Honeymoon from Hell VI (7 page)

A free trip to watch the
Yankees?

No Bradford in his right mind would be
able to pass that up, which is why he rubbed his hands roughly down
his face as he said, “Okay, this is what happened…”

Part III

Darrin’s Side of the
Story…

The night that it all began
all those years ago…

“
I’m hungry,” Darrin
grumbled as he tossed the remote on the couch cushion next to him
so that he could rub his hands down his face with the hopes that
the small movement would somehow give him the energy to stay
awake.

“
Me, too,” Marybeth said
next to him as she laid down on her side and laid her legs across
his, using him to get more comfortable as she released a small yawn
and curled up, “I’ll take Chinese food. Thanks.”

“
Why are you telling me?”
he asked absently as he sat back and placed his hand on her knee,
using any excuse to touch her, which in his book made him fucking
pathetic, but what else was he supposed to do when the woman that
he loved only saw him as the pain in the ass brother that she never
really wanted.

It made him feel really fucking
special, he thought dryly as he gave in to the need to gently
caress her knee with his thumb.

God, he was fucking
pathetic.

“
Because you’re going to
order the food and go pick it up. Thanks,” she said around another
yawn as she reached down and picked up the pillow that she’d used
last night when she’d crashed on his couch and made herself more
comfortable.

“
Yeah, I’m really not,” he
said, deciding to use their exhaustion as an excuse to hold
her.

He laid down on his side behind her,
loving the fact that she shifted forward to make room for him, and
curled his body around hers, promising his needy cock a cold shower
if it misbehaved and gave him away.

“
You really are,” she said
she placed her arm over his rested over her side and began absently
tracing shapes on his arm.

“
I’m really
not.”

“
Would you like to place a
bet on this?” she asked with a sleepy little sigh as she settled
back against him, putting his ability to control his cock to the
test.

“
Sure.”

“
Loser buys
dinner?”

“
Sure,” he said as he
struggled to stay awake.

When she didn’t answer, he stopped
fighting and let his eyes close as he told himself that this was
enough. He wished he could believe that, but he didn’t. It would
never be enough until she was his, but every day, about a thousand
times a day, he told himself this lie, hoping that it would help
him get through one more day.

But in the back of his mind, he knew
that it would never be enough.

He wasn’t sure that he
could keep bullshitting himself for much longer. God, he loved her,
he thought as he tried to ignore the ache in his chest and gave in
to the need to press a kiss against the back of her neck. When she
settled back against him so that there was no space between them,
he nearly groaned.

“
Goodnight,” he whispered,
closing his eyes as he promised himself that one day things would
change.

Part IV

An R.L. Mathewson Chronicle

“
Do not
push back. Do not push back. Do not push back. Do not push
back
,” Marybeth told herself as her fingers
dug into the couch cushion beneath her while she struggled to
ignore the incredibly large, hard erection that brushed against her
bottom anytime Darrin shifted.

Which was a lot.

God, he felt so good, too damn
good.

No, this was wrong. It could never
happen, because he was her best friend and deserved better than to
be stuck with a woman that couldn’t give him…give him….umm…oh, God,
that felt good, she thought, biting back a moan of pleasure as that
freakishly large erection pushing against Darrin’s zipper brushed
up against her bottom again.

She should get up and return to her
own apartment, she told herself, but for some reason she didn’t
move. Maybe she was a masochist? she wondered as Darrin shifted in
his sleep again, making her gasp as she reminded herself how wrong
this was.

He was her best friend.

He wanted a family.

He deserved to be a father.

He deserved-

To cup her boob and pull her flush
against him. He groaned in his sleep softly as he shifted, rubbing
that erection that she was desperately trying to pretend was a
flashlight against her bottom caressed her, making her nipples
harden and making it even more difficult for her to do the right
thing. She needed to get up and get out of here before they did
something that they were going to regret.

Okay, so she might not regret it
immediately, especially since she’d fantasized about him making
love to her for as long as she could remember. He’d been her first
crush, the first man that she’d ever fallen in love with and most
likely would be the only man that she ever loved.

She just couldn’t do this to him, to
make him think that they had a future when she knew that she
couldn’t give him the kind of future that he deserved. She had to
do the right thing. She was going to get up, walk back to her
apartment and take a very long and very cold shower and if that
didn’t work, she was going to head into work early and lose herself
in her work.

That was the best plan.

Or at least it would have been if
Darrin hadn’t pulled her even closer and palmed her breast in a way
that made it difficult to take her next breath, never mind get
up.

“
Marybeth
,” he groaned in his sleep as
he kneaded her breast and ground his erection, that she could swear
had actually gotten bigger in the last few seconds, against her
bottom.

Okay, that was it.

It was definitely time to put an end
to this before-

He kissed the back of her neck, making
her shiver with desire as his hand abandoned her breast and slid
down her stomach and-

“
Oh, God,” she gasped,
unable to take it any longer.

Telling herself that this was for the
best, she went to sit up, but somehow found herself turning around
and facing Darrin, who used her new position to place her on her
back and settle between her legs as he continued his sensual
assault.

She wrapped her arms around him,
closed her eyes and tilted her head back, took a deep breath and
decided to end this here and now before things got out of
hand.

“
Darrin, stop.”

