Romeo: A Payne Brothers Romance Read online

My every carnal desire roared to life. I loved everything about her tiny, bookworm body. Delicate, wholesome, tight. I’d held her close before, but not like this. Not when I could feel her heartbeat. Racing. Just like mine.

  Her warm body wiggled against my tensed muscles. Was it me, or did she savor this moment too?

  I expected her to smack me away. Maybe laugh. Definitely scold me. Call me every and any deviant name under the sun.

  But Lady bit her lip, and she released a sultry sigh.

  Her dress rose over her thighs, exposing more skin than she’d previously dared. My hand wove over that silken pleasure. Even softer than I’d imagined. A dark delight in every sense of the word.

  Her fingers tangled in the loose hay. She crinkled the pieces, shredded them with her fingertips. And yet, she hadn’t moved. Her head lolled to the side, and I leaned close, pressing a kiss against her delicate neck.

  “You’re a natural, Ladybug.” I teased her, lowering my voice. “This is my favorite position.”

  “Why?” Her question escaped from parted lips, a gentle curiosity that would render me helpless to both our desires.

  She flinched as though she couldn’t believe she spoke the word. Then again, I couldn’t believe it either.

  Did she really want to know?

  What did she think she’d discover if she explored those dark and terrible images in my mind? The little girl had no idea what she was asking, what she wanted, or what she dared imagine.

  This was a fantasy that didn’t belong to me. My hands slid over her hips, tickling to the front of her thighs. All it took was a little tug. Her ass bumped the hardness punishing my jeans.

  I hated myself for grinding against that innocence.

  I paused. Her shuddering breath was all the encouragement I needed.

  “Does that answer your question?” I asked. I pulled her back once more, a gentle motion that united our hips even when separated by frustrating layers of clothes. “Get it now?”

  Her words simmered in quiet heat. “I get it.”

  I offered her the chance to move. But she stayed still, cradled against me.

  What was she doing to me?

  “I can do all sorts of terrible things in this position.” My mind raced, conquered by filthy thoughts and wonderful images. “I could slide inside you so easily right now.”

  She trembled. “I guess you could.”

  “I’d hold you real close.” I lowered myself over her again, capturing her around the midsection with a possessive arm. “Keep you tight against me. I’d never let you go.”

  Her hand grazed mine, pressing just over her slim tummy. I expected her to peel me away. Instead, her fingertips dazzled me with a dozen shivers as she stroked the firm muscle of my forearm.

  My voice strained. “I can make you feel so good…better than you’ve ever felt yourself…if you’ve even tried.”

  “I…” She hesitated. “I have.”

  “Did you like it?”

  I could hear the smile in her voice. “What’s not to like?”

  “You can’t even imagine the sort of things I could do to you. How perfect it’d feel. Every last pleasure. It’d be yours.”

  I’d never used words like this before. The women I took home never cared about passion. They never asked for gentle touches or whispered promises.

  But Lady?

  She might’ve been unsure about her body, but the desire she felt for me was real. Promising her endless delights and romantic caresses seemed cruel. That wasn’t me. It wasn’t how I fucked. How I commanded the bedroom.

  But the real torment would have been denying her those feelings.

  “How?” Her voice ached with curiosity. “How…would you please me?”

  Easy.

  By stripping her, taking her, and burying myself inside of her from the darkest part of night until the last star flickered into the sunrise.

  But Lady deserved more than to be mounted like an animal. A virgin like her, someone so innocent and curious, had earned a better reward.

  I cursed how eagerly my hand explored her curves, how my fingers shook as I slid beneath that cotton candy pink dress, traced the silken plumpness of her thighs, and discovered the soft tease of her panties. My fingers flicked against the elastic. Warmth radiated from the secret awaiting me between her legs. Hot. Squirming. It was as close as I’d ever been to her, but that last inch was the most forbidden, untouchable promise.

  I’d sworn we’d only be friends.

