Exquisite Betrayal (19 page)

“
Oh yeah. I’d love that.”

Tilly finishes up hers and says, “I thought
we could do a little Christmas spirit stuff today.”

Now I get a bit uncomfortable because I
don’t want to be a third wheel in their family traditions. “Look,
if you two have things you want to do, don’t let me keep you from
them.”

“
Well, bugger, Fallon, I was hoping
you’d want to spend some time with us. You know, it’s just been the
two of us forever so we’ve been kind of looking forward to having
you here,” Tilly says.

“
Yeah?”

“
Yeah.” She smiles.

Ryland Thomas adds, “Tills, were you
thinking about doing one of those car trips where you ride around
all day and look at decorations?”

“
Yeah. Why?”

“
Because Fallon’s been in a car for
days and I think the last thing she wants is to spend another day
in one.”

“
Right you are there, brother. Didn’t
think about that, now, did I?”

“
No, I don’t suppose you
did.”

Tilly brightens up again. “Well, then, how
about a walk instead?”

I’m about to break out in giggles because
watching the two of them is hilarious. Ryland Thomas looks at Tilly
like she’s just grown another head. “Bloody hell, Tilly. She has a
broken foot. Are you daft?”

The giggles win the battle and finally take
over as they look at me and join in. Tilly admits that it wasn’t
her most brilliant idea ever. Then we laugh some more. Ryland
Thomas finally says that maybe a brief drive and a brief walk, just
to get us all out of the house and then we might want to watch some
old classic Christmas movies. We all agree and get ready to
leave.

Tilly goes upstairs to do whatever, leaving
Ryland Thomas and me alone. He gets a smirk on his face. “So, did
you sleep well last night?”

“
Yeah, I…” I begin to wonder if he
knows of my dream. “Did you…” But there’s no way he could’ve been
there.

“
Did I what?”

“
Never mind.”

He has such a sexy grin on his face. I feel
my body reacting, and damn it all, that’s the last thing I
need.

“
What, Fallon? Tell me.”

“
It’s just that, well… were you in my
room last night?”

“
No, but not because I didn’t want to
be.”

Damn that voice of his. Then I do the
stupidest thing of all. I look straight at his mouth and catch a
glimpse of his tongue peeking out and taking a lick at his lips.
Shit, I am so done for.

When I shiver, he notices and the corners of
his mouth lift. He knows he’s affecting me, so what does he do
next? He steps right in front of me, so close I can feel the heat
rolling off him. However he doesn’t touch me. Instead, he says in
that deep sexy voice of his, “It’s not just your room I want to be
inside of, Fallon.” His tongue slides across his lower lip, like
he’s tasting the most delicious thing in the world. I’m dying
here.

Now I’m wondering just who’s going to be
working more for it, him or me, because right now, I feel like
dropping straight to my knees and begging him to take me up
upstairs and do the dirty to me. Slow, hard, fast; however he wants
it.

“
Are you ready?” Tilly asks as she
comes into the room.
More than
ready
, I say to myself. In fact, right now, I’m so
damn achy I could scream.

I look at Ryland Thomas, who is gazing at me
like we’re in bed. I nearly groan before I catch myself.

“
What are you two waiting for?” Tilly
asks. That’s what I’d like to know, too. “I’ll go start the car,”
she says before heading out the door.

As Ryland Thomas is handing me my coat, I’m
not sure what comes over me, but one minute his hand is reaching
out to me, and the next, I’m slapping my coat away as my hands fist
the lapels of his coat and jerk him against me. I crush my body
close to his and kiss him like the world is going to end. I finally
get some amount of control over myself and force my mouth to break
contact.

He smirks and whispers, “That’s my girl.”
Then we walk to the car like nothing ever happened.

Right before we get in, I lean into him and
hiss, “You’re still gonna have to work for it, buddy.”

He chuckles as he shuts the door.

