ROMANCE: Mason (Bad Boy Alpha Male Stepbrother Romance Boxset) (New Adult Contemporary Stepbrother Romance Collection) (146 page)

“But you already have so much to handle-”

“And we’ll handle everything together. We’re a team, partners in crime, remember? Remember our wedding vows, that whole thing about for better or worse? Well, now things are tough, but we’re holding out for better. We’ve had a lot of good, we had to hit a rough patch eventually. But it won’t last forever babe. Honestly.”

“You really think so? Because some days, it’s hard to tell. The days of endless worry and missing you seem to all just blur together with no end in sight. Sometimes,” she laughed a bit, “sometimes I think it’s even worse the closer it gets to you coming home because I keep thinking that something just has to go wrong, that I’m not really meant to be happy.”

Andrew squeezed her tighter to him, kissing the top of her head. “If there’s one person in this world that deserves to be happy, it’s you. I mean it. And I’ll do anything I can to make you happy.”

“You do make me happy,” Hannah smiled, “it’s the people in charge that keep sending you away that piss me off.”

“It’s not their fault babe.”

“Yeah, well, while that makes sense logically, it’s still not going to change my feelings on the matter anytime soon. I need a scapegoat, and the invisible man behind the scenes moving pieces on the chessboard and sending our troops away is as good of a scapegoat as any.”

“Fine, fine, whatever helps.” Andrew grinned.

They stayed like that, sitting in silence and simply holding one another as the minutes ticked by. The tears slowly dried in their entirety and the urge to spill them no longer came. The splitting headache that came from crying eventually ebbed and then evaporated and the stuffed noses finally, miraculously unclogged.

After a few more moments, Hannah pulled away. “You know, if you want to go out for a drink with the guys, you should go. I’m just being possessive because I want you all to myself. I’ve really missed you. But, I know I’ll have you the majority of the time, and it’s only nice that I let other people get to soak up your presence. Besides,” she smirked, “they’ll get tired of your cheesy jokes eventually and send you back to me.”

Andrew snorted. “Cheesy huh? You always manage to laugh at them.”

Hannah smiled, pecking him on the lips and pinching his cheek. “That’s just because I love you so much babe.”

“Well thank you. But no, I’m not going to go out for drinks with the guys; they’re not nearly as good company as the woman in my arms.”

“Are you sure babe?” Hannah asked, sitting back a little and peering up at him.

“Extremely sure,” Andrew said, kissing her briefly.

“Alright,” Hannah grinned, “well, I think I’m going to go and take a quick shower and change into some PJs; maybe we can nap?”

“Sounds great babe.” Andy smiled, kissing her one more time before watching her walk into the bathroom.

Andrew waited on the bed, listening for the sound of the water turning on and Hannah stepping into the shower before he let out a deep sigh. He ran his hands through his hair, rolling his head and then his shoulder as the tension that had been mounting half an hour ago finally seemed to rid itself from his body.

He stood, smoothing out the bed spread and wondering if he should change it what with all the tearstains, but then figured it would dry in a little bit and decided to leave it alone.

After a few minutes, the sound of Hannah’s quiet singing drifted out of the bathroom to him and he smiled at the pleasant sound. After another moment of listening, he decided that he’d much prefer to listen to the concert up close.

He walked over to the bathroom and slowly cracked open the bathroom door, slipping inside and was hit with the room full of steam from the hot water before quickly and quietly closing the door.

He grinned, the glass of the shower door so fogged up so that all he could see was a vague outline of his wife. He smirked; she was facing the other way and the sounds of her singing and the running of the shower prevented her from being alerted to his presence.

Quietly, he began stripping off his clothes, tossing his white t-shirt off to the side by the laundry hamper and then working on undoing his belt as quietly as possible. Next, he bent over and hastily undid his boots, looking up every few seconds nervously to ensure that she hadn’t turned around. He shed his pants and underwear and threw them somewhere near the shirt.

