Don't Let Go (16 page)

Her eyes opened and she let out a gasp.

“You feel damp against me,” he said. “Think I could make you come this way?”

“Yes.” She could think of about a hundred ways he could get her there, all without leaving the couch.

“I can think of a better way.” He lifted off of her and slid onto the floor, then flipped her legs to the floor, drawing her underwear off.

Her legs trembled as he draped them over his shoulders, kissed her inner thighs, then put his mouth on her sex.

She moaned and lifted against him, needing the release he promised with his tongue and lips. He was relentless in his pursuit of her orgasm, and she gladly let him control the reins as he took her on a gliding hot quest that left her whimpering and quaking as she crested, then cried out with a blistering-hot climax.

Shaking and spent, she let herself fall lax on the sofa. Brady released her legs and then climbed between them, crawling up her body as she caught her breath.

He brushed his lips against hers, then met her gaze with a teasing smile. “That was a good beginning.”

“It was. Now let's go for round two.”

This time, it was Megan who got up.

“Sit,” she said.

He did, and she grabbed one of the pillows from the sofa and settled it on the floor, then kneeled.

Brady sucked in a breath as he watched Megan shoulder between his thighs. Her hair tickled his legs and all he wanted to do was lean forward, grab a handful of it and kiss her.

He loved her mouth, but he got the idea that she had
other plans for her mouth right now, and he didn't want to derail those plans.

His cock was tight and hard and as she took his shaft in her hands, it was all he could do not to explode right then.

Hell, he'd been hot and hard since she'd straddled him and kissed him in the park. All he'd wanted to do then and there was kiss her, undress her, closing out every thought but getting her naked and losing himself within her.

And now she was exceeding his every thought as she lifted up and put her mouth over the crest of his cock, flicking her tongue over the head.

He hissed out a breath and held on to the sofa as she expertly pleasured him. He wasn't sure if watching it or experiencing it was better. All he knew was he had to hold on tight as she took him for one hell of a hot ride with her lips and tongue. And when she took him deep, he let out a groan.

She was beautiful, with her hair spread out over his thighs, her mouth hot, wet, and unraveling him with every swipe of her tongue. His balls tightened and he knew he wasn't going to be able to hold out much longer.

“Megan,” he said, his voice croaking out her name. “You need to stop now or I'm gonna come.”

She didn't, instead stroking the base of his shaft, feeding his cock deeper into the recesses of her mouth.

And when she made a sound, the vibration was his undoing. He couldn't hold back the rush of his orgasm. She held on to him as he rocketed through his climax, jerking into her mouth with unyielding pleasure bursts until he was left spent and shuddering and barely able to form a coherent thought.

Megan rested her head on his thigh and looked up at him with a smile while he caught his breath.

“Not bad for round two, either,” she finally said.

What she'd done to him. Damn. Megan was a constant surprise.

He looked down at her and grinned. “Yeah, and round three is about to rock your world.”

“Bring it,” she said.

He pulled her to her feet and kissed her, a deeper, hotter one this time, and his passion fired to life again. She threaded her fingers in his hair, holding him in place. He felt that need and fed off of it.

He maneuvered her down the hall, undoing her bra as they moved in unison. Her bra ended up somewhere between the guest room and the master bedroom.

“Condoms are in the nightstand's top drawer,” she murmured against his mouth.

He reached into the drawer and pulled one out, tossing it to the side as his fingers dove into her hair.

He could get so lost in her, in the feel of her foot rubbing along his calf, in the way she arched her back to rub her nipples along his chest. She made him ache to be inside of her.

And when he put on the condom and spread her legs, she looked up at him. He read wild passion in her eyes. He felt the same out-of-control beating in his heart, the mad rushing of his blood, that need to be inside of her right now.

And when he eased inside of her, her breath caught.

He paused.

“Okay?” he whispered against her lips.

“Mmm, more than okay.”

The passion-fueled tone of her voice spurred him on, made him eager to get her off again, to make her feel the same way she made him feel. He moved within her, loving how her body tightened around him. And when he kissed her, he soaked in her whimpers, the way she clasped him closer as if she couldn't get enough.