***

This has been the most torturous day of my
life! My body is so tightly strung I don’t know which way to turn.
This heightened response has to be wrong because I certainly can’t
go through life like this. I’ll be the bat-shit crazy lady everyone
talks about. We’ve watched a couple of movies, but I can’t sit
still for anything. Tilly is giving me odd looks and Ryland Thomas
has been wearing a slight smile, so I know he gets that I’m squirmy
for one reason only. I want to strip my clothes off and rub my body
all over his, however that would be wrong on just way too many
levels. Well, maybe not exactly wrong, but it wouldn’t be
smart.

Thank Heavens it’s time for dinner. We head
out to our reservation. It’s only around the corner so we walk and
I purposely put Tilly in the middle, but it doesn’t last. Somehow,
Ryland Thomas ends up next to me, which makes my body fire up like
all the Christmas lights we’re seeing everywhere. I’m pretty sure I
could glow in the dark right now. I’m so hyperaware of him, it’s
starting to make me fidgety.

“
Do you have ADHD?” Tilly asks. “You
sure are jumpy.”

“
Just nervous about my new job, I
guess.”

My ears perk as I hear his deep chuckle. My
nerve endings answer back. “Stop that,” I say to myself more than
anything. They both look at me.

“
You okay, Fallon?” Ryland Thomas
asks.

It finally hits Tilly as I growl at him. She
grins so wide I want to smack her.

Hoping to calm myself down, I drink way too
much at dinner, but my misguided attempt has me singing—rather
badly, I might add—Christmas carols on the way home. They laugh at
me because I’m so terrible and I’m enjoying my little audience.
When we make it home, Tilly puts on some music and then comes back
with some presents.

“
Oh, no. No, no, no. You weren’t
supposed to do this.” I’ve been adamant about no gifts.

“
I know, but get over it, darling.
It’s Christmas. Well, almost anyway.”

Ryland Thomas is smiling as I take the small
gift. I open it and grin. It’s a gift card for a new bed from the
two of them. Then, I immediately start crying.

“
Is it an ugly gift card?” Tilly
teases. Ryland Thomas doesn’t speak. He simply stands there and
watches.

“
No, you goof ball. It’s just that,
well, since my dad died, no one’s been so damn good to me. But it’s
way too much. You’ve already given me much more than I can ever
repay you for. I can’t possibly accept this.”

“
You’re repaying us with your
friendship. Besides, you can’t sleep on the floor, Fallon,” Tilly
says.

As I stand here, I’m at a loss. What I want
to do most is hug them both, but that means I’ll be wrapped in his
arms and I’ll never want to be out of them again. How the hell did
I go from not wanting to talk to him a day ago to not wanting to be
away from him? What the hell is wrong with me? My resistance needs
to hold firm here. How can I be such a caver?

Tilly hugs me and I squash her. I’ve grown
to love her like my best blogger friends. When she lets me go, he’s
standing there. His arms open up and I’ve no choice except to walk
into them. Oh. God. He. Smells. So. Fucking. Good. I. Want. To.
Lick. Him. All. Over. My face is in that special place where his
neck meets his shoulder and I want to die like this. Or stay here
forever, frozen in time.

“
Um, hello, you two. I’m over here,”
Tilly says, her voice forcing me out of my trance.

My cheeks grow warm so I know they’re
flushed.

Ryland Thomas rubs the back of his hand
across one and says, “You’re blushing.” I only nod, since my voice
has abandoned me, exactly like my damn resolve to stay strong.
Fuck! I’m so screwed here.

Oh, was Tilly ever right. This thing about
not touching Fallon is working. I’m not having to do a thing except
perhaps cast a glance her way. And it’s hard not to simply ogle the
woman. This morning, when she ran into me in the hall, it took
every bit of resolve not to push her back into her room, strip her
cute little nightclothes off and kiss her all over.

And what the hell was going on in her room
last night? Whatever it was, she woke me up out of a dead sleep
with her moans. She was calling out my name, like we were having
the best sex ever. She must have been dreaming, and damn, I wish I
could have had that same dream. I ended up in the damn bathroom,
taking a cold shower at three a.m. The poor girl is as addled as I
am.

