Tobias: Book One of the Cantrell Brothers Series

Chapter Twenty-Five

Light kisses trailed all over her face just as a voice turned husky from sleep whispered, “Wake up.”

Opening one bleary eye coated with the remnants of sleep, Jane came face to face with a grinning Tobias Cantrell. Smiling lightly, she cupped his stubble-laden face with her hand and then slapped him gently before turning around onto her other side.

Closing her exhausted eyes, she said, “No.”

“Jane,” he murmured with confidence into her ear, “you don't want to be in bed when everybody gets here, now do you?”

“It's fine,” she grumbled. “We have the whole day to get ready. Let me sleep.”

Hands skimming her naked sides, he pressed into her, alerting her to his large erection digging into her rear end. “What if I told you we don't have all day? That it's three o'clock right now.”

“I would call you a liar.”

He sat up, bringing her up along with him. "Well, I ain't lyin', honey. It's 3:04 in the afternoon.”

Her eyes flew open at that, completely shocked that she had slept in that long. Sure, they had stayed up all night exploring each other's landscaped bodies, but she had never thought it would take such a toll. She was just glad she had remembered to take her medication. Without it, Tobias would have had to dealt with a lot more ridiculous crying from her.

“Oh, no,” she whispered, mortified at having wept so shamelessly last night.

She just hadn't been able to help it, she remembered now. The familiarity and love between the two brothers had been just too much for her. She had never had that kind of love to be shared with her pitiful excuse of a family. Her aunt and uncle had loved her but not in the way someone so young had needed; instead, they had used her in their own little games.

But that didn't mean she hadn't loved them with everything she had had. When she was eleven, they had gotten a divorce and had never seen each other again, while at the same time her uncle had made sure that she never saw her aunt. All she had ever wanted after that was to experience just a small fraction of the bond that was family.

“Hey, what are you thinking about?” he asked, interrupting her brooding thoughts.

“Just about my dad." She decided to him the truth – well, the half-truth. “I don't know if it'll be worth it to go up and visit him. He's all the way in Maine, and the last time I went, he didn't remember me.”

“How old is he?” Tobias asked, chasing some of her worries away as he nibbled lightly on her shoulder.

“Seventy-eight. My mom was a lot younger than him,” she lied again, so used to the story that she told everybody, “and died a few years back. He has Alzheimer's.”

“Jesus." He held her tighter against him. “I'm sorry, Jane. Do you want me to go with you? I could-”

“I don't know. Probably not." She shook her head, not sure if she wanted anyone along for the depressing trip.

She hadn't seen her uncle in over two years and for good reason. The last time she had gone up to visit him, he hadn't recognized her, only watching the dusty TV with a faint interest in his glazed eyes. The way he had asked her who she was had broken her heart, but she had stayed for three more days, trying to