Crazy Thing (The Brighton Family #5)

Chapter 48

48

DARIUS

“ W e’re out of putty,” Archer says with a huff, wiping at his sweaty forehead and getting grime all over his face again.

“Time to make a store run? Me! Me! I can make a store run!” Ronan jumps up to his feet, already breaking out his car keys.

Yes, he’s so desperate to get out of this place that he’d even volunteer to transport construction materials in his precious sportscar.

I don’t blame the guy. It’s one of the last free days Ronan has left before the hockey season officially takes over his life and I’d bet he’d rather be anywhere but here.

In anticipation of our parents returning from Europe, my siblings and I have been going around the house, sweeping dusty floors and fixing leaky taps and repairing cracked walls all morning. At this point, I wouldn’t mind making a prison break myself.

I shoot daggers at Archer. “Remind me again why you won’t let me just bring in my usual construction crew. Like I offered to. A dozen times already. ”

He tosses a dusty rag at me. “Stop being a princess. Manual labor is good for your soul. And it won’t hurt to get your pretty hands dirty every now and then.”

I roll my eyes, practically climbing over a miserable-looking Felix who’s down on his hands and knees, painting the baseboards. “That’s it. I’m taking a break. Hopefully by the time I get back, you’ll come to your senses and let me hire some professionals.”

The guys protest as I leave but I ignore them. I head upstairs to the bedrooms where the girls are supposed to be cleaning the windows and changing the linens.

Instead, I find them gathered in the middle of the hallway. Music blasts from someone’s portable speakers as they all make a sad attempt to master some new TikTok dance.

Oh boy.

They’re so caught up in their choreography that they don’t notice me. When no-one’s looking, I snatch Ziggy by the waist and yank her into the stairwell.

I press her against the wall and sweep my tongue between her lips. My palm smooths up under the hem of her shirt as my fingertips trail along the underwire of her bra.

I drag my lips down her neck and hiss when she gives my package a quick squeeze. Ziggy starts to moan but the sound abruptly gets cut off in her throat.

“Darius!” she scolds me, her voice low and amused. “You’ve got siblings around every corner.”

“You’re right.” I lick a path up the column of her throat before whispering by her ear. “Wanna get out of here? We could take a walk.”

Her eyes twinkle when she grins. “Why do I have a feeling this won’t be a PG-13 walk?”

I waggle my brows suggestively. “Because it won’t be. ”

I sneak Ziggy out of the house, luckily managing to avoid my siblings. She grabs her backpack from the kitchen counter as we go.

“Snacks,” she whispers in explanation as we slip out the back door.

“I like the way you think, Fairy Girl.”

We head through the backyard and I hold her hand, guiding her into the woods. Neither of us spares a glance at the No Trespassing signs. Ziggy and I get to the caution tape, taking great pleasure in tearing it all down with our bare hands.

The mayor’s office had these signs and barriers affixed to the trees back when Edison was trying to buy the waterfalls. But Edison lost.

Victory tastes so sweet. The property sale nightmare is behind us and now the future is blindingly bright.

With Ziggy by my side, I take in our surroundings with new eyes. The leaves that are now beginning to turn colors. The twigs crunching under our steps. The water splashing against the rocks.

This place holds a special spot in the fabric of our story. This is the place where I first ‘saw’ her, where I first kissed her, where I first loved her. And now, this forest will always be… ours .

We spend the rest of our walk exploring deeper into the woods and gathering raspberries. This reminds me of that fateful day when we shared our first kiss.

“You sure these aren’t poisonous?” I joke, remembering when Ziggy knocked those bad berries right out of my hand.

She laughs. “You gave me a heart attack that day. I thought you were going to die right here in the woods.”

“You would have given me mouth to mouth.” I shrug .

“And you would have liked it.” She smirks, clinging to my arm.

“Hell yes, I would have. I would eat itchy berries every day of my life to get a taste of those lips,” I admit.

She elbows me. “You’re so corny.”

