Under My Skin (Skin Deep) (11 page)

“Are you pregnant?” I blurted out.

“Oh my God! Seriously, Allie?” she cried, laughing even harder. “No, damnit, I’m not pregnant! I just don’t want to wait any longer to have the wedding. Why should we wait until next spring when I’m ahead of schedule on planning everything? I’m just ready to do it but I can’t elope because my parents would kill me!”

“Oh. Well, I just…you sprung it on me and that was the first thing that popped in my head,” I said defensively. “So how much sooner are we talking?” I asked.

“Well, you’d better get to writing your speech and planning your little party. You’ve got about two months,” she said with satisfaction.

“Two months?” I shrieked. “Seriously, you’re pregnant, aren’t you?!”

“No, Allie! I’m not pregnant! Geez woman…I swear. We were just talking and we’ve got everything under control and I don’t want to wait anymore. I’m living with him, and it’s just time. I don’t want to wait until next spring. Does that make sense to you? Or do you think we’re crazy?” Her voice dropped a little at the end and I could hear her worry.

“No, I don’t think you’re crazy. I think it’s cute that you guys don’t want to wait anymore. What did your mom and dad say?” I asked her.

“I haven’t told them, yet. You were the first one we told. We were just lying there in bed this morning after he woke me up with his-”

“Em, no. Don’t go there. I can imagine just fine how he woke you up, and that’s not something I should be able to do!” I laughed as I said it because I couldn’t help it. Emma and I both knew more about the other than our own doctors did.

She laughed with me and then I heard a breathy moan come through the phone before she quickly said, “Gotta go, talk later. Love you bye!” and hung up on me.

I chuckled and put my phone back down on the bed beside me, sighing when
Jackson’s arms came back around me and Brandon cuddled up to my front.

“What was all that about?”
Brandon asked, his words muffled by my breasts.

“Just a thought that popped into my head when they said they were moving everything up.”

Brandon’s head popped up and he quirked his eyebrow at me, asking silently for more details. I obliged, telling him about the conversation. “So,” he began when I was done, “we have two months to get ready for this whole wedding thing, huh?”

I nodded and Jackson and I both laughed at
Brandon’s expression. He grabbed my face and kissed me absent-mindedly and then jumped off the bed, mumbling, “Need to call Calland…definitely need to rework the plans…” as he headed into the bathroom.

Jackson
twisted me around to face him and proceeded to kiss me breathless. “Good morning,” he said softly when he pulled back from me.

“Mmmm…good morning to you, too!” I murmured. “I have to get up and get ready for work. What do you have going today?”

He stretched before answering, “Got a couple things to do at the office today so I’ll be heading to Cincinnati in an hour or so.” He’d finally found an office building that worked perfectly for him and had already gotten it up and running. He’s pretty amazing like that. “I’ll be back around three or so to do some more work on the house after that. Why? Got plans tonight?” He waggled his brows at me and I laughed at him.

I shook my head and said, “No, nothing going on but I have a feeling we’re going to end up at Emma and Luke’s tonight to discuss wedding stuff.  And I probably need to get ahold of Jenna and Leah to start making plans for the bachelorette party.”

He nodded at me and then grimaced. “Yeah, the last thing I heard about the bachelor party for Luke involved strippers and copious amounts of whipped cream,” he said, shuddering dramatically.

My lips twisted into a wry smile and I told him, “Uh-huh, sure…that is completely out of the realm of comfort for you, right?”

He grinned at me and kissed me again quickly before getting up out of bed. I laid there for a minute more and then crawled off the bed, heading toward the closet for start getting ready for the day.

Chapter 11

Work was pretty uneventful at the store that day, and evening found me, where else? At Emma’s. Brandon was still at work since he had the late shift and had a few appointments but Luke, Emma, Jackson, Chloe, and I were all sitting around the kitchen table, munching on some snacks that Emma had set out and discussing wedding plans.

