“Oh great!” He cringed and turned to me. “Marla's a shallow, narcissistic harpy who I used to date years ago. She still can’t believe that I broke up with her.”

“Can’t believe it as in ‘how could he have done that?’ or can’t believe it as in she thinks you’re still her boyfriend?” I asked a little nervously.

“She doesn’t think I’m still her boyfriend, but she refuses to believe that anybody wouldn’t want to be her boyfriend, including me.” I could tell that I was just going to love Marla.

“Cameron will be there for sure,” Tyler added.

“Terrific.” He turned to me again. “Cameron’s my cousin. Marla cheated on me with him. I should probably be thankful since I wanted an excuse to break up with her anyway, but I wasn’t in on the plan, you know?”

“It was so long ago, Braden. I wish that the two of you would just put it behind you,” Claire said.

“Yeah, we’ll see. I do think that maybe I’ll have a little chat with him. There’s something I’d like to ask him about.”

“The Masons will likely be there with Felicity,” she went on.

“The Masons want to marry their daughter off to me.” Braden explained. “The mother, Mrs. Mason, is a snob with the warmth of a glacier and her daughter, Felicity, reminds me of Wednesday Addams but more Goth. I think the father might be a hologram.”

“And will you be marrying the lovely Felicity?”

“I would be more likely to marry Cameron.”

“Cole Stephenson will be there of course,” Tyler noted, looking uncomfortable.

“We need to steer clear of him for sure,” Braden said, giving me a disgusted look. “He's a state representative and a complete political animal. He would sell his soul to get elected to a federal congressional seat. He’s also a social climber and a lecher. His eyes won't leave your cleavage.”

“This sounds like a fun party.”

“Most of the folks who'll be there will be quite nice,” Claire said in an apologetic tone.

“I'll just smile and nod a lot,” I replied

“Braden should do that more often. We're hoping you'll be a good influence,” Claire said to me.

“Maybe I'll be a bad influence,” Braden said, smiling at me in a way that made me glance at my watch. It was almost eight-thirty already. Claire noticed my gesture and quickly checked her own watch.

“We'd better get going, Tyler. I don't want to miss the beginning of the movie.”

Claire and Tyler wished us a good night and excused themselves. As soon as they were gone Braden turned to me with a naughty smile. Without a word he pulled me onto his lap and began nuzzling my neck. I nuzzled him back and we worked our way to each other's mouths and started kissing. Just as our tongues were becoming deliciously entwined I heard Drew.

“Christ, Braden, can't you even wait until we leave the house?”

“Braden's head fell back onto the top of the sofa in exasperation. I slid off of his lap and felt myself blushing as I tactfully retreated to my own seat and straightened out the skirt of my short summer dress.

“How many rooms are in this f**king house, Drew, and you have to be in this one right now?”

“Just be thankful that we're all going out so you can “rest” in privacy.” He made the little air quotes to make it clear that he didn’t think we would be resting.

“You didn't have to go out,” I said, feeling embarrassed. Had the Pierces planned their social outings around us having sex?

“Don't listen to him!” Braden said. “They go out all the time on Friday nights when they’re here.”

“I'm sorry, Gabrielle,” Drew laughed. “I'm just giving Braden a hard time.” He sat down in a chair next to us and sipped a Coke.

“He's just jealous.”

“Damn right I'm jealous. You get to sleep with your girlfriend tonight and I'm going out with my sister. There would be something wrong with me if I weren't jealous, dude.”

“Stop thinking about my sex life.”

“Just make sure you don't remind me of it later. Don’t forget that my room is right next to yours and the walls are thin.”

“Didn't you have to be somewhere?”

“In case you're wondering, Theresa left for the night already and Mom and Dad left for the movies. They'll probably be back by midnight. Beth and I are leaving in about five minutes. I’m not sure what time we’ll be home though.”

“Thanks for the update,” Braden said dryly.

“Just trying to be helpful.” Drew grinned.

