All the Broken Pieces: (Broken Series Book 3) (7 page)

They would have had a house here if Keith hadn’t burned it to the ground. Just thinking about him made me grit my teeth. Smarmy bastard.

We made our way out of the canopied driveway and Brant pulled the truck to a halt, cutting the engine. The headlights stayed on for a moment, illuminating the open expanse of land and revealing just how secluded the area really was. There was no one around for miles. Just the way I liked it.

Brant twisted the key back a click and rolled down the windows, then turned a questioning eye in my direction. “We’re here. What now?”

Instead of answering, I opened my door and climbed out. Gravel crunched beneath my feet as I made my way to the back of the truck, smiling at the sound of Brant’s door closing.

He met me at the rear of the truck and I motioned for him to drop the tailgate. He pulled the handle and we watched without comment as it slowly lowered to a horizontal position, the hydraulic arm hissing softly.

I let out a startled yelp when he suddenly gripped my waist from behind and hoisted me high enough to climb into the bed. His grip was firm but not painful, and I kind of wished I’d been facing him when he picked me up so I could wrap my legs around him. As it was, I shifted around and sat on the edge of the tailgate and watched him climb up to sit beside me, both of us swinging our feet and looking out into the moonlight.

Now that we were here, the rational side of my brain was winning the battle, meaning I was able to look over at him—at least for now—without wanting to mount his face. Time would tell whether or not good sense won the war.

The mountain air was crisp, cooler than it should be in mid-September. With the cool weather making an early appearance, the trees would be changing colors any time. That was my favorite—the bright yellows and deep reds turning the mountains into a beautiful tapestry of color. It was Teach’s favorite too. And this year he wouldn’t see it. The leaves would change and drop to the ground without him there to witness it.

A rustling off to my right caught my attention and I watched as a small furry form—a rabbit? I couldn’t be sure—peeked out of the tree line for a moment and then disappeared, leaving a deafening silence in its wake. The only sound that could be heard in the stillness was our breathing. It was quiet. Too quiet. With nothing else to focus on, the events of the last few days began forcing their way to the forefront of my mind, clogging my throat with grief.

No, no. Not happening.

“How about some music?” Brant asked, breaking the silence and practically reading my mind.

“Absolutely.” I looked back at the cab of the truck. “Guess we should have thought of that before we got out, huh?”

He shrugged it off, smiling. “Not at all.” He pulled his phone from his back pocket and fiddled with it a moment before handing it to me. “I can control the radio from here. I left the key turned to auxiliary, just in case. All you have to do is find something you want to hear and hit ‘play’.”

I took the phone and looked through his music library, impressed by the level of trust it takes to just hand someone your unlocked phone. I couldn’t remember anyone ever having done that before, trusting me with something that personal. As I scrolled through the song list, I was even more impressed. He listened to a lot of the same stuff as me.

“What?” he asked, amusement in his voice.

I looked up at him. “Huh?”

“You keep nodding and smiling as you go through my music. I take that to mean you approve?” His deep blue eyes glinted in the moonlight, nearly stealing my breath with their beauty. Their humor. Their fondness. That easy way he looked at me, like I was worth noticing, worth knowing.

I cleared my throat and shrugged. “I guess. I mean, if we didn’t have at least somewhat similar tastes, I might have to rethink our friendship. I can’t be friends with someone who likes shitty music. It’s a rule of mine.”

“So, I passed the test?”

I nodded, trying to avoid those deep blue pools of temptation. “I think so. Anyone who owns every Thrill of the Chase album can’t be all bad.”

That glimmer in his eyes was back, along with a wickedly beautiful grin. “You like TotC?”

“They’re my absolute favorite band. I was into them before most people had even heard of them.” I said it with an air of proprietorship, like they belonged to me or something just because I knew who they were before they hit it big. Shit. I was about to start gushing like a teenage fangirl. So not my style.

“Same here.” He chuckled at my exuberance, nodding to the phone in my hand. “Pick a song, any song.”

I chose a TotC album at random and hit play on the first song, and handed the phone back to Brant. Thankfully, it was a fast song rather than one of their ballads. I couldn’t take slow music tonight. Not even if it was played by my favorite band.

