Page 81 of Bending The Rules

“You’re welcome sweetheart.” She squeezed me around the waist, then pulled back to look me in the eyes. “I understand why you didn’t tell me about you and Russell. I don’t like it, but I understand. Still – don’t you ever,ever, keep something like that from me again, do you hear me?”

I smiled. “Yes ma’am.” I closed my eyes, basking in the comfort of my mother’s arms for a few seconds before I thought about something. “So… you’re okay with maybe not having those grandkids?”

“Well, it’s not really up to me is it? We just have to accept things as they come, and adjust accordingly. Besides… if you and Justin are serious, I might just inherit myself a grandchild anyway.”

“Bri.”

She nodded, and a big grin spread across her face. “Amazing, isn’t it, how she came from Justin and Cat, but reminds me so much of you? All my years in this bookstore, and I haven’t seen an appetite for reading that matched hers since you used to raid my shelves.”

I laughed. “Yeah, it was a beautiful way to grow up. Surrounded by books.”

“And look at you now,” she said, cupping my face in her hands. “Helping bring those books into the world. I’m so proud of you, and the business you’ve built.”

“So proud of my business acumen that I get the glamorous job of stocking bookshelves when I drop by to see you?”

My mother grinned, then kissed my cheek before she let me go, to head back to the front. “Roots, sweetheart. Can’t let you forget them.”

I could very, very easily get used to this.

Toni’s attention was on the tomatoes she was chopping to top the salad we were having with dinner, but my attention was on the smooth expanse of velvety brown skin on display. She was in one of my old BSU tee shirts – and nothing else, I hoped – when she reached up to grab the peppermill from the cabinet. The effort pulled the shirt up, offering a peek of round ass cheeks, and I abandoned my place on the other side of the kitchen to approach her, wrapping my arms around her waist from behind.

“I’m still trying to figure out how I ignored how sexy you were for so many years,” I mumbled into the back of her neck, then reached down, slipping a hand between her thighs.

No panties. Jack pot.

“Stop it!” she smacked my hand off and moved away, turning to face me with a grin. “We already missed our dinner reservations because you couldn’t keep your hands to yourself. Now we need to eat.Food,” she added, when she noticed the grin that crept across my face.

Two weeks.

That’s all that had passed since we decided to try something new – each other. And it felt good as hell. So good, so natural, that it made me wonder if this was how it was always supposed to be, and we were simply getting back on track. Just like our dynamic as friends, we managed to land together perfectly. Neither of us was naïve enough to think it would always be that way – especially considering the way we started – but both of us were comfortable with a strong trend.

“I don’t want food,” I told her, putting a hand on her waist, keeping her in place. A shiver rushed through her as I ran the other hand up her body, gently caressing her breast before I rested my fingers at the base of her neck. I used my thumb to stroke along her chin. “I want you back in my bed.”

“I’m hungry. Weneedsustenance, Mr. Wright. You wouldn’t want me to pass out, would you?”

I chuckled, then bent to kiss her. “Not from hunger. We can eat first.”

“Thank you baby,” she purred – the kind of sexy shit that made it hard to stick to the concession I’d just made. “This is difficult for you, isn’t it?” she teased, wrapping her arms around my bare waist.

“You know it is. Youjustgot back from Timbuktu, or wherever the hell. I’m trying to get caught up on those days we missed.”

“I was inSeattle, fool. For one day, meeting with Janelle.”

“Felt like a week.”

Toni giggled – which was easily becoming one of my top five favorite sounds – and moved her hands down to my ass. “Awww, you missed me, huh?”

“Hell yes, I missed you.”

There was no point in fronting about it, and the admission made her smile.

“Well,” she said, slipping her hands into the front of my boxers. “I guess I could help you out a little bit... since you missed me.”

I groaned as she wrapped her hand around me to pull me free, then dropped to her knees in front of me, and without preamble, took me in her mouth.

“Shit.” I gripped the edge of the counter as she looked up, meeting my eyes as she gave what felt like her best attempt to swallow me whole. “What do I have to say to get you to help me out alot, instead of just a little?”

The vibration of her throat as she laughed made me close my eyes. I leaned my head back and gripped the counter a little tighter, trying to keep my hands there instead of fisted in her hair. One of her hands closed around my balls, gently massaging while she sucked, and I was convinced that this moment was perfection.

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