Page 27 of Lost In Someone

“Plenty of what, babe?” Brodie is back downstairs, puts his hands on my waist, and pulls me back into him. He’s in a touchy-feely mood. Maybe it is time to get everyone to leave.

“Jobs here for me to do.” I twist my head back to kiss him.

“Actually, there’s something I need you to do. It’s upstairs.” Brodie turns to the others. “Thank you so much. Drinks are on me on Friday.”

A few minutes later, the house is empty. It seems larger, more echo-y now it’s just the two of us. “What do you need me to do?”

“It’s to do with the bed. Something is not right with it.” He walks back to the open door.

I follow him up the stairs. Ten minutes ago, only a bare mattress was on the bed, but now the stunning brass king-size bed is made up with dark red brocade sheets and a duvet takes centre stage. Candles stand on the windowsill and all along the edge of the skirting boards. Brodie leans against the windowsill, his arms across his chest, his feet crossed at the ankles, the grey April sky highlighting his almost black hair like a halo. The epitome of cool, but his jaw is hard with tension. He’s nervous. Why?

“Hey, are you okay?” He’s practically vibrating. From excitement, nervousness, fear? “What’s wrong?”

He shakes his head, swiping the back of his hand over his eyes. He’s crying. “Brodie, baby. What’s up?”

“I don’t know how to do this shit. I never thought I’d be in love, and to find it in a dark club with a stranger is romance film shit. But here I am, five months into a relationship with someone I respect so much. A man who makes me laugh, who puts up with my sweaty, stinky trainers and my equally sweaty and stinky body. I wanted to do something special to show you how much I love you and want to be with you.” He snuffles, wipes his knuckle under his nose, and chuckles. “Don’t panic. I’m not proposing, but I am asking you to think about moving in here with me. Once it’s all finished, I mean.”

I stare at him and then look around the room. He’d planned this—with Merrick—to make it special. I grab his arms and pull him away from the window into my embrace. “You do this shit damn well, baby. I love you too. So much. We met for a reason that night. It was to lead you here to me. Some serious chaos theory must have been going on to mix our lives, but I’m glad it happened.” I let him go. “I think we’ll be very happy here. You and me.”

“Is that a yes?” He laughs, looking hopeful.

“It’s a yes.” I drag him down until our backs hit the bed. “Do we get to christen this bed now?”

I groan and roll over, expecting to find Ivan, but his side of the bed is empty. It’s still warm, so he can’t have been gone long. I stretch my arms above my head, and my back cracks and pops. The renovation has been going on for three weeks now, resulting in more jobs than I initially planned, but while the place is getting gutted, it makes sense to do it properly. The bedroom door opens, and Ivan comes in with a cup of coffee in each hand and a box of what looks like painkillers between his teeth.

I sit up, wincing at the pain in my back, and accept the cup he offers me. He takes the box out of his mouth and hands it to me. “Take some of those. They will help.”

“Thanks, babe. I’m just stiff, that’s all. It’s been a long time since I did this much manual labour. I’ll do some stretches before I do anything else.”

“Ooh, stretches. My favourite. Can I watch?” Ivan waggles his eyebrows, puts his cup on the side table, and gets back into bed. “The Forestry Commission has offered me some more work. Not for as long as last year, maybe six weeks. What do you reckon?”

This is a surprise. Why would he ask my opinion? This is work for him and probably pays better than the individual work he can get here. Although he works with Merlin a lot, and I can see them doing more of that in the future. “Do you want to do it?”

“My bank account would like it, but it’s not essential.” He shrugs non-committally, not giving me any clue what he wants to do.

“If you want to go and the money would be good, you should do it. This is your job, Ivan. You don’t need my approval. I’ll miss you, but I know you enjoy working with them. When do they want you to start?”

“As soon as I want. It’ll be in the south-west this time, so not so much travelling. I could probably be home a few nights a week.” He nudges me gently in the side. “I don’t think I can stay away from you for too long, baby.”

“Sounds like a good idea, then. My place should be finished by the time you’re done, and it will be summer. Maybe we could take a holiday.” I take a sip of my coffee and lean over to kiss him.

“If things get too messy in the farmhouse, you can stay here and have all the hot water you need.” He kisses me back.

We finish our coffees, and Ivan goes downstairs to call his mate back and accept the offer. I do as I said and get some stretches done. After laying the screed over the underfloor heating pipework, I felt every vertebra creak as I stood up. Luckily, I’ve got a yoga class tonight, not HIITT, so I have the perfect excuse to work on my spine.

I’m in the shower when Ivan walks into the bathroom, drops his sweats, and steps in behind me. He rests his hand on my shoulders, then travels down my back over my shoulder blades and down to my arse. As he cups it, he sighs.

“This arse is a work of art,” he murmurs in my ear and kneads my cheeks. “I can never get enough of it.”

I push back into his hands, groaning as a thick finger slips down the crease to my hole. He doesn’t touch me there. Instead, he drags his finger back up again and pulls the cheeks apart. His mouth is on me, and a shudder runs through my body. This has become one of my favourite things. I’ve gone from embarrassment to a wanton slut as soon as his tongue touches my hole.

“God, yes. God, don’t stop,” I cry out. He circles my pucker with his finger, and the tip slips inside while his tongue laves the skin around it. In moments, I’m riding his face, desperate for more and deeper until he pulls away and the blunt head of his cock nudges my loosened hole. “God, yes, fuck me, fuck me now.”

As he breeches my entrance, which is not as stretched as usual, it burns, but I love it. I wiggle my arse, getting him to slide deeper inside, and he pops past the muscle.

“God, you’re so tight, so hot. This is my happy place, right here inside you.” Ivan’s voice is strained as he holds himself back while I fully adjust. He pulls back, only to surge deeper again.

“Stop messing about and fuck me,” I moan as he withdraws again.

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