body. “Tease me in the back of a cab, will you?”

  I rise and shove him to his back. I toss my leg over his hips so I’m straddling him. “And I’m not done yet.”

  He puts his hands behind his head. “Do what you gotta do.”

  I yank open the button on his jeans. The brass zip at his crotch opens wide as I lower the fastener. “Being confined in these jeans can’t be comfortable. I think they should come off.”

  He lifts his hips as I pull his pants down. “I like your thinking.”
br />   When his jeans and underwear become a thing of the past, he tugs his T-shirt over his head and slings it across the room. He’s completely naked when I back away to remove my dress but I steal a moment to look at him. Male beauty like his should be appreciated.

  His hands have returned to a clasp behind his head, causing his biceps to bulge. His chest is smooth but a thin, dark happy trail begins below his belly button, leading to the treasure below. A full, thick dick waiting for me. I love it.

  I place my palms on his thighs and glide them upward until my fingertips brush his balls. I tease for a moment, lightly sweeping my fingers back and forth over the ridges of his skin. “Haven’t I had enough teasing?”

  “Never.”

  I grasp the base of his cock and circle my tongue around the head. The stiff tip flicks once, twice, three times before I take him fully into my mouth. “That feels so fucking good.”

  He puts his hands in my hair and pulls all of it into a high ponytail using his fist. “I love watching my cock slide in and out of your hot mouth.” I’m not the only one talking dirty tonight.

  Let’s see if he likes this.

  I take him out of my mouth and anchor his dick against his stomach. My tongue starts at the base of his balls and I lick the pleasure trail running top to bottom along his scrotum. I’ve heard men love it when you lick that seam separating their balls and suck the loose skin into your mouth. The suction is supposed to bring the blood and pleasure receptors to the surface.

  “Fuck!” he groans. Yup. I think it could be true; he sounds very pleased.

  I release the suction and look up at him. “You like that, huh?”

  “Yeah. A whole fucking lot. Feel free to do that any time you like.”

  It’s all about understanding the body and how to pleasure it. “I have more for you.”

  “Shhhit.” He could pass for a bear with the deep growl exploding behind that word. “I don’t know how you could top what you’re already doing.”

  “Let’s see if I can.”

  I take his cock into my mouth and massage his balls for a moment before finding the magic place under his sac with my finger. I press it firmly and then rotate in a circular motion. Slow, and then fast. Soft, and then hard. “Ohh . . .”