Spark, page 9
My whole family is here. The whole community is here. All to welcome Donny Steel home.
He should be out there, mingling.
Instead, he’s fucking me in his library.
He’s huge, and he tunnels through me as if he’s drilling into steel. I’m far from a virgin, but his sheer size spikes into me with a sharp pain.
Good pain, though. Really good pain.
“You okay?” he whispers against my ear.
“Yes,” I say through clenched teeth. “Fine. Please. More.”
He pulls out and thrusts back in.
Yes, pain. Glorious pain that soothes my emptiness—emptiness I didn’t know existed.
He thrusts again.
Again.
Again.
The pain dissolves into pure pleasure. I cry out despite myself. My body takes over, and I let it happen.
Let the desire and overwhelming passion take me.
Thrust.
Thrust.
Thrust.
“Baby, I can’t hold out,” Donny grits against my neck. “I’ve got to come. Got to—”
He thrusts hard into me, holding himself there.
I feel every spurt in time with my heartbeat.
Time passes in a warp. He stays inside me, holding me against him. My legs are wrapped around his waist as if they belong there.
My breath comes in spasms. I wriggle against him, looking for the friction I need. If I can just—
Then a knock on the door.
“Shit!” Donny pulls out of me and sets me on the floor.
“Donny, are you in there?”
Jade’s voice.
Please don’t open the door. Please don’t open the door.
Did Donny think to lock it? I doubt it. He was in a hurry.
He snaps up his pants and buckles his belt. Then he gathers my jeans and boots and pushes them into my grasp. “Get in the closet.”
I drop my mouth open as he takes my hand, walks quickly across the room, shoves me into the large closet, and closes the door.
And I stand here.
In the dark, one boob still out, holding my jeans and boots.
My socks. Where are my socks?
I strain my ears, trying to hear what’s going on in the library. Is Jade coming in? Will she see my socks?
Donny will tell me when the coast is clear.
This is the right thing. I mean, I’m going to work for the woman beginning on Monday. I don’t want her to find me half-naked in her library with her son, the brand spanking new assistant city attorney.
I don’t dare try to get my jeans on. I don’t want to make any noise.
So I wait.
I wait for Donny.
He’ll come when it’s safe.
Chapter Nineteen
Donny
I open the door to face my mother.
“What are you doing in here?” she demands. “The party is underway. The food’s all set out. People are starting to wonder where you are. Dad and Dale said you were right behind them.”
“Yeah, I was. I just had to go to the bathroom.”
“In the library?”
“I just stopped in here to…” Right. What the hell am I going to say to my mother? I stopped in here for a quick fuck with Callie Pike because my adrenaline is on speed. You and Dad have been lying to me for years.
“I don’t care, Donny. Let’s just go. For God’s sake.”
“Right, Mom. I’ll be there in a few.”
“No. Now. Come on. This party is for you.” She grabs my arm and pulls me into the hallway.
Damn. Callie. Callie in the closet.
I’ll come back for her.
I follow Mom out to the deck. Dad has taken over for Darla at the grill, and Dale is talking to Bree and Jesse Pike by the stage where Jesse’s band will perform later.
“Here he is!” Mom calls. “The man of the hour!”
And then they’re on me.
Everyone. Hugging. Kissing. Shaking my hand.
“Good to have you home, Don!”
“An exciting career move!”
“Will you be taking over for your mother soon?”
“The Snow Creek ladies will be thrilled you’re back!”
I talk to everyone who greets me, answering their questions as best I can as seconds turn into minutes. Ten. Twenty.
Darla brings me a plate containing a double burger and a heap of Aunt Marj’s special potato salad, which everyone knows I love.
Mom brings me a margarita, and Uncle Ryan taps on a champagne flute.
“Does everyone have a drink?” Ryan asks. “It’s time for our toast.”
Dale leaves Jesse and Bree and helps Uncle Ryan fill flutes of Steel sparkling wine.
Callie. I’ve got to go get Callie.
