Chapter 36

THIRTY-SIX

MILES

T he phone rings incessantly. Braxton and I have called her repeatedly to no avail, yet we keep trying. We know where she is, but we don't know why.

"She needed time to herself," Braxton says for the millionth time. Of course, he'd be the more understanding one of the two of us.

But while I understand his need to dig in, I don't understand hers. Is this something she does when overwhelmed? She's had a lot going on in her life, beginning with us kidnapping her and ending with Braxton getting stabbed and about a hundred other things.

"But why? Was she alright when she went to work?" I ask. She'd stopped off in his bedroom after leaving the kitchen with me before she left, telling him goodbye.

He smirks knowingly, remembering some stolen moment between them only he is privy to. "Yeah, she was fine."

I shake my head, hitting her contact again. This time, it goes to voicemail, and I lift my eyes towards his. She never let her phone die, so she must have shut it off. "See? Something's wrong."

He sighs and puts down the bagel he'd been buttering, licking the tip of his thumb clean of butter before pulling his phone out and texting someone with furious fingers.

A slight sound tells me someone replies right back. "She's still in her old apartment. Hasn't left."

"Why don't you seem worried about this?" Something in my gut tells me that something isn't right. I don't think she's in danger, but I know something's shifted in her life. Something she's not ready to divulge to us yet. But fuck that.

We are a unit. We function better together. She knows that.

"I'm going over there," I announce, and Braxton follows me into the living room, where I slip into my boots, leaving them untied as I grab my bike keys.

"You're not going over there. You're going to give her time to decompress. Maybe she had a bad night at work."

"All the more reason for me to go over there. She needs consoling."

I open the front door, and he slams his hand on it, shutting it. His body heat melts through me, sneaky little ripples of arousal tingling to the surface, raising the hairs on every plane of me.

"Braxton," I grumble halfheartedly.

"You're staying here. With me." His deep voice makes me close my eyes. He's not usually this forceful. Unless he genuinely believes in what he's saying. He has the best gut out of all of us. Even Mom said it once. He's like a human vibe-detector; he knows when the universe is off—especially his universe. Aella is a part of that universe.

So, I should trust his gut.

If I dig deep enough, I see that I genuinely want to hold Aella and know she's alright. But I won't admit it to myself. Or to Braxton.

"I'm going over there. Even if I have to knock your ass out and cuff you to your fucking bed." I turn around, facing him. He's still leaning against the door but edges closer with his face.

"Oh, yeah? You want to cuff me to my bed?"

My heart thumps away in my chest, and I forget my heading for a moment. The urgency to get to Aella is gone, hidden behind a wall of heat emanating from his closeness.

"You know what I fucking meant. Don't toy with me, Brax!"

"I'd never, Brother." His smirk is wicked and depraved as I roll my eyes.

"Don't call me that."

"Why? It's what you are, is it not?"

Flashes of the kiss in the hospital come back in taunting images as I close my lids against them. Braxton's hand reaches up and cups my face gently. "I enjoy thinking of you as my brother. Thinking of your lips around my cock, my brother's lips, gliding over my hardness… It turns me on."

His admission is steering me so far off track I don't even remember my fucking name, let alone what I was trying to accomplish. "It's just so…"

"What? Taboo?" Brax asks. "Who gives a shit? If it makes us happy, fuck the world."

His hand skims over my hard cock that's straining in my jeans, gripping me as he tugs. I hiss in answer but press into him more.

"Look how hard you are for me. Come, let's do something about it, yeah?" Brax teases, leaning his face even closer still.

His lips are inches away from mine, his breath taunting the fuck out of me as blood whomps in my ears so loud I can barely think. "Brax…" I plead, needing him to back up and needing air.

Needing him.

"I need to go check on Aella," I lament.

He tsks, tugging me through my jeans again. Pre-cum beads and soaks into them. "Feels like you need to worry about yourself first if you ask me."

I groan as my hips instinctively give way to him and press forward, sliding my cock through his firm grasp. "You're playing dirty."

His kiss steals my breath, his tongue giving me merely two strokes against my own before he pulls back. "It's the only way I know how to play, Brother."

I moan at the term, letting myself lean into our relationship. Allowing myself to give over to how good it feels to be fucking dirty with him.

