Sweet Surrender (2 page)

One twenty-three.

One twenty-four.

One twenty-five.

Candi sat up. It was no use. It was too fucking hot to sleep. And that kiss kept playing over and over and over in her head, making her that much hotter. She’d already masturbated twice. Her fingers still smelled of her musky sweet juices. But, still, she was tight all over, and her mind wouldn’t shut down.

She needed another kiss.

Or, better yet, she needed what that kiss had promised.

“Like that’s going to happen,” she whispered as she padded barefoot across the old, creaky wood floor toward the window.

There was no breeze. The air outside was still and muggy. In the distance, she heard the rumble of thunder. She saw the flicker of lightning far off to the north.

“What am I doing here? What?”

She told herself she’d come back here for some closure. After breaking up with her boyfriend and losing her job, she’d decided to make a move. Back home. She’d needed to see them--Justin and Cody. They’d haunted her thoughts and dreams for a long, long time, and she’d finally come to the conclusion, after drowning her sorrows in way too many margaritas, that she would never be able to have a healthy, solid relationship with a man until she either hooked up with one or both of the Dean brothers, or finally put that idea to rest.

It was looking like the latter would most likely happen. Not the former.

But then there was a soft knock. The doorknob rattled. And, when the door inched open, the hinges whined.

She was standing nude, in front of the window, moonlight and the occasional flash of lightning outside illuminating the room. It was pretty dark. But she knew who had come to pay her a visit. Her pussy clenched.

“Justin,” she whispered, tiptoeing toward the bed. He was headed there too. She beat him, sitting with her back resting against the old scarred wooden headboard. She pulled the sheet up, grasping it to her chest.

He sat next to her legs, stared into her eyes. “Why did you come here?”

“I had some unfinished business to take care of.”

“What ‘unfinished business’?”

Letting go of the sheet, she grabbed two hands full of silky, wavy hair and pulled until his mouth was crushing hers. She kissed him with all the passion she’d kept pent up inside for the past four years. Her tongue pushed inside his mouth, pulling in his flavor, exploring every decadent inch. His tongue found hers, stroked, conquered, possessed. And before she realized it, she was on her back, writhing beneath him. He swung a leg over her hip, straddling her body. His hands found her breasts, kneaded their soft fullness. His fingers flicked over her nipples, and little jabbing stabs of pleasure zipped and zoomed through her body.

“Ohmygod,” she murmured as she tipped her hips up. Her pussy ached, a pounding throb beating in time to her racing heartbeat. She needed a touch there, in her center. A stroke. No, she needed more than that. So much more.

“Dammit,” he murmured as he sprinkled kisses over her cheeks, her eyelids, her neck. “I don’t want to want you like this. It isn’t right.”

“Shut up. Just shut up.” She arched her back, pushing her breasts into his hands. His palms and pads of his fingers were rough, calloused. They felt so fucking good on her sensitive nipples. “I don’t give a damn about what’s right or wrong. It just is. That’s all.”

“But I promised to protect you.” His hands skimmed down her body, and ripples of wanting quaked her. He called it wrong, but to her this was right. One hundred percent right. Her body had been waiting for this moment for a long time. His hands possessing her. His arms wrapped around her. His lips claiming her.

“From whom?”

“Assholes like me.” He sat back, looking down upon her with dark eyes. His face was a mask of hard male need. But in his eyes she read something else. Indecision. Confusion.

“You’re not an asshole.” Lying like this, naked, sucking in great big gasps of air, she felt exposed and awkward.

As if he sensed how she felt, Justin pulled the sheet over her, covering her breasts. “I am if I let this go any further.”

“Why did you come in here tonight? It’s the middle of the night. You didn’t sneak into my room to discuss the weather.”

“I wanted to warn you about Cody.”

“Warn me?”

“Cody wants you.”

“Like you do?”

Even in the semi-darkness, Candi could see Justin’s face was turning red. “Like I do.”