But I can’t get away. Someone is hugging me or shaking my hand, and then Uncle Ryan and Dad somehow get to the microphone on the makeshift stage for the band.
“Hey, everyone,” Dad says, his voice amplified. “Thanks so much for coming. I hope you’ve all filled your plates. There’s plenty more for seconds. We’ll have Jesse and Dragonlock performing up here in a bit, but first, Jade and I would like to welcome back our second born into the Steel family fold. Donny, come on up here!”
Crap. I’m sorry, Callie.
I make my way to the stage, where Mom has also joined Dad and Uncle Ry. She grabs me in a hug and whispers, “I’m so glad you’ve come home.”
I kiss her cheek quickly and stand beside Dad.
“I’ll have Ryan do the toast,” Dad says, “since he’s much more eloquent than I am. Plus he made this awesome sparkling wine.”
“If that’s the case,” Ryan says, “I should have Dale come up here. He’s our new winemaker after this season. And he’s Donny’s brother. Come on up, Dale.”
“Sorry,” Dale says from the peanut gallery. “Just got a text from Ashley. She and Willow just got to the guesthouse. I have to help with the luggage.”
I force a laugh. “Good one, bro,” I say into the microphone. “Anything to avoid making a spectacle of yourself.”
Dale smiles, holds up his phone, and begins to walk toward the guesthouse while everyone laughs.
Yeah, I’m still pissed at my brother, but I won’t ruin my mom’s party for anything. All I want right now is to get this toast over with so I can get back to Callie. Will she leave the closet and come back out without my okay? I hope so, but what if she doesn’t?
“So Donny,” Ryan begins, “when you went off to college thirteen years ago, determined to become a high-powered lawyer, none of us thought you’d return to Snow Creek for good. But here you are, and we couldn’t be happier. I know your mom is especially thrilled that you’ll be working together. So here’s to you. Welcome home!”
Glasses clink.
“Speech, speech!” someone—I think it’s Brock, damn him—yells.
Ryan moves out of the way to give me access to the mic.
And all I can think about is Callie holed up in that closet. How long has it been now? A half hour at least, probably longer.
“I just want to thank all of you for coming over tonight. Part of me feels like I never really left the western slope, and it’s great to be back. Thanks to my mom and Aunt Marj for planning this affair. Thanks to Jesse, my old football pal, for the music to come. It’s honestly great to see all of you and to know I’ll be here for a while. Cheers!” I take a sip of my margarita.
“Cheers!” come the shouts.
“We’ve got plenty more food,” Dad says after the applause dies down. “So please help yourselves. Marjorie’s cake will be out soon as well, and you all know she does it up right. So eat, drink, and be merry, and we’ll have some music in a little while. Thanks to all of you for coming!”
I make my way through more congratulatory hugs. Why are people congratulating me, anyway? I left a partnership track in a global firm to come here and work for pennies.
On the other hand, they all do seem glad to have me back, and in truth, I’m thrilled to be back. My anger at Dale and Dad dissipates. Sure, I’m giving up a lot, but family first. Talon Steel drummed that lesson into our heads from day one, and he’s right.
Step by step, I make my way back to the deck, and I’m four feet from the door when—
“Donny.” Mom grabs me. “Can you help Marj and me with the cake?”
But Callie’s in the library…
I can hardly say that. I’m an adult, but still… I don’t particularly want to tell my mother that I left a half-naked woman hiding in a closet.
I can’t say no. The cake is for me, after all.
“Sure,” I sigh.
I follow Mom into the kitchen where the cake is set out and Aunt Marj is putting on the last touches.
“Wow,” I say. “It’s beautiful.”
“Nothing but the best for my favorite nephew.” Aunt Marj giggles.
It’s been a running joke since we were all kids. Aunt Marj refers to each and every one of us as her favorite niece or nephew.
“I thought I was your favorite,” Brock jokes.
I turn to face him. “Can you help Mom and Aunt Marj? I’ve got to—”
“Sorry,” he says. “I’ve got to piss like a racehorse. I’ll be back in five if you can wait.”
“Never mind,” I say.
