Bayou Rouges: Dirty Part 16

"Take it out and give it a sniff."

She started rummaging through Courtney's bag and pulled out a long, brown cardboard box. She flipped the top and took a huge sniff. "Mmm." If he wasn't mistaken it was a box of eye shadow or blush.

"I wanna smell it." Jess joined her and they sniffed the box repeatedly. "It smells like hot cocoa with mini marshmallows."

"Do you wear it?" Riley asked.

"I do."

Jess pulled a s.h.i.+ny, flowered bag from Courtney's purse. "Wow, you have so much makeup." She pulled three tubes from the bag. "I love lip gloss."

"Hey, Courtney may not appreciate you going through her things." Both girls dropped their hands and looked intently at Courtney.

"I don't mind. If it's okay with your brother."

He shrugged. What the h.e.l.l was he going to do? It was girl power in the living room. He was outnumbered and he recognized a lost cause when he saw it. "As long as you're okay with it."

She leaned in and whispered in his ear, "I was thinking I could apply light makeup to Jess." Her moist breath had him going hard. Not good...this was most inappropriate in front of his sisters. He grabbed a throw pillow.

"I think she'd love that."

Sawyer leaned back against the couch and clasped his hands to the top of his head. He watched as his sisters and Courtney sat on pillows in the middle of the cozy living room and painted each other's faces. Courtney graciously allowed them to make her into an eighties goth creation. Wiping away the excess makeup on her right eye, Courtney was in the middle of teaching Jess that less was more when applying eyeliner. Riley's fingers never left Levi's back as she continued to slowly stroke him into a deep comfortable puppy dog sleep. He'd be dreaming of biscuits and bacon, and of chasing rabbits.

Sawyer had a few dreams of his own. He constantly tried to push them to the back of his mind, but as he watched Courtney receive the stabbing brunt of the lip gloss wand in Riley's hand, his dreams floated to the forefront of his mind.

He could see Courtney advising Jess on the perfect dress to wear to the dance, and on how to tie back her hair. Riley would be in the middle of the two, soaking up every ounce of essence that oozed from Courtney's pores. But there were other dreams...dreams that were too close to reality, dreams that had him anxious and needed to remain hidden. An image of Courtney in his arms across the conference table, her back perfectly arched to accept him. Sparkling eyes s.h.i.+ning with l.u.s.t and satisfaction.

"And then you blot like this." Courtney grasped a tissue and demonstrated while he felt the prec.u.m drip from his c.o.c.k. s.h.i.+t. He snuck into the restroom. Looking at himself in the mirror he gasped. He looked more like his father than he wished to. The rugged lines, the bronze skin, the devilish smirk. That smirk that cost him a few swats on the hand from Mrs. Ellen's ruler back in grade school. She'd thought he was misbehaving, but his face had been frozen in a snicker until he'd become an adult.

The responsibilities of life had sucked the youthfulness right out of him. Now he looked hard, controlling, and aggressive. He bared his teeth to the mirror. Women had told him before that he had a great smile and he thanked the Murphy genes for their blessings. He tested his breath against his hand. His arm froze in its quest for the toothbrush and paste.

Why was he going to brush his teeth? Was he hoping soft pink lips would descend over his? Why yes...yes he was.

Courtney knocked on the bathroom door. Tapping her foot in the hallway of the warm home, she stood and waited for any sign that her greeting was going to be acknowledged. She pursed her lips and knocked again. This time there was a scurry and the door cracked open to reveal a smiling Sawyer beyond.

"Can I come in?"

His eyes widened slightly before he gave a little frown of confusion. Flattening his back against the wall he gestured her in with his hand. Courtney leaned against the counter. "I left the girls with the bags of doggie goodies that I brought. There are toys, snacks, food, shampoo, a collar, and a T-s.h.i.+rt."

"A T-s.h.i.+rt?"

She nodded. "It says, It's good to be king."

Sawyer chuckled and leaned next to her. "He will be king, so it's perfect."

"Jess tells me she's got her first school dance coming up."

The lines in his face deepened, the bronzed skin aiding the effect. "I can't believe it. Honestly, I don't know where to go to get the things she needs. She doesn't know either, but Riley has some ideas."

"Mind if I b.u.t.t in?"

"I would value your input."

"Riley mentioned Forever Twenty-One. It's not where she needs to go to purchase her first school dance dress."

