PIERCED - A Stepbrother Romance (12 page)

I pull my mouth from hers and eye the backyard, where a sparkling pool sits pretty. There’s something so calming about water, and it’s why I’m a huge advocate for water births. I’m not entirely unconvinced that water can be healing, magic almost. You place a woman in it and her emotions go from tight and terse to fluid and malleable.

“Let’s go outside.” My hand leaves Lauryn’s face and trails down her arm until it finds her clenched fist. I work my fingers into hers and pull her out toward the infinity pool that sits beneath a fence of palm trees. We crouch down along the edge, dipping our feet in. Lauryn reaches in and glides her palm along top of the still water, causing a mini wave of ripples. The water is perfectly warm and a light breeze ruffles her black curls. She’s more at ease now.

“Remember when you pushed me in here, fully clothed?” she says with an annoyed grin.

“You were wearing a white dress that night. I was sixteen. I had ulterior movies.”

“You liked me then?”

“Fuck, Lauryn.” I rake my hand through the side of my head. “I liked you long before that.”

Her head drops and her hair hides her face, but I’m willing to bet she’s smiling. “Should’ve said something sooner. Before that summer.”

She’s right. “Guess I always thought we had more time.”

If I’m being honest, I thought we had our whole lives ahead of us. Together. Me and her.

“So what’d you talk to my mom about?” she turns to face me, her eyes squinting under the daylight. “Was she okay seeing you and everything?”

Lauryn’s always been so protective of her mom, especially after her father left. I can’t say that I blame her, but sometimes it’s a little much.

“Your mom is a smart, strong woman, Lauryn. We’ve actually been talking for the last week or two. I reached out to her when you said you were coming back here.”

“You did?” She leans away, scrunching her nose. “Why’d you do that?”

“Because I want to be in your life, and if you’re moving here, I have to make things right with your mom,” I say. “Come to find out, she doesn’t blame me for any of it.” I kick my feet leisurely, back and forth, pushing water with my calves. “Spent all those years thinking she hated me just as much as you did. Guess it wasn’t the case at all.”

“She’s been in therapy for a while,” Lauryn says softly. “I think we’re finally seeing the results of that.”

“She gave me her blessing,” I say, leaning my shoulder into hers.

“Blessing for what?”

“I’m not proposing or anything.” I chuckle at the look on her face, the one that tells me she’s completely petrified of what I’m about to say. “She just said that she’s cool if, you know, we wanted to be together.”

She breathes heavily, saying nothing for a moment. “I don’t know why you’re doing this. I told you. I’m moving back home to figure things out. You’re making this a lot more complicated than it needs to be.”

“You can’t figure yourself out back in Miami?”

“I hate Miami. You know that.”

“Okay, then I’ll relocate. There’s job security being an OB-GYN. I can find work anywhere. People can’t stop reproducing. It’s kind of a global epidemic.”

“You hate California,” she mutters. “Unless that’s changed in the last ten years.”

“It hasn’t changed, but I’m willing to compromise.” I slip my hand into hers. “Stop fighting this, Lauryn. You’re looking for every reason you can find that it’s not going to work. Stop it.”

She faces away from me, and I miss her face instantly.

“I’ll get us a house in the ‘burbs if that’s what you want. You want a quiet, simple life? I’ll give it to you. You want every day to feel like vacation? Done. You want to fly out to Cabo on the weekends? You got it. Or, shit, I’ll work weekend packages and you can have me all to yourself five days a week. We’ll figure out this stupid life shit together.”

“You make it sound so simple.” She still won’t look at me.

“Because it is simple.” I reach for her face, drawing it back until our eyes meet. She’s crying, blinking away tears as fast as they appear. “Why are you so afraid? Tell me so I can understand.”

“You were the only constant in my life,” she says, her voice wavering. “Growing up, it was always you. You were home. You were my family. You were my brother. My best friend. My first love. My first…everything. And then I lost you. I couldn’t acknowledge my feelings for you without hurting my mom. And I was upset with you. I blamed you for not speaking up, and I know now that that was wrong. You were just a kid. But these feelings, Sut, they’ve hardened over the years. It’s not as easy as you think to let them go, to dissolve them. And on top of that? What if I lose you again? I don’t think I could come back from that. I don’t think I could handle losing you again.”

