Page 46 of Sheltering Lawson
“Put a sock in it, Boone,” Brax said and proceeded to pass out his slips of paper.
Then we got to tasting. It was sedate for the first twenty minutes, then Boone and Verity arrived. All three of them greeted each other, and I could feel their special bond. It was gorgeous overload being in the same room with all these sexy males—and cake. What was not to like?
I’m not sure how it happened, but Brax ended up with a gob of cake on his cheek, maybe from Boone’s wildly moving fork or maybe he’d used that fork to slingshot it at his brother, but the next minute I knew cake was flying between the three of them. Then, Verity got involved as she ground a handful in her husband’s face. Then all hell broke loose as cake explosions flew everywhere and no one was unscathed when it was all said and done.
Ethan approached me and I backed up, but he was too quick. “This is a new dress,” I said.
“Well, then I’ll help you get out of it so we can wash it later,” he said with a grin. Then he smushed the cake right in my face and the war was on. There wasn’t an inch not covered with cake. Brax ordered us all outside to hose off and the cleanup began. By the time that was done, it was late.
I went into the kitchen to dump the last bucket of water from the heavy duty wet/dry vac, needing the time to compose myself. I was in love with all these people. In love with this town. I didn’t want to go back to Atlanta to the uncertainty of my life there. I didn’t want to risk exposure, risk Brad’s temper and anger.
I leaned against the counter and breathed deep, trying with all my might to push back the fear and panic.
My whole plan was changing because I realized that Suttontowne and the people here were worth fighting for, and Ethan was so worth the battle.
He came into the kitchen with a load of mops and started to rinse them out in the industrial sink. “You okay?”
“Yes,” I said, but it was a stall. I wasn’t all right. I was scared and determined. Terrified and ready to take my life back. But now was not the time to talk about it. Not when people could overhear. I didn’t want to get anyone else involved right now. Except maybe Brax. I would have to tell Ethan what he’d offered me today. But that could also wait until later. We were going to tally up the votes for Aubree’s cake.
Later on, we went to my apartment and my anxiety only increased. A terrible ache swelled inside me. What I felt for Ethan was so very different from what I’d felt for Brad. I had fallen in love with a man I thought he was, but with Ethan—oh God—I had fallen in love with the genuine article. Admitting that to myself made me tremble with an odd kind of alarm. And the reason for that alarm was that I didn’t know when it had happened. I couldn’t look back at one definitive moment. It was as if it had been there all along—like some great dormant creature, suppressed by my fear, my need to keep moving, and my inability to face up to the fact that I had to go back—and all it had taken was Ethan’s kindness, his openness and the respect he gave me as effortlessly as he drew breath.
“Shower?” he murmured.
“Bath,” I said. “I didn’t finish telling you last night that Sky gave me a…sex bomb.”
“She gave you a what?” he asked, his brows cocked and a smart aleck grin on his face. “Is there something I should know about?”
I cuffed him and laughed. “No. It’s this hard ball—”
He burst out laughing, and I smacked him again, my mood totally shifting. “Stop it.”
“I can’t help it. You’re the one talking about sex bombs and hard balls. You’re giving me tight nuts right now.”
I closed my eyes, my stomach hurt I was laughing so hard. Leave it to Ethan to do this to me. I stepped up to him at the sink and cupped him through his jeans. He made a strangled sound as I massaged him through the denim. “They sure feel tight to me. Maybe we should do something about that.”
He growled and hauled me up against him, but I pushed him away. “Just a minute, you animal,” I said, playfully.
I started the hot water and returned to him. He reached for me. I stepped back and shook my head. “Let me.” He dropped his hands and his face went hard and sensual. I grabbed his waistband and dragged all that gorgeous muscle toward me. Pulling his shirt over his head, I took my time kissing his chest, laving my tongue over his nipples, remembering how he’d reacted when I bit the flat disk. I kissed and licked all that heavy muscle, unsnapping and unzipping his jeans, using my teeth over his ridged abdomen, then the skin just above his hard-on. He groaned deeply, his breathing ragged. “Babe,” he whispered as I flowed down his body, pulling his jeans and underwear with me.
I looked up at the smoky heat in his eyes and said, “What I have planned, we won’t need condoms.” Then I ran my hand over his thick erection, my thumb going to the underside of his head, eliciting another long groan and a gasp as his hips jerked when I took him in my mouth. I intended to make him cry out like Chase did when Samantha used her tricks on him. Then I was going to bathe every inch of him.
I would have to enjoy every moment with him, because I’d made my decision. I was going back, soon. I was going back to make my stand and take back my life.
Brad would fight me, hard. I’d have to face him and my father-in-law.
There was one detail I’d left out of my story because I was afraid that Ethan would go completely ballistic and head to Atlanta himself.
Brad’s daddy was a lecherous bastard and had taken every opportunity to corner me, touching me inappropriately and saying the most horrible sexual things. I’d fended off his advances and made sure never to be alone with him, but the day Brad had been served he was at work and the judge caught me alone. He forced himself on me. And ironically, it was Brad who saved me. But it was because Brad considered me his possession. He threw his daddy out.
I vowed I wouldn’t be victimized again, and I would stand on my own two feet. Ethan had shown me the way and I wanted to be brave for him. I wanted to be strong for myself.
I was going home, getting my divorce and my due. Come hell or high water.
Chapter 16
Ethan
I reclined against the solid back of the tub as Haley languidly washed my chest for the fourth time. “Uh, babe, do you think I’m clean enough?” I asked with a smirk.”
