I unwrapped my arms and reached into my purse for my phone. I called my mom and waited for her to pick up.
“Hello?”
“Mom? It’s me. I just wanted to let you know I’m going to crash at a friend’s so don’t wait up.”
I waited for her to answer. If I expected anything, I would have been disappointed.
“If you come in early tomorrow, be quiet about it. I like to sleep in on Saturdays.” She didn’t sound bothered at all.
I sighed. “Of course, Mom.”
She hung up before I finished talking. I pulled the phone from my ear and just stared at it. Why did I come home, let alone call her in the first place? She didn’t care. She hadn’t for a long time, and she wasn’t going to change just out of nowhere.
I put the phone back in my purse, not sure how I felt. It should probably have made me sad, or even mad that she treated me that way. It wasn’t a surprise, though. More than anything, I was used to it. That was the sad thing.
I jumped when something touched my hand again. I’d all but forgotten I wasn’t alone, and I looked up at Abe as his hand wrapped around mine, his thumb rubbing at my wrist, right on the pulse. It calmed me down almost instantly, though I didn’t remember tensing up.
“Let’s go.”
It was framed as a question, his head tilting in the way of the hotel. There was zero chance of me pulling out, at this point. Especially after that call. Mom liked to make me feel crummy, though I wasn’t sure if she liked it or she just didn’t have anything better or nicer to say.
Still, I hated feeling crummy just because of her. I wouldn’t let her attitude ruin tonight for me.
I squeezed his hand and walked forward. He did the same, no question. That part left me relieved. I hadn’t spoken to anyone about my mom, I wasn’t sure who I could anyway. Any questions involving her would just turn the atmosphere awkward.
He opened the door and held it open for me, releasing my hand to wrap his arm around my shoulder. We passed the lobby on the way to the elevators. He waved at the guy sitting behind the reception desk.
Although I told myself not to, I looked up at him. It was pretty much the same guy that had been here years before, if he’d have been replaced, I would have heard of it. Abe waved at him as we walked by, and he waved back. He looked at me curiously, and I wondered if he recognized me.
Probably not. A lot of people didn’t seem to remember me, or maybe I’d just changed a lot.
The hotel was pretty big, for all Libreville was small town suburbia. It even did a lot of good business, though I didn’t think they were ever full at any point. It was big enough for an elevator, and when we got inside, Abe hit the button for the fifth floor.
It got awkward for a second. We stood there, silently, as the car started to move slowly up. Neither one of us was much for talking, and I didn’t know what to say anyway. I fidgeted, moved from one foot to the other. I glanced at him and quickly looked away as my cheeks warmed. He was back to just holding my hand, or I would have been too frozen in anxiety to even move.
But even in all that, my body could only grow hotter, tightening.
The ride seemed to take too long, but eventually, it stopped and the door opened on our floor. He tugged me out behind him and down the hall, over to a door. He took out his keycard, slid it in the scanner on the door, and pushed the door open.
He released my hand once I was inside like he’d been holding me so I wouldn’t run, and now that he was sure I didn’t have anywhere to run to, he didn’t mind letting me go. The thought should probably have worried me, but I only felt more excited.
I looked around the room without really seeing it as I heard the door snap closed behind us. I knew he was behind me, but I still jumped when he touched my shoulders.
“May I take your coat?”
So polite.
It didn’t curb the anxiety, but I shrugged the coat off my shoulders, sliding my purse down my arm, holding onto it as I slipped one arm out, then switching to pull off the other sleeve. I turned to see him fold it over a couch, before turning back to me, taking my hand again.
I bit my lip, taking a breath through my nose.
You already agreed. You’re not backing out. At least act like you want it or they’ll take the chance away from you.
“I’ve never done this before, so,” I said, nervous. “It better be good.”
I was joking, but his face was entirely serious as he pulled me closer with the hand holding onto mine.
“This will be a night you will never forget.”
He said it in all seriousness, but I thought he was just full of himself. But I wasn’t going to tell him that, because I loved the attention I was getting from him. It had been a while since I’d last been with a man. Life was too hectic, especially lately, and I didn’t get to go out much.
I went with it, as he tugged me closer until we weren’t quite touching, but if I swayed forward just a bit, we would be. Then he released my hand, and both of his were running up my arms, from my wrists. I shivered from the light touch. Then his hands slid up to the sides of my neck and higher until he held my face in between his hands. He leaned forward, slowly, and I let my eyes fall closed, waiting for him to kiss me.
It was just a simple peck, at first. I was almost disappointed, thinking that was all it would be, when he did it again, pressing harder. His mouth moving along mine, encouraging me to move with him, and we were kissing, nice and slow. Abe licked my lips, carefully, then, as I parted them, tentatively licked into my mouth, exploring lightly with his tongue. And he made love to my mouth, so thoroughly I tried to follow him as he pulled back, going on tiptoe, even though I knew I needed to breathe. But air seemed like such an unnecessary thing compared to this.
I opened my eyes, and we were pressed together, my heaving chest mashed up against his, arms wrapped tight around his neck, even though his hands still held my face gently. I was panting for breath, and I noticed with some pride that he wasn’t unaffected, either.
So maybe he wasn’t just talk. My body tightened at the thought. He hadn’t done more than kiss me, but already I knew it wasn’t something I would be likely to forget. Carl wasn’t even here yet.
My body shuddered on a breath before he leaned down and claimed my lips again, and I sank into it with a moan.
Chapter Six
Abe
I led Emma into the hotel room, took her coat from her and set it aside.
I wanted her to relax; maybe I could offer her a drink, even if it was just water. She’d been nervous outside, but it disappeared when she made that call that just left her looking a little haunted. The nervousness came back as we walked inside the building, went up the elevator. Hell, she jumped when I went to take her coat.
Admittedly, I didn’t have to touch her to do that. I wanted to. Then she made that quip, trying to pretend confidence again, and I couldn’t not touch her; couldn’t not kiss her any way I had.
Then when I pulled back from the first kiss, only to feel her breasts pushing up against my chest with every breath she took, saw her lips full and red, puffed up from my kiss even though I had been careful, I couldn’t help but kiss her some more.
After that, I made myself pull back again, releasing her.
Don’t scare her off. She was still a little nervous, and I wanted her to be completely relaxed. Well, not completely, but I didn’t want her shying away. We weren’t high school kids anymore, but I didn’t want to take the chance.
Besides, I needed to calm down a bit, too. Think.
Carl would assuredly be coming after us, it wouldn’t take him too long. He wasn’t the patient type, after all.
I had never shared a girl with my brother before. I’d never desired to do so until now. Our tastes were usually too different for something like that to even come up. I’d seen him naked plenty of times, still did; all I’d have to do was look in a mirror anyway since we were almost entirely identical. We didn’t sleep with girls in the same room, tho
ugh. If it was a hotel and we only had the one room booked, one of us went out elsewhere.
It would have been too strange, just the thought of sharing the same room with my brother while either one of us got it on with a woman.
Emma Davis would be worth it, though. All we’d done was kiss so far, and it was all I needed to know that it would be an unforgettable night for all of us.
But before I overwhelmed her, I made myself take a couple of steps back. It took a lot of will to step away from her when she looked that good, chest still heaving, eyes a little wide and dazed, her puffy lips parted, cheeks flushed. And that was all just from a few tame kisses. I wondered what she would look like if I went at her with full force. I wanted to find out, and that was how I got the strength to pull back so I could get control of myself.