  I should’ve known better. There was nothing friendly about my feelings for her. The woman was pure magic. Completely unattainable and thoroughly enchanting. The way she smiled. How easily she teased me.

  I’d never met a woman who tried so hard to get to know me, resisted so much when I chased her, and still quivered under my touch when I finally held her in my arms.

  This would forever destroy our friendship.

  But the heat blistered. Our bodies tensed. I tormented myself for just a touch, a peek, a hint of her perfection. Wanting this woman consumed me more than any one-night stand or booty call I’d ever chased. Her kiss had meant more to me than any nameless, forgotten night I’d spent destroying myself with alcohol and anonymity. By avoiding all consequences, I had denied everything worth risking in this life.

  Sex was always a quick and dirtier orgasm. But this was the first time I’d ever wanted a woman. Everything about her. Her body. Her thoughts. Her words. Her promises. Her pleasure.

  Her future?

  I couldn’t help myself. No man alive was strong enough to deny those instincts and refuse his most selfish desires.

  I didn’t brave the elastic for now. Instead, I pressed the damp cotton into her folds with a single curious finger.

  That touch radiated the shock from her body into mine. Lady jumped, and her shiver nearly bounced her from my arms. She rose onto her knees, but I didn’t let her go. My left arm crossed her midsection to press between her breasts, and my fingers gently teased her neck. I didn’t need to hold tight. She shuddered and went still.

  It was like she knew everything I needed before I asked it of her.

  I seized her. Flattened her against my chest and pulled her to her knees. She twisted back, and I captured her in a kiss.

  Christ, everything about her was created to fit against me. The arch of her back. The bubble of her butt. Even her lips. She groaned, parting her mouth just enough so that I could slip my tongue against hers. I stole her every mewed whimper as my free hand explored what wetted beneath the panties.

  With two fingers, I rubbed the cotton against her sensitive secrets and imagined the perfect darkness that slickened for me. This was torture. I blindly hunted over her delicate petals, but I was unable to touch flesh against flesh, heat against heat. Her hips bucked. Shuddered. But still, she didn’t push me away.

  And her kiss threaded a wanton encouragement for more.

  What man could resist?

  I kissed her deeper as I thrust her panties aside and claimed that silken perfection with my fingers.

  She was soft and wet, hot and timid.

  And smooth?

  Hadn’t expected that.

  My pretty little virgin, innocent and sweet, had hidden away a completely, unabashedly shaven pussy.

  She broke the kiss, her words uncertain. “I thought…you’d like it that way.”

  I was the luckiest son of a bitch who’d ever walked the earth.

  “You did that for me?” I asked.

  “Do you like it?”

  The woman would kill me. Drop-me-to-my-knees, crack-me-against-the-head, leave-me-in-a-ditch kill me. And I’d love every minute of it.

  “Lady…” My words were too gruff for such a gift. “Every part of you is perfect, no matter what you do.”

  And I’d prove it to her.

  I dipped my fingers into her petals, savoring how unbelievably slick she’d become from only a touch. The woman quivered, a mess of slippery shivers, so sensitive even a brush against he
r swollen nub nearly rocketed her out of my arms.

  “I have complete control of you this way,” I whispered, admiring every curve of her body as she waited for me on her hands and knees. “I can see every inch of you. Hold you close. Take you so deep you won’t be able to breathe with me inside you.”

  Her hips rocked with impatience. She didn’t know what she wanted, but she did it anyway, grinding against my hand.

  “We shouldn’t be doing this.” She groaned as I stroked a tiny circle over her clit. “We’re not supposed to be doing this.”

  And that’s what made it so goddamned fun.

  She was a Barlow girl. I was a Payne boy.

  She was rich, sophisticated, and had a whole life ahead of her, sampling fancy foods and drinking fancier wines in exotic lands full of mystery and romance.

  And I was a glorified farmhand, stuck in the fields for twelve hours a day, working my ass off in the sun and coming home with more dirt on my body then we kept in our fields.

  What the hell was I doing molesting her in my family’s barn?

