Page 24 of Right Side of Paradise

Forbidden Fruit

Today was a good day.

I had Rico’s credit card in my pocket, a bucket of rum punch in my hands and the sun shining on my skin.

People were dancing. Smiling. Happy.

I didn’t know how he did it, but Mr. Tiny had managed to get my grandma up out of her lawn chair to do a two-step beside him.

“They’re so fucking cute.” I grinned to myself, stopping in my tracks to pull my phone out of my pocket and snapped a zoomed in picture of them.

She’d go back to saying he got on her nerves tomorrow, but at least I had a photo for posterity.

I moved through the crowd and past Christian’s booth for Paradise. He wasn’t inside but his staff had everything moving smoothly.

There were only two options: rum punch or a bottle of Blue Moon with an orange slice wedged into the top.

The number of people walking away with one in each hand…

I snickered like I hadn’t done the same thing twenty minutes ago.

We were all gonna be drunk off our asses. Thank God everybody lived within walking distance.

The event ran from two p.m. til sunset, so I had a good four hours left to spend some more of Rico’s hard-earned money.

Soul’s parents had a tent set up, selling barbecue. His parents could throw down, which made him not being able to boil water even funnier.

Rico was with my mom behind the stage until this band went off.

And Christian…was somewhere. The last time I saw him he was walking around with a to-go tray full of hush puppies and fried chicken.

We were all scattered around, doing our own thing, but I felt at ease knowing we were all in one place and going home together tonight.

That was all that mattered.

Two hours later, my bucket of rum punch had been replaced with a cup of watermelon slices covered in lime juice.

I might have been on my way to drunk, but I’d be hydrated getting there. I’d already walked to Rico’s Jeep three times to drop off shopping bags. I was on my fourth and final trip, wading through people line dancing and congregating on the stairs leading back up to the parking lot.

But my steps faltered when I got to the top and saw the woman Rico was talking to.

Lyric Dawson.

His high school sweetheart.

My heart sank right to my ass. Immediately, the bag I was holding on the crook of my arm felt too heavy and the fruit in my cup was unappetizing.

What were they talking about and why was she looking at him like that?

They were a few feet away from me, unaware of my staring and still engrossed in a conversation that had her looking at him with gotdamn hearts in her eyes.

They weren’t touching. Rico had his arms folded across his chest. And his biceps looked edible while doing it. But still…

What did they have to talk about for so long?

Two more songs played before she rocked back on her heels, moving away from him.

When she walked away, I walked up to Rico, prepared to ask.

The sensations tugging at my heart were uninvited and asking for a swift eviction.

Rico’s face lit up when he saw me and he grabbed the bag I was carrying before I could part my lips.

“Hey, baby.”

Jealousy was a raggedy bitch, and she had her clutches in me right now because I couldn’t even acknowledge how happy he looked to see me, or how he instantly moved into my space. He hadn’t done that with Lyric.

“Was that Lyric?”

Rico slanted his head to look at me. He squinted against the sun beating down on my back and shining directly in his face.

“Yeah, that was Lyric. What’s up?”

“Have y’all dated recently? Why was she looking at you like that?”

He stepped closer, his hand shielding his eyes as he looked down at me. “Like what?”

“She looked at you like a woman in love.”

“Yeah?” He licked his lips. “How does a woman in love look?”

“Answer my question. Have y’all dated recently?”

“No,” he said quickly. “Now you answer my question: what does a woman in love look like?”

“The way she was looking at you,” I blurted, that uneasy feeling still slithering around in my chest.

Rico studied me for a beat. Until I looked away and at the sneakers covering his feet.

“I only care how you look at me,” he tipped my chin up, connecting our gazes.

His platinum grill made an appearance when he curled his lips in a half-smile.

“Please don’t laugh at me.” My voice wavered and I felt exposed. It took me years to master the art of remaining neutral when I felt anything but, and that all slipped away as I stood in front of my stepbrother.

It had to be because he was one of the people who knew me better than anybody else.