My hand guides her mouth to mine, and I graze her lips before depositing a long, slow kiss on them. “You don’t know me at all, do you?”

She pulls away. “Excuse me?”

“You know me better than anyone ever has, and you think I wouldn’t be a man of my word? You think I’d chase you all over the world, convince you to be with me, and then bail when things get stale or hard or-”

“-no, no,” she says. Her eyes search mine. “Life happens. People have good intentions and then things get in the way. Promises are broken. Priorities shift.”

“That’s fucking life, Lauryn.” My hand still holds her face. “There are no guarantees.”

She pulls away from me. I should be more sensitive to her given what recently transpired with James, but I’m not in that frame of mind right now. I just flew across the country to convince her to give me a chance, and I’m not about to concede anytime soon.

“You can take that risk with someone else or you can take it with me.” I stand up. She gazes up at me, her hand cupped above her eyes. In this moment, I can either take her hand and fight harder. Or I can walk away.

I’ve come all this way.

I’m not giving up this easily.

“Give me your hand.” My lips are pursed, and I release a deep breath.

“Why?”

“Because I told you to. Because I know what’s best for you. Because I know your heart.”

“Everything okay out here?” My mom always had perfect timing, and it seems she still does. She pops her head out of the sliding glass door and smiles in a way that makes me think she’s happy seeing us together again.

“Everything’s fine, Mom,” I call back. Turning back to Sut, I see his hand is still outstretched for mine. Waiting. Mom is watching. I place my hand in his, and he pulls me to a standing position.

“We were just heading back inside,” Sut says. “Sky looks a little dark over the hills.”

“Huh,” Mom says, placing a finger against her crimson lips and flashing a delicate smile. The rain makes her happy, and living in Southern California, she doesn’t see enough of it. Born and raised in Seattle, the rain reminds her of home, of simple times, and of fond memories. “Think I’ll sit outside and wait for the storm to roll in.”

Sut leads me back into the house, and we leave a trail of wet footprints along the hand-scraped walnut floors. The air conditioning coats my wet legs like a blanket of ice, and I shiver uncontrollably.

Or maybe it’s my emotions.

Everything comes to the surface at once, and the only thing I know is that I feel better the second Sutton wraps his arms around me. I’m safe. Warm. Loved. Protected. He leads me to the family room, the place we spent the majority of our youth hanging out, and we crash on the sofa. Sut grabs a throw blanket and wraps it around my damp legs before slipping an arm around my back and pulling me into him. I breathe his scent, cologne and fabric softener, and shut my eyes.

I’m still for the first time in years. My fear, my hatred, my confusion…it’s dissolving as if it were never there all along.

“I’m sorry,” I whisper against his chest.

“For what?”

“For blaming you. For hating you when I should’ve been loving you.” My voice cracks and fades, echoing softly off the cotton of his shirt. “You didn’t do anything wrong. I was the asshole all along.”

“Nah.” He shakes his head, his chin brushing the top of my hair. “You were a young girl, taking care of her mom. Your biggest strength was your greatest weakness.”

“And what was that?”

“Your loyalty. Your love. Your compassion.” His arms squeeze me tight, as if we wants to hold me as close as humanly possible. “Can you do me a favor, Lauryn?”

I nod.

“Can you trust me?”

His hand cups my chin and lifts it up until our mouths meet. I crave his taste. I crave his voice, his smell, his touch. Sut’s lips crush mine, and my mouth parts to let him in. He sucks my tongue softly, sending a tingle down my spine. He’s kissing me the way he did that last summer we shared.

“Fuck, Lauryn,” he moans into my mouth as he pulls me over his lap. A hardness rubs against my inner thighs, and my core melts with liquid heat. “I need you right now in the worst fucking way, but your mom is outside.”

I laugh. It feels like high school all over again. I bury my head in his neck, stealing kisses all the while, and smiling as I recall all the places we snuck in quickies and hand jobs and any other type of action a couple of teenagers might find exhilarating.

