So I took a step back, rubbing my lips together to hold on to his taste a moment longer.
“How did it go?”
He shrugged, his voice flat as he answered, “It went.”
He kissed my forehead before he stepped around me, and the feel of his lips lingered in the sweetest way. I turned, watching him as he moved deeper into the loft.
“You left your phone,” I said. There. Nice and easy. I didn’t have to mention I’d gone snooping and seen his message, right?
“I noticed,” he said nonchalantly as he pulled out a bottle of water from the refrigerator. He grinned at me. “I discovered that…oh, two minutes before I was supposed to meet the lawyer.”
“Could have been worse. You could have left it back in Vegas.”
“True.”
Looking down, I fought the ugly monster brewing in my belly. I didn't have all the facts, and even if I did, we hadn't made any real promises to each other. This was a business transaction.
With sex.
“Who’s Camry?”
The words popped out without any conscious thought from me, and I would have sucked them back in if there'd been any possible way of doing it. But there'd wasn't, and I stood there, feeling blood rush to my face as he slowly lifted his head and met my eyes.
“What?”
“Ah…” Face flaming, I shifted from one foot to the other, feeling awkward and out of place. It wasn’t a feeling I was used to, and I didn’t like it – at all. “She…um…well, she texted you. I’m sorry. I didn’t think. I just picked up the phone and saw the message. She wanted to know about money.”
I half-expected him to just brush it off. Oh…it’s a woman I met on the tour…she’s always bumming money for a smoke. Or It’s a lady from home, sometimes she runs short right before payday.
It would be something small and easy.
But a muscle jumped in his cheek as he stared at me.
“She’s…” He turned away, the muscles in his spine going tight. He stood so rigid, I thought he’d break. I wished I hadn’t said anything. He clearly didn't want to talk to me about her.
“Camry’s my sister.”
Oh. A harsh breath escaped me, the nervousness draining away to be replaced by giddiness.
But all of that evaporated in an instant when Kaleb looked back at me.
“She needs money to pay off her dealer. That’s why I came to the States, the reason why I joined the Flames. She’s in trouble.” He shook his head and barked a bitter laugh. “She’s been in and out of trouble since our parents died, and I can’t do shit to help her. But I can’t just ignore her, either. She’s my baby sister. I have to at least try.”
Two
Kaleb
I expected any number of possible reactions from Piety, everything from apathy to outrage. After all, it was one thing to have told her I needed money. Telling her it was to pay off a drug dealer was something else.
What I didn’t expect was for Piety to come over and take my hand, then lead me to the couch and tell me to sit. She sat down next to me and curled up against me, her presence soothing me more than I deserved. “I think it’s time you tell me what’s going on.”
“I just did.”
“No. You told me you had a sister who owes money to a dealer…that’s like saying Captain America is a movie about a soldier.”
Her comparison tugged a smile out of me. “You mean there’s more?” I tilted my head and smiled at her, suddenly exhausted.
“Kaleb.”
Sighing, I dropped my head forward. I owed her that much at least. “Okay.”
Closing my eyes, I tried to figure out where to start. How did I wrap up the last decade of my life in a way that wouldn’t take hours or months to explain? She deserved to know, but I hated the thought of having to relive all of it.
“Our parents died ten years ago. It was rough.” Shaking my head, I stared off into nothing. Rough didn’t even describe it. “Before that, we were normal. So fucking normal, you’d almost get sick. Dad and Mom would dance around the house at night, and they’d laugh and tease each other. I used to act like I hated it but…” I shrugged, smiling a little. I didn’t let myself remember the good times enough. “It was good. They were good. We were good. Then they were killed in a car crash, and nothing’s been good since.”
“I'm so sorry,” she said, her quiet words full of emotion.
