The Fight for Us (31 page)

“Fuck.” She was so quiet when the curse escaped her lips. When he started thrusting up into her, she was still whimpering and gasping in the quietest, sweetest voice he’d ever heard.

He was moaning, barely able to restrain his own voice as he licked her. There was nothing headier than reclaiming her. That man had no right to her any longer, and however juvenile it was, it was also intensely gratifying knowing he was experiencing something her ex-husband would never have again. Todd’s unwelcome tongue in her mouth didn’t compare to what she was willing to let Isaiah do to her. He fucking owned this.

“Isaiah… Oh, God. Isaiah.” She moaned, still using her fingers to keep her lips parted for him, and her legs were trembling, leaving him worried she might collapse at any moment.

He angled his chin up between her legs, pulling his fingers from her and giving his tongue a turn. He slid his tongue deep into her hole and licked and explored with as much desperation as he’d shown her mouth. The skin inside her pussy was just as silky wet and smooth as her mouth, but the heat was hotter, and that flesh hugged his tongue as he worked it in and out of her.

She fell apart the moment he moved back up to her clit. One well-placed touch of his tongue on her tight little clit, and she was done for. She cried out, and he listened to her nails as they dug into the chair back just behind his shoulder. She finally sank to his lap, still trembling and twitching, and he reached for her pussy again, plunging his fingers into her and gently stroking slow even penetrations.

Her head sank to his shoulder as she took deep breaths and her chest heaved.

“You’re going to need to catch your breath, baby, ’cause I intend to stick my cock down your throat in a minute.”

The very thought of invading her mouth with the most intimate part of his body was suddenly such a powerful need that he could barely contain himself. How had one inappropriate, sloppy kiss from Todd turned him in to such an alpha male dog, ready to hump her leg and mark her as his territory?

She gasped, and he stroked her back as he chuckled quietly. However desperate his drive to consume was at the moment, he still intended to enjoy it thoroughly.

It was more like five minutes that she needed to regain her composure. And when she started breathing calmly and steadily again, he led her to bed. He had no idea if she knew what he intended to do, but when he brushed his fingers between the lips of her sex and then thrust his finger into her, she was still wet. The silky cum was thicker and building fast. If he were guessing, she didn’t give a shit what he wanted to do to her at this point, and he loved that.

“Lie down on your back and let your head hang over the edge of the bed.”

She moved into position, and he pushed his flannels the rest of the way down, kicking them away from his feet. He let his cock rest against her cheek, and she turned to it and licked. He reached for her mouth in the dark, and when he found it, he slipped his fingers, still wet with her cum, into her mouth. She sucked, and he thrust gently, and then he guided his cock to her mouth with his free hand, letting the head pass her lips as he pulled his fingers out.

He rocked his hips forward, letting his dick sink to the back of her mouth. She pulled at him as her lips suctioned around his breadth, and when he pulled back out, she hummed. He crouched down, letting his lips trail to her ear, and when he placed his hand on the front of her throat, he felt as she swallowed.

“I’ll go slowly, but I’m going to push in deep. Relax your throat and force yourself to ignore the need to swallow. If you need me to stop, put your hands on my thighs, but don’t do it unless you absolutely need to. All I want you to do is close your eyes and think about what it felt like to have my tongue in your pussy. You concentrate on that and nothing else.”

She nodded her head.

“Good girl.”

When she turned her head toward him, he caught her lips and kissed her gently.

He stood again and guided his cock back to her mouth. He pushed in and paused, waiting for her to relax and open up the back of her mouth more so he could slide deeper. He felt her throat open, and he sank farther into her as he moaned.

“You have the most incredible taste.” He started thrusting slowly, rolling his hips forward as he fucked her throat. All he wanted was her aroused. If she was aroused, she wouldn’t think about the large cock in her throat. “I’ve never tasted anything so amazing in all my life.” He nudged deeper, sinking to his hilt. “The warmth, the scent, that fucking sweet flavor you have…” His hips kept fucking, and he reached for her neck, gently resting his palm to the front of her throat. When he pushed in again, he felt her throat distend, and the words he’d been ready to say were interrupted by his own moan.