“It’s Tuesday,” I say. “She has bridge club tonight. We’ll have the place to ourselves for a few hours.”

Sutton moans, his head falling back against the couch. I’m quite sure he’s aching for me right now, but he’s not alone. I want to feel him inside, me; his giant cock filling my tight space, his metal piercing rubbing my g-spot, his body weight pinning me exactly where he wants me.

“Tonight,” I whisper, taking his earlobe between my teeth. “Tonight, you can have me.”

***

“I left a twenty on the counter if you two want to order some pizza,” my mom calls from the foyer. Her heels click against the white marble floors, the sound growing louder as she makes her way to where we sit in the study, perusing her library of collectable books and rare Hollywood oddities. She flashes a wide, red-lipped smile. “Just teasing. You’re both adults. You can afford your own pizza now.”

Sut laughs. “I’m starving. I plan on feasting tonight. Probably going to gorge myself. Know of any good all you can eat buffets?”

I elbow him, my cheeks blushing scarlet, and pray my mom doesn’t pick up on his catastrophically cheesy innuendos. He used to do the same exact thing when we were younger, but they never seemed to register with my mom. At least…she never acted like they did.

Oh, God.
She was probably acting all along.

“All right, kids, be good,” she says the way she used to. There’s a bit more color in her face and a bit more shine in her blue eyes. She’s happy seeing us together. Her heels click across the floor until the front door opens and shuts, and the headlights of her Mercedes convertible shine through the windows.

“About fucking time,” Sut growls as his hands grip my hips. He spins me to face him, his lips curling into a devilish smirk. We spent all day hanging out, rifling through photos and biding our time while silently counting down the hours until we’d have the place to ourselves. I like to think the anticipation is going to make this all the more worth the wait.

He leans down and kisses me, his hands gliding down the sides of my hips until he cups my ass. Sut lifts me up, and I wrap my legs around him, peppering kisses into his neck and breathing him in as if he’s the only oxygen I’ll ever need. He carries me out of the study and toward the stairs, climbing them carefully until we reach the top. He remembers where my room is – the last one of the left.

Nothing has changed. A full-sized canopy bed with white linens and a whole mess of blankets and pillows sits center-stage in my childhood bedroom. Posters and photos are unchanged, my mother never allowing her decorator to touch my room or change a thing. My bedroom was a moment in time captured for eternity and staged like some sort of museum exhibit.

His hand works its way up my shirt and under my bra, massaging my full breasts until my nipples wake. His breath tastes like the cinnamon candy he snuck from the study. It’s hot and intense and sweet all at once, not unlike him.

I reach to undo his jeans, feeling the bulge beginning to form in his pants. His cock, his big, beautiful cock, is all I want. I want to run my tongue along his length, feeling the way it fills my mouth. I want to feel its soft velvety skin against my palms as it grows. I want it inside me.

Sutton stands and pulls his pants down the rest of the way, revealing his solid, pierced cock in all its perfect glory. He tears my pants off before leaning down and biting the lace fringe of my panties with his perfect teeth, slipping them off and climbing over top of me, pinning me beneath his muscled torso.

His hands work around to my back as he unhooks my bra, leaning down to kiss my collarbone at the same time. His body over mine grounds me.

“I’ve been thinking about this all day,” he whispers. “Waiting for this moment.”

My core heats, growing wet with his words as his hands caress every inch of my body. I reach up and grip his muscled shoulders, tracing my fingernails down over each ripple and bend as his muscles glide beneath his soft flesh.

He scoops his hands under my back and lifts my body upwards until we’re near the head of the bed, and he lays me down delicately until my head hits a white pillow. His eyes lock and never leave mine, and we stay like that for a moment.

This time is going to be different. Less hungry. More intense. Less greedy. More patient. Sex with Sutton can be any variety and still rock my world, but the way he looks at me now is different.

He knows he has me now, and that’s okay because it’s true.

I belong to him.

I am his.

Always have been.

Always will be.

“I can’t wait any longer,” he says. “I have to be inside you.”

