Tending Their SECRET (19 page)

“Not as much as me, though, right? I’m not
interested in competing for your affections with an animal. I’ve
seen how that shit has messed with Nate.”

“No, Hawk. I definitely love you a lot more
than this puppy.”

“Thank God. Can we go somewhere and talk? Or
do we have to wait until after the party?”

“We can go inside after you put your clothes
on. The kids might ask to go camping in your briefs if they see you
like this,” I tell him, looking down at his very hard and sizeable
erection.

“You’re funny,” he tells me, kissing me on
the nose before stepping back into his jeans.

I put my puppy down, take his hand, and lead
him inside. The teenage girls all blush when they see us walk in,
letting me know they caught at least part of the show. When Aiden
winks at them, I worry that more than one might swoon to the floor.
“Knock it off. They’re too young to know how to deflect your
charm.”

“Good thing I only use it for good.”

“Just shut up and follow me up the
stairs.”

“Yes, ma’am,” he tells me with a mock salute
and a slap to my ass.

* * *

Aiden

I expect Ellie to lead me into one of the
bedrooms, but she takes me up another short flight of stairs
instead. We end up on a rooftop deck. She takes a seat and gestures
to another one across from it. Okay, I get it. I may have turned
her on with my dance, and melted her heart a little with the puppy,
but her head is still warning her not to trust me. I just lay it
all out before she can tell me to go away.

“I’m a hypocritical asshole who doesn’t
deserve you, but wants you all the same. I’m so sorry that I pushed
you away, El. I know you only did what you did to help me.”

“Go on.”

“Oh. That was pretty much the extent of my
speech.”

“So you thought you’d come here and give me
the lap dance to end all lap dances, and present me with a puppy,
say you’re an asshole—which I already knew by the way—and then
what? My ovaries would explode, and I’d jump on your cock and ride
it until the sun sets?”

“Yeah?”

“What happens the next time I want to help
you? Because I have to tell you, I’m never going to be the woman
who sits back and lets you risk everything for me without doing the
same for you.”

“I don’t want a meek woman who will let me
walk all over her. I want a partner, someone who will call me on my
bullshit and shoot any bastard who threatens me. I want you,
Elletra Gallagher. Only you, no one else.”

“You can do that? Let me help you with big
things, small things, and everything in between?”

“I’m going to try. I want to, but I’m not
going to lie, it’s definitely an adjustment. I’ll fuck it up a
bunch of times, and piss you off regularly, but if you can stick it
out with me, I’ll give it my all and then some.”

“Why? Why me, why now?”

“I’ve heard people say that the person they
love is who they think of when they first wake up and also while
they fall asleep. But Ellie, I think of you more than that. You’re
the one I think of when everything’s going right in my day, and
also when it’s all going to shit. I also think of you when my day’s
just going okay, and I don’t need to celebrate or rant. I think of
you then because you’re everything to me, and so my thoughts of you
aren’t confined to one time of day, or one type of event. You’re on
my mind no matter what I’m doing, or who I’m with. When I’m sitting
next to you or thousands of miles away. And all I need to do now if
figure out how to prove to you that I want to spend forever with
you. Because I do. You’re it, the one for me. The only one. I love
you so much.”

Tears are running down her face, and neither
one of us tries to wipe them away. This moment is too real, too raw
for both of us. “I love you, too. That…that was the most beautiful
and romantic thing I have ever heard… in my life. I want to spend
forever with you, too.”

“Good, because if you let me go back down
there alone, I may not make it out alive.”

She groans. “I cannot believe you stripped
in front of my family.”

“Sorry. Not sorry. I should be, but I needed
to get your attention and prove that you’re important enough to
totally embarrass myself over.”

“You didn’t embarrass yourself. That was
totally hot. When we’re dancing down there, all I’m going to be
able to think about is peeling your clothes off of you. Very
slowly.”

“It may be a little while before I can walk
comfortably, especially if you keep talking to me like that.”

“We only have another fifteen minutes tops
before someone comes looking for us. Probably my dad or one of my
brothers.”

“Fuck.”

