Domino Effect (Effect 2)

Brandt prowled toward me as he stroked himself. “The door is locked. I’m going to catch you, baby. You know I will.”

I took off toward the island and Brandt chased me, scooping me up and throwing me over his shoulder. I squealed in delight. Brandt turned and started heading to a room off his kitchen.

“Where are we going?”

“You’ll see.” He pulled the boxers down my legs. “Kick them off.”

I did, and anticipation pooled in my belly. Brandt flicked on the light and there was a washing machine. “Are you going to take me for a spin?”

He chuckled. “Something like that. It’s not going to be the delicate cycle.”

The room smelled of lavender. Brandt still used the same detergent we had when we’d lived together. For some reason, the thought had me squirming off his shoulder and taking off the sweatshirt.

Brandt was on me as we kissed. He backed me up until the cold metal hit my naked ass and I gasped in his mouth. I felt one of his hands leave me and reach backward, but I wasn’t able to focus on what he was doing. Brandt could always kiss me into oblivion and make the outside world disappear.

A low vibration started on my back while he touched me. My legs spread open.

“You’re still wet,”

I nipped his lip. “You seem to keep me in that state.”

We grinned against each other’s lips.

“I like keeping you in that state. Turn around.”

I turned, and he pushed me down to lay on the top of the washing machine. The vibrations felt good against my nipples and I ground myself farther into the feeling. The cold air cooled my heated body. Brandt’s feet pushed my legs farther apart and aligned himself at my entrance.

“I forgot how good the spin cycle—”

Brandt entered me without warning and swiveled his hips, hitting every wall of my core before pulling back out. My body wanted to push into him but it didn’t want to leave the magical vibrations of the washing machine. I was at the mercy of Brandt’s pace. His hands held me flush against the machine, and my insides absorbed it.

My need for friction took over as I pushed back on to him, making the penetration deep and glorious. The doorbell rang.

“Hurry, Brandt. Hurry.”

Knowing someone was at the front door spurred us into a frantic action. The vibrations of the machine, the sound of our bodies slapping together with the bang of metal echoing our movements was erotic. We were fucking like wild animals in heat.

“I’m coming, Brandt.”

“I’m right there with you, baby.”

The orgasm exploded as Brandt hissed through his teeth. The doorbell rang again. The haze taking over my body left me uncaring as to what happened outside this room.

Brandt steadied. “I’ll be right back.”

He took off toward the front door where he’d left his clothes. I scurried to pick mine up from the laundry room floor as I started processing that people, potentially Adam and Ainsley, were outside waiting to come in. When I made it back to the living room, Brandt held a bowl of something.

He shrugged, “My elderly neighbor made soup and wanted to make sure I had something healthy to eat. She’s always sharing food. She made the soup last night and heated it when the power came on.”

“Do you think she heard?” I was mortified that an elderly woman could have heard us.

Brandt chuckled as he set the bowl down on the counter. “She asked if everything was okay. I told her I was catching up on laundry.”

He had a mischievous grin on his face. My mouth dropped open as I curled back up on the couch.

“I’d say you finished your load.”

We started laughing as Brandt tackled me. This is happiness.

My phone dinged, and I reached over my head to grab it.

I opened it when I saw the subject.

I squealed as I read the e-mail. “Brandt, Livingston Cleaning Products potentially might want to hire me to analyze their product line! This could be huge for me. I’ve never landed a company this big before.”

Clicking on the link, I was taken to the website and found Gavin England’s profile. I knew the company from business meetings. I remember giving my business card to a representative from Livingston Cleaning Products at a conference I’d been too.

Brandt pulled me onto his lap. “You’re going to do great. I’m so proud of you.”

“Thank you.”

There was a knock at the door. Brandt untangled himself from me and went to open the brown, wood door. In came Ainsley, looking like the abominable snowman. She had on several scarves in multiple colors and a dark green, fluffy North Face jacket. Adam wore a knit hat and a leather coat.

“Fuck me, it’s cold. I hate all this ice.”

Adam and Ainsley were starting to take off a few of their layers.

Brandt chuckled. “Did you guys walk over here?”

Ainsley had undressed enough to uncover her face. “His car might as well be a sled. My car is at the club since Adam didn’t want me driving in all the ice.”

I got up and gave Adam and Ainsley a hug. They came in and sat across from us on the L-shape couch. Brandt put his hand on my knee.

Adam asked, “What have you two been up to today?”

I bit my lip, and Adam raised an eyebrow. “You turned off your blue balls timer early. Lucky bastard.”

Ainsley playfully slapped his stomach, and he looked down at his fiancé with an adoring smile. “What? I like giving him a hard time. He’s been giving me shit about singing that unicorn song.”

Ainsley gave him a kiss on the cheek. “You do such a good job when you sing it for Emilyn.” Ainsley turned to me. “Emilyn is Nora’s little sister. Nora bartends on the other side. Emilyn adores Adam, and he sings the Prince Lir parts for her every time.”

Adam gave Ainsley an incredulous look as Brandt and I laughed.

“You’re supposed to be on my side. Hey wait, didn’t you give him a nickname?”

“I’m always on your side, baby. I’m sure Brandt doesn’t want you to have to share your nickname.” She gave him an adoring smile as he hugged her to him.

Brandt got his two-sense in quickly. “Damn straight. Suits Adam perfectly.”

Adam kissed the top of Ainsley’s head while he mouthed to Brandt, You’re an asshole.

I started giggling as I asked, “Have you guys set a date and place for the wedding?”

“Yes, we are getting married on June seventeenth. It’s going to be a destination wedding. We’re trying to decide on where.” Ainsley’s voice was excited as she touched her engagement ring, which glistened in the light coming in from the window.

Brandt put his arm around me and hugged me to him. I hoped to be married one day. To have that person you would spend the rest of your life with, gr

ow old with, and give everything to was something I had always wanted.

Responding to Ainsley, I said, “That sounds wonderful.”

I wanted to know Ainsley more. She seemed like a kindred spirit. “Are you interning with anyone this semester?”

She started shaking her head. A few pieces of hair came down from the side. “No, I couldn’t last semester because of my mom and most are yearlong internships. The only one I found was two hours away, which was too far. Hopefully, it won’t set me back too far as I start my career, but we’ll see.”

“My company is small, and I’m a one person operation, but I potentially may land a bigger account and could use the help. If I land the deal, I’ll give you a percentage amount so it would be a paid internship. I’m having to research an entire product line, put together some suggestions on where I would start, and bid for the project. You’d be involved from the ground up, which would be what most internships accomplish in a year. Let me know if this even interests you.” Hopefully she took me up on my offer. Brandt squeezed my shoulder.

Ainsley pale-blue eyes lit up. “Are you serious? Yes, I would love to do that.”

“Perfect. I’ll tell Livingston Cleaning Products, that we’ll need three days to put together a proposal.”

Ainsley was all smiles. “Thank you. You don’t know how much I appreciate it.”

“You’re welcome. I’m excited. You don’t know how much I appreciate the help.”

Adam mouthed, Thank you. It warmed my heart knowing I was helping the person he loved.

Adam leaned forward. “Should we play cards?”

Ainsley stood. “Boys will have to play. Nikola and I have a project to start—if she’s good with starting now.”

I liked her attitude. We were definitely going to get along. As I got up to head back to the bedroom I’d been staying in, I looked at Brandt. He had that dopey-eyed-in-love look that thrilled me. I bent down and gave him a quick peck on the lips. Before I could catch my balance, Brandt pulled me down across his lap and kissed the life from me.