  And why couldn’t I stop touching that velvet darkness?

  “Everybody likes tasting the forbidden.” I hummed. “And this is really sweet.”.

  Lady arched against me is my finger circled her sensitive clit. “But there’s something you don’t know.”

  “I know everything I need to know right now.” That was a promise. “I know you’re on the edge. I know your wound so fucking tight I couldn’t get a finger inside you if I wanted.”

  Just to demonstrate, just to torment myself, I dipped my index finger low, circling a wet, hot entrance that clenched so hard against the first knuckle of my finger that I’d never push inside with anything bigger.

  Not yet, at least.

  “You should’ve been seduced a long time ago.” I flipped Lady onto her back. “Fortunately, I’m so good at what I do, I can give you a lifetime of pleasure in just a few minutes.”

  Lady squealed as I spread her legs.

  I didn’t think. Didn’t let her protest. Wouldn’t let her get away.

  I pushed her dress up, high enough to tease me with the cocoa delight of her skin. Those panties drove me insane. Since when did I like simple cotton? I’d only ever fucked women who were thongs…or nothing at all. Nothing sensible. Nothing that hid everything I craved to touch, taste, consume.

  Lady hesitated. She crossed her arms over her tummy and hid her lovely secret with her fingertips.

  “Are you sure we should do this?” She stared at me, eyes wide.

  “I want this more than anything I’ve ever wanted in my fucking life.”

  “It would change everything.”

  What was she afraid of? “This will make everything better.”

  “We only wanted to be friends.”

  I traced my fingertips over her legs, but I couldn’t help myself. I gripped hard against her thighs, imagining how tight she could hold me between them as I rocked inside of her.

  “What better way to get to know each other?” I asked.

  She bit her lip. “Quint, I know this won’t mean anything for you, but, for me…”

  This woman brought me to my knees only to destroy me in the same breath.

  She thought this meant nothing to me?

  She thought this was just another quick fuck? That after touching her, tasting her, listening to those beautiful whimpers I could just go back to my old life as if nothing inside me had changed?

  I gritted my teeth as I peeled her panties over her legs. The sight tormented me. Destroyed me. Blessed me with a new perspective on what was truly beautiful in this imperfect world.

  “Lady…” I had no idea how to be honest with a woman. “I’m with you. That makes everything we’re doing pretty fucking special.”

  She gasped, and that was all the permission I needed. I dropped low, tucked between her legs, and grabbed her by the hips. The heat radiating from her slit welcomed me close.

  She was the sweetest girl I’d ever had the privilege to taste.

  I should’ve gone slower with her. But that heated, delicious cream drove me crazy. I fell over her like a wild man, starved and feral. Licking her. Suckling her. Tasting every last secret tucked away within her folds while searching desperately for more.

  Lady arched. Her body rocked with tremors. She didn’t know what to do with her hands. First, fists tangled in her hair. Then she reached for me. Eventually, they settled in her dress, twisting and turning the fabric again and again as my tongue danced over her clit.

  I should’ve been treating her better than this. Teaching her something. Showing her exactly what her body could feel when presented to a man with my skill. But my feast was selfish. Hungry. Desperate for any and every opportunity to claim her with my mouth and devour her pleasure.

  I sunk my tongue inside of her. She bounced away in shock. One heartbeat later, and she rocked back, taking me deeper. I didn’t even need to move. The girl had never experienced anything like this before. Every touch was new. Every lick amazing. Every tease of my lips delightful.

  But I’d never thought that her inexperience would be a thrill to me.

  It was like I’d never actually tasted a woman until I lapped her sweet cream.

  Never heard a woman call my name until the music of her voice warmed my soul.

  Never realized that this dirty, filthy, utterly tantalizing act could be something so fucking beautiful. Not just raw animal passion, but a chance to explore, experiment, and tease petals so sensitive and delicate then every bump of my tongue nearly drove her to Heaven.

  She wiggled too much, but I loved that.

