L

"So, you and Jennie, huh? Didn't see that coming," Bobby said, grinning like an idiot.

Mino let out a bitter laugh.

I stepped over to stand in front of him. "Do you want to say something to me, Mino? Because if you do, go ahead and say it now, because I sure as shit got something to say to you."

The anger in Mino's eyes didn't surprise me. He didn't like being reminded that he couldn't intimidate me. He shook his head at me and looked out to where Jennie's cart had disappeared over the hill. "She's too good for you to fuck with. I thought there was some chance you'd have enough heart not to touch her. She deserves so much more than she's gonna get from you. If she had so much as given me a chance, I would have shown her how she deserved to be treated. But you." He pointed at my chest. "You, Manoban, you just crook your girl-of-a-rock-star finger, and they come running to you. And you toss them away without a thought. Jennie isn't worldly enough to handle that. She's not that tough, damn you." He looked like he would slam his fist into my face.

The only reason I let him stand there and yell at me was that he didn't understand. He thought I was using Jennie. He wanted to protect her. He wasn't gonna get to, because I wasn't letting him near her, but I appreciated the fact that he saw what I did. Jennie was precious. I shoved him back enough to get him out of my face. "Do you actually think I would have touched her had I not known all that? You think I would have threatened my sister for just anyone? No. Jennie isn't just another girl for me. She's it for me. She. Is. It."

Saying the words out loud didn't just shock everyone around me, it shocked the hell out of me, too. She was it.

I would never want anyone else.

Ever.

Just Jennie.

"Motherfucker," Bobby whispered from behind me. "Lisa Manoban did not just say what I think she said."

Mino's angry glare slowly dissipated. As my words sank into his thick skull, I saw disbelief and then acceptance cross his face. "Shit," he finally said.

I stepped back and shrugged. "You said it yourself. Except you were wrong about one thing. She isn't special. She's fucking perfect." I turned around, then stopped and looked back at him pointedly. "And she's mine," I said, loudly enough for all of them to hear me. Swinging my eyes in a warning glare to the other two, who were watching me as if I had lost my mind, I repeated, "Mine. Jennie is mine."

"Well, shiiit," Yoon finally said. "Guess I shoulda paid more attention to the new girl. She's got the biggest player I know tied up in knots. Day-um, I'm impressed."

This time, Bobby shoved Yoon. "Shut up," he hissed.

"Let's play some golf," I said, taking my driver and heading for the tee.

I had a late lunch with V and then headed home to shower and decide what to do with Jennie tonight. Although sex was pretty damn high on my priority list, I knew she needed to take it easy. I also wanted to talk. There was so much I didn't know about her. I wanted to know everything. I wanted to sit and listen to her talk to me. Tell me things.

Taking her out was an option, but I was greedy. I didn't want to share her yet. I wanted all her attention. I didn't want to know that others were getting to look at her. I just wanted it to be us here in this house alone. Together.

Then, of course, I wanted to kiss her all over her body and taste the sweetness between her legs again. But first, I wanted to talk. I didn't want this to be a sexual thing only. For the first time in my life, I wanted to let someone in. I didn't want to keep Jennie out. She needed to love me. For me to survive this, she would have to love me. How the hell I would get her to fall in love with me I didn't know. Getting to know her would help. Eating her pussy wasn't the way to her heart. I had to remind myself that my addiction to tasting her couldn't take over. Did I love her? I hadn't ever been in love. Other than my dad, Rosé, and V, I couldn't say I had ever loved anyone else.

Would I choose Jennie over one of them?

Yes.

Would I die to protect her?

Hell, yes.

Could I live if she left me?

No. I would be shattered.

Was this love? It seemed so much stronger than something as simple as love.

A knock on my bedroom door broke into my thoughts. Shit. It wasn't V. Rosé was here. Not who I wanted to deal with right now. I took my time going to the door. Her banging just got louder.

Jerking the door open, I was greeted by my sister's tearstreaked face. She wasn't allowed in my room. I hadn't actually told her that, but it was understood. I stepped into the hallway and closed the door behind me.

Rosé was pointing at the room Jennie was sleeping in . . . or, rather, keeping her things in. She would be sleeping with me from now on.

