Wyatt (Lane Brothers #1) (8 page)

He doesn’t give me a moment to process this before his lips are crashing down on mine in a kiss that is about claiming and possession. After a few seconds, and now that he’s satisfied his urges, he gentles the contact and starts kissing me sweetly and deeply, slowing us both down till I feel like he’s making love to my mouth.

It’s arousing, heated, soft, and romantic all at the same time, and I feel myself falling deeper under his spell. This isn’t my first kiss, but I can say that it is the first
real
kiss I’ve had. Ever.

It does everything the books have talked about and so much more. With this one action, he’s got me hooked, and by the time he stops licking and kissing my mouth and pulls away, I think he knows it.

The moment should be awkward as he pulls away and stares deep into my eyes, his hands cradling my face gently, reverently. It isn’t.

“I knew it would be this way with you. Perfect,” he breathes before coming back to lay butterfly kisses all over my upturned face.

“Wyatt, I—”

“Shh, don’t be afraid, Ellie, this is exactly what making love should feel like. Let me show you what I feel for you.”

That pleading tone and the way he’s looking at me is so loving that all I can do is nod and follow as he takes my hand and leads me out of the pool area and back into the house.

Our trek up the stairs takes longer than it should because he keeps stopping to kiss me breathlessly, and by the time we reach the master bedroom, I’m dazed and so aroused that I can hardly form a thought.

I get nervous when he stops us beside the bed and unties my robe, sliding it down and off my shoulders in a feather-light move that sends goose bumps breaking out all over my body and tightens my nipples.

“You’re so beautiful, baby, do you know that? I’ve wanted you this way from that first day I saw you,” he says, running his hands from my shoulders to the very tops of my breasts.

A soft moan is the only response I make when he reaches up to untie the strings at my nape and back, and discards the bikini top with a flick of his wrist.

I’m exposed, feeling more vulnerable now than I did when I woke up that first morning. I don’t know why. You’d think knowing that he’s already seen me naked would calm me, but it doesn’t.

When all he does is stare silently, my nerves get the better of me and I raise my arms.

“No, don’t hide from me, baby. I’m just taking my time to look, that’s all. I’m just fulfilling a dream I’ve had for a very long time.”

“But I have scars.”

They’re not as bad as they used to be, some have lightened considerably over the years, but the ones just under my right breast and around my belly button are still there, a constant reminder that he ruined me.

“Not scars, baby. Badges of survival, that’s all they are.”

He finishes that statement by dragging his hands from my collarbone all the way down till his large hands cup my breasts and envelop them in heat and gentle squeezes.

It feels so good, I can’t help but throw my head back and moan long and low. After hefting them and testing the weight, he leans his head in and takes one into his mouth, suckling so gently, I feel loved even as the arousal he’s been building since that first kiss amps up and settles in my sex.

It’s overwhelming and beautiful as he alternates between breasts, licking and sucking me before giving me a gentle nudge and laying me down on the bed.

My bottoms disappear quickly, and he crawls up onto the bed and brushes over me, his skin sliding over mine and settling. The weight of him against my skin is pure heated bliss, and I moan at the contact, pushing myself as close as I can.

I’m new to this, have never felt all of these overwhelming sensations before, but I trust him enough that when he stops kissing me and fondling my breasts minutes later and moves down my body, I spread my legs willingly.

“Ellie.”

His voice is a sigh when he looks down at my sex and breathes in deeply, as if he’s struggling to control himself. He’s shaking over me when he lowers his head and presses his mouth to my flesh.

I gasp at the contact.

“Easy, baby, just let me get you ready,” he croons, doing something with his tongue that feels so good, my eyes cross and roll back in pleasure.

He takes his time with me, using his mouth and fingers alternatively before crawling back up my body and taking my mouth in a kiss hot enough to burn us both.

“Hold on.”

The whispered words caress my lips and I feel the head of his erection at my entrance, circling twice before he applies pressure and starts pushing steadily into me.

There’s a slight pinch as my sheath struggles to open and accept him, but the discomfort never turns to pain. By the time he’s fully seated deep inside me, all I feel is urgency and the need to move.

