Chapter 45

Chapter 45

“I’VE ALREADY MADE ARRANGEMENTS with the crematorium,” Mark said stubbornly. “It’s all taken care of.”

“Is there anything I can do to help?”

“Nope. There’s a brief ceremony in a couple days at Spurr’s Funeral Home. Dad wanted closed casket. He’s going to be buried beside Mom.”

Carl nodded. He wore a golf shirt and dark blue jeans. He looked the rich businessman even without a suit. Mark, on the other hand, wore jeans and an old Queen t-shirt. They looked the same and so opposite at the same time.

Carl’s handsome face was pale and the dark circles were still in place from the night of restless minimal sleep. Mandy resisted the urge to put a comforting hand on his arm and instead tried to look busy with rearranging his work schedule so he could stay for a couple more days. However, she had actually sorted things an hour ago and really had nothing more to do than eavesdrop and field angry text messages from her family. They’d magically come out of the woodwork to complain that she wasn’t helping Claudia anymore. Mainly her mother... and Claudia. Mandy chose to ignore them for now.

“I’d like to pay for the funeral and burial,” Carl offered. “It’s the least I can do.”

“He never wanted a dime of your money before,” Mark snapped. “What makes you think I’d want it now?”

“I never said you did,” Carl said. There wasn’t any anger in his voice, just resignation. It was going to be a long time before the two brothers reconciled their differences, but at least Carl was trying to be civil. “It’s only fair since you made all of the arrangements.”

Mark hesitated and when his wife purposely coughed loudly, he rolled his eyes. “Fine. You can pay for half. Dad already had most of this taken care of when Mom died. Not that you’d remember,” he mumbled. He grabbed a beer out of the fridge. “Oh, and Dad wanted you to say the eulogy at the funeral.”

Mandy’s head popped up the same time Carl said, “What?!”

“His words, not mine.” Mark smirked and clapped Carl on the back. “It’s all yours, man.”

“I haven’t spoken to him in... what the hell am I supposed to say?”

“I’m sure you’ll think of something.” Mark’s tone sounded gruff, like he couldn’t quite muster sympathy. Mandy knew he was trying to stay civil as well, though. He had greeted them kindly when they came that morning and offered them coffee and breakfast. He clearly had a rough night as well and the strain from the past twenty-four hours was showing.

Carl rubbed his forehead. “Okay.” He sighed. “I’ll do the eulogy.”

“Good.” Mark moved around the small kitchen toward the back door. “I don’t know about you, but I need a break. I’m going to go and take a quick nap and then make the rest of the phone calls.”

Carl nodded. “If there’s anything you need me to do...”

“I’ll take care of that myself. If you get bored, there’s TV in the living room and there’s a bookshelf in Dad’s study. Feel free to help yourself to anything in the kitchen. We’ll be putting this place up for sale in the next few weeks, after the will’s read.”

“All right,” Carl said, forcing a smile. “We can stay here if anyone calls or shows up.” Flowers had already been delivered several times from local florists. “Mandy and I will be able to keep ourselves occupied for some time.”

Mark nodded before leaving with his wife. Carl waited until he was gone before he turned to Mandy. “I’m going to go for a drive.”

“You don’t have a car here.” Mandy wasn’t sure it was a good idea. He looked like he was about to fall over.

Carl opened a small wooden box hanging by the door and pulled out a set of keys. “Nothing ever changes here,” he muttered.

“Do you want me to come?”

“You do whatever you want.” He stepped outside, and then swore loudly. His head popped through the screen door a second later. “Sorry. I didn’t mean that.”

“It’s okay.” She felt bad for him and knew whatever anger or frustration came out, it wasn’t because of anything she’d done. She’d be as patient as he needed.

“Want to come?”

She nodded and followed him out to the garage. Inside was an old F150 pickup truck. It had aged but the thing was in immaculate shape. Like the neatness inside the house. Navy neat. Soldier perfect.

Carl sat for a moment and stared straight ahead before he sighed deeply and started the truck. It came to life immediately and he pulled it out of the garage.

Mandy glanced up at the sky, which was covered in a heavy covering of dark clouds. “Are you sure you want to go for a drive?”

“Yes.” He slammed the garage door opener harder than he needed to shut the door. “I need to get out and clear my head. I can’t stay in that house staring at those same bloody walls. I feel like I’m in high school again.”

“It looks like it’s going to storm.”

He glanced at the clouds and shrugged. “It’s just rain.”

Mandy buckled up and stayed silent. The clouds looked dark and mean. It was going to do more than rain. At least she was with him if he had to stop.

