Page 46 of Unbearable
She inhaled deeply. Everything in her wanted to tell him to leave her sister. Leave tonight. Just pack his bag and never return to his apartment. She wanted to beg him to stay. He would fill the spaces of her life in the best way.
“But what would happen to Ethan?”
All of her thoughts came crashing down around her at his simple words.
“Maybe your brother is right then.”
He opened his mouth to protest, but she held up her hand. The one, anyway, that wasn’t bursting into flames where he touched it. “I know his methods weren’t the best. But what if I can get Ethan? What if we can be assured he’s safe?”
“Then we’d let the chips fall where they may,” he answered. His hand slid down her wrist until she felt his long fingers lace through hers. Slowly, he pulled her around the table. Pushing his chair out, he eased her onto his lap. “So what do we do?”
“I think we let your family keep doing whatever it is they’re doing.”
“And us?” he whispered into her ear.
“You tell me.”
“How about if I show you?” His hand left hers to snake up her body and around the nape of her neck. She closed her eyes as his warm lips pressed against hers. This was more than the barely there kiss from last time. This was everything she longed for.
He stood her up without breaking the kiss and repositioned her astride his thighs. The kiss turned into even more as his tongue traced the outline of the seam of her lips.
She couldn’t help but think about that tongue on other parts of her body. Working its way down her neck, making her mad as it teased her hardened nipples, making her scream in ecstasy asit circled her clit. A moan slipped from her before she could stop it.
Fox pulled her closer to him. She could feel his hard length pressing against her urgently. It now had her thinking of other ways he could make her scream. His tongue swiped inside her mouth. Throwing caution to the wind, she sucked it between her lips. Suddenly, he sat back and gazed at her.
“Damn it. I would really like to see where this could end up,” he growled. Anywhere would work for her. The kitchen table was sturdy enough. She had a nice bed with a practically new mattress. Even the kitchen wall would do. Instead of reading her mind, however, he cleared his throat.
He eased her off his lap until she was standing. His hands lingered on her hips until she was able to regain her balance again. He stood, and she watched as he adjusted a very impressive bulge in the front of his pants. Then, instead of taking her hand again to lead her upstairs, he took a step away.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “As much as I want to be in you right now, I just can’t. I don’t cheat, not even on Brooke.”
“No, you’re right,” she answered, although she didn’t give a rat’s ass about her sister at this moment. Still, if she found out they had been together, Bailey didn’t know what would happen to Ethan. They couldn’t take the chance.
“None of this is right.” He grabbed his keys from the table and walked to the front door. “But I promise I’ll figure this out.” He stopped at the door, turning to look at her. Pulling her to him, he leaned over until their foreheads met. “Somehow, this will all work out. You believe me, right?” He nodded which made her nod too.
“I’ll come get Ethan tomorrow,” he finally said with a heavy sigh. Then he was out the door. She closed it, throwing the dead bolt. Her back pressed against it until she heard his truck pull away.
“I believe you,” she said quietly. “I just don’t know how.”
When she felt more under control, she pushed off the door. She would wait for tomorrow to deal with the kitchen. She turned off lights as she closed up the house. Reaching the second floor, she slipped into Ethan’s room.
She had turned one of the spare bedrooms into his long ago. It had everything a little boy would need. The dresser had spare clothes tucked inside, a toybox sat in the corner with everything to keep him entertained, and there were plenty of blankets to make him feel safe.
She chose a clean pair of pajamas from the drawer. Carefully, she changed him into them without waking him.
He was tucked back under the covers with his stuffed animal under his arm when she was done. For a few minutes, she just stood by the window looking around. This was a room a child deserved to grow up in. There was no doubt in her mind that Fox had one for him at his apartment that looked similar.
Maybe if she and Brooke had shared a room like this, her sister would have turned out different. Instead, they had slept on dirty cots shoved into a tiny room in a squalid apartment. Their father had left when Brooke was still a baby. That left her mother, a woman with no interest in providing, to raise them.
For some reason she still didn’t understand, they had taken different paths. She had chosen to throw herself into school as a means of escape. Brooke had found men much easier to derive satisfaction from. A computer teacher helped Bailey chart a path to college and where she was now. Brooke seduced the English teacher into giving her what she wanted.
“I promise to do whatever I have to for you,” she whispered to the tiny sleeping body under the covers. “No matter what it takes.” Moving to his bed, she bent down to kiss his head, then slipped from his room.
Her nightly routine was always the same—teeth, face, hair. Bed would be a welcome relief, although she doubted she would sleep much. There was too much to keep her awake. Not just Ethan, but Fox also.
If he kept kissing her the way he did tonight, there was no telling what she might do. Her sexual frustration had been on high alert from the first time she met him. Now, it was entering atmospheric.
Hadn’t they just agreed to stay away from each other? Of course that didn’t count in an emergency, and Ethan’s safety was always an exception to the rules. She was still lying awake, staring at the ceiling when her phone vibrated. Rolling on her side, she checked the text.