I reached over and took her hand and we sat there in silence, leaning on each other and giving comfort without the necessity of words. After a while, the back door opened and Chloe stood there, giving us a watery smile.

“Thank you guys for being so nice to me. We’re done now, and I’m sorry for making you leave your own house, Emma-”

“It’s okay, Chloe,” Emma said, cutting off her apology. “You have nothing to apologize for. We completely understand. You needed to talk to your brother and you didn’t need us hovering over you while you did. Now,” she clapped her hands and stood up, brushing off her jeans as she did so. “Are you hungry? Because I make some killer tequila lime chicken and that’s what we’re having for dinner.”

Chloe looked uncertain but when Emma mentioned that she’d noticed she’d only managed one bite of the sandwich she’d made for her earlier, she finally nodded and smiled gratefully. I stood up and walked closer to her, adding in my two cents. “And you’re staying at my house. I have an extra room and Jackson will be there. Brandon too,” I added as an afterthought. Though I wasn’t quite sure why.

The rest of the evening passed uneventfully. We helped Emma make dinner and then clean up after we all ate. The guys had come back into the house right before dinner (Jackson had gone out the front door to take a few minutes to himself when Chloe had come to get us) and we’d all made small talk throughout.

Brandon drove us to my house later that night and, following my directive, Chloe came with us. Jackson carried in her small bag that she brought with her and we got her settled into the spare room for the night and we all headed off to my room to get ready for bed ourselves.

Chapter 9

I woke up the next morning wrapped up in Brandon. I say that because his arms were completely wrapped around me, and his legs were tangled with mine. He’d scooped me close to his chest and my head was nestled under his chin. I snuggled even closer to him for a second before I leaned away slightly, reaching out with my arm behind me, searching for the other warm body that was usually wrapped around me as well.

My hand encountered cold sheets and it took a second for my fuzzy brain to register that Jackson had probably already gotten up with his sister. I nestled back against Brandon again, reveling in his warmth and the strength of his arms around me. I stayed that way for a while until he shifted in his sleep, removing his arm from over top of me and rolling onto his back. His other arm tightened and pulled me into his side and I smiled. Even in his sleep he held me so tight and I loved it.

I kissed his chest gently and traced the lines of ink written across the upper left side of his chest, over his heart. This tattoo was my favorite of his. It was scripted words that I knew he’d written himself that read:

Love is but a thousand blades

That cuts the heart to shreds

But I’ll bleed for love a thousand times

To feel before I’m dead.

The rest of his tattoos were, like his brother, mostly tribal with other elements thrown in. He had a line of kanji characters down the inside of his left forearm that he had told me stood for strength, courage, honor, loyalty, and love. On left side, he had additional script that said:

Drink me down, but I remain

An endless thirst, a spreading stain

I’ll eat you up and spit you free

But you’ll still crave the taste of me

The stinging bite of bitterness

It’s only pain, no more, no less.

I continued to trace the lines of his tattoos gently with the tips of my fingers, my eyes following every dip and curl of my hand. I gasped softly when Brandon’s hand came up and closed over my fingers, trapping them against his chest and holding them still. I tilted my head back and smiled up into the gorgeous smoky blue-grey eyes staring down at me. His lips curled into a tender smile and he dipped his head to lightly kiss the tip of my upturned nose.

“Morning, baby,” he said, his voice rough with sleep.

I kissed his chest once more and answered him in kind, smiling widely when he shifted to wrap me in his arms again. I felt the hardness of his erection press into the soft flesh of my belly and, giving into the instant desire that crashed through me, pulled myself back out of his arms and rolled him onto his back again before I slid on top of him. I let my legs drape over his hips, bringing my hot, wet folds into direct contact with the hard length of him. He moaned deeply at the feel of my wetness coating him. I sat up and moved forward just enough to bring the head of him to my entrance.

He gasped again and stilled me with his hands on my hips, panting out, “Wait…condom, baby.”

I leaned over him again and reached into the drawer of my nightstand, fumbling until my fingers closed around a familiar square shaped foil packet. I brought it out and in an instant, Brandon had taken it from my fingers, had it opened and rolled on, and was impaling me on his length.

I let out a long, low moan as he filled me, his hands tightening on my hips and using them to rock me against him. He slipped one hand down and pressed his thumb against the hardened nub of my clit, rubbing it in lazy circles as I continued to rock myself over him, keeping my pelvis pressed tightly to his. I could feel my orgasm building, layer upon layer of ecstasy that was taking me higher and higher. I clenched my inner muscles around him and he let out a growl, moving his hand away from my clit to grab at both my hips again before he began thrusting his hips up roughly and pulling me down to him, slamming himself into me over and over again.

I could hear myself gasping out, “I’m…so…close…oh, God!” The sounds of our bodies slapping together added to the pleasure coursing through me, making the edge I was clinging to razor sharp until Brandon released his hands from my hips, reaching around to palm the soft globes of my ass, squeezing and spreading them roughly. I shattered, a high keening scream ripping from my throat as he sharply smacked the right cheek of my ass then rubbed it soothingly before smacking the other side with his other hand. The bite of his hands against my tender flesh just flat did it for me, shoving me over that edge into a freefall of bliss. I came and came, my body quivering and clenching around him as he thrust wildly into me, lost in his own seemingly never-ending orgasm, shouting as he pumped and jerked inside me.

I collapsed onto his chest, peppering it with tiny, soft kisses as I panted, trying to catch my breath. I felt him tangle his fingers in my hair, something I’d noticed is a favorite of his, and pulled my lips to his, tangling his tongue with mine as he kissed me deeply.

He released my lips on a sigh. “God, every time with you is just as intense. You fucking rock my world, Allie!”

I giggled. I couldn’t help it. And then, heaven help me, a little bit of the green eyed monster came out and there was nothing I could do about it. I scowled and asked, “You sure there’s no one else you’d rather rock your world instead?”

He grabbed my shoulders and eased me back to look me in the eyes. “Where the hell is that coming from, babe?”

I shrugged and shook my head, wishing like hell I hadn’t said anything.

“No, tell me. Are you worried about Chloe?” he asked, his voice soft.

I shrugged one shoulder and shook my head again, leaning down to kiss him. “No, it’s nothing. Don’t even worry about it,” I said. I kissed his lips gently again and lifted myself off of him, moving to his side so he could get up and dispose of the condom.