CHAPTER 9

Amanda

A fervent knock came at my door as I was looking at the numbers the contractor gave me. It was going to take so much more money than he had first estimated to fix just the big things. The entire porch and kitchen counter needed to be replaced, and the staircase would have to be completely reconstructed. The outlets by the sinks in the kitchen weren’t up to code, the roof had to be patched, and some of the furniture upstairs was unsalvageable because of the water leaking through the holes in the ceiling.

I was looking at a sixty-thousand-dollar overhaul, and that was only the big stuff.

The knocking pulled me from my thoughts, and I tried to clear my head. I swiped at my tears and fluffed my hair, knowing it could only be one person. I smoothed my hands over my shirt and cleared my throat, trying to cast the money out of my head as I walked to the door.

I whipped it open, however, and found a very distraught Brian standing in front of me.

“Brian?” I asked. “What’s wrong?”

His eyes were stern, but his hands were fidgeting. His cheeks were red, and he was shuffling on his feet. I peeked out and looked around, trying to see if I could find Lanie. But when I didn’t, the worst ran through my mind.

“Where’s Lanie?” I asked.

“With her nanny,” he said.

Relief flooded my system as I stepped off to the side

“It’s a mess in here, but you’re welcome to come in,” I said.

Brian stepped into my home, and his body stopped. His eyes were scanning the cabin, taking stock of its desolate nature. I shut the door behind him as he slowly walked over into the kitchen, his eyes on the piece of paper I’d left out to answer the door.

I ran up behind him and snatched it off the surface, hoping he hadn’t seen. I stuffed it into my pocket as he turned and looked at me, his worried stare turning quizzical.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

“I’m fine. Brian, is Lanie all right?”

“Yeah, I think so. I mean, she will be. I—”

He ran his hand through his hair and sighed, but the sigh wasn’t of relief. It was a tense sigh. A stressed sigh.

It was the sigh of a man who was running out of options.

“Are you thirsty?” I asked.

“I wanted to ask you a favor.”

“Oh. Sure. What’s up?” I asked.

“I have a meeting with someone in town on Monday. An urgent meeting. And my nanny isn’t available to watch Lanie. She’s has doctors’ appointments lined up with her own kids all day Monday.”

“I can help out. Is everything okay? You looked really freaked about something.”

His eyes looked over at me hesitantly before he drew in a deep breath.

“No, everything’s not ok,” he finally said.

I leaned against the counter as Brian looked down at his feet. I could tell he wanted to talk, but he was in awkward territory. A man who kept himself isolated probably didn’t know how to have a conversation like this. He was rigid, to the point, and precise. He came here to ask a favor, and he asked it.

He didn’t look prepared to have a conversation, but he also didn’t leave.

“Do you want to talk about it?” I asked.

“It’s Lanie’s biological father,” he said.

That got my attention.

“He’s alive?” I asked. “I figured with you watching her he was out of the picture.”

“Yeah, he’s alive, but he’s never been involved in her life. He’s unfit to be a parent,” he said.

“Oh.”

“He’s taking me to court to fight for custody of Lanie. That’s why I have to go to town, to meet with a PI that’s helping me out.”

“But if he’s an unfit parent, how can he sue you for custody?” I asked.

His eyes glanced over at me. I could see his temple throbbing with the clenching of his jaw. The questions were pissing him off, but I didn’t care. This was Lanie we were talking about. The little girl I’d come to know that enjoyed whenever I came over. The girl with the big, beautiful eyes and the brown hair that matched his.

I suddenly realized how attached I’d become to her in such a short period of time.

“When my sister gave birth, she didn’t put down Lanie’s father’s name on the birth certificate. She was cleaning herself up. You know, getting her act back together.”

“What does that mean?” I asked.

“It means my sister was a drug addict,” he said sternly.

“I’m sorry.”

“ When she found out she was pregnant, she kicked that asshole to the curb and checked herself into rehab. It was horrible, going through withdrawals while she was pregnant, but she did it. She got clean. A few months after she got out, she had Lanie, met a great guy, and they got married. He was set to adopt Lanie and raise her as his own, when the accident happened.”

I watched Brian close his eyes as he relived the horrors of his sister’s death.

“I’m so sorry, Brian,” I said.

“I was nowhere. Here. Isolated. Running from my own pathetic existence. It took them ten months to track me down. That poor baby had been in foster care for ten months,” he said, clearly disgusted with himself.