  I held her still, and it earned me sexy, helpless moans. Long, flattened licks of my tongue punished her sensitive clit. It wound her tighter. Tensed her body. Forced whimpers from her parted lips that jumbled disjointed words, promises, and pleas.

  Her first orgasm should’ve been drawn out. A magical moment when she felt every rise and fall, rode every wave, and surrendered to the aggressive twisting of my tongue.

  Instead, I stole the orgasm from her. Manipulated her body. Ground my face into her slit and dizzied her with every underhanded trick to drive her to the edge and crash her into oblivion.

  Quick.

  Relentless.

  The creation of my own selfishness.

  She’d trusted me with her most private of secrets, and instead of rewarding her with soft, gentle pleasure, I’d ripped it from her. Punished her with an orgasm just to witness the shaking of her body, her bewildered moans, and to taste that slick honey as she trembled in dazed bliss.

  I was a monster for robbing her of what should have been a beautiful experience.

  And yet, Lady rewarded me with a pump of her hips, arch of her back, and a breathy, pleading cry.

  “More…”

  I’d never believed in poetry until I heard that single word. Never appreciated art until I studied the goose bumps rising over her soft skin. Never understood beauty until I imagined what awaited me under her dress, where her buttoned, hardened nipples peeked against the material.

  Christ. She was still dressed.

  What was wrong with me?

  What happened to my self-control? I treated Lady no better than an animal who belonged in this barn. And still my cock throbbed, demanding that I dive once more between her legs to prepare her for even more.

  The orgasm rolled through her, and she’d surrendered to it. She fell limp against the hay, quivering and grinding as her body tensed and released in beautiful agony.

  This was a first for both of us, though I think I was the one more bewildered by what had just happened.

  She’d had her first true orgasm.

  And I’d lost myself within her.

  I’d never been trusted so implicitly by a woman before. She’d gone limp, resting back against the hay, her legs still parted and my name yet whispered on her lips.

  She offered me everything.

  And I dreaded all that I’d
take.

  Did I even deserve her virginity? She needed a man who could introduce her to her body, that pleasure, and every romantic pulse and beat that turned a random night of sex into pure bliss.

  What could I give her?

  A fuck. A complicated friendship. A morning of regrets.

  But my mind screamed for her. My fingers ached to touch her mocha skin. My cock throbbed hard enough to hurt.

  Was it possible to have something…more with this woman? Not just the quick night of regretted distraction, but…

  Something real?

  I wanted to feel her. Wanted to know what it was like when a woman wrapped her arms around my shoulders, spread her legs, and accepted me within her. Not because she was looking to get laid, and not because that was how she partied on a Saturday night.

  But because she desired me.

  I sat on my heels. A newfound panic enveloped me. I tasted her on my lips. Absorbed her into my blood. Twisted her into my soul.

  And yet, she smiled.

  Why wasn’t she as terrified as me?

  “Quint?” Lady peeked at me with Disney eyes behind innocent glasses. “You know it’s always been you, right?”

  I stilled. “What?”

  “I wanted it to be you.” Her eyebrows arched as I stayed silent. “…For my first time.”

  “Since when?”

  She nibbled her lip, meeting my gaze with such sincerity I was lucky she already had me on my knees.

  “Since forever.”

  Who was I to say no?

  What sort of a man would say yes?

  What kind of monster would I be if I denied her what she craved?

  And how lost what I’d become if I surrendered to both of our desires?

  My instincts overwhelmed me. I reached for her dress, fighting the urge to rip it from her body.

  But the clattering, splintering of wood suddenly echoed through the barn.

  The hayloft shuddered. The ladder banged against the floorboards.

  Lady squealed as dust rained from the ceiling. She squirmed out from under me, tucking her dress over her body. She peeked over the edge. I did the same.

  Jesus Christ.

  I was finally ready to fuck this girl, and now we were both going to die.

  The alpaca raged beneath us, storming, trembling, destroying everything in its path. Lady armed herself with the only weapon she could find.