“We’re done!” Aunt Marj wipes her hands on a dish towel.
I take a second to appreciate her handiwork. It’s a two-tier creation with golden frosting and the scales of justice sculpted out of white and black fondant.
“I don’t know how you do it, Marj,” Mom says. “Each cake you make is more beautiful than the last. Why you took so long to get into baking is beyond me.”
“I was too busy creating real food,” Marj replies. “I like dessert as much as the next person, but I’m much more into savory than sweet. I have to admit, though. Cakes do let me stretch my creativity. It’s fun!”
“You should sell these at Ava’s bakery,” I tell her.
She laughs off my comment. “That would take all the fun out of it.”
The three of us carefully set the cake onto a catering trolley and wheel it through the French doors and out onto the deck.
“Talon,” Mom says. “Tell everyone the cake is ready and, if they want to see it before we cut it, to get over here.”
I love my mom. I do. But my God, does everything have to be a major event? Though the cake is a work of art. No lie.
Dad makes a quick announcement, and sure enough, people gather to ooh and ahh over the dessert.
A good time for me to sneak away and get Callie.
Except—
“You do the honors, Donny.” Aunt Marj hands me a serving knife.
“I’ll screw it up.”
“Just the first slice, so your mom can get a photo. Then I’ll take over.”
Photo op. Of course. Can’t ever miss a good Steel photo op. I paste on a smile and try not to think about how angry Callie’s getting in the closet.
I slice into the cake as camera phones click.
I’ll be up on twenty Instagram accounts within seconds.
And all I want is for this party to be over so Callie and I can pick up where we left off.
Chapter Twenty
Callie
“Finally!” I say, as the closet door opens.
Then my jaw drops.
It’s not Donny but his cousin Brock who stands on the other side of the closet door.
Thank God I went ahead and got dressed after so much time passed. Boots without socks aren’t particularly comfortable.
Brock gives me a dazzling smile. “Well, well, well. What have we here?”
“I was just…” Just what? Oh, just fucking your cousin, and he left me here for… Damn. How long has it been?
“I thought it was your sister who came out of the closet,” he jokes.
“Yeah. Funny.”
“Seriously,” he says. “What are you doing in here? The party’s in full force.”
“There’s really no good answer to that question.”
He laughs. “Now come on. There’s got to be some reason why you’re hiding in a closet. Seriously.”
“That’s the second time you’ve used the word seriously.”
“Seriously?” He waggles his eyebrows.
I like Brock. He’s a few years younger than I am, and even though my family didn’t move here until I was in elementary school, Brock was one of the first Steels I got to know.
He was the boy who chased all the girls on the playground.
While all the other little boys were in their I hate girls phase, Brock Steel was a skirt chaser even then.
He’s still a skirt chaser now. He, Donny, and Dave Simpson, Marjorie and Bryce’s second son, are the Steels known as the womanizers. In town they’re called the Three Rake-a-teers. I remember when Rory coined the term after high school. Donny’s quite a bit older than his cousins, but once Brock and Dave were legal, the three of them could be found at Murphy’s whenever Donny was in town, picking up women and heading to the Snow Creek Inn.
I was almost one of those women once.
And it was the man in front of me who almost made me a notch on the Rake-a-teer bedpost.
Brock Steel is a hunk, no doubt.
All dark, gorgeous, muscular, and he can turn any woman’s knees to mush.
As I gaze at him now, though—his incredible height, his thick dark hair, his searing black eyes, and his beefy broad shoulders—I think only of one man.
And it’s not him.
“You coming out or what?” Brock smiles deviously. “Or I could join you in there. It’s a big closet.”
I step out. My phone died earlier, or I’d have texted Rory or Maddie to see if it was safe to emerge. “What time is it, anyway?”
“It’s nearing eight.”
My jaw drops. Seriously? I’ve been waiting in this closet for almost an hour? I’ll kill Donny Steel.
“Seriously”—he chuckles at his own word—“what are you doing in there?”