"So it's true! She's in there. You let her move up here? Are you fucking her, too? Is that what this is? She's not that attractive, Lisa. It isn't like you can't have anyone you want. She's just another pretty face. Why can't you not fuck her? Do you have no control over your damn dick? She can't be that good in bed!"

"Stop!" I roared before she said any more. Rosé was pushing me. I hated that she had been crying, but with her, you never knew if those were real tears or not. I hadn't seen her actually crying, so I couldn't be sure. But I didn't want her upset. I just wanted her to let me be happy. For once in my goddamn life to let me make a decision for myself. Not for her.

"Don't yell at me!" Real tears filled her eyes as she started crying again. OK, so maybe she really was upset. I didn't yell at her often. She didn't normally piss me off so bad. "Since . . ." She sniffed. "Since she got here, you've been yelling at me. All the time. I can't . . ." She let out another sob. "I can't stand this. You've turned on me. For her."

This wasn't Jennie's fault. Why couldn't Rosé see that? This was like talking in circles. I reached out and pulled her into my arms. The little girl I had taken care of my entire life was looking at me through swollen eyes. I was all she had. "I'm sorry for yelling at you," I told her, and she sobbed harder against my chest.

"I just . . . just . . . don't understand," she said.

Telling Rosé that I was in love with Jennie wasn't the answer to this. For starters, I hadn't told Jennie I loved her, and I needed to tell her first. Second, Rosé would lose her shit if I told her that. She could go from pitiful, sobbing mess to wild, insane tornado in a second. I had witnessed that more than once. "It isn't about the sex. I've tried to tell you that Jennie isn't to blame. I've tried explaining to you how she's been wronged here, too. You aren't the only victim. You shouldn't hate someone who has suffered the way you have. I don't understand why you can't see that, Rosé. I love you. I will always love you. You know that. But I can't choose you over her. Not this time. This time, you're asking for too much. I won't give her up."

Rosé stilled in my arms. I wanted to hope that she was listening to me, that I was getting through to her, but I knew my sister. That would be too damn easy. It would take something much bigger to get her to give up a hatred she had held on to most of her life. "Why can't you give her money and send her away?" Rosé asked quietly as she leaned back from my embrace and crossed her arms over her chest defensively.

"Because I can't let her go. She . . . she makes me happy, Rosé." I admitted that much to her.

Rosé's eyes flashed the anger I knew would ignite if she thought for a minute that I felt more for Jennie than I did for her. As fucked up as that was, Rosé expected to be my number one her entire life. She never considered what would happen if I fell in love one day. She was so desperate to be someone's number one that she was determined to force it on me. "Because she's a good fuck?" she said sourly.

I closed my eyes tightly and took a deep breath. Keeping my calm was important. Losing it with Rosé again wouldn't help anything. When I opened my eyes, I leveled my gaze on my sister. "Rosé. Don't do that again. Jennie is not a fuck for me. Get that through your head. She isn't controlling me with sex. She's more than that."

Rosé stiffened and turned her head to glare at the open door to Jennie's room. "You don't even know her. You just met her. Yet you want to choose her over me," she spat.

"I do know her. I've been sharing a home with her for weeks now. I've been unable to keep my eyes off her. I've watched her. I've talked to her. I know her. She's . . . God, Rosé, she's what makes me happy. Can't you accept that? Let this thing with her go!"

She didn't look at me or respond. The fight was done for now, but I knew I hadn't won. She wasn't over this.

We stood in silence for a few moments, and I waited for her to say something. Whatever she was deciding needed to be dealt with carefully. Rosé held the power to ruin things for me. She could tell Jennie everything, and I'd lose. I couldn't lose Jennie.

"I want to have friends over here tonight," she said, swinging her gaze back to me.

Fine. She was going to force one of her parties on me. Typical her. She needed to know that I would still give in to her on some level. "OK," I replied without argument. I would take Jennie up to my room, and we would be away from the crowd and noise.

Rosé nodded, then turned and walked away. That was it. For now.


I wasn't in the mood for this, but I'd told Rosé she could have her party. I should have expected she'd overdo it without me giving her any guidelines. I wasn't drinking tonight. I intended to spend my night with Jennie. The guys may have been informed of the fact that Jennie was off-limits, but the females hadn't accepted that I wasn't available. I shook my head at another of Rosé's friends who was offering to give me a blow job right in front of everyone.

