Page 19 of Promised Secret (Promises, Promises #3)

Chapter Fifteen

DAN

How many times could a man get off in one night?

Three was the record for me, but who was counting?

It was probably why I felt so drained this morning as I pulled myself out of bed to get ready for brunch with our friends.

After spending all night jerking off to the image of a very needy and obedient Clay, I was so tempted to just bail. But Sunday brunch had been a tradition of sorts, and I knew our friends would get on our asses if we didn’t show up without a good reason.

“Morning,” Clay said, stepping out of the bathroom. He’d obviously just gotten out of the shower. He was shirtless, with only a towel wrapped around his waist.

My eyes trailed down his jacked body and landed on the dark marks I’d left on him yesterday. Memories of all the things he let me do to him had the blood rushing to my cheeks.

“Morning,” I murmured, gaze flicking to the ground. I didn’t know if I should be ashamed about how much controlling his orgasm turned me on.

A deep rumble of a laugh rolled out of Clay’s chest as he tugged me forward for a kiss that had me swooning against him. His strong arms caught me and wrapped around me as they locked me in his embrace.

After three orgasms last night, I didn’t think it would be possible to get it up again, but anything that had to do with Clay always surprised me. I was hard against him, and I could feel his erection through his towel, too.

“We don’t have time,” I whispered. My hand was against his firm chest, attempting to push him away, though I admit I wasn’t trying very hard.

He hummed a sound of acknowledgement and nibbled on my bottom lip before pulling back. His green eyes were soft when he pressed a kiss to my forehead.

He might as well stick a knife straight into my heart with how much the action made me bleed for him. Was this another form of comfort? Another way for him to tell me he belonged to me?

Not like that proved anything.

I knew his remarks about being mine were only childish claims that stemmed from a twisted evolution of our close relationship. Clay was trying to keep our relationship the way it’d always been, but this was only a bandage over a wound that’d continue to fester until one or both of us got hurt.

God, I must have been out of my mind for doing what I did to him last night. I blamed being crazed with jealousy and how quickly the alcohol went to my brain.

If I were a better person, I wouldn’t let Clay get even more tangled up in this messed-up situation. I’d set him free and be the good stepbrother I was supposed to be.

If I were a better person, I wouldn’t have let him drag me into a deserted alleyway a couple of blocks away from Hector’s. I wouldn’t have let him kiss me until every cell in my body learned to need him to operate.

But I wasn’t a better person, and that became abundantly clear when we showed up late to brunch. My cheeks were flushed, and my lips were probably swollen from Clay’s bruising kisses, but hey, at least my friends didn’t bring it up like they had last time. That had been awkward as hell.

“You guys finally made it!” Jones called out as we walked up to the table.

It was too hot outside to bring their pets, so we found our way inside the diner.

Clay looked disappointed at the fact. He loved dogs, and since I was allergic, he couldn’t raise one at home and had turned to loving on Lily, Jones’ dog.

The group grabbed the large table in the middle of the diner since Jordan and Wren had joined today.

“When did you guys get back to town?” I asked, taking one of the two empty seats. Clay slid in the other one next to me.

Jordan was Jones’ older brother and co-owner of the largest construction company in town, which Ryker worked for.

Wren was his travel-vlogging boyfriend, and he was also the reason for the recent migration of people to our town.

He posted a series of videos around our idyllic town on his channel, and suddenly everyone wanted to live here.

It felt like all the rental properties here had been swept up overnight, which had led to an increase in rental prices.

Which was also the reason Ryker and Sam had to pretend to be together in order to rent a place.

It was all very ridiculous, and I was glad to have locked in on our current place long before this.

Although the whole “fake-fiancés” thing had led to Ryker and Sam getting together for real, so I’d say things had worked out for the best in the end.

“Last night,” Wren replied with a smile as he grabbed his boyfriend’s hand. There was a look of love in his eyes as he looked at Jordan. It was probably the same feeling I got when I looked at Clay…and there I go thinking about him again.

“Vancouver was nice, but it’s good to be home. We are sorry to have missed all of yesterday’s fun. Heard they got the clock up to five hours but took pity on you,” Jordan commented, and I groaned.

Wren peered at me with a mischievous smile. “That’s not all I heard.”

“Did something else happen?” Ryker leaned over to ask.

“I heard it happened after we left,” Sam told his fiancé. “Something about more hugging and a shouting match in front of the fair.” He glanced at us as if waiting for an explanation.

We couldn’t do anything in this fucking small town without making a potential spectacle of ourselves. The local rumor mill was going as strong as ever. I swore they could compete with the best news stations on how quickly they got their gossip.

