“I don’t watch much of it, I admit,” Dom responds with a half smile. “But I hear you play.”
“That’s right,” Will confirms, still holding Dom’s hand tightly. “Don’t tell me you play European football,” he says with a sneer.
“Some,” Dom says with a slight nod. “Europeans don’t wear pads to protect them like the American pussies do.”
We all hold our breath and watch for Will’s reaction. He stares at Dom, blinks twice, and then busts out laughing.
“Fuck you, man.”
Dom turns to me, and I shake his hand, pleased that his grip is firm and strong. Mom always said you can tell a lot about a person by their handshake.
So far, I don’t have any complaints.
“I’m Caleb,” I tell him.
“You’re the one in the military?” he asks.
“I was, yes.”
He nods and leans in to murmur to me, “Thank you for your service, man. It’s an honor to meet you.”
Well, fuck.
I just nod as Isaac approaches, still scowling.
“I’m Isaac.”
“The oldest,” Dominic responds.
“That’s right,” Isaac confirms and shakes Dom’s hand. “I’m not sure how I feel about you yet.”
“Well, that makes two of us, I guess.” Dom nods and steps back, eyeing us all. “I wasn’t expecting to discover that Steven Montgomery has such a large family. I had no idea what I’d find, to be honest.”
“Let’s get some food and more beer over here,” Luke suggests and motions for a waitress, whose eyes light up as she scrambles to come take our order.
“What made you come looking for him now?” I ask as he takes a seat and a beer from the waitress.
“My mom died last fall,” he begins and takes a swig of beer then grimaces as he looks at the label. “She never told me about my biological father.”
“Did she ever marry?” Matt asks.
“No.” Dom shakes his head, and I can’t help but feel for the guy. Growing up without a father would suck.
“After she passed, I was going through her things, and I found a letter from her.” He shrugs and clears his throat. “She explained who he was and what she could remember about him, in case I wanted to try to find him.”
“Steven said you grew up in Italy?” Nate asks.
“Partly, yes.” He nods and shifts in his chair. “My mom’s family was still there, and when I was about five she moved us there so she would have her family nearby. We moved back to the States when I was fifteen. I went back in the summer, and I studied there for a while. My grandparents died a few years ago, and I inherited their property there.”
“Do you visit often?” Will asks. “I’ve been dying to get Meg over there. We just haven’t had time to go.”
“I don’t go as often as I’d like because I own a business here, but you and Meg are welcome to use the house there whenever you want.” He shrugs like it’s the most natural thing in the world to offer his Italian home to his newly found brother to use whenever the mood strikes him.
Maybe Bryn’s right. He’s just a normal guy.
“Are you married?” Isaac asks him and crosses his arms over his chest.
“No.” Dom shakes his head and smiles ruefully. “Too busy for that. But I met your lovely wife.”
“What do you do?” Nate asks him calmly.
“I run two vineyards. One here in Washington and one in Italy, although a cousin of mine runs the one in Italy for the most part these days.”
As he continues to tell the guys about the wines he makes here in Washington, I notice the girls are laughing hysterically, and suddenly, Jules yells over to us all, “Hey! Brynna can suck the fuck out of a bone!”
Chapter Seventeen
~Brynna~
“Caleb! Did you know that Brynna can suck the fuck out of a bone?” Jules yells in the general direction of the guys, earning snorts of laughter from the other girls.
“Of course he does.” Natalie giggles and points at me as she reaches for another handful of fries. “Hello! She probably blows him all the damn time.”
“Oh yeah!” Jules exclaims and laughs her ass off.
“Um, hello!” I spread my arms out to my sides and stare at the girls, my mind just a little cloudy from the liquor. “I’m right here.”
“Dude, do you blow him a lot?” Stacy asks me and sucks on a rib.
I blink at her and look over at Meg, Jules and Nat, but they’re all staring at me, waiting for my answer.
“Of course,” I reply with a shrug.
Meh, if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em.