Yeah, he knew that feeling.

“You make me feel so good, Brady,” she murmured. Her eyes were open and the naked honesty in her eyes tore him up. “I love when we're connected, when you're moving inside of me like this.”

He shuddered at her words. He'd never had a woman tell him that before. But damn if he didn't feel the same way. It was damn good to be inside of her, to be close to
her like this. He'd never thought much about sex other than a means to get off, to lose himself for a few minutes and not have to think. To be completely focused on sexual release.

But here he was, staring at those beautiful brown eyes of Megan's and actually feeling something.

It was damned uncomfortable, but also damned amazing at the same time.

A connection. He hadn't felt a connection to someone in a really long time.

He slid his hand in hers and lifted her arm over her head, entwining his fingers with hers. Then he kissed her, and it was like an instantaneous explosion of sensation and feelings, as if lightning had struck him.

And when she moved under him, when she made those sexy whimpering noises that never failed to make his balls tighten up, he wanted to take her there, to make her feel as good as she made him feel.

He plumped her breast with his other hand and brushed his thumb across her nipple.

She gasped, and his body responded. He knew she was going to go off.

So was he. He couldn't help but react to her every sound, her every movement. But he waited for her, and he pulled up, watching her as she released. She let him watch her reaction, as if she wanted to give that to him, to let him know what he did to her.

Damn if it wasn't the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen, watching her climax.

He went after her, shuddering out his own release, burying his face in her neck as he came.

After, he kissed her neck and lifted, smiling down at her.

“So how was round three?”

Her lips lifted. “It was good.”

“Just good?”

“Exceptionally good. You don't get report cards for sex. You know it was stupendous.” She pushed at his chest and he rolled off.

“I can live with stupendous.” He disappeared into the bathroom to dispose of the condom, then came back in to climb on the bed next to her.

She rolled over to face him, nestling her shoulder under his arm.

“Ready for round four?” he asked.

She laughed. “Not quite yet. I need a few rounds of oxygen first.”

That made him grin. “Okay.”

“So tell me about your brother and fishing. Or any of the other things the two of you used to do together.”

His brows knit together. “Why?”

She shrugged. “I want to know more about you. About you and Kurt.”

“I don't really like to talk about it.”

“I know.” She laid her hand on his chest. “But maybe it's good to talk about it.”

He stared straight ahead and went quiet for a few minutes, and Megan was afraid she'd once again broken the spell, that Brady would hop up and leave just when things had settled between them.

“I left town when things got bad with him,” he finally said. “He'd gone from pot to crack to heroin, and I tried to get him into rehab. Shit, I tried more than once. He wouldn't go.”

She lifted her gaze to his. “Not much you could do about that. An addict has to want to get clean.”

He shifted and sat up. So did she.

“I know. But it was tearing my parents apart, because they thought they could help him. They tried everything. Hell, I tried everything. Kurt and I had a big blowout of a fight right before I left. I told him if he was going to kill himself with that shit, I wasn't going to stay around and watch it. That's when I left.”

Her heart ached for him. “And you somehow feel responsible for him overdosing and dying.”

He didn't answer.

She laid her hand on his arm, felt the tension there. “We
all tried to get him to seek help, Brady. I ran into him at Bert's diner one day and he and I sat down at one of the booths. For some reason I thought the short past he and I had together would mean something. We stayed friends even after we decided to stop dating, so I thought talking to him might help. I told him I cared about him and I wanted him to get help.”

Brady slanted a look at her. “I'll bet that went over well.”

“He told me there was nothing wrong with him and he was fine. And then he thanked me for my concern. That was about it. We ate together and went our separate ways.”

“Yeah. He wasn't interested in hearing anyone's concerns.”

She nodded. “I wasn't the only one who tried. In the end, Kurt was the one who owned his addiction. And no one could help him if he didn't want to help himself.”

“You know, logically, I understand that. But I was family. I was closer to him than anyone else. And I was the one who walked out on him. Maybe there was something I could have done. At some point maybe I could have reached him.”

She cocked her head to the side. “You know that's not true. You would have just been here to see Kurt destroy his life.”

