This was getting weird.
But not in the way that made me think shit was totally fucked. The hope stirring in my gut was real, and it wouldn’t go away. Each day it grew stronger. Before, it never lasted past noon because my friends were jerks.
Whether she knew it or not, Braxton had taken up our cause.
Houston was suspicious and fearing the worst. Loren was still convinced he only wanted to get his dick wet. He claimed he was allergic to commitment, but I think he craved it more than he knew. At some point, we start to believe a certain perspective of ourselves, and no evidence otherwise can change our minds. The strongest illusion was delusion.
Loren looked at Braxton like she fed his soul, and he was eagerly waiting for just a little more. It wouldn’t go over well when he finally realized it. He’d rather be told he had terminal cancer than to hear that he was falling for our insatiable rebel.
Right now, he was too occupied with Braxton’s lips to worry about his heart. It was all I could do to keep my gaze forward while Houston navigated Dallas. Security trailed us in separate cars while we did this little outing. Braxton had invited us to go sightseeing, and none of us had the willpower to say no. Even if it was weird as fuck.
“Headstrong” by Trapt started to play, and Houston turned up the volume. I was pretty sure he was trying to drown out the sound of Loren and Braxton making out in the back seat. It didn’t matter how high he cranked the volume, though. We were too tuned in to every move they made.
Even now, I could hear clothes rustling, followed by Braxton’s soft sighs.
“It’s a shame,” Loren muttered when they finally stopped sucking face long enough. “I could be knuckles deep in your pussy right now, but you insisted on bringing food to a buffet.”
Yeah, he was definitely taking a dig at Houston and me.
“How will I ever survive?” Braxton returned.
Loren chuckled, but I knew him. He didn’t find it all that funny. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him glowering at his phone.
I was just relieved it was over.
Braxton was no longer hiding that she was attracted to all of us. Before we left, she’d kissed me good morning while Houston and Loren looked on. I saw their jealousy when she pulled away, but they hadn’t said a word. I didn’t know what it meant that we weren’t acting on it. We’ve never so much as double-dipped inside of a groupie, and now we were sharing our guitarist?
One of our songs started playing through the speakers, and listening to Calvin’s insane riff was the first drop of grief I’ve felt since he died. As much as I hated him even after death, I couldn’t deny his gift.
“Can we change the song?” Braxton grumbled from the back seat. “No offense, but I get enough of you guys when we’re playing.”
“You mean us,” Houston corrected, darkness edging his tone. He even risked taking his attention off the road to pin Braxton with his gaze. “You’re Bound now, or should I find a more effective way to remind you?”
I think everyone held their breath as they waited for her response. When it came, she didn’t disappoint. She never did. Sarcasm and defiance were her weapons of choice. It didn’t take us long to learn, but we were still figuring out how to know better.
“I don’t know,” Braxton mocked. She sounded deceptively pliable. “I think the hundred and fifteenth time is the charm. Why don’t you remind me again?”
Sinking lower in my seat, I turned my head toward the window to hide the smile playing on my lips.
I just knew she was batting those big, brown eyes at Houston and daring him to do something about it. I was itching to turn in my seat and see for myself, but I didn’t want her to think that I was helping Houston back her against another wall.
Not this time.
Not when she made my knees this weak.
“Maybe Braxton should deejay,” Lo suggested, breaking the tension. Houston had already refocused on the road. Since he was strangling the steering wheel, I knew the conversation wasn’t over. At least for them. He’d resume it the moment he got her alone. “We all know Morrow only likes the sound of his own voice.”
I couldn’t help myself this time, so I peered into the back seat and found Braxton cutting her gaze at Loren. I also spotted the hickey he’d left on her neck right next to Houston’s and mine.
“Why me?” she asked him when no one objected.
I couldn’t tell if she was nervous about sharing her music choices or too smart to think that Loren was up to any good.
Maybe it was a little of both.
She didn’t want us figuring her out because of what we might do with that information. Someone should have told her that she couldn’t peer into our minds without baring a little of herself in return.
I see you.
Loren paused his brooding to focus on Brax. He licked his lips as he watched her as if he could already taste her tears. Or maybe he had something else in mind. If he only knew how good she tasted.
“Why not? Afraid we’ll find out that you secretly love the Backstreet Boys? I suppose you think “I Want it That Way” was the greatest love song ever written.”
“No,” she returned, sounding confident even when Loren was forcing her to play defense. “But I do think “Goodbye Earl” is pretty killer.”
“‘Goodbye Earl,’” I echoed from shotgun. “Isn’t that a song about a woman who killed her husband?”
Braxton shrugged, still staring at Loren.
I need you to notice me.
My head had my heart all twisted up. The feeling only intensified when Braxton finally looked my way. Her attention was like phantom fingers tiptoeing down my spine. Goose bumps appeared on my skin just as those full, red lips of hers moved. “I said it was killer.”
She smiled at me like I deserved the privilege.