They drove for fifteen minutes without talking. The farther they got from his family house, the more Carl relaxed. His expression didn’t change and he didn’t say anything, but Mandy could see some of the frown lines ease and his shoulders fall back into a more comfortable position. The rain started to fall and as they went on it grew heavier. Thunder rumbled loudly above and the lightning in the distance seemed to be trying to point a finger at them.

The rain turned into a torrential downpour. Mandy couldn’t see if they were still in the suburbs through the rain, much less ten feet in front of her. “Pull over,” she said.

Carl snorted but complied. He pulled onto the shoulder just under an overpass bridge. The wind that had come up threw rain in their direction but at least it wasn’t pounding as heavily as if they were parked directly in it. Not a car or animal was anywhere in sight. They all knew better than to chance weather like this.

He let the car idle and shoved it into park before turning to face her. Wordlessly, he reached out and pulled her to him. She undid her seat belt and slid over. She hated seeing him look so lost. She squeezed his hand. “What can I do to help?”

“This.” He pulled her into his lap and kissed her hard.

Instant heat rushed through her at his touch. She kissed him back and wrapped her arms around his neck. Her skirt slid up as she straddled him. The truck had the perfect space between Carl and the steering wheel. He reached out to cup her ass, his hands pulling her skirt up higher. Mandy grated her hips against his thighs, her body having a mind of its own.

“Just keep me from thinking for a while,” he murmured as his lips traveled to her neck.

She could do that. Mandy reached down and started to unbutton his shirt. She arched her back slightly so she could see his body.

He groaned when her hand touched his bare chest. “You’re so fucking sexy,” he whispered.

Mandy gasped as his hand slid along her hipbone, over her skirt and then slipped inside it and rubbed his fingers over her thin panties. She responded by rubbing one of his nipples between her thumb and finger as she unbuttoned his pants with the other hand. Lust took over as heat coursed through her body and she grew wet from his touch. Her hair fell in her face as she leaned forward to taste the delicious tender part of his earlobe. She nipped gently at it, her breath coming out hot against his skin and warming her face.

Carl gasped. “How are you so good at this?”

Mandy didn’t respond. She couldn’t. One, because she didn’t know. Two, because she didn’t give a shit why at this moment. She could only think of one thing. Him inside of her. Instead, she grabbed hold of his cock and rubbed it as she went to kiss him and taste his tongue against hers. He groaned again and rubbed her breasts before unbuttoning her shirt, and in one motion undoing the front clip of her bra and catching her breasts with both hands as they fell free. Mandy cried out when his hand stopped its rubbing motion against her wet panties to touch her breast.

Carl blinked, coming partially out of his aroused daze. He looked at her with barely controlled hunger. “Did I hurt you?” he asked, his voice hoarse. “Do you want me to stop?”

Mandy smiled at him with a confidence she didn’t know she possessed. “Hell no!” She bit into her lip as she lifted her hips and tried to force his cock against her panties. “Don’t stop. Please.” Her eyes closed as his tip pressed against her, sending a tremor through her that nearly sent her over the edge.

His mouth crushed hers and he reached down to move the seat back. “On your back,” he hissed, and in one motion he twisted and pushed her down on the truck seat.

His hand still cupped one of her breasts as she fell back, his fingers pinching her nipple hard. The pain brought a new wave of passion and she moaned at the pleasure. Carl was on top of her, kissing her jaw, her neck and then her breasts. Shivers raced up and down Mandy’s spine as he took one of her nipples in his mouth. He licked it and pleasure shot through her entire body. Carl groaned and bit the nipple while the palm of his hand trailed down her stomach.

He jerked her skirt up higher and reached into her panties to touch her bare pussy.

Mandy clenched her teeth together to stop herself from screaming out when his hand made contact. Carl smiled against her breast as he continued to suck it and rub her clit. Mandy’s hips bucked as pleasure spread through her like electricity. She could barely think let alone do anything else. She gripped his shoulder as he sank two fingers into her folds and started thrusting gently. “I can’t hold out any longer,” she burst out. “Please. Fuck me, Carl. Fuck me.”

He growled and then removed his hand from inside her panties.

The pleasure building in her slowly deflated. His mouth left her breast and he stared at her with his smoldering blue eyes.

“Not yet,” he teased. “You’ll need to beg harder than that.”

“Please,” she whispered.

He grabbed a hold of her panties and the sound of them ripping sent another ripple of pleasure and desire through her. His eyes trailed down her body as he ripped the other side and pulled the tattered remains off her. His hands gripped the sides of her hips and he lifted her so her head rested against the passenger door.

Mandy sighed in anticipation as she realized what he planned to do.

