Authors: Lisa Desrochers
I’m not playing fair. He would never ask me for it, but I know he lives for this.
He tastes salty as I sheathe my teeth behind my lips and suck him deep into my mouth. I roll my tongue over him and move slowly, gliding his length in and out. His moans make me want to keep going, to make him feel as good as his mouth on me makes me feel. But his fingers in my hair tighten as his erection grows harder and starts to pulse, and he pulls me back.
“Lexie,” he gasps, and I know he’s right on the edge of coming.
I look up at him. “You don’t have to stop,” I say, rolling my tongue over the tip of his thickness. “I’d be okay with it.”
He grins wicked and presses me back onto the bed, hooking his hands through my knees and spreading me wide. “Nope,” he says, “ladies first.” He kneels at the side of the bed, and the next second, his mouth is on me.
“Oh, shit,” I gasp when his tongue flicks my clit.
His fingers glide inside me and twist as he sucks, and
shit
! I gasp again as stars flash in my eyes, and I feel dizzy. He has my head spinning and my body aching for him in two seconds flat. How does he do that? With his free hand, he spreads my legs wider and trails his hand between them, pressing a wet finger hard into my clit as his tongue swirls in my belly button. My body has a will of its own, and I writhe with the rhythm of his fingers, gliding in and out. Then his mouth is on me again, and this time, when he flicks his tongue and sucks, the stars I was seeing explode through my body, and every synapse short-circuits as I cry out.
My whole body buzzes like a high-tension electrical wire as Trent reaches into my nightstand drawer. He kicks his jeans off and crawls onto the bed, lying on his side next to me. He kisses my neck and brings me out of the stratosphere and back to the bedroom. My senses start to return, and I take the condom from his hand and tear it open, then push him onto his back and roll it onto my new favorite part of his anatomy. He watches with hungry eyes as I straddle his hips and ease his length inside me.
And that’s all it takes to get me going again.
One second, I’m totally spent, and the next I feel the tension build in my belly again as he fills me. My groin pulses with the pounding of my heart as I move on top of him. He pumps from below and rubs his thumb in circles over my clit. “Oh, God,” I breathe with every thrust until it all just blends into one long, animal mewl. He presses harder and pumps faster until my body becomes nothing more than a ball of raw nerve endings—all sensation. I feel everything tenfold: the sweat tricking between my breasts, the brush of my hair over my back as I ride him, and Trent, hot and thick inside me. Harder. Faster.
He grasps my hips hard and gives one last upward thrust, so deep that I feel it in my soul, and the fireworks go off in my belly again.
“Ah! Lexie!” he growls, then goes still under me, breathing hard.
I lie on top of him and kiss his shoulder. The salt of his sweat and the spicy scent that’s just Trent fill my senses. I close my eyes and just live in him.
His fingertips trail like feathers over my back, raising goose bumps. “I love you,” he whispers. “Always.”
Two sharp knuckle raps on the door wake me, then Julie’s voice. “Lexie, hon?”
I lift my head blearily as the door hinges creak . . . and that’s when I realize I’m still draped over Trent.
He jumps at the same instant I do, but it’s too late. I hear Julie’s gasp.
I
PULL THE
sheets over me and turn to the door, mortified. “We just . . .” I trail off, knowing there’s no explaining this.
“We were playing Warcraft and fell asleep,” Trent interjects into the deafening silence.
For a second, Julie’s twisted features relax. She obviously wants to believe it because the alternative is just too horrifying. But we’re stark naked. There’s no way she missed that. She got an eyeful before I was awake enough to yank the sheets up.
She stands frozen in the door. Her gaze turns wary, and her fair skin goes three shades whiter as she works out that Trent must be lying. “What’s . . .” She shakes head, still trying to get her mind around what she’s seeing. “What’s going on?”
Trent’s pecs and biceps ripple as he pulls himself up to a sitting position, keeping the sheet draped over the parts he probably hasn’t shown his mother since he was five. How is it that even now, when we’re so totally and royally screwed, I’m still noticing how hot he is?