My heart skipped a beat while warmth filled my belly. Braxton must have read it on my face because her smile disappeared, and then she was pulling out her phone. I watched her tap the screen a few times, and after helping her connect her phone to the car using Bluetooth, Tool’s “Sober” spilled through the speakers.
Unable to forget her confession four days ago, the lyrics took hold with an icy grip. They did their job and left only a warning.
I’m no good for you.
Braxton stared at me until she was satisfied that I’d gotten the message. Her red hair became a veil shielding her expression as she stared out her window. I could reach out my hand and touch her easily, yet she’d never felt so far away. Shifting my body forward, I rested my head against the back of the seat before closing my eyes.
I wouldn’t listen.
I never did.
Emily hadn’t warned me away like Braxton just tried to, but my friends did.
No one spoke again for the rest of the drive. We were too distracted, dissecting the lyrics of each song she played. We hit up the zoo first after Braxton admitted she’d never been. I didn’t even want to know how someone reached adulthood without ever visiting a zoo. Even a petting one would have counted.
Xavier had made some calls and was able to get the place shut down for a couple of hours. Braxton’s excitement level, which had been stuck on neutral, revved once we got inside, and she saw the first exhibit.
She actually thought those creepy-ass fucking lemurs were cute. I swear one of them stared at me as if he knew me or something.
Loren griped the entire time about the smell.
Houston remained impassive even when a male lion charged the fence and roared. It baffled even the keepers who admitted he was a pretty vocal lion…just never toward guests.
Braxton explained that Houston had that effect. Apparently, it wasn’t limited to humans. Houston got some curious looks from the staff after that as they not-so-covertly whispered to each other. We moved on, and when we reached the giraffes, Braxton lost her shit. She talked endlessly with our tour guide about some chick named April, who’d given birth last year. I was confused along with Houston and Loren until she saw the looks we exchanged and filled us in.
April wasn’t a friend of hers.
She was a giraffe we’d never heard of before. At the time, we were too busy fighting in vain to keep Calvin alive to realize a fucking giraffe had set the internet ablaze.
Braxton claimed the wave had only lasted a couple of months but that it helped the world lose themselves in something meaningful. At least for a while. As she talked, we nodded, pretending to give a damn until she turned back to our tour guide.
At some point, as we made our way through the park and for no reason at all, Braxton slipped her hand in mine. I wasn’t sure if she planned it or was just caught up in the moment, but I didn’t let go. If she noticed my tension, she didn’t comment on it. She was thoroughly enthralled by the guide’s boring facts about fucking flamingos.
I glanced at Houston, who was currently hiding behind his black shades. I could tell by the set of his lips that he’d noticed, and he wasn’t thrilled. Braxton wasn’t only defying orders. She was risking it getting out that we were making more than just music behind closed doors. Liking the fact that she’d chosen me to make her stand, I tightened my grip.
Houston could kill me and then pry her from my dead body if he wanted me to let go.
Braxton’s hand was soft and small in mine, and I suddenly had this urge to go all alpha-dick and stake my claim. That was usually Houston’s speed. I’d never felt this way with Emily. With Braxton, the possibilities of who I wanted to be for her were endless. I wanted to protect her from everyone.
Including me.
Knowing that when Braxton found out about my wife, she would never forgive me, I loosened my grip. When I started to pull away, Braxton’s head turned, and then she was staring up at me, a question in that deceptively innocent gaze. My heart began to pound out of control.
Fuck.
She had me.
She so fucking had me.
I tangled our fingers once more, but she kept staring at me like she could read my guilty thoughts. She wanted to know why I tried to pull away. She wouldn’t let it go unless I made her.
Desperate to avoid the inevitable, I did the first thing I could think of.
I kissed her right there in front of the tour guide and the other keepers trailing us while pretending to work. With a moan, she melted into me, not bothering to think twice as we spiraled deeper within each other’s souls. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about her lips since she wrapped them around my cock. I will never forget how it felt to have her on her knees for me.
I was vaguely aware of the guide trailing off mid-sentence, Loren storming off like I’d stolen his favorite toy, and Houston plotting to make us both pay. Xavier had faxed over NDAs for the employees to sign in exchange for our patronage, so word wasn’t getting out, but that was never Houston’s problem.
He wanted Braxton for himself.
He’d rather scheme and plot and make arbitrary rules than simply admit it so that we could deal with the fact that we wanted her too.
Braxton broke the kiss, and when our gazes met, we were the only two people in the world.
“Take me somewhere, Jericho. Just you and me.”
It only took me half a second to pick up what she was putting down. Grabbing her hand, I pulled her back the way we came. We hurried over a bridge and underneath a covered walkway before crossing over to the tunnel that separated the park’s east and west side. Or maybe it was north and south.
There wasn’t enough blood left in my brain for critical thinking, let alone navigation skills.
The moment we were under cover of darkness and the prying eyes of the security cameras, I kissed Braxton again. With my hands on her waist, I kept kissing her as I backed her against the wall of the tunnel. I could hardly see shit, but I felt how crazy she was making me.