“That’s exactly what we need to do in order
to take care of that problem of yours,” she tells me as she reaches
under her flirty little skirt to pull her panties off. She has a
bright green and black bra/corset type thing on top that’s been
driving me insane since I saw her in it.

I lean back as she straddles my chair now,
and frees my cock. She strokes up my length and I moan. “I love
your skirt. And your top.”

“Do you?” she asks as she lowers herself
onto me.

I can’t answer her as I’m
overcome by the feeling of being inside of her again. I could say
it’s like coming home, which it is. But it’s also so much more.
It’s so
right.

“Back to the present, Hawk.”

“I’m here,” I reply, rolling my hips to
thrust into her as she rides me hard.

“You haven’t even touched my tits.”

“Poor things. Are they feeling neglected?” I
ask, unhooking the bra top and then cupping them in my hands.

I run my thumbs over her nipples, and feel
her get even wetter for me. “Aiden.”

That one word is enough to spur me into
action. I open my mouth wide to take as much of her left tit into
my mouth as possible. I bite and lick while caressing her right one
with one hand and reaching my other hand down between us.

She starts moving faster on
me, and I know I won’t last much longer. I hold off until she
starts to clench around me, and she arches her back as she whimpers
out my name. I know she wants to scream, but we
are
outside with her family just
below us. I growl out my own release, and then lift her
up.

I place her on her back on one of the
loungers, and lift her legs between us, so her ankles are over my
shoulders. I came hard, but it wasn’t enough. I’m still half-hard
inside of her, and honestly, it’s nothing new. Most times with
Ellie keep me half hard and ready within minutes. My body can’t get
enough of hers.

I love that she’s so thin that I can pretty
much bend her in half to go deep. Nate loves Jade’s curves, and I
get it, but being able to bend Ellie’s body around is hotter than
anything else I’ve ever experienced. I love her small tits and
tight ass. And let’s not even get me started on her long legs. The
ones that are currently wrapping around the back of my neck.

I pump into her hard, knowing she can take
it. I’ll make slow, sweet love to her later. Right now, I need a
hard fuck to finish me off. Once she’s gotten off again. Ladies
first.

“Aiden, oh God,” she says as I hit her
G-spot over and over again.

“Come on, El. Milk my cock again.”

This time, she can’t hold back her scream,
so I cover her mouth with mine, and muffle her cries. She’s the one
muffling my yell a minute later as I unload everything I’ve got
left inside of her.

I brace myself on my forearms as I collapse
over her. Her legs drop, and I love knowing I made her as boneless
as she made me. “I can’t move, but we have to.”

“Really? I think I could still take a couple
of your brothers if they came for us. Even in my current
state.”

“One, you are not fighting my brothers. And
two, I do not need them to see me half-naked and freshly
fucked.”

“Everyone’s going to know you’re freshly
fucked when we go down there,” I tell her, a wicked smile on my
face. “You look like you’ve been well-satisfied by my big
cock.”

“Caveman.”

“You know it.”

I lift off of her, and grab some of the
towels from the stack nearby. How nice of her parents to keep their
deck well-stocked. After cleaning us both up, I find her panties,
and slip them back on her. I also put her top back on.

“I should totally be helping you, but I like
it when you take care of me.”

“Good. I like it too,” I tell her as I put
my jeans back on. “Do you think my shirt is still down there?”

“Honestly, no. My aunts have probably hidden
it somewhere.”

“You’re going to protect me, right?”

“You need my help?” she asks, cocking an
eyebrow.

“Yes. I do. Please help me, Ellie.”

“Always, Aiden Ford. Always.”

She kisses me hard, and I have just enough
brain cells to remember her other present. “Oh, I have something
else for you,” I tell her as I pull the bracelet from my
pocket.

“It’s cool,” she says, as I slide it on her
arm.

“Do you know what it is?”

She shakes her head. “A cool rubber
bracelet?”

“No. Well, yes. But it’s more. It’s called a
Lokai bracelet. The white bead has water from Mt. Everest, the
highest point on Earth. Or it did. Sometimes if evaporates, but the
water is infused into the silicone of the other beads so it’s
always there somewhere. It represents humility. You humble me with
your unconditional love and support of me, Ellie.

