I reach down and give one of the girls a squeeze and lose it. Baya raises her hips to meet mine and digs her nails just below my waist until it burns in a fucking good way.
“Brys—”
I can feel her body jump beneath me, and I pray to God she’s enjoying herself because I’m too lost in the assault to turn back now. My hips heave into hers until she bounces back into the headboard. I grab ahold of her shoulder and steady her beneath me until my body gives into a sweet release, and I shake over her in a cold sweat.
“Baya,” I hiss into her lips before burying myself deep inside her.
She sighs beneath me, and I lay my weight over her for a second. I brush an apologetic kiss over her lips, slow and circular as I hike back up on my elbows. My dick starts to go soft, so I pull out and toss the condom onto the floor.
I roll back into her and study her beauty. Her smeared mascara, her full lips freshly glossed with her tongue.
“Did you like that?” I’m almost afraid to hear her answer. I’ve only slept with one other virgin and that ended with her screaming expletives at me as she ran out of the room. That pretty much crossed girls with no experience off my list, not that I had to cull anyone from the ready and willing pile. Turns out there weren’t a whole lot of virgins at Whitney Briggs after all.
“Nope, I didn’t like that.” She pulls me in by the chin, and my heart drops into my gut. “Ilovedthat.” She runs her tongue over my lips like a promise of more to come.
My chest rattles at the thought. Baya didn’t like it. Shelovedit. She didn’t run screaming—I was her first, and if she’ll let me, I’ll be her last.
“Thank you,” I whisper, pulling her bare bottom in the cleft of my stomach.
“For what?” She turns her head just enough for me to appreciate her beauty.
“For loving me.” I press my lips into the back of her moist hair. “For letting me love you back.”
Late Sunday, we say goodbye to Mom and drive Annie back to school.
I take Baya out for coffee before we hit the Briggs Apartment building and make our way up.
“Maybe I should head back to Prescott and reclaim my dorm?” She squirms a moment, looking at the door as if it were her brother himself.
I hold up the hot pink giraffe we lugged home. “And what will we tell, Lucy?”
“Lucy?” She bats her lashes at me, and it takes all of the restraint in the universe not to kiss her. Oh, hell—I bend down and kiss her, long and strong, right here outside the door to our apartment, and I swear to God I can hear Cole sharpening the kitchen knives from inside. I pull back slowly, and my lips hold their puckered position a moment longer than necessary. “I thought she looked like a Lucy, but if you prefer Zelda we can negotiate.” I give a crooked grin.
“Lucy it is.” She takes the overstuffed giraffe and hugs her.
We head in, and, so far, the coast is clear, no sign of Cole or his many concubines.
Baya drops her bags on the floor and pulls a pen off the counter. She heads over to the scoreboard and pauses as she studies my side of the wall with a renewed interest.
“Whoa.” I speed over but not before she adds a single tally mark toward the bottom. “You don’t belong up there.” I twist my lips at the sight.
“Oh, yes, I do. Iearnedmy spot, and I won’t let you take it away from me.” She gives a little wink.
“Here.” I swipe the pen from her and draw a heart around the line she inscribed. “We should at least get it right. I mean, youarethe last.”
“Really?” It comes from her weak, as if it were the last thing she expected.
“Yes, really.” I brush my hands over her hips and brazenly steady her in front of me. “There’s no one else for me but you, Baya. This is it,” I whisper. “I’m all in.”
She melts into me and wraps her arms around my neck. “I love you so much,” she whispers with tears glittering in her eyes.
“I love you, too.” I launch an all-out viral assault over her mouth as our teeth graze over one another, our tongues lash out with something just this side of anger. There’s no way I’m going to be able to sleep at night knowing she’s less than ten feet away in the next room. It’s not right. She should be safe in my arms as often as possible and, for damn sure, at all hours of the night.
The door to Cole’s room rattles, and Baya launches across the room like a missile. By the time I look over she’s lounging on the couch reading a book—spinning it until its right side up. It’s Cole’s hunting and surviving in the wilderness manual—something that I’m going to need once he gets wind of what happened between his sister and me.
“You’re back.” Cole struts out, looking like hell, and I peer into his bedroom for evidence of a female suitor, but nothing. “You have fun? How’s Annie?” He heads into the kitchen with his hair sticking up in the back, his body stuttering forward like he just got electrocuted. It’s obvious he just woke up. Maybe he’s slept through the weekend?
“Annie is great. Just dropped her off. We did nothing but watch lame chick flicks all weekend. How about you?”