He blows out a breath. “I know this is a shock, Mom,” he says in his most soothing voice, “and I’m really sorry. This wasn’t how we’d planned for you to find out. We were going to tell you and Randy tonight at dinner.”
Her wary gaze begins to storm, and her face pulls tight as she regards her son. “Tell us what?” Her voice has gone up a full octave.
Trent’s eyes flick to me, and I realize that he might be a little embarrassed, but he’s not scared or unsure. Just seeing the confidence in that gaze—knowing he believes in us as much as I do—reassures me. “We didn’t plan for this to happen, but just before Lexie left for Rome, something happened between us. Since then, we’ve realized that we love each other.”
Her gaze, somewhere between betrayed and angry, shifts to me. “Lexie?”
I force the cringe off my face. If Trent can be brave, so can I. “It’s true, Julie. We’re in love.” I hold the sheet to cover myself as I wiggle toward the nightstand and pull out the black velvet box, but just then, the garage door opener starts grinding away below us.
Dad.
Julie’s expression has gone through so many emotions in the last two minutes, but now it’s just blank. I think she’s in shock. “That’s your father. Dinner’s ready.” She spins and leaves the room, without closing the door.
“Shit,” I hiss when I hear her feet on the tile of the entryway at the bottom of the stairs.
Trent folds me into his arms. “It’s going to be okay, Lexie. We were just about to tell them anyway. We’re not doing anything wrong.”
I bring my knees up to my chest, wrapping my arms tightly around them, and bury my face, trying to make myself as small as possible. “Daddy’s going to freak.”
Trent pulls the ring box out of my hand and lifts my face. “Is this what you want, Lexie? Do you want me?”
“Hell, yeah. I want you all the time. That’s what got us caught.”
He shakes his head at me. “I mean for real. Do you really want to marry me?”
I look at him with wide eyes, surprised he’d even question that. “Of course. I love you.”
He looks relieved for a second, then opens the box and pulls the ring out, sliding it onto my finger. “Then let’s do this.” He sweeps my wild hair off my face and kisses me, slow and deep, his tongue twisting slowly into mine, and all of a sudden I know where the term “soul kiss” comes from, because that’s where I feel it. My soul aches for him.
He pulls me up, and we get dressed. I straighten myself in the mirror, then we head downstairs.
Julie is banging around in the kitchen, and when I look into the family room, it’s obvious she hasn’t said anything to Dad. He’s in his recliner with his legs up, surfing channels.
“I’ll go get Mom,” Trent says.
I nod, and he gives my hand a squeeze before heading to the kitchen. I move slowly toward Dad, and I feel as if I’m moving through molasses—everything in slow motion. “Daddy?” I ask, standing at the side of his chair.
He reaches up and gives my hand a tug, smiling up at me with his warm smile. “Hey, kiddo. How was your day?”
How can I do this? He’s going to be so disappointed in us. In
me.
I back away a step, feeling the urge to run, but then Trent comes into the room with Julie, who still looks like she’s in shock. He leads her to her recliner next to Dad’s and almost physically sits her in it. He ushers me to the couch, where we sit side by side.
I feel like I’m going to pass out. There’s a funny ringing in my ears, and I feel cold all over. I can’t look at them. But then Trent takes my hand, twisting his fingers into mine, and at least that part of me feels warm again.
The silence has physical weight. It crushes me as I sit, chewing my cheek.
“What’s happened?” Dad’s voice is edged with alarm, and that forces my eyes to him.
“Nothing bad, Daddy . . .” I glance at Trent for strength. “But Trent and I have something we need to talk to you and Julie about.” I dare a glance at Julie, but she’s looking straight ahead at some random point on the wall, her jaw tight. Trent squeezes my hand, and I take a deep breath.
Do it fast, like ripping off a Band-Aid.
