How to Handle a Heartbreaker (17 page)

She opened wider and let him pump in short thrusts into her mouth. Threading her hand between his legs, she cupped his balls and felt him jerk. A spurt of fluid hit her tongue, and she sucked him harder.

“Oh yeah. Wait.
Stop.
I want to come, but not in your mouth. Let me have that hot pussy.”

Feeling naughty and loving every second of it, she pulled away from Brody and flipped onto her back, then stretched out on the bed and spread her thighs wider. “This pussy?”

She fingered herself, enthralled at the attention he gave her while he started jerking himself off.

“That’s it. Touch yourself,” he said in a gravelly voice. “Play with that plump little clit. Come again, but this time, while I’m in you.”

“I don’t know if I can,” she said honestly, then bit her lip. “You’ll have to make me.”

He growled and pounced, and before she knew it, he had her hands pinned over her head to the bed and his thick thighs nudging her legs wider. “Wrap them around my waist. I’m coming in.” He angled himself at her entrance and slid through her cream. So deep, so full.

Brody moaned her name as he took her with hard, punishing strokes that had her begging for more. No one had ever made her feel so good, and his possessive hold, the strength keeping her from moving, turned her on like crazy.

She cried out as he surged faster. “Harder. Yes, yes,” she said on a moan as she—impossibly—came again, this time clenching him inside her. The pleasure was indescribable.

He shouted her name and thrust as deep as he could go. He shuddered as he came inside her, and the knowledge that they’d shared something as intimate as two people could meant so much she couldn’t say. She hugged him tight, praising and whispering his name.

They kissed again, a gentle meeting of mouths that conveyed all the feeling she had balled inside. That passion and need for him, and only him.

He answered with tender nips and strokes, holding her tightly to him. “Oh, Abby.” He kissed her again, and to her astonishment, began moving inside her.

“Brody?”

“Yes. Just…let me. I’m still half hard. Fuck, I need you. Need to come again inside you. You’re so good, so sweet.” He murmured, to himself? To her? She didn’t think he knew. But then his movements grew hurried, and it didn’t take him long before he moaned and came once more.

Too tired to join him, she waited for him to finish, loving everything about this moment and committing it to memory. No matter what happened from this point on, she knew everything between them had fundamentally changed.

She wasn’t sure whether to be happy or sad about the fact.

***

Brody finally withdrew from Abby’s heavenly body and stood up, looking down at her. Christ, she was like one of those paintings come to life. Where the woman had glowing, golden skin, a ripe fullness to her, and pulled emotions from him he’d never thought possible.

“Be right back,” he promised.

“Mm-hmm.” She laid there with her arms over her head, looking like an invitation to a never-ending lovefest. If he hadn’t been so bone-deep drained, he’d have gone back for more. But after an emotionally demanding week and their physically wearing lovemaking, he didn’t have it in him.

He moved to the bathroom to clean up and returned with a warm cloth for Abby. After cleaning her up, he pulled her with him under the covers and into his arms, never having felt better in his entire life.

He just lay there with her, loving how she stroked his chest, his hair. Her body heat bleeding into his. The calm he’d been sorely needing, his center, returned to him, and his entire world made sense again. With a sigh, he hugged her even tighter, until she squeaked.

“Oh, sorry.”

She gave a low laugh. “Honey, you can hug me as tight as you want after what you did for me. I swear, I don’t have any bones left. I’m one big slug right now.”

“A slug in my arms. Attractive image. I’m sorry, you say you’re a writer?”

She laughed again and planted a kiss over his heart.
In
his heart. He didn’t understand it, but the sex had gone beyond a physical release into something much more profound. And though scared like hell, he wanted to hold on to the feeling and treasure it. Treasure her.

“Funny guy. I missed you, Brody,” she confessed in a small voice. “I hope that doesn’t freak you out, because it freaked me out for a little. But I’m nothing if not honest with myself. And somehow, like that fungus you once compared Colin to, you’re now etched into my proverbial walls.”

“Not sure I followed all that. You called me a fungus, I’m on a proverbial wall—whatever that is—but you’re hugging me, so that’s a good sign, right?”

She bit his nipple, and he felt a sluggish sense of desire try to wake his cock. No going after two climaxes back-to-back. “Nice try, Abby. Maybe in another hour I’ll be ready to go again. But not yet. You drained me.”

“Hush.” She snuggled against him, and he thought she’d gone to sleep when she said, “I don’t know what made you so sad, Brody. But I’m here if you ever want to talk. No pressure, no big deal. I just want you to know I…care.”

