Plagiarized (19 page)

I nodded in agreement, he would completely freak. Meeting his parents is something we had touched upon a few times. Every time we spoke of it, I could feel the tenseness and anxiety it would cause. Now it was done. I still hadn’t met his father or dreaded grandparents yet. If what I had just experienced with his mother was any indication, I was sure lots of drama would ensue from that meeting.

“When do you expect Craig home, dear?”

“Probably in the next fifteen to twenty minutes,” I said after looking at my watch. I was wondering if I should text him and give him a head’s up when she pulled me back from my thoughts.

“Have you met Keegen?”

My heart nearly stopped. “Yes, I have.”

“That’s good to hear. Craig respects his brother’s opinion a lot. I don’t think anything could ever come between those boys. They have such a good relationship. What did you think of him?”

I knew what she said was the truth, they had managed to get past my transgressions. But I wouldn’t really call what they had a good relationship. I would have called it a desperate one. It seemed as though both boys were so desperate for some sort of family connection they were able to overlook things. It saddened me and made me jealous all at the same time.

“Um… I actually had a relationship with him prior to meeting Craig.” I decided to be honest. Lie. I had admitted to having a relationship with Keegen prior to, not simultaneously. I couldn’t be completely honest; it would ruin my reputation.

For the first time since meeting the woman, I saw actual concern in her eyes. I wanted to be as honest as I could with her because I knew the truth would have come out at some point, and didn’t need to look like that liar that I was. But it seemed as though I could have ended up hurting myself in my honesty. She genuinely looked perplexed.

“I thought you said you are technically married. When did this relationship with my
other
son take place?”

Oh. Shit.

“My husband and I have been having problems for a long time.” Partial truth. We were having problems for a while he just didn’t really know about them. Then again, maybe he did and I just didn’t know it. Whatever the case may be, I needed her to believe my marriage had been failing for a long time. “I’m not going to sit here and lie to you, Mrs. Marten. I had an affair with Keegen while married. But it didn’t work out. As you can tell.” Okay, I was rambling in my nervousness. I couldn’t help it. She really had me feeling as though I was trapped in a corner.

“And why is that?”

I looked at her in the eyes, wanting to seem as sincere as possible. “He wanted more and I couldn’t give it to him.”

“Who ended it?”

“He did.” Seriously? Where was this line of questioning headed?

“So you saw your ticket to wealth start to slip away and decided to go after the younger, more naïve brother?” Her words were cold and accusing, but her eyes held something else. Concern maybe? Was she really just a worried mother trying to look after the welfare of her boys?

“That’s not what happened at all. I had no idea they are brothers. And to be quite frank with you, my husband—soon to be ex-husband—has money. If money was all I was after, I would have just stayed with him. I’m not going to lie to you; I, like any woman, want to be taken care of, but that’s not why I was with either of your sons. It’s not why I am with Craig.”

“Then why are you?”

I opened my mouth to answer, but was saved by the chime of the home alarm system. For the second time that evening, I heard the distinct sound of the front door opening and then closing again. I knew this time it was Craig, hoped it was him at least, and not another surprise visitor.

“Honey, I’m home,” Craig called out. It was a joke between us since we had been essentially playing house this last week.

“In here,” I responded without moving my gaze off his mother’s.

He walked in and momentarily froze, then went to his mother and kissed her cheek in greeting. “Hello, Mother. I see you’ve met Sage.”

“Yes, we’ve been having a lovely chat and getting to know each other. It has been quite informative, actually.” I couldn’t tell if she was sincere or not. He seemed to buy it at least. I was still waiting for the catch line, though.

“I’m sure it has been.” Craig eyed me wryly and searched my gaze. I knew he was checking to make sure I survived the chat.

“How was the game?” I asked Craig and he winced.

“You’re still playing?” his mother quizzed angrily, and I instantly realized my mistake.

“Well, I wouldn’t say that,” I intercepted smoothly. “This was an exhibition game, just for fun. Something all the seniors take part in.” Lie. It was so easy, sometimes I even surprised myself.

“Good to hear.” His mom looked relieved. “I told your father you weren’t playing any longer, so if he discovered you were, there would be hell to pay. You know how he feels about football, mind you, your grandfather wouldn’t be pleased, either.”

“I understand, Mom.”

And just like that, I understood Craig’s relationship with his family. It was just like mine. Two lives, which merge into one every so often, but it was much easier to keep them separate. I suddenly understood why Craig and I felt like we had so much in common despite our age gap. We were both struggling, barely keeping our heads above water, both controlled by our family’s beliefs and rules. The more I was around Craig, the more I seemed to understand him, and the more I seemed to feel for him.

“Your grandparents are stopping by tomorrow, they would like to meet the new woman in your life as well.”