He felt a bit silly, bending down to check his almost nonexistent hair and flexing his large biceps in the mirror before sauntering over to the shower door and sliding it open quietly.

“Room for one more?” he asked quietly, making Hannah let out a small shriek as she whipped around, making him thankful that she had cut her hair or else it would have whipped him across the face.

“God, Andy!” she scolded, hitting him on the arm with one hand as she used the other to cover her bosom. “You scared me half to death.”

“Well I’m glad it was only half then.” He smirked, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling him in close to her. “Now what’s all this nonsense with covering yourself? You’re in the shower; nudity is the only requirement.”

She flushed, but smirked nonetheless. “It has been a bit of a time since we last did something like this. . .”

“Yeah, well, I’m sure that we can relearn the ropes. Besides, I like taking things nice and slow. What do you say?”

Hannah grinned, removing her hand from her chest tantalizingly slowly and instead moving to wrap her arms around Andrew’s neck, bringing his head down close to her so that their lips were mere millimeters apart, and the softest word from either would have brushed their lips together in a gentle kiss.

“I say,” Hannah murmured, lips touching his ever so softly, “that I’m not sure you can handle it but I’d love to see you give it the old college try. Emphasis on old.”

Andrew rolled his eyes. “I’m technically only six months older than you, but you do love to point that little fact out,” he said before pressing their lips together hard in a fierce, wet kiss.

Hannah groaned as his hand moved down to caress the curve of her buttocks as the other wrapped around her waist and pulled her as close as physically possible to his chest.

She opened her mouth pliantly for his wandering tongue to creep in, licking and stroking every available surface and running along the roof of her mouth, drawing out a deep, guttural groan from her. She used one of her legs to insistently prod his knees apart, forcing him to widen his stance as her knee made its way up his inner thigh to brush up against his crotch.

He broke the kiss, running his nose down the slope of Hannah’s cheek and brushing against it until he reached her neck, prompting her to rest her head back against the warm tile of the shower wall as he licked his way down the pale column of her throat, nipping at her collar bone.

Every few inches he would teasingly nibble on a bit of flesh in the way he knew drove her just a bit crazy. As one of her legs worked between his own, the other came up to wrap around his waist, pulling their lower halves closer together.

Andrew hisses, biting down harder than he had intended on her neck but, from the moan that Hannah emitted, she didn’t seem to mind. Andrew’s arms came down to just where her buttocks met her thighs and lifted her up with ease, her legs coming up reflexively to wrap around him.

Her hands came up to grip either side of his head, bringing it up so that she could bring their lips together once more, nipping at his bottom lip briefly before tugging it into her mouth and sucking on it.

He groaned as she slowly released it, their lips moving against each other as they rocked against one another. The water hit them, getting into their eyes and plastering Hannah’s hair against her forehead as they kissed, the steam making it so that they could only see each other but none of their surroundings.

The sound of their bodies sliding against one another and their heavy breathing, all slightly muffled by the sound of the downpour of water, filled the room.

“Come on, stop playing around and get to the main event. We can skip the rest of the foreplay; we don’t want the water to get cold now do we?”

“I’ve missed this,” Andrew chuckled as he moved one of his hands down between her spread legs, stroking. “You’re always no-nonsense in these types of situations, telling me exactly what you want; I love that about you.” He grinned as her lips parted in a soundless moan.

“Yes well, get on with it then,” Hannah said around a breathy groan, “time is ticking love.”

“So eager I see, I’m flattered.”

Hannah laughed, the sound instantly cut off as he quickly entered her in one swift motion.

“Andrew,” she groaned, forehead coming down to rest in the crook of his neck as she tried to catch her breath, eyes clenched shut. “It’s been a long time,” she murmured.

Andrew grunted in agreement, kissing the side of her water and sweat-soaked cheek before moving up to kiss at her ear as well, nipping at the lobe as they both attempted to regain their breath.

