Plagiarized (17 page)

I stood there, stunned by his words and in shock at the realization that I once again had everything at my fingertips, everything that I wanted, and it had fallen away. I looked up in time to see Craig storm by us, leaving the restaurant.

The Maître de came a few seconds behind with a black portfolio that probably held the bill for the wine we had consumed.

Keegen stopped him. “I’ll take care of that.”

The Maître de looked relieved as he handed the bill over to Keegen, then bowed apologetically and left.

“We ordered a two-hundred bottle of wine,” I scoffed. “I don’t think you can pay for that.”

“Like I stated before, Sage, I was going to tell you about my family. My family has quite a bit of money, which means I do as well; I just don’t feel the need to flaunt it. I could have taken care of you, Sage, just like you wanted.”

I gulped as Missy joined us once again. She looked like she’d been crying.

Keegen grabbed her hand supportively, and then kissed her forehead tenderly. “Shall we have dinner now?”

I turned to leave, not even waiting to hear her answer or witness their affection for one another for one more moment. The desperation I felt to leave and catch up with Craig is finally too large to ignore.

As I exited the restaurant, I saw Craig handing a wad of bills to the valet and started to get into his car.

“Craig! Please!” I ran up to his car, and thankfully, the valet rushed around to open the door for me, not giving Craig a chance to drive off alone.

Once we were in the car, we sat there for a minute in complete silence. That minute felt like an eternity. I swear I felt every second as it clicked by.

“Please let me explain,” I pled with him quietly, unsure if he would even let me continue.

He said nothing and I figured that was better than saying no, so I carried on.

“Craig,” I said as a sob escaped my lips. I was surprised by how emotional I felt by what had transpired. I’m usually good at keeping those in check. “I had a relationship with Keegen; it wasn’t exclusionary. I mean, I was still married, how could our relationship be exclusive?” I waited for some kind of response from Craig but got nothing, so I continued. “I swear that I never knew he was your brother. You don’t share a last name or look anything alike, except for—” I looked down in his lap.

“That’s disgusting, Sage!”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean… I didn’t mean to insinuate that, but it’s true!”

“You were sleeping with my brother the same time as me.” He looked pissed, and for a minute, I was scared. He was driving crazy, erratic, and way too fast. “What do you want Sage? Where do you see this going?”

“I haven’t actually looked that far ahead. I was kind of taking this more as a one-day-at-a-time sort of thing. We definitely have chemistry and I like fucking you.”

“How can you treat this so callously? I thought what we had together is special.”

“Craig, I do think that what we have is special, but the fact is you are eighteen years old. Can we live happily ever after together? You are almost finished with high school and then you will be heading off to college. Where will that leave us? Then there’s your family. I don’t want to be the one that drives a wedge between you and your brother. Oh God! I would have never slept with your brother; even I have lines I don’t cross.” Lie. I would double cross every line if pushed far enough. I hoped Craig believed my heartfelt speech. After all, I did mean some of it.

The rest of the car ride was spent in silence. The kind of silence that is deafening, so different from the car ride to the restaurant just a short time earlier.

When we pulled up to his house, he parked and we both got out. I felt destroyed by what had just transpired. We both took the steps stoically and I felt the need to decompress and digest everything that had just emerged. I knew that the magnitude of the situation still hadn’t hit me.

I had silently made the decision to just gather my things and leave—go back to my house. I was doing just that, in the middle of packing my things—which seemed to be all over the house for some reason—when Craig came in the room.

He took the items from me that I was holding and placed them on the floor. Then he took me in his arms and held me. “Don’t go,” he said softly.

“I think it’s best to put some distance between us, even though I don’t want to leave.”

“Then don’t,” he said as if it were that simple. It wasn’t. There was a shitload of issues to sift through.

I looked at him beseechingly, unsure of what to say or what move to make.

