Averill _A Secrets Novella Read online

  Tossing both towels in the dirty laundry bin, he walks over to me, grabs my hand, and places a kiss upon my open palm.

  “In other words, you kicked her out of our house?” he asks with mischief shining from his beautiful ocher eyes.

  “Hm, maybe I did.” I giggle in reply—full-on giggle. What the heck, Averill?

  “This alone time we have, what might it consist of? Give me some details,” he asks.

  “Gah, you know it still embarrasses me to speak about sex, to talk dirty. It’s one thing to think the thoughts, but giving voice to them? Much harder.” Yeah, I did use sexual words with Tessa to get her to agree to work for me, and surprisingly, it didn’t feel weird.

  “You said hard.”

  “Stop acting juvenile.” Sticking my tongue out at him, I let him know I didn’t mean for him to stop. “Yes, I said hard. I’m not only hoping your cock is hard, I’m hoping the sex will be too—hard and fast and loud. I want to be fucking loud enough our neighbors may hear. Our house is wonderfully empty for at least two hours, and we need to take advantage.”

  “Brace yourself, Tiger Lily, you’re about to get dirty.”

  “I could use some dirtying up.” Come and get me.

  “Strip for me. I’m standing here practically naked in only my gym shorts while you boldly eye-fuck me. We need to be on equal footing. Start stripping.”

  Choosing not to unnecessarily take up precious minutes of our precious time alone, I rip my shirt off and toss it over my head. My bra goes flying in the same direction barely two seconds later then my shorts swiftly follow, dropping around my ankles before I have time to draw in another breath. The only thing left on is my underwear—since he still has his gym shorts on, these are staying on too.

  “Christ, you’re beautiful.” He stares at me for what feels like a full minute before speaking again. “Lie down on the lifting machine bench, spread those gorgeous legs of yours, and I’ll eat myself a proper breakfast.”

  His words send a rush of wetness to my pussy, completely soaking through my panties. I’d normally be embarrassed, but not with Rhys.

  Never with Rhys.

  He makes me feel desired, loved, protected.

  “Can you see what your words do to me, Rhys?” If he keeps talking, I could come undone from his words alone.

  “Mm, I see it, and it’s time I take care of that sweet pussy of yours. Spread your legs a bit wider, baby. Give me enough space to devour what’s mine.”

  The next thing I know, his mouth is sucking on my clit, his tongue making a circling motion, one hand pushing my panties roughly down my legs while the other plunges two fingers deep into my core.

  “Yes—there. Yes—yes.” My fingers tunnel in his hair, slightly pulling with each stroke of his tongue. My back arches off the bench a bit, my hips bucking to meet the motions of his mouth and magic fingers. Each lick is long and deep. Grabbing hold of my ass, he tugs me closer, driving his tongue deeper, my walls clinging to his fingers even tighter. His groan of pleasure sends vibrations all throughout my body. Holy shitballs.

  “Let go, Tiger Lily.”

  Those words are all I need to shout my release. “My God—Rhys—yes, right there—Rhys!”

  My legs go slack after holding his head in a vise grip and my fingers open after pulling his hair just as tight a moment before. He doesn’t waste any time letting me come all the way down from my heavenly high before pushing into me in one hard thrust. He grabs my thighs and wraps my slack legs around his waist.

  “Hold on tight, babe.”

  His dick slides in and out of my wet pussy with ease, sliding deeper with each thrust. His balls loudly slap my ass, and I know he’s fully inside me. Glancing down, I can see his dick, covered in my arousal, slide out of my body before sliding back in.

  Hottest. Sight. Ever.

  “Harder, Rhys.”

  Gone is the tender lovemaking of last night, back is the hard fucking I’ve been craving.

  “You’re dripping wet, baby. Each time I enter you is slipperier than the last. I love it. It’s insanely hot to know how much I affect you. Do you want to switch positions? Make this last longer?”

  “If you keep fucking me this hard, it’s that much sooner we can start round two.”

