Brother to Brother: The Sacred Brotherhood Book I (26 page)

Her eyes flicked open and she nodded very carefully, watching me as predator watches prey. I started at the front of her short sleeved blouse, plucking buttons free, carefully and lightly while she breathed shallowly, watching me; waiting to see what I would do. After every button popped, I bent and placed a kiss against the newest bit of exposed flesh.

Her bra was one of those front clasp deals, so I undid that, and pushed the whole mess of fabric back off her shoulders. I was right there, so I took a nipple into my mouth, biting gently, Mel’s body jerking towards me, fitting more of her breast in my mouth, her breath leaving her in a shuddering sigh, her fingers finding the pony tail holder Dani had made me to remember Grind. With deft fingers, Mel pulled it out of my hair, gripping it so it wouldn’t pull. As I lavished her chest with attention, my hands found the real prize of the globes of her ass, giving them a squeeze, before I was forced to put one arm around her back to hold her to me.

I didn’t remember doing it, but I was on my knees at the side of the bed, drowning in Melody, and her sweet smell of those flowers from our wedding. I watched her daub the perfume, a gift from one of the girls, behind her ear every morning and I think I was beginning to understand why. It did my heart good to know that she
wanted
to remember our wedding day. That it was, for her, a happier memory than it wasn’t.

It renewed my vigor in kissing down her body, her fingers threaded through my hair and holding it back so she could watch me. I hooked fingers into the waistband of her denim shorts and slid them around to her front so I could work the button free and the zipper down. She kicked off her shoes for me and arched her hips so I could take the material down her legs, sweeping her panties off right along with them.

I pressed her back to the bed, palming one of her breasts, and braced her knees open with my shoulders. I licked her pussy, sweet and musky with her arousal and let my tongue play against her clit. She arched and moaned softly and I smiled against her body, sliding one finger inside her, teasing around until I got the same response from her from my attentions to her inside.

She gasped out this beautiful little pleading moan that took the shape of my name and let me say, the struggle was real to not just get my cock out and in her. I wanted her so fuckin’ bad, but this wasn’t about me. It was about her, and she needed this. Needed my reassurance that I wasn’t pissed at her, which how could I be? I’d let Dom and even Grind pollute my head with a bunch of garbage for far too long where women were concerned. What Melody had said on our honeymoon, about breaking cycles, and the chains of our upbringings, let’s just say it applied to more than just my childhood with coked out parents and more time spent in the system than anywhere else.

I kissed her pussy lightly, drawing on her lips, sucking at her clit like my life depended on it, but honestly, I just wanted to get her through her first orgasm so that I could play a whole other way that had everything to do with making her melt, and relax. I’d had to ask Blue what the fuck was with all the weird shit in the box he’d sent along on our honeymoon and he’d laughed at me, but he’d told me today, in the waiting room in his weird, quiet way and now I couldn’t wait to try it out on her. See what reactions I could get.

I could tell she was getting close, her body arching provocatively, her voice a breathy gasping plea. She had this adorable habit of when she was getting ready to come of saying ‘higher’ as if she were being launched into the sky. I knew the feeling, but I thought it was cute as hell that she said it, probably without being aware she said it, instead of something way more traditional like, ‘almost’ or ‘so close’ or even ‘yes’.

“Oh god, Archer, higher! Just a little bit higher!”

She cried out and crashed to the bed, her body shuddering, and I sat back, pleased with myself, wiping a hand over my mouth while I fucked the shit out of her with my fingers. She grabbed my wrist, to get me to stop, crying out, “Mm-mm! Mm-mm!” completely unable to form coherent words.

Jackpot!
That’d been a good one. I slipped the box out from under the bed and opened it up, pulling out a length of black silk while she lay panting.

“Middle of the bed, Baby. I want you face down,” she groaned and complied and I used the silk to tie her wrists together above her head, securing her to the wrought iron headboard.

“Archer, what are you doing?” she asked and I soothed her.

“Shh, you trust me, right?”

“Yes.”

“Then let me do this for you, please?”

“O-okay.”