“It’s been way, way too long,” he said in agreement, strong arms tightening around her.

“You can move now,” Hannah breathed out, nails making little indents in the back of his shoulders as she adjusted to the familiar sensation of being so impossibly close to another person, the person she loved more than words could describe.

Andrew was more than happy to oblige, jutting his hips up with a strangled moan before he readjusted Hannah in his arms slightly and began rolling his hips, deepening his thrust inside her at just the right angle that had her back arching up and off the wall.

“God I’ve missed this,” Andrew groaned, as their drenched bodies smacked together with every impassioned move.

The minutes ticked by as they explored the familiar terrain of one another’s bodies, noting familiar landmarks and new scars and marks that had appeared.

Their bodies became a steamy blur in the close quarters of the shower, so close that it was hard to tell where one ended and the other began. Arms tightened around one another and nails dug into hard flesh as they shook with the mounting ecstasy, crashing over the waves of desire with twin cries of passion, moans and heavy breathing filling the air as backs arched and heads were thrown back, both shaking with the pain and pleasure of it all.

They remained like that, stuck to one another and gasping for air, foreheads pressed against each other as their eyes closed in an attempt to get their bearings. Hannah unwound her legs from around Andrew and slowly slid down the wall of the shower, one of Andrew’s strong arms catching her and helping to hold her up as she attempted to stand on shaky legs.

“That was amazing,” Andrew chuckled, moving a wet strand of blonde hair out of Hannah’s line of vision. “I can’t believe that it’s been this long. Give me five minutes and we can have a round two.”

Hannah laughed, placing a hand on Andrew’s heaving chest and feeling his heart that was beating overtime beneath it. “I’m not sure if you can handle it, with the way your heart’s trying to jump out of your chest. I can’t have you dropping out on me in the middle right when we’re getting to the good part.”

“Don’t worry my love,” Andrew smirked, “if you were the last thing I saw before I ‘dropped’ as you so kindly put it, I would be the happiest, most satisfied man in the world.”

Hannah snorted, stepping back and shaking her head like a dog, spraying water everywhere before she reached behind her and turned the water off.

“Come on,” she said, “let’s get dried off and go somewhere. Maybe to the beach? We haven’t been there in a while?”

Andrew smiled, stepping out of the shower and grabbing a towel for himself before handing another to Hannah.

“So, you want to dry off, just so we can drive somewhere to get wet?”

Hannah laughed, grabbing another towel to run through her hair. “Well, when you put it like that it does sound kind of silly, but why not? We can just put our toes in the water. Have sex on the beach and then drink a couple of Sex on the Beaches. Lay down a towel and sit and watch the stars together. What do you say?”

“What do I say?” Andrew mused as he tied his towel around his waist, walking over to her and pulling her close. “I say that sounds like a fantastic idea. Do you want to go to that bar you like and get some food too? You like their grilled cheeses, right?”

Hannah shrugged, an embarrassed flush coming to her cheeks as she picked up a brush to detangle her hair. “Who says grilled cheese sandwiches are just for kids? They’re delicious at any age.”

Andrew laughed. “I didn’t insinuate that they were for kids; your words, not mine.”

Hannah pouted, tossing her towel at him only for it to land on his head, making her giggle. “Get changed, I’m going to run downstairs and pack a bag with some beers for you and sunscreen, I know how you burn. We’ll leave in thirty minutes.”

“Sounds great.” Andrew grinned, kissing her smiling mouth briefly before she turned, naked as the day she was born, and ran out the room and down the stairs.

Chapter 3

The drive down to the beach was a long but familiar one. They had rolled down the top of the car and had put on one of the old music stations that drove Hannah slightly crazy sometimes but Andrew loved, claiming that he was an ‘old soul’.

Hannah had missed this, just the two of them, the wind whipping through her hair, though it was much shorter now, and the familiar, soothing silence that settled between the two of them like a warm blanket.