She smiled back. “Are you suggesting sex? Mr. Brown, I’m really sure I’m not supposed to do that.” She fluttered her lashes and he slid his hands up her thighs. “Don’t you get tired of being laden down with other people’s stuff?”
He locked his gaze with hers. “Some people. But other people?” He shrugged slightly. “Other people I like taking care of. I like knowing I’m the one making them safe or healthy or whatever. I guess it’s a god complex, but there it is.” He took her breasts in his hands. “Taking care of you and Rennie is in the latter group. Yes, I can see the worry on your face, hear it in your voice. You two are mine, I take care of what’s mine.”
“You don’t feel suffocated by yet more people on your to-do list?”
“Did someone say something to upset you, Shorty? Have I hurt your feelings or made you feel bad?”
She shook her head. “No, not that. I just . . . I know when we started this thing we said it would be light and fun, and I’m realizing it’s not so light and fun for you when I have legal crap and stuff. I just don’t want to step on your toes or . . .”
She couldn’t help but squeal when he rolled her over so suddenly. “Shorty, when we started this thing, we didn’t know each other the way we do now. I like having you in my life. I like your kiddo in my life. I like taking care of you. I like knowing you’re safe. I hate this legal shit because I know you’re scared and I hate those people for trying to scare you and using Rennie to do it. It makes me crazy that I can’t fix it for you both. Seeing you so worried hurts. I want you to be happy.”
She would not cry. It was just hormones and emotion.
“Please touch me,” she whispered around tears.
“Baby, please don’t cry.” He brushed his lips over her cheeks. “I’m here and all I ever want is to touch you.”
“Then do. Please. I just want to feel you.”
“If I have to,” he joked before meeting her lips for a kiss. She wrapped her arms around his neck and held on as his soft kisses grew deeper.
She arched, writhing to get more of her on more of him. His skin was taut and very warm, slightly slick from the almond oil she’d used. The friction was delicious.
“Just for the record,” he said before licking one nipple and then the other, “I always want to feel you. To taste you. Elise, I want to breathe you.” He hovered over the dip of her belly, his breath hot against the super-sensitive skin there. His tongue slid over her hip bone and down the seam between thigh and body.
How could she not love him? There must be three dozen women walking around Seattle totally heartbroken that this man wasn’t with them anymore. Maybe that was Raven’s problem. Hmpf. Too bad, goth girl. You snooze, you lose.
His tongue against her clit brought her hips forward, unabashedly seeking more. It had been a week since he’d gone down on her. They’d had sex, but it had been quick and hard, which she’d needed. This was slow and decadent, and it felt so good she just soaked it in. He held her thighs open and flat against the mattress as he licked and nibbled, laved and flicked his tongue over her pussy.
She arched, stretching her muscles as the pleasure took over. His mouth on her was sure, and with good reason. He knew what worked, what she liked, what drove her to shiver and beg—and he did it. Over and over until she became a trembling mass of desperate woman.
Which she was as he teased his mouth down and back up again, his tongue sliding over her perineum, shocking her eyes open again. He moved one hand and teased his thumb over her back passage. That was so . . . she swallowed, experimenting with it . . . Forbidden. Dark. Taboo.
He sucked her clit between his lips, and her breath gusted from her mouth, right as he pressed his thumb just slightly inside.
Ribbons of light decorated her vision as she came, hard and swift. Her fingers tightened in his hair as she pulled him closer, even as she bit her lip to keep from crying out.
Brody kissed her belly again and lay on his side next to her. “Now you’re nice and ready to be fucked. My favorite.” She cracked an eye open and caught the light in his eyes as they raked over her body. “Let’s try something new.”
“Hope you don’t want to try something acrobatic. I don’t think I’ve got the stamina for that after what you just did to me.”
He laughed. “That’s a fine compliment. And no, Shorty, all you have to do is stay on your back, put one leg up and over my hip and the other can go between my thighs. I’ll do all the work from there.”
