Marisa Chenery - Roan's Fall

Saskia leaned over and whispered in Ansley’s ear, “Don’t worry about it if you can’t eat all that. The guys tend to forgot that not everybody can eat like they do.”

“If I ate this much all the time I would be as big as a house,” Ansley said laughingly.

“Same here.”

Roan came back to the table and handed Ansley a cup of coffee. “I hope the two of you weren’t talking about me when I wasn’t here.”

Saskia rolled her eyes. “No. I just told Ansley that she didn’t have to feel obligated to eat all that food you gave her. You must think she eats like a horse like you do.”

“Sorry about that, Ansley.” Roan pushed his plate closer to hers. “You can put what you don’t want on my plate. I’ll eat it for you.”

Cutting the omelet in half with her knife, she pushed one half onto his plate. “That should be enough.” After Roan moved his plate back in front of him and started to dig into his food, Ansley turned back to Saskia. “So how long have you and Eli been married?”

“Just a little over a month.”

“So you’re still newlyweds then?”

“You could say that,” Eli said from Saskia’s other side. He gave his wife a heated look.

A muffin flew through the air and hit Eli dead center on his forehead. “Knock off the goo goo eyes, Eli,” Leif said. He sat across and a little down from Eli. “Take it to the bedroom so the rest of us don’t have to be subjected to it. We are trying to eat you know.”

Eli chucked the muffin back at Leif. “You’re just jealous that you don’t have what Saskia and I have.”

“Hell, no. I like being a free agent.”

“Your time will come. Take it from someone who once thought the same way you do.”

Ansley started to eat her omelet while Leif and Eli bantered back and forth. It was obvious Eli had been accepted as another brother. As she ate, Roan moved his chair closer to hers so their thighs were pressed against each other. He placed a hand on the top of her leg and squeezed. Such a simple gesture, but it made her body respond to Roan’s touch. She reached under the table and put her hand on his hard thigh while she continued to eat. Ansley had just taken a sip of coffee when Roan moved his hand to the inside of her thigh and gently brushed between her legs with his knuckles. She had to quickly swallow the liquid before she choked on it.

Taking a quick peek at Saskia to make sure she couldn’t see what took place under the table, Ansley stroked her hand up Roan’s thigh and skimmed her fingers over the bulge in his jeans. He stiffened for a fraction of a second before he rubbed her pussy with the side of his hand. It took all of Ansley’s concentration to act as if nothing was going on.

With more boldness than she thought she possessed, Ansley cupped Roan’s cock through his jeans and gave him a squeeze. His sharp indrawn breath told her she had to be getting to him same as he was getting to her. Another muffin hit Roan square in the chest. Ansley quickly pulled her hand off Roan.

She looked up to find Leif staring at her and Roan. “Would the pair of you cut it out? It’s bad enough we have to put up with Saskia and Eli. If you want to make a move on each other, please take it somewhere where I’m not. I can smell the pair of you all the way over here.”

Ansley shifted uncomfortably on her chair. She had no idea what had come over her. She usually didn’t do things like fondle a man while in the company of his family, and where anyone could see what they were up to. Embarrassed at being caught, she jerked her gaze down to her plate and kept it there. It also acted like a bucket of ice water on her arousal.

“You’re walking a fine line, Leif,” Roan snarled. “If you don’t like the smell, you can always leave.”

Ansley resisted the urge to turn her head, lift her arm and give her underarm a sniff. Since she’d just had a shower she didn’t think she smelled bad. She kept her head down and concentrated on finishing her food. Everyone around the table suddenly went silent. Ansley didn’t have to look up to know they all had turned their gazes her way.

“Ah, shit,” Leif said, breaking the silence. “I’m sorry, Ansley. I didn’t mean to embarrass you. I only thought to give Roan a hard time. I know you and he don’t have any control over it.”

She had no idea what it was, but she decided it would be best to let it go. She looked up to meet Leif’s gaze. He wore an apologetic look on his face. “No need to apologize, Leif. To be honest, it doesn’t take much to make me feel embarrassed. I think I spend half my life being embarrassed, mostly from my own doing. My curse makes sure of that.”

“Your curse?” Roan asked with a chuckle.

Ansley turned to look at him. “Well, that is what I call it. You’ve already been subjected to it. There are times when I say pretty much whatever happens to be on my mind at the time. I tend to say things that, if I’d really thought about them, should have been kept to myself.”

Roan put his arm along the back of her chair and leaned in to kiss her cheek. “Then you and Jager should get along famously. He says whatever he has on his mind too. But unlike you, he doesn’t give a shit how people react to it.”

She turned her head in Jager’s direction at the end of the table. He shrugged. “What can I say? I like to be direct and to the point. It’s what makes me so lovable.”

Everyone but Ansley broke out in laughter. Skylar, who sat closest to Jager, punched him in the arm. “Yeah, you’re about as lovable as a rattlesnake when you’re in one of your moods. You get pissed off and you make damn sure everyone around you knows about it and why.”

Jager crossed his arms over his wide chest. “Nothing wrong with being out in the open about how you feel.”

Roan pushed back his chair and stood up. He held his hand out to her. Ansley took it and allowed him to pull her up. He then spoke to the room at large. “Now that Ansley has finished eating, she and I are going out for a bit. I promised I would take her to get her car. We’ll be back later.” He turned to Saskia. “If you don’t have other plans for me that is.”

Saskia waved them away. “Go. Roxie will understand, not that she feels she needs us there anyway. Eli and I will go with Jager and Dirk.”

“Then Ansley and I are out of here.”

Ansley let Roan walk her out of the kitchen. Leif’s words about her and Roan not having any control over it played through her head. She couldn’t help but think this it would somehow be connected to the talk Roan had originally wanted to have with her before they had ended up in bed together at her apartment. Maybe if they kept their hands off each other long enough, Roan and she could have that talk sometime soon. But Ansley wasn’t going to bet on it.

After they collected her car from the salon’s parking lot, Roan and Ansley went to her apartment. Determined to prove she could be around Roan and not think about hot, sweaty sex, Ansley threw her overnight bag on her bed and returned to the living room to sit on the couch next to Roan. She sat sideways so she faced him and crossed her legs in front of her. Roan put his arm on the back of the couch and turned his body toward her.

“You know you don’t have to sit so far away,” he said in a husky voice. “There’s plenty of room over here.”

“I’m staying right where I am. I thought maybe we would talk for a bit, get to know each other better. I know if I get any closer to you the last thing we’ll do is talk.”

Roan gave her a crooked grin. “I can guarantee it will be more fun than talking.”

Ansley rolled her eyes. She shook her head. “Talk first then maybe I’ll let you have your way with me.”