Page 24 of A Lifetime of Afters
His arm tightened around me, and his deep chuckle vibrated along my throat.
I arched against the quiver skating down my spine, my bum nestling into his groin, his hard length seeking my heat.
“You can be punished for your sass, you know…”
I laughed. “Even when we were kids, you were always big on punishment.”
He snorted. “I was a tattletale.”
“You so totally were,” I teased.
“Hey, as the oldest, there was a lot of pressure on me to keep all you guys safe.”
“And Hunter didn’t make it easy,” I laughed at my understatement.
He did not laugh. “No. He did not.”
I twisted back to look at him. “Hey,” I called softly. “I’m sorry. Does it still hurt you to talk about him?”
For a moment, the veil over his eyes peeled back and offered a glimpse of the pain he carried inside.
“You feel responsible for him.”
With a short nod, he affirmed, “I was responsible for him.”
Turning around fully, I cupped his bearded cheeks in my hands. “Not for that, Hawkley. Never for that.”
He closed his eyes, his lips flattening.
Stroking over his face, I sought to soothe him. “Hunter could be a bit of a hothead. Impulsive. Spontaneous. It was part of his charm. So damned determined, he never could take no for an answer.”
I shook him lightly to get his attention. “Remember the snow globe costume?” I laughed. “That was his brainchild. No matter what we said, he would not be put off.”
The remembrance of that debacle brought a small smile to his face.
“That determination was part of the reason for his success. He was complicated. Endearing. Charismatic. And chaotic. Lived his life unapologetically. And Hawk, he stopped listening to you around the age of zero.”
His smile disappeared but his stormy eyes continued to search mine before shutting me out once again. The tension eased from his face, not in the way I would have wished, but in resignation.
When he opened his eyes, the veil had returned. “He was my brother.”
“Okay, Hawk.” I ran my fingers through his hair, tugging lightly on his curls, lightly scratching his scalp.
His eyes closed in pleasure, but when he opened them, he could not hide his anxiety. “Noelle,” he began, “I want to keep quiet about us.”
My hand froze in his hair, and I stared at him, my mind split. Two reasons. One, there was an ‘us’. Two, he wanted to hide it.
He jiggled me in his arms. “Say something.”
“There’s an us?” I tentatively offered.
His face softened as he cradled me against him. “There’s an us,” he stated firmly.
He didn’t sound particularly happy about it. Was it just my insecurity talking? I gently prodded, “You don’t sound too happy about it?”
Holding me close, he pressed his cheek to the top of my head. “There’s such a thing as being too happy, Noelle. Please. Can we just play it close to the vest for now?”
I nodded slowly against his chest, all kinds of disquiet buzzing in mine.Too happy?Then I gave myself a mental shake. Look where you are! You’ve just woken inhisarms after spending the night inhisbed after he buriedhiscock inside you afterholding you while you criedafter daring you tokiss him.
