Candy Crush Page 13

  As she tore the wrapper off the condom, she said, “We have all damn night to enact your fantasies.” She sheathed him with the condom and positioned herself over his erection. As she impaled herself, his look of bemusement turned to one of pleasure, and she sighed, feeling smug and oh so…

  “Oh!”

  She was on her back again, Brandon towering over her, one hand grasping her hip as the other fisted in the bedcovers and he gritted his teeth as he pumped into her. She clutched at his back, lifting her hips to meet him thrust for thrust.

  “That’s okay,” he managed to grind out. “This is one of my fantasies too.” He did a little hip shimmy and Gabriella cried out as he rubbed against nerve endings that hadn’t had any action in far, far too long.

  “Plus, we have all night and a box full of condoms,” he added, and then he lifted his hips, expertly sliding his penis against just the right spot. Gabriella’s nails dug into his backside as her body exploded from the inside out.

  Thank goodness they had all night and a box full of condoms.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  Brandon woke up on Sunday morning and felt oddly satisfied when he rolled over and wrapped his arms around Gabriella’s soft, warm body. When she stirred, he lifted his head to see that her eyes were open and she was looking at him.

  “I’m glad to see that last night was not just one of my more vivid fantasies,” he said with a teasing smile.

  “Last night was a lot more than just one fantasy,” she murmured in a sexy, sleepy, sated voice. Brandon’s other brain – the only one that had been able to truly function since yesterday afternoon – swelled at the sound.

  “I still have a few more,” he said, and then he dipped his head and licked a nipple. It puckered instantly. He switched to the other breast and suckled that one. He felt movement and opened his eyes and saw Gabriella snag a condom off the bedside table. He grinned as he rolled onto his back and let her do the honors.

  “I think we’d better pick up a couple more boxes when we’re at the grocery store today.”

  “We’re going to the grocery store?” Gabriella asked.

  He smoothed his hand down the length of her, then back again to her waist and gently turned her away from him. She sucked in a breath and snuggled her backside against his eager erection.

  “Yes,” Brandon said as he nibbled on her neck and lifted her knee so that he could situate himself between her thighs. “We need groceries and you said you wanted to know where it was located.” As he worked himself into her opening, she reached behind and grasped his ass, squeezing encouragingly. He thrust and she let go of his ass to clutch at the headboard instead.

  “Definitely. Need. More. Condoms,” he said between thrusts, as Gabriella gasped out encouragement and he pushed them both to the brink. He lifted his hand, smoothed his finger across her clitoris and she screamed as her body bowed and she came, squeezing him with her inner muscles until he lost control himself and chased her over the edge.

  ***

  A long time later, after they were both showered and dressed, Brandon suggested they go out for lunch and stop at the grocery store on the way back. So they drove to a small Coney Island restaurant located out in the Township.

  “Does your family own this restaurant?” Gabriella asked as they pulled into the parking lot.

  “Nope. We’re not the only Greek family in town.”

  Gabriella didn’t bother to ask what he meant by that comment.

  After lunch, they drove to the grocery store and Brandon pointed out various important land marks along the way: the post office, dry cleaner, cheapest gas station in town, his old high school, the nearest movie theatre. He also pointed out the nearest highway and that she could find a mall if she drove south for about ten miles.

  The visit to the grocery store was an interesting affair. Initially, they simply walked up and down the aisles, Brandon doing normal, routine shopping and Gabriella suggesting ideas for meals and praising him for the fact that he enjoyed eating fresh fruit and vegetables.

  But then Brandon tossed a bottle of chocolate syrup into the cart and when Gabriella asked why, he began to explain to her, in graphic detail, all the things that could be accomplished with a bottle of chocolate syrup. Not a single one of them involved eating at the dining room table. By the time they left the grocery store – with four boxes of condoms as well as their groceries – they were both nearly mad with the need to get back to the house and get naked again.

  Unfortunately, when they pulled into the driveway, there was a police cruiser parked in the street in front of the house.