“Did you tell your mom and dad and everyone finally?” I asked Emma. She opened her mouth to reply but a weird, almost horrified expression crossed her face and then she gagged. “Emma? Are you--oh, holy shit! What the fuck is that?” I jumped away from the table, pulling my shirt up over the lower half of my face to block the God-awful stench that started to waft through the room.

Everyone else was following suit, covering their faces with whatever they could find and looking around to try to figure out where the smell was coming from. I saw Luke bend slightly and look under the table, doing the same when I heard him groan and mutter under his breath.

When I peeked under there, I noticed a very large canine sitting calmly with a very large canine smile stretched across his lips, his tail wagging a mile a minute. “Seriously, Doug?” I groaned. “Jesus, Luke! What the hell did you feed him?”

Luke shook his head and threw his hands up. “I didn’t give him anything, I swear! God it smells like death in here!” With that he walked to the back door, swung it open, and yelled at Doug to go outside. Doug, clearly still enjoying his act of doggy-terrorism on our group, trotted outside with his tongue lolling out the side of his mouth.

Emma jumped into the laundry room and came out with an industrial sized can of Lysol, spraying like a mad-woman, which left us all choking and spitting. Seriously, it was so thick in the room you could taste that shit on your tongue! I finally gave up and started toward the front door, shaking my head and laughing as Chloe and Jackson trailed after me, and Luke followed behind, but not before he wrestled the can out of Emma’s hand and scowled at her. She scowled back at him and stuck her tongue out childishly, making us laugh even harder when her face screwed up as she got a taste of the cloud of Lysol hovering in the air.

When we were all safely on the porch, I heard Chloe turn to Jackson and say, “Is it always like this?”

I could hear the smile in her voice and knew
Jackson was grinning when he replied, “Yep.”

We were all still sitting outside, this time in the back around the fire pit, when
Brandon got there. Emma, Chloe, and I were roasting marshmallows and getting to eat maybe one out of every three because they were either stolen by the guys or we were talking and laughing too much and didn’t pay enough attention to what we were doing, so they fell off the campfire forks we were using into the fire.

After a while,
Jackson stood up and stretched, yawning loudly. I looked up at him and he winked at me. I grinned back because, well, I just couldn’t help it (God, he’s so hot) and because I knew what that twinkle in his eyes meant. He came and stood in front of me, reaching his hand down to help me up off the bench I was sitting on and wrapped me in a hug before releasing me. I saw him glance over at Brandon who nodded at him and got to his feet, as well. Chloe followed and we all said our goodbyes.

When we got home, I headed toward my bathroom to take a long, hot bath. Before I reached the doorway to my room, I heard Chloe behind me.

“Ummm…Allie? Do you think…could I talk to you for a second?” she asked, hesitantly.

I nodded at her, curious to see what she wanted to talk about. I motioned for her to follow me, noticing that Brandon and Jackson were also watching very curiously.  She came into the room behind me and sat cautiously on the edge of my bed. “What’s up?” I asked.

She swallowed audibly. “Well, I just don’t want you to think that I’m…I don’t want to be in your way.”

“Chloe where the hell would you get an idea like that? You’re
Jackson’s sister, where else would you go?”  I shook my head. “I’m sorry if I gave you that impression, because that’s not it at all. I just wish there was something more I could do, something I could say to make it better for you. I don’t even really know the whole story, just the little bits you told me and Emma. Jackson hasn’t said anything, so you don’t have to worry about that, and I’m not going to pry into your business,” I said firmly.

“I really don’t want to talk about it. I haven’t even really said much more about anything to
Jackson, though I know it pisses him off every time he looks at me. I’m just glad the bruises are fading. But, it’s just…well, the other night you came by the room and saw Brandon in bed with me. I was so scared that you were going to hate me…think that I was trying something with him. I’ve known him for a very long time, him and Luke, and-”

I cut her off with a wave. Time to eat some crow. (Or something like that) “I don’t think you’re trying anything with him. You have nightmares, he heard you and wanted to help. I don’t have a problem with that at all. And if I gave you that impression, then I’m sorry. That’s my fault. This whole relationship thing with your brother and Brandon is so new to me…I…yeah, I don’t know. I’m sorry if I upset you.”