I looked over at her. “We were sent to live with my dad’s uncle – he’s the only family we had left. He tried, but he never had kids, hadn’t wanted any, and he didn’t know what to do with us. Especially Camry. She was only eleven at the time. She cried a lot. Caused trouble. Started skipping school and by high school, she got into drugs and was already drinking…fuck.”
This was why I didn’t like to think about it. I felt like a failure. I hadn’t been able to help her. At all.
“Sometimes she hated even being around me, hated me, I think.”
“No.” Piety touched my cheek. “Why would she hate you?”
“Because I had them longer. I know it doesn’t make sense, but she was so young when they died. Nothing makes sense when you’re a kid who’s lost her parents.”
“But you’re her brother.”
“Fat lot of good I’ve done her.” My heart twisted at her words, and I wished it could be that simple. “Camry…well, hell. If Mom and Dad had still been alive, there’s no telling what she might have gone on to do. She was always smart. Even as much trouble as she got into, school was still easy for her. She even managed to get an international scholarship to go to college over here. The University of Nevada, in Las Vegas.”
Piety brushed at my hair. “You must have been proud of her.”
“I was.” I only wished it could've lasted. “But I got worried fast. She had trouble after the first few months. She ended up losing her scholarship and left school. But she didn’t come home. She stayed in Las Vegas. Now…hell. I don’t know all the details, but I know she owes a shitload of money to a piece of shit drug dealer, and when I try to call, I can hardly ever get hold of her. The one time she does call…” I laughed, bitterness leaving a foul taste in my mouth.
Getting up, I paced over to the wide window that faced out over the panorama and stared outside.
“I talked to Samuel about helping us getting new visas to stay in the States,” I said quietly. “When I signed with Flames Down Under, I got a work visa, but since I’m not in the show anymore, I need to find another way to stay. I have to...for Camry’s sake. She’s an addict. She needs help, more help than I can give her. I want to get her into some sort of program. I’ll find a job.”
She opened her mouth to ask a question, but I held up a hand.
“Not stripping either,” I assured her. “I was…am a good surfer. I worked at a surf shop in Sydney. I wanted to run my own surf camp eventually. Teach people how to surf. When I first got here, I had this crazy idea I could get her debts settled, then we could find some place. In California, maybe. I could work at a surf store, maybe give lessons.” He shot me a quick smile. “Nobody surfs like an Aussie. Except maybe down in Hawaii. But it was an idea. I don’t know though. Nothing is going the way I planned.”
Hearing her get up, I started to turn, catching her arms just as she would have slid them around me.
“What are you doing?” I asked softly.
“Hugging you.” She gave me an easy smile. “You look like you need it.”
“I…” The words died in my throat as she slid her arms around me and tucked her head against my chest, snuggling in close. Damn. What had I done to deserve her?
“It'll work out, Kaleb. You'll see.”
I cupped the back of her head in my hand and breathed in the scent of her. I really, really wanted to believe that.
She smoothed her hands up and down my spine, but the worries continued to eat inside me. When she took my face in her hands and kissed me, offering the sweetest of distractions, I didn't have the strength to refuse. Sh
e tasted so good, felt so soft. The heat of her mouth on mine, her hands in my hair, it was too much and not enough.
She leaned into me, deepening the kiss as she slid her tongue into my mouth. I gripped her waist, swallowing her moan as I pulled her against me. It wasn't close enough. We had too many clothes between us, and that was a problem that needed rectified immediately.
I pulled back, looking into her eyes as I caught the hem of her skirt, slid it up her toned thighs. She didn’t look away from my gaze, not even when I ran my finger along the crotch of her panties and found it damp.
“I want you,” I said, the need slamming into me like it had been lying in wait all day.
“Then have me,” she said as she leaned in and bit my lower lip.
I groaned as it sent waves of heat blasting through every neuron in my body.
“Right now? Right here?” I asked, staring into her eyes.