He was still staring at her bedroom wall as if it held all the answers he was looking for. “Maybe. I know my parents partially blame me for Kurt's death.”

Her breath caught. “What? How could they possibly blame you?”

“Because I wasn't here.”

She shook her head. “That's not how it works. You couldn't have helped him. No one could.”

“Yeah. You're right about that.”

He finally dragged his gaze away from the wall and laid his hand on her thigh, giving her a smile, but there was no joy in his eyes.

“Come here,” he said. “You can rest against me and then we can work on round four.”

“Sounds good to me.”

She shifted and rolled over to lie against him, but the relaxed state Brady had been in after they'd made love was gone. Now it was like lying down next to a stone pillar.

She wished she hadn't brought up his brother. She had thought maybe talking with Brady about Kurt might help.

It had only made things worse.

Stupid, stupid mistake.

IT HAD BEEN
a hot damn day, and Brady had spent the majority of it sanding, which meant he was drenched in sweat. He finally finished up around five thirty, figuring he'd be the last one left in the shop.

He went in search of Roxie, surprised to find her sleeping next to Carter in his office.

Brady leaned his forearm against the doorway. “Where's Molly?”

“She dashed out of here early, mumbling something about shopping and showering and book club and . . . I don't think it was in that order, or maybe it was. I was only half paying attention. So I got the pup. How did the sanding go?”

“It was a piece of work, but I got the dents smoothed out in the passenger-side door and the rear quarter panel. All that's left is the trunk hood and I'll be ready to paint.”

“Great. I've got two more coming in for you next week.”

Brady nodded. “Guess it's good to be busy.”

Carter cracked a satisfied smile. “It makes me damn happy.”

“I'm sure it does. If there's nothing else, I'm outta here.”

“Actually there is. You got plans tonight?”

“No.”

“Good. Come play basketball with us.”

Brady arched a brow. “Not really my thing.”

“Really. You afraid of a little healthy competition?”

“No.”

“Good. Then you could use the exercise.”

“I just spent the better part of the day sweating my ass off. I don't think I need more exercise.”

“I'll give you that. Then come along to help me kick the other guys' asses. And there's beer and burgers after.”

This wasn't the first time Carter had asked him to join in on the group basketball game. He figured he should maybe say yes at least once.

“All right.”

“Great. Meet you at the gym in a half hour.”

That gave Brady time to get Roxie fed and take her on a short walk. He changed into his sweats and grabbed clean clothes to take along, then headed over to the gym, where he found Carter and a bunch of the other guys already warming up.

He was surprised to see so many of them there. Besides Carter, there was Luke, Will, Bash, Reid, Deacon, and Zach.

Carter waved him over.

“Hey,” Deacon said as he made his way to the group. “Glad you made it tonight.”

“Thanks. Figured spending eight hours sweating my ass off over a car wasn't enough exercise.”

“Aww, you poor baby,” Reid said. “The rest of us spent our workdays getting pampered at the spa. After that we all took naps. So we'll try to go easy on you.”

Brady smirked. “Yeah, you do that.”

They warmed up by taking a few jump shots with the ball, then broke up into two teams of four. Brady was on a team with Carter, Deacon, and Reid.

Okay so maybe playing basketball was a lot different from sanding a car. He used other muscles, for sure, and
he got slammed by Will as he went for a lay-up, ending up on his ass on the floor.

Will grinned down at him and held out his hand. “You didn't really think we were going to go easy on you, did you?”

Brady grinned back. “I was hoping you wouldn't.”

It was an hour of grueling running, shoving, and trash talking. Brady had to admit it was a hell of a lot of fun. When they stopped for a water break, he took several very thirsty swallows.

“I don't know about the rest of you,” Zach said, “but I'm getting hungry.”

“I could eat,” Will said.

“You can always eat,” Reid said. “Then again, I'm hungry, too.”

Bash nodded. “I'm with you guys. Let's grab a shower and some food.”

They hit the showers, cleaned up, and got dressed, then assembled in the parking lot.

“Where to?” Luke asked.

“Anyplace but my bar,” Bash said. “It's my night off.”

“Bert's?” Will asked.

