Crew

I light a fire because the storm has stolen the warmth out of the air. I also do it to kill time. Adley told me she wanted to rinse the chlorine from the pool of off her body an hour ago, so she went into her room to shower. I didn't follow her although I wanted nothing more.

A shower wasn't what I needed. I'm not washing away the sweet smell of her from my hand anytime soon. What happened earlier was an appetizer. It was a sample of what awaits me.

I hear her gentle footsteps on the hardwood floor before I see her round the corner.

She's wearing a thin white dress that is almost sheer. I can tell immediately that she's not wearing a bra and that her panties are white too.

"Hi," she says when she nears.

I don't want her to feel anything but completely comfortable around me. She cast her head down when we ran from the rain. Once we were inside, she was down the hall so quickly that I couldn't say a thing in response to her announcement that she was having a shower.

"Sit with me." I pat the spot next to me on the sofa.

Her eyes skim over my clothes. Black T-shirt, matching sweatpants and nothing else.

"Do you want some wine? A soda?" I fist my hand on my thigh to prevent myself from reaching out to touch her knee once she's settled beside me. "I can get you anything you want."

Her gaze lands on my lips. "I'm fine. Thank you."

"You're scared," I say it because I see it. It's there, not only in her face but in her body language too. Her shoulders are tense. Her hands folded tightly in her lap.

She nods as she bows her head. "I don't think you understand how much I need a friend like you."

I get it. I need her too. I have other friends, some women, but none are as close to me as she is. She's the person I depend on to give it to me straight. She's also one of the few people in this world who doesn't give two shits that I'm rich or successful.

Ad likes me for me, and in my world, that's a rarity.

"I understand," I offer gently. "I need you just as much as you need me."

Her head pops up. "I don't think so, Crew. You have a lot of friends. Probably ten times as many as I do. If things happened that would pull us apart, you'd have someone else to go to. There's always a friend a call away for you."

It's true, but those friendships are shallow at best. They can't compare to what the two of us share.

"I have very few close friends."

A smile curves her lip, but it's gone with the next beat of my heart. "I know I'm one of the close ones. I think I know you better than most of your friends."

There's something woven into the words. They hold a weight to them beyond the obvious. "You do know a lot about me."

"And then some," she adds in a whisper.

My heart drums against the wall of my chest in strong, measured beats. There are things I've never told her about me. Things I've only told Nolan and I would bet my life and hers that he would never break that confidence. "What do you know about me?"

Her gaze roams my face. "You're a good friend."
"I'm an even better lover," I quip.

She rubs her hands on her thighs. "What if it all goes to hell? How will we handle that?"

I don't see that as an option so devising a plan is a waste of my time. I want her, and that goes beyond the sex. I want her heart. I want it all because I'm seeing her in a way I haven't before.

"What if it doesn't go to hell?"

She sits back. "You like women too much for this to not go to hell at some point."

It stings. Her words cut through me with the force of a jagged knife because it's my actions that have given her those thoughts and those words. We may not talk about who we're fucking but there are enough clues in my life that I'm getting my fair share of pussy for her to know what's going on.

Condom packages in the guest room nightstand because sometimes I want to fuck with a different view of the city.

Panties strung around the hanger when I pick up my suits from the dry cleaners after they fished them out of my pockets.

Lipstick tubes nestled between the cushions of my leather couch.

The list goes on…

Adley has seen all of that and more.

"I haven't fucked a woman since I kissed you."

Her brow furrows as she considers those words. "You haven't?"

"I don't want to," I admit on a heavy exhale. "I want you, Adley."

"Why now?" Her hands twist together in a knot of anxiety. I want to reach out and grab them, cradle them against my chest so she can feel my heart beat for only her.

I straighten slowly. "It's not a new thing. It's been building for months."

"It has?" Her voice jumps an octave with the question. "Since when?"

I shrug. "New Year's Eve? Maybe even before."

She thinks about it before she responds. "Why didn't you say something then?"

It's an honest question that I don't have a straightforward answer to. "I knew you'd push me back on it. I know how much you value our friendship."

"I thought you did too." Her response is quick and harsh. "I thought you understood that our friendship is an essential part of my life. I'm scared to lose that. I can't describe how fucking scared I am by that, Crew."

I am too. I admit I'm feeling things for her that I've never felt before but I have no fucking clue where they'll take us. All I know is that I'm willing to hang on for the ride.

"We'll take it as slowly as you want." I reach over and finally grab her hand. "Are you feeling all right about what we did by the pool?"

She laces her fingers together with mine. "I am."

I take that as a win. "I am too."

Her brows shoot up as she smiles. "I thought you would be."

"I want more." I tilt my chin down and gently squeeze her hand. "I want to taste every inch of you. I want to be inside of you."

Her breathing stutters. I know that if I slid my fingers into her panties, she'd be ready for me; warm and wet, just as she was by the pool. "Slowly, right?"

I inch closer to her, wanting to taste her sweet lips. "I like it slow, Ad."

She nods. "I like it slow too."

I breathe in the scent of the skin of her neck. Long, pulling intakes of air that smell of her perfume and beneath that, her. It's fresh, sensuous and baits me to kiss her under her ear.

"I touched your cunt. I want to taste it."

She shivers under those words. Her head falls back against the couch. "Your mouth does things to me."

"You have no idea what it can do to you." I inch the hem of her dress up with my hand. "Let me show you."

She turns her head toward me, pressing her lips to mine. I trail my hand up her thigh as I slide my tongue along hers; devouring her mouth the same way I'll devour her pussy.

I fuck her mouth, my tongue taking from hers. My teeth scraping her bottom lip as a warning, and a dark promise of what it will feel like once my head is between her legs and her clit between my teeth.

She moans into the kiss, her hand reaching up to weave between the strands of my hair.

I tap the silk of her panties feeling how wet they already are.

I pull back from the kiss but only far enough to speak. "I want you on my bed, naked so I can taste all of this."

I squeeze her through her panties and that alone is enough to raise her ass from the sofa. I press soft circles over her clit using the rough friction of the fabric to tempt her.

"You know how to use your hands," she pants. "How the hell are you so good with your hands?"

Years of unnecessary experience .

It's always been the quickest way to get a woman worked up enough that my cock could slide in without any resistance.

"Wait until you meet my tongue." I smile against her cheek. "My cock is dying to meet you too."

Her hips circle as she chases an orgasm. "I feel like I could come right here on the spot."

"Do it," I hiss the words out as I rim the shell of her ear with my tongue. "Or I can drop to my knees and lick that beautiful cunt."

"Please," she fists my hair in her hand. "Oh, God, yes please."

I stand and yank my T-shirt over my head. I tug on the drawstring of my sweatpants because if I'm going down on her, I'm going to need something in return once I've given her an orgasm or three.

I start to slide them down as her eyes lock on the thin trail of dark hair that disappears under the waistband.

A loud rustling by the front door twists my head in that direction.

Adley's on her feet, her hands pinned to my back, her head peeking out from behind my bicep as the door opens and my brother walks in with a brunette on his arm.

"Hey, Crew," Kade calls from the doorway as he drops two overnight bags on the floor. "You don't mind if we crash your little party, do you?"

I stare at the woman standing next to my younger brother.

Fuck her. Fuck my life.

"You didn't mention your brother would be here, Kade," she drawls through her red lips. "It's good to see you, Crew. I haven't seen you since you left me at the altar."