Carl lowered his head to her pussy and licked it. She almost screamed as his tongue began to explore her. Her hips lifted and he gripped them tighter to hold them still. “Don’t move.” He trailed kisses down one of her inner thighs and then moved up to torment the other one. He seemed to enjoy her sighs and quivering body because he continued the sweet torture by moving back up to her pussy.

“Carl,” she groaned. “Please.”

“Please what?” Carl said, biting into her hip.

“Please fuck me.”

He smiled, cocky and sure of himself. “No. Not yet. I want to taste you.” He dropped his head and his tongue found her clit and began to stroke it. Mandy’s back arched as she tried to get him inside of her. He slid two fingers into her as his tongue continued its sensual torture.

She came, exploding against his mouth and crying out as every muscle clenched and sent ripples of pleasure through her. It didn’t sate her the way her mind had wanted it to. “Please, Carl.” She lifted her head and watched him continue to lap her up. “If you don’t fuck me now, I’m going to fucking kill you!”

Carl lifted his head, an eyebrow raised in surprise. He slid up against her slowly so his shirt, belt, and pants all brushed up against her nub and teased her. He pulled down his pants and boxers in one swift movement, freeing his rock-hard cock. He rubbed it against the inside of her thigh.

Mandy shivered, loving how exposed she felt. She watched in fascination as he slid into her and then slowly out. She wanted to close her eyes and take him all in but the look on his face stopped her. It was complete desire, lust, and something else she was too scared and unfamiliar with to identify.

Carl lowered himself so his forehead rested against Mandy’s and he braced himself on his arms, trapping Mandy under him. He buried himself in her again in one smooth stroke. He smothered her cries with his lips, kissing her as mercilessly as he thrust.

Pressure built inside of her and finally she couldn’t hold it back anymore. Her hips bucked and she came hard. Again. The force of it left her quivering and whimpering in Carl’s arms, which pushed him over the edge. His own hips rocked as he came with her. He collapsed on top of her, his head buried in her neck.

The raging storm outside had nothing against the one inside the cab of the truck.

Slowly, Carl pulled out of her, shivering and moaning as he did so. “You are incredible.” He shuddered again as he rested his weight on his knees and pulled his boxers and pants back on. He reached for her hands and pulled her into a sitting position. Her bare bottom moved against the leather of the seat. He rearranged them so he was on his back and Mandy resting her head on his chest. Mandy pulled her skirt down over her bareness, feeling modest for a split second. Not toward Carl, but in case someone happened to knock on the fogged truck window to make sure they were okay inside.

Carl stroked her hair gently. He chuckled, the sound vibrating against his chest. “You have skills, girl.”

Mandy smiled and kissed his chest. “You’re not so bad yourself.”

He laughed again. “You’re incredible, Mandy. You’ve no idea just how unbelievable you are.”

She shivered and his arms tightened around her. “You cold?”

“A little,” she lied. But that wasn’t why she shivered. She shivered because of the rush of pleasure she felt when he complimented her.

Carl wriggled out of his shirt and draped it around her shoulders. “There,” he said. “Is that better?”

“Much,” said Mandy. Especially since she could now run her hands all over his arms and torso. She trailed her fingers over his bicep slowly and carefully, enjoying the hitch in his breath as she did so.

Carl kissed her forehead. “You are so beautiful, Mandy. Completely and utterly beautiful. You have one freakin’ hot body. Crazy hot!” He cupped her face with his hands. “I mean that.”

I don’t. Mandy sighed thinking back to her sex dream and how perfect her body had been in it. “I wish I could believe you.”

“You should,” he said. “It’s the truth.” He ran his fingers through his hair, the tousled look only making him more incredibly sexy.

This wouldn’t last. She had fallen hopelessly for him, but he was only looking for an outlet of distraction. They would return back to work and she would just be his PA again, and him her boss. She sighed. “You want to know something?” She entwined her fingers together and rested her chin on her hands so she could watch his expression. She rolled so her tummy pressed against his hard, flat one.

“What?” he whispered.

“I had a sex dream about you the other night.”

His cock hardened against her thigh as his eyebrows rose. He grinned sexily at her. “Really?”

“I came in my sleep,” she told him in a breathy whisper. “Twice.”

“P-Pardon?” His cock understood what she had said, he just wanted to hear the words again.

“You’ve got skills, boy,” she teased and winked at him.

He groaned and cupped her derriere. “Is dream me better than the real thing?”

She tilted her head and pretended to think about it. “I’m not sure... Do you think you could show me again so I can compare?”

“Hell yeah,” he growled before his lips smothered hers and he took her again.