"Oh?"

"Nuh-uh." She moved to stand before him, toe to toe.

"Where then?" He turned expectant eyes on her.

"I know a place. I'd be happy to take her." She skimmed her fingers up and down his bicep.

"You would?"

"I'd be honored." She leaned in and took his lips in hers. He tasted like mint and smelled like the bath soap her grandmother used...Irish Spring. They pulled apart and she saw a bar of the green soap in the soap dish. She smiled like an idiot in wonderland.

"What?"

"Nothing, I'm just happy."

His index and middle finger fiddled with her elbow as he leaned in to place a long, lingering kiss on her lips. "Please tell me it's past nine o'clock."

Glancing at her watch she said, "nine fifteen."

He kissed her cheek, and then pulled away from the counter. "Time to put the girls to bed...all three of them."

She chuckled. So he thought he was going to get lucky tonight. Well of course he was! No woman would be able to resist this confident, selfless, loyal, and giving creature. Not to mention he was s.e.x on a pretzel stick. Mmm, she could eat him up. She watched his tight backside as he strutted into the living room.

"Bedtime."

"No! I wanna stay up with Courtney and Levi." Riley whined.

"It's a school night."

"When will you be back?" Jess asked.

Courtney nervously looked to Sawyer for the answer. Jess followed her lead. "Can you go dress shopping on Sat.u.r.day night?" Jess asked.

"Yeah." Courtney looked down at her shoes.

"But Murph, you have to ask Courtney on a date."

"Oh...yeah um...s.h.i.+t...I mean I don't really have much to offer, maybe a walk, or we could hang out here." He looked around nervously.

"Sounds great." He was adorable. Courtney's insides were smiling at his vulnerability. She wanted to grab him and rea.s.sure him, but she didn't want to freak him or his sisters out by being over the top.

"It does?" He crinkled his nose at the question.

She bit her lip and nodded, reaching out to clasp his hands in hers.

"Off to bed girls."

"Can we take Levi?"

"Sure. Night-night."

She watched as the girls and Sawyer slowly put the room back together and gathered themselves and the dog. As she waited, she took a seat on the couch and watched him through an occasional sideways glance. He was gentle with his sisters, helping them pick up and tuck the throw pillows back into their homes. They hugged and exchanged I love yous, and then the trio disappeared down the hallway with Levi in tow.

He was a father and a brother. He provided for them-fed and clothed them and tended to all of their basic needs. And he did it selflessly. The love he'd built in the little home could be felt down to the marrow. Now she felt vulnerable, alone in the living room as she was. She felt like an intrusion on his very private life-a privacy he worked hard to maintain...and he'd shared it with her.

Her mind was flying as she thought through the events of the past few hours. She a.s.sumed his parents were dead, but she desired to know when they died and how. How did he end up in this situation that he managed with grace and love?

He turned the corner. "Riley's already asleep and Jess isn't too far behind." Now it was getting awkward as he stood staring at her. She stood from the couch to join him. They stared at one another across the coffee table. "I um...I'm really glad you came here tonight. Now you know what my responsibilities are. I don't have any spare time or money, which is why I can't date." He laughed nervously. "Despite Jessica's heartfelt wishes."

"Dating is so two thousand and one."

"It is?" He looked hopeful.

"Yeah. We don't have to date. We can do this." She used her index finger to gesture around the room.

"You'd do this in lieu of going out to French restaurants?"

She closed the s.p.a.ce between them. "I would." She stood close to him. So close she could feel his breath on her face. "Can I tell you a secret?"

He swallowed, his Adam's apple bobbing on his long, masculine neck. "I've grown quite fond of you." She leaned in and kissed the bubble in his neck, savoring the saltiness of his skin on her lips.

"Do you want to go to my bedroom?"

"I thought you'd never ask."

In his room he motioned to the bed, and so she sat on the edge. He placed his hands on the wooden frame of the bed and leaned in so that they were face to face and he was between her legs. "I'm not sorry about the s.e.x we had. I've been dreaming of you every night. It's been incredible." He placed a delicate feather kiss on her lips. "I am sorry for how I left things. You said I treated you with disdain and dismissal. You were right, but it wasn't you I was treating that way...it was me. I wanted so badly in that moment to be the guy that you deserved, but never will be. No one will. You deserve an immortal...a G.o.d, which I'm not. I don't understand your acceptance of me and it scares me because I start thinking that one day you'll realize how much you gave up to be with me."

