Pranked (71 page)

W
e rode
in silence back to my apartment. I didn’t even bother putting the radio on, because we didn’t need noise. There was nothing we needed but each other, and we’d come to that realization at exactly the same time. As the road rushed by beneath the Shelby’s tires, Sarah put her hand on top of mine on the gear shift and we just… drove. No one said a word. Neither of us felt compelled to fill the silence. Because between us, the quiet was comfortable. And that was how I knew Sarah was the one for me.

I didn’t have to perform for her. I didn’t have to be entertaining or interesting at all times. I didn’t have to be some bad boy mystery for her to unwrap. We could just sit, like this, and ponder the open road together. It was something I’d been missing in every relationship I’d had before her, and now that I’d found it, I was never letting go.

I helped Sarah carry her things into my apartment. She didn’t have much—just what she’d brought with her to the cabin, salvaged from the back of Hannah’s car before we’d driven over here—but it still felt significant to me for her things to be at my place. Like part of her was already moving in here, already carving out a space. I liked it, even though it scared me. I’d had plenty of women in my bed over the years, but I’d never let one into my heart before.

Shit,
I thought as realization dawned on me.
I was her first, and in a way, she’s been mine.

Sarah didn’t sit on the couch. She didn’t offer to make food, and she didn’t stand awkwardly in front of me like she had no idea what to do with herself. Instead, she headed straight for my bedroom, gliding across the hardwood floors like a ghost. I followed her, curious, as she sat down on the edge of my bed and stared at her hands, clasped in her lap.

“You okay?” I asked her, leaning against the doorframe.

Sarah shook her head, and as I started toward her, she answered, “I wish I could be more like you.”

That stopped me dead in my tracks. I raised an eyebrow at her. “Tall, dark, and handsome—with a big dick?”

She shot me a look through her lashes. It damn near melted my pants off me. “No,” she said, a little tersely. “Fearless. Brave.”

Gently, I sat down beside her. “What makes you think you aren’t already those things?”

Sarah snorted. “Because I’m scared—all the time. I’ve been afraid ever since I got here. Heck, maybe I’ve been afraid my whole life, in one way or another. Every time I close my eyes lately, I feel like I’m at the top of one of those tall oak trees, and I can’t get down. I don’t know how to stop myself from feeling this way. It’s just… always there, in the back of my mind.” She blew out a breath. “Especially since I know now that Father was the one who sent those men after me. After
us.
”

I nodded thoughtfully. “Yeah. Seems like he set things in motion right after you left—that one guy was from the fair, and Hannah said she’d had a run-in with him in the past. What the hell is going on there?”

She threw her hands up, then let them fall back down against her thighs. “I have no idea. And that’s what scares me most of all—that I have no clue what’s going on around me. I’m a stranger here, and stranger still, everything I left behind might be… some kind of fraud. Everything I believed in might be wrong.” She looked up at me. “Have you ever felt that way, Reid?”

I turned away to study my hands. Mostly, the dirt and blood beneath my nails. “Yeah. I have, actually. I felt that way when I found out who my dad really was. What a fucking scumbag he’d been, all those years. The shit he did, Sarah…” I trailed off. She was stressed as it was—she didn’t need me talking about something horrible and adding to it. I cleared my throat. “Anyway… yeah. I’ve felt just like you feel now.”

“How do I fix it?” she asked me. “How do I make it stop?”

I let my gaze find hers again. Honestly, I answered, “I’m sorry, darlin’, but I really don’t know.”

We lapsed into another silence, though this one seemed heavier than the last. After a few moments, I put my arm around her and drew her near, kissing the top of her head. Sarah seemed to like that; she put her hand on my chest and left it there, right over my heart. I smiled into her strawberry-blonde locks. “All I know is that I’m gonna protect you. Keep you safe. All right? For now, is that something you can live with?”