“I knew it!” Nat yells and pumps her fist.
“Ew!” Jules exclaims and laughs. “So don’t want to know this.”
“I think I’ve found someone new I’d blow,” Stacy murmurs and wiggles her eyebrows, her eyes pinned to Dom.
“I know, right?” I exclaim and take a sip of my Sex on the Beach before reaching for another rib, much to Jules’ delight. “Jules, I have to tell you, your new brother is hot as hell.”
“It’s the Montgomery genes,” Meg agrees and stuffs nachos in her mouth. “They’re, like, superhuman or something.”
We all turn and stare at him, taking in the gorgeous. Where the Montgomery brothers are fair, with varying shades of blond hair, Dom is olive-skinned with black hair, but his eyes match theirs to a T. They’re perfectly blue, and when he smiles, he has one dimple, in his left cheek.
“I wonder if he has dimples above his ass,” Nat observes.
“Oh, those are sexy!” Meg agrees. “Will has them.”
“You know…” Stacy leans in with a knowing smile. “If he grew up in Italy, he speaks Italian.”
“I wonder if he’d teach Will Italian,” Meg ponders. “Just the naughty words.”
“Okay, we really need to bring in more hot guys that I’m not related to.” Jules pouts and sips her water. “I want to talk about naked body parts and sexy foreign languages.”
“Just pretend,” Stacy suggests with a drunken wave.
I work on cleaning all the meat off the rib, making sure there’s nothing left before I throw it in the basket.
“Seriously,” Nat mutters while watching me, “that’s impressive.”
“I bet you guys leave a whole bunch of meat on the bone.” I snicker and sip my drink.
“I’m done,” Meg announces and throws her napkin on the table. “Let’s take our drinks and go sit with the guys. I want to hear what they’re saying to Dom.”
We all agree and join the boys, drinks in hand.
“Brynna has some mad oral skills, man,” Jules informs Caleb as we approach, and I want to simply die.
“Jules!” I exclaim and glare at her.
“What?”
“She’s not even drunk.” Stacy smirks and leans on her husband. “But I have mad oral skills, too, don’t I?”
“You do, babe.” Isaac grins down at her.
“Enough of this. We’ll scare Dom off,” Meg announces and grins at the handsome Italian. “I’m sorry for their adolescent behavior.”
“I’m fine.” He chuckles and shakes his head. “I went to college. I know how girls are when they get together.”
“So,” I begin and sip my drink. Delicious. “You are Italian.”
He nods and grins at me, showing off that dimple that’s so similar to Caleb’s, and my panties may have just flooded.
“Which means you naturally speak Italian.”
He nods again and chuckles, his smile spreading across his face.
Caleb wraps his arms around me from behind and pulls me against him, tucking me close to him, and while I should feel guilty for blatantly flirting with his half brother right in front of him, I don’t.
I think it’s funny as hell.
“I think what she’s getting at,” Meg begins, “is that it’s kinda hot that you speak Italian.”
“Oh, please.” Will rolls his eyes and scowls at Meg.
“It’s true!” she insists.
“Avete un bellissima fidanzata, fratello,” Dom murmurs. His eyes light with mischief as he speaks.
“Sweet Jesus, what did you say?” Stacy asks.
“I said”—Dom laughs—“you have a very beautiful fianceé, brother.”
Stacy sighs dreamily, and I giggle despite myself. The guys roll their eyes again, and Nate chuckles.
“Dude, stop flirting with the girls. Your brothers will kill you,” Nate urges him with a laugh.
“I’m not flirting.” Dom holds his hands up and laughs. “Although I think it’s funny that women like foreign languages.”
“Yeah, what’s up with that?” Isaac asks.
“You don’t think that a woman speaking a foreign language that you don’t understand is sexy?” I ask Isaac with a grin.
“Never thought about it,” he replies with a shrug.
“Liar,” I respond.