“And that’s when she came to live with you,” I said.

“Yes.”

“So if her biological father was never listed on the birth certificate, how does he even know about her?” I asked.

“Because he had come looking for my sister about a year after she left him and saw that she had baby that was only a few months old. He was never that smart, but he’d done the math and figured out Lanie was his. He still didn’t really care at the time, and when my sister died, he still didn’t step forward. I am my sister’s only living next of kin, so by law, she came to me as long as I wanted her. And I did. Now this asshole got a whiff of money, and he’s trying to play a game.”

“So he’s only fighting you because he wants money?” I asked.

Brian nodded curtly, and I could see the frustration and annoyance plain on his face. He didn’t like asking for help, or divulging too much information about himself, but he’d just done both. He grunted and huffed a sigh.

I could tell he was done with the conversation, and I couldn’t blame him. The pain he must’ve been enduring and the loss he experienced while he was out here. I couldn’t imagine the sleepless nights he probably had. He lost his sister, and now he was faced with the possibility of losing his last connection to her

“Look, can you watch her or not?” he asked again.

“Of course, I can,” I said. “When do you want me over there?”

“Could you come over Monday in the morning? Around breakfast?”

“I’ll be there,” I said.

“I’ll pay you for your time.”

“Don’t worry about it. You go meet with your PI. It’ll be fine. Brian?”

“Yeah?”

“You know if you can prove that he’s on drugs and unfit, the courts will never award Lanie to him, right?” I asked.

“That’s why I’m meeting with the PI,” he said.

“No one in their right mind would that girl away from you,” I said.

“This man knows how to cheat the system,” he said. “I’m isolated up here. And he knows he can use that against me in court. He can paint me as someone who abandoned my family when life got too hard and—”

Brian bowed his head to his feet, and I started wondering what kind of life he’d led. What had happened to draw him to the mountains in the first place? Did he have a job? What did he do for money? What had happened to pull him away from his family? What was he so ashamed of?

He was such a mystery, and I found myself drawn into his story.

“He’s slimy, Amanda. But he knows how the system works. I have to be prepared, and I can’t assume anything,” he said.

“Well, Lanie’s taken care of. So do what you have to do,” I said.

“Thank you.”

Even though our conversation had wrapped up, I could see his hands shaking. He was clinging to the edge of the island counter, and it was cracking underneath his grasp. He released it quickly and glanced over at me, his eyes curious but filled with fear. I walked over to him and took his hands in mine, then brought them to my lips to kiss.

“Take a deep breath, Brian. You’re shaking.”

I wanted him to calm down. I wanted him to be okay. The sight of someone so big and strong, so clearly struggling for control of his emotions unlocked something deep inside me. I held his hands in mine as I looked up into his eyes, and I found myself being swallowed by them. They were beautiful. The color of the sky on a bright summer’s day. I stepped into his body and released his hands, then threaded my arms around his neck and pulled him close to me.

“It’s going to be okay,” I said. “No one’s taking Lanie away from you.”

His hands wrapped me up, and I sighed into his neck. He turned his lips to my skin, and I could’ve sworn I felt their warmth. My skin puckered and the hair on the back of my neck stood on end. I pulled back to take in his eyes once more, giving myself one last chance to revel in their beauty.

Then, without a word, he kissed me.

It was hesitant at first. Light and non-committal. His lips were pillow soft, and his beard tickled my cheeks. His hands slid down my back before they cupped my ass, and immediately I found my nipples tightening to sharp peaks. Brian’s tongue swiped lightly at my lips, asking for entrance.

I fisted his shirt and pulled him even closer, and it unleashed the madman inside.

Picking me up off the floor, he settled me on the counter. Its rickety form creaked underneath my body weight, but Brian held me steady and close to him. His kisses trickled down my neck, sending shivers up my spine as his mouth cupped my clothed breasts.

My hands were twirling into the tresses of his hair as he traveled down my body.

His hands were everywhere. Cupping my tits and running down my side. They made quick work of my pants, pulling the heated material from my body. The cool mountain air streaming in from the open kitchen window hit my pussy, causing me to shiver as his eyes looked down upon me.

They were hungry, and I knew exactly what he was hungry for.

He grabbed a chair from the other side of the island and sat down. His hands pressed my legs open, folding them back up to me as he eyed my dripping pussy. I was exposed to him, shivering on top of the creaking countertop as I looked down at him.

