Twenty-One. Take Me Home Tonight

TWENTY-ONE

Take Me Home Tonight

Joe

I can't close the bar quickly enough. Thank god it's November. We're in that lull between fishing and snowmobiling season when the lodge sees little business after the sun goes down. After grabbing my coat from the hook in the kitchen, I hesitate a step. I consider shooting my parents a text, checking in on the kids, but they have them for the night and it's after Lucy's bedtime. I tuck my phone away.

They're fine . I know they are fine.

I'm the one who's not fine, and for the first time in years, I'm putting my kids second, just for the night, because this is important. Maybe the most important thing I've ever done.

Christ. She thought I didn't like her? That I would only keep her around for my kids' sake, and she was okay with that? What kind of signals had I been sending?!

It's clear I need to set several things straight and fast.

Well. Not too fast.

I shove my keys in my pocket and stop in my tracks at the sight of Maren, perched on a stool, her hair tucked behind her ear, a backpack on the floor next to her. She's got her bottom lip tucked between her teeth.

"Ready?"

She wrings her fingers, looking uncertain. "I am, but are you? I feel like I've just laid a lot at your feet and maybe I've pushed you. Nothing needs to happen today. I know you have a lot going on and—"

I give myself a mental shake. Minutes. I left her alone for maybe two minutes and she's already questioning herself. How is it possible this woman doesn't realize how sexy she is? And cute? And sweet and brilliant? And just how lost I am for her?

I stalk toward her, eating the distance between us in three steps and placing my hands on the bar on either side of her slim frame.

"I've never been more ready for anything in my life. Are you having second thoughts?"

She searches my face for the truth. "Not at all, but as much as I try to unhear what Liam said—"

I raise an eyebrow and press even closer. "New rule. Not one more word about your brother tonight."

She licks her lips, and I can feel the heat of her body mingling with mine. "Good call."

"Now," I tell her, "you have two options before you. I can go down on you here, or I can go down on you in your bed, but I am going to taste you either way."

Her eyes flare and her breath catches. "Have you ever done that in the bar with, um, anyone else? "

"Never. This would be a first for me."

Her eyes shut of their own accord and her head falls back, baring the soft skin of her throat to me. I immediately dip for ward for a sample, my tongue tracing a path from her jawline to her ear.

"Here, please," she decides, already breathless.

I step back to the door, turning the lock with an echoing click and shutting off the lights. It's still plenty bright, but at least from a distance, it's clear we're closed. I tug her forward off the stool and make quick work of removing my top layer, an old flannel shirt, and laying it over the top of the barstool. I turn to Maren, reaching for the zipper of her jeans while capturing her mouth and kissing her. It's only been minutes since our last kiss, but I can't get enough.

She tastes phenomenal.

She wriggles out of her pants, and I slip her underwear all the way off, before lifting her and placing her on the stool. I drop to one knee before her. Then both. Her hands are already twisting in my hair, and I place a kiss on the inside of her thighs, spreading them wide. It's dim, but my fingers lead the way, trailing up and in and along, finding her warm and petal soft, wet and ready for me. I don't waste time, pressing in for a long, slow lick, curling my tongue and circling her clit over and over, drinking her in. I lap at her, wrapping my arms around her thighs and anchoring myself close enough to fuck her with my tongue. If I thought her mouth was delicious, this is like sampling the finest delicacy. Maren, Maren, Maren , on my lips and around my tongue. Over and over, until she's bucking wildly, her hands tugging painfully at my hair. I swallow a grunt, huffing a laugh at her enthusiasm, and she hisses at me, "Don't you dare stop."

As if I could.

I don't answer her with words. Instead, I wrap my lips around her clit, sucking hard as I plunge two fingers into her core, curling them. It's barely a beat until she cries out and clenches against me, her thighs holding me captive as she rides out her orgasm. I gentle my efforts, place soft, open-mouthed kisses at the apex of her thighs, slipping my fingers out. Eventually her legs fall open, releasing me. Her grip loosens, her fingers caressing my hair. Coaxing.

I get to my feet, hiding my grimace at the twinge in my knees reminding me that I'm not twenty and also that our floors are hard.

Maren doesn't miss a thing, even in the dark.

"You all right there, old man?" she teases good-naturedly.

I groan, but it's only half-serious. "I'll survive. It was worth it."

"I'll say."

"Should we go home so I can ice my knees?"

Maren's eyes twinkle in the moonlight as she presses a kiss to my lips. "Come on. I'll take good care of you."

She doesn't lie. I barely remember to shut the door behind us at her place because she's already dropping clothes as she dances across the space to her bedroom. I kick the door shut with my booted foot before chasing after her, working at my own buttons.

I'd planned to play it cool whenever I thought about the unlikeliness of me being lucky enough to ever get Maren Laughlin naked. And while such planning was a more recent development, it was all-consuming. Which is why it was so important to go down on her first. Besides the fact that I really wanted to, I needed to. It's been years since I came inside a woman's body and much longer than that since I've been this out of my mind over someone.

