The Fight for Us (21 page)

His mouth sank to first one nipple then the other, and he listened to her desperate whimpering pleas as he licked, sucked, and groped, and she ran her fingers through his hair the entire time. He couldn’t do this forever and not let things go further, and with a final pained sigh, he sat up between her legs and reached for her shirt, pulling it down to cover her again. He snatched his shirt from the bed, tossing it over his head quickly before collapsing onto the bed beside her and panting like an animal.

“I have to have more time with you.” His breath was still lurching as he said it, and he looked over at her.

She said nothing, but she smiled broadly, and he chuckled. She just needed to stay in his life, so he could keep this peace and calm. He was sure in that moment that this was exactly where he was supposed to be and she was exactly who he was supposed to be with. But that fear, the fear that he’d lose that surety, was lurking in the back of his mind. When she curled up next to him, nuzzling into his neck, he closed his eyes, pushing the fear away and letting the peace in.

Chapter Seventeen

“Harp! Get a move on! We’re going to be late!” Joss was scrambling to get out of the house, moving around the kitchen, filling her travel mug, and snatching her keys and phone from the counter. “Now, Harp! We gotta pick up Nat in less than ten minutes!” She couldn’t seem to quiet the decibel of her voice, but the first damn morning she offered to pick up Nat for Isaiah, and she was going to make the girl late for school.

Harper yelled downstairs that she was on her way, and Joss shrugged into her coat quickly.

“I’ll be in the car!” she yelled as she edged out the door, getting hung up with her purse. She growled in frustration as she spun to free herself, and then she caught sight of something in her front yard, and her day got ten-times worse in a split second.

“Todd? Randall? What the hell are you doing?” she hollered as her eyes finally registered what she was seeing. As she traipsed through the snow toward the two most disliked men in her life, she registered the rest of the picture.

Randall had been stomping on the lower rung of a For Sale sign, and it was smack in the middle of her damn front yard. Todd was, of course, along for the ride, and she was guessing it was as much to taunt Joss as any necessary reason. She had trudged through plenty of snow covered lawns herself with these signs, and to see Todd and Randall planting one in her yard against her will or wishes was most definitely a low point in her life.

“Mornin’, sunshine.” Todd smiled broadly as she approached. The smile was completely sadistic, and it was meant for no other reason than to infuriate her.

Her fury was ratcheted up a notch when Harper bounded out the door and came skidding to a stop in the middle of the sidewalk with nothing more said than, “Whoa.”

“Get that thing out of my yard,” she hissed at both men, knowing it would do little good.

“Your yard? Sorry, dear, but this property is the newest listing on Bristol Island thanks to Randall. Tells me he’s got a stellar sell rate, and seeing as I’m listing well below market, I’d start packing now.”

Before she could even respond to that, Randall stepped in, enjoying himself immensely given the twisted smile on his face. “Todd didn’t think you’d want to be responsible for listing your own home, so he commissioned me to do it. But, hey, if you’re the one who sells it, we’ll be splitting the commission.” He clicked his tongue as he shot her with his finger gun.

She wanted to reach out and break that cheesy finger right off. Hell, she wanted to start yelling. The only thing Randall and Todd actually had in common was how much they despised Joss, and right now, they were using their little I-hate-Joss coalition to humiliate the hell out of her.

Naturally, her nearest neighbor came out at that exact moment—an old woman who seemed to lack any real respect for her whatsoever based solely on the fact that she was a single mother. “Didn’t know you were moving, Jasmine!” She hollered in her
I’m-older-than-dirt-and-have-no-intention-of-ever-remembering-your-name
raspy voice. “’Bout time you settle down and give that girl a proper family.” She hobbled to her car, which she had no business driving, and Todd spent the damn long time it took the old bat to reach her car chuckling.

“You can’t do this.” She was still seething. She knew she looked insane, and her face tensed and twisted as she glared at him. Harper stood on the sidewalk with her arms crossed scowling at them.

“I can, actually.” Todd turned from her then, waltzing across her yard with Randall in tow toward Randall’s car that was parked in her driveway, but he stopped, turning back. “Randall needs to get in for pictures. Make sure the house is clean by Monday. I’ll let him in then, and you’ll need to start keeping it up, so he can show it.”