The song played on, pouring from the windows just loudly enough to be enjoyable but not so loud that we couldn’t have a conversation. Not that I’d know what to say at this point anyway. It wasn’t as if I could say ‘yeah, I brought you out here so I could use you to screw my way to forgetting my shitty life but now I’m not sure it’s a good idea’.

Yep, probably not a good idea.

The sex or the admission.

I leaned back on my elbows and tipped my head back until all I saw were the stars. They always made me feel so small, so unimportant—not that I needed the reminder. Tonight, they made me sad. It was like everything I saw and everywhere I went there was a reminder of something Teach would never see again, somewhere he’d never again go. It was driving me crazy, keeping my grief growing exponentially until I felt like I would explode from the force of it swelling up inside me.

Brant brushed against my side, and then he was moving past me toward the cab of the truck. The entire truck shook as he walked in the bed. With my head tipped the way it was, he was upside down. He leaned across the black, diamond-plate toolbox and pressed his hands to the back glass, sliding the center panel to the side, reaching into the back seat, and pulling out the black dress shirt he’d discarded earlier.

The music was a bit louder now that the glass was open. It was nice, almost enough to chase away my pain. Almost.

Upside-down Brant turned toward me and smiled, balling up the shirt and crouching down next to me. “Here, why don’t you lay back on this? The bed liner is textured and I’m sure it’s not comfortable on your elbows.”

I watched his eyes as he slid the shirt beneath me and slowly lowered myself until I was flat on my back, head resting comfortably on the makeshift pillow that smelled of his cologne.

Before I had time to think about what I was doing, I reached up and grabbed him by the back of the neck, pulling his mouth down onto mine. He hissed in a shocked breath but responded immediately, moving his warm, soft lips over mine.

He shifted himself so that he was stretched out beside me, propping himself up on one arm and never breaking our kiss. I playfully flicked his bottom lip with my tongue, running the tip all the way across and giving his lip a little nibble before opening further and inviting him in.

Don’t do this. It’s not fair to him. He’s trying to be your friend, not your toy.

I was making a mistake, but his mouth tasted so damn good… and I really wanted to see how the rest of him tasted.

Wasn’t like I hadn’t made a million mistakes already; what was one more, right?

He placed his hand on my face, cupping my jaw in a soft caress and deepening our kiss until my toes curled.

But I didn’t want soft caresses; those didn’t chase away the pain. Tenderness only made it worse, drawing emotions to the surface instead of helping to burying them. I didn’t want him to make love to me. I didn’t want to have sex… I wanted to be fucked. No, I
needed
to be fucked. Pounded into oblivion.

I shifted us until he was the one on his back and I was propped up above him. I absently pushed the shirt pillow under his head, mouth still locked on his as I moved to straddle his hips and ground myself into his erection. He moaned brokenly into my mouth and I returned the sentiment.

Holy shit, he’s hard. And huge.

Score!

I pressed against him again, reveling in the friction.

Brant’s hands shot up to grip my hips as he pushed up into me and rotated his pelvis.

Fuck!

I pulled my mouth from his and sat up straight, trailing my hands over the thin shirt covering his hard chest as I fought to assume control. He looked up at me with a sexy smirk but said nothing, allowing me to grind and thrust until I was throwing my head back at the exquisite friction.

His hands moved from my waist toward my chest, slowly pulling my top along with it. I discarded my cardigan and watched his intent stare as my thin shirt revealed more and more of my flesh as he worked it up my body. When he got to my bra, he reached beneath my shirt and unsnapped the front clasp, freeing my heavy breasts and immediately palming them in his warm, work-calloused hands.

The friction from his rough fingers was amazing.

He was so focused on my chest that he gasped when I ground myself hard into his erection. His eyes flashed up to mine, a half-smile on his face as he thrust his hips up and slammed his hardness into the juncture of my thighs.

Oh, God. So good.

I leaned down over him, my hair framing my face like a curtain. “Please tell me you have a condom.” My voice was breathless and gravelly with desire.

“Wallet. Back pocket.”