“Right now. Right here. No roommate to bother us.” Her tongue flicked out to wet her lips. “Astra's gone for the day…out doing things. Going to be gone…all day…oh…”
She clamped around the fingers I’d just slid through her damp folds, then up into her wet channel. Fuck. She was so tight and hot. My cock throbbed just thinking about being inside her again.
“That’s…convenient.” I twisted my wrist, using my knuckles to rub against her g-spot.
She rocked against me, her lashes fluttering. She slid a hand down and gripped my wrist, her mouth parting on the sexiest groan I'd ever heard. She started to ride my hand, and I almost laughed, even as my dick began to pulse. Fuck. I wanted to have her riding me like that.
But there was time for that.
Later.
Right now, I wanted to watch her come on my hand.
She moved against me, demanding and hungry. I braced my free hand on the wall over her head and looked down, watching my hand move under her skirt. When I circled my thumb around her clitoris, she shivered, a delicate reaction that started at her shoulders and went all the way down.
Damn.
Her nipples went tight and I swore. I wanted them in my mouth. Wanted to use my teeth on them until she'd feel it for days.
But that would require moving, and I didn’t want to do that until–
“Kaleb!” She clenched around me and climaxed, hard and quick, her hips bucking against my hand even as she cried out my name.
I waited until she was done before I moved, and it was the most pleasurably excruciating moments of my life.
Then, as she sagged against the wall, looking insanely pleased with herself, I yanked my pants open, pushed them down far enough to free my aching cock, and grabbed her hips. She laughed when I picked her up, then swore as I thrust inside her. I moaned as I felt the mini tremors still going through, and I had to grit my teeth against the sensation because it just felt too damn good.
“You’re…fuck me, Piety. You're going to kill me.”
She chuckled and clung to my shoulders, grinding down on me. “But what a way to go.”
“Yeah.” Lashing everything down until I almost had myself under control, I eased away enough to look into her eyes as I withdrew. After a moment, I eased back inside. “I love watching you. Love touching you.”
“I love having you touch me…” The words broke on a sigh, and she arched, clamping tight around me with a moan.
Orgasm number two.
If I hadn't been so close to coming myself, I would've been smug.
“Don’t…” I hissed out. “Don’t do that, sweetheart.”
“I can’t help it.” She shoved away from the wall, closing the small distance I’d put between us, and wrapped her arms around my neck. Then she started to move again, riding my cock this time. All sleek muscle and gorgeous female, she used her thighs and hips to move herself against me.
“Fuck.” I grabbed her ass, dragged her up and then let her sink back down, driven by her weight. Then I did it again, grinding her against me. The angle would be putting friction and pressure on her clit, and when she whimpered, I knew I had to do it again.
And again.
Again.
I would do this all day if it meant she'd keep making those mewling sounds.
“Please!” The word was weak, but I knew it would've been a scream if she’d had air.
Lurching forward a half step, I put her back against the wall and drove into her. Deep, hard, over and over, until we came together and it was violent, almost painful.
And absolutely fucking perfect.
Three
Piety
“Are you nervous?”
Sliding on my earrings, I glanced into the mirror and met Astra’s gaze. I shrugged and answered honestly, “Some, I guess. I mean, this whole thing rides on him not…”
I trailed off, because I couldn’t understand why he wouldn’t say anything. My parents had been awful to him. The people around us later today would be just as bad, although they might not say anything outright. Still, it wasn't going to be fun, and I knew if I had people digging at me like that, I’d want to strike back.
“He won’t say anything,” Astra said, reading my mind in that annoying way of hers.
I stuck my tongue out.
“You’re so mature.” She clucked her tongue, then flopped back down on my bed to stare up at the ceiling. “He’s not going to. He’s just got that kind of…oomph to him. You can trust him. He’s the guy you call at two in the morning when you’ve got a flat. Even if you’re an hour away, he’d come help you out, and wouldn't ask for anything in return.”
