The Bonds We Break by Becca Steele

NINETEEN

After hitting the contact number for Jessa’s brother, I put my phone on loudspeaker while I attempted to decide which sunglasses I wanted to wear from my collection.

“Cassius.” Austin’s voice came through the speaker. “What’s up? Is Jessa okay?”

I studied myself in a pair of mirrored aviators before pulling them off. “Yeah, she’s good. Nothing’s happened. I’ve just got a…a feeling.” Pinching my brow, I paced in front of the mirror. This “feeling,” whatever it was, had been getting stronger, and now it was too much to ignore. “It seems like it was almost too easy. One day Littlefinger—Petr—was threatening Jessa, the next, he was gone.” I snapped my fingers. “Just like that.”

A note of concern entered his voice. “If there’s one thing I’ve learnt in business, it’s that gut feelings shouldn’t be ignored. Is Jessa worried?”

Shaking my head, I pulled a pair of dark sunglasses from the drawer, black on black. “Not that I know of. She seems happy, and I didn’t want to bring it up with her when I don’t have anything to go on other than a feeling.” Satisfied with my choice in eyewear, I pushed the sunglasses up to the top of my head and closed the drawer. “What exactly went down with Li—with Petr?”

He sighed. “I guess I can tell you. Creed made enquiries with the Volkovs—who, it turned out, Ivanov was working for. It was complicated—he’s related to one of them, or so I was told. I was all in favour of him having an ‘accident,’ but killing off the relatives of your boss’s important business associates is frowned upon. Who knew?”

“He’d better not show his fucking face again.”

“I’ve been informed that he’s no longer in the country. But, fuck, if your hunch means anything, I’ll make some more enquiries. That bastard isn’t getting within ten feet of my sister, relative of the Volkovs or not.”

“I’m with you there.” Crossing over to the window, I stared out over the garden, where I knew Jessa was, although I couldn’t see her from my position. “I won’t let anyone touch her.”

“You’re a good man.” His voice warmed, and a grin tugged at my lips. “I’m glad you’re there for her, especially since I’m stuck here and can’t watch out for her. I know how independent she is, but in times like this, it’s good to know she has someone watching her back.”

“Yeah, well. Uh.” I cleared my throat. “Happy to be of assistance, captain. Whatever you need.”

Captain? What the actual fuck?

He laughed. Loudly. “Relax, mate. You don’t need to suck up to me. You’re already on my good side. Don’t hurt Jessa, and you’ll stay there.”

“Okay. Yeah. Good. Great. Brilliant.”

He laughed again. Bastard. “Speak soon. We’ll have drinks. I haven’t had a chance to play big-brother interrogator for one of my sister’s boyfriends before.”

The call disconnected with the sound of a distinctly evil laugh echoing through my room before I had a chance to reply that I wasn’t Jessa’s boyfriend.

Maybe for the best. I probably shouldn’t tell him that I was his little sister’s fuck buddy.

Leaving my phone behind, I headed down the stairs to find Jessa.

On the deck, I stopped, scanning the garden. Lena and West were over by the trees, West lying on his stomach in the shade and Lena stretched out on her back in the sun. But I bypassed them both, my eyes going straight to the girl on the sun lounger with a hand thrown over her eyes, hair piled on top of her head, and her toned, tanned body clad in a tiny mint green bikini.

“Fucking hell.” I let out a strangled groan that no one was supposed to hear, but I heard Cade’s snort of amusement from the chair to my left.

“You alright there, mate?”

“Fuck off. It’s my natural reaction to seeing a hot girl. You’re no different when you see Winter.” Hopefully, my loose shorts would hide my growing boner. If they didn’t, oh well. Nothing to be ashamed of here on private property. I made my way over to Jessa before he could say anything else and crouched down next to her, discreetly adjusting myself. “Jessa.”

She dropped her hand and turned to look at me, her eyes hidden behind dark sunglasses. This close, she looked even better, and fuck it, I had to get my hands on her. “Roll over. Let me put sun cream on your back.”

She smirked but obediently moved onto her stomach, removing her sunglasses and burying her head in her arms. “I’m not going to say no to you getting your hands on me.”

Picking up the sun lotion, I took a minute to admire the curves of her back and her ass before straddling her thighs. Drizzling some of the lotion into my palms, I placed my hands on her back.

“That’s cold,” she muttered, flinching away from my touch.

“Your skin’s hot.” Kneading her shoulders, I began to rub the lotion in. Very thoroughly, of course. My hands stroked over her back, stopping at the string of her bikini top, where I tugged lightly. “Can I?”

“Uh-huh.”

Shifting on top of her, I undid her bikini top with one hand, the other trailing across her shoulders.

“Mmm.” Her voice was sleepy, her body relaxing under my hands. My fingers stroked down, over her shoulder blades, and down to her sides, over the curves of her tits. My dick hardened as I slid my hands under her body, cupping the full weight of her tits. Leaning forwards, I put my mouth to her ear as I ground my cock against her.

“You’re so fucking hot. Feel how hard I am?”

Something that was a cross between a laugh and a moan fell from her lips. “Don’t stop.”

“Are you wet, baby?” I kissed down the back of her neck, and she shivered.

“For you? Always.”

There was something in her throaty murmur that had me pausing. But it couldn’t be what I thought it was. Jessa was like me. She wouldn’t catch feelings. This was a casual arrangement.

As I kept telling myself.

“This bikini is pointless.” Shifting back, I worked my hands down her body, stopping at the top of her ass. “It hardly covers anything. We should take it off.”

“Half of it’s already off.”

“Then the rest should come off, too.”

“Hmm. I guess it’ll stop me getting tan lines.” She turned her head slightly so I could see her soft, lazy smile.