He took my face in his hands tenderly and brought his mouth close to mine. He kissed me gently. How could, what started out as such an ordinary kiss, have so much meaning behind it? I felt every emotion that he seemed desperate to convey, it made my breathing halt.

I momentarily pulled back and searched his eyes for the meaning of that deep kiss he had just bestowed upon me, with only the briefest touch of his lips. The second my eyes hit his, I was instantly sucked in by his expressiveness.

I moved my lips closer to his again, frantic to express my feelings as I returned his meaningful kiss. If I had read the expression in his eyes correctly, this kiss symbolized everything that our relationship could be. I didn’t know what that meant. If it was a symbol of what might have been and he was letting me go, or if he wanted to deepen our connection. I still wasn’t standing on solid ground and didn’t know which direction our relationship would be headed in next.

I decided to let go of all the uncertainty and just give in to the feelings of the moment. I was good at doing that anyway. Living in the moment, that was Sage’s signature line.

I impulsively grabbed his cock, which was already tenting his pants. He grunted, but didn’t break the kiss. At that moment, I knew his body was mine, and that moment was all that mattered. I stuck my tongue in his mouth, recklessly abandoning all my doubt-filled thoughts. As soon as I let go, I instantly felt free and eager to please him. I kissed him with renewed determination.

He thrust his hips into my palm; his jutting cock still incapacitated by his clothing. I stroked him through his pants and his thrusts became more desperate. I unfastened his button as he moaned into my mouth, overwhelmed by the simultaneous strokes of my tongue against his and my palm against
him
.

I loved this carefree feeling and could almost get high off of it. It automatically propelled me forward, seeking more as I unzipped his pants and gently lifted his elastic band over his sturdy tool. He was sticking straight out so it took me two attempts before I could get the band over and around it.

Once I uncovered his cock, I was stunned and reminded of how big it was; it stunned me every single time. I hoped it always would. I had never attempted to give him a blowjob before and doubted that I would even be able to fit my mouth around it, but I was going to go try. I ended the kiss with a final lick to his lips and then moved down to take his rod in my mouth. As soon as I crouched down, I saw him close his eyes in anticipation of what was to come.

I cautiously approached his tip and started to ease into his size by licking it first. I imagined it was my favorite flavored Popsicle, but it was so much better than that. He tasted so good, the perfect combination of man and sweetness. I twirled my tongue into all the groves. His inability to stand still urged me on.

As I witnessed his enjoyment, my confidence grew. The power I felt by controlling the most sensual part of his body was addictive. As I continued my pursuit to provide him irrevocable pleasure, I assertively took as much of him as I could into my mouth. He hit the back of my throat in no time and I was surprised by how much of him still remained untouched by my lips.

I tried to open my throat up more, but couldn’t. To my horror, I felt my eyes well with tears as feelings of inadequacy took over. I took my mouth off him and choked back a sob.

“I’m sorry, I can’t,” I choked out. Where was the sensual authoritarian that had just been in control? She was long gone and in her place was a broken woman who felt more like a little girl.

“Shhh, it will be okay, Sage.” Craig held me close to his bare chest in comfort. I felt the tears trail down my cheeks and wondered if they would ever stop. Everything seemed to be hitting me all at once. The confrontation from Keegen, Tom leaving me, Missy’s betrayal, and then the possibility of Craig leaving me; it was just too much for me to wrap my mind around.

Craig wrapped his arms around me, embracing my body and making me feel safe. I tried to think of all the positive things in my life. Tom was giving me the house so I wouldn’t be on the streets, I’d also get monthly alimony from him, which would provide me the security to pursue my dreams of being an author. I also had my bestselling book. Well, it hadn’t actually achieved bestselling status yet, but I was sure it would. I could feel it in every fiber of my being that this book was going to rocket to the very top.

I wiped my tears and apologized to Craig again for stopping mid-blowjob. That had to suck for him.