My hands drifted up, teasing her hard nipples through her thin T-shirt. She hardly ever wore a bra, and before now, I had no clue how much easy access turned me on. I groaned, thanking God for small favors as I shoved her shirt up, baring her breasts and wrapping my lips around her nipple.
She let me have my fun for a while, gripping my hair like she was hanging from a cliff, and I was her only lifeline but then…
“Rich.”
I felt her trying to pull me away. My heart skipped a beat before plummeting to my stomach. Had she already changed her mind?
“I know this is our first time, and as much as I appreciate the foreplay, I assure you I’m good to go,” she told me through her panting. “We don’t have much time.”
She smiled so sweetly that even though I’d been thinking about going down on her again, I didn’t have it in me to deny her. She wanted to be fucked now, and I was more than willing to make that happen.
Today, she wore black denim shorts, which told me getting fucked in a zoo hadn’t been her plan. She needed me bad enough not to care if we were caught. I quickly unbuttoned her shorts and helped her shimmy out of them since they were tight as fuck. She wore fishnet tights, but instead of patiently pulling them down her legs, I tore them at her crotch. After she gasped, I watched her surprise morph into desire. She was looking at me like all my past lovers had when it dawned on them that my lovemaking didn’t match my personality. They expected sweet and gentle. This was the first time I wished I could oblige.
“I wish we had a bed right now.”
She made this purring sound that reverberated deep in my gut and down to my dick. “Me too, but there’s always later.”
I kissed her again before turning her to face the wall. Her hair was pulled up, and her nape beckoned, so I kissed that too before bending her over. She stayed like that, her hands braced on the wall while I quickly undid my jeans and pulled my dick free. I silently prayed I had protection while I fished out my wallet and plucked out the single condom inside. Thank fuck.
“Hurry,” she urged me.
I wrapped my dick up as fast as I could without breaking the rubber and fucking up my chances. We were all so hot and cold. There was no guarantee there’d be another.
With that reminder, I quickly found her soaked entrance. I needed inside her now. Slowly filling her pussy, I realized she was even tighter than I imagined. If not for Houston, I’d think she was a virgin.
“Rich…”
I couldn’t respond.
She was too hot, too wet, and I needed her too desperately.
Gripping her hip with one hand and planting the other on the wall above her, I begin fucking her hard, showing her just how much.
I pulled her body into me even as I shoved into her from behind.
The sound of our skin slapping and my dick moving in and out of her pussy echoed around the tunnel, mixing with her moans and my grunts.
Sweat dotted my temple and collected on her back.
I lost awareness of my surroundings and didn’t care if someone watched. All that mattered was that I chased this feeling.
This—fuck, I didn’t know.
Whatever it was, it wasn’t supposed to happen. She wasn’t supposed to mean anything to me. Now it felt like I couldn’t live without her.
Pulling her upright, I forced her front against the wall, and then I gripped her chin before turning her head. “What are you doing to me, Brax?”
“I don’t know,” she whimpered.
“You don’t know?” I echoed as I pumped inside her. She shook her head as much as my grip allowed. “Bullshit.”
I should have only cared about getting my friends back, but instead, my only concern was which of us got to keep her. If she chose Houston or Loren…I wouldn’t be able to stay. I wouldn’t be able to watch her be happy with them. I was a selfish prick, but I wanted to be her selfish prick.
Much too soon, I felt the familiar stirring in my gut as my heart rate increased. My body took over, pushing me toward the point of no return.
My hips began to thrust of their own accord.
Faster. Harder. Fucking with single-minded intent.
I fucked her so hard I feared Braxton would bruise from the force of my body using hers. Trapped against the wall, she had nowhere to go, no other choice than to accept my savage lovemaking.
Anyone nearby would immediately know what we were doing. The gallant hero I wanted to be had thought about stopping, but then my muscles tensed, and I held onto Braxton as my seed flooded the condom.
Feeling boneless and drowsy, I slumped forward while making sure to keep most of my weight off Braxton. I crushed her hopes of getting off. I didn’t want to destroy her bones too.
Under the guise of catching my breath and making sure my legs could hold me up, I stood up straight. Only when I found the courage to meet her gaze did I turn Braxton around to face me.
“You know you do amazing things to a girl’s self-esteem.”
I huffed out a laugh even as I felt my cheeks warm. By my count, she’d given me three orgasms, and I’d given her…one.
Shit.
“Sorry,” I whispered as I pulled her close. “It’s been a while.” I’d been too busy hunting my demons to worry about getting laid.
Do it, my conscience urged me. Now was the perfect time to tell her about Emily.
Then again, maybe not.
My dick had been inside her less than a minute ago. Learning that you screwed a married man is not something a girl wants to hear right after sex. It was too late for there to ever be a right time, but there couldn’t have been a worse moment than now.
I kept my mouth shut by kissing her.
Placing my booted foot between her legs, I kicked her feet apart. I then dropped to my haunches, where I gripped her hips and attacked her clit with my tongue.
As soon as I added my fingers to the mix, she came apart in my arms.
It didn’t come close to the sordid things I wanted to do to her, but until we had a shower, a bed, and some privacy, it would have to suffice.
