Chapter 4
Nothing More Than A Dream
Rone
It wasn’t how Rone planned it would go when he finally told Heather how he felt. He’d hoped for this day to come but was never certain it actually would. She’d always been out of reach, nothing more than a dream. She truly was a fantasy and fantasies were just that. They never really came true.
Yet there she was, her glorious body an inch away from his, her delicate pink lips parted to draw in raspy breaths, dark lashes fluttering up and down, a delicate blush of desire dancing over her cheekbones.
Did I really just say I wanted to give her everything? Surprisingly Heather didn’t pull away. She made no move to punch him in the face or knee him in the groin. She didn’t call him a pervert or shove him back. The way she was looking at him, it made his entire body tingle. She looked at him like she wanted him as well and it wasn’t just the kind of passing fancy, the promise of an afternoon of pleasure or an illicit escape. It was like a veil dropped from her eyes and he could see the echo of his own desire there. Is it possible she’s wanted me too? All these years?
“So?” he had to ask. “Are you going to let me show you what’s possible between us?” His lips tingled when he looked at her mouth. His groin was so damn painful it was a miracle his cock wasn’t tenting his shorts out. He was so hard, it was standing straight up against his stomach, flat. He was still grateful Heather was looking up at his face and not down.
Those glorious lips parted, but no sound came out. Her pink tongue darted out, wetting her lips as though she knew just what it would take to drive him absolutely crazy.
“Rone, I… you’re my brother’s best friend. You were always off limits. Nothing has changed. You’re still Jay’s friend. You work together. You’re like a member of my family. I can’t do this with you and ruin everything.”
“Who says it would ruin anything? Nothing has to change.”
“Everything would change,” she protested sharply. He liked the fire burning in her eyes, the darkening of her features, the spitfire she was. Lord, he wanted her in his bed. She could use up all that energy trying to tame his.
“So what if it did?” He shrugged. He leaned in closer and inhaled deeply. The scent of Heather’s perfume filled his nose and his senses went wild, firing on full alert. His entire body went rigid and he nearly groaned at the sweet temptation she presented. “Would it really be the worst thing that ever happened?”
“Yes. Jay would- well he could- he would kill you.”
“I doubt it.”
“He would hate you.”
“He might. If he found out. We’re both adults, Heather. We both know what we want. It doesn’t have to be any of your brother’s business. Just ours. Me. And. You.” He leaned in even closer, bending his head so that his lips grazed the sweet heat of her temple. He was barely able to keep himself from turning her face into him and bruising those lush, tempting lips.
“It’s not right.” Her protest was feeble, her voice shaking.
“Oh, I’m well aware that it might not be right. On the other hand, I’m sure nothing will ever feel as right. I’ve wanted you since I was a teenager. You made it so I couldn’t even think straight. Ever since you turned into a woman, you weren’t just Jay’s sister to me. You were this goddess, this sensual being that was so far above me. You were always my greatest temptation and my darkest dream.”
“Stop it.”
“I can’t stop. Because I can tell you don’t really mean it. I can tell that you want me as badly as I want you.”
She glared up at him, challenging him, though the light of passion burned bright in the gray depths of her eyes. “There is a difference between want and need.”
“Not right now there isn’t.”
Those light gray eyes that he loved so much kept staring at him, kept challenging him, searching him, trying to figure out if he was real or not or if he was stringing her along. He was nearly as shocked as she looked when she let out a long sigh. Her shoulders wilted just a little as she backed down.
“Here it goes, Rone. Here is the confession of the year. No, of a lifetime. I’ve wanted you since I was like, I don’t know. Ten. Twelve? Whenever it was possible. I knew this would never happen between us because it can’t. There isn’t a scenario in the entire world where we are happy together and in love and our families are happy for us. You know how protective my brother is. You’re his best friend. It would be the lowest of low blows.”
He pushed up closer. Heather’s back was already up against the wall. When he leaned in, he parted her legs easily, stepped close and let her feel what she was doing to him. Her eyes widened in shock. He bent his head again and whispered hotly in her ear.
“Jay doesn’t get to decide how we live our lives. I don’t want to hurt anyone, but I’m not going to let him stand in the way of this. I want you as well. I’ve wanted you for over a decade. This is our time. Right here. Right now.”
She shuddered violently against him and he could literally feel the heat of her thighs pressing into his knee as the hem of her dress rode up. When she finally looked up at him, her eyes were deep and misty, overcast with clouds. “It’s not the right time.”
“Is there ever going to be a right time? I swear, I can’t wait any longer.”
“We’ve waited all these years. We always knew this was never going to be our reality.”
“Then let’s change it. Let’s make it real. Even if it’s just for today.”