“Nothing, clearly.” I head toward the door, glancing around quickly for my socks. They seem to have disappeared. Just as well. I don’t want to field the questions they’ll produce from Brock. “Any food left?”
“Aunt Jade and Aunt Marj always make sure there’s enough for at least a thousand people. You won’t go hungry.”
“I’m not hungry,” I say, more to myself than to Brock.
Nope. Not hungry. Just angry.
I just got fucked in more ways than one.
Though I’m tempted to march out with smoke unfurling out of my ears, I decide on an alternate strategy. I link my arm through Brock’s.
“Let’s go. I’m ready to party.”
“Now those are fighting words, Callie. I’m your man. Let’s get you a drink.”
We stroll together through the house and out onto the deck. The party is in full swing, and Jesse and his band are tuning up on stage.
Brock steps up to the redwood bar. “What’s your pleasure?”
“Diet C—” I stop. “Screwdriver. Heavy on the screw.”
Brock smiles at my double entendre and mixes me a drink while I scan the crowd, looking for one blond head in particular. I find him with his brother and Ashley. A beautiful older woman stands with them. Willow. Ashley’s mother, who was widowed such a short time ago.
My cheeks warm when he turns my way and meets my gaze.
So when Brock hands me the drink, I can’t help but look up at him admiringly and grab his arm with my free hand.
Donny’s full lips purse into a thin line.
Really, though, what does he expect? He freaking left me in a closet. Half-clothed. Not knowing whether it was safe to come out. For all I knew, Jade and Talon could have been right outside the door of the library. Or any number of others who would wonder why the heck I was in the Steel library by myself while a party’s going on.
“Let’s get you some dinner,” Brock says.
“I wasn’t kidding when I said I’m not hungry. Unless you want to eat.”
“I’ve had two plates full,” he laughs.
“Good. Then let’s mingle a little.”
“Your wish is my command, gorgeous.” He leads me off the deck and into the swarm of people.
We head toward the stage, where Rory is working on the sound system.
“Hey, sis,” I say.
“Cal, Brock.” She looks around. “Where’ve you been, anyway?”
“Long story.” I roll my eyes.
“Which she’s keeping mum about,” Brock adds.
Dark-haired and blue-eyed David Simpson joins us then. The silky dark hair is from his mother, Marjorie, and the blue eyes from his father, Bryce Simpson. And of course, he’s gorgeous as all get-out, just like everyone with Steel blood.
“Callie Pike,” he says jovially, “what are you doing with this moron?”
“I saw her first, dude,” Brock returns.
“I think the lady is the one who gets to choose,” Dave retorts.
I take a sip of my screwdriver and smile in what I hope is a flirtatious way. “The lady isn’t up for grabs, guys.”
Though having two of the Rake-a-teers attending to me isn’t such a bad thing. I’ve never been one to play games, but Donny Steel is on my list at the moment.
And the sad thing is?
If he came up to me right now and dragged me back into that library to fuck, I’d go.
It was that amazing.
“We’ll see about that before the night is over,” Dave says. “I get first dance.”
“Uh…the lady’s with me.” Brock smiles.
“Tell you what.” I try the flirtatious grin again. “Jess never starts with a slow song, so you can both have the first dance.”
“Baby, we don’t share,” Dave says.
“Except that one time,” Brock replies.
I stop my mouth from dropping open. They shared a woman? A threesome? I can’t decide if I’m grossed out or turned on.
Rory, who witnessed the exchange, is laughing her ass off. I give her a stink eye.
Jesse takes the mic then. “Hey, everyone! Who’s ready for some rock and roll!”
Cheers galore.
“We’re going to start with a few covers and then move into our original stuff. Most of you know the band, but I’ll introduce them to you anyway. My cousin Cage on bass, Dragon Locke on drums—and yeah, his name’s so cool we named the band after him—and Jake Michaels on lead guitar. I’m Jesse Pike, vocals and second guitar, and tonight we have a treat for you. I’ve managed to talk my amazingly talented sister Rory into joining us with her pipes. You may know her as an operatic mezzo, but the girl can also rock!”