She shook her head at me vehemently. “You didn’t upset me at all! I just was so scared that you were mad. And I haven’t really taken the time to tell you thank you for everything you’ve done for me. You took me in when I showed up on Luke and Emma’s doorstep looking like I’d gone twelve rounds with Mike Tyson.” She chuckled wryly at her own small attempt at humor before continuing. “You let me tag along with you guys and you’ve been so nice…everyone has been so great about everything.”

I moved closer to the bed and leaned in to give her a hug. She wrapped her arms around me and held on tightly for a moment. I could feel her take a deep, shuddering breath and knew that I’d just taken a weight off of her shoulders. Which made me feel like an ass.

At that moment, my bedroom door opened and Brandon popped his head in. I watched his lips stretch into a wide grin, his eyes twinkling devilishly and groaned because I knew what was coming.

“Ooohh…going for some girl on girl? I’m down with that! Just let me get rid of
Jackson…” he said loudly before breaking down with laughter, wincing when Jackson, who was standing right behind him, smacked him in the back of his head.

Jacks pushed past him, shaking his head in part annoyance, part amusement. He stopped by where we were standing, our arms still wrapped around each other loosely, and asked his sister, “You okay?”

She nodded and smiled at me again before saying, “Well, I guess that’s my cue!” She hugged her brother and slugged Brandon’s arm as she went by him on her way out of the room.

I sighed and shook my head at
Brandon, which I seem to find myself doing a lot, and then walked into the bathroom to take my bath. I’d been in there for a good fifteen minutes when the door opened and the doorway was filled with mouth-wateringly delicious nakedness of the male variety. I watched as Brandon ran his hand down his chest, my eyes watching every move, until he reached that special, perfect part of him that was rapidly rising to meet the occasion. I gasped as he wrapped his fingers around the considerable girth of himself, stroking firmly from root to tip.

“You gonna be in here all night?” he asked, the deep, husky, rich tone of his voice making me shiver as it washed over me like a caress.

I didn’t answer him, just pulled the plug on the tub and stood without a word, stepping out and reaching for my towel. He watched every move I made, the intensity in his eyes making my fingers fumble as I dried myself. Finally giving up, I just wrapped the towel around me and moved to where he was still standing motionless in the doorway, stroking himself. I reached out my hand to touch him and he stopped me with a terse, “No.”

I stopped, my hand hanging frozen in mid-air. The uncertainty I knew was written across my face must have gotten to him because his features softened for a second before he commanded, “Drop the towel, Allie.”

I let the towel drop from my body, standing naked before him. Without another word, he turned away and walked back into the bedroom, which was dark except for the soft glow emanating from my bedside lamp. I followed him, a little perturbed by the fact that he still hadn’t touched me or done anything except order me around. I paused for a moment to take in the sight stretched out in front of me.

Brandon
was standing beside the bed with one knee propped up on it, and his hand was still fisting the rock-hard length jutting from the juncture of his thighs. Jackson was laying on the other side of the bed, propped up with pillows against the headboard. He was also naked, but his hands were tucked behind his head, leaving everything open to my greedy eyes. The thick hardness of his erection stood up from his body, slightly curving towards the sculpted lines of his stomach. I blinked slowly, in awe of all that hot male flesh just waiting for my touch.

“Do you have your iPod back here?”
Brandon asked me softly. I nodded silently and pointed to where it was resting on it’s dock. He moved away from the bed and grabbed it, turning it on and thumbing through my playlists. I saw him raise an eyebrow at me before he smiled, replaced it onto the dock and hit play. He turned up the volume enough to fill the room, but not so loud that it would disturb Chloe in the other room.