When she told me I was going to have
to work for it, I wanted to throw my head back and laugh my arse
off. What she doesn’t know is we’re both going to end up working,
although it’ll be working to keep our hands
off
each other. I wonder how long we can
last.

My body is so jacked. I’ve never met anyone
that makes my heart flip like she does. When she opened that little
gift and then started crying, I wanted to let her know everything
would be fine and that she didn’t have to pay anything back. It
bothers me that she’s burdened with the debt of her student loans
and that she’s so worried about it. One day I’d like to have a nice
little chat with her mum and let her know exactly what kind of a
piece of shit parent she is.

Tilly went to bed shortly after my comment
about Fallon blushing.

“
I think you look lovely with roses in
your cheeks,” I tell her.

“
Thanks again for the gifts, but you
know I can’t accept the bed. It’s just too much.”

“
Tilly was adamant, Fallon. It wasn’t
all me.”

She looks at me for a moment. “The car? Who
was that?”

“
Both of us. We knew it could kill
your chances of getting out here. I mean, what else would you
do?”

“
Yeah, and that’s something I want to
talk to you about. I’d like to work up some kind of a repayment
plan. Just like if I were paying back the bank.”

It’s obvious she’s serious about this idea.
“Okay,” I agree. “I can go with that. But about the bed, Tilly will
blame me if you don’t take it. And really, it’s not that much. You
have no idea how difficult she is when she’s pissed, too.”

That gets a smile out of her and then a
nod.

We both fumble around with more words for a
few minutes and then tell each other Merry Christmas before we head
to bed.

Since my plans are to get up early and fix a
big Christmas breakfast for the girls, I hope I can sleep tonight.
I want to spoil them. I have a special gift for Fallon and I’m
excited to give it to her.

I’m sound asleep when I’m awakened by a
banging noise against the wall. I lie there for a moment and then I
hear Fallon’s voice. She sounds like she’s injured herself, so I
hop out of bed and pull on my jeans. Wondering if she fell out of
bed, I open her door and come to a screeching halt as I take in the
scene before me. She’s on her knees in the bed, her hands on the
headboard, and her ass is in the air while she’s moving back and
forth, groaning. Fuck. Me. She has to be dreaming again because her
head is thrown back and she’s into it.

“
Ah, ah yes, Ryland Thomas.
Harder.”

Bloody hell. My dick is getting ready to
explode in my jeans and I can’t move. The scene in front of me
enthralls me. My body moves without my awareness and my hand is on
her ass, moving her panties aside, rubbing her and damn, she’s
slick with need.

“
Wake up, Fallon,” I say next to her
ear as I run my tongue down her neck.

Her body stops moving in her dream and I can
tell she’s awake now. My hand is moving back and forth and then I
slip inside of her. Now she’s moaning again, but it’s because she’s
awake and I’m there. I nibble her neck, that place she loves and I
hear her respond. She moves against my hand, wanting more, so I
comply.

I can’t stand it any longer, so I flip her
over and pull off her panties. Gripping the insides of her thighs,
I spread them wide and my mouth finds home. She’s so sweet and
salty all at the same time. The sounds she makes are my undoing. I
want inside of her like I’ve never wanted anything before, but I
won’t go there yet. This is all about her and will be for a while.
I can feel the muscles in her legs tensing, my clue that her orgasm
is on the horizon. I pick up my speed and plunge another finger
into her. Those little muscles of hers tighten around my fingers as
she calls my name with her hands in my hair, pulling me to her. And
bloody hell I love the way that feels. When everything passes, I
kiss the insides of her thighs as she pulls on my hair. I lift my
head and she grabs my face as she sits up.

“
Come here.”

Crawling up her luscious body, making my way
to her lips, she kisses me, turning me inside out. As she’s kissing
me, she’s tugging me against her so now I’m stretched on top of
her. Her mouth is paradise, and I’ve been denied it for too long. I
seek out every tiny hiding place I can, memorizing them. I want to
remember this kiss forever.

Suddenly, it becomes abundantly clear to me
that a kiss with her is more intimate than the act of sex itself.
There is something so incredibly emotional and personal about it
that I know I’ll never think of kissing in the same way again.