She scooted over, moving one leg up and the other between his thighs, and then he thrust, entering her easily because she was so wet.
“So good. I like it this way because you’re so lovely to look at.” His pace was leisurely.
“So far, I’ve had zero complaints about your prowess. There must be jealous women all over town because I’m hogging you. By the way, I have no plans to share anytime soon.”
“Good. I like keeping my prowess right here between your thighs. God, your skin is so pretty by candlelight. Your body is so lovely, lithe, strong. Just exactly right.”
“I ate a hell of a lot of cookie dough earlier. I’m surprised I don’t have a pooch.”
His fingertips danced down her belly and over her thighs. “Mmm hmm. Not looking so round here. Not to me. You eat pretty well, but you can when you exercise hours a day the way you do.”
She laughed and ended up writhing because he hauled her even closer, getting deeper. “I went a little crazy when I was rehabbing for the leg. First I was immobile, which I rarely am, and you don’t want to hear all this detail.”
“I do. I like hearing about your life. But for now? You’re so tight and hot. I love this, Elise. You and me, candlelight and quiet. I feel settled and very happy.”
“You’re going to make me cry again,” she mumbled, trying to turn her face away from the intensity in his eyes. He made her crave those things she knew she couldn’t have.
“Why? I don’t understand.” He continued to slowly and completely devastate her with those deep thrusts as he spoke. “I’m just strung too tight.”
“You’re full of shit.” His next thrust was harder. “I know you, Elise. Something is making you upset. Is it Raven?”
“Why are you talking about her while your dick is in me?” Horrified, she tried to move away, but he held her in place.
“You’re right, sorry. This first. This always. Then we can talk.”
“Now you’re talking.”
His strokes became more urgent, his eyes darkened, one curl fell over his forehead and sent a rush of tenderness through her. He’d come here, tired and overwhelmed by his day; he’d come to her, and that meant something.
“I think you’re ready to come again. Show me.”
She kept her eyes on his face as she moved her hand down, snaking it between their bodies until she found her clit, still slippery and sensitive. It wasn’t necessary to move her hand at all, his thrusts moved her body instead, bringing the friction she needed.
She simply let it happen, let climax rise within and break over her with a slow inhale. The muscles on his neck corded as he went deeper and deeper, until he slammed home one last time with a low, nearly feral growl.
Brody gathered her to him, holding her tight, breathing her in. He hated to see her so upset. No other woman’s tears had ever made him feel so frantic to fix whatever was wrong. Seeing her that way made him want to punch someone. He wasn’t a violent man, but she brought out all his protective instincts in a way he’d never experienced other than in defense of Adrian or Erin.
“I’m glad you came over.” He felt the curve of her smile as she pressed against his chest.
“Me too. It’s going to suck to have to leave.” He wanted to sleep with her every night.
She’d taken care of him from the moment he walked through her door. Feeding him, listening to him vent, massaging him and understanding him. She got him, which felt like a gift. He didn’t have to be anything with her. Just who he was and what he felt like a
t any given time. They all fit; he already considered her and Rennie family.
It had amused him, not that he’d ever say so out loud, to see her get so pissy when he brought Raven up. Jealous even. It also helped him to know Raven hadn’t said anything to her. Not yet.
“Why Rennie? Why not Reenie?”
She lazily poked her head up and then let it rest on his biceps. “When she was an infant, my mom would come into the city to help during the week so I could go to rehearsal and get back into shape. Anyway, one of the costumers started calling her Baby Rennie and it stuck. My mother was not pleased”—she laughed—“but she’s been Rennie ever since.”
“Tell me about after the attack. You what? Ate a junior bag of Doritos and wept?” He liked teasing her.