“Perhaps we'll see you out,” Braden said getting up and walking over to the door. Drew got up and walked out to the entry where Beth was already waiting.

“Have a good night,” Beth said with a smile and a wave.

“Enjoy your rest,” Drew said, mimicking her gesture and singsong voice.

As soon as the door closed I started to walk toward Braden but he held up a hand, signaling me to wait. A minute later Drew came back in.

“What?” He laughed. “I forgot my phone!” He walked over to a writing table where a cell phone was lying next to a large vase of flowers. “Don't worry, Braden. I'm really leaving now. You can rest in every room in the house if you want.” He left again and Braden walked over to the window and watched them pull away. Then he turned toward me with a very happy smile. He walked over and took my hand and led me upstairs.

CHAPTER NINE

When we got to the top of the stairs we walked down a long hallway and Braden stopped in front of a door on the left. He opened it and stepped aside for me to enter, coming in behind me. He walked over to turn on a bedside lamp and then turned the overhead light off, making it much more intimate. He went over to his music player, found something on his iPod, and seconds later I heard BB King singing the sexy blues song Need Your Love So Bad. He walked slowly toward me, staring into my eyes with a positively sinful look. I swallowed hard and took a deep breath.

“Do you know how much I want you, Gabrielle?” he asked softly when he reached me. My legs felt like they were going to give out and I wasn't sure that I saw consciousness in my immediate future. I was already too aroused to be nervous anymore, so I freed my inner hussy. (Note, I said hussy.)

“Show me,” I whispered.

He put his hands on my h*ps and pulled me tightly against him. I immediately knew how much. The answer was pressing into my lower abdomen. He leaned down and kissed me almost ravenously, his tongue exploring everywhere and rubbing up against mine sensuously. I felt a little overpowered by it but I liked it too. His lips moved away from my mouth and toward my ear. “Does that give you a better idea?” he whispered seductively.

“It gives me lots of ideas. What are you going to do about it?” My inner hussy had obviously decided that she liked being freed.

“Saucy wench.” He smiled wickedly. “I may have to spank you.” He sank down to kneel at my feet, removing my shoes and tossing them aside. Then he ran his hands up my bare legs and under my skirt, letting his fingers slide into my panties, and pushing them down over my hips. They dropped to the floor and I stepped out of them and kicked them aside. Fixing me with that hot look of his he reached around behind me, unzipped my dress and unhooked my bra. In one easy move they both hit the floor. If there were an Olympic category for undressing women he would be a serious contender for the gold. He had some mad skills. There were a few drunken nights in college when I could have really used his help. I just watched in lust-dazed fascination as he stepped back and starting at my feet let his eyes slowly trail up my bare body.

“You’re beautiful everywhere, Gabrielle,” he said huskily. “Undress me.”

My hands were shaking but I managed to slide them up under his tee-shirt and ease it up. Being taller than me he helped out a little. When it dropped to the floor I nearly joined it. Good lord!

I had never seen a body like that. All of his muscles were well-defined. He was the first guy I had ever been with who had a six-pack that didn’t say Budweiser on it. I swallowed and let out a slightly ragged breath as I looked up and saw he was smiling at me with amusement.

“You’re so… oh my God.” Seven years of higher education and that was the best I could come up with.

“I take it you like my body, too?”

“You can take whatever you want looking like that, mister.”

I made my now really shaky hands move to his pants and I opened the button and pulled down the zipper, easing them over his hips. They fell to the floor and he stepped out of them. Then he kicked off his own shoes and pulled off his own socks, which was just as well. Socks really aren’t all that sexy, and it got us to the main event that much faster. All that was left was a pair of blue striped boxers. I had a feeling he was a boxers guy. I sucked in a deep breath and looked up into his eyes. Then I eased them off (having previously learned that yanking could be a dangerous thing when it came to aroused men and underwear) and he stepped out of them, holding my gaze. I looked down and for the first time actually saw what I had been working in those interview rooms in the courthouse. My eyes grew wide as my mouth popped open. Holy freaking moly! Harvard really was well endowed!