Gingerly, Sarah traced a path down the center of my chest through my shirt. “I think so,” she said. “Because to tell you the truth, Reid… the only thing that feels right… the only time I feel okay at all…” She looked up at me. “Is when you’re inside of me.” She bit her lip. “Is that… wrong of me? Am I bad?”

My heart broke for her. “No, darlin’. You’re not wrong or bad.” I tipped her chin up with a finger. “Not at all.”

And I kissed her lips, softly but surely. If being inside Sarah was what made her feel better, that was exactly what I was going to do. I’d give her what she craved. We both needed it. And I couldn’t deny either of our urges any longer.

Because the truth was that the only time I felt right, or sane, lately… was when I was inside her, too.

The way I took her then was different from how I’d had her before. I’d started off slow, but the sounds she made into my mouth spurred me on, coaxing me to touch her harder, faster—to plunge into her up to the hilt and let her feel every inch of me. We were a tangle of flesh and desire, our limbs jumbled in a way that made me feel like I couldn’t remember where I ended and she began. Our hearts seemed to beat in time, our panting breaths mingling in the air between us. When she threaded her fingers through my hair, the pain was exquisite. I wanted more. I knew
she
wanted more.

“Hang on to the headboard,” I told her as I prepared to show her just what Reid Brody was famous for.

Even bucking my hips into the exact spot I knew would drive Sarah crazy, it felt… different. Better. The pleasure that surged through me had an edge unlike anything I’d ever experienced before. Each time she kissed my busted lip, she took a little more of my pain away. When her fingertips grazed along my bruised cheeks, it was like she had a healer’s touch.

I could feel nothing but joy when I was with her. And I wanted to make sure she always felt the same way about me, too.

And so I held her, tight. Close. I gave her everything I had, and then some. I made her come again and again in every way I knew how to. And when I finally reached that peak with her, she wrapped her legs around my waist and held me to her, ensuring that I couldn’t pull out—that we would, at last, feel each other completely.

“Oh, God, Reid,” she breathed into my hair as I shuddered in the throes of my orgasm. “I think… I think I love you…”

She had fallen so hard, so fast. But that was the plan, wasn’t it? To make her fall in love with me?

Problem was… somewhere along the line… I’d fallen in love with her, too.

That was how the old me had seen it, at least—an inconvenient truth. A problem. But the new Reid saw it for what it was: the best damn thing that had ever happened to me. My all-time, favorite mistake.

Pressing our foreheads together, I whispered to Sarah, “That’s perfect, darlin’. Because I think I love you, too.”

And in a whole different way, we once again became each other’s firsts.

A
nother day
, and night, of lovemaking, and I woke up bleary-eyed the next day. It was hard to be upset about that, though, given the incredible sensations Reid had made me feel time and time again at his urging.
I could get used to this.

And that was the odd thing—that I really was starting to get used to it. In fact, I was starting to get used to a lot of things, including everything I’d once believed I would never adjust to. The song of the city at night. The buzz of a home powered by electricity. The heavy, slow breathing of a man beside me, asleep and in bed—the warmth of his body, so close to my own—the nakedness of his skin…

Once upon a time, and not so very long ago, the very idea of these things would have seemed foreign to me. Wrong, even. But now, just a short time after first meeting Reid Brody and the rest of the Brody Bunch, it all seemed so… normal. So
right.

So much had changed for me in just a week. Could I really trust my feelings on this?

I rolled onto my back, staring out the window as sunlight filtered in past the blinds. I knew I wasn’t being objective. I knew I ought to have been considering my responsibilities, my duty to God and community, my duty to my family. But assuming Hannah was right, all that had gone out the window when Father sent those men to abduct me and Beth, and to bring us to him through whatever means necessary. Still, even given the circumstances, part of me felt like I’d given up everything because of a man. An
English man.

Yet, what had I gained? As I looked over at Reid, the answer was clear: I’d gained so much more.