  I’m not letting him go after only one round. We have at least two hours before we have to get ready to drive to the airport to grab my parents, drop them off at their hotel, and repeat the process for his parents.

  “I like watching your cock slide in and out of me, covered in my wetness. It’s unbelievably sexy.” As the last word leaves my mouth, I gently bite his earlobe. It must have been what he needed to send him over, him looking down to see what I was seeing.

  “Fuck—me—hot—yes baby.”

  His orgasm causes another one of my own to go off.

  I send up a silent word of thanks to Tessa for taking over my store for the morning. This alone time with Rhys was exactly what I needed.

  After spending the morning breaking in nearly every machine in the new home gym, I can proudly say I’ve been thoroughly loved. Although my vocal chords may be slightly strained, I can say it was worth every scream.

  Standing in front of my vanity mirror, I take in the reflection staring back at me. My hands can’t help but move over my bare belly. To an outsider looking in, I might appear to be a woman assessing her body, scanning for flaws, but that’s not me. I’m contemplating my body and wondering what it’d look like with my belly heavy with child. Before, I didn’t make it far enough along to see the changes in my body. What would my breasts feel like slightly heavier? Would I carry the baby high or low?

  Hearing the sound of the shower turn off, I turn away and quickly finish getting myself dressed. It’s not like I don’t want him to see my actions—I do, I’m just not ready for the conversation I know will follow. I promised myself it’s one we’ll have together after the ceremony.

  “Hey, babe, how’d you manage to get ready faster than me?”

  Fast? I thought I took ages. “Well not having to wash my hair saved me tons of time. Fun fact: due to me not having to wash it, we, um…were able to have the last round against the mirrors.”

  Grabbing a brush from my vanity, I begin making said hair presentable, something that doesn’t scream, I had crazy wild animalistic sex before picking my parents up from the airport.

  “Would it be horribly rude to lie to my parents after we drop them off and say we have to get straight back to the airport to pick up Frank and Aideen?” I ask.

  “Rude, yes, but it’s not as if you don’t have a valid reason for not wanting to spend a ton of time with them. Besides, tomorrow is the rehearsal dinner and you’re having a luncheon with the girls before that. You’ll be parented out by the time we board our plane for Mexico. If you want to pick them up and run, by all means ditch and dash.”

  He makes it sound simple. Could it actually be simple?

  My mom’s feelings may be hurt, but I’ll be spending hours upon hours with her tomorrow.

  “I’m going to hell anyway for having sex in a church parking lot, I may as well tell a tiny white lie to my parents.”

  Instead of answering me with words, Rhys grabs me by the shoulders and turns me around to face him. Once my whiskey eyes meet his ocher ones, he plants the kiss to end all kisses upon my lips.

  The moment his tongue melts against mine, I know this kiss could ruin any plans we have left for the day. Slowly breaking contact, I back away until my shoulders hit the wall.

  “Don’t even think about following me over here, buddy. Take your magic lips and get dressed. We have parents to pick up, wedding preparations to get done—oh, and my favorite thing of all, matchmaking Brant and Tessa.”

  On those parting words, I leave the bedroom to go in search of my purse and my phone, humming a song about matchmakers making a match the whole time.

  Tessa is gonna kill me.

  Pulling up to baggage claim at Gerald R. Ford International airport nearly a
n hour later has my stomach in knots. It’s as if a kaleidoscope of butterflies decided now was a fantastic time to take flight inside.

  Normally, I’m not this nervous to see my parents.

  We’ve made up…for the most part.

  I’d be lying, though, if I said it doesn’t still hurt, because it hurts like a bitch.

  Being disowned at such a young age can shape a person. Most of the time, it’s not for the better. Me? I happened to turn out okay after a few bumps in the road. I’m mostly whole now, but the person I am today is because of how brave I initially was and because of Rhys.

  “Why don’t you drop me off here, and I’ll go inside and wait. You can circle around. We shouldn’t have to pay a parking fee if you keep circling, and I’ll text once they’re grabbing their bags,” I suggest.