"She might need us…" I tell him, pleading in my tone.

Brax unbuttons my pants, tugging my zipper down next as he keeps his eyes firmly on mine. "Aella is a big girl. She was doing just fine before we came along and turned her life upside down. She's been through a lot. Let her process."

I can't focus on anything as he pulls my dick free and strokes it. I back into the door, panting as I flick my eyes between his smirking face and his massive, tattooed hand stroking me. So fucking hot. God, this is so… He swirls the palm of his hand through my beaded pre-cum, and my eyes nearly cross.

"Fuck, you're bigger than I remember." Something about the edge of his tone has me gasping for air.

This is something I swore I'd never let happen again between us. Something I swore I didn't enjoy. Even when I was stealing looks at him in the clubhouse or while he was riding beside me.

The term brother had me thinking I couldn't be shit to him. The world's views had me believing I was fucked up for wanting this. For wanting him.

But he taught me otherwise.

Deep down, he knows who he is and is unapologetic about it. It's one thing that draws me to him, like a moth to the flame.

"Brax," I moan as he increases his speed, his calloused hand fucking me in frenzied strokes.

"What is it, Brother?" he taunts, but his voice has lost some of its playful tone. I tug him to me, crashing my lips to his. His hand stills and then pulls away from my dick as he wraps around me. The kiss is all the unspoken words that have become a physical manifestation over the years. It's everything we've wanted to do since the night we gave over to desire but were too stubborn.

It's everything.

My hands drop and work him out of his pants. Though he's in sweats, I only need to slide them down.

His massive dick springs free, and he straightens and lets me look my fill. My hand glides over him. I've never done things with another man. Only him, and the time we fooled around, we didn't go too far. We never go too far. But now? The house is empty, and the world around it is changing—ever-accepting of our bond—the love we share.

"We don't have to…" Brax hisses out as I grip around him, as he'd done me.

I smirk. "You started this."

"Oh, I'm not afraid. But I was only going to make you come for me. I know we haven't gone too far before…"

I drop to my knees before him, tentatively swirling my tongue over the head of him as my hand strokes my cock.

"Holy shit," he says, giving up on his weak ass argument as his other hand slams against the door. He looks down at me with heady eyes, greedy breaths dragging from his body.

"Again," he demands, his bossier side coming out to play. I've watched him with women in his basement. The red lights aren't dim enough to hide the dominating side of Braxton that turns me on. They weren't dim enough to hide as I came when he did either. His dick would erupt in their tight cunt as I envisioned him bursting on my face, my cock spilling on the woman's face. But our eyes were always locked. We were always together.

I shove him into my mouth before I can think twice, his width and length not allowing me to go too far, but it's enough for both of us to groan. It feels like the world's shifting. It is. Even though we explored this, this is another level to do what we're doing with Aella together. One I was ready for, but also one I was nervous about.

A few strokes in, my mouth is gagging on his size as he forgets himself and fucks into my mouth lazily.

"That's a good boy, use your hand too, stroke me…" Brax tells me, and keeping rhythm on my cock is hard while stroking his, too, but I do it anyhow.

His shallow moans and the way his hips grind as he lets go and fucks my mouth are making me hotter. My heart is hammering, my cock begging for relief, but all I can think about is tasting him. About him spilling onto my tongue. Will he be sweet? Will he be salty? I have to fucking know.

It spurs me on, and I gag on him, adding both hands as his base and sliding them through the spittle mess I've made of his dick.

He damn near purrs, rolling his hips and sliding down the back of my throat. "Yes! Just like that. Good. Fucking. Boy." He punctuates every word with a thrust, and my eyes are watering down my face to the point I can barely see him above. Both my hands work his cock as he fucks my mouth rough and deep, my groans of approval only making my dick jerk in the reminder it's still there. Waiting.

"Fuck, here it comes. I'm going to come in your mouth if you don't…" Brax moans, shoving forward as I'm flooded with his cum. I quickly swallow it, tasting his tang as I breathe through my nose.