To his surprise, her announcement didn’t give him the same anxiety he used to feel when Bitsy and Pop tried to get answers from him. His natural inclination was to fold in on himself, to bury his pain deep and deal with it by not dealing with it. But Abby gave him that option to unburden himself. And he knew, just by knowing
her
, she’d never judge him.

“Seth told you I had visitors, didn’t he?”

“He did. But I already knew something wasn’t right. You didn’t take me bowling, and I know how much you were looking forward to losing to me.”

He chuckled. “You do make me laugh.” She hugged him tighter, and he basked in her affection. The moment felt right, and he decided to talk, because he needed to. It was time. And he wanted her to know.

“My father and my brother showed up last week, Alan and Jeremy.”

She didn’t say anything, and Brody let the words pour from him, needing her to know the real him, for someone to know the truth.

“I went to live with Flynn when I was a kid. My family… They’re not good people. My mom died when I was a baby. OD’d on heroin. Alan, my father, is a piece of trash, and Jeremy’s not much better. Alan is trying to drink himself to death, and Jeremy is a druggie. Or
was
, because he showed up last week with some dicked-up version of an apology for all the wrongs he’d once done me.” Brody snorted. “Like a big old ‘my bad’ could ever atone for the bastard making my life a living hell.”

He felt her kiss on his skin, and it soothed that part of him still reeling from his family’s unexpected visit. “I hate them. I feel bad, but I fucking hate them. I see them and I’m a scared little kid again, you know?”

“Oh, Brody.”

“Alan wasn’t physically abusive. Just used to tell me how worthless and useless I was. That my mother died rather than put up with me. I moved in with Bitsy and Pop when they found me just hanging around the play yard a few times too many. Alan didn’t care. He didn’t want to feed or support me anyway, and by that time Jeremy was a teenager. Old enough to take care of himself. So while they would be out getting drunk or high together, on one of their many cons, I got to live with a real family.”

“Beth and James.”

“Yeah. They were so good to me. Gave me a home, a place where I didn’t have to worry about stuff. Flynn’s always been my best friend. And that never changed.” He paused. “The guys don’t know a lot about this.”

“Brody, I won’t say anything. I’m just here to listen. That’s all.”

“Thanks.” He blinked, surprised to find his eyes watery.

“Beth and James never called social services?”

“They didn’t need to. Alan agreed to let me stay with them full time if they left it alone. Otherwise I’d have been shipped into foster care and had to deal with a lot of bullshit. Bitsy and Pop had him sign some guardianship papers and it was a done deal. Legally they could care for me. But every now and then, Alan and Jeremy would show up and I’d have to visit for a time.”

He grew quiet, remembering the nightmare that had been his life.

“You okay?”

“Uh-huh.” He blew out a breath. “Alan would have me steal. Jeremy… He was a sick little creep. Used to scare me all the time, torment me. If I took in a stray dog, he kicked it and let it loose. If I tried to make a friend, he’d spread lies about me. But mostly he liked to use me as a punching bag. He never hit me where it would show, but I hurt. And he’d terrorize me into keeping quiet, telling me he’d do something worse to Mike or Flynn or Cam if I ratted him out.”

“So you didn’t, because you loved your brothers.” She understood.

“Yeah. That went on for a long time, until one time Bitsy and Pop got a call from the hospital. I’d broken my arm and went into shock. Nearly died. Then I stopped having visits.” He remembered Jeremy holding the gun to his head, pulling the trigger over and over. Then forcing him to climb the tree to get some stupid baggie one of Jeremy’s buddies had hidden for him. Jeremy kept screwing with him as he’d climbed. Even at eleven, Brody had been an agile athlete. But when Jeremy had hit him in the head with a rock, he’d lost his balance and fallen a good fifteen feet.

“God, Brody. What happened?”

“Got bullied into climbing a tree. Fell and broke my arm. Went into shock. Jeremy’s fault,” he answered in a condensed version.

She rubbed both his arms, from his shoulders to his wrists, and he melted under her touch. “Man, I want to belt that guy.”

He chuckled. “You and me both.” He paused. “I hit him. Hard. Knocked him down when he put a hand on me last week.”

She bolted up and stared wide-eyed. “Did he hurt you? Did he try to hit you?” She studied his chest, pushing the blanket away, and he couldn’t believe how good her concern felt.