“The black bead contains mud from the Dead
Sea, the lowest point on Earth. It represents hope. I never had
hope for much until I met you. You give me hope that I can be a
great man, the man you deserve. And hope that I can one day be your
husband.”

“You can be my husband any time you want to
be.”

“Good to know. Lastly, the clear beads
represent clarity in times of joy and sadness. Or in my case,
clarity in a time of being as ass. I love you so much, Doll. I
should never have pushed you away, and I never will again. You’re
stuck with me now.”

She’s crying again, and this time I lean
forward to catch every tear I can with my lips. “Where did this
romantic side come from?”

“You inspire me.”

“I’m a mess now.”

“You’re gorgeous. But
please say they’re happy tears when we get down there, or I
will
have to fight your
brothers.”

“If one of them tries to touch you, I’ll
knock them on their ass.”

“That’s my girl.”

“Damn straight.”

Ellie

This is hands down my best birthday ever.
I’m slightly buzzed—my family members are bar owners, after all—as
I dance with the man I love. My new puppy, whom I still need to
name, is nipping at our feet while we sway to the music, and my
hands keep wandering to Aiden’s ass. He keeps moving them back up,
making me pout.

“Your family is here, Doll.”

“That didn’t stop you from stripping for me,
Hawk.”

“We sent the kids inside. They’re out here
now. If you keep grabbing me, I’m going to be pitching another
tent.”

“Fine. I’ll behave.”

“Just until we’re alone, right?”

“Oh yeah. Once we’re alone again, all bets
are off.”

“It’s your birthday, but I feel like I’m the
one getting the best present.”

“I am pretty great.”

“You really are.”

I kiss him, because really, how can I not.
He’s turned into this super romantic guy, while still being all
alpha and hot. Every wish I could make on a birthday cake, star, or
eyelash have come true in this man, and I can’t wait to go home
with him. To his apartment, or mine. I don’t really care where we
live, I just know we’ll be together.

“All right, it’s my turn for a dance,” my
mom says, pushing us apart.

“Um, Mom, I don’t know.”

“Relax. I won’t molest him. Much.”

Aiden looks at me with wide eyes, but I just
shrug. “I can’t save you this time, Hawk. You’re on your own.”

I kiss him and do a little twirl as I walk
away. My dad grabs me before I get far, and pulls me into his arms.
“Having a good birthday, Ellie Bear?”

“I am.”

“You know I’m pretty open-minded, but
watching that young man strip for you was a little much.”

“He was trying to win me over.”

“I gathered that. Is he your forever?”

“Yeah. He is.”

“No one will ever be worthy of my little
girl, but if he makes you happy, I’ll overlook the fact that your
mom is trying to grab his ass.”

I whip my head around, taking in Aiden’s
pained expression. “Seriously? Daddy, you need to go save him.”

“I’m on it,” he tells me, kissing the top of
my head before walking over to them.

He pulls Aiden away, and starts walking him
over to where my brothers are waiting. Oh shit. That’s not what I
had in mind. I start to head that way, when Nate grabs my arm.
“Don’t. He needs to prove himself to them. If you go and save him,
they’ll never respect him.”

“You’re right. I just don’t want to scare
him away.”

“Ellie, he just stripped in front of your
entire family, gave you a puppy, and very obviously fucked you
senseless when the two of you disappeared. I don’t think he’s going
anywhere,” Jade says, coming up on my other side.

“He gave me this cool bracelet, and said he
wants to be my husband one day, too,” I tell her, holding out my
wrist, and smiling.

“It’s about damn time he came to his
senses,” she says.

“We may take our time admitting that we’re
wrong, but once we do, we’re all in. That’s just the kind of guys
we are,” Nate tells us.

“The best kind of guys,” Jade says, leaning
up for a kiss.

“Aw, you two are adorable.”

“Yeah, we are. Um, listen, I know I said you
shouldn’t save Aiden, but if you don’t Matt and I may have to,”
Nate says, looking over my head.