“I should pinch you for that, but I’m so full of endorphins and afterglow I can’t work up the energy. Eating is an issue for many, many dancers. Eating disorders are common, especially with the younger dancers. It’s very harsh sometimes. The way a dancer might be critiqued. I’ve been told I was too fat more than once. But overall, my metabolism is fast, so as long as I’m active, I can keep tone. But being in bed and then on crutches was hard. I didn’t have the discipline I had when I danced. I was depressed, so I ate and gained a bit of weight. I still carry it in my boobs and thighs. But the pressure isn’t there for me in the same way it was before. So I joke and all, but I’ll eat cookie dough anyway and not feel one bit guilty. Except for the raw eggs part. That’s bad, I know it.”
“Rebel.”
“You know it. Your brother stopped by earlier and brought Rennie a present. He’s very sweet to take the time, and she’s crushing on him almost as hard as she crushes on you.”
He laughed. “As long as I’m still in first place, I can accept that. I can’t believe anyone would say you were fat. That’s a mind fuck.”
She shrugged. “It’s the way it is. How you look is important. Your size is important because your partner has to pick you up. But I can’t lie and say it’s not part of what I hated and hate now with the girls I teach. There’s a line, you have to be aware of it and deal with it. Some of these mothers are my best advocates when I’m trying to drive home the importance of good nutrition; others are big supporters of crap diets to keep their kids thin. I’m glad Rennie wants to paint instead.”
“Good thing she’ll have us around to keep her grounded.” He smiled, thinking about what Rennie would be like as a teenager.
“I’ll need a full contingent of adults to back me up with her. She’s already a force of nature at seven.” She snuggled into him again, warm and small and smelling so damned good. “I wish you didn’t have to go either. You feel so good and warm here in my bed. By the way, when does summer start anyway? It’s still cold.”
“Welcome to Seattle, Shorty. We cruise into summer. Round about July it gets hot. We like it that way.”
“If you were in my bed at night, I’d be fine. You’re like a furnace.”
“I can wake up before Rennie and get out of here before she comes downstairs.”
“I wish you could. I know it doesn’t matter if I am the slut they’re trying to say I am, it doesn’t make me unfit. But they’re watching me. I know it’s stupid, but I’m so afraid. Afraid they’ll take her and something I did will give them a reason. My attorneys keep assuring me everything will be fine, but she’s my baby.”
He kissed her. “It’s okay. We’ll have plenty of time after this is all cleared up. I’m sorry you’re afraid. But your attorneys are right. You have rights as her mother. They barely saw her when she was living right there, they’re negative influences on her. Just a little while longer and you’ll be free to live without looking over your shoulder.”
The Sorensons were robbing him too. Taking away his time with her, with Rennie. He hated that Elise had to think twice about stupid, everyday things when she was such a good mom.
“I should go soon. If I fall asleep, I’ll be out until the morning.”
She sighed heavily and sat up, mesmerizing him with the fall of pale hair over her shoulders. “I know. You need the rest, you have a big day tomorrow.” She traced under his eyes with the flick of her thumb and he leaned into the touch.
“We’ll see each other though. In the evening. How about we go grab burgers and then go see the new kid flick, with the robot. I saw an ad on television.”
She closed her eyes a moment and then licked her lips. “It means a lot to me, that you think of her the way you do. That you understand she and I are linked. It’s important to me.”
“Of course I do.” He sat up too, facing her. “I love your kid to pieces.”
“I know. But will you just be careful with her? She’s very attached to you.”
He kissed her. “I know she is. Do you think I’m not keeping her safe? When she’s in my car, I use the booster seat. I don’t think I let her play with knives or anything.”
“No, no, not that. It’s just, when you walk away, give her time.”
She thought he was walking away? Anger flashed through him. “You think I’m gonna make your kid love me and dump you both? Is that what I’m giving off now?”
She backed up a bit, alarm on her features, but relaxed a tiny bit after a moment. “I-I don’t. I just, I know you’re not looking for two more people to take care of.”
“I’m asking you here, is that what you think I am? What I’d do?”
“You said that’s what you’d do.” She punched the mattress before getting up and pulling her clothes on.
“When the hell did I say that?” He joined her, getting dressed quickly.
