“Which is why he’s out there playing cards with her and trying to see down her shirt and I’m not hitting him in the face.”
“So have you retired your bachelor shoes?” Raven’s tone was mocking as she leaned back against the counter, watching him.
“No. We’re not going steady. But I’m an adult and I can like the people I’m with. I prefer it that way.”
Raven snorted. “You’ll get over it when the novelty wears off.”
Brody shook his head and swatted Raven with a kitchen towel. “Don’t be so negative. Jesus. You’re going to get an ulcer or something. Try the half-full method.”
When he went back out, Elise was in the process of trying to separate Rennie and Nina, and neither girl was having much of it.
“Why don’t you guys have a play date soon? How’s that?” Maggie smiled at both girls and then up at Elise.
“Okay! How about right now?” Nina said.
“How about soon? Do you have our phone number? You two can work out a few days and times and we’ll work around it, okay?”
Elise held back a smile but Brody saw her fight it. He liked the way she was with Rennie. This wasn’t a woman who had her roles confused. She wasn’t Rennie’s best friend, she was Rennie’s mother. But she also seemed not so rigid that it harmed either one of them. It had to be tough, being mother and father.
The girls snatched up paper and pens and wrote numbers down while Elise chatted animatedly with Maggie. He liked that connection too. Maggie had been his first office manager back when she was working her way through school. Then Arvin had come in for a job, and within months the two had been not just a couple, but, like, cemented together. They were solid people. Great parents and wonderful friends to him. He enjoyed seeing Maggie have another mom to be close with, and it gave Elise another person in her life, helping her feel more at home in Seattle.
Elise turned to him. “Thanks for inviting us. We had a great time.”
“Let me walk you two over.”
She started to protest but closed her mouth and smiled instead. “All right.”
Maggie hugged her, as did Erin. His sister didn’t often click with other people, and certainly not as quickly as she had with Elise. But in truth, he had such great friends and family that it was sort of spooky how well their small group got along. Oh sure, they had their tiffs, people being pissed off at each other. That was natural given that several of them were married or siblings to other members of the group. But there was a sense of community and camaraderie between them all, of refuge and home. Standing there with his sister grinning at Rennie, and Cope chatting Elise up, he was at ease. He fit somewhere, with other people who were like him. And now Elise was one of them too, and he had the distinct feeling that her entry into his life would mark it deeply.
He told everyone he’d be back shortly and walked Elise and Rennie back home.
“Thanks, Brody! I had a great day.” Rennie threw her arms around his waist and hugged tight. This kid was hard not to love.
“Anytime.”
Elise unlocked the door and held it open. “Go on upstairs. Bath and pjs.”
Rennie started to argue, but she must have seen the same look Brody had in her mother’s eyes, and groaned. “Okay. Night, Brody.” She ran off into the house and thundered up the stairs.
“Thanks again. I had a great day too.” She took a deep breath and slid her palm over his throat and to the back of his neck. “I don’t know what your plans are tonight. But if you’re free in three hours or so and find yourself standing on my porch, I’d let you in.”
“Are you inviting me into your parlor?” He wanted in her body right then. If it weren’t for that kiddo upstairs, he’d be on her.
“Yes. If by parlor you mean my bedroom so we can have sex.”
He laughed, dipping to kiss her quickly. “I’ll make it a point to be standing right here in three hours.”
“Okay then. I’ll try not to keep you up too late since you have to work tomorrow and all.”
“I’ve gone to work tired many a time; I can’t think of a better reason than being worn out by you.”
She smiled and stepped back, letting go of his neck, but he still felt her touch there.
He headed back home with a smile on his face.
9
Elise liked him. He was sexy and masculine and he made her laugh. He was nice to Rennie, wasn’t overly pushy, although he had alpha male written all over him and she could see he liked managing people. Elise didn’t want to be managed. She’d had enough of that. But they had great sexual chemistry. He always made her come. He seemed to love oral sex and he had a great imagination. Not much to complain about really.
So when she opened her door and found him standing on her porch, she took his hand and led him back to her bedroom. They didn’t speak, not breaking the spell of the quiet house. She locked her door and turned to face him.
“Hi,” he said quietly, drawing her against him.
“Hi. You smell good. Like autumn. I love the way it smells here at night. Like wood fires and cold air.” She pressed her nose into his neck and breathed deep.
“You feel good. I like this room. I’d like it more if you took this off.” He pushed the robe from her shoulders and it fell into a pool of fabric at her feet. His hands, big and bold, swept down her back to cup her ass.
Instead of the normal, urgent, rip-off-clothes-and-fuck frenzy they’d had before, their pace was slow and sensual. His lips cruised across the swell of her cheek, to her ear and down her neck. His hands caressed, kneaded, seduced instead of demanded.
She gave to him, let him take, leaned her head to the side, giving him access to the hollow of her throat. A shiver of delight passed through her at the feel of his teeth grazing the hypersensitive skin along her collarbone.
God, he felt so good.
And she wanted more.
Pushing him back a bit, she managed to get his shirt up and over his head, and despite it not being the first time she’d seen the glory of his body, she still stopped to stare a bit. When her gaze reached his face again, he wore a smile, a knowing, male smile, and her own lips quirked up in response.