“Yeah.” I had that kind of feeling from him too. Maybe that was part of why I was so nervous. Granted, this had been my idea – okay, mine and Astra’s – but he’d be the one to deal with some of the harsher things said by people. Sure, they might say things about me and my judgment, but I’d dealt with that plenty already in my life.
They wouldn’t be insulting his judgment.
They’d be insulting him, and what was worse. Now that I knew why he’d made the decisions he’d made, it made him a better man than I'd thought possible.
Groaning, I rubbed my forehead.
“Next time I offer somebody a ludicrous amount of money to do something for me, tell me to ask them why they need it so badly first,” I told Astra, moving to sit next to her. After a moment’s debate, I flopped down flat right alongside her, and we lay there, studying the ceiling.
“You like him, don’t you?”
“Yeah.” Closing my eyes, I blew out a breath. And told her the whole truth. “I really, really like him.”
“Tell him.”
A knot settled in my throat, but I forced myself to ignore it. “No point. He has things to do back in Las Vegas, a life to get back to.”
“And you know this because…?”
Sitting up, I looked over at Astra and shrugged. “We’ve talked. Some. I…I think he kind of likes me too. But the things he’s got going on comes first. I don’t blame him. But it’s too complicated for a relationship.”
“If it’s the right relationship, nothing is too complicated.” She sat up and hooked an arm around my shoulders, hugging me. “You seem happy with him, PS. Do you really wanna give that up?”
Putting my hand on her arm, I leaned into her. “I’m not even ready to think about that yet. Besides, I can’t control the things in his life.”
Even though they weighed on me.
Even though Astra wasn’t entirely wrong.
There was a knock on the door, and I squeezed Astra’s arm. “Gotta go. That’s him.”
“Say hi to Mummy and Daddy for me.” She blew me a kiss and wagged her eyebrows.
“You sure you don’t want to come?” I picked up my purse from the foot of the bed and went to open the door.
She followed me out into the living room to answer. “You’d have to get me even drunker than you were in Vegas before I’d consider going through one of your family reunions again. And I’d have to stay that drunk. All day. I’m pretty
sure that’s not good for the liver.”
I laughed as I opened the door. “Probably not.”
She winked at me. “Toodles!”
“Toodles.” I made a face at her as I stepped into the hall and reached for Kaleb's hand. Turning my attention to him, I asked, “Are you ready for this?”
“Are you?” He threaded his fingers between mine.
“Why wouldn’t I be?” I gave him a brilliant smile and squeezed his hand. “Let’s do it.”
The madder my dad got, and the more my mother clutched her pearls – she literally clutched her pearls – the easier it got.
Sinking down on a padded chaise lounge next to my great aunt Agatha, I gestured to Kaleb. “Aunt Agatha, have you met my husband?”
She gave him a narrow look and a short nod. It was one of the politer receptions he’d gotten, but her attention on him didn’t last long. She was too interested in me.
Holding a cocktail in one hand and a book in the other, she studied me.
“Just what are you up to, Piety?” she asked, dark eyes far too shrewd for my liking.
“I’m introducing you to my husband,” I said innocently.
“Humph.”
She took a lusty sip of the cocktail and put her book down. It was a romance, one of those kind featuring a bare-chested man with a woman bent over his arm, her boobs all but falling out of the dress. The sight of it made me grin, but her next words wiped it all away.
“Your husband. What’s his middle name?”
It caught me off-guard, and I felt like an idiot – I didn’t know.
“What’s yours?” Kaleb asked, interrupting smoothly. He sat down on the chaise next to me and gave Agatha a mega-watt smile. “If I’d known Piety was holding out on me, I might have told her no.”
To my surprise, a laugh boomed out of Agatha. “She proposed to you?”
Some of the suspicion leaked from her eyes, and she sighed, reaching out to pat my knee. “Keep your secrets, Piety. I won’t blab. But it’s going to take more than this for them to leave you be.” She leaned back and settled more comfortably against the chaise. “It’s going to take you.”