V's eyes met mine over the crowd. He was kicked back on the sofa, with a girl I had said no to earlier half-sitting in his lap. He rolled his eyes and took a swig of his beer. I had asked him to come and monitor things tonight. I didn't want interruptions. He had agreed, as long as he could stay in his usual room if one of the females piqued his interest.

I didn't care what he did, as long as no one bothered Jennie and me. I nodded my head in the direction of the girl I had just sent away. If he wanted easy, adventurous sex, I was sure that one was a good choice.

He raised his eyebrows in interest and watched her saunter into the living room. I was going to head upstairs and wait for Jennie in her room. She shouldn't be too much longer now.

"You going up?" Rosé asked.

I nodded. "Yeah. V's here if you need him."

"What about her? Is she gonna stay up there, too?" Rosé asked, trying to look like she didn't care what Jennie did.

"Jennie will be with me. Good night, Rosé. Enjoy your party" She spun on her heels and stalked toward the kitchen.

I turned to look back at V, and he just shook his head.

He knew Rosé was giving me shit about Jennie. I could tell he wasn't on board with the not-telling-Jennie idea. He thought I should tell her now before it went too far.

Problem with that was that I had already let it go too far.

Jennie's room smelled like her already. I didn't turn on the lights. I could see the moonlight on the Gulf better in the darkness. Sitting down on the end of her bed, I inhaled, trying to feed my hunger for her. She would be here any minute. But I was growing impatient. If I could get her to stop working and let me take care of her, I would, but I knew better than to suggest that. Jennie would throw a fit. I'd had to lie to her to get her to take the damn cell phone. She was still planning to pay me for the food in my kitchen. I was just going to find a way to put that back in her savings. Somehow. Stubborn woman wouldn't take anything from me but my body. I grinned at that thought. I was more than willing to give her my body. She would also gladly accept my tongue. She had a thing for my tongue. The way her eyes danced with anticipation when she saw my piercing was so damn sexy.


J

A driveway full of cars was not something I expected when I pulled into Lisa's after work. The golf course had gotten so busy that I'd only stopped to give them drinks one more time on the sixteenth hole. She hadn't texted me again all day. My stomach knotted up nervously. Was this it? Had her brief moment of sweetness after taking my virginity faded away so soon?

I had to park out on the edge of the road. Closing my truck door, I started the trek to the door.

"You don't want to go in there," V's familiar voice said in the darkness. I looked around and saw a small orange glow fall to the ground then get put out under a boot before V stepped out of his hiding spot.

"Do you come to these parties to hang around outside?" I asked, since this was the second time I'd arrived at a party here to find V outside alone.

"I can't seem to quit smoking. Lisa thinks I've stopped. So I hide out here when I need a smoke," he explained.

"Smoking will kill you," I told him, remembering all the smokers that I'd watched slowly dying when I took my mother to chemo treatments.

"That's what they tell me," he replied with a sigh.

I looked back at the house and heard the music pouring out of it. "I didn't know there was a party tonight," I said, hoping the disappointment in my voice didn't come through.

V laughed and leaned a hip against a Volvo. "Isn't there always a party here?"

No, there wasn't. After last night I thought Lisa would have called me or texted me. "I guess I just wasn't expecting it."

"I don't think Lisa was either. This is a Rosé party. She sprung it on Lisa. The girl has always managed to get away with murder where Lisa is concerned. I got my ass kicked by Lisa more than once growing up because I didn't fall for Rosé wounded puppy shit."

I walked over to lean against the Volvo beside him and crossed my arms. "So you grew up with Rosé, too?" I needed something. Any kind of explanation.

V cut his eyes at me. "Yeah. Of course. Georgianna is her momma. Only parent she's got. Well…" V pushed off from the Volvo and shook his head. "Nope. You almost had me. I can't tell you shit, Jennie. Honestly when someone does I don't want to be anywhere around."

V stalked back toward the house.

I watched him until he was back inside before I made my way to the house. I prayed no one was in my room. If they were I was going to the pantry. I was not in the mood for Rosé. Or the secrets surrounding her that everyone but me was allowed to know. I sure wasn't in the mood for Lisa.