“I never thought I could feel this way,” I murmured out loud, brushing my fingers over Reid’s beard. “This kind of passion. This… love…”

Reid stirred a little beside me. Without opening his eyes, he draped an arm across my stomach and pulled me closer, nuzzling into the curve between my neck and my shoulder. “If it helps, I never thought I could feel it, either,” he muttered, the soft scrape of his lips inspiring goosebumps across my arms.

“You don’t understand,” I whispered. “Where I come from… love like this doesn’t exist.
Passion
doesn’t exist. It’s all about… duty and honor. About having babies and becoming a mother. But the magnitude of what I feel for you… the things you make me feel…” Tears brimmed in my eyes. “It just wouldn’t have been possible, if I’d never left home. If I’d never known you, Reid… I would’ve spent my whole life lost. Drifting. Never knowing how good life could really be.”

Reid lifted his head a little, propping himself up on an arm to look down at me. I kissed his lips gently and he returned the gesture with a wince; the cut looked nasty. It would have to be cleaned again later. And his nose was still an angry purple.

But that reminded me of yet another thing I’d have never known, if I’d stayed at home where I’d thought everything was right, simple, and safe. I never would have known just how far a man would be willing to go for me—to protect me, to save me. I would have had no idea I was worth so much. That was because back there, I wasn’t worth hardly anything. No more than my virginity. Yet out here, losing that didn’t devalue me. In fact, being with Reid hadn’t taken anything from me at all. I’d lost nothing in this process, this transaction of flesh. I’d only gained a deeper understanding of the world and my place in it. Being with Reid was as spiritual an experience as I’d ever had in any church. Maybe even more so.

“I just… don’t understand the things people say about life out here in the English world,” I told him, stroking my fingers along his arm. “How can what we have possibly be sinful, when it brings me so much joy? So much bliss?”

Reid smiled faintly—not too much, or he’d hurt himself. He said, “I don’t have any good answers for you, darlin’. All I can say is that I’m glad you’re still here with me. And I hope you’ll stay.”

“For how long?” I asked him, returning his smile. “How long should I stay here with you, Reid Brody?”

A grin threatened to split Reid’s lip again. “For as long as you’ll have me.”

“Good,” I replied, nuzzling into his chest and inhaling his scent—sandalwood, leather, and musk. “Because with you, Reid… I feel something I’ve always wanted to feel.” I tilted my head back just enough to look up into his eyes. “I feel free.”

Reid ran his fingers through my hair. “And that, Sarah Miller, is how you’ll feel every day for the rest of your life.”

Was that true? Would staying here, with Reid, mean a liberated life? Could he really promise me that, come what may, I would retain my sovereignty, my freedom?

I wondered about this for the few seconds our mouths remained apart, but when he kissed me, I knew for sure he meant it. And that was good enough for me.

S
o
, there you have it—the story I promised you. Boy meets girl. Boy lies to girl. Boy loses girl and has to get his ass kicked to win her back. Tale as old as time, and all that.

What, you wanna know more? What else is there to tell? Sarah and I lived happily ever after. The end.

Okay, so maybe there’s more to it than that. You gotta work at these things, after all.

Fine. Here’s the truth.

After several days of fucking Sarah on every available surface in my apartment, we went back to Hannah’s to have brunch with her and Ash. Yeah, I said
brunch
—the kind of girly shit I’d never tolerate from anyone else. Ash must’ve had it bad, too, because I didn’t hear any objections from him when we showed up at ten thirty in the morning, ready to eat them both out of house and home. In fact, he looked downright content sitting there at the table, his eyes glued to Hannah’s ass as she cooked us up some French toast and eggs.

“The hell’s the difference between brunch and breakfast?” I asked him as I sat down. “Shit, looks like breakfast food to me.”

“Can’t you just be glad you’re getting fed?” Ash asked me, a smirk on his face. “Especially after the last few days you’ve had. Or am I reading the situation wrong?”