“Fuck, Joss.” He breathed out her name on a whisper as he felt his breadth filling her throat. He kept sliding in and out, letting his dick sink into her throat each and every time. “You’re going to swallow my cum, aren’t you.” It wasn’t a question, and she couldn’t have answered him if she wanted. She was silent as he kept plunging and retreating. His movements were quickening, but her hands didn’t touch him. He was nearly shocked she could handle it as his hips sped and he neared his release, but her hands never once touched him, and he came closer and closer to his end as he thrust and plunged.

He finally unleashed himself deep in her mouth, and he held that depth as he surged in her throat. He pulled from her slowly, leaving his hand in place on the front of her neck and feeling it as she swallowed him. There was actually nothing more arousing in the world to him than coming inside her. He didn’t give a shit if it was her mouth or her pussy.

Her hands did reach for him then, and she gripped the back of his thighs as her mouth started gently sucking on his cock. She was licking and pulling his still hard dick into her mouth. When her hands moved up to the cheeks of his bottom, she gripped him harshly there too. As she kept slowly and gently sucking on him, her fingers delved between his cheeks. His muscles flinched for a moment, but he forced himself to relax as she moved deeper. Her fingertips brushed gently across the deepest and most intimate skin there, and he cursed when she stroked across his anus.

He froze in place panting. He didn’t know what sensation to focus on—her mouth, which was still toying with his dick, or her finger, which was circling and gently rubbing the one place no lover had ever touched. When she finally let his cock drop from her mouth and pulled her hands back from his bottom, he dropped to his knees at the side of the bed. His head sank to the bed beside her own. She turned her face to him as he panted and struggled to breathe. She let her mouth nuzzle against his ear gently.

“No more toxic poison now, huh?” She spoke quietly, and he could feel her lips pulling up against the side of his face as she spoke.

“Definitely not.” He chuckled, still struggling to catch his breath.

By the time he crawled into bed with her and pulled her into his arms, he was finally ready for sleep. But she killed that need for sleep in an instant. She took a deep breath, and he could tell there was something more to come.

“Todd said something.”

At first he had no idea what to make of her comment.

“About Nat. Did she try to kill herself after your wife died?”

He froze in place, suddenly tense, almost angry. “Why didn’t you mention it sooner?” He wasn’t sure if she deserved his irritation, and he took a deep breath, calming the need welling up inside him to get angry.

She said nothing for a moment, and it became harder and harder to stay relaxed about this. “I guess I thought if you’d wanted me to know, you’d have told me.”

He suddenly felt guilty. It was true. He’d wanted to protect Nat from the world, and for some reason, he’d lumped Joss into that category. He hadn’t wanted Joss to know, because he’d wanted Nat to be normal—even in her eyes. Joss was too compassionate to ever judge Nat, and Isaiah suddenly felt like a shit.

She sighed. “I decided you needed to know. Obviously Todd managed to find out, and I just thought it was important that I tell you.” She said nothing for a moment. “I’m sorry. Clearly you didn’t want me to know.”

“Joss—”

“It’s okay.” Her voice was quiet. “I love you.” She rolled away from him.

He said nothing for a long time. It was minutes later before he finally responded. “I love you too.” He rolled from her also. He wasn’t trying to be rude. He didn’t suspect she was either. But he’d made a mistake to withhold it from her. It wasn’t fair to expect her to give him her life when he was hiding part of his. He’d wanted to protect Nat from the wrong person, and it ended up hurting Joss’s feelings in the process, and for what? Joss could never be Nat’s enemy. Not ever.

And after he’d stared at the darkness in front of him for at least fifteen minutes, he decided he didn’t want to handle this poorly. He flipped his lamp on and rolled back toward her. She wasn’t asleep either, and as her eyes blinked at the sudden dim lamplight surrounding them, she rolled to her back. He was propped up on his elbow, looking down at her, and she looked concerned.

“What do you see when you look at her?” He wasn’t sure if his question was actually making any sense, and he wasn’t at all sure where it might be going either.