  “Ah hell,” Brandon said as he killed the engine and climbed out of the truck. Gabriella hurried after him to meet Daniel Franks on the front lawn.

  “What do you want, Daniel?” Brandon demanded, his tone harsh.

  Daniel tipped his hat towards Gabriella and said, “Hello to you too, Brandon. I stopped by to speak to Gabriella, see how she’s holding up. Do you have a minute?” he asked, looking directly at her.

  “State your business and leave, Daniel. We have more important things to do today.”

  Gabriella was shocked by Brandon’s rudeness, but Daniel seemed to take it in stride.

  “We haven’t found any evidence linking you to the body, obviously,” Daniel said, still looking at Gabriella. “There is no reason you need to stay in town, if you don’t want to.”

  “Why would I leave town?” Gabriella asked in confusion.

  Daniel shrugged. “Didn’t say you would want to. Just didn’t know if you still intended to stick around after what happened on Friday.”

  Gabriella looked him square in the face. “I’m not leaving. I don’t know why someone decided to put a dead body in my apartment, however I have every intention of opening that candy store, just as soon as the police let me back into my own property.” Her voice and her stance were determined.

  Daniel shifted uncomfortably. “You sure you’re okay staying with him?” He nodded toward Brandon, who scowled in response.

  “She’s fine. Better here than any place else in town,” Brandon snapped.

  “A little overprotective, don’t you think, Brandon?”

  “I tend to get that way about my family. I’m sure you’ve noticed.”

  His family? Gabriella wondered what in the world he was talking about. Surely he was not implying she was family. And if he was, well, she wasn’t sure how she felt about that.

  “Yeah,” Daniel said. His face looked mutinous. “I remember.”

  “How’re the kids, Daniel?” Brandon asked in a deceptively casual tone.

  “Brice and Tanya are fine,” Daniel said stiffly.

  “How about Laney?”

  “You’d know better than me,” Daniel snapped back.

  “Yeah, I would. Lucky kid.”

  Daniel looked as if he were considering punching Brandon, and Brandon looked as if he were hoping Daniel would try. Gabriella stared at them both, completely at a loss as to what was going on between them.

  Daniel finally shifted his attention to Gabriella. “Call me if you need anything, Gabriella. Don’t let this jerk tell you not to.” He tipped his hat again and walked back to his cruiser.

  Brandon scowled until he pulled away from the curb, and then turned and strode back to his truck. Gabriella chased after him.

  “What was that about?” she asked.

  Brandon pulled grocery bags out of the bed of the truck and handed them to her. When he decided she was carrying enough, he picked up the remaining bags and walked toward the back door.

  “Nothing. Just bad blood between us. Stay away from him, he’s bad news.”

  “That seemed like a lot more than just bad blood,” Gabriella commented as they walked into the house. She followed Brandon through the laundry room and into the kitchen, where they placed the grocery bags on the kitchen table.

  “It’s not something I want to talk about, okay?” He snapped, and then when he saw the hurt expression on Gabriella�
�s face, he ran his hand over his face and pulled her in his arms.

  He put his chin on her head and sighed. “I’m sorry for snapping at you. It’s not your fault Daniel Franks is a dick.” He closed his eyes, and held onto her for a few moments and then said, “Let’s get these groceries put away. Maybe we’ll have enough time to try out the chocolate syrup before we head over to my parents’ house.”

  ***

  They had time to enjoy a glass of wine on the front porch – the summer-like weather still lingered – but Gabriella refused to do anything involving chocolate syrup before they left for dinner at his parents’ house. She insisted they would not have enough time to experiment with the syrup and shower and get re-dressed. Brandon was amiable. There was always later, he commented with a lecherous grin and an exaggerated wink. Gabriella liked that idea. Too much.

  At ten to six, they left the house and climbed into Brandon’s truck. “Not taking the Harley?” Gabriella asked. She would forever have fond memories of that Harley, no matter what happened for the rest of her life.