His words send me reeling, and I widen my hips. I take a deep breath, anticipating that first insertion. The one that hurts in the best way possible. It’s my favorite part of sex with him. He positions himself between my thighs, gripping onto the base of his monstrous cock and pressing the tip against my swollen, wet sex. He releases his cock for a moment to massage my clit.

“Relax,” he breaths. His hand returns to his cock, and he presses it against me.

“Aah,” I sigh as he inserts himself. The last time we fucked, I barely had time to enjoy it. I barely had time to appreciate his girth or his talent or the way he bucked his hips just perfectly. Fucking a guy who knows female genitalia better than most females comes with its perks.

“You okay?” he asks after a few deep thrusts.

I bite my lip and nod.

He thrusts himself in and out of me, slowly at first, and then building to a quick rhythm. The warmth of his hot mouth covers my left breast as his tongue swirls, teases, and licks my pert, pink nipple.

Sut reaches down and grabs my legs, hoisting them over his broad shoulders until he is so deep inside me I almost beg him to stop. With his cock hitting my wall and spreading my insides until my nerves tingle with tortured ecstasy, I writhe against the pressure and welcome it.

“You’re so fucking beautiful,” he heaves as he continues thrusting. “And tight. God damn, you’re tight.”

“You probably say that to all your patients,” I tease. It’s worth it though because he flashes a smile that lights up his whole face, and plunges himself even deeper inside me.

He lowers my legs down from his shoulders. They fall to the sides of his hips as he pulls himself out of me. He rolls me to my side, crawling behind me and lifting one of my legs up a little before inserting himself in me all over again. He presses his hardness into me again, making my heart dip and ricochet in my chest, and then he wraps his arm under mine, pulling me close and breathing into my ear. Soft grunts leave his mouth with each buck of his hips.

He kisses my neck as he massages my breasts, his body hungry for mine.

After a while, he leans forward a bit and rolls me to my back, never taking himself out of me for even a second. It was like we are sealed, he and I, unable to pry ourselves apart if we wanted to.

His stare pierces my soul, making me forget how to breathe, and he leans down to kiss my half-open mouth, muffling the sighs that escape with every thrust.

He brushes my hair from my face in the most tender of moves, and I can tell he’s fighting the urge to release himself into me.

“It’s okay,” I say. “We have all night. I’m not going anywhere.”

With a corded neck, Sut releases himself inside me, wild spurts of hotness filling my inside. His body convulses as he empties himself and the sweet release takes hold of him. He collapses on top of me, sweaty and panting, and buries his face in my neck.

I run my fingers up and down his arm, grazing his skin with my nails, as I wait for him to recover.

“That was fucking amazing,” he sighs. “Better than the last time.”

“Yes, it was.” My hand trails down my chest, each rise and fall lifting it up and down.

As soon as the warmth of his body leaves mine, I shiver in the cool air conditioning of my dusk-filled bedroom. Without hesitating, he swiftly pulls the comforter up and covers me, slipping his arm behind my neck and holding me close.

“Thanks,” I say.

“I want to take care of you later,” he says, his voice vibrating into my skin. “I know that was all about me, but I just had to have you. I couldn’t wait.”

“It’s fine, Sut…”

“No, it’s not,” he says. “I promise. I want you to feel the way you make me feel.”

His words tickle my core as the thought of him touching me down there or licking me gets me all hot and bothered again.

I rest my head on his shoulder, breathing him in, and close my eyes. I don’t want to look at the clock. I don’t want to watch the minutes tick by, reminding us that my mother will be home in a matter of hours. I don’t want any of this to end.

A smile claims my mouth as I realize it doesn’t have to end here.

His finger traces my belly button, tickling my nerves before moving downwards to the apex between my thighs. My heart races as he spreads my legs apart and slips his finger up and down my slit.

“Close your eyes,” he whispers. “Just relax. Let me do the rest.”

I obey his command, shut my eyes, and lean back into my pillow. The warmth of his body leaves my space as he crawls under the covers and gets into position between my thighs. Pulling in a deep breath, his hot tongue slides into my most sensitive parts, lapping up my wetness. My body pulses in response to his touch. It won’t be long before I’m twisting in sheer ecstasy with Sutton at the helm.