“There’s no shame in it, Justin. None at all. Look at us. We’re attracted to each other. That’s normal. You and your brother are the sexiest men I’ve ever known. I’d have to be blind not to notice.” She pulled on his shoulder, coaxing him to lie next to her. She rolled on her side to face him. “You asked why I came here, and I’ll tell you. I came to see you. And Cody. I’ve been trying to push you two out of my head for the past four years. I’ve dated men. I was even engaged. But none of those relationships worked out. And you know why that is?”

Justin shook his head. A wave of thick hair flopped down over his forehead.

“Because I can’t stop wondering what if,” she said as she stared at his gorgeous face. He had a mole on his cheekbone, under his eye. It was so fucking sexy. And his eyes, a dark gray-blue, were the shade of a stormy sea.

“’
What if
’
what?”

“What if you and I and Cody allowed ourselves to actually acknowledge what we feel for each other.”

“That’s crazy.”

“no, it isn’t.”

“Yes, it is. We can’t do that.”

She wanted to scream. She wanted to pound on that broad chest of his until he caught her wrists in his fists and pinned them up over her head. “Why?”

“Because we just can’t. And I know you’re going to do your damned best to break me.” He rolled over top of her, caging her head between his bent elbows. “I’m warning you, don’t do it.”

Her breath caught in her throat. When he was like this, emanating raw power, like a wild animal on the verge of pouncing upon its prey, her nerves did crazy things. “Or what?”

“I promise, you’ll regret it.” He bent down, brushed his mouth over hers in a teasing almost-kiss, then heaved off of her. And before she had caught her breath again, he was gone.

“Wow,” she muttered to herself as she closed her eyes. “Now that should help me fall asleep.”

The next day, Candi tried to pretend she wasn’t sleep-deprived while Sandy chattered on and on about her plans to move while she scrambled a mountain of eggs on her old, greasy cast iron skillet. The scents of fresh-from-the-coop eggs cooking in real butter filled the room, along with the snap and pop of grease spattering.

After shoveling in a scrambled egg or two, and washing it down with lots of black coffee, Candi, dressed in a t-shirt and shorts, ambled outside. Today, she was going to help clean out the barn, organize her father’s tools so they could be sold at the estate sale that was scheduled for the following weekend. This gave her an excuse to putter around in what she’d always considered her dad’s world--the old weather-beaten, musty, straw-filled barn where she’d once collected a family of cats and hopped around in the hayloft.

The barn was different now. When her father was still alive it was dirty and dusty, but it still looked inhabited, used. Now it felt empty and forgotten, despite all the stuff that had been stacked out there, stored until the move.

And the loft. The loft...

Just for kicks, she climbed the ladder and took a peek.

It was empty. No bales of hay to climb on or around or sneak behind.

No hay to throw at two gorgeous, laughing brothers.

Just old creaky floor boards and lots of dust.

She pulled herself up and cautiously tested the nearest floorboard.

“Hellloooo? Candi? Are you in here”

Cody. She peered over the edge, waving. “I’m up here. I can come down.”

“No, that’s okay. I’ll come up.”

She moved to the side and waited, watching as Cody’s head then shoulders came into view. His arms flexed, the muscles of his shoulders and biceps clenching as he pulled himself up onto the platform and found his footing.

He glanced around them. “Wow, it’s been a long time since I’ve been up here.”

“Really?”

He tested a board, putting part of his weight on it. “I wasn’t sure if it was safe anymore.”

“Seems to be pretty solid to me.”

“It does.”

She moved deeper into the loft, toward the small window at the far end. The glass was grimy, speckled with dead insects and god-only-knows-what-else. She grimaced. “It isn’t exactly how I remember it.”

“How do you remember it?”

“Full of hay. Stacked to the rafters.” She felt herself smiling. “Do you remember how we used to hide up here?”

“Do you remember the time we hid from Angie together?”