I opened the door and was glad that no one was standing around to see me arrive. I headed straight for the stairs. Laughter and voices filled the house. I didn't fit in with them. There was no use in going down there and acting like I did.

I glanced at the door leading to Lisa's stairs and let last night's memories wash over me. I was beginning to think that was a one-time thing. I opened my door and stepped in before I turned on the light.

I covered my mouth from the scream that bubbled up when I realized I wasn't alone. It was Lisa. She was sitting on my bed looking out the window. She stood up when I closed the door and walked over to me.

"Hey," she said in a soft voice.

"Hey," I replied, unsure as to why she was in my room when she had a house full of people. "What are you doing in here?"

She gave me a crooked smile. "Waiting on you. I kinda thought that was obvious."

Smiling, I ducked my head. Her eyes could be too much sometimes. "I can see that. But you have guests."

"Not my guests. Trust me, I wanted an empty house," she said cupping the side of my face with her hand. "Come upstairs with me. Please."

She didn't have to beg. I'd go gladly. I dropped my purse on the bed and tucked my hand in hers. "Lead the way."

Lisa squeezed my hand and we headed up the stairs together.

Once we reached the top step Lisa pulled me into her arms and kissed me hard. Maybe I was easy but I didn't care. I'd missed her today. I wrapped my arms around her neck and kissed her back with all the emotion churning inside me that I didn't quite understand.

When she broke the kiss we were both breathless. "Talk. We are going to talk first. I want to see you smile and laugh. I want to know what your favorite show was when you were a kid and who made you cry at school and what boy band you hung posters of on your wall. Then I want you naked in my bed again."

Smiling at her strange, but adorable, way of telling me she wanted to do more than just have sex with me, I walked over to the large tan sectional sofa that overlooked the ocean instead of a television.

"Thirsty?" Lisa asked, walking over to a stainless steel refrigerator I hadn't taken the time to notice last night. A small bar sat off to the side of it.

"Just some ice water would be nice," I replied.

Lisa went to work fixing drinks and I turned to look out at the ocean. "Rugrats was my favorite show, Ken Norris made me cry at least once a week but then he'd make Yeri cry and I'd get mad and hurt him. My favorite and most successful attack was a swift kick to the balls. And shamefully, The Backstreet Boys covered my walls."

Lisa stopped beside me and handed me a tall glass of ice water. I could see the indecision on her face. She sat down beside me. "Who is Yeri?"

I'd mentioned my sister without thinking. I was comfortable with Lisa. I wanted her to know me. Maybe if I opened up about my secrets she would share hers. Even if she couldn't share Rosé's.

"Yeri was my twin sister. She died in a car accident five years ago. My dad was driving. Two weeks later, he walked out of our lives and never returned. Mom said we had to forgive him because he couldn't live with the fact he'd been driving the car that killed Yeri. I always wanted to believe her. Even when he didn't come to Mom's funeral I wanted to believe he just couldn't face it. So I forgave him. I didn't hate him or let bitterness and hate control me. But I came here and well… you know. I guess Mom was wrong."

Lisa leaned forward and set her glass on the rustic wooden table beside the couch and slipped her arm behind me. "I had no idea you had a twin sister," she said almost reverently.

"We were identical. You couldn't tell us apart. We had a lot of fun with that at school and with boys. Only Kai could tell us apart."

Lisa began to play with a lock of my hair as we sat there looking out over the water. "How long did your parents know each other before they married?" she asked. Not a question I was expecting.

"It was a love at first sight kind of thing. Mom was visiting a friend of hers in Atlanta. Dad had recently broken up with her friend and he came around one night when Mom was at her friend's apartment alone. Her friend was a little wild from what my mom said. Dad took one look at mom and he was sunk. I can't blame him. My mom was gorgeous. She had my color hair but she had the biggest green eyes. They were like jewels almost and she was just fun. You were happy just to be near her. Nothing ever got her down. She smiled through everything. The only time I saw her cry was when she was told about Yeri. She crumpled to the floor and wailed that day. It would have frightened me if I hadn't felt the same way. It was like part of my soul had been ripped out." I stopped. My eyes were burning. I'd let myself get carried away with opening up. I hadn't opened up to anyone in years.