I broke out in a cold sweat at that comment. I don’t know why my bravado was slipping, but I didn’t feel as though I had the confidence I normally had to fall back on. I felt as if I was teetering and my life was crumbling away, but couldn’t really pinpoint why I felt that way. I just knew it had something to do with Craig.

“I think we’ll say good night, Mom.” Craig kissed his mother’s cheek again and then took my hand to walk upstairs together.

“What the hell was that?” I hissed, once the bedroom door was safely closed behind us.

“I didn’t know she was coming. This is one of her surprise visits; she hasn’t done it in a while so I never expected it.”

“Well, you probably should have been expecting it with your graduation coming up. We both should have been.”

“No, my family already knows that I’m not walking or participating in the festivities. They didn’t like my decision at first, but seem to have gotten over it. It’s one of the few decisions they’ve let me make on my own. Although, I’m sure they didn’t concede because of me. My grandfather probably thought it would mean I could start my training earlier and that’s why they backed down.” His voice was sullen and it pained me to hear. It was as if I was listening to a younger version of myself.

I went to him and wrapped my arms around his neck. He buried his head in my neck and hid his face behind my hair. I heard him take in a deep breath and it took all of my strength not to break down. This kid was doing something to me, and I wasn’t sure if I wanted to embrace it or run away. One thing was for sure, though; he needed me as much as I needed him. Neither one of us wanted to admit that, though.

“I’ve decided that I’m going to the book signing with you,” he said against my skin.

I gently pushed away from him and smiled. “Craig, that’s sweet of you, but you can’t. I can’t show up with an eighteen-year-old. I have a persona to keep up.”

“I want to go with you.” His voice was stern, yet his eyes told me something else. His eyes looked like a young boy that had been let down by someone he cared about. It pained me to do that to him, but what else could I do?

“We’ll talk about it as the date gets closer, but I don’t think that’s wise.” I picked up my laptop and settled in bed. I wanted to do some more work on Facebook before we fell asleep. I logged on to the New York Times Bestseller list; I checked it multiple times a day, waiting for my book to be on it. It probably wouldn’t happen for a while yet, but I still checked anyway.

I saw a notice pop up on my screen and realized that Missy had accepted my alias’ friend request. Now I could see inside her personal life—what she was planning and what she was up to. It made me feel better to keep her under my thumb. Ever since she had shown up at the restaurant with Keegen, I had a bad feeling about her, like she had something up her sleeve.

Craig went in to take a shower and I must have fallen asleep because the next thing I remembered was him setting my computer to the side and sweetly kissing me good night before tucking me in. He really was a sweet kid.

I had one more day before leaving for my book signing. I was hoping that I had successfully talked Craig out of attending. I wasn’t ready to introduce him to my book world yet, that was still my world, one that I had solely created for myself. I didn’t want to share it with anyone, yet I felt the need to take at least one person with me.

I decided to ask my editor, the one that had helped me with filling in a lot of gaps in my book. To my relief, she had agreed. I needed to talk to her about helping me with my second book; I figured I could kill two birds with one stone, so to speak.

I was back at my house—ever since Craig’s mom had shown up spontaneously, I had hightailed it out of there. I felt like things were moving too quickly anyway, it was good to have a break and put some distance between us. He had a lot of things to accomplish that week, anyway, while his grandparents were visiting. My body shivered at the thought of being forced to spend time with his family. I would rather do almost anything than that.

I carefully finished packing up the last box I would be taking with me to the signing. I had three boxes of books, a banner, and a really cool cardboard cutout one of my fans had surprised me with. It was a cover of my book with my name in big letters. I loved it and couldn’t wait to have it on display at my booth.

There were over forty authors coming to the event and I was actually excited to meet most of them. I hoped my editor would work my table for me so that I could sneak off and get some signatures of my own. I had wanted to do a bit of fan-girling of my own. Not to mention, it wouldn’t hurt to socialize with well-known authors on a personable level, it could help me in the end if I could say I really knew them.

I was lucky because the signing was fairly close to my home; I would only have a two-hour drive in the morning and would be meeting my editor there.

I was just getting ready to turn my bedroom light out and hit the sack when my cell phone started to ring. It was Craig. My heart started to beat fast and I felt a smile creep up to my lips. I did like him. More than I wanted to admit most times.

“Hey, you,” I greeted him through the phone and felt my smile widen across my face.

“What are you up to? I miss you! Do you realize we haven’t seen each other in three days?”

“Yes,” I chuckled. “You don’t miss me, Craig. You’re just horny and sick of your family. How’s that going, by the way?” We had still managed to talk sporadically over the last three days, even though we hadn’t seen each other. I knew things had been okay, but they hadn’t been able to reach an agreement about turning the company over yet. His father was slated to fly in the next day for a big family meeting. That should be fun. I was just glad I would be gone and wouldn’t have to deal with it all. Craig would have to fill me in when I came back.

“Everything’s the same as before.” He let out a huge sigh. “Can I see you?”

“I was just getting in bed.”

“Well, my timing is perfect then. Come and let me in. I’m at your front door.”

My face broke into an ear-splitting grin as I hung up the phone and sprinted to the door. I jumped into his arms with a giggle and he held on to me tight, too tight.

“Are you okay?” I asked him.

“I am now,” he responded. So cliché, but I could tell that he meant it. He lifted me up in his arms and I let out a squeal as he one-handedly relocked the door, and then made his way for the stairs. He took them two at a time with me in his arms, which made me let out a squeal again. I thought he would drop me for sure, but he was tremendously strong I don’t know why I even doubted his strength.

Once we got up to my room, he set me down and undid my robe in one flick of his wrist. I gaped at him and tried to cover myself, laughing; he was trying to pinch my nipples and it hurt.

I could already see the tent in his pants and knew where his mind was. I dropped to my knees and he put his hand on the side of my face.

“You are so beautiful,” he whispered and looked so deeply into my eyes I couldn’t take the intensity and turned away.

I unzipped his pants with one downward motion and then whipped out his dick. He was already huge despite the fact that he was only partially aroused. I was excited because I had been imagining licking him again ever since the last time. I knew feeling him grow as I licked him would make this experience even better.

I licked around his crown and then gradually took as much in my mouth as I could. He still wasn’t all the way hard, so I could fit more than usual, which was an amazing feeling. I could feel the walls of his dick stiffen as his dick filled with fluid, his body pumping it hard into his shaft.

I moaned as I sucked him with everything I had, my need for him was great; it had been so long. I needed to feel him come, feel his load hit the back of my throat. The thought of him coming was almost enough to bring me to the edge.

He held the back of my head firmly, and as he got closer to his orgasm, he grabbed my hair and took over the rhythm. I liked it when he did that, even more than I liked having the upper hand. I liked that I could bring him to this point, to the point of losing control. He fucked my mouth and yanked on my hair simultaneously.

All of a sudden, he held himself deep inside my mouth and didn’t let go, I held my breath so that I wouldn’t choke. Soon, I felt hot spurts at the back of my throat and I swallowed every drop. It tasted tangy and salty; I savored and loved it. When it was over, I found myself wishing for more.

After he finished coming, he dropped to his knees and kissed me, shoving his tongue all the way into my mouth. It was so hot. I loved it when guys kissed me after I blew them and then swallowed their come. It made the kiss feel so forbidden.

He licked the inside of my mouth and I rubbed my tongue against his. He threw me back onto the carpet, so that I was laying on my back with my legs spread. He broke the kiss and went down to my belly. He started doing weird things to my belly button, licking and tonguing it like it was my pussy. I don’t know why, but it was super-hot. I couldn’t remember anyone else ever doing that before.

I moaned and moved against his dancing tongue, trying to urge his tongue lower. The urgency I felt kept building until I thought I would go crazy if he didn’t lick my clit.

Finally, he moved lower and began to lick the spot I had so desperately wanted him to pay attention to. My body was twisting and turning, trying to get his tongue down my slit. I wanted him to fuck me with his tongue.

“Please, please!” I pleaded as I thrust my hips forward.

He forcefully held my hips down as he fucked me with his tongue. I thought I would go insane. What I had initially craved was now driving me mad and it still wasn’t enough.

He moved back up to my clit and started to suck hard, when he bit me I came so hard I felt myself gush out liquid. I tried to close my legs to stop the gush, but he wouldn’t let me. He opened them wider and lapped up every drop. Then he came up and kissed me, full on the mouth. I groaned and took his tongue into my mouth, his tongue that tasted of me. It was so unusual to taste myself that it made my clit zing for more attention once again.

He flipped me over so that I was on my knees and entered me swiftly from behind. He entered me so deeply that the first thrust initially hurt, the second thrust had me seeing stars and the third thrust had me begging for mercy.

As he penetrated me deep, I found myself calling out conflicting commands. “Please, Craig. No more. Don’t stop! Continue. Wait, stop!” My words were jumbled and didn’t make sense. The pleasure was so powerful I couldn’t figure out what I wanted.

After he fucked me for what seemed like forever, part of me wanted to continue for forever more and part of me wanted release, he finally came. As he came, he reached down and pinched my clit between his fingers.

I screamed and fell forward, flat on my stomach. He lay on top of me for a few minutes, trying to regain his strength. I finally told him that I couldn’t breathe and he moved. I had his weight on top of me for long enough.

We went to bed and it felt right with me in his arms. I was scared. Scared because I couldn’t remember if I had screamed
I love you
during my last orgasm. But that didn’t count, right? Whatever was said during sex didn’t count.

I knew that was a rule somewhere. It had to be because if it wasn’t, things were about to get very complicated.