“Anything to make you laugh…”

Her eyes twinkle at me. “You make me so happy, Darius Brighton.” She kisses my cheek.

“Good. That’s the plan.”

We take our pickings to the water’s edge. As we sit in the grass by the river, we sip on herbal tea from her flask and eat the wild raspberries we picked. Somewhat to my dismay, no mouth-to-mouth is required.

I’m nibbling on the trail mix she made when Ziggy crawls up behind me on her knees and starts massaging my shoulders.

I let my head fall forward, groaning and shutting my eyes. “Fuck. Your hands feel good.” If I hadn’t just gotten the best night’s sleep with Ziggy’s body curled against me, I’d probably fall fast asleep out here.

A few minutes later, I tap her hand. “Okay, your turn.”

I switch spots with Ziggy, and I happily return the favor, rubbing her muscles.I admire the delicate curve of her shoulder and the elegant length of her neck. I lean closer, breathing her in and opening my lips against her throat for a kiss.

As soon as she starts moaning, I forget all about her shoulder muscles and my hands ‘accidentally’ venture south. I cradle her breasts, squeezing gently and feeling her nipples pebble against my palms. When her moaning grows louder, my mouth ventures south, too.

“Darius…Please…Fuck me…” she whimpers, instantly waking the horny giant in my pants .

The next thing I know, I have Ziggy sprawled out on the forest floor, her skirt bunched around her middle. All the while, I’m fucking feasting. She tastes sweeter than any of those wild berries we just picked.

I throw an arm across her hips to keep her still as she wiggles and thrusts into my face. She can’t get enough. Fuck, I can’t get enough.

As soon as she explodes on my tongue, I crawl up her body and give her that dick she’s been begging for.

Pine needles are falling on my ass. Raspberries are getting squashed beneath my knees. Birds and squirrels are getting the show of their life, as I shamelessly rut into my half-naked fairy girl.

Meanwhile, she’s whimpering about how my cock is so big and so thick. I’d laugh if she didn’t feel so good wrapped around me.I don’t stop until we’re both crying out, scaring off whatever wildlife is hanging around in the trees.

Then I collapse onto the fallen leaves next to Ziggy. We lay there, cuddling on the riverbank, her skirt still out of place and my pants around my ankles. We remain like that for a long time. I’m just listening to the frogs croaking, the birds chirping, the water splashing in the waterfall and Ziggy’s heart pounding.

It’s this moment—lying by the riverbanks with my dream girl—that I realize, I never want to leave.And that right there should scare the living hell out of me.But it doesn’t. Instead of scaring me, it comforts me. Because it means that Ziggy is my home and there’s no feeling like that in the world.

I prop myself up on my elbow, so I can peer down into my favorite blue eyes. I can’t help but grin. “Do you think what they say about the waterfall is true, Fairy Girl?” I murmur.

“What do you mean?” she questions me.

“That it makes people fall in love?” I brush pink tendrils from her face. I take a shallow breath and start rambling. “Because I…I love you, Ziggy. I fucking do. I wasn’t expecting to feel all this, but it hit me like a goddamned truck. Actually, I think I fell in love with you that summer by the falls. And I never stopped. I’m so in love with you. Do you think the waterfall did that to me?”

Ziggy’s eyes glisten. “You…Wow…I…Jeez,” she spits out. Then she jokes. “It was either the falls, or all those love potions I was whipping up back then.”

I completely roll over her now, hovering above her surprised face. “I knew it. Now tell me how to put a spell on you.”

“You’re too late,” she responds softly.

“Am I?” I ask, rolling my pelvis against her middle.

She shivers, her hips rising to meet me. “Yes, because I’m crazy about you.” She hesitates. “Darius?”

“Yeah, Fairy Girl?”

Ziggy holds her breath. “I love you, too.”

A grin explodes across my face. My heart explodes at the same damn time. “I love you, Ziggy. I love you so much.”

She gives her head a little shake, laughing. “Never in a million years did I think I’d be saying this, but…I love you too, Darius Brighton.”