“You’re hot.” She shrugged. “What else can I do but stare a little?”
He laughed, startled. “Feel free to objectify me whenever you wish.”
“Take your pants off and I’ll do it some more.”
He did, removing his shorts along with the jeans. He really was gorgeous. All barely leashed power just beneath the skin.
He drew in a shaky breath. “I want to take it slow and easy, but then you look at me like that and all I can think of is how good you feel wrapped around my cock when I’m inside you.”
She’d never imagined anyone ever saying such a thing to her. So raw and beautiful, honest and frankly sexual. It was invigorating to have someone want her like that. Thrilling.
This man here before her was hers in a sense, in her bed, wanting her in his life both in his bed and out of it. That was a powerful lure. To be wanted that way soothed some jagged spot inside she hadn’t known was rubbing her raw until his presence eased it.
She stepped in and licked up his side, over each rib, tasting him. The groan he made shot through her like a bloom of pleasure, knowing she made him feel that way. When he moved her hand to his cock, she nearly swooned at the feel of him, so hard against her palm.
She kissed his chest and down his belly until she got to her knees. Then her mouth went to his cock, tracing her tongue down the length of him and back up again. He cradled her skull in his hands as she continued to kiss and lick.
She took him back as deeply as she could and pulled away, over and over.
“Damn, you’re so beautiful. I’ve never seen anything as beautiful,” he murmured, his hands gentle in her hair, fingertips brushing against the nape of her neck.
She was like a butterfly, a bird, something magical and small and so very beautiful. The room smelled so strongly of her. Not perfum
e, not really; just an essential sort of sweetness with a small amount of spice. He’d had more skilled mouths on his cock, but this woman had something else, something ethereal that no one he’d ever touched had possessed.
Something surged through him from the balls of his feet, lodging in his chest. “Up here, beautiful. I want to lay you out, I want to be over you, inside you, when I come.” He swept her up, kissing her before he laid her down on the bed and followed.
“I need you,” she said in that soft voice, and it broke at his control like waves. “You didn’t let me finish.”
He kissed a nipple and then the other one. “Oh I’m going to finish. I promise.”
“Hurry.” Her belly was warm and strong against his lips as he kissed it. Her scent, sweet/spice salted with the musk of her body, with the way he made her. “I have to taste you first. I think I’m addicted.”
Her laugh was taut with need, and it melted into a sigh when he took the first lick of her. Such an intimate thing, his mouth on the center of her. She was rich and deep, and he couldn’t seem to get enough, so he rejoiced that she seemed to want him as much as he wanted her.
Her thigh muscles bunched and relaxed as she rolled her hips, arching up to get more from him. He loved that. Loved that he made her needy and shameless when it came to taking her pleasure. Almost as much as he loved giving it to her.
When she came, he tasted it to his bones, felt the fine tremor of her body as she tightened and then relaxed on a stuttered sigh.
“Now that I’ve taken the edge off, we can get to the next part of the program.” He reached down to grab his pants to fish out a condom from his pocket.
Elise looked up as he lowered himself over her. The blunt head of his cock pressed against her, pressing into her body as she made room, stretching slowly.
God, he felt good. He gave her just the right amount of weight, taking most of it on his forearms. She wrapped her legs around his waist, taking him in fully.
“Fucking you is much more fun than just about anything else I can think of. In fact, it’s more fun than anything I can think of.” He laughed, leaning down to capture a kiss as he began to thrust, slow and deep.
They didn’t say much, but the silence wasn’t heavy, it was nice between them, not needing to fill the space with words.
She felt every inch of him as she clutched his back, pulling him close, loving the way his muscles played against her palms. He held her gaze as he moved within her, held it as he changed his angle, bringing the line of his cock brushing her clit over and over, until she had to bite into his pec to muffle the sound.
He hissed, but not in pain. His eyes blurred and she felt him come as her body tightened around his cock.
Not wanting to crush her, he rolled to the side before getting up to deal with the condom quickly. When he returned, she’d lit a few candles and had stacked the pillows up at the head of her bed. The golden light from the candles licked at her skin, made shadows on the walls.
He kissed her because he could and he wanted to, as he settled in beside her.
“I enjoyed meeting your friends and family today,” she said lazily, playing with his nipple ring. “This is beyond sexy, by the way.”
He grinned. It wasn’t that he’d never felt sexy or attractive. He did most of the time. He liked the way women responded to him. But when she said it, she said it with such artlessness, such genuine appreciation, it struck him deep.
“I’m glad you like it and I’m glad you had fun today. They all enjoyed meeting you as well, and I think Nina and Rennie hit it off. It’s good for her to have connections in the neighborhood.”
“It is. Girls her age can love their friends so much. I felt horrible moving out here, making her leave her friends behind. So I’m relieved she’s making them here. Maggie is really nice. I like having connections here too.”
He took her hand, raising it to his lips to kiss each fingertip.