“Aw, shit. You really upset?”

My head moved in a stiff nod. I couldn’t hide from him if I tried. And I didn’t want to. The worst part was I didn’t feel any of this when I saw him and Soul together. So why was I feeling it now? Was he going to go back to dating her after I left this summer? Why was that thought even in my head?

“Come on.” Rico grabbed my hand and pulled me behind him through the crowd. I didn’t care that my mom or anyone else could see us like this. Matter of fact, some subconscious part of me needed him to claim me publicly right now.

What ? I told you I was a mess.

Rather than leading me to the parking lot, Rico led me to a little hideaway behind the recreational center that shared a parking lot with the amphitheater.

It was closed today, and Rico took full advantage, slipping into the outdoor area shielded from foot traffic while I followed him wordlessly.

He sat my shopping bag down on a ledge and pried the fruit cup from my hands to do the same.

When it was just us, standing face to face, he stared at me.

Jaw slack.

Eyes narrowed.

Head tilted.

But this time the sun wasn’t in his eyes, and he got a good look at me.

“Fuck you crying for?” Rico kissed his teeth as the pad of his thumb swiped my cheek.

I didn’t even notice a tear had slipped out. I was never drinking rum again.

“We ain’t had a real conversation in days and this is how you coming?

Over somebody I don’t want? Why you care if I’m talking to somebody?

” He toyed with the ends of the silk scarf I was wearing as a headband.

Another one of his designs. “Look at me, Harlow. I don’t give a fuck about anybody but you, Soul and Christian. That’s who I go home to. Nobody else.”

I heard what he was saying.

But I still felt vulnerable. Jealous. Confused. I didn’t know what was happening to me. But I needed it to stop.

“You feel like this when I’m talking to Soul and Chris?”

“No.”

“Then what’s wrong? Talk to me.”

Avoiding his critical eyes, I mumbled, “I overreacted.”

“Yeah, I know.” His hand was on my cheek. “You been dramatic all your life, but I know what this is.”

I held his gaze because if somebody had an answer to why I was acting like this over my stepbrother, I needed them to tell me two minutes ago. “What?”

“You missed me.”

“Rico, I see you every day.”

“You sleep in my bed every day, but we haven’t seen each other since Monday.”

That was only three days.

And yet.

He smirked like he could see me connecting the dots in my head.

“Just say you missed me so I can fuck this attitude out of you and have you crying for a different reason, baby.”

He didn’t wait though. He picked me up and had my legs around his waist in one breath.

“Say it,” he commanded, sucking my bottom lip into his greedy mouth.

A sigh left me the same time I wrapped my arms around his shoulders.

“I missed you.”

Rico nodded, still kissing me. “I know, baby. And I’ma take care of you so you can walk around for the rest of this function knowing you ain’t gotta worry about nobody else.”

In two steps, he backed us against the wall and had his hand under my skirt. I only had on bikini bottoms underneath and he pushed it aside with too much ease.

My clit was so demanding. Aching and throbbing. Ready for his touch.

Rico didn’t let me down. He caressed my clit with teasing strokes. “Snow if you want me to stop,” he said, reminding me of the safe word we’d picked a few days ago.

“Okay…” I gasped at the finger pressing against my lips, massaging my wetness until he finally pushed inside.

“I can fuck this pussy, Harlow?”

“Yes.” I didn’t want him to do anything but that.

Rico hummed against my throat before kissing me there. I knew I tasted like sweat and sunscreen, but he inhaled me like I was a delicacy, his lips and tongue never leaving me.

“If you let me take care of this pussy, you not getting rid of me,” he warned, adding another finger.

Shamelessly, I started grinding against his hand. This felt good. I only wanted what felt good.

“Fuck this summer shit.” He pumped his fingers faster, harder. “You hear me?”

“Y-yes.”

“You feel how wet you are right now?”

“Rico,” I moaned.

“You want your stepbrother to take care of that?”

Please .

I was begging.

Telepathically.

Because I had no more words left.