Deacon shook his head. “Let's go get a steak.”

“Lonestar in Tulsa?” Will asked.

“Works for me,” Brady said. He was hungry. Anyplace sounded good to him right now.

They all agreed, so they piled into their cars and headed into Tulsa. Since it was a weeknight, it wasn't crowded. They were seated right away.

“Beers?” Luke asked.

Everyone nodded, so they ordered a couple of pitchers.

“How's work, Luke?” Will asked.

“Busy. I had to pick up an extra shift this week to cover for vacations, and thank God for Allison, the nanny Emma hired, because she's helping Emma with the baby so Emma can get some sleep while I'm working my ass off. All I do is come home, kiss Emma and cuddle Michael for five seconds, then pass out.”

“Rough,” Deacon said, pouring himself a beer.

Bash looked pained. “So that's what it's like having a baby?”

Luke laughed. “No. That's what it's like working double shifts. Having a baby around has been awesome. Michael is just the best thing ever.”

“Look at him grinning,” Will said. “It's like someone sprinkled magic freakin' fairy dust on him or something.”

Deacon studied Luke. “I think it's the lack of sleep talking.”

“Naw, that's the new baby glow,” Zach said. “My older brother had that same look when he had his son last year. He didn't sleep well and the baby was up most nights, but he didn't even care. Just wore that same stupid grin on his face for months.”

Brady checked Luke's face. Zach was right. Luke was definitely smiling.

“Good to know the whole baby thing isn't a total disaster,” Bash said.

“I don't think you have anything to worry about just yet,” Brady said.

“Well, actually . . .”

“Wait. You and Chelsea?” Zach asked.

Bash nodded. “Happened a bit before we were ready. Which ended up accelerating the wedding timeline. Like a lot.”

“No shit,” Zach said.

“Yeah. But we're really damned excited about it.”

“Congratulations, man. I didn't know.” Zach shook his hand and patted him on the back.

“I didn't know, either.” Brady shook his hand as well.

“Thanks, guys. We haven't told everyone yet. We're still getting used to the idea, and now Chelsea is in wedding mode. Which is in two weeks. You'll get invites if you haven't already. So there's a lot going on.”

“Two weeks?” Zach asked. “Wow, that's fast.”

“Like, really fast,” Bash said. “Good thing Chelsea has great friends who can put this all together in a hurry. And with Des being an actress, she said she has connections
in Hollywood who will drop everything to help her. So I think we've got it all together.”

Brady leaned back and took a long swallow of his beer. “So a wedding and a baby, huh?”

“Yeah. Actually, we're both kind of glad to get the wedding over with. It wasn't a big deal to either of us anyway. Finding the house? Now that was important. And once we did, getting it renovated was the next big thing, which, thanks to Reid and Deacon, has been done.”

Reid raised his mug. “You're welcome.”

“Ditto,” Deacon said. “We were happy to help with that project, and it didn't take that long anyway.”

Bash grinned. “So now we've moved into the new house and we're just ready to start our new lives. And we both really want kids and didn't want to wait on that, so this is kind of a blessing in disguise.”

Will held up his mug. “To Bash and Chelsea and the bun in the oven.”

Brady laughed and toasted.

Hell of a lot going on with his new friends. After celebrating and talking about Bash's good news, they drank and ate. Brady enjoyed a great steak. After a while, most of the guys headed home, leaving just him and Deacon at the table.

“Hell of a thing, huh?” Deacon asked.

“What's that?”

“Bash getting married and having a baby.”

“Oh. Yeah.”

“Life can surprise you sometimes. You never know what's just around the corner.”

“Isn't that the truth?”

Deacon finished up his beer and his lips lifted. “Better him than me. I'm just damn glad I'm not in a relationship.”

“Really? Why?”

“Too complicated. You think a woman wants one thing, then they end up wanting something completely different and you're left out in the cold.”

Brady could tell Deacon had had a few drinks, but he
didn't appear drunk. Maybe he had a few things on his mind.

“Break up with someone recently?”

Deacon lifted his gaze to Brady's. “Recently? No. The last time I let a woman break my heart was a long time ago. I only let it happen once.”