Heather actually laughed. It was soft and lost sounding. “We both know it would never be just for one day. I can’t even believe we’re standing here saying these things.”
“The fact that we are proves that we’re ready. We’re ready to move past what everyone else wants and says. I never knew you felt the same way or believe me; I would have done something about this much, much sooner.”
“I can’t break up my family. I love my brother.”
“Jay is like a brother to me too. We’re closer than blood. He doesn’t have to know. Or maybe, later, we could tell him and he’d understand. Maybe he’d come around. We’re both adults. Like I said, old enough to make our own decisions. Don’t you think he would respect that?”
Heather hesitated. “I don’t know.” She bit her bottom lip, worrying it with her top front teeth. “What if we do this and it’s a mistake? What if we don’t like it? What if it’s not all we made it out to be? That’s how it usually goes. You meet your heroes or something you thought was going to be amazing and it turns out just to be not at all what you thought it would be.”
“Oh, I promise this would be everything you dreamed it would be and more.”
“What if I’m not what you really want? What if we destroy everything for five minutes of passion?”
“Five minutes?” Rone choked. “God, what do you take me for? Five minutes!” Heather’s slow, answering smile melted him inside. He might be all hard on the exterior, twice her height and probably five times her overall size, but she was the one who slayed him.
“You know what I mean.”
“Well, we’re both adults. I think that we could do this and not ruin anything at all. This is between us. It’s always been between us and that doesn’t need to change. Right, wrong, I don’t even know what that means anymore. Not when you’re here, like this.”
“You wouldn’t feel guilty about going behind my brother’s back?”
“Jay isn’t my keeper. He’s my friend and he’s always going to be, but I’m not going to let him tell me who I can and can’t have feelings for.”
Heather’s throat worked hard as she swallowed. Her eyes widened and became luminous. “And do you? Have feelings for me? Or is this just about the fact that you think I’m hot?”
Rone released the groan he’d been holding back. “I have feelings for you. I can’t just drop the L bomb because I don’t fully even know what it means. I’m not going to lie to you or trick you into thinking something that I’m not. I’m a guy. I can’t express what I feel as freely as you do.”
“So you think that if we do this, we could actually just go on with our lives like nothing happened.”
“I never said that.” He leaned in again, giving her a taste of just how affected he was. Her face changed, awareness flooding her features. God help him, he wouldn’t have done any of it if he couldn’t tell that she wanted him as badly as he wanted her. “I’m not trying to push you into making a decision. I’m just telling you how I feel and what I think.”
“Why? Why now?”
“Because it’s long overdue. I knew the minute I saw you in that shop that you were brought back into my life for a reason. I might have behaved before and let you go, but I can’t do that again. Not without telling you, not without taking a chance.”
“So you really didn’t invite anyone else over here, did you?” Her eyes narrowed suspiciously.
“No. I mean yes, I did. They really did all cancel, but you came. If that’s not a sign, I don’t know what is.”
Heather rolled her eyes. He thought she was going to shove him away and walk out the door, despite what she felt, despite the current in the air between them, despite the shivers that raced up and down her body, the shivers that he could feel since he was pressed right up against her. He thought she’d deny herself, deny them both, as she always had. As he should have continued to do. He knew he was out of line. Far out of line.
She shocked him by reaching up and tangling her arms around his neck. The full length of her tiny, siren body pressed up against him. Breasts that were both firm and lush crushed into his chest. This time it was her voice, thin as a whisper and loud as a freight train in his ear.
“I don’t want to talk about signs or fate or my brother anymore. I don’t want to talk about us. I just want to feel. We can keep this between us. I just- I can’t just jump into this. As much as I want you, I don’t want to just fuck once and be done with it. I truly have thought about you for so long it’s like this moment isn’t even real. I just want to enjoy it. I don’t want this to be a onetime thing, if we’re truly going to do it.”
“So you want to… date?”
“I don’t think that’s the right word. Dating would be quite- public.”
He finally figured out what she was asking for. “You want to take it slow. See how it goes. See if I really am everything you’ve worked me up to be?”
When she pulled away, she couldn’t help but smile. “It sounds so wrong when you put it like that.”
“I’m not putting it any way. I’d be happy just to kiss you right now and leave it at that?”
One dark brow arched. “Really?”
“No,” he had to admit. “But if it’s what you want, I would be make sure that it’s what you got. I would do anything for you.”
“Anything until I finally gave in and gave you everything?”
“No. That is definitely not what I mean. I would give you anything, Heather. This isn’t just about something physical. Although that would definitely be a bonus. I want to be in your life. I want to be friends. I want you tagging along, hanging out with me again, pestering me like you used to, being as uncool as you used to be.”