Part V

“
Darrin, stop.”

The words sent a chill down his spine
as he slowly opened his eyes and looked down at the beautiful woman
beneath him. He felt his stomach drop as dread slammed into
him.

He’d just seriously fucked
up.

God, he couldn’t believe how badly
he’d just fucked up. All these years of struggling to stay in
control, forcing himself to act like it didn’t tear him apart when
she saw other men, that he didn’t want to kill every last fucking
one of them with his hands, but he’d somehow always believed the
bullshit that they meant nothing and that one day she would realize
what they had, but he’d just ruined everything because he couldn’t
keep his fucking dick under control.

“
I…,” he opened his mouth
to apologize? To explain how fucking badly he wanted her? That
sometimes he thought he’d fucking die if he didn’t find out how it
felt to slide inside her and now he’d just ruined everything. He
closed his mouth, swallowed and tried again, but the look on her
face said it all.

He’d just ruined
everything.

“
Oh…fuck..no,” he whispered
hoarsely as he slowly pulled away and climbed off the couch, unable
to look her in the face and terrified that if he opened his mouth
right now that he’d fuck this up even more. He needed to get away
from her right now before it was too late.

He wanted her so fucking badly that if
he didn’t leave the room and put some space between them right now
then he was going to do something that he was going to regret and
there was no doubt that he was going to fucking do something
incredibly stupid if he stayed. Not because he would regret
touching her, finally tasting her, because he would never regret
that, but he would never forgive himself for pushing her
away.

No matter how much he loved her, and
God, did he fucking love her, she was his best friend and no matter
how badly he wanted her, he couldn’t risk losing that. He just
couldn’t risk losing her. It was the same goddamn reason that
stopped him every fucking time he grew the balls to finally do
something about it and tonight would be no different.

He’d back off, give her space, try to
convince himself that neither one of them was ready to take this
step and risk over twenty years of friendship for something that
could blow up in their faces. He’d tell himself that he needed more
time, needed to make sure that she was ready, that this wasn’t a
mistake, and they weren’t going to ruin everything.

Time.

They just needed more time, he
promised himself as he clenched his jaw shut tightly while he
looked at the beautiful woman staring back at him. Her breaths were
coming quickly as she closed her eyes while he tried to force
himself to leave her, but he couldn’t.

He just couldn’t.

Part VI

Nothing happened, she told herself as
she curled back up on her side and faced the couch, terrified that
if she moved or said something that she would make things worse and
Darrin would go away and-

She swallowed hard as she squeezed her
eyes shut, trying to pretend that she wasn’t terrified that today
would be the day when Darrin finally have enough and leave her
before-

Before what?

There was nothing that could ever
happen between them. She’d made sure of it and now she was lying
here in the dark, feeling sorry for herself and praying for
something that she knew could never happen. He deserved better than
to be tied down to the one woman who couldn’t give him what he
wanted more than anything and she deserved to live a life where she
could open her eyes every morning and look at herself in the mirror
without feeling like the most horrible bitch around for ruining his
life.

Keeping her eyes closed, she listened
as Darrin continued to stand there, wondering what he was going to
do. Part of her hoped that he would climb back on the couch, curl
up behind her and tell her that nothing else mattered. Another part
of her hoped that he would do the right thing and walk away, start
putting some real distance between them and end this before she was
forced to do it, but she knew that he would never hurt her and push
her away no matter how much better off they’d both be if one of
them had the balls to finally end this thing.

That left it up to her to do the right
thing, something that she’d been struggling to find the courage to
do since she was fifteen. Maybe tonight was finally going to be the
night where things happened for the best. He’d finally get sick of
being brushed off, move on and she’d be happy for him, she told
herself as she clenched her jaw so tightly that it actually hurt
right along with the muscles in her body rebelling at the idea of
walking away from Darrin once and for-

She choked out the words, “Oh my,
God,” but she wasn’t sure that she’d managed to get the words out
or even knew how to say them. Not that she was really all that
concerned with her vocal abilities at the moment. Although, she
vaguely thought, maybe she should ask him why he was taking his
pants off and shoving his boxers down, revealing a part of his
anatomy that seemed very excited to see her.

She should definitely be looking away
right now, she tried to tell herself, yet no matter how many times
she chanted that mantra in her head she couldn’t seem to get around
the fact that her best friend, the man that she’d been in love with
for more years than she could count, was completely aroused, naked
and had somehow managed to pull her pants and underwear down before
it registered in her mind.

“
Oh my
God
,” she was able to get out, somewhat
coherently this time when he ducked his head between her legs and
traced her wet slit with his tongue.

If there had been any concerns that
this had been another one of those wonderful dreams that she seemed
to depend upon more and more lately to get through the day, he’d
destroyed every single last one of them as he dipped his tongue
between her lips and flicked her clit with what she was quickly
coming to realize was a very talented tongue.

“
Darrin
,” she managed to gasp out his
name even as she realized that someone was tearing off her shirt
and bra and by the time that she realized that that someone was
her, he had her on her back, her legs spread wide open and he was
licking her pussy slowly, savoring every last
drop.

She tried to figure out how they’d
gone from two best friends trying to pretend that nothing was
between them to her, naked, spread and moaning his name between
groaning threats of violence if he ever thought about
stopping.