Just feelings.

And cravings.

And a body that wanted him to put me out of my misery.

He eased his fingers out of me and held me up while he undid his zipper. Then he pulled his shirt up to keep it from falling and nudged his dick against my center.

I was about to fuck Rico.

His dick was already inching inside of me, and it felt like everything was finally right in my world.

Fuck, I needed this.

So bad.

“You know how lucky we are that you let us take care of this pussy?”

With a jerky nod, I whimpered, loving the way he filled me. I was full. So full.

He was stretching me. Making me take it.

I loved it. I think I loved him .

Words were still missing. But all I needed was this feeling.

His first few strokes were slow, tentative. Giving our bodies time to adjust. He fit inside me so well, stretching me to the hilt.

When he picked up his rhythm, thrusting into me harder, he clamped his hand over my mouth to muffle the erotic sounds painting the air.

I couldn’t help myself.

He felt too good. Too much like home for me to be quiet.

“One thing I don’t do is play when it comes to you, Harlow.” He canted his hips up and rocked against me until I squeezed my eyes shut.

Then he pulled out and pumped his hips in fast, shallow thrusts.

That’s what did it. The switch on all my good sense flipped and I knew I was gonna be stuck on this man.

He and Christian already had me gone; I couldn’t even think about how Soul would have me acting.

My walls pulsed around him, tightening around him until he couldn’t pull out.

We both knew what was coming and it was me. Already.

Fuck.

A sob broke through the other sounds I was making and Rico uncovered my mouth. He kept thrusting. Kept fucking the sense out of me.

“You coming for me, Harlow?”

Thrust .

“ Yes .”

“That’s my baby,” he praised, hand muffling my mouth again.

Tears burned my nose and clouded my eyes when I came for him again and he was still moving in and out of me.

“Whose money you been spending all day?”

“Yours,” I cried against his palm.

“Whose bed you sleeping in?”

“Yours.” Hot tears slid against my cheeks, spilling against his fingers.

“Whose name I got tatted on me?”

“Mine.”

Rico slowed, holding my gaze when he wined his hips. “Exactly. Until that changes, you have nothing to worry about. You hear me?”

Yes .

I hoped my eyes said it because I still couldn’t.

I didn’t know how I was supposed to walk after this. How I was supposed to do anything but come undone?

“What is it, baby?” The front of his thighs smacked into my skin again and again. The sound was almost as intoxicating as everything else about him. “You coming this hard because you know it’s your stepbrother making you feel like this?”

Yes. Fuck yes .

If anybody knew what we were doing back here, this whole island would have something to talk about for weeks. And I couldn’t bring myself to give a fuck.

Rico had a vicious hold on me, and I had no desire to be set free.

I would spend his money, come on his dick and sleep in his bed as long as he wanted me to.

“Would you call me selfish if I told you I was happy it never worked out with anybody else?”

He licked my throat, his tongue hovering over my pulse.

“I don’t want nobody else to have you but us.” Deep thrusts punctuated his words. “We got you, baby. Always have.”

He pushed into me and stopped, smacking my hip until my skin stung and my eyes filled with more tears.

“You ain’t going nowhere til you taste like us, smell like us. I want everybody on this island to be able to look at you and know exactly who you belong to.”

I wanted that too. He smacked my hip again, the sound ringing out around us before he pulled out of me and set me on my feet.

Using the wall for support, I watched him stroke his shaft. Still glistening with my arousal, it was pretty.

Pretty enough to put my mouth on.

Rico read my mind as soon as I had that thought.

“Get on your knees, baby. Let me come for you.”

On my knees, I whimpered when his cum hit my tongue as soon as I opened my mouth.

With one hand on my head and the other jacking his dick, he came until his abs contracted, and every salty drop was on my tongue.

“Let me see you swallow for me, Harlow.”

It was then I realized I would do anything this man told me to do. Without hesitation. That was how deeply I trusted him. With my eyes locked on him, I closed my mouth and swallowed everything he gave me.