“Nope, definitely not,” I said with a grin, the hairs on my nape standing on end as Sarah glided her hand across my shoulders on her way to join Hannah in the kitchen. “Gotta tell you, man, things have been good. Once we got that bullshit bet out of the way, it just… all fell into place.” I frowned. “But where the hell is Wyatt? Don’t tell me he and Beth didn’t work out?”

“Mm, no, nothing like that,” Ash said, leaning back in his chair. “At least, I don’t think so. Last I heard, they were going ‘off the grid.’ I take that to mean they’re at the fuck cabin, same as you were. I hope you washed the sheets.”

I rolled my eyes. “Right, ‘cause I look like the kind of guy who does laundry.” Ash wrinkled his nose in disgust and disappointment. I laughed. “At least the cabin’s seeing some regular use.”

“Beth needed some time away too, I think,” Ash remarked, casting a glance at Sarah. “You know how it goes. These girls are used to the wild. They need to return to their roots every now and again to de-stress.”

“You make it sound like we’re Amazons, or something,” Hannah said from the kitchen. She was taking the French toast out of the oven and shaking her head. “Maybe it’s just that we know you boys act like asses when you’re around each other, so we want to get you alone to figure out who the
real
you is beneath all that machismo.”

I looked at Sarah and raised a brow. “Is that it, darlin’? You girls just wanna get us men civilized?”

Sarah grinned and shrugged. “Sounds about right,” she said.

“It’s a damn conspiracy,” I told Ash, and he rolled his eyes at me. But I could see the smile tugging at the corners of his lips. “Shit, maybe you should be next in rotation. I bet Hannah could use some time to drag that stick out of your ass. I mean, I was gonna ask if me and Sarah could borrow it again soon…” I cleared my throat, noticing Sarah’s look of
be nice and ask your brother for a favor like a real, adult person.
“…if that’s all right with you.”

Ash eyed me for a moment like I’d just started speaking in tongues. I could tell he wanted to say something, wanted to make fun of me for taking orders from a sweet little Amish girl, maybe. But the truth was we were both whipped, and we knew it. These girls had us not only by the balls, but by our hearts. It was an unspoken truth that resonated between us, something he and I finally had in common.

After a while, he shrugged. “Soon as Beth and Wyatt come home, I don’t see why not. You two got any special plans?”

“It’s a celebration,” I told him, leaning back as Sarah and Hannah arrived with our plates. Sarah kissed me when she put mine down and I smiled at her, kissing her back. I gave her ass a good squeeze too as she walked away to grab her own food, for good measure. “Sarah’s decided for sure that she’s not going back to her village. Seems like a pretty big step, and that deserves some consideration.”

Hannah sat down across from me. She looked like I’d taken the weight of the world off her shoulders. “Thank God,” she said to Sarah with a slow smile. “I was really hoping you’d say that.”

“You were right,” Sarah admitted, squirming a bit in her seat like it pained her to say the words. “The English world isn’t so bad. In fact…” She looked over at me. “It’s kind of perfect.”

I took her hand on top of the table, and cringed when Hannah made a prolonged
awwww
sound. Ash pushed his plate away and held up his hands. “All right, that’s enough. I can’t eat this. You two have ruined my appetite with your sugary bullshit.”

“Awesome,” I said, reaching for his plate with my free hand, “more for me.”

Ash lifted his fork. “Do it, motherfucker. I dare you.”

“Come here and stop fighting,” Sarah said, pulling me toward her. I cupped her cheek in my hand, looking down into her eyes.

“As long as you kiss me, I’ll do any damn thing you want,” I told her.

And she did. And as promised, I left Ash’s plate well enough alone… even when he made gagging noises at us from across the table.

So there we were, one big, happy family. Except for Wyatt and Beth, who at the time, we really, honestly believed were at the damn fuck cabin, fucking like rabbits.

Turns out it was a little more complicated than that… but that’s
their
story…