Lisa rested her forehead on the top of my head. "I'm so sorry, Jennie. I had no idea."

For the first time since Yeri had left me I felt like someone was there I could talk to. I didn't have to hold back. I turned in her arms and found her lips with mine. I needed this closeness. I'd remembered the pain and now I needed her to make it go away. She was so good at making everything but her fade away.

"I love them. I will always love them but I'm okay now. They're together. They have each other," I told her when I felt her reluctance to kiss me back.

"Who do you have?" she asked in a tortured voice.

"I have me. I found out three years ago when my mom got sick that as long as I held onto me and didn't forget who I was that I'd always be okay," I replied

Lisa closed her eyes and took a deep breath. When she opened her eyes the desperate look in them startled me. "I need you. Right now. Let me love you right here, please."

I pulled my shirt off and then reached for hers. She lifted her arms for me as I pulled her shirt over her head. She made quick work of my bra and it was gone with nothing between us. Her hands cupped my breasts as she brushed her thumb over each hard crest. "You are so fucking unbelievably gorgeous. Inside and out," she whispered. "As much as I don't deserve it I want to be buried inside you. I can't wait. I just need to get as close to you as I can get."

I scooted back from her and stood up. After slipping off my shoes, I unsnapped my shorts and pushed them down along with my panties then stepped out of them. She sat there watching me like I was the most fascinating thing she had ever seen. It felt powerful. The embarrassment I expected to feel from standing naked in front of her wasn't there.

"Get naked," I said, looking down at her erection pressing against her jeans.

I thought that would get an amused chuckle from her but it didn't. She stood up, quickly stepping out of her jeans and then sank back down on the couch pulling me with her.

"Straddle me," she instructed. I did as I was told. "Now," she gulped, "ease down on me." I looked down and saw her holding the base of her cock. I grabbed onto her shoulders and slowly lowered myself as she handled everything else.

"Easy, baby. Slow and easy. You're gonna be sore."

I nodded and bit my bottom lip as the tip started to enter me. She moved the head back and forth over my opening, teasing me. I squeezed her shoulders and gasped. It felt good. So very good.

"That's it. You're getting so fucking wet. God, I want to taste it," she growled.

Seeing the animalistic look in her eyes flipped a switch in me. I wanted to make her remember me. Remember this. I knew our time was limited and I knew I'd never forget her. Still, I wanted to know that when she walked away she'd never forget me. I didn't want to be that one girl whose virginity she took.

Leaning forward, I waited until she rubbed the head against my entrance. Then I sank down hard with a loud cry as it filled me.

"SHIT," Lisa shouted. I didn't wait for her to worry about me. I was going to ride her. I understood the terminology now. I was in control of this. She started to open her mouth and say something but I stopped her by plunging my tongue into her mouth while I lifted my hips and sank back down onto her again harder. The groan and buckling sensation of her body under me assured me I was doing something right.

I broke apart so I could cry out as I began riding her faster and harder. The tenderness inside me was screaming out with the stretching of her entrance but it was a good pain.

"Jennie, oh holy fuck Jennie," she ground out as her hands grabbed my hips and she let herself break free and enjoy the ride. Her hands began taking over. She lifted me and slammed me back down onto her with fast and hard thrusts. Every curse and loud moan that escaped her made me wilder. I needed this with her.

The orgasm was building and I knew after a few more thrusts I was going to break apart on top of her. I wanted her to come too. I began rocking on her and letting out the loud cries I had been trying to control. "I'm gonna come," I moaned as the sensation built.

"Fuck baby, so good," she growled and then we both fell over the top together. Her body bucked underneath me and then stilled. My name tore from her lips at the same time my body reached its climax.

When the tremors slowed and I could breathe again I wrapped my arms around her neck and collapsed on top of her.

Both her arms held me tightly to her as her breathing slowed. I liked the sweet sex we'd had last night but there was something to be said for fucking. I smiled to myself at the thought and turned my head to kiss her neck.

"Never. Never in all my life," she panted running her hand down my back and cupping my bottom with a gentle squeeze. "That was. God, Jennie, I don't have words."

Smiling into her neck I knew I'd made my mark on this perfect, wounded, mysterious confusing woman.