“Trent and I are in love, and we’re getting married.” It comes out in a tumble of words that I say, but don’t really hear because blood is pounding through my ears, and my mind is a blur of spinning images: Dad throwing Trent and me out, never speaking to me again, yelling, slamming, throwing. It’s not like Dad’s ever been violent, but the thought of him angry is too much to bear. Before Trent and Julie, it was just us. Dad and me. We’ve always been together. What if he can’t stand the sight of me?
But Julie’s gasp catches me and yanks me back to the here and now. “Married?”
She’s focused now, her wide eyes fixed on my hand.
Trent lifts my hand and shows them the ring.
“You two are engaged,” Dad says slowly, as though he’s trying to work it into something that’s not totally crazy.
“We realized while Lexie was away that we loved each other . . . as more than family,” Trent says. “I think we’ve always had feelings for each other. We just didn’t see our feelings for what they were until now.”
Dad’s face blanches, and he just stares at us like we have two heads . . . or two heads
each,
I guess, so four heads, really. “I don’t even know what to make of this.”
“Daddy, please don’t be mad,” I squeak out through my tight throat.
“So you two have been . . .” He trails off and waves his hand in a circle at us, his face tightening with his discomfort, obviously hoping we’ll catch his drift so he doesn’t have to say it.
Out of the corner of my eye, I see Julie squirm uncomfortably in her chair.
“Not until recently,” Trent says, matter-of-fact.
I know my face is flaming because I feel my cheeks burn.
Dad lowers the legs of his recliner abruptly and stands, yanking a hand through his disheveled hair. He sits, then stands again and stares down at us in disgust before bolting from the room.
I flinch a second later at the sound of the front door slamming behind him.
Julie springs out of her chair without even looking in our direction and flies out the door behind him.
I’m paralyzed in my seat. This is my worst nightmare. Tears prick the corner of my eyes, and, as they run over my lashes, I can’t even move to wipe them away.
“They’ll come around,” Trent says low in my ear, but he sounds as stunned as I feel.
He pulls me into his arms and kisses my forehead when I don’t respond, but I wiggle out of his grasp.
I choke out on a sob. Trent is everything to me . . . but what if Dad can’t get past this? I stand and walk up the stairs to my room, numb. I flop on my bed with my arm over my face. Tears roll into my ears as I hitch out sobs, realizing I’ve ruined my family. Our parents will never be able to look at us the same again. I stuff a pillow over my head and hope the Earth will just crash into the sun or something, so I don’t have to face Dad again.
“Lex,” Trent says from my door. “You okay?”
“No.”
I feel the side of the bed dip as Trent sits. “What do you want to do?”
My hitching breath starts to slow, and I toss the pillow aside and climb onto his lap, curling into his arms. “Sing to me.”
He kisses my temple, and his voice starts low. He’s only a line in when I realize it’s a song I’ve only heard once before, coming out of his BlackBerry as we sat on my bed in Rome. I’m sobbing into his shirt again by the time he gets to the chorus. He lifts my head and thumbs the tears off my face, gazing so far into me that I feel him in my soul. His voice goes all gravel as he sings,
You picked me up and helped me heal,
You taught me what it meant to feel.
Now I can, now I do, and everything I feel is you.
I would never do you wrong,
or let you down or lead you on.
I can’t stop now, I’ll come unglued, when everything I feel is you.
When he finishes, he kisses me so gently that it makes me cry again. “You are my world, Lexie. If we have to do this without our parents’ okay, then that’s what it’s going to be, but I really think they’ll come around.” He kisses me again, deeper this time, and the intensity of it crushes my heart.
“I love you so much,” I whisper against his lips.
A throat clears from the doorway, and we both look up to find Dad and Julie standing there, staring at us.
Dad’s face is pinched. He just looks at us for a long heartbeat before saying, “I’m sorry for my reaction. If you . . .” He clears his throat again as his eyes drift away from us. “If you two wouldn’t mind coming back downstairs, we’d like to talk about this.” He looks at us for another second, and his expression softens a little before he turns and heads back down the stairs. Julie gives us a wary smile and follows.