Standing there in all of his na**d glory he looked so damned good I could have sold tickets.

And there were plenty of sexy, appreciative, erotic, even romantic, things I could have said at that moment, but instead I looked him deeply in the crotch and said, “I'm not sure that's going to fit.” Huh? His brain wasn't running on a full blood supply either, so it took a moment for that comment to sink in. No pun intended. When it did he sounded very clearly amused.

“Don't worry, baby. We’ll make sure it fits.” He backed me up until my knees hit the edge of the bed. Then he sat me down, pushed my back down flat, knelt on the floor in front of me, and hooked my knees over his shoulders. Christ on a cracker! Harvard was going down.

He nibbled and kissed and licked his way up my right thigh, or maybe my left, I wasn't exactly coherent at the moment. Then he ran out of leg. His tongue entered me. I entered orbit. And I didn’t exactly go quietly. (You think those rockets were loud?) He held me down while my h*ps bucked and I moaned loudly. Then like he was lapping up a melting ice cream cone he slowly dragged his tongue higher and suddenly I could feel every nerve ending in my entire body light up.

While his mouth worked me into a frenzy with little strokes and licks and circles, the volume of my appreciation continued to rise. His fingers slipped inside me and his lips covered my clit. When he actually started to suck, I started to scream. Personally, I was glad that Drew had reviewed the family itinerary because at that point even the neighbors knew his name. I let go of the blankets that I had in a death grip and buried my hands in his hair, still trying to ride his mouth and hand, completely delirious with pleasure. I swear to God I don’t think I could have told you my full name at that point. I was as close to really and truly passing out as I had ever gotten in my life.

He paused for a minute, sounding a little out of breath. “Gabrielle, baby, you're going to come. Do you want to finish this way or with my c**k inside you?”

“Yes please,” I moaned. I felt him smile against me and start to go back to making me crazy when his question finally made it into space, where my brain was still floating around. “Inside me! I want your c**k inside me! Please!” I gasped desperately. He gave a happy little growl and then he crawled up onto the bed and pulled me along with him as he sat up straight with his back braced up against the headboard.

“Come and sit on my lap,” he said. Now, technically, people had been saying that to me since I was a child, but trust me, nobody else has said it quite like that. Inner-Gabrielle sang the Hallelujah chorus. He didn't have to ask twice. I crawled over and straddled him and he pulled me up onto my knees and buried his face against my breasts, latching on to my nipple and sucking vigorously on one side and then switching to the other. I could only whimper and moan at that point. My legs trembled so hard that I had to brace my arms on his shoulders so that I wouldn’t collapse as he positioned himself at my entrance.

“Look at me, Gabrielle,” he demanded. And I fixed my eyes on him dazedly. He gave me the hottest Braden sex look I had ever seen. “Let's see if it fits now, baby,” he said in a voice that sounded like he was barely holding on to his self-control. His hands grabbed my h*ps and pushed me down as he slid slowly inside me inch by inch. Needless to say, it fit perfectly. He was buried in me up to the hilt and we just stared at one another in stunned silence for a second.

“Oh my God!” He finally gasped and his voice was strained. “I can’t believe how good you feel. I think I want to live here.” He seemed to be enjoying his new experience.

I was incapable of producing anything coherent at the moment so rather than throwing out some witty banter in response I said something like “Ohgaahaad” instead. Feel free to quote me.

He bent his knees, held my h*ps and started to move under me, thrusting upward, sliding me up and down on his c**k in smooth strokes, pulling my h*ps slightly forward so that my cl*twas coming into direct contact with his pubic bone every time I took all of him. I saw all kinds of bright colored lights flashing in front of my eyes. I was either more sexually stimulated than I had ever been in my life or the police were parked on his lawn — a realistic possibility, with all the screaming I had been doing. Vaguely I remembered that I was on top and I should probably contribute something to the effort. I started moving up and down under my own power, slowly at first and gradually picking up speed.