Page 21 of The Brides Brother

There most likely couldn’t be anything or a future between us, and with the way he was treating Aurora, I was pretty sure I wouldn’t be able to stand all aspects of him.

These, however, were just what I wanted to keep me here tonight and excited.

“You sure?” he asked. “Cranberry juice? Wine? Fruits? Champagne?”

“Cranberry juice is fine,” I said, wanting the sweetness and tang. Alcohol, though I was staying away from it, maybe until later. I just wanted to kiss him more than anything else. It was the one thing I had been unable to get out of my head all day long, and I truly couldn’t take it any longer.

So, I headed over and retrieved the glass from him. I came around to where he was standing and leaned against the counter and took a small sip.

He was watching me closely, and as a result, my stupid heart kept tumbling out of place and falling into my stomach.

It was all very disconcerting, and so I looked away and stared out towards the dim living room where the windows overlooking the city were. They covered the entire wall, and the view was so panoramic that they were the perfect antidote to my current anxiety and nervousness. The stars were shining brightly in the darkness and never more than at this moment, did they seem so beautiful to me, even though I had a slight fear of heights.

“How did Aurora come to know about you?” he suddenly asked, and I returned my attention to him. I took one more sip of the juice and then held onto the huge tumbler. He had poured me a generous amount, which I most definitely couldn't finish at the moment but definitely, as the night wore on, I would definitely need it and as a result be able to.

“We met at a coffee shop,” I replied. “She came up to me because she recognized me from my posts on social media, and that was how we connected.”

“Oh,” he said. “So you were a recommendation?”

“No,” I replied, and as usual with him, I truly couldn’t decipher through his tone what was a compliment or an insult. It didn't matter anyway because I wasn't here seeking anyone's approval. I was just here to get fucked and then to be let go so I could move on with my life.

So, I set the glass down and looked up at him.

He leaned forward then, and as his big warm hand wrapped around my neck, I felt myself begin to melt.

I felt so fragile in his arms, so delicate, so wanted, and so, when he slightly lifted my chin and moved to kiss me, I was ready with my whole heart. His lips connected with mine, and it had to be the sweetest thing I had ever tasted.

He smelled so clean and so exotic that I lost myself in his taste. My eyes tightened shut, and before I could stop myself, I was holding onto his thick biceps. He was so sexy, so strong, so big…my knees could no longer hold me up. I moved even closer, just so that I could press my body against him.

Knowing what I was coming for, I had foregone a bra altogether, and I was now being very well rewarded for it because my hardened nipples grazed so hungrily against the hardness of his chest. His arms went around my waist, seeming to encapsulate me and bend me like a doll.

It was the perfect move, however, because it ensured that he could lean down even further and deepen the kiss.

I had expected something of a hard and rough kiss given how charged and tense our attraction was to each other, but perhaps it was because of the calm night, but this was soft, sweet, intense. It was as though it could go on forever, as though we both intended it to go on forever.

Eventually, he pulled away to suck on my lips, and it was a fight before either of us let go. That slight pull at the end floored me, and so I held on even tighter to him just so that it wouldn’t be revealed just how much of a puddle I had been turned into. I looked up then into his eyes, and he did the same, and then to my disappointment, he let me go. I quickly held onto the counter for my stability while he reached for my half-filled glass of juice and took a healthy drink from it.

“Afterwards,” he set it down, and although I didn’t want to keep staring at him, I had to look away. I couldn’t read his expression at all, I realized. It was as though he was contemplating the kiss we just had and whether it was worth the trouble of even going further with me and as a result, I became instantly defensive.

I had just had the best kiss, so why did he seem to be contemplating if he had made the biggest mistake of his life? I truly didn’t know how to process this.

“Let's go upstairs,” he suddenly said, but I found myself reluctant to move even though he did. I watched him leave as he was already heading towards the stairs before he realized that I wasn't

following behind. He stopped then and turned to me, and the glow of the night on him made him look surreal. I knew then that I hadn’t been dumbfounded all day and practically from the very moment I laid eyes on him because he was interesting to look at, and that I hadn’t thrown my brain into the gutter and jumped into his car to come all the way here on a whim.

I was so attracted to him that it was terrifying, and this kind of attraction, the only way I could see it ending, was with my obsession and a heartbreak so extreme that I would probably not be able to recover from it.

Unless he turned out to truly be the absolute dickhead that he appeared to be with his dealings with Aurora.

“Um…,” I swallowed, wondering how I could stall to give myself one last chance to make a better and wiser decision.

“Aurora,” I said. “Why don’t you want her to have the wedding that she wants?” I asked. “I mean, it's her once special day. I don’t understand why you’re fighting her so much about the things she wants, the size, and just everything in general. It's making her very unhappy and miserable.”

As my words left my lips, I could very clearly read his expression because suddenly and right before my eyes, he turned from a neutral expression to something so menacing that I felt chills run down my spine.

“Why are you asking me about Aurora?” he asked, a very deep and dark scowl forming between his brows.

“Well, uh…” I felt myself instantly begin to stutter. But I wasn’t going to back down because this was probably now more for me than for him. Perhaps if he was angry enough, he’d throw me out before we even got started, and I’d be able to dodge whatever incoming bullet this entire night felt like.

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