He glares at me, so I walk over to him and hold my hand out for him to take. He does, and I glance at Stacy, who nods and grins, and I lean into him and say, “Vous êtes un sacré menteur. Vous savez que c'est sexy et je pourrais dire vous manger de la nourriture pour chien pour le petit déjeuner et il serait toujours le son chaud.”
Isaac swallows hard and then shrugs, as though it didn’t affect him at all.
“Okay, that was fucking hot. What did you say?” Luke asks with a grin.
“I told him how hot he is in French.” I smirk and walk back to Caleb, whose eyes are molten, and he’s looking at me like he wants to throw me down and fuck the hell out of me right here in this pub.
“Liar,” Dom responds softly. “I speak French.”
I throw my head back and laugh and wink over at him. “Well, they don’t, so we’ll leave it at that.”
“I think it’s time to go,” Caleb growls and grabs my hand in his. “Have fun, guys. Dom, it was nicer to meet you than I thought it would be.”
Dom nods and winks at me as we walk past. Caleb pulls me through the pub and all of a sudden, I hear our group bust out in laughter.
“Hey!” Isaac calls out. “I do not eat dog food for breakfast!”
I giggle and try to keep up with Caleb as he pulls me along through the parking lot to his car.
“Slow down!”
“You did that on purpose,” he whispers and presses me against his car, leaning in to me, his arms caging me on either side. He lowers his head and brushes his lips over mine gently, barely tasting me.
“Did what?” I breathe.
“Taunted me by flirting with my brothers and speaking French. I didn’t know you could do that, by the way.”
“I took French in school and then spent a summer in Paris after I graduated,” I whisper when he slides his lips down my jawline to my neck. I run my hands up his arms, over his shoulders and up into his hair. “Caleb?”
“Mmm…”
“Please take me home now.”
With just fifteen seconds of kisses and the feel of his hands on me in the cold night air, I’m ready to climb him. My skin is on fire, my nipples hard, and my pussy already swollen and wet with need.
He guides me into the car and drives me the few minutes down the street to my house. We could have walked the short distance to our favorite pub, The Celtic Swell, but Caleb said it wasn’t safe.
Now I’m just happy it’s so close to the house.
He leads me inside and up the stairs to the bedroom, where he quickly disrobes us both and gently pulls me into the bed.
He’s never been this gentle, and it’s throwing me off a little.
He pushes me onto my back and braces himself over me, kissing me alternately fast and hard and slow and soft. Each time I get used to his rhythm, he switches it up on me.
Finally, he slows his pace and leans his forehead against my neck, breathing heavily. “You astound me, Bryn. You’re so fucking amazing.”
I frown and pull back so I can see his face. He cups my cheeks in his hands and brushes his thumbs over my skin.
“You’re so damn funny, and sweet, and smart.” He swallows and kisses me again, still softly. “You could make the devil himself fall in love with you,” he whispers.
“Did you know I also have mad oral skills?” I ask him with a grin.
He chuckles softly and sweeps his lips across mine again, nibbling on the corner of my mouth and sending goose bumps over my body. I tilt my pelvis, silently inviting him to push himself inside me, but he pulls away.
“Caleb,” I moan and drag my teeth down his stubbled jawline.
“Yes, baby,” he whispers, kissing the top of my shoulder.
“I really want you to fuck me now.”
He pulls back and stares down at me, brushing tendrils of my hair off my face. “I can’t fuck you tonight, baby.” He shakes his head and clenches his eyes shut, then opens them and pins me in his bright blue gaze once more. “I need to make love to you tonight.”
Before I can respond, he lowers his head and kisses me again. I brush my hand up his naked arm and frown when I feel scrapes on his smooth skin.
“Caleb, what happened to your arm?” I ask.
“Work,” he mumbles and continues to kiss his way down my throat.
“These scrapes are nasty,” I respond.
“No big deal.” He wraps his lips around my nipple and sucks softly, making my back arch against him.
“I don’t like seeing you hurt,” I whisper. “Ever.”
