The Brothers Rule - Carolyn Faulkner Page 0,54

head—her own juices slowly dripping from his chin—saying in a disgustingly cheerful tone, "Nine fifty-nine, baby. Time for you to get ready for bed!"

Laurie was barely able to comprehend what he was saying. She was panting heavily, her mind absolutely wiped out, every single part of her aching—crying out—for release, entirely dedicated to that goal.

"W-what?"

He moved slowly away from her but kept his big hands on her. "Bedtime, my love."

"What? Now? You have got to be kidding me!" She sat up, reluctance in every pore.

What he said to her this time was even more incomprehensible to her, but in an entirely different way.

Adam's smile left his face as if it had never been. He was easy going, to a point. And she had just reached that point. "I'm sorry, but I don't appreciate your attitude."

In the blink of an eye, she found herself flipped over, a hard arm laid across her back to keep her still, and forty or so very painful swats laid across her trembling cheeks.

When he let her up, she was crying and sniffling as she wordlessly headed for the bathroom to get ready for bed, not at all sure that she wanted to get back into bed with him! Her front ached horrendously, and now, so did her rear end, and those powerful feelings were feeding on each other to the point that she thought they were going to drive her mad!

Adam was lying in bed waiting for her, having turned down her side of it invitingly. Someone was chatting away in the background on the TV, and he'd turned out everything but the light on his side of the big bed.

Laurie slid under the covers, trying to stay as far away from him as she could in mute protest of what he was doing to her, but once he'd turned out the light, he reached out and pulled her to him anyway, as she'd known he was going to. Soft lips found her ear as he curled himself around her, dwarfing her and drowning her in all of that dominant masculinity, as they all did quite relentlessly.

She was surrounded by it, morning, noon, and night.

"You know you're not allowed to touch, right, lovely?" he asked, not because he didn't think she knew of that rule, but because he wanted to remind her of how she submitted to him—to them—in that way.

They were the only ones who were allowed to give her pleasure. She was not allowed to find it on her own.

"Yes, Sir," she whimpered pitifully, hips arching restlessly, as if seeking him—any part of him would do, practically. She could ride his thigh or just rub up against him anywhere. Any kind of friction at all between her legs would bring her off in seconds.

But it was not to be.

His hands began to stroke her—in totally innocent places—gently, which was one of the things he knew would help her to calm down and drift off.

"I adore you, you know," he whispered.

How could you stay angry at a man who said that to you with the greatest possible sincerity?

Laurie sighed, contrarily wishing she could hold a grudge better. "I adore you, too," she replied, without a trace of irony, sarcasm, or even reluctance.

She did adore him.

Even if he was horrible, mean, rotten, and awful to do this to her.

But despite how desperate she was to come, the warmth and safety he surrounded her with, combined with everything else he was doing to help her get to sleep, meant that she lost that battle surprisingly quickly.

It occurred to her later, when she was with his brother the next night, that Adam might not really have thought out that strategy, since the frustration he had evoked in her was a bonus that Ryan was only too eager to collect that evening—not that she was going to mention that fact to him.

She wouldn't have been at all surprised if the others who were home had heard her climaxing loudly—over and over again—as he had his way with her.

But they weren't the core cause of the stress in Laurie's life, especially after they'd made those adjustments and she was able to get enough sleep to function.

It was work that was really bringing her down. Having to go to a job that she hated was killing her.

To their credit, they knew that she was unhappy and were each keeping an eye on her in regards to it. But she had been careful not to let them know that she cried