Her laugh was genuine when it came. It was musical and light and filled up the air around them. He loved that sound. He would do anything to be the one to hear that sound every single day. He just couldn’t tell her that. It was enough that they were standing there, saying things he thought he’d never get a chance to say, doing things that had always been completely taboo, as if a physical wall separated them. Though that wall was crumbling now, he couldn’t just blurt out that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. That would scare her off for sure and he didn’t want to do anything to ruin what they were sharing. She might have admitted that she felt something for him. Hell, she used the word love, but that could be anything. He wanted to be careful. He understood what she meant about taking it slow.
“You never thought I was uncool. And that,” Heather said, voice sad. “Won’t happen for a long time. If there is anything between us, it has to be low key. Between us only. That way, if we screw up, it won’t hurt anyone else.”
“Anyone but us.”
“I guess that’s the risk everyone takes.”
Rone could feel Heather’s defenses crumbling. “I swear I would never hurt you. I would do anything to keep you safe and happy.” That sounds an awful lot like telling her that I love her.
She seemed momentarily taken aback, but when her lips curled up into a smile again, it was soft and sweet, almost shy. She blinked up at him.
“Seeing as you invited me to a pool party, we should at least go for a swim. It’s hot and I took two long bus rides to get over here. I really was looking forward to a dip in the pool.”
“So you’re not leaving. We’re really doing this?”
“I’m not going to leave. And as to this, I guess so. We’re going for a swim and that’s it. There isn’t going to be anything going on in this house after. Understood?”
“Understood.” It nearly killed him to say the words. The thought of Heather in the pool with him, wet, in a bathing suit… he wasn’t sure he could take it. “Just to clarify,” he said as he stepped back, carefully unpinning her from the wall. “Does that mean that I can’t get up to trouble while we’re in the pool?”
“How high is the fence in your backyard?”
“Pretty damn high.”
“Well… maybe a few kisses wouldn’t hurt.”
“Get changed,” Rone groaned. “I have a bathroom down the hall.”
“I have my bathing suit on underneath my dress.”
“Don’t talk about things underneath your dress while we’re still in the house or I might break the rules I just agreed to.”
Heather frowned thoughtfully. “Maybe it’s not a hard rule. Maybe we could bend it just a little.” Her soft words were all the encouragement he needed.
Rone stepped forward, locked his arms around Heather’s waist and lifted her effortlessly. He picked her up and she locked her legs around his waist as his lips crashed down, crushing hers. Her small, warm hands wrapped around his neck and she whimpered as her lips parted. He didn’t thrust his tongue into her mouth just because the opportunity presented itself. He took his time, savoring the feel and taste of her lips, glorying in the heat of her body pressed against his. His hands remained on her waist, supporting her.
It was unbearable, the press of her body against his. He wanted to take her right to his bedroom, slam her down on the bed, pull off the bikini bottoms hidden under that dress, feel how soaked she was, taste her, inhale her, teach her what true pleasure could be, let her show him in return. He’d never taken it slow with women before, tried to make himself move on, tried to prove to himself that Heather wasn’t anything special. He hadn’t succeeded.
Just the taste of her mouth and he knew he was lost. He deepened their kiss, pushing his tongue past her lips. She was ready for him. Her tongue stroked his, took the lead. His thin thread of self-control snapped. He’d made a rule. One that he was going to break in ten seconds flat. He thought about any hard surface, the cupboards in the kitchen, the table, the couch… there were so many places he could take her… but he’d given his word. This sure as hell wasn’t slow.
Just to prove that he could be a gentleman even when he was utterly senseless, his body on fire, consumed by flames of desire, he stalked through the house, through the kitchen. Holding Heather with one arm, still bruising her lips, he slammed open the door to the deck. He stepped outside and walked over to the pool in a few easy strides.
In one quick motion, he broke the kiss, set Heather down and reached for the hem of her dress. He ripped it away, her arms lifting to facilitate the motion, a dead giveaway that she was just as ready to break her own rules.
He made a noise, a feral noise that sounded half animal, when he saw her standing there in a little black bikini that barely covered the rounded globes of her breasts. She was inked. Everywhere. Her arms, her chest, her pelvis, her legs. He’d known her when she was just a kid. He’d watched her grow up, together, with him. And now, she was a woman. A woman who knew herself and knew what she wanted. He knew just how much Heather’s mom hated all that ink, but he loved it. He fucking loved that Heather could live through that. That she could take that pain, that her art made her unique and beautiful. He loved her spirit, her spitfire personality. She was absolutely the most beautiful he had ever seen.
“You’re glorious,” he whispered raggedly, right before he took her up in his arms again, stalked over to the pool and plunged them both into the cold, deep water.