Dad motions to the couch when Trent leads me into he family room, his hand firmly in mine. We slide into our seats, and Dad and Julie lower themselves back into their recliners. Dad props his elbows on his knees, tenting his fingers in front of his nose, his chin resting on his thumbs—his thinking position.
“Daddy, I’m so sor—” I start, but he raises his hand, stopping me.
“Every father has dreams for his little girl,” he says. His eyes land on Trent. “With any luck, someday you’ll know that firsthand.” He lowers his hands from his face and presses back in his seat, his gaze finding mine again. “My dream for my little girl has always been that she would grow up to be the strong, capable, beautiful woman she is, and that she would find someone who would make her as happy as she’s made me.” His eyes start to glisten, and he stops, drawing a deep breath and holding it for a second before blowing it out slowly through pursed lips. “I hoped she would find a good man—someone who would love her as much as I do; someone who would respect her for who she is and support her and encourage her to reach for her dreams.” He swallows, and his moist gaze shifts to Trent. “And for my son, I’ve always hoped he’d grow up to be a good man; someone with morals and solid values. Someone people could look to as a role model. Someone who knows who he is and what he wants and isn’t afraid to shoot for the stars.” He reaches for Julie’s hand and squeezes. “I got everything I ever could have hoped for.”
Trent shifts next to me. “So we have your blessing?”
Dad blows out a breath and looks at us for an excruciatingly long time before saying, “This isn’t just hormones? You two have seriously thought about this?”
We both nod.
Dad shifts back into thinking position, elbows on knees and his hands tented in front of his face. “You may be done with school, Trent, but Lexie still has a year of college, then maybe grad school. I hope you two aren’t planning to rush anything.”
“Of course,” Trent says. “We won’t even think about doing anything until Lexie’s done, and we both have jobs.”
“Lexie’s career path is a narrow one,” Dad warns, a deep V forming between his eyebrows. “What if it requires her to relocate?”
“I know she wants to curate a children’s museum, and I know those jobs are extremely hard to come by. I’ll go wherever she needs me to.” Trent squeezes my hand and looks at me. “I’ll follow her anywhere.”
My love for this beautiful, incredible man swells up and flows over in tears that I quickly wipe away.
“And your music?” Julie asks Trent.
He breathes deep and holds it for a second, his hand twitching in mine. “All I’ve ever wanted to do was write and perform. I can do that anywhere.”
“I thought you were going to teach,” she says, looking a little stricken.
Trent pinches his lips between his teeth and rubs his forehead. “That’s what
you
want. Randy just got done saying I shouldn’t be afraid to shoot for the stars.”
I glance at Dad, who inclines his head and lifts an eyebrow. But he doesn’t argue.
Julie’s expression shifts yet again. She still has that unsure tilt to her mouth, like she’s trying to work something out—which could possibly have to do with the fact that she walked in on her buck-naked son and stepdaughter basking in what was quite obviously postcoital glow—but her eyes aren’t lifeless pebbles anymore. They’re looking us over with the same love I’ve always seen there.
“Well,” Dad finally says with half a smirk, “I guess I know whose family is paying for the wedding.”
Trent smiles at Dad, and he smiles back.
“Dinner’s getting cold,” Julie says, standing from her recliner. “We can talk more about this later.”
We get to our feet, and the three of us follow Julie to the kitchen.
Dad shakes his head and looks back at us with a wry smile before passing through the door. “I have to admit, I never saw this coming.”
“Neither did we,” I say, finally brave enough to open my mouth again.
“Trent, can you get the rolls out of the oven?” Julie says to him, as Dad moves to the cupboard for glasses and starts filling them with ice and water. “And Lexie, if you’ll pull some plates down, I’ve got everything else on the table.”
I move to the cupboard and watch as everyone goes about their tasks, like it’s just any other night.