  “My mother hates the bike. She pretends I don’t own it. Besides, it will probably be forty degrees by the time we head home, and you’ll freeze your ass off.”

  They drove to Brandon’s parents’ house, which was located on the edge of town, on a lake a few miles north of where Brandon lived. When Gabriella asked Brandon who would be there, he was vague. “My brothers, sister, parents, grandma Sarantos, maybe.”

  Gabriella was not satisfied with that answer, but he did not seem inclined to give her any more, and the drive was a short one, so she did not have time to press. When they pulled into the driveway, there were three vehicles in the driveway, and two more in the garage.

  “A lot of cars,” Gabriella commented.

  Brandon walked around and opened the passenger door. “This is nothing. Wait until we go to Aunt Korina’s for dinner. To her it’s dinner; to the rest of the world it’s a family reunion.”

  He helped her out of the truck and pulled her close for a lingering kiss before they walked toward the house. She was grateful for that kiss. It gave her strength for what she was about to face.

  When they walked in the front door, a sea of faces, all clustered together in the foyer, greeted them, anxious to catch the first glimpse of the girl Brandon was bringing to dinner. Gabriella smiled nervously and counted seven adults. Three men, four women.

  There were two small children as well, a little girl who was a toddler and a boy who was barely walking, so Gabriella estimated he was around his first Birthday. The oldest woman standing in the foyer, who was obviously Brandon’s mother because she had almost identical, although softer, facial features, stepped forward and embraced them each in turn. Then she smacked Brandon on the shoulder.

  “You told me she refused to sleep with you.”

  Gabriella felt the flush start at the roots of her hair and quickly slide down her entire body, all the way to her toes.

  Everybody started talking at once, and Gabriella was passed from person to person, to be hugged, to shake hands, receiving introductions with which she could barely keep up. She recognized Brandon’s youngest brother, Patrick, from the bank, and Nicole, who hugged her warmly when it was her turn and whispered in her ear, “I told you he was unforgettable, didn’t I?”

  Nicole picked up the little boy and said, “This is the apple of my eye, Anthony Junior.” The little boy gave her a big, gummy grin. Gabriella’s heart melted.

  “Is the little girl yours, too?” Gabriella looked around and spotted her, in her grandfather’s arms, talking animatedly about the doll she held up for his inspection.

  “Laney? No, she’s Courtney’s.”

  Courtney was Brandon’s sister, the youngest of the four siblings, and the only girl. She was only twenty-two years old. Laney looked to be three or four… And her name was Laney. Gabriella recalled the heated conversation between Brandon and Daniel:

  “How’re the kids, Daniel?” Brandon asked in a deceptively casual tone.

  “Brice and Tanya are fine,” Daniel said stiffly.

  “How about Laney?”

  “You’d know better than me,” Daniel snapped back.

  “Yeah, I would. Lucky kid.”

  She remembered the first time she met Daniel, Brandon had said Daniel fucked with his sister. Gabriella peered at the little girl. She had the same bright blue eyes as everyone else in her family, but her hair was several shades lighter and her skin was slightly ruddy and paler than the rest of the family.

  She was Daniel’s child, Gabriella was sure of it. Apparently when Brandon said Daniel fucked with his sister, he’d meant it literally.

  By the time someone shoved a glass of wine in her hand, Gabriella took it gratefully and all but chugged it. Brandon materialized at her side and gently pried it out of her hand. “Let’s not get sick, Sweet Pea. They aren’t really that bad.”

  “Your mother took one look at me and knew we’d slept together,” she hissed at him. She glanced across the room and saw the woman in question watching them. “And she’s staring at us. Why is she staring at us?”

  “Don’t tell me you’re afraid of my mother. She smells fear. Don’t act afraid,” he whispered hurriedly as the woman in question made her way across the room towards them.

  “So, Gabriella, tell me about yourself.” She was at least three inches taller than Gabriella and had a formidable presence, probably from raising four kids, three of them boys. Gabriella was indeed afraid of her.