He was breaking her heart. Tears leaked from her eyes, down her cheeks, and onto her lap. "Sawyer, when we're together-just you and me with no outside distractions-it works, and it works beautifully. I've met your family. I understand your responsibilities and the man you need to be-the man you are." Her palm rested on his jaw. "You're a beautiful person, inside and out. What you've sacrificed selflessly for these girls, the way you dig in and provide...these are the things that make you a king among men. In how you live life you are richer by far than even Croesus. I don't need to know any more. I'm already falling in love with you and your family. Nothing can change how I feel about you."

He stood to remove his s.h.i.+rt, his brown eyes raging like a wild storm. "That's what you think!" He grasped her thighs and tilted her onto her b.u.t.t on the bed, biting and tugging at her jaw, her neck, the swell of her breast-he was all over her and his occasional wild growls ignited her s.e.x until it pulsed for him.

He bent down and nuzzled between her b.r.e.a.s.t.s. When he bit one of her nipples through the thin cloth of her s.h.i.+rt, it made her body arch and her core clench with need for him. She gasped when he released her.

"Do you want me?"

"Yes! I want you."

He giggled against her mouth. "Shh."

"Oh s.h.i.+t. I forgot about the girls."

He locked his arms on each side of her and in one move was on his feet. She pulled her head up and watched him latch the door with a hook, and then stare at his work with his hands on his waist.

What the h.e.l.l-she did in fact need him. Now! "Sawyer?"

"What, baby?" He was dragging an old recliner across the floor, his shoulders and arms bulked with tensing muscle.

"I said I need you and I meant it."

"I'm going to take care of you. Are you wet for me?"

"Mmm." G.o.d, she liked how he was uninhibited with his actions and his words in the bedroom.

"So impatient. Take off your skirt and your panties." What the h.e.l.l was he doing with the chair? She complied with his command, removing her garments in one sweep. He didn't mention anything about a bra, but she decided it best to remove that as well.

He'd pushed the recliner in front of the door. Paranoid much? It could be fun to play with him a little, she thought, as she bent her knees and placed her heels on the bed. He turned to walk back toward the bed and froze, staring straight up her body. She slid her middle finger across her wet core. "Take off your pants, Mr. Murphy."

He toed off his boots, unhooked his leather belt, and took off his pants. Standing in the middle of the floor in tight, white trunks he lowered his chin and looked down at her through l.u.s.t-filled eyes. He opened his arms and said, "I'm yours, command me."

The thought of all that bronzed, hot body at her beck and call had her body sizzling-her nipples tingled and tightened and her s.e.x throbbed. "Remove your trunks."

She sat up on the bed, staring at him and his heavy erection that reached toward his stomach. The man was a thoroughbred. He grasped the root of his c.o.c.k and pumped, making it grow even thicker. She was drawn to him as if in a trance-her sole purpose to taste all of him. She dropped to her knees, and then lifted him at the root, pumping the way he liked. A drop leaked from the tip and she leaned in to savor. His chest immediately rumbled with pleasure and his hands fisted in her hair.

Courtney took half of his length, the head already at the back of her throat. Her tongue swirled around the girth in her mouth.

"You're going to make this quick and I have plans of keeping you going all night."

At his words, she moaned around him.

"I need to be inside of you."

She slowly slid her lips down his length and let him from her mouth. "I thought I was running this show."

He chuckled. "Baby, is that really what you want?"

She stood, frowning from not understanding his intent. Tugging at her hips, he pulled her to him. His lips closed on her earlobe as he snarled like a feral beast into her ear. "You seem confused. I plan to use your body in many ways tonight-idolize, adore, pleasure, and wors.h.i.+p just to name a few." His tongue swirled in her ear as his hand kneaded her breast. "I want to drive you to the brink of sanity."

"Oh...I want that. All of that." Her voice was heavy and moist.

He lifted her by the waist. "Wrap your legs around me." He walked them to the bathroom and set her on the edge of the vanity. "You might get loud because I intend to f.u.c.k you hard. I've been drowning without you." His hands lowered to rest on the vanity, one on each side of her thighs. His head came down and they were eye to eye, their gazes locked on one another. "Tell me what you want, Courtney."

"You!"