“Uh... I’m here looking for spiritual guidance?”
He cocked an eyebrow. “You know the church has front doors for people who are here for religious reasons, right?”
“Well of course, just...”
Then he smiled. “If you’re here to visit me, though, that’s way more understandable.”
Yeah. I wanted to deny that was my intention. That I didn’t come here for Brandon, in some weird long shot of hope. But denial and long-shot hopes were all that I had at this point.
“Really, though, Grace, people are busy out here making sure everything is going smoothly. It’s another busy day at the office in this kitchen.”
“So you’re kicking me out?”
“No, no, I can have a chat with you, because plenty of helpers have turned up today. Follow me.” He led me to a small room that doubled as a surplus storeroom and office. Private conversations were held in there, such as interviews and reprimands.
“You bring me to the place where you discipline bad girls,” I said when he closed the door. “How appropriate.”
Shut up, Grace’s increasingly filthy brain.
He waved me behind him, and I followed, trying to think of what I should say to him, and his status as a major contributor to all of my problems.
For the serious crime of showing me attention and affection, the bastard.
And putting the idea into everyone’s heads that they could share me.
“What’s your problem today, sweetheart?” he said, running his hands through my hair.
“Aren’t you going to ask me why I bailed on our date and why I didn’t reply to your messages? Or why did I sleep with your brother?” I cringed when the last question fell out of my mouth.
“No. If you want to explain, you will.”
“I do. My world is falling apart around me.”
“Preferably in less dramatic fashion, could you explain?”
I acted tough, but I felt on the verge of tears.
“I don’t know how to put it anymore.” I sunk into a nearby chair.
“You got issues to work out, Grace. We all have. I’ve talked to all the others. They are going to give you time. You don’t need to work it all out. Whatever you decide is what we’ll go with. You get to decide what goes and what doesn’t. It’s your body, it’s your life.”
“How, though?”
“I can’t speak for my brother, and I can’t speak for the twins. But for me, I see a special girl who I want to cherish, who I want to take care of. Who above all, I want to make happy. We don’t have to follow a blueprint made by other people. We can make our own happy place. And if that involves my brother and the twins too, we can work it out.”
As he spoke, he took my hand and looked into my eyes.
He was tender and nurturing. It was his own style of emotional intelligence. So different from his book-smart brother and the upfront twins.
I pulled his hand in toward me and planted a kiss right on Brandon’s lips.
We’d come close many times before, but this was our first proper kiss, and he turned it around so that he was kissing me right back with a passion and need that I sensed always simmered under his calm charitable exterior.
“That was... unexpected,” he said as we came up for air.
I ran my hand over his chest and continued in a downward direction, curious whether he would ever attempt to stop me. He didn’t. Perhaps he was curious about how far I’d go. I’d recently become the girl who went all the way, so why stop?
I fingered his belt buckle and then determinedly unfastened it and fell to my knees in front of him.
He said nothing but made an audible gulp.
On the floor at his feet, my face was level with the bulge in the crotch of his pants. I took that as a yes as I unhooked the button and tugged down his zipper.
There was one thing I hadn’t done yet.
There were many things, actually, but this was one of them.
I was surprised when Brandon helped things along by pushing down his pants and boxers, unleashing his mammoth beast. Who would think he had that in there?
I clasped the weighty rod in my hand and held it while I explored it with my tongue. First, I licked the end, over the top, and around the smooth crown. And then I lavished long strokes along the sides and undercarriage while wondering how much of this length I could fit in my mouth. Not much, that was for sure.
He was hung like a porn stud, but I wasn’t going to be deep throating like a leading lady. I could only hope to do my best.
As I looked up and gazed into his lust-filled eyes while the tip of his tool slipped between my lips, I had the impression I was doing something right, for once.