Randall twisted the knife a little then. “Oh, and shovel your sidewalk. You should know better. Don’t want any potential buyers suing Todd when they break an ankle. He is the one paying the homeowner’s insurance after all.”

They reached Harper as they stepped back onto the concrete. “Harp, it’s okay. Get in the car. We’ll figure this out.” Harper struggled to hold her tongue as much as Joss did, and Joss didn’t need to referee any more players at this point.

“Listen to your mom. And don’t worry. I have plenty of room for you in my new house.”

“Fat chance. You couldn’t force me to live with you.” She retorted.

Todd smirked, dismissing his daughter’s comment as though it were a laughable thing. “How cute that you think it’s your choice.”

“It
is
my choice,” Harper snapped back, still scowling.

“No, it’s not. It’s the judge’s, and right now, I have just as much custody rights as she does. Until a judge says otherwise, it’s going to stay that way. Of course, that would require your mom actually be able to afford an attorney—and a better attorney than mine at that.” He chuckled as he turned back to climb into Randall’s car.

They stared after the two men as the car backed out of the driveway.

“Harp, we’ve got to go.” She ran to the driver’s side door of her Forester, and eventually, Harper followed, climbing in the passenger side.

“He can’t really do this, can he?”

“Yes. He owns the house. I’m just a…well, a tenant who pays cheap rent. I mean, it’s
his
house. He can sell it. Damn it!” She slammed her hand on her steering wheel. “We’ll figure it out.”

“Mom, I won’t live with him.”

Joss reached over and squeezed her hand. “I know, baby. Don’t you worry about that. We’ll take him to court if we have to. You’re old enough now the judge will listen to what you want.”

“Can we afford that?” Harper looked as terrified as Joss felt.

Joss took a deep breath, glanced at Harper one more time, and then returned her eyes to the road. She didn’t want to answer that question. They were silent until they were pulling into Isaiah’s driveway. He and Nat ran out quickly, and she rolled her window down as Nat climbed into the backseat.

“I’m sorry we’re late.” She shook her head. She felt like she was two seconds away from falling apart.

“What’s wrong?” He leaned down to the window, studying her face.

“Nothing,” she muttered.

Isaiah watched her, clearly not believing what Joss was saying. For whatever reason, Joss felt humiliated by the situation, and as she stared at the steering wheel, gripping it tightly, he reached for her cheek. She finally looked at him, and the concern in his eyes nearly left hers brimming with tears.

“You sure?”

She nodded tersely, and he leaned into the car kissing her gently. When he leaned back, she shook her head in frustration. “I’m sorry we were late. I better get the girls to school.”

“It’s okay. I’ll see you in a little while.” And then, as he leaned into her car again, he spoke to Nat and Harper. “And I’ll see you both at dinner tonight.”

She backed out of the driveway, and he watched them for a moment before he bounded back up the steps. She felt absolutely pathetic.

“Joss, are you okay?”

Joss glanced in the rearview mirror at Nat. “Yeah, sweetie. I’m fine.”

It was a damn fine day to have this sprung on her. Isaiah was finishing up packing the last of his boxes, so he was ready for the movers to arrive at noon that day. She had to drop the girls off and then meet him at the new house to do the final walk through. Then he would go to the bank to do the closing paperwork before he could return to meet the movers and oversee having everything transferred to the new house. It was a full day. It was also supposed to be a great day, and suddenly, she felt like her bullshit was trying to encroach on them.

After she dropped off the girls, she ran through the coffee shop drive-through and then sped to Isaiah’s soon-to-be house. When she met him there, he took the two coffees from her hands as she climbed from the car. He followed her in, and she didn’t say a word. She was struggling. She was angry, she was embarrassed, she was confused about the whole mess, and she didn’t have a clue what to do about it.

She didn’t say anything to him other than glancing at him quickly and forcing a small smile, but Isaiah ignored her distant attitude once they’d gotten inside.