  “Er, what would you like to know?”

  “You’re obviously not Greek.”

  “Er, no. I’m more of a mutt, actually.”

  Mrs. Rosalie Sarantos paused, and then she let out a guffaw that caused everyone in the room to turn their way. She squeezed Gabriella’s arm and patted Brandon on his arm.

  “Oh my, Brandon, she’s funny. I was so glad to hear you’ve finally settled down, but I’ll be honest and tell you I was afraid I might not like her. No reason, I mean, I adore Nicole. The jury’s still out on Stephanie.”

  Stephanie was Patrick’s girlfriend. She frowned because she heard what Rosalie said.

  “But I am happy to say that I like Gabriella.”

  Gabriella began to worry the woman might start crying. It was only dinner, for God’s sake. She and Brandon had known each other for little less than a week. It wasn’t as if they were announcing their engagement.

  Brandon, who had maintained a bland face throughout his mother’s chattering, put his hand on the small of her back and guided Gabriella away from the woman. A few moments, later, she found herself climbing stairs to the second level of the two-story home.

  “Where are we going?” Gabriella asked.

  “I want to show you something.” At the top of the stairs, he took her hand and they turned to the right and walked to the end of the hall. They stopped in front of a door that had a plastic faux license plate tacked to it, with the word, ‘Brandon’ written across it. “My old bedroom,” he said, a boyish smile on his lips.

  He opened the door and they both stepped inside. Gabriella glanced around. It looked like not much had changed since Brandon left high school, which was fourteen years ago. The walls were dark blue and posters of various sports teams and a couple of different hard rock bands still hung on the walls. There was a double bed in the middle of the room, covered with a blue and white afghan. The dresser was covered with trophies. Gabriella stepped closer and discovered he’d apparently been a very good baseball player, although he’d played basketball and golf as well.

  “Mr. All American,” she said, and he shrugged.

  He pulled her into his arms and kissed her until her toes curled and her hands were under his shirt and splayed on his back. When he pulled his lips away, she grabbed onto his shirt in order to maintain an upright position.

  “What was that for?” she gasped.

  “It looked like you needed a break from the family.”

  She looked at him, saw that he wa
s serious, and smiled.

  “Thanks. They are a little overwhelming. My family is much smaller and quieter.”

  “I thought you said you have a big family.”

  “Big extended family, but the immediate family is just me, my parents and my brother.”

  “My offer still stands, you can have mine any time you want.”

  Gabriella laughed. “I’m beginning to think I don’t have a choice in the matter. They seem to be under the impression I’m joining the family.”

  Brandon sobered and turned to look out the window. “Yeah, don’t let that get to you. They mean well, but they are definitely overbearing. Just ignore all the wedding comments; it’s what I do.”

  Gabriella suspected that would be easier said than done. “Do they do this every time you bring a girl home for dinner?”

  He looked at her through hooded eyes. “I’ve never brought a girl home for dinner before.”

  Gabriella was glad she was still clinging to his shirt, because otherwise her knees would have collapsed under her and she would have embarrassed herself by falling to the ground.

  As it was, she had to tighten her hold on his shirt and take several deep breaths before she was able to look at him. He casually turned away from the window and just kept looking at her, through half-closed eyes, not revealing a damn thing about what was going on in his head. Then he abruptly grabbed her hand and turned toward the door.

  “Come on, let’s get back downstairs before we’re missed. Dinner should be ready soon anyway.”

  The dining room table seated ten. An elderly white haired, wrinkled woman with a sharp tongue materialized and sat serenely at the head of the table when Brandon and Gabriella entered the dining room. Anthony was busy trying to secure Anthony Junior into a highchair, while Nicole prepared a small plate of food for him. Courtney squeezed an eleventh chair next to her own and buckled Laney into the booster seat attached to it. Everyone else coupled up and sat down. Gabriella sat with Brandon to her right and his grandmother to her left.

  “So you’re the one, eh?” Grandma Sarantos asked as she passed the salad to Gabriella.