“I’m fine, Legs.” He pulls his big hand over my hip and down my thigh to my calf and back up again, hitching my knee around his hip and opening me up to him. His hard cock nudges my clit, and I about come undone.
“Ah, Caleb, that feels so good.”
He grins against my breast and repeats the motion on the other side, sucking and tugging my nipple with his lips. He moves his hips, just enough to cause friction between the head of his cock and my clit, and I groan his name.
“Gonna make this last, sweetheart,” he whispers.
“I need you, Caleb.”
“I’m right here,” he replies softly.
My body is on fire for this man. I can’t stop moving beneath him, can’t stop my hands from roaming over every damn amazing inch of his smooth skin.
Finally, he slips just the very tip of his cock inside me and stops, pulls his face back up to my own, kissing me deeply and passionately, sliding his tongue along my own, cupping my face in his large hands.
He’s worshipping my body, and it’s the most amazing fucking thing I’ve ever felt in my entire life.
He slowly slides the rest of his cock in my pussy and then swears under his breath as he holds himself there, sheathed in me.
“So damn amazing,” he whispers.
The room is quiet, the house still, as he makes soft sweet love to me. Our breathing is labored, but we hardly make any sound at all as he moves above me and I raise and lower my hips to meet him, relishing the way his hardness feels inside me.
It’s as though he’s home.
“Love you so much,” I whisper into his shoulder as his pubis presses against my clit, sending me into a rolling orgasm, gentle as a calm ocean wave, but no less staggering than the wild choppy seas of a hurricane as he follows me over the edge and into his own climax.
He shudders above me, not making any noise as he collapses beside me and pulls me into his arms.
If he heard my declaration seconds ago, he doesn’t say. He simply tucks me up against him, pushes his fingers through my hair and kisses my forehead before falling into a deep sleep.
After several minutes, I untangle myself from his embrace to go to the restroom and clean myself up, pull on some clothes, and mentally pull myself together.
Did he not hear me?
Possible.
When I return to the bedroom, he’s turned onto his side, facing away from my side of the bed. I climb in behind him and lie on my side, several inches from him, watching him as he breathes in sleep. The light fro
m the moon casts a shadow of light over his back, illuminating his tattoo.
I can’t resist tracing the letters and numbers with the tip of my finger. He’s so much more than what’s written in these four lines.
He’s everything I’ve ever wanted.
Chapter Eighteen
~Caleb~
I’ve avoided her all day. All fucking day. And that’s not easy to do when the person you’re avoiding is the one you’re living with and doing your damnedest to protect.
It’s not easy.
But for my own sanity, it’s necessary.
I heard her last night when she whispered that she loved me while I was buried inside her and couldn’t tell where I ended and she began. She didn’t have to say the words aloud, I could fucking feel her, and to say it scared the shit out of me is an understatement.
So I did the only thing I knew and ignored it.
Because somewhere along the line I fell in love with her, too, and now I’m too much of a pussy to admit it.
I slide out from under the sink in the kitchen, throw my wrench in my toolbox and wipe my hands on a towel. I’ve managed to work out twice, repair a loose board on the deck, re-caulk the bathtub in the kids’ bathroom, and repair a leak under the kitchen sink, all since we all returned home from work and school this afternoon.
I even opted out of eating dinner with Brynna and the girls, insisting that I’d eaten a big lunch at work.
I’m fucking starving.
I frown as Bix saunters around the kitchen island, sniffing for any scraps that may have fallen while Brynna made dinner, and comes to me for an ear rub.
“Hey, boy,” I whisper and kiss his cheek while I rub him down. “How are you feeling?”
Bix nudges my chin with his head and sits next to me on the floor, enjoying the attention.
“You’re such a faker,” I mumble with a laugh. “You get more attention from those two little girls than you have in your whole life.”
He grins up at me and moans as I rub the sensitive area around his injured ear.
“Does that still give you problems, boy?” I ask with a whisper and gently massage the tender area.