"I believe the word you are looking for is epic," I said laughing as I leaned back so that I could look at her.

The tenderness in her eyes melted my heart a little more. "The most epic sex ever known to man," she replied and reached out to tuck hair behind my ears. "I'm ruined. You know that right? You've ruined me."

I wiggled my hips and I could feel her still inside me. "Hmmm no, I think you might still work."

"God, woman you're gonna have me hard and ready again. I need to clean you up."

I traced her bottom lip with the pad of my finger. "I won't bleed again. I did that already."

Lisa pulled my finger into her mouth and sucked on it gently before letting it go. "I wasn't wearing a condom. I'm clean, though. I always wear a condom and I get checked regularly."

I wasn't sure how to process this. I hadn't been thinking about a condom.

"I'm sorry. You got naked and my brain kind of checked out. I promise you I'm clean."

I shook my head. "No, it's okay. I believe you. I didn't think about it either."

Lisa pulled me back against her. "Good because that was fucking unbelievable. I've never felt it without a condom. Knowing I was in you and feeling you bare makes me real damn happy. You felt amazing. All hot and wet and so very tight."

I rocked against her. Her dirty words in my ear made my ache wake back up. "Mmm," I replied as I felt her grow hard again inside me.

"Are you on any birth control?"

I never had a reason to be. I shook my head.

She groaned and moved my hips off her until she was out of me. "We can't do that again until you are. But you've got me all hard again." She reached between my legs and ran a finger against my swollen clit. "So sexy," she murmured. I let my head fall back and enjoyed her soft touch.

"Jennie, come take a shower with me," she asked in a strained voice.

"Okay," I said, looking back at her. She helped me up and then led me to her bigger than life bathroom.

"I want you in the shower. What we did out there was the best fucking I've ever had in my life. But in here it's gonna be slower. I'm taking care of you."


L

She let me guide her to the bathroom. I turned on the heated floors when we walked in so that the marble floor wouldn't be so cold to her bare feet. Then I turned on the shower heads and the steamer option. Turning back, I took her hand. I pulled her into the large shower. Water hit us from directly overhead and from the two shower heads mounted on each side wall. Closing the door, I pressed the sealer so that the steam would fill the shower.

Jennie was looking around with awe. "I didn't know they made showers this big or this complicated. You have water coming from everywhere—and is that steam?"

Grinning, I pulled her over toward the large bench. "Hold on to my shoulders," I told her, before reaching down, taking her leg, and lifting it until her foot was on the bench. Her pussy was completely open to me, and I didn't say anything more. I filled my hands with body wash and worked it into a lather before moving to wash the insides of her thighs.

"Lisa!" She gasped, squeezing my shoulders and leaning into me more.

I continued washing my come off her thighs, where it had leaked out of her, making them sticky. Lifting my head, I watched her face as I touched her tender folds. I didn't want to burn or sting her, I just wanted to clean her.

Her eyelids fluttered closed, and she moaned and rocked against my hand. I'd wanted to wash her first, before I sank back into her again, but if she kept this up, I wasn't going to be able to stop myself.

"Feel good?" I asked her. She only nodded. Her eyes closed, and her head tilted slightly back. The water had soaked her hair, and it was slicked back off her face. I trailed kisses across her forehead and down her cheeks as I continued to wash her. "Is it sore?" I asked against her ear.

She shivered. "Yes. But I like being sore. Knowing that you made me sore from . . ." She paused. "Fucking me," she finished in a whisper.

"Jennie, baby, I'm gonna have to fuck you now. You shouldn't have said that dirty word. I can't keep being good and making you feel better." The edge in my voice gave away how close I was to grabbing her and bending her over.

She opened her eyes, and the heat in her gaze burned me. "Will you fuck me against the wall?" she asked, her breathing heavy.

"Any way you want, sweet Jennie."

I cupped my hands and filled them with water, which I used to clean the soap between her legs. When I had it all off, I grabbed her and shoved her against the wall. But I caught myself. I was doing it sweet and easy now. She might say she liked it, but tomorrow she would be tender, and I had to remember to be gentle.

"I'm not using a condom. I can't. I need to feel you. But I swear I'll pull out before I come," I told her.

"OK. Just please, Lisa, put it in," she begged.

My control snapped.