“You okay?” he wheezes, holding completely still, his arms trembling where they’re planted beside my head.

Yes, no, I don’t know. I feel so full and overwhelmed by the intimacy of having him connected to me so thoroughly.

“Yes. Please.”

I’m begging already and he hasn’t even done anything but join us.

He obeys and pulls away, keeping the movement so slow, I feel every movement of him inside. And then he comes back in, twisting his hips in such a way that something sets off inside and makes me convulse.

“That is so…”

I can’t describe what I’m feeling, but it’s the most wonderful pleasure mixed with pain I’ve ever known, and before long, I’m thrusting my hips up at him, my hands clutching at his shoulders as he leans down to take my mouth.

“You’re everything I ever dreamed, baby. And so much more,” he says against my lips before taking my mouth in an urgent kiss and speeding up his movements.

The climax that rocks me at those words is no slow buildup like I’ve heard about or gentle in any way. It hits me hard, detonating at a point inside my womb, and explodes out in contractions that seize so strongly, I pass out from the pleasure.

When my senses return he’s leaning over me with a huge smile, his breaths choppy and uneven.

“I think that answers your questions.”

Wyatt

Was there ever any doubt that once I had my woman, I’d
have
my woman? After that truly magical experience, I have no doubt that Ellie and I are more than compatible in every area.

That’s why not a day after making love to her, I find myself wanting to go home with a longing that scares me. I want them all to meet her and see what I see in her.

She’s everything I dreamed she could be and more; that’s the thought that keeps sounding in my head every few minutes as I sit back at the kitchen table and watch her putter around, cooking up a storm.

“Biscuits?”

My voice is cringingly high pitched when she sets down a full breakfast, including the fluffiest, lightest clouds of hot perfection I’ve ever tasted.

Now I know she’s perfect. More than perfect, because not even my ma, the cooking and baking goddess, makes biscuits this good.

“Slow down, Wyatt.” She laughs, snatching the platter out of reach when I shove half a biscuit into my mouth and reach for another.

“S’good,” I mumble, giving her my puppy eyes. “Damn, woman, where’d you learn to cook like this? And why in hell were you eating cardboard when this is what you can produce?”

              “If I ate this all the time, I’d be big as a house. Now stop and take a breath before you choke yourself stuffing your face.”

I would answer but the intercom buzzes at that second and I’m forced to abandon my feast.

“Stay here, baby, I need to get that.”

She nods and keeps eating as I rise and head to the front door.

“What the hell are you two doing here?”

The demand is harsh and less than welcoming when I open the door to see Miah, Jared, and my adopted brother, Jace, standing outside. Miah and Jared roll their eyes, no doubt picking up on the territorial vibes I’m putting off, while Jace just grins and shakes his head.

“These two clowns are here to report doom and gloom. I just want to be one of the first to lay eyes on my new sister. You gonna invite us in or what?”

“No. I haven’t told Ellie everything yet, and I can’t have you asses shooting your mouths off in front of her. Tell me why you’re here and hit the road.”

Sue me. I can’t help being paranoid about them arriving on my doorstep, not when I’ve only just made a big advance with Ellie. Plus, I’m not too pleased by the thought of having any other men around her. Not yet, at least.

“No can do, bro, we have some bad news for you, and you aren’t going to like what we have to say if you’re not past this stage with Ellie yet,” Jared says regretfully, giving me one of those loaded stares.

My brother may be a little crazy sometimes, but he’s a good guy and an even better brother. I know that if he’s here and this serious, things must be worse than I thought at this stage.

“Come in and go straight to the office. Stay there and I’ll be in, and no, Jace, you’re not keeping her company while Jared and Miah report to me.
My
woman, and she’s not to be alone with you.”

Jace grins, shrugs, and ambles in, making a beeline for the office while Miah and Jared shake their heads at his retreating back.

Jace is really our cousin. We consider him a brother, though, because Ma and Dad adopted him when he was three after his mom, my dad’s sister, passed away from a heart attack.

He’s two years my junior and one of the best execs I have running my business while I’m on leave.

I love him like I love Jared and Miah and actually share a closer bond with him because we’re closer in age.