“That’s my girl.”

Her lips curved upwards even further in reply, her eyes closed, with her lashes fanning over her cheeks.

There was no one else like Jessa.

Fuck.Fuck. Fuck. I think I might have feelings for this girl.

“Do you wanna take this inside?” I already knew that no one would be watching us, tucked away in our corner of the garden, while they were focused on their own things, but for some reason, I didn’t want anyone to see her like this.

“Dunno, I’m feeling quite relax—oh.” Her words cut off as I dipped down below her bikini bottoms, smoothing my hand over her ass and down between her legs. She arched into my touch with a tiny moan.

“You were saying?”

“Fine, we’ll go inside.”

I helped her back into her bikini top, taking the opportunity to slide my hands all over her while I did so, then pulled her to me, keeping her body in front of my chest as we headed back to the house.

Cade smirked from behind his sunglasses as we passed him, so I threw him the middle finger. Then Jessa stumbled slightly, making her ass slam back against my dick, and I forgot everything else. I was so fucking hard for her that I couldn’t even wait—the second we got into the kitchen, I pulled her across to the countertop in front of the sink.

“Here works.” My mouth went to her neck as I undid her bikini top again, then yanked down the bottoms. “Bend over, baby.”

“Yesssss.” She was just as into it as I was, arching her back and gripping hold of the sink. “I need you now, Cass.”

“Jessa…fuuuuck.”

My shorts were down, and my dick was pushing inside her before she even had a chance to catch her breath. The hot, slow slide as I eased inside her was incomparable. The way she gripped me so tightly as I filled her, her fingers curling over the sink, her gorgeous ass pushing back against me—it was so fucking good that I had to focus on the view out of the window over the sink so I didn’t blow my load straight away.

“Harder,” she panted. I gripped her hip with one hand and planted the other on the sink, caging her in, and thrust forwards, all the way in. A gasp fell from her throat, quickly followed by a sharp intake of breath.

“Weston.”

“Excuse me?” I slammed into her again. And again, relishing her moans and the way she enveloped my dick in her tight, wet heat. So fucking good.

“Window.” It came out strangled, her head falling forwards as she arched back even further.

My head flew up to see West just outside the window. He was pointedly spinning away with a hand over his face as I looked up, so I guess he’d seen what we were up to. With a grunt, I turned my attention back to the woman in front of me. “Forget him. Concentrate on how fucking good I feel inside you.”

“Mmmm. So good,” she moaned. “Touch me.”

“Is this what you want?” I released my hold on her hip and reached forwards to cup one of her tits in my hand, rolling her nipple between my fingers as I pounded into her.

“N—ohhh. Fuck, Cass.”

My balls were drawing up, and I knew I wasn’t going to be able to hold off from coming, so I stopped playing with her lush tits and slid my fingers onto her clit. Almost as soon as I touched her, she was coming, gripping me so fucking tightly as her pussy spasmed around my cock that it was impossible to stop myself from joining her.

“Jessa, fuuuuck,” I groaned, my brain going completely blank as I came down from my high. Wrapping my arm around her waist, I pulled her back against me, pressing a kiss to her head. “Fuck,” I said again, my voice shaky for some reason.

“Fuck,” she agreed in a whisper.

* * *

“Is it weird?”

“Is what weird?” Jessa glanced down at me. We were stretched out on the sofa, my head in her lap and my feet kicked up over the armrest, while the TV played Black Widow in the background.

“Being here after everything. The whole thing.”

She stared into space as her fingers raked through my hair, her nails scratching over my scalp. Eventually, she replied. “It is and it isn’t. I feel like I’ve changed a lot. After Portia left…I’m not blaming her for the way I was, because that was all on me, but I think that us growing apart gave me perspective that I didn’t have before.” Her mouth twisted, and then she sighed. “I guess…I… All I can do is move forwards and hope that people realise that my past actions aren’t a reflection of who I am now. You know?”

Raising my head, I moved into a sitting position. “Babe. Let me tell you something. Anyone who defines you by your past doesn’t know the real you. You’re fucking amazing, inside and out.”

Her eyes widened, and her mouth fell open.

“Yeah, I mean it,” I said emphatically before she could ask the inevitable question.

She swallowed hard, her eyes looking suddenly glassy, so I tugged her onto my lap so she was straddling me. Her breath hit my lips, and then we were kissing, long and slow and so fucking good.

“I think I’m addicted to your mouth,” I said when we finally drew apart. That brought a smile to her face.

“Same, to yours.”

“You…” Words I never meant to say, words I didn’t even know were inside of me, came out of my mouth in a rush. “I like this. I don’t have to be switched on. I can just be me with you.”

Cupping my cheek, she stared at me, confused. “You’re you with the others, aren’t you?”

“Yeah…” I attempted to articulate my thoughts. “I am. They’re my best friends, and they know me better than anyone else. I guess sometimes I feel like I have to be the one making the conversation lighter, y’know?”

Her thumb stroked across my jaw. “I think so.”

“Don’t get me wrong. I’m funny as fuck.” I shrugged. “But sometimes I might wanna be moody like Cade, or whatever, but people look to me to cheer shit up.”

“With great power comes great responsibility,” she said solemnly.

My grin stretched across my face. “Did you just Spider-Man me, babe?”

“Maybe.” A smile curved over her lips. Leaning forwards, she kissed me softly. “But seriously, I do get what you’re saying. You…me…whatever this is…you can always be yourself with me. Happy, sad, angry, whatever.”

There was that weird feeling in my chest again, and this time I dealt with it by wrapping my arms around her and stroking my lips across hers.

Yeah. I was addicted to her mouth.

And maybe some other parts of her, too.