"Holy. Fucking. Shit." His movements are jerky before I swallow the last of his cum down, my own body throbbing as he drops to his knees before me and slams his lips to mine. The kiss is different this time. No longer is it soft and emotional. It's demanding and heated. He shoves me, and I fall over to the right of the door, my boots kicking out from beneath me. He grabs my dick and pushes me into his mouth, not giving me the time or space to think about what's coming next.

The heat of his mouth wraps around me as he sucks me deep into his throat, both his hands jerking me as I'd done him.

"God, Braxton, fuck…" It's all I can manage as I lift off the floor and grab the back of his head. I need more. I want more but now isn't the time.

But I'm so fucking charged up. Too high.

I need to come down.

I need to fucking come.

"Make me come. Fuck, I need to come, Brother," I growl, looking down and watching my cock disappear into his mouth as I feel the head of me shove through the edges of the back of his throat.

His eyes look up toward mine, playfulness dancing in them.

"Deeper. Suck me deeper," I all but beg, and he does, gagging. The movement of his throat muscles surrounding my dick nearly makes my eyes cross. "Again!" I snarl, lifting off the floor and gripping his hair tightly in my hands, needing some stake of control at this moment.

"God fucking damnit! Your throat feels so good. Fuck, I need to come so bad!" I grit out, teeth clamped together, body nearing the precipice the likes of which I've never seen before.

After today, things are going to be different between us.

I'm fucking glad.

His head moves faster, mouth sucking me so fucking good, and I arch off the floor, head thrown back and my mouth wide open as everything tightens.

"That's it! I'm so fucking close! Don't stop, don't stop…" I jut my hips up as I look down, feeling the cum moving painfully slowly as my balls tighten.

"Don't stooooo…." I get out as my body seizes, and cum erupts into Braxton's mouth. It feels as if everything in the past between us is washed away now. We're something else now. Something feral and beautiful at the same time.

"Brax!" I moan languidly as my cock still moves in waves, cum shooting down his throat as I feel him swallow it down. "God, that's so hot…" I nearly whimper, movements getting jerky.

His smirk is immediate when he licks up the rest of the mess off my cock, shoving me back into my clothes. I'm dumbfounded and a little surprised I just survived what happened. "I think I could get used to watching you come if that's how you do it every time," he teases, crawling over me and capturing my mouth with his.

Braxton has this presence about him. Sometimes, he's a little hard to read, but others, when it counts, he's exactly what you need because he knows how to read a room. How to check out a situation. I feel like that's why I must pay more attention to his needs; he'll give up until he's exhausted, mentally and physically.

"That was…"

He shakes his head. "Nope. Please don't ruin it with words. What's between us is beyond words. Just let it be. "

I nod as he drops beside me on the floor, looking at me as if he must process the moment. I know we're too blissed out to do such a thing. Too far gone down the rabbit hole to give a fuck that we're late for the tea party.

"I'm still going to check on Aella," I tell him.

He sighs and lays back on the floor next to me, where I'm still lying with a pounding heart and softening cock.

"I know, but at least we had fun beforehand, right?"

Driving down the roads in the waning darkness is my favorite. Braxton gets uptight about nighttime driving because of all the wildlife that can spring from the woods beyond the streets instantly, but I always love the feeling of the coming night on my skin. The way the world seems to get calmer. Everyone's days, no matter good or bad, are coming to a close. It's the end of another chapter, and I love to watch the world change.

But tonight, I have a lot of nerves as I drive to Aella's apartment. Even with what Braxton had done to calm me down, I'm still wiggling on my bike seat with anticipation every so often.

Car lights ahead have me turning my high beams off and slowly moving over. Not everyone is considerate when driving near motorcyclists.

I don't think twice about the oncoming headlights; I'm too lost to care. Not until the vehicle gets near enough to me can I make out that it's a van. It crosses the yellow lines separating us in a split second, heading straight for me. There's no time to react. There is no time for an excellent plan to form. I swerve on the wet roads from the day's rain, and the bike spins out of control, barreling into the woods to the right. I fly over the handlebars and slam against the bark of a pine.

I growl in pain as I hit the bank and roll down into the ditch.

So much pain riddles my body that I can't focus on any specific thing that's broken before darkness spreads over me.

"Get him into the back," a voice says, and it's the last thing I register as the world dims and unconsciousness veils all the pain.