Kiley was my first love. My first everything. I would have walked through fire for her. We grew up together until we grew apart. I don't regret one minute of our relationship, but this is different in every possible way.

I'm a grown man. A father. A business owner. I know what I want and what I need, and those things are one and the same in the woman standing before me at the foot of the bed, fully nude and effortlessly beautiful. She steals the breath from my lungs and the thoughts from my head. She holds me up and knocks me on my ass.

She tugs my T-shirt over my head and traces my chest with her fingers, dragging them down toward my waistband. There's a single bedside lamp lit, and I fight the urge to cover my midsection. I'm healthy, but I'm far from the athlete I used to be. Long, long gone are the days when I used to lift weights on top of two-a-day football practices.

Then Maren presses her mouth to my chest, her tongue darting and circling across my skin, and every uncertainty disappears. I help her remove the rest of my clothes until I'm standing before her, hard as a rock and completely exposed.

Her lips curl in a soft grin, made even softer in the low light. "Josiah Cole, naked in my bedroom. If you'd told me back then…" She trails off, shaking her head, and I can't help but laugh.

"You'd have run away screaming."

She tilts her head and giggles. "You might be right—I was pretty young. But grown me is freaking the fuck out about it."

I step closer, reaching my hand into her long, auburn hair and tucking the waves behind her ear before slipping my hand down her neck and cupping it there. "You wouldn't know it looking at you," I say quietly. "You look collected as always. Meanwhile, you've got me shaking in the knees."

"How is that possible? You just made me come harder than I have in… well," she says, and smirks, "since the last time you made me come on the couch. You have nothing to worry about."

"Let's just assume we're both nervous. It's been a long time for me and you're, well, you . Beautiful, thoughtful, genuine you."

"And you're everything I didn't think I wanted but now I don't know if I could live without."

I release a long, slow, heavy breath. "This isn't just sex."

She shakes her head.

I decide that's enough talking and pull her against me, kissing her hard. I take my time, my tongue dancing with hers, my hands pressing her impossibly closer until every part of us is connected so completely I can't tell who's who and the only sound is our shared breaths passing back and forth.

I back her up until her legs hit against the mattress and she falls with a soft umph and I crawl over her, careful not to crush her, but she's already grinding herself against me and licking at my lips. I match her hunger and every reservation is gone. All that's left is her and me and it feels right. So totally right.

Her legs are a cradle around mine and I'm straining against her right there, so close and so ready. She's soft and wet and I am shaking with the effort to hold myself back from taking her in one powerful thrust. I force myself to slip down her body, sucking one of her perfect, raised nipples in my mouth and swirling my tongue.

"Oh god," she says, holding my head to her breast. "Oh god," she repeats. I lean on one elbow, using my free hand to cup her other breast. Maren, it needs to be known, has spectacular breasts. Round and full and so soft I could bury myself in them. I need to taste the other, so I do, sucking, rolling, and nipping it gently with my teeth, so that she's whimpering and writhing under me. My cock twitches against her thigh and I'm brought back to my own needs when her thighs slip apart even further as she opens herself up to me. Without thought, I'm lined up at her entrance, nudging against her soft core. She bucks, agonizingly slow, and I start to black out around the edges of my vision at the sensation.

She puts a hand against my chest, and I snap back to attention.

"I've got an IUD, but I also have condoms if you would feel better."

I blink, trying to focus on the words coming out of her mouth. "I haven't been with anyone since Kiley."

"It's been since Shane for me, but I was tested four months ago at my regular appointment."

Good enough for me. "No condom, then."

She drags herself against me, controlled and sensual. "Oka—" but I'm done playing and cut her off with my thrust, sliding in to the hilt on a groan. Her legs clench against my hips and she wraps her heels behind me, but I barely notice anything outside of the way her body has opened for me, a silky embrace that has my eyes rolling back in my head and my hips snapping in and out. I try to slow down, but Maren tightens her hold. "Harder. Hard as you want."

"But I don't want to go too fast," I grit out, already feeling the thread of my self-control slipping.

"I'm so close, so, so—Joe. Don't stop—" And then she's crying out, her entire body curled against me, clenching, from the inside and out. I barely last one more thrust before I'm following her over the edge, turned on by the intensity of her orgasm thrumming through us both.

I collapse over her, rolling to one side so as not to suffocate her, and she buries her face in my shoulder, wrapping her arms around my neck. Our breaths slow to steady, and she kisses the place where my shoulder meets my neck. I rest my head against hers, hearing our heartbeats between us.

We don't speak, but it doesn't feel weird. It never does with Maren. Her fingers run a path down my shoulder to my elbow and back and I can't stop myself from kissing her. Her forehead, above her ear, her fingertips, her cheek. I suspect before the night is through, I'll have covered every inch of her with my lips.

Eventually, when our hearts settle, she goes to clean up in the bathroom. I pull on my boxer briefs and crawl back into bed. She didn't ask me to stay, but I hope she does.