I grinned back at him when I heard the strains of Delilah’s Go begin. I knew that he’d found my playlist I’d jokingly titled ‘sexy-time’. My smile faded as he crooked his finger at me, his face dark with lust and something else. That something else had me a little nervous, but mostly intrigued. I could tell that things were going to go a little differently tonight.

I moved to stand in front of him and heard the bed shift behind me, signaling that Jackson was no longer lounging there. I saw Brandon glance over my shoulder at him and nod. I swallowed as I felt the heat of Jackson’s chest against my back before something soft dropped over my eyes. I felt him carefully tie whatever it was at the back of my head, no too tight, but tight enough that I was completely blindfolded. I could feel my breath coming faster and my heart felt like it would pound out of my chest.

I felt the soft, fleeting touch of lips against the curve of my shoulder wh
ere it met my neck and gasped, shivering when the feel of fingertips traced my spine before dipping into the cleft at the base of it. I moaned loudly, unable to help it, when lips closed over my nipple, nipping and sucking roughly. All of a sudden I was alone, all traces of their touch gone. I whimpered in my throat and heard a whispered, ‘
shhhh, baby its okay
’ somewhere to the side of me. Turning my head toward the voice, I strained to listen, wanting to hear some clue as to what would happen next.

I got my answer when fingers traced down my arms, pulling my hands together and clasping them in front of my body before something silky began winding around my wrists, effectively binding them together tightly. Dark desire, shot with a fine edge of trepidation, curled low in my belly and I felt the soft flesh between my thighs grow even wetter than it had been, wetter than I think I’d ever been before. I jumped slightly when a hand touched the inside of my thigh lightly, moving upward. I could feel my cheeks heat as I felt trails of wetness beneath the hand stroking me.

“Mmmm…” I heard Jackson say in a low voice. “Dripping wet, baby. So wet it’s running down your thighs…” he broke off on a groan when I hissed as his fingers brushed against the swollen, heated folds nestled at the juncture of my thighs, my hips jerking forward instinctively, seeking out his touch.

I let out a small squeak when a hand roughly slapped me on my ass and
Brandon growled, “No.”

I could feel my muscles tighten and a shudder wracked my body at the tone of his voice. He sounded dangerous and wild and I wanted to see him like that, because he was showing me a side that he had hinted at but never shown. I felt
Jackson drop his hand from my leg and then a hand slowly slid up my chest, between my breasts, and closed gently around my throat. I felt my breath coming even faster and swallowed against the slight pressure. I wasn’t scared; I trusted them beyond anything or anyone, and I knew they’d never hurt me. At least not in a bad way…

Hot breath tickled my ear and
Jackson’s voice whispered deeply, “We’re gonna take you higher than you’ve ever been, baby.” In the silence that followed, I vaguely registered the song changing and
Gorilla
by Bruno Mars began playing.

I gasped as the hand around my throat shifted and a thumb slid up over my jaw and pressed against my lips before sliding inside. I closed my lips around it and sucked hard, reveling in the harsh growl that burst forth from
Jackson’s mouth which was still hovering by my ear.

In a heartbeat they were gone again but then I was being lifted and laid gently on the bed. I felt two pairs of hands maneuvering me until I was lying diagonally across the bottom corner of the bed. In that position, my head hung off the edge of the bed, and my legs hung off the other side so that I was supported by the mattress from shoulder to hip. It would have been uncomfortable if they’d let my legs dangle, but one of them held them up, spreading them widely and standing between them. I wrapped them around his waist, humming in appreciation when the hot, hard length of him nestled between the silky, wet lips of my sex. 

When he thrust against me I gasped again, then moaned as the hot hardness of who I determined to be Brandon thrust between my lips, feeding the length of himself into my mouth deeply before pulling back immediately. I knew that he was afraid of overwhelming me or choking me and I struggled against the binding on my hands, wanting to pull him into me again. At this angle, I knew that I could take him all the way in, especially since I didn’t have much of a gag reflex.