Songs for Cricket by Laine, E. (best books to read in your 20s TXT) 📗

guitar. He tweaked the strings between every peak of my breast to the valley between my legs until all pain was forgotten.

Soon, I was meeting every thrust while clawing at his back with my other hand. I might have cried out when I found a release for the second time. But nothing left my lungs except puffs of breath as his strokes became longer and more determined, extending the pleasure within.

He groaned in the crook of my neck before stilling his movement. Our sweat-damped skin began to cool, and I was grateful for the heat coming off him.

When he rolled us on our side and let go of me, I protested.

“I’ll be right back.”

He stood, all six-foot-two of him. His body was a work of art, and I watched as he removed the condom from his softening cock. Had that really been in me?

Though no one had been home when I’d entered his room, I’d been too caught up in him to notice any other sounds other than the ones we made. He took time to open the door a crack and listen intently before exiting the room.

I brought the cover up over my mouth, not out of embarrassment. I wanted to hide my utter happiness at what I’d just done and with Shepard. He loved me, and I loved him, and I’d just given him the ultimate prize I had to offer.

My only worry now was how August would take the news that Shepard and I were together.

24

shepard

When I went back to my room, would Finley really be in my bed? I stayed in the bathroom a little longer than I should have thinking about that very question. Maybe it had all been some waking fantasy.

I rung out the wash cloth and drifted back to my room. But it wasn’t a dream. She was there nearly covered head to toe by a sheet that didn’t quite hide her flush.

Though my blinds were mostly closed, light filled the room.

“Hiding?” I teased, removing the cover and exposing her mouth so I could take advantage.

She only giggled when I moved the sheet away completely to use the cloth to gently clean between her legs.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” I asked.

Though I’d removed traces of my invasion from her skin, drops of her crimson innocence marked my sheets, but I kept that to myself. I didn’t want her feeling self-conscious.

Her grin eased some of the self-hatred I’d felt for the pain I’d unexpectedly inflicted on her. “I’m better than okay.”

She stretched and bit her lower lip, stirring my desire for her. I dropped the towel to the wood plank floors and curled myself around her. The feel of her naked ass against me swelled my cock to proportions I didn’t think possible in such a short amount of time.

“Why Cricket?” she asked out of the blue.

Her face was hidden from me, so I nuzzled her neck, burying my face in her hair and enjoying the coconut scent of her shampoo.

“You remember that time you told your brothers you liked sitting outside to listen to the crickets.”

She laughed. “Yeah, and I remember Cooper bringing me one hidden in his hands. When it landed in mine shocking me, I scared the poor thing as I dropped it.”

“You screamed,” I reminded her.

Her body shook. “I did, didn’t I?”

“And after you tried to beat the crap of out of us for laughing at you, you admitted you liked to listen but didn’t want to touch one.”

She sighed and wistfully said, “August took that to heart. I woke up that night hearing one that he’d captured and put in a jar next to my bed.”

The triplets shared a soul-deep bond that made me envious at times. I was grateful to share in their memories. This was one of many we had.

“You also wondered why they sang,” I said.

She nodded. “I’d forgotten that.”

So had I. “A few nights before we left to drive to Layton, you were sitting outside by the pool, and it reminded me.”

When I’d first moved in with them after everything, Finley had found me at that same spot, and I told her things I hadn’t told August.

“We used to talk until things got weird,” she said, a sadness in her tone.

“It wasn’t you. I fell in love with my best friend’s sister and knew your father would never approve. I backed off, knowing being near you was better than nothing at all.”

She turned in my hold to face me.

“What does my father have to do with this?”

Everything, I wanted to say. “He would never had let me stay if I’d made a move on you. Besides, August would have kicked me out first.” I glanced away, hating what I had to say next. “We have to tell him.”

Her sigh blew across my cheek as if she didn’t relish the idea any more than I did.

“I still wonder why crickets make those sounds,” she said, avoiding the topic of her brother.

We couldn’t avoid the subject forever, but I gave her time for now and stuck to the subject she’d chosen. “I found out.” I’d looked it up after being reminded of her curiosity. Her eyes waited with an eagerness I recognized, having known her most of my life. “According to my research, males have three types of songs.”

“Males?” she asked.

“Go figure, it’s us guys that use our songs to attract a female.” I winked at her. “To entice them into mating, and most importantly, one to fight, or what I like to dub the attack song to keep other males away.”

“Oh, I see,” she said, giggling. “And your song was which one?”

She hadn’t seen it yet, and I thought about playing it for her.

“It was me hoping that one day . . .”

She didn’t let me off the hook.

“We’d what?”

I surprised her with my answer.

“One day, you’d see how I felt about you and give me a chance.”

Her fingers stroked down my cheek and over my lips.

“Only you didn’t know I’d been yours all