She trembled slightly and I slipped the satin sleep mask out of its spot and put it over her eyes. She sucked in a breath, but didn’t protest or say anything. I admired the line of her body, laid out in my bed, and slipped the claws onto my fingertips, doing what Blue had suggested, and taking up a scrap of velvet in my other hand.

I lightly traced a line with my four fingertips down the length of her back. She pushed her body into the mattress, faint pink lines raising on her pale skin, a wash of gooseflesh radiating out from the marks. I glided the velvet over her flesh in the wake of the sharp sensation and watched her shudder… oh yeah. This was going to be fun.

For the better part of an hour I played with Melody, using sensation as a means to excite, torment, and soothe her until she was limp, relaxed, and just about putty in my hands. Soft things, sharp things, prickly things, cold things, warm things, the touch of my calloused fingers, the prick of the spikey wheel thing, the glide of silk, the catch of velvet; all of it coming together to titillate and inflame her senses until she was wet and ready, begging me to be inside her.

I took my time, slipping out of my clothes and laying kisses all over her body before laying myself over the top of her. I quested for a moment or two for her opening, and only when I was sure I had it, did I slip inside her, between her thighs. She was incredibly warm and close and taking her this way was tighter than any other way I’d taken her to this point.

I took my time loving her, probably way later into the night than either one of us should have been up, given that it was Sunday night leaking into Monday morning, but I didn’t care. It would be worth it to be tired the next morning.

I cradled Melody close in my arms and made love to her until we were both exhausted. It was needed, it was wonderful; it most definitely brought us closer… Best weekend ever.

Chapter 29

Melody

“Yay!” I laughed with Noah and he giggled and we both clapped. It was moving day and we were picking up Noah’s toys and packing them away in yet another cardboard box. The door to the apartment was open as Archer and the rest of the guys were coming and going, fixing things around the dingy one bedroom apartment and loading out furniture, so when a shadow fell over the door, I didn’t think anything of it.

“Melody Beswick?” a woman’s voice, authoritative, called out into the gloom of the apartment. I looked up sharply.

“Turner, its Melody Turner… can I help you?”

“I’m Carina Washington with the department of children’s services, may I come in to talk to you?” my heart sank and I felt myself nodding.

“Yes, of course.” I opened up my hands and Noah threw himself into my arms like he always did. I picked him up and stood, “Oof! Good Lord, Noah, you’re getting too heavy for this,” I uttered.

He laughed that beautiful high baby laugh and declared, “No!”

To Ms. Washington, I said, “Please come in, I apologize for the mess and lack of furniture, we just closed on a house and we’re moving in today. What can I do for you?”

She stepped across the threshold, this regal, curvy black woman in a grey business suit. Her long hair flowed down her back in elegant tiny braids and her deep brown eyes sparkled with intelligence. Her quick assessment of the apartment left me feeling hollowed out, self-conscious, and pretty much gutted, but we hadn’t had a choice when we’d arrived and now we did. Archer had found us a home with plenty of room and now we were moving.

“We received a call from a Mr. and Mrs. Phillip Whitmore…”

“That’d be her mother and stepfather, what sort of crazy are they spouting now?” Archer demanded from behind her, as he came through the open apartment door.

She startled and looked
really
unhappy about that and demanded, “And you are?”

“That would be Mr. Turner,” I said and Noah reached for Archer.

“Da da!” he cried and Archer plucked my son from my arms settling him against his side before using his free arm, tucking me against his opposite side and holding me close.

“Well, Mrs. Whitmore claims that you threatened her and that Melody here is both on drugs and an unfit mother, who kidnapped Noah out from under their care.”

Archer laughed, a genuine, jovial laugh and I looked up at him, blinking. “Well if it makes you happy,” he said, “I’m sure Mel would be willing to submit to any drug tests you might want her to take, as for any accusations or threats? I did have a talk with Mel’s mother a few weeks back and I have three witnesses that were there with me, all of ‘em upstanding citizens, who will tell you I was downright civil given my history.”

The woman shifted her stance and asked, “And what might that history be?”