If he’s here, as well, and not working as usual, then it means whatever Miah and Jared have uncovered is worse than just bad, and I’ll probably have to speed things up if I want to protect Ellie and take her home like I planned.

I’d bargained for another week, but I’ve also been homesick and wanting to take her to meet Ma, so this might not be such a bad thing at all.

Unless she loses that glow she woke up with this morning and starts throwing shit at my head when she finds out the truth.

There’s really only one way to find out, but damn me if I’m not about to take the coward’s way out and keep the truth from her a little longer. It’s just too soon, and she’s still not where I need her to be emotionally if I want her to forgive me.

              I find her where I left her in the kitchen and say hesitantly, “Baby. I, uh, I need to go talk to my brothers for a bit. They’re…here on business, and I need to take care of it.”

“Your brothers? They’re here?”

“Yeah,” I answer, not pleased to have to share her with anyone so soon.

“Well invite them to breakfast.”

That would be a n—

“Good God Almighty, what is that glorious smell? Are those biscuits and gravy?”

They all stream into the kitchen, sit down, and immediately start eating my breakfast as I look on in annoyance.

“Hmm, this is better than Ma’s biscuits and those things are good enough to start wars. How you make this, Ellie? Any special ingredients?” Jared asks around a mouth crammed so full, a few crumbs fly out with every word.

Damn pigs.

She blushes at the compliments and looks down, embarrassed and appreciative.

“No, I make them the same way everyone else does. Would you all like some coffee, juice, more bacon or gravy?”

“Shit, I knew I should have made a play for you myself. Now
this
fool gets the best, and what do I get stuck with? Girls who floss their asses and eat lettuce as a meal. Fucking life’s unfair.”

“Yeah okay, Jared, keep it to yourself. Hey, Ellie, you got more of these scrambled eggs? What did you put in it?”

“Cheese and some onion powder.”

My teeth are ground so tight ten minutes later when the greedy idiots finally stop stuffing their faces and introduce themselves, just barely keeping myself together when Jace leans in and kisses her hand. Thankfully for the fool, she doesn’t titter and blush like most women would, and instead just rolls her eyes at his dramatic sighs.

“Are you guys here on business?”

My look warns them not to answer in any way that I won’t like, and they all just shrug.

“Ma told us that you and she speak, and since we’ve been dying to meet the woman who finally brought our ugly sibling to heel, we decided to make a stop and meet you ourselves.”

“Hey, screw you, Miah, and Jace, leave the rest of us something to eat, would you? Ellie, baby, sit down and stop babying these fools. They can get their own coffee and serve themselves.”

So maybe my tone leaves a lot to be desired when I turn my glare on them and glower. Ellie is my girlfriend—fiancée, if we’re being honest, since I fully intend to marry her. She just hasn’t said yes yet, and I’ll be damned if she fawns all over these bozos.

She should be fawning over me, or at least letting me fawn over her in private while I convince her that we’re the best fit on the planet.

“Jeez! Possessive much? Hey, Ellie, does this caveman keep you in the kitchen all day with this cooking? If you were my girl, I’d…only keep you in the kitchen half the day.” Jared laughs, making my teeth ache from the way I’m grinding them.

That gets her laughing, though, so I may let them live.

“Contrary to popular belief, I am not into a woman spending her life waiting on me. I cook for Ellie, too.”

“And she’s still alive?” All three start laughing when Ellie’s eyes grow round as she tries to stave off her amusement.

See, this is why after thinking things through and considering my best course of action, I didn’t just take her to my home to meet the family. They’re hogs and would keep her to themselves as much as possible.

While I like that about them, I’m in some serious need of bonding time with my baby, and they’re cramping my damn style.

“Wyatt cooks very well and he’s been taking good care of me. Most of the time, at least. I can’t say I appreciate his methods since normal men usually ask a woman out…but hey, sometimes weird is good, right?” She giggles, biting her lip in that way that makes my shaft go iron hard in a second.

“But seriously, what are you guys doing here?”

That’s my girl, smart as well as sexy.

Unfortunately, her intelligence is the one thing I see putting a cog in this wheel I have limping to the gas station.

