It’d been hours—eleven, but who was counting?—since I’d last been inside Hannah. Sometime last night, it’d come to light that Barry had kicked Hannah out of his room when she’d talked to him yesterday, setting him straight about the fact that they were done. For good this time. Thank fucking God. But with the bridge to the mainland still flooded and keeping us all there, that’d meant she hadn’t had a place to sleep. Since we’d both agreed to keep this thing between us under wraps for the time being, I couldn’t exactly invite her to sleep with me. So I’d given her my room and gone to sleep in the basement.
Or that was what I’d told everyone.
Sometime around midnight, I’d snuck into the room, unable to deprive myself of her after going so long without. She’d welcomed me, spreading her legs wide as I’d slid into her bed, and then slid into the warm heaven of her pussy, cupping my hand over her mouth to keep her quiet, all the while whispering the multitude of things I’d wanted to do to her. Things I wanted to do to her right fucking now.
But it wasn’t going to happen. At least, not for a while. Not when we were in the kitchen surrounded by Jessica and Aaron, Barry roaming around being an asshole somewhere close. I couldn’t exactly pin her against the counter and bunny-fuck her like I wanted with all these witnesses. But, Jesus, I wanted. I was getting the shakes, like a junkie hungry for their next fix. It’d been too damn long since I’d felt her lips on mine, her fingernails digging into my ass, her breathy pleas begging me to go faster, deeper, don’t stop, never stop. As if I could.
Twelve years had come and gone since I’d first set my sights on Hannah, my interest piquing with something more than the platonic relationship we’d had. Twelve years I’d filled with work and friends and other women, and yet the thing I’d looked forward to the most had been some damn emails, a few texts, and a phone call once in a while if I was lucky. Anything where I could get a glimpse into her life. Anything that told me she was happy. That she was fulfilled and satisfied, even if it meant it wasn’t with me.
But all that contact had nothing on getting information from her in person. And it hadn’t even been what she’d said as much as everything she hadn’t. Her body language, her tired eyes the first night I’d seen her, how she’d curled into herself whenever Barry was around… She might love her job, but that was the only thing in her life that made her happy, all the while draining her.
Now, she sat at the small table in the breakfast nook, laughing at something Jessica said, not paying me any mind. Meanwhile, I couldn’t look anywhere but at her. Her head was tossed back, her shiny pink lips spread in a smile…so fucking beautiful. Her concern over what we’d do tomorrow when it was time for her to go back to the city, when it was time for me to go back to the brewery, to reality, just meant I had to be transparent in my intentions. Hannah wasn’t leaving Temperance Falls without knowing exactly what she meant to me—what she’d always meant to me. Now that I’d had her, now that I’d had a taste of what it’d be like to be with her? It’d take a damn force of nature to tear me away from her.
Despite the fact that she was my brother’s ex-girlfriend.
“Word to the wise,” Aaron said, breaking my trance. “Maybe try to be a little less obvious when Barry’s around.”
“Obvious about what?” I asked, not taking my gaze off Hannah, tracing my eyes over the column of her neck down to her chest, sure I could see the outline of her nipples through that shirt.
He snorted and leaned against the counter next to me. “Come on, man. She might be all the way across the room, but I’m surprised her clothes haven’t spontaneously combusted with how hard you’re eye-fucking her.”
I slid him a look, but he held up his hands and shook his head. “No qualms from me. I’ve always thought the two of you would be better together than her and that jackass. No offense.”
“Again, none taken.” I couldn’t care less if he called Barry every name in the book. Whatever he said would probably be true.
“So, what’s the plan?” He elaborated when I raised my eyebrows in response. “You and Hannah.”
I shrugged, hating the words even as I said them. “We thought it would be better not to make a big deal until after the weekend.”
“How do you think that’s going to go at the reunion tonight?”
“We’ll see if we can make it there, I guess.”
“Bridge is clear. I just got a message that the reunion is on.”
I blew out a breath, knowing it was going to be the hardest test of all. Being stuck in a house with all kinds of rooms we could disappear into was one thing. Being in a crowded space with her and not having her pressed against me? Not letting everyone know she was the one I wanted? It’d be difficult as hell, but we’d get through. We had to.
“It’ll go how it needs to go.”
“Let me ask you something,” Aaron said. “How long’s it been since Barry’s been back to the island? Been to visit your mom or stopped by the brewery?” The look he gave me said he already knew the answer.
Still, I said, “Never. He left and hasn’t been back once. Until now.”
Aaron hummed, tipping his chin down in a nod. “You wanna know what I think?”
My lips quirked at the sides. “I think you’re going to tell me no matter what.”
“You’re right. Seems to me he doesn’t deserve the loyalty you’re somehow still giving him. Something to think about.” He clapped his hand on my shoulder, then headed toward his wife and the woman who’d been my one true north for twelve years, the one I’d always kept in my sights even when I couldn’t reach her.
I let his words sink in, not realizing how much I’d needed to hear them until they’d been spoken. It helped me come to the conclusion I should’ve come to long ago. Barry was an asshole who cared about no one but himself. Family was a foreign concept to him, something born of obligation instead of loyalty. He hadn’t given me his in a long damn time—maybe ever.
It was time I stopped giving him mine.
* * *
I was sure this was a test. There was no other explanation for being forced to watch Hannah circle the room, laughing and talking with our classmates, many of whom we hadn’t seen in ten years, while not being able to touch her.