Archer glanced down at me and his gold green eyes radiated ‘
trust me’
and I did, implicitly. How could I not? He had been nothing but good to my son and I knew in my heart of hearts he would be devastated if we lost Noah, I nodded and he turned back to Ms. Washington and he told her that he was a felon, that he hadn’t been in trouble since his twenties, that he loved me and my son and that he hadn’t when we’d gotten here, running from the mental and emotional abuse of my family.

He told her everything and it was simply amazing, just how much he’d grown as a person, because Archer was
intensely
private. I had fully expected him to tell anyone that even remotely hinted at ‘government official’ to fuck right off, but here he was, trying a lot of diplomacy and I had the distinct feeling that Dragon had a hand in that.

“So, all that being said, would you like to follow us over to the new place? See where Noah will be staying and that it’s a safe environment? I mean, Nox and Rush – excuse me, Landon and Logan my twin foster brothers all growing up and Noah’s uncles, should actually be putting the finishing touches on baby proofing the place. I had them installing socket covers and child locks on all the cabinets before I came over here to grab Mel and the baby.”

The woman blinked, an ‘are you serious?’ look on her face as she furiously scribbled notes onto a yellow legal pad balanced on one of those metal clipboards meant to house paperwork.

“I somehow get the feeling you were expecting me to call,” she said and I nodded.

“Like Archer said, it was the reason I ran and tried to find Noah’s biological father. I didn’t know he’d died and when I got here and explained the situation, Archer didn’t want to turn us away. He made it work, and we’ve worked very hard to get us out of this one bedroom as soon as possible.”

“And the getting married?” she asked still looking flummoxed.

“It was the best thing for Noah. This way, I could put him on my insurance and Mel, too. Plus the tax breaks and the like weren’t going to hurt for getting us into a house sooner rather than later.”

“There were more reasons to, than to not,” I murmured.

She nodded, noting things down as we said them and it was Archer who said, “Never counted on falling in love with her for real, but I did. I’m glad I did, too. Noah needs a father and I want to be that guy,” he looked down at me and I raised myself up on tip toe to kiss him, a quick kiss that was heartfelt and not at all for show.

“This the last box?” he asked gruffly and I nodded. “Okay, Little Man! I gotta give you back to your mom, you ready to go?”

“Yah!” I took our son from Archer and he hefted the box.

“Go on, ladies, I’ll be right behind you.”

Ms. Washington followed me down to the car and spoke to me while I strapped Noah carefully into his car seat.

“Truthfully, I’m a little blown away,” she was saying, “I’ve never in my twenty-three years of social work, come across a case like this. Usually, I get a call like this and I come out expecting the worse and find it.”

“Well, there’s a first time for everything,” Archer said, shoving the last box into the back hatch area of my car and shutting it tight.

“I guess so! There is one thing, can you tell me about this emergency room visit back in –”

“Oh, you don’t have to look for the date, I remember
that
all too well,” I said darkly.

“Scared the hell out of her,” Archer said laughing.

“What happened?”

“I came through the door on my way home from work, just in time for Little Man to run smack into the strike plate on the bedroom door.”

“I was in the kitchen trying to get some dinner ready and Noah was just being a big ball of energy running around the apartment. I told him to stop, but he was being a willful little boy and sure enough, he tripped over his own feet and went head first into the door jamb.”

“We took him right to the emergency room, and he got two stitches. If he’s anything like Grind, there will be a lot more than that ahead of him just growing up.”

I groaned, “Please don’t even put that out there.”

“Eh, Grind was always active and doing stupid shi- ‘cuse me, stuff when we were growing up. Almost got bit by a diamond back when we were nine, the damn fool.”

“Right, well, I’ll follow you,” the social worker said and we both nodded. Archer rode, I drove, and Ms. Washington followed us in her much newer state vehicle over to our new home.

It was a two story, three bedroom with a large family room and a garage. It was painted a lovely shade of blue, bordering on lavender with white trim and a grey shingled roof. The front porch was broad and a wrap-around style without actually wrapping around, and the front lawn was so green, a large oak taking up a good sized chunk of it where Rush and Nox were busy stringing up an old tire.