She did remember. That was one of the memories that had haunted her for the past four years. It was a moment when she remember feeling like a woman for the first time. Her skin had sizzled, and her pussy had become so wet, she’d had to change her panties when she’d gone back inside the house.

Swept up in the images that flashed through her mind, she leaned back, letting the spiderweb-coated wall behind her support her. “I remember.”

“I’ve never forgotten, either. I remember every second. Every sensation. The smell of your hair. The sound of your breathing. The way your skin felt.”

Her knees were getting soft.

Her gaze locked with Cody’s, and suddenly it felt like a blast furnace had ignited in that loft. Or some kind of electrical charge was buzzing between them. “You were so strong. So big. I felt small lying next to you. Vulnerable. But in a good way.”

“And what about now?” he asked, stepping closer. He wasn’t close enough yet, not by a long shot. But even at this distance, she was feeling small and overpowered again. That sensation sent waves of heat crashing through her body.

“Now, too.”

His lips curled up. “I was hoping you’d say that.” He leaned forward, caging her head between his outstretched arms, his hands braced on the wall. “I’m going to kiss you.”

She wanted him to kiss her. And so much more. She nodded, closed her eyes. One second passed. Another. Finally, his mouth found hers. His lips brushed back and forth, back and forth. They were soft, perfect. Not too hard or demanding. Not too shy either.

When his tongue traced the seam of her mouth, she opened to him. It slid along her tongue, filling her mouth with the flavors of mint and man, and she felt her knees buckle. She reached out, looping her arms around his neck, but he grasped her wrists in his fists and pinned them up against the wall, above her head.

She moaned. To be so powerless, so utterly under his control. It was delicious. Decadent. Forbidden. And she never wanted it to end.

While his tongue and lips tasted, explored, taunted, his knee wedged between her legs. His thigh pushed between hers, pressing against the burning flesh at their juncture.

More. She wanted more. She wanted him to pull her to the floor, yank her shorts down and drive his cock deep into her empty pussy. She’d been waiting so long. Too long.

“No more,” she murmured into their joined mouths.

“No more what?” He nipped the corner of her mouth then flicked his tongue down the side of her neck. “Isn’t this what you’ve been wanting? Waiting for?” Using his chin, he pushed her head to the side, to give him easier access to the sensitive skin along her jaw.

“No more teasing me. Please.”

“I’m not teasing. I don’t ever tease. Look at me.” He cupped her chin, forced her to meet his gaze. “I want you. I want you in every way a man wants a woman. Tell me to stop right now if you have any doubts. Because in another minute, in another second, I won’t be able to stop.”

“I don’t--“

“Not yet.” His hold tightened. On her chin. On her wrists too. “There’s a reason why my brother stopped things last night. He did it to protect you. From himself. From me. From what we would expect.”

“What do you mean by that? What would you expect? And why would you think I need to be protected from it?”

“There are things about us you don’t know. Dark, ugly things. And because of those secrets, we aren’t like other men.

“I still don’t understand.”

“There’s a part of us we don’t understand either. Which is why we don’t trust ourselves sometimes.”

“Are you dangerous?”

“It depends upon how you’re using that word. Do we break women’s hearts? We do. Do we break their souls? We have. We’re demanding, possessive, domineering, complete asses at times.”

“I’ve known you for years, but I’ve never seen that side of either of you.”

“You’ve seen only what we’ve let you see. If this goes any further, you’ll see the rest. And there’s a good chance you’ll regret it.” He released her, stepping away, and for the first time in a while, she took a deep breath. “So, I’ll ask you one last time, are you sure you want to do this? Because once we cross this line, there’s no going back.”

She stared into his eyes, her head slowly bobbing up and down. “Show me your demons.”

He slammed forward, his mouth crushing hers. The kiss was a fiery possession. It was everything the last one hadn’t been. It was impatient, demanding, forceful, thrilling, head-spinning and lustful. One minute, she was smashed between a hard, thick wall of man and the hard wooden wall of the barn, and the next, she was on the floor, on her back. Cody knelt next to her. Carnal need flickered in his eyes.