She comes back to bed, dipping to the floor and picking up my T-shirt and then pulling it on. "Do you mind?" she asks. "I don't sleep well naked. Especially in November."

"I don't mind, but I feel like I should warn you that if I wake up to you in my shirt, I'm gonna want to take it off you, maybe with my teeth."

Her eyes grow wide before she turns off the light and slips under the covers, lacing her fingers through mine and curling into my side. "Promise?"

Liam Laughlin shows up a day early. He's the kind of guy who is the life of the party and loves a good prank. He gets off on surprises. I knew that. Maren knew that. We should have expected he would pull a stunt like this, flying in a day ahead of his family and renting a car to show up at my door at ten A.M. Tuesday morning.

On the one hand, his timing was thoughtful. My parents had already gotten Anders to school and even dropped off Lucy at her preschool. I'd finished my morning run and breakfast. On the other hand, his timing was bullshit because I was in the middle of wishing his younger sister a very, very good morning in the shower, with my tongue.

At first we ignored his knocking. But soon my phone started ringing on the bathroom counter, and finally my Apple Watch buzzed with his repeated notifications.

Maren drops her leg and gently pushes back my head, her smile frustrated but genuine. "It might be the kids."

I curse, scrubbing at my face and then checking my watch, before cursing again.

"No. Not the kids. Your brother."

"Liam?" she shrieks, and I shoot to my feet, shushing her.

"He's here. Outside."

"Oh my god," she says, shutting off the water. "Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god."

"Want me to get rid of him and come back?"

She glares and I can't say I didn't expect that, so I reach for my towel and pass her the other one.

"I'll go answer the door. Stay here. I'll try to get rid of him."

I quickly rub at my skin, then wrap the towel around my hips and march to the door, opening it a crack. "You're early!"

Liam's hazel eyes, the exact same shade as Maren's, take in my dripping-wet hair and towel and comprehension dawns. "In the shower? Sorry, man. Should have guessed."

"No problem. But I need to rinse off, still. Want to meet for coffee in thirty?"

"Is it cool if I just wait here? I drove a rental."

My breath stutters for a half beat and I try to cover it up, rubbing my hand through my sopping hair. "Right. S-sure. Yeah. Just, uh, make yourself at home. Here's the remote." I hand him the TV remote, feeling stupid. "Be right out."

I make my way back to my room and the bathroom—taking in the space as I go to make sure there are no hints of Maren spending way too much time in my home—to where Maren is standing in her towel, looking cold and… well, like someone whose orgasm was interrupted by her big brother. "I'm sorry," I whisper, and I turn on the shower to muffle our voices. "He's still here. I couldn't think of a way to get rid of him."

"So what am I supposed to do? Sit in here all day while you two catch up?"

"No! Of course not. I closed my bedroom door. I told him I had to rinse off to buy some time. You can go out and get your clothes and sneak out my sliding doors." I wince, hearing myself. "Jesus, I'm sorry. That's so—"

Maren cuts me off, frazzled. "What if he catches me?"

"He won't."

"He almost did!"

I step closer to her and wrap my arms around her shoulders and kiss the top of her head. "I like you," I tell her. "A lot. I want you and I need you, and he's not going to talk me out of that."

"But you said you wanted to keep it a secret from him."

"I do," I tell her, pulling back and searching her eyes. "But not because I'm afraid he'll change my mind, or because I think he has any say in my life whatsoever. I want to keep it between us for a little while because it's new and less complicated this way. Between our families and my kids, I already have so much pressure on me to not fuck this up. I want to spend some time with you before opening the floor up for discussion. When we do tell everyone, I want us to be a united front."

"Oh," she says into my neck, and I can feel some of the tension ease from her shoulders.

"Yeah. Oh . So if he sees you slipping out the back, fine. But I'd rather he not. Besides, sneaking around the next few days might be kind of hot."

She steps back, considering. After a pause, she hikes her delicious smirk back in place. "I see your point."

"Yeah?"

"Lucky for you, I happen to have always had this fantasy about sneaking around behind my parents' back on vacation with my secret older college-aged boyfriend."

"That sounds oddly specific."

She lifts a slim, tanned shoulder, still glistening with water droplets, and I fight the urge to lick them off. Her eyes read my distraction and she trails a fingertip along her collarbone. "I have a vivid imagination. Fooling around in a bar after hours is only the tip of the iceberg."

And I'm instantly hard even though I just came not thirty minutes ago. Her eyes dip to where I am tenting my towel and she smirks again.

"Definitely a secret, then," I tell her. She dresses quickly before pressing a quick, closed-mouth kiss to my lips and shuffling past me, peeking out the sliding door to make sure the coast is clear, and then steps out.

I decide to make use of the water since it's already on, turning it ice cold and stepping in, freezing out all thoughts of my sexy secret girlfriend before I go hang out with her brother.

Huh. Guess it's not so far off from her fantasy after all.