“It’s all just a misunderstanding,” Clay replied casually. The others didn’t look convinced as they continued to study us. I didn’t say anything since Clay and I having a little argument wasn’t out of the norm.

I glanced at Jones, who was intently focused on the menu in front of him and looking like he wasn’t interested in this topic of conversation in the slightest. That wasn’t like him at all.

Jones might not like to admit it, but he loved gossiping almost as much as his boyfriend’s mom. I sometimes liked to joke that it was one of the reasons Ryan fell for Jones. Already having a huge gossip for a mom, he was drawn to the familiar.

Which was why it was very strange Jones wasn’t more engaged right now, especially when the gossip involved his friends.

Atlas came over not too long after to take our orders. He looked extra bright today, and there was a noticeable pep in his step as he flitted around the busy brunch crowd. I swore he was moving around so fast that I saw afterimages of him.

Conversation moved on, thankfully. Wren talked a bit about the exciting collaboration he was doing with a famous Canadian vlogger. It was the reason they were in Vancouver.

Sam handed out some more aloe gel his gramps had processed, saying they had more than they could use in a lifetime. His gramps was apparently obsessed with aloe vera plants and had a backyard full of them.

This wasn’t the first time Sam had given us his gramps’ aloe goods, but I wasn’t going to say no to more. I never used it at the clinic, but the stuff was great for sunburns and small cuts.

In fact, I’d smeared some on where I’d bitten Clay’s bottom lip, and it’d already fully healed. Maybe I was imagining it, but his lips seemed softer, too. I glanced over at him. Clay swallowed his food and licked his lips. They looked fuller, too…

I needed to stop looking at his lips. I needed to stop looking at him in general. I focused back on my food.

The AC blew over me, carrying a familiar musky scent. Why did Clay always smell so good? It must be the reason I liked being beside him so much, all so that I could bask in the smell of him.

He smelled better the closer you got to him, too. I wanted to press my nose right up against his skin and inhale his scent directly from the source.

He’d smelled so good last night while I explored his body.

Surely cocks weren’t supposed to smell good, but his was fucking intoxicating.

His musky scent came through even with the sweat from the hot day, making him smell warmer if that was even possible.

It was like I’d bottled up his essence and made it into a heady aphrodisiac that I’d willingly bathe myself in.

My dick twitched, and I shot to my feet. My friends all turned to me at the sudden action, and I quickly excused myself, using the reason of nature calling.

The first thing I did in the bathroom was splash my face with freezing cold water. The fantasies of Clay had gotten worse these days. Even as a horny teen, I’d been able to control my thoughts of him…or I was at least able to control them in front of other people.

Alone in my room? Well, that was another story altogether.

I wasn’t a horny teenager now, and yet it was harder now more than ever to stop thinking about him.

Was it because teenage me could only imagine how Clay’s face would twist in beautiful perfection when he came?

I knew now just how beautiful he was during an orgasm, which was probably why I kept replaying the scene over in my mind.

The bathroom door opened, and I saw Clay walk in through the mirror at the sink. Looking at my face, he frowned. He rolled some paper towels and strode over to me.

“You’re getting your shirt wet,” he said in a scolding tone as he turned me around and carefully wiped the water droplets from my face.

I watched him as he took care of me. It was moments like these that made letting him go so hard. The man was too kind for his own good. I mean, who else would kiss another man to comfort them when he wasn’t even attracted to men? Who else would let another man touch them?

Desire warred with my moral side. I knew I was corrupting him and making him do things he otherwise wouldn’t do. I knew I was messing up the dynamic we’d carefully built up over the years. I was being selfish and jeopardizing our parents’ happiness.

I wished I were stronger. I wished I were strong enough to look at Clay’s tender expression as he swiped back my damp hair and be unaffected.

That was something I’d have to learn another day. Right now, I leaned in for a kiss. My heart constricted by the way he leaned in too and closed his eyes, as if expecting it. As if needing it as much as I did…

His lips were soft against mine. The kiss was more soothing than anything else.

We were playing a dangerous game, kissing in the middle of a public space where anyone could walk in at any time, but it seemed gambling by toeing the line was all I was doing these days.

I lost the gamble today.

The bathroom door opened, and I caught Jones’ eye before I could end the kiss.

He couldn’t hide the fluster on his face as he backtracked. “Looks like they’re cleaning the bathrooms right now,” he said to someone behind him as the door swung fully closed.

Clay turned around at the sound of Jones’ voice, but he only saw a closed door. He faced me again, and his hand stroked my face nonchalantly.

Meanwhile, my heart hammered so hard in my chest I heard the pounding in my ears. Clay’s eyes were closed, so he probably didn’t know that we’d just been caught kissing.

Jones knew.