“Take off your clothes.”

Her hands shook as she lifted her top over her head. She was excited and nervous, both. Unsure whether she could handle Cody’s demands, but wanting, desperately, to make him happy.

He licked his lips. His gaze focused on her tits. “You are so beautiful, little Candi.”

Her face warming at his compliment, she unbuttoned the fly of her jean shorts and, thrusting her hips up, slid them down over her hips. Her panties came down with them. Down her thighs, over her knees, to her ankles. She kicked them off.

She was nude now, lying on the lumpy wooden loft floor, breathing as fast as a marathon runner. “Can I see you too?”

He tore his shirt off, rammed his pants down. His cock was fully erect. Thick and hard. A gush of liquid slicked her pussy lips at the sight of him. His body was absolutely perfect. Perfectly proportioned. Muscular. Lean waist. Chiseled abdominals. Thick arms and broad shoulders.

“Show me your pussy.”

She bent her knees, parted her legs, letting him see her. As she lay there, watching him, waiting, her heart thumped against her breastbone. Air sawed in and out of her lungs.

He moved closer, placed a hand on each knee, pushing them wider. Then he bent over her, flicking his tongue over her pussy lips.

A blaze of erotic need shot through her system. She whimpered, whispered, “Oh, God.”

“Oh, Baby, you taste so good.” Using his fingers, he parted her pussy lips, exposing her clit. And then, with his teeth, lips and tongue, he tormented it until she was trembling from head to toe, gasping for breath, and tight all over.

“Please,” she whispered, over and over. “Please, no more. I want you inside of me.”

“No, I can’t.” He flicked his tongue up and down, up and down, using just the right amount of pressure. She’d never had a man do it so well, never been so desperate for a hard, thick cock. “I won’t fuck you. Not without Justin.”

“Why?”

“I told you.” He pushed a finger inside, hooking it so his knuckle scraped against the sensitive spot inside her. Her back arched, she groaned, and an intense wave of heat blazed through her body. Her pussy spasmed around his finger, and she rode the waves of glorious pleasure until they’d receded. He pulled his finger out, smiled, and lifted it to her mouth. “Taste.”

She flicked her tongue over his fingertip, catching the combined flavor of his skin and her cream. Sweet and salty.

“Now, it’s your turn.” As he rose up on his knees, he caught her hair in his hands, a fist full on either side of her head, and gently eased her toward his thick cock.

Knowing what he expected, she took the base of his rod in her fist, opened her mouth and took him as deep as she could, letting him guide her with his hands. She focused on all the sensations pummeling her system as his cock slid along the cushion of her tongue, in and out, in and out. The taste of his skin and his salty precome. The sound of her lips smacking, his low growls of pleasure, the creak of the floorboards. The smell of man and hay and dirt. And the feel of his skin warming beneath her hands as her fingers mapped the lines of his corded thigh muscles.

“Yes, baby. That’s the way. Damn,” he muttered as he rammed his cock into her mouth. “Just wait until we get you. Just wait. We’re going to make you come so hard you’ll scream,” he promised again and again. “You’re such a good girl. Our good girl.” His movements grew jerky. His skin so hot it burned. “Yes,” he said, louder. “I’m going to come. Swallow it.” He drew his hips back, until just the tip of his cock remained in her mouth. A spurt of salty cum flooded her mouth, washing over her tongue and down her throat. She swallowed hard. Once, twice, three times. And when he was through, she licked him clean. Every inch.

When he withdrew from her, he lay on the floor, pulling her down with him. Together, they huffed and puffed until their breathing finally slowed and their tingling, overheated bodies had cooled. Just as she was about to get up and look for her clothes, someone came into the barn.

“Candi?” Justin said. “Are you out here?”

Unsure whether she should answer, she slid a questioning glance at Cody.