She stared for a moment, and the confused expression said he was right. It was something of an open-ended question, and she was no more certain than he about where this would go. She opened her mouth, closed it, looked away for a moment, and then looked back. “I see one of the most patient and accepting girls I’ve ever met. I see a beautiful young woman who’s taught my daughter to be better. I see a girl who’s handled the worst things life can throw at her with grace I’m not so sure I’d have if I were in her shoes. I see strength. Pain. Sadness. But a whole lot of happiness too.”

She reached for his cheek, running her palm along the side of his face. He turned into it, letting his mouth meet the palm of her hand for a moment and inhaling against her skin.

He cleared his throat before he spoke, feeling the shame of his thoughts before he’d even expressed them. “I see her crumpled over her mother’s body, screaming for Delia to wake up. And I see her lifeless body on the floor of the bathroom two months later when she decided she’d rather join her mom than cope with losing her.” He tried to smile at her, but he was too busy fighting the tears at the back of his eyes to sell the smile. “I just see her traumas.” He shrugged his shoulders, and he looked away. He felt guilty pigeonholing his daughter, but he wanted to be honest.

Joss leaned up, kissing him gently on the mouth before resting back on the bed. “What makes you think you’re not seeing your own traumas?” She watched him, saying nothing, just letting her words sink in.

He curled up around her body, and she snuggled into his chest. “She seems so breakable sometimes.” He couldn’t seem to stop being honest with her.

Joss’s lips moved against his skin. “We all are at times.”

It took them little less than a week to find out just how breakable they could be…

Chapter Twenty-Seven

“So why not just buy a house, Joss? I mean, you’re a realtor.”

Joss wandered around the small second story apartment with the landlord in tow. The apartment sat above a bakery on Main Street, and the entire place smelled of cinnamon and warm bread. She was pretty sure she could gain weight just smelling the incredible scents that wafted up from below, but it was actually a cute little place. The building was an old brick one as most were on Main Street, and there were a couple exposed brick walls, old worn hardwood floors, and tall ceilings. It was too eclectic not to love—even if she’d be sacrificing half the space she was used to. The kitchen alone was a third the size as she had, but she figured it wouldn’t really matter the size; she could easily ruin a meal regardless of the square footage.

“Well, I’m not entirely sure where I want to be in a year.”

“Thinking of moving away from the island?”

Joss had known James for years, and he owned at least ten rental properties around the island. She wasn’t surprised he was prying; it’s just what folks did around here. Too few people, especially in winter, not to meddle.

“No, just want to give myself some time before I make a big decision like buying a home. Or don’t make a decision like that at all as the case may be.” She wandered away from James as he watched after her. She was giving very little away, and she was being very intentional about it.

When her phone rang, it was as she was peeking into the master bedroom closet. “This is Joss.”

“Joselyn Verna?”

“Yes.”

“This is Sue Harding at Bristol High School. Principal Johnson’s assistant?”

“Yes. I recall you. Is Harper okay? Natalie?”

“Natalie Henry? How did you hear about that?”

It only just struck her that while she tended to think of them as a unit of some sort Ms. Harding certainly wouldn’t understand that. Joss didn’t much care at the moment though, because the woman’s comment had brought her up short for a different reason.

“Hear about what? Is Nat okay?” Her voice sounded shrill.

“I’m really not at liberty to discuss Natalie Henry with you, Ms. Verna. I’m calling regarding Harper. Principal Johnson would like to see you right away.”

“What? Why? Is she okay?” The shrill wasn’t dying down a bit, and Joss caught herself being just as rude to the cryptic Sue Harding on this day as she was on the first day she’d made the woman’s acquaintance.

“She’s fine, but she’s being suspended, and we need you here as soon as possible to take her home. Principal Johnson will discuss the details when you arrive.”

Joss said nothing. She was in shock, and she couldn’t for the life of her devise an appropriate response.

“Ms. Verna? Are you there?”

“Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Uh… I’m on my way.” She hung up as she turned, nearly careening into James. “Oh! James, I’m so sorry, but I have to leave. A bit of an emergency.” As she walked she kept talking over her shoulder to the man as he watched her. “I’m interested. In fact, it’s the best I’ve seen so far, and I’d stay and do the rental agreement, but I…I just can’t right now. I’m so sorry. I’ll call you.” She snatched her coat off the kitchen counter, throwing it over her shoulders.