  I’m glad both sets of parents decided to use the airport closest to our home and not the one in Chicago. Three hours is a long car ride, and the price difference in airfare isn’t worth a six-hour round trip in highway traffic. It’s different if you’re going to Chicago to enjoy the city beforehand, but not if you’re only flying in.

  “How about we switch places? You drive and I’ll wait. Your mother may have packed heavy.”

  “Fine with me, because you’re probably correct. I’m sure she packed enough for two weeks instead of three days. We should take bets on how many pairs of shoes she brought with her.”

  He thinks I’m kidding, but sadly I’m not. My mother has always had a shopping addiction. Whether we had the money or not, she found a way to stay in the hottest fashions. Mary Fitzgerald is impeccably dressed at all times.

  My dad? He couldn’t care less. Since leaving the army, he wears jeans and polo shirts. He was a simple man when he was on active duty and remains one till this day. If you can say one thing about Stu Fitzgerald, it’s that he’s laid back.

  Which brings me back around to my issues with my parents. When we moved away and I regressed back into myself, how could they not have seen the signs? It took nearly two years for them to notice anything, and they only realized then because I was arrested for selling marijuana. The events of that day led me straight into Alix’s arms, and unknowingly into the path of the sadistic serial killer Rob Smith.

  Holding grudges isn’t healthy, I know, and I shouldn’t still have such a chip on my shoulder all these years later, but sadly…I do. My parents’ lack of interest in me from the moment I walked out of their house until reconnecting slightly over a year ago…it hurts me. If I’m honest, there are days where it kills me to think about it all. They could have easily tumbled the walls between us and I would’ve come running home.

  But because we’re all stupidly stubborn, we held on to our anger. We held on to it damn hard and when Rhys pushed me to make contact with them, I lied and told him I tried. He believed me for around two seconds then checked my outgoing calls on my cell phone. It took another week before I was ready to actually press call on their number.

  We took a personal vacation to Alabama to try to get our family back, and it helped a smidge. We’re a long way from becoming a fully functional family—or I guess I should say the fully functional, dysfunctional unit we once were.

  I’m hoping me asking my dad to walk me down the aisle will help us along in bridging the gap. Maybe someday we’ll get back to where we belong. I’d like to be able to call them up any time just to talk, or to complain about the days when Rhys comes home and he’s a dickwad. It’d be nice to have more than Tessa to call when I need to vent. I’d like my relationship with my mother back, not to mention I’d like her to help me out from time to time on what’s new in fashion for stocking the store.

  I’m lost in thought and didn’t hear Rhys get out of the truck, so when he opens my door, I squeal from the slight scare it gives me.

  “I was talking to you, Tiger Lily. You were lost in thought. Scoot over and drive, I’ll call once I have Mary and Stu.” Leaning in, he presses a quick kiss to my forehead before closing my door.

  I rapidly slide over behind the wheel, buckle up, and am back in traffic within seconds. I’ve barely made it a block away before my phone alerts me of a text message. Rhys said he’d call once he’s ready for me to come back, so I’ll wait to check the message. It’s probably Mama letting me know they’ve landed safely or something.

  Two more alerts go off but I choose to ignore them. It might be Tessa, but I’m not one who will text and drive—shoot, I barely like to talk on my phone and drive. Whoever is messaging can wait until I’m back in the passenger seat and not driving this beast Rhys calls a truck.

  After another fifteen minutes—and seven missed text messages—later, Rhys calls to let me know my parents are with him and he’s waiting on one more bag of my mother’s before coming out. Taking a quick right, I make my way back to the passenger pickup area.

  When I pull up, I see both of my parents standing there waiting for me with four huge suitcases. Four—what the hell? How long do they think they’re staying? Forever? Still no Rhys, and because of his absence, I assume he’s still waiting on the bag, which would mean they have a total of five suitcases with them. For a weekend trip.

  They haven’t noticed me yet and already I want to turn around, head straight to the nearest bar, and have a shot of tequila before dealing with five suitcases’ worth of my parents.