“We’re going to be down at the park next Saturday. A little grudge-match football game we have the weekend before Halloween. If you want to cheer and have the time off, you should show up. There’ll be kids there for Rennie. Arvin plays, so Maggie will bring Nina most likely.”
She blinked, surprised. “Thank you. I have classes each Saturday until two. If you’re still there when I’m done, Rennie and I will stop by.”
“Starts at three, so you should be good. If we start earlier, it goes on and on. So we decided a few years ago to get out there no more than two hours before sunset.”
Laughter shook her very delightful breasts. “That’s very cute.” He frowned and then bared his teeth. “Cute? I’m a badass, Elise. I ride a Harley and have tattoos.”
She laughed even harder. “I-I’m sure you are if the situation calls for it. But you’re a very sweet man beneath the tattoos.” “Sweet.” He snorted, amused by her.
Rolling into him, she pushed him back to the mattress and kissed his face several times. “There’s not a damned thing wrong with sweet. Sweet is very underrated.”
He laughed. “Ha! Chicks only want sweet for their platonic male friends.”
She sobered up and he traced the curve of her bottom lip. “Did I hit a nerve?”
Shaking her head, she dropped a kiss on his shoulder. “Old wounds.”
Old wounds. Yeah, something like that. She thought of those words as she worked over the next week. Wondered about how and when it had gone so wrong for her. Wondered if she’d ever not have her time with Ken hanging around her neck like a millstone.
Rennie sat at the kitchen table doing her homework while Elise folded laundry. The phone rang and she smiled at the number.
“Hello, Mama.”
“Why didn’t you tell us about this mess with Ken’s parents?” her mother demanded.
“I’m gonna take these clothes up to your room and put them on your bed. You know which drawers they go in. I’ll be back.” She grabbed the basket and headed away from listening ears.
“What’s going on? Have they been bothering you?” she asked once she’d gotten to Rennie’s room.
“You answer my question first, Elise.” Her mother’s imperious tone made Elise smile. It was easy now, with a few thousand miles between them, to be amused.
“I didn’t tell you because you two had enough to deal with. There’s nothing you can do and it would have upset you. Now, what happened?”
“This is why you wanted us to stay in New York until Daddy had retired. I can’t believe you didn’t tell us! We’re your parents. We have a right to know so we can support you. Didn’t you know we would have helped in any way?”
“I did. I do. I swear to you. After Matthias . . . You just had so much to deal with, and then the murder. It’s over anyway. Now, tell me.” She sat on Rennie’s bed, a froth of pink lace and stuffed animals lined up in an orderly fashion.
“She called today. That evil cow. Said you’d been refusing to let them have their monthly phone call with Irene. Said they’d sue us if we didn’t help. Imagine my surprise to hear that they’d been threatening to ruin your new school and to take Irene out of the U.S. to raise her without her mother. Imagine her surprise to my response when she threatened to harm Daddy’s professorship. People like them make me crazy. However, you not sharing drives me crazy too. I don’t care what she says. You’re our child, Irene is our grandbaby; they won’t harm you through us.”
Elise couldn’t help but laugh at the idea of her mother telling off Bettina Sorenson. “I’m sorry. I just . . . Mama, these people are dangerous. You don’t need it.”
She hated them. Hated the Sorensons. Hated her kid getting sick at having to speak to them. Hated them for hurting her parents.
“Their son was the problem. Their son! I don’t need it, pish. Elise, you don’t get to decide what I need.” This was followed by a twominute-long, profanity-laced rant, all in French, wherein Elise was schooled on what her job was and how they were her parents so therefore Elise needed to obey them and stop hiding things
.
Her father took the phone. “She’ll be that way for a while. We’re coming out for a visit over Thanksgiving. I know we invited you back here to visit, but your mother and I decided it’s best to keep you two out west. I don’t want those vile Sorensons anywhere near you or Rennie. We’ll plan to stay for a week, during which we will be looking for a house.”
Her head began to pound and tears of frustration threatened. “Daddy, really, it’s not necessary. They’re not a threat. I have sole custody and I haven’t refused anything. They call at random and I say no. They upset her every time they call, so I keep it to once a month. She gets cranky, cries for no reason, gets stomachaches. I wouldn’t do it at all, but I want to comply with everything so they can never have anything to use against me. I feel like I’m not protecting her, but I don’t know what else I can do without making things worse.”
“We’re coming. You’ll pick us up from the airport. Your mother says you have her services all week long at the studio. We love you, Elise. We miss you and we miss that baby. Your mother can teach piano anywhere, and I’m an old man who can find young people to adore him anywhere too. You need us. We need you.”
She smiled through tears. She needed them so much; even at her age, she needed them. But Ken had been part of what happened to Matthias, had been part of that long slide into oblivion, and even though she and Ken had been estranged and Ken had been doing a stint in county jail when Matthias overdosed, the guilt of it still colored her perceptions.
“Momma, can I come up now?” Rennie hollered from the bottom of the stairs.
“I’m coming down,” she told Rennie before turning back to her father. “Rennie knows you’re on the phone, you want to talk to her?”
Her father laughed and her mother got on the other line. “I’m finished with the bad words now. We’ll see you in a month and you well tell us the whole story when we arrive.”