“No. He came here to apologize for being a grade-A dick. I was going back inside, and I think he just wanted my attention. But when he touched me, I snapped. Abby, I hadn’t seen either one of them in two years. And before that, it had been a year or more. Every so often they show up wanting money or a job or a place to live. And every time I ignore them. I just wish they’d go away.”

“I do too.” She bit her lower lip, and he hated the shine of tears in her eyes.

“Damn. Don’t cry.”

“I’m not. Just something in my eye. And stop looking at my breasts,” she chastened even as she sniffed. She lay down and put her head on his chest again, just where she belonged.

“Yes, dear.”

She pulled his chest hair.

“Ow.”

“Focus. So you hit Jeremy.”

“And Alan. But in my defense, he really did take a swing at me.”

“The bastard.”

“Yeah.” He warmed up to the idea of having Abby at his back and taking his side. For so long he’d wanted to tell Flynn, but he hadn’t wanted things to change between them. Flynn and the guys were his rock. They knew the Brody he wanted them to know. But Abby…she comforted just by being there. “I slammed back into the house and they left. Period. End of story.”

“Except it’s not the end, because you’ve been in a funk since they were here. Flynn’s worried.”

“I know.”

“And you didn’t hear this from me, but he had a feeling it was your
biological
family bothering you. Because they’re not your family. Your
real
family is Beth and James, Flynn, Mike, and Cam.”

“Not technically, but—”

“Yes, technically. They love you so much, Brody. I hear it whenever Beth brags about you or James grabs you in a bear hug. When Mike and Cam give you crap at parties, or Flynn laughs with you. You’re the blond McCauley—but a McCauley. You’re so lucky to have that.”

He rubbed his cheek against her hair. She was so soft on the outside, yet so strong emotionally. “Yeah, I am lucky.”
Lucky
to
have
you
here
with
me. And I don’t want that luck to end.
“So can I ask you something?”

“Well, okay. But only because you gave me orgasms.”

“Were you serious about going to Rick?”

She stilled, and he tensed with her.
Shit.
She hadn’t been kidding. He’d known she was too special not to have men fighting over her. And after today, he planned to be one of those idiots bent on keeping her attention.

“Brody?” she whispered and rolled him to his back, then braced on her arms to look down at him. He could get lost in her dark eyes, that full mouth. Even her petite nose turned him on. God, the woman was so perfect for him. He felt for her, something real and sure. Something like…love.

“Yeah?” He cleared his throat, prepared to pretend to give in easily while he worked behind the scenes to push Rick and every other asshole from her life but him.

She leaned closer and whispered, “I win.”

***

The look on his face was priceless. He just stared at her, the momentary anxiety clouding his gaze gone. She smiled wide. “Yeah, I’m so winning. You liiiikkkke me.”

She hadn’t wanted the tense conversation to drag him down again. Hearing what his jerk of a father and sadist brother had once done chilled her. To imagine carefree Brody being abused like that…she couldn’t understand it. She loved Beth and James so much for taking care of him.

But sensing his shame for the way they’d treated him hurt her inside. Brody was a man worthy of love. She wondered if he knew that. If maybe that’s why his relationships never lasted. Or maybe, like her, he just wasn’t that good at man-woman connections? Then again, she and he seemed to connect with ease.

“You little witch.” He yanked her to him and rolled until he loomed over her. So much larger, he conquered her with ease. But when he started tickling her, she lost her empathy and started to get mad.

“Ack. I hate getting tickled. Hate, hate,
hate
it!
” She tried to shove him off her but he grabbed her wrists with one hand and easily pinned her down. And like that, she started to grow aroused again. The covers slipped off them, and he laughed at her as he tickled her with his free hand.

“Stop, stop. Please,” she begged, gasping for breath. She laughed when he grazed her ribs. “Uncle.
Uncle
.”

Brody grinned down at her, a sly expression of victory. “That’s right. Who’s your daddy?”

“Ew. Brody.”

He laughed and then to her surprise, kept his hands firmly around her wrists while he nudged her legs wider and positioned his cock between her legs. Then he pushed inside her, moving easily, but he felt bigger because she wasn’t as slick this time.

“That’s it. Yeah, you cried uncle. Now you have to pay the price.”

“Oh. Okay. Yes, whatever you want.”

Brody nodded, no longer laughing, and leaned down to kiss her. He thrust his tongue and his cock in time with each other, and his movements grew frenzied. He left her lips and pulled back to watch her as he took her. “This time come with me. All around me while I fill you up.”