  Sigh…it’s a damn good thing my honeymoon is coming up, because I need a vacation from merely observing their luggage collection. Son of a bitch.

  Stopping the truck at the curb slightly ahead of them, I turn on the hazard lights and proceed to get out.

  “Hey, Mom, Dad,” I call out. Both of their heads turn around in unison before they start moving in to smother me with hugs.

  “Hey beautiful girl,” Mama says while squeezing the life out of me. Leaning back, her emerald gaze meets mine. “I hope you didn’t mind all the messages I was sending. I didn’t know you were driving, figured Rhys was. I’m sorry if I distracted you.”

  “No, it’s okay, Mama.”

  Backing out of her hug, I’m quickly enveloped in another life-sucking embrace, this one from my father. He lifts me up off the ground and twirls me around once before placing me back on my feet. “I can’t believe we’re here for your wedding—and to Rhys, of all people. Guess I should’ve taken your mother up on that bet years ago. She wanted to bet me you’d end up marrying each other, but you were children and I didn’t see it. I was blind.” Releasing me, he grabs a bag and makes his way over to the truck to start loading them into the back.

  As we’re loading the last suitcase, Rhys finally joins us. “I had to go talk to the airline because your bag was lost for a few minutes there, but we have it now, Mary,” he says as he walks over with said bag.

  “Um…how long are you staying? Why does coming to our wedding warrant five suitcases?” I question, because five bags is going a bit overboard.

  “We wanted to take a mini vacation of our own after your wedding is over.”

  “Yes, what your father said. Money is limited and we took advantage of the flight here and back—well, we delayed the one back actually. The day after your wedding, we’re renting a car and driving up to Traverse City for a week before driving back here and flying home. In a way, the free flight helped us make up our mind on where to take our own vacation.”

  My parents are still hurting for money? This news is shocking to me. I knew they were after my father was discharged from the army and we moved away, but I thought they had gotten past it. My mother has a wonderful job and my dad has found steady work as a security guard for a private firm, so I’m more than a bit confused.

  “You’re hurting for money?” It slips from my mouth before I can filter it or think twice, and they both answer at the same time.

  “Not really, no,” Mama says as my father replies, “We could be doing better.”

  Mama is trying to shelter me from the truth.

  “Which is it? You’re okay money-wise or you could use mor
e?”

  “Don’t you worry about it. Whichever it is, it’s none of your concern. The only thing you should be worrying about this weekend is your wedding, not our well-being. Brush it aside beautiful girl, and move forward. We can discuss this more after you’re married,” Mama says gently.

  Her hackles are raised and she immediately changed the subject, bringing it back around to the wedding—there’s more going on there, and she doesn’t want me finding out about it. Why bring five suitcases? If they didn’t want me to know, why let me see the suitcases since they’d obviously lead to me asking questions?

  Sighing, I open the passenger door and hop in the truck, closing the door on not only the subject, but the world. She’s correct, I have other issues to think about. Besides, it’s not like I’m rolling in money and could help them out much anyway, but I could offer my advice, or my shoulder. I know we’re not on solid ground yet, but we’re getting there. You’d think they’d at least trust me enough to tell me if they were having financial issues.

  Once everyone is piled in, Rhys begins to make his way downtown toward their hotel.

  “We’re dropping you off quickly before we have to run back to the airport to pick up Frank and Aideen. After we drop them off, we have some plans to finalize and go over tonight. Mama, I’ll be back here in the morning to pick you up by 11 o’clock, if it’s okay with you? Oh, and before I forget, there’s a wonderful restaurant directly across the street from your hotel. You’ll both love it and it’s fairly decent on the wallet. You should think about going there for dinner.”

  Hopefully it doesn’t sound like too much of an excuse to get away from them. If they ask what we have to go over tonight, I’m fucked. Rhys will have to be quick on his feet and think of something, because I don’t have shit.

  “Oh—well, okay. I thought we’d all go to dinner tonight, but I guess it’s okay. You must be awfully busy, we completely understand. Rhys, will you be getting Stu around the same time tomorrow morning?”