“It’s okay, Sage,” he sighed. “We’ve both been through quite an ordeal tonight. But you are just my girl now.” He knelt between my thighs and tore my thong off with a growl. “Mine!” he said with emphasis and thrust his bare cock inside me.

I cried out at the sudden assault, but soon started to move with him, meeting each thrust as he gave it.

As he fucked me, the need for more grew and I felt like I would go crazy if I didn’t find release soon.

He grunted with each thrust and fucked me so hard. I wondered if my pubic bone would be bruised from the bashing it was taking, but I didn’t care. I wanted him to fuck me even harder.

My orgasm hit me like a tidal wave, sudden and completely flooding my system. I closed my eyes and rode the waves of pleasure as if it were my last ride. Once I came back down, I realized I was clinging to Craig and had left nail marks in his shoulders.

He picked me up as if I weighed nothing and tossed me effortlessly on the bed. Then went to the bathroom to clean up. When he came back, he climbed in beside me and I just stared at him.

“You came inside of me,” I squeaked out.

“You’re mine.” He shrugged as if that were the end to the conversation.

“Um, Craig. You can’t do that. If I became pregnant, it would not be good.” I despised children and couldn’t imagine giving birth to one; I visibly shuddered. I usually told people that I couldn’t get pregnant so that people would feel sorry for me and it would shut down all the questions about why I didn’t have children.

“You don’t want kids?”

“No way! Never.”

“I do,” he said softly and looked away. He had to be kidding me. He was a kid himself.

“You have quite a while before you should be making decisions like that.” Now I was giving him advice? Who the hell was I to be giving advice? I immediately shut my mouth.

“I’m not going to college,” he admitted.

“What?” I didn’t understand him. Of course he would be going to college. Colleges had already sent scouts to see him play football; he was incredibly talented. It would be a shame to throw that gift away.

“I’m not going to college. My grandfather has been waiting for me to graduate so that I could begin as his apprentice. He wants me to take over the family business. My father has his own company, so the weight of taking over has fallen on me. I don’t think I was even asked. It has just always been known that I would take over once I graduate from high school, whether I want to or not.”

I reached out to him in comfort; he looked so hopeless. I realized this was the first time we had shared something so deeply with one another. “Can’t you just explain to your grandfather that the business venture path isn’t the way you want to go?”

“No,” he said adamantly. “It would never work. The entire family is counting on it. It’s my father’s father, and my father has no siblings, so it’s me or no one. There’s no way I can disappoint my grandfather.”

“Tell me about it. I know how hard it is to have meddling grandparents.” My mind traveled back in time to a place I had tried so hard to push away. Except, I hadn’t done a very good job of that since I pretty much wrote about it. Sarah’s family and upbringing was mine, I had written her life to mirror mine. I figured it was something I knew about, and there’s nothing easier to write than something you personally know.

I realized the room had grown quiet, and suddenly found an overwhelming need to talk. An awakened desire to have some answers on a touchy subject. After all, we were talking and getting to know each other on a more personal level.

“Tell me about your relationship with Keegen. I mean, I know you’re brothers, but you don’t have the same last name. Are you stepbrothers? Half brothers?”

“Half. Our mom was married to his dad first, but left when Keegen was young. I don’t know too much about his dad since he’s kind of been absent from the picture all my life. Keegen has always lived with us until he turned eighteen and moved out. I don’t think he got along with my dad very well.” His voice was monotone, as if he didn’t have much feeling about the topic. It saddened me to know how isolate his family was.

“Are you two close?” I asked as I snuggled up next to him.

He wrapped his arm around me, pulling me closer. “I guess. I mean, he’s my brother and I look up to him. He has always tried to protect me from things, and has always put me first, which is something my parents have never done. He doesn’t have much to do with the family, but he’s never explained why. I overheard him tell our mom that he loves her and will always be there if she needed him, but that he couldn’t be a part of the family. I never asked what he meant by that. I just assumed it had something to do with my dad.”