His eyes hooked on mine one last time before his lips descended to my folds.

He kissed them repeatedly, making me jump and whimper. His beard tickled the insides of my thighs as I slowly wrapped my legs around his head. My fingers ran through his hair as his tongue pierced my folds, sliding right into my entrance. I arched into him as my nails raked across his scalp, and his hands wrapped around my thighs so he could pull me closer to him.

His tongue felt like fire as he teased electricity up and down my legs. His tongue licked thick stripes up my slit, then swallowed down my juices as he hummed into me. His voice rattled my ribcage, and his hands held me down, pinning my movements to the countertop as his tongue worked my clit.

I could feel myself dripping into his beard. I could feel my legs trembling against his back. His lips wrapped around my clit and pulled it into his mouth, his tongue flicking at lightning speed. I was breathless and at his mercy as my eyes watered with want. I gripped onto his hair as I tried to buck into him, wanting to chase my high on the tip of his tongue.

But his hands held me down as he teased me generously, turning me into a moaning mess.

“Please, Brian. Oh, please. I can’t. I can’t wait. You’re driving me crazy.”

I felt him smile into me as my back arched again. I wanted to be so close to him. I wanted to come at the ministrations of his tongue. If he would let me come, I could give him what he wanted. If he could release me, my name would tumble from his lips.

If he could just send me over the edge, I would give him something in return.

Finally, his hands gave way. They slid down my thighs and parted my knees once again. I rocked into him as much as I could as he pinned my knees toward my chest. His entire body was hovering over me as his eyes hooked onto my face. I could feel sweat gathering at the nape of my neck. I could feel my body flushing with orgasmic delight. His tongue flattened out over my clit as juices dripped down my ass crack.

I was so close I could taste it.

“Come for me,” he said. “Show me how much you want it.”

My back bowed like an overstrung violin as my orgasm exploded through me. My legs shook and my abs contracted. My tits bounced, and my eyes screwed shut. Stars burst in the darkness of my vision as my hands gripped his hair, pulling him closer and closer as my pussy throbbed for more. His tongue worked me expertly, throwing me quickly into a second orgasm that peeled his name from my throat.

“Brian! Holy shit! Oh, Brian.”

I collapsed onto the kitchen counter with a thud as it creaked and wobbled. Brian lapped at me one last time, cleaning my pussy with his tongue before he gathered me into his arms. He sat us in the chair as I straddled his lap, my face panting into the crook of his neck. Every cell of my body was buzzing with electricity, and it took me a lifetime to find my voice again.

“Give me a second, and I’ll be ready,” I said breathlessly.

But all he did was place a chaste kiss on the top of my head before he picked me up.

He carried me over to the couch and laid me down. He pulled a blanket over my half-naked body, then tucked me in as he knelt down next to me. I could see my arousal glistening in his beard as a flush crossed my cheeks, and for the first time since I’d met Brian, I saw him smile.

“I have to go,” he said. “Tanya will be leaving soon, and I have some things to do around the house.”

“Oh,” I said, nodding. “Okay.”

His chuckle was low and resounding, filling the corners of the room as his smile dwindled into a smirk.

“I’ll see you Monday after breakfast,” he said.

“Please stay,” I said in a whisper.

His grin fell from his cheeks, and his eyes began to darken. He stood up from the edge of the couch and slowly made his way to the door. He wiped my essence off his face with the sleeve of his shirt, then grasped the doorknob before he turned to look back at me. I hated that he had to leave. I hated that I couldn’t reciprocate anything. He was the sexiest man I’d ever come into contact with, and he was going through hell right now. I wanted to give him a distraction. He had devoured my body as if it had been his first meal in days, and I was about to pass out right here on this couch.

I didn’t want to wake up alone.

“Goodbye, Amanda,” he said.

Then, Brian took his leave.

I curled up on the couch as I listened to his steps retreat. No matter how badly I wanted him, I knew I had to take it slow. He did go through a marriage he regretted and a divorce that probably drove him to these mountains in the first place. He was probably still nursing a broken heart and had plenty on his plate with Lanie. No matter how quickly I wanted to have him, I knew I had to take it slow with him. For all his muscles and calluses on his hands from hard work, he was in a very delicate place.

And I needed to understand that, no matter how much him leaving hurt.