“Well, at least you got smart after that time.”

Deacon laughed. “That's true. Problem is she's back in Hope now, so I keep running into her.”

“Really. Who's that?”

“Loretta Black. Well, she's Loretta Simmons now, since she married that rich guy after high school.”

Brady got the gist of what was going on. “Ah. So you and Loretta were a high school thing, huh?”

“Yeah.” He waved his hand in dismissal. “But it was over a long time ago. It doesn't mean anything to me anymore.”

That's why Deacon was bringing her up now. “Are you sure about that?”

“Definitely. Though I wish she'd have stayed in Texas with the rich guy.”

“Is it hard to see her?”

Deacon shrugged. “Sort of. Dredges up the past, and I'm not much for that.” Deacon poured another beer. “Anyway, I'm glad you came out with us tonight.”

He could tell Deacon wanted to drop the subject. “Me, too. I had a good time.”

“You should come play with us every week, Brady. You did great.”

“I don't know how good I did, but I could try it again.”

“Good. You need to get out more.”

“So people keep telling me.”

“Look, I know how it is to lose someone. I knew your brother. We weren't close in school, but we hung out some after high school. I'm really sorry, man.”

“Thanks.”

“I kept to myself a lot after my dad died. People didn't know what to say to offer comfort, or even worse, they'd tell me they knew how I felt. Until you lose someone you
love, how the hell can you have any inkling of what it's like? It was my dad. He and I were close. I'll never have another father, no one who knows me like that.”

Deacon stared at his mug of beer, no doubt lost in memories.

Brady knew exactly what that was like, being lost in the past, in all those what-ifs, like if you could have one more conversation with the person you loved, then maybe things would be different. Though Deacon's situation wasn't like his, he understood that feeling of loss.

“Anyway,” Deacon said, “I didn't want to hear any of it. So I closed up and shut myself out of everyday life. And I still felt like shit. In the end, it didn't help. Couldn't bring my dad back, so I figured I might as well go on living.”

Brady understood. “Well, I do know how you feel.”

Deacon laughed. “I know you do. It hurts like hell. And it's going to hurt like hell until it doesn't hurt like hell anymore. And I'm not about to tell you how to feel. But the one thing I will tell you is that isolating yourself doesn't help. So come play basketball with us and come have beers with us. It won't cure the ache, but it'll take your mind off of life for an hour or two.”

“Thanks. I'm working my way out of it, little by little. Even dating.”

Deacon reared back. “God forbid.”

Brady laughed. “Yeah.”

“Who are you going out with?”

“Megan Lee.”

Deacon nodded. “Really good-looking woman. And she makes the best damn croissants I've ever had. You could do a hell of a lot worse than a woman who bakes.”

“This is true.” Though he hadn't seen Megan in a few days. He should call her and see what was going on. Maybe take her out again.

He gave Deacon a ride home, which fortunately Deacon agreed to without argument.

He pulled into Deacon's driveway and put the car in park. Deacon climbed out, then leaned his head in.

“Had fun tonight.”

Brady shot him a grin. “Yeah, me, too.”

“You're in for next week's game, right?”

“You bet.”

“See ya, Brady.”

Brady waited for Deacon to make his way inside his house before he pulled out of his driveway.

Okay, so hanging out with the guys wasn't so bad. It gave him something to do besides work at the shop all the time, or hang out alone in his apartment.

He headed back to his place, took Roxie outside, then came in. He wasn't at all tired, so he paced the confines of his extremely small apartment.

He got out his phone and checked the time. It was only ten p.m., but then again, he knew Megan got up early in the morning to go to the bakery. So probably not a good idea to call or text.

He'd go the bakery tomorrow and see her. For tonight, he needed to go to bed.

But still, that restless feeling.

He went into the kitchen and filled a glass with ice water, then wandered into the living room.

He grabbed the remote and sat on the sofa. Roxie came over and looked up at him, so he scooped her up and she dropped her chicken on his lap, then climbed on and found a comfortable spot to sleep.

He propped his feet on the coffee table, surfed to a sports channel and found a West Coast baseball game.

Good enough. He laid his hand over Roxie and settled in for a sleepless night.