“Joss, what’s going on? Talk to me.” He rested his hands on her shoulders as he approached her from behind. She was looking out the living room window, and she wanted so much to turn the happy on for him. He deserved that.

“I’m fine.” She turned around, facing him, and she even forced another smile that she was certain came out as a deranged grin.

He shook his head in exasperation. It had been a busy week, this was the first time she’d gotten him alone, and all she could feel was frustrated with herself.

“Very well. How about you show me this house I’m going to be buying? I have to be at the bank in an hour, and I expect this walk through to take no more than five minutes, so I can have at least fifty-five minutes of uninterrupted you time.” He reached for her cheek, but his wrinkled brow was all concern, and she tried again to smile.

She walked him back toward the three bedrooms, but as she tried to enter one, he instantly pulled back on her arm, keeping her in the hallway.

“What about the rooms?”

“They’re lovely. Keep going. You’re down to three minutes.” He smirked, and the smile she returned finally felt marginally real.

She led him back to the kitchen, and he stood in the middle of the floor, staring at her but refusing to acknowledge the room in any way.

His brows shot up expectantly. “And?”

“Well, it’s your kitchen.”

“Thank God. I was worried the kitchen didn’t come with the house. Please keep going. One minute left.” His intense focused eyes were completely seductive, and she felt her cheeks warming. Her smile that time was very, very real.

She led him back toward the master bedroom, and as they entered, he finally looked around a little. “I think I’m going to have fun with you in this room.”

Her cheeks not only warmed, but burned along with the rest of her body at his comment. “Is that so?”

“Oh, yes. Would you like a preview?”

She nodded as she swallowed over the lump in her throat. “You’re going to torture me now, aren’t you?”

“Yes.” His voice was calm and enticing as he slowly approached her.

“If I’m not mistaken, that’s exactly what you’ve been doing since the first time you kissed me.”

“You’re not mistaken.” He took her hand then, pulling gently as her feet stumbled after him toward the four-season room that sat off the bedroom.

“Are you ever going to have sex with me again?” Perfect Joss form. The words were blurted out as he looked at her over his shoulder and laughed.

When he’d pulled her to one of the floor to ceiling windows that looked out over the lake in the distance, he took his place behind her, resting his hands gently on her shoulders again.

“Well, here’s what I think about that. We kind of jumped into the whole sex thing a bit impetuously, and now I’m trying to make up for fucking you so hastily the first time.”

“By torturing me?”

“Yes.” His lips were suddenly at her ear. “But don’t worry. I won’t leave you unsatisfied. I might leave you wanting more, but you will definitely be satisfied.” He licked slowly from her collarbone to that small little spot just below her earlobe, and she gasped. “Take your jacket off.”

She slid the black suit jacket off her shoulders, leaving herself in only a cream-colored high-neck sleeveless camisole. The material was silky and cool against her skin. He quickly hung her jacket on a nearby doorknob before returning to her and running his palm down her bare arm from her shoulder to her wrist. He clasped her wrist in his hand.

She closed her eyes for a moment, forcing her morning out of her mind. This felt so much better than that, and she was remarkably calm after fretting and stressing from the moment she walked out her door until now. She was going to enjoy this, and she was going to ignore the rest for a while.

“Would you like to know what we’re going to do?” His voice was quiet and deep against her neck as he nuzzled and breathed against her skin.

“Yes.” She was already whispering.

“I decided you’re going to wear my cum for the rest of the day, and I’m going to enjoy knowing it very much.”

Her breath caught in her throat at those words. She wasn’t entirely sure she knew what that meant or entailed, but the hot, wet heat in her groin said she was intrigued if nothing else. She listened as he lowered his zipper with his free hand, and then his other hand that still grasped her wrist lifted her hand to her mouth.

“Lick and be generous please.”

She shuddered. She loved it when he said please. He was never begging, nor was there any question he intended and expected to get what he wanted. It was almost taunting the way he masked a command by tacking that word, always spoken seductively and coolly, onto the end of a sentence. She complied with this demand, licking her palm over and over as he held her hand in place until it was wet. And when he’d decided she’d done a good enough job of it, he pulled her hand behind her body to the small of her back. He closed in closer then, and she felt it.