“When we first started sleeping together, you said you weren’t looking for forever, that you were too busy! What else was I supposed to think? You said it yourself.”
He hauled her close and she shuddered. “Fuck, fuck, I’m scaring you. I’m sorry. It’s just, I’m not walking away from you. You or Rennie. It’s important to me that you know it.” She relaxed into him and he let go of his anxiety.
“I said a lot of things a year ago. But I didn’t know you then. I know you now. I know you, Elise, and I know your daughter and I cherish you both. If you’ll let me, I have no plans to stop.”
“Oh.” She blinked up at him.
“Just so we’re clear.”
She nodded and he couldn’t help but grin.
25
Elise sat on a lounge chair and watched Rennie and Nina swimming with Brody and Adrian. Erin, now fully showing and happier every day, sat across the pool with Ben and Todd, laughing with everyone. It had been a lovely summer day. They’d come over to Erin’s to swim and then they’d have a picnic on Erin’s terrace afterward.
It had been wonderful until Raven showed up. Elise noticed the crowd was split between the Raven lovers and the Raven haters or distrusters. Adrian was firmly in the anti-Raven camp, and it didn’t seem like Ben liked her much either. Over the last month or two, she’d noticed Brody having cooled toward her considerably. She’d left town, and Elise had been looking forward to a few months of peace, but she returned just a few weeks later.
And now she’d decided to take the seat next to Elise. “How’s it going?” Raven said after they’d both been silent for a few minutes.
“Good. You?”
“So everything with whatever personal shit Brody’s all caught up in, that’s all fine now?”
Elise whipped her head around for a moment, but then moved her gaze back to Rennie. “What the heck are you talking about?”
“Brody was going on and on about having to be present for you and the kid, so he couldn’t go out with his friends and stuff. Stuck at your place or something.” Raven shrugged.
Elise was struck dumb for several moments as she weighed what Raven had said. She knew it wasn’t true, but deep down it had been a fear of hers, she could admit it to herself.
“What’s your problem?” She took another quick look at Raven before looking out over Rennie again.
“I don’t
have any problems. I just call ’em like I see ’em.”
Elise snorted. “What a crock of crap. You know what kind of people are fond of saying things like that? People who like to confuse blunt with mean and petty. So why don’t we just cut the aforementioned crap and you tell me what your deal is.”
“Oh, so fucking perfect, aren’t you? You come here with your education and your money and you waltz right in using your kid to get attention. I know your game.”
It was so absurd it cut through her fears about Brody and cleared her head. And left her fighting mad. It was time for a Come-to-Jesus with this bitch.
“My game? I don’t have a game and I didn’t use my kid for anything. Brody is with me for me. That’s your deal. You managed to convince him he was better off with fleeting, no-strings relationships so he’d always be available to you when you got bored. Now he’s not and you can’t handle it. Brody wants me and not you, and even though you slept with all those people, you can’t stand it that you can’t have him.”
“I can’t have him? Really now?” Raven moved so that she leaned into Elise’s vision.
Elise put an arm out and pushed her back. “I’m watching my child in the pool, don’t get in my way.”
“Don’t you touch me. You’re a fake and a phony. You play it up for sympathy.”
Ben interrupted, approaching them. “What the hell is going on?”
Raven turned to him. “Little Miss Perfect is just full of shit. If she touches me again, it’s on.”
“Drama much? If I wanted to hit you, I’d have hit you.” Elise rolled her eyes but kept her voice down.
“That’s enough, Raven. If you upset Elise, I’m going to kick you out of here. Just chill.”
“Just perfect. Then she’ll have her way. This is bullshit. Why can’t you people see through this act?”
Elise didn’t bother responding; Raven had ramped up on her little tirade, and Elise had done the tirade thing enough over the course of her life. She wasn’t going there again. It had caught Brody’s attention, though still he kept with the kids. She appreciated that, even though she knew he was dying to come over and intervene.