The truth about why I don’t want her knowing yet is simple; I’m guilty, and while I wasn’t directly involved in what happened to her at Bolton’s hands, I was the reason she was taken. It took me so long to figure out what the little shit was doing that she was there for weeks by that time.

As my brothers and woman sit talking and laughing, as if they’ve known each other for years instead of minutes, I think back to that first time I saw her.

“Jesus, you Lanes are all the same. You think you can come out here and give me ultimatums and the little dog will just wag his tail and fall into line!”

“Bolton, you’re out of line and you know it. Ma and Dad spoke to Aunt Lynn and she told them everything. You’re drinking, doing drugs, and failing the semester. At this rate, you won’t graduate in the next ten fucking years!”

My cousin is a Conrad through and through, and if not for the fact that my father’s sister, Aunt Lynn, is one of my favorite people in the world, I wouldn’t be down here trying to get the snot into line.

He’s been this spoiled since I’ve known him, and the fact that it’s his father’s influence and hate for the Lanes only makes it all the worse.

Jerry Conrad is my aunt’s husband, Bolton’s father, and one of my father’s least favorite people on earth because the guy married into the Lane family for a handful of things that include money, power, and the ability to sit on his fat ass while they drain Aunt Lynn’s trust fund dry.

To say that Bolton isn’t any better is an understatement, because the kid is ten times more entitled and foul mouthed than his sire, and just being in his presence makes me sick.

And yet it’s been left up to me to drag my ass to Philadelphia and shove him back on track thanks to Aunt Lynn calling Dad with her pleas for help.

Could be back in New Orleans right now entertaining one of my many ”friends” of the female persuasion and nailing down a deal I’ve been hammering out for months.

Instead, here I am coming up on my twenty-ninth birthday, trying to reason with a snot-nosed twenty-two-year old who has already failed a year of college and doesn’t seem inclined to try much harder.

And why? Because my aunt somehow got it into her head that I’d give Bolton an internship at my company when he graduates. I should just leave the little runt to fail and save myself the headache instead of wasting my time standing on a college campus with young girls trying to catch my attention while I cuss Bolton to hell and back.

“You think you’re so great, you and those brothers of yours. I’ve got news for you, Wyatt, I don’t give a shit about you or that colony of rats you call a family,” he sneers, making my hackles rise.

It’s no secret that Bolton and his father hate our side of the family, and that my cousin hates me, specifically, because of an incident that happened when I was thirteen and he was around seven or eight.

The whole family got together for a barbecue and a fun day. Ma went to so much trouble arranging games and contests to keep the children occupied, and even though I and my two cousins Ben and Rick were way older than the little kids, we participated and tried to make the games as fun as possible.

Only Bolton and that ass he calls an old man weren’t interested in fun or anything family related. All they wanted was to win and show us all that they were better.

Too bad for little Bolton, I got pissed off when he shoved my cousin Angie in a race and sent her headfirst into the ground when she was on the verge of beating him.

The poor girl had a bloody lip and cried so hard it broke my heart to see her little five-year-old lip tremble.

So yeah, I may have gone into the touch football game with the intention of giving him a taste of his own medicine. No, I didn’t hurt the kid, I’m not a brute, but I did make sure my side kicked their asses and he lost.

Turns out old man Conrad wasn’t too pleased that his son failed, and I only found out from Dad a few weeks later that Jerry whipped his butt for losing.

I felt guilty and tried to talk to him, only to hear that he hated my guts, hated my family, and didn’t want a thing from me but an admission that I cheated.

I’ve had to live with the hatred and rivalry from Bolton ever since.

He makes a play for every woman I’ve ever shown interest in and never fails to ruin Christmas with his bitter attitude. Dad finally tried not inviting them for the festivities, but Ma loves Aunt Lynn and wouldn’t hear of shunning the other woman because her husband and son are assholes.

So every year we grit our teeth and put up with them so Aunt Lynn can spend time with her family.

And every time Bolton fucks up, I get a call from my parents letting me know I need to try and sort him out. Today is one of those horrible times, and instead of trying harder, I find myself looking around as he rants and raves, practically foaming at the mouth.