She nodded, lost in the lust and love she felt as they watched each other taking fulfillment. When the end came, she cried out his name and clamped him tight within her. Never letting go.

***

“Okay, so why am I here?” Del asked Abby two days later. “It didn’t make sense when you tried to explain it to me over the phone. And, well, in person it ain’t making much sense either.”

Friday night at the bowling alley, and Abby needed all the help she could get. “Look. I owe you.”

“So you blackmailed me into bowling on a Friday night?” Del crossed her arms, now somewhat concealed in a long-sleeved black button-down shirt that actually gave her a sexy edge.

“Um, hello?” Del bent her head to peer at Abby. “Anyone home?”

“Oh, sorry. Yes, I wanted you to come meet my friends. You’ll like them. And then I was thinking maybe you’d like to join a book club with a few friends of mine.”

“A book club.”

“Yeah. We read all kinds of things, not just romance. And uh, I was kind of hoping you’d talk to me.”

“We’re doing that right now.” Del sounded amused, and her dry wit only made Abby like her more.

“I meant about research. I’m a writer, and I’d like to make my character a female mechanic. You’re the expert there.”

Del blinked. She’d let her hair down tonight, and the light strands curled around her shoulders. She was exotic, rough, sensual. Not fresh like Vanessa or gorgeous like Maddie. The eyebrow ring and nose piercing, a small stud just over her right nostril, added to her tough look. The visible parts of her tattoos between the edges of the sleeves at her forearms and her wrists painted her as a woman not to be bothered, but she had attracted more than her share of attention since showing up at the crowded bowling alley, though she seemed to ignore it.

“So tell me again why this is considered repayment for fixing your tire. Seems more like I’m doing you another favor.”

Abby sighed. Like a dog with a bone. “Work with me here, Del. I’m offering friendship.”

“So what’s that in dollars?”

Ignoring Del’s amusement, Abby huffed. “You can’t put a price on friends.” Or great research potential. “You seem to be a practical woman.”

“Now you’re trying to butter me up.”

“Isn’t any good business about networking? My roommates know people, and the opposite team we’re playing knows people. Vanessa is a CPA. Maddie’s an interior designer. Flynn and Brody are plumbers and seem to know everyone in Queen Anne. Cam is an investment guy, and Mike’s a contractor. He’s Colin’s dad.”

Del smiled, and in her pleasure Abby saw the real woman behind the gruff exterior. “Oh yeah, the kid. How’s he doing?”

“Good. He kicked butt at soccer. He’s got a sleepover tonight, so Mike is joining us. See? Four guys, only three girls. We needed you.”

“I feel so used.”

Abby laughed. “Come on, stay. The beer and wings are on me.”

“Well, if you’re buying.”

“And it’s not like you had anything better to do tonight. Or at least, that’s what some guy named J. T. said when I asked for you.”

“Yeah. My brother.” Del scowled. “Huge pain in my ass. He told me I had to come by tonight to satisfy an unhappy client. You’re not even a paying customer.”

“Nor am I unhappy. See? You’re two for two. Come bowl with us. Make merry. Eat chicken. Drink the pig swill that passes for beer.”

“Sounds appetizing.” Del cracked her knuckles. “Okay, I’m in.”

“We’re on lanes three and four. Come over after you get your shoes.”

She caught Del muttering about her being bossy as she left to join the others. Abby had warned Maddie and Vanessa what to expect, though she just knew Vanessa would stick her foot in her mouth at least once. She’d made Brody extract a promise from the guys to behave as well, but who knew how that would hold up?

Ever since she and Brody had become a kind-of couple, they’d spent the past two nights together since his admission about his family. She felt their closeness to her toes and wondered if he sensed her love at all.

She saw him standing with Flynn as they bragged to Maddie and Vanessa about how they planned to crush the competition.

She joined them. “Oh please. You and what army?”

Flynn snorted. “I hate to break it to you, but Maddie is afraid of chipping her nails. I doubt she’ll be throwing down strikes.”

“Oh?” Maddie glared at him. “Vanessa and I were all-state champs.”

To Abby, Vanessa murmured, “Do they actually have all-state bowling champs?”

“No idea.”

“And when you lose, you
lose
,” Maddie said to him.

Flynn’s brows rose. Apparently he and Maddie had made a prior bet. “It’s on, baby.”

“
Baby?
Oh, the love talk. I may swoon,” Vanessa said dryly.

Del walked over to the group wearing her bowling shoes and holding her black biker boots.

“Our shoes are under there.” Abby pointed to the spot under the table, then made introductions.