With the bridge clear, I’d finally been able to go home and change out of the clothes I’d been recycling for two days. Unable to find a good excuse for her to come with me, we’d agreed to meet back up at the reunion. I’d gotten there early after swinging by the brewery to make sure things were running smooth. AJ had practically pushed me out the door, and because I’d been so eager to have Hannah in my sights again, I went without complaint. And then she’d walked into the school right on time, looking like sex on heels and nearly making me fall to my goddamn knees.
Her hair was pulled back in a fancy looking ponytail, her lips brushed in something bright pink and shiny, her eyes dark and sexy. But it was the dress that did me in. Painted on her like a second skin, it stopped mid-thigh and dipped low at her chest—so low I knew there was no way she was wearing a bra. The subtle shadow of her tits in the deep V had given me my first hard-on of the night, and it hadn’t abated. The dress fit her like it’d been tailor-made for her, the pink pattern of it sparkling against the black backdrop. I wanted to rip it off her. Wanted to ruck it up against her waist, tug her panties to the side, and push into her snug little pussy, not stopping until we both got what we wanted. Until we were both breathing hard and sated, our names on each other’s lips.
And that was why I’d walked around for the past two hours rocking serious wood behind the zipper of my dark jeans and hoping like hell the lighting hid my reaction to her. I just had to make it a little while longer, then I could make excuses, hoping Hannah did the same, and drag her back to my place.
That plan blew up in my face as I watched Barry strut over to her, tossing an arm around her shoulders as she talked to a couple people I vaguely recognized. Despite the way she shrugged him off, shooting him a look, despite the talk she’d already had with him, he still pushed himself on her. Still pretended they were an item and everything was fine.
Fuck. That.
I wanted to go over and shove him off her, wanted to press her right up against me where she belonged. But Hannah didn’t want to make a scene, so I stayed put, willing my feet to listen and not walk straight to her. Instead, I shot her a quick text. She ducked out from under Barry’s arm again and lifted her phone, glancing once at the screen before she sought me out in the gymnasium. When she found me, I tilted my head toward the exit. Her only answer was a quirk of her lips and the slight dip of her chin. That was all I needed.
With determination, I strode out of the gym after excusing myself from a conversation I was barely a participant in. Everything about the high school was still the same, so I knew exactly where I was headed, hoping the janitor’s closet on the far side of the school hadn’t been turned into something else. We’d called it the Boner Box in high school because it’d been where couples—or not-couples—would go to get their rocks off in the middle of the school day. Not the flowers and candles Hannah deserved, but I needed to be with her right fucking then, needed to remind myself Barry no longer had a hold on her.
When I got to the door, I sent up a silent plea as I turned the knob, blowing out a relieved breath when it opened with ease. I shot Hannah another text, letting her know where to find me. And then I waited.
A thousand heartbeats later, the knob turned before the door creaked open enough to show Hannah’s silhouette backlit by the lights in the hallway. I didn’t say anything as I yanked her into the room, shutting the door behind her and pressing her up against it.
“Luke? What—”
I cut off her question with my mouth, swallowing her broken moan. Reveling in the fact that she melted into my touch, sank into my body like it was where she belonged.
“Can’t stand his fucking hands on you,” I said, gripping her under the thighs and hauling her up against me. Even in heels, she barely came up to my chin, and I needed her closer. “I tried to wait, but I couldn’t. I couldn’t—”
“So don’t.” She wrapped her legs around me, pressing her pussy against where I was so hard and aching for her.
“Need to get you ready. Need to get you soaking wet, sunshine. That tiny little pussy has to be slicked up to take me, doesn’t she?” I slid my hand down to cup her ass, not stopping until I touched her pussy from behind. Finding her both bare and wet, her thighs damp with her arousal. “Fuck, you’ve been walking around without any panties all night? So wet you’re dripping down these beautiful thighs?”
She panted as I rubbed her clit. “I kept thinking of you as I got dressed, remembering how hard and fast your hand moved on your cock. I was so turned on, I tried to masturbate, but my fingers weren’t enough. I needed yours. I've been waiting for you all night.”
“Jesus Christ, how am I supposed to be gentle now? How am I supposed to do anything but fuck you up against this door like a goddamn animal? You undo me, sunshine.”
“I don’t want gentle. I just want you inside me.”
With my hips pinning her to the door, her pussy grinding down on me, I fumbled for the condom in my wallet and then shoved my pants down far enough to tug out my cock. I sheathed it as fast as fucking possible, knowing what was waiting for me between Hannah’s thighs. What was going to welcome me home.
“Can’t even go a day without getting inside this pussy, can I?” I pushed into her, forcing myself to give her my inches nice and slow. No matter how wet she was, her face always contorted with that beautiful mixture of pleasure and pain when I slid inside, and I wanted to make damn sure I gave her more pleasure than anything else. “How the fuck did I last twelve goddamn years without it?”
“Don’t know, but it’s yours now.”
Mine. Everything ceased to exist but the feeling of Hannah’s pussy milking my cock, her walls already fluttering with how close she was to her release. One of her hands clutched behind my neck, holding my face to hers, greedy with her mouth on mine, while the other dug into my ass, urging me to go faster, harder, deeper. And I gave her everything I had, gripping her hips as I slammed her down on my cock over and over again, working us both toward the peak we were desperate to reach together.
When we did, when we fell into the chasm below, our names whispered groans between us, I knew there was no way I was ever going back to how things used to be. No way I could ever let Hannah walk out of my life. Not now, not after I’d had a taste of her perfection.