“When you put it like that, of course you can.” Her face lit up with her own smile, one hand pulling away from my face to push her brother’s aside as he leaned in making kissing noises.
A fleeting thought of Pete flashed through my mind. Tate’s mimicking reminded me of something he would have done to me, but I quickly shoved it aside, focusing all that I had on Ayda.
“Tell me something,” I said softly, pausing as I pulled her focus back to me. “How does this compare to all your other Thanksgivings?”
“Well,” she said, bringing her hand back to my cheek and stroking gently. Her attention flickered from my eyes to my lips and back again, her gaze filled with a mixture of happiness and sadness. “This one is extra special because ofyou and every one of our extended family. It makes me happy to have so many people here. I'm thankful for every one of you. It’s just a sad holiday for me, too. This was my mom’s favorite of the year, the one she always had us all together for. In comparison, though, you win hands down. Only because I know what’s going to come later.”
“The pie?” I teased.
“Of course the pie. I made it.” The blue of her eyes intensified before softening again. “I have one hidden in the mini fridge in your room. I want to pig out, watch movies and eat pie. Then later we can work it off… together.”
“Watch movies and drop crumbs in your own room,” I hit back, smiling at her as my hands fell to the tops of her thighs and rested there. “If you’re laying down on my bed, you better be ready to be naked and played with from head to toe, dusk ‘til dawn. From ready and willing to completely broken and destroyed.”
“You’re such a romantic and you drive a hard bargain, but I’m game if you are. Working off calories while eating them. It’s revolutionary.”
“And I’m all about a revolution,” I groaned, leaning forward to gift her with another small kiss, which earned yet another insult from her little brother. Before Ayda had time to react to him, I lifted one hand to the table, grabbed the first thing my fingers could find and launched it in his direction.
From the cries of pain that filled the air, I guessed spoons really fucking hurt when they connected.
“I think it’s a sign. Tate just volunteered to do the dishes.” Ayda gasped, her head turning to peer at her brother.
“I think I heard Kenny offer to help, too.” My face followed hers, my attention landing on Kenny, who looked asthough I’d just asked him to rip out the heart of a pig with his bare hands and dress it up in whipped cream. “Isn’t that right, brows?”
Kenny’s arm snapped out to the side, connecting with Tate’s bicep as he gritted his teeth together and spat out, “You and me can’t be friends anymore, fucker.”
“You do realize it’s a commercial dishwasher? It’s really not that difficult, but I can put it out of order if you’re that intent on hand-washing them,” Ayda said, her face impressively straight.
Harry re-entering the room caught my attention, even though I didn’t want to look away from Ayda in case I missed that smile that I knew was due to arrive at any moment.
Casting a quick glance his way, I didn’t drop the happiness from my face as I watched him walk back across the club. The moment he closed his eyes and shook his head, I had the all clear. Whatever it was that was on Slater’s mind would have to wait. If Harry didn’t think it was urgent, neither did I.
Shuffling my chair closer to Ayda, my knees parted to pull hers in between mine. As much as I loved the banter between her and Tate, I was suddenly in the mood for being selfish again. My brothers had had enough of her time for today. I was ready to show her how thankful I was for having her in my life.
“Can we escape these fucking monkeys and skip the pie?” I growled, tilting my head to one side and softly massaging her legs beneath my hands.
“I thought you’d never ask,” she whispered, her teeth sinking into her bottom lip before they stretched out into her smile.
Reaching for her hand, I clasped it in both of mine, mylazy half smile trained on her as I stood up and began to guide her away, ignoring the sounds of the men who began to whoop and howl around the table. Now that I was certain we were in the clear for one more day, I was going to make sure Ayda Hanagan knew how much I loved her. I was going to let my hands say the things that my mouth had yet to figure out how to set free.
Chapter Three
Ayda
One thing about living in The Hut, you learned not to be bashful. Not because I paraded around naked. I was very careful not to flash any thigh when I made a mad dash to grab clothes from the room if someone happened to be in there talking to Drew. I just saw more than I ever thought I would in my lifetime, and I’d come to accept that shit happens and worrying about it would only cause more problems than it would solve. So the fact that my clothes were already hitting the floor before we so much as made it through the office door was neither here nor there.
Drew Tucker had some mystical force over me, one I was powerless against. There was sex, and then there was sex with Drew. The door had barely slipped into its frame when I was in his arms, my thighs around his waist, being pushed against a wall. It was my legs and back keeping me upright as his hands pushed my breasts together, and he wrapped his lips around the closest one to him. His tongue flicked at the nipple as he roughly pulled the material of my bra out of his way.
We’d only made it so far, and I thanked God he kept the blinds to his office closed these days. I was pretty sure we weren’t going to make it much farther. His hunger and the complete urgency as my abdomen tightened in anticipationwas always like standing at the edge of a diving board, daring yourself to take the leap. You knew you would enjoy it. You knew you would be gratified and satisfied, but you also just wanted to stand there and take it all in.
This was my standing—feeling the roughness of his stubble against my skin, the flex of his muscles under my hands, and the way everything disappeared as we worked in unison to find that rapture that the basic, physical task of coming together gave us.
My shoulders pushed against the wall as his teeth grazed the raised, sensitive flesh. The electrical current had a direct line to my clit, which forced my hips to rock against his, the denim rough against my bare thighs. I was starting to understand his appreciation when I wore dresses or skirts. Granted, it was only on special occasions, but his look when I dressed that morning baffled me right up to the point when I was pressed up against the wall, and again when his hand found its way between us, making quick work of the thin underwear I’d been wearing. I tried to raise my head to gaze at the small piece of material that probably looked pathetic and completely useless in his hands now that it had been destroyed.
His mouth moved away, the dampness left by his tongue hit by the cool air, making the tightness of my skin almost painful and forcing my hands into his hair. My nails grazed his scalp in an attempt to bring him close again, to keep the sensation going and drag it out for as long as I could, but he was having none of it. Instead, his lips came together and blew a cool stream of air against my nipple, teasing a moan from me as I released his dark hair and slapped his shoulder playfully. Even in sex he had to have complete control. It hadto be in his power to bring me to the edge, and either push me over or pull me away again. This time he wasn’t ready to let me get even close to the edge, and the small smile on his lips as his arms moved around to my back to support my ass told me we were actually going to make it to the bedroom for once.
We moved quickly, him carrying me while I began to undress him, starting with his most prized possession, which I dropped safely onto the chair in the corner of the room as we passed it. With the cut gone, there was no need for me to be quite so calculated in my movements. My hands pushed under the white of his T-shirt to unbuckle his belt, which turned out to be a little premature as his jeans fell down around his ankles. When he tried to take another step forward, they hindered his movement, tripping him up. Thankfully, the bed wasn’t that far away. I found myself unceremoniously dumped on top of the mattress, his hands landing on either side of me, keeping as much of his weight from my body as he could manage while the two of us blew out a shaky laugh.
I wasted no time in finishing my job. My hands slid up the warm expanse of his back, coasting over the flexing muscles as I pushed the material up and over his head, forcing him to rock onto his knees and pull the damn thing all the way off before dropping it off the side of the bed. He hovered over me, naked. There was no sight I enjoyed as much as looking at him this stripped down, his dick standing proud, showing me just how aroused he was.