I immediately grabbed his ass with both hands, wedging them between him and the bed liner until I found his wallet. I pulled it from his pocket with one hand and left the other on his ass, liking the feel of my fingers digging into it. Tossing the wallet to the side, I moved until I was straddling his knees and let go of his ass long enough to work his belt loose. I tugged it out and gave him a seductive grin as I trailed one end of the leather down his heaving torso. “Maybe I should hold onto this for later…” I pondered, loving his responding grin.

“Absolutely.” There was a challenge in his eye. I nearly laughed because it was clear he thought he would be the one wielding it.

Silly boy.

I tossed the belt alongside his wallet and unbuttoned his pants. My eyes widened as I pulled down the zipper and several inches of his erection were revealed, unable to be contained by his boxer briefs. Without hesitation I dipped my head down to lick the head, making a soft sound of satisfaction in the back of my throat—where I hoped to have his cock in short order. A salty drop of pre-cum glistened on his tip as I looked up at him and slowly lapped it up with my tongue, making a
mmm
sound as I did.

His dick twitched under my tongue, as if trying to free itself. He muttered a curse as I held his eye and trailed my tongue around and around his ridge, stopping to flick the spongy spot on the underside of his cock. His hands tangled in my hair, not pulling, not guiding, just looking for something to hold onto. I sat up and pulled his pants the rest of the way off, tossing them onto the toolbox that was mounted near the cab.

The sound of his pocket change skittering across the toolbox and truck bed made us both laugh.

And completely threw us out of the moment.

When our eyes met next, there was a new awareness that hadn’t been there a moment before. The heat of the moment had abated and we were left with the glaring realization that we were about to cross a line.

Brant looked up at me, cock still rigid and exposed. I was waiting for the questions to start. Are you sure you want to do this? Is this really going to help anything? You’re using me, right? Clearly, Brant was smart so there was no way my motives weren’t obvious to him. And once I told the truth—because I owed him that much—he would discard me just like everyone else.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

I knew this was a mistake.

“You need to forget, don’t you?” His question shocked me, mostly because it was more of an observation than an actual question, but also because of the way he said it with no judgment.

I met his eye and what I found there wasn’t anger or hurt or pity or even lust… it was understanding. With one look he was letting me know that this was okay, that I wasn’t being a monster by using him this way. I couldn’t find my voice, was afraid that one uttered word would be all it took to break me, so instead I simply nodded.

“Then take what you need, gorgeous. Whatever it is, however much, it’s yours.” His voice was strong and steady, his eyes trained on my face.

Without another word, I pulled my top and bra off, sending them to join his pants on the toolbox, followed immediately by my pants and panties.

Brant shucked off his shirt and did the same, muttering, “You know, I could have helped you out of those clothes, darlin’.”

I shook my head. “Not necessary. I’m not interested in slow seduction, anyway.”

His gaze swept the length of my body, taking a slow, hungry inventory. “Like I said… whatever you need.”

I let him look his fill for a moment before I lowered my head and took his cock in my mouth. I didn’t even bother to remove his underwear, pushing them out of the way but not willing to take the time necessary to remove them completely. I pulled up until only the tip of him was past my lips and met his gaze as I bobbed my head all the way down and took him to the back of my throat and beyond.

Jesus, he was so long… so thick.

I worked my throat around him, one hand trailing down his abs and the other cupping his balls as he moaned out my name and thrust in an attempt to drive himself even deeper. For long minutes I alternated between deep-throating him and performing what I liked to call tongue gymnastics on his impressive shaft.

Every time he got close to orgasm, I would stop and give him nothing more than a few cursory licks for a minute or two, long enough to let him settle back down, then I’d slam his cock to the back of my throat again and hold it there until I was forced to pull back or pass out from lack of oxygen.

This was my favorite game and I played it very well.

After a while, I decided to mix things up and spun my body so that my knees were on either side of his head—sixty-nine style. I tucked my feet in the gap under the toolbox and used that as leverage to lower myself until I was just barely in reach of his eager mouth. While he struggled to get his tongue in my pussy, I returned my attention to sucking him off. I’d always loved the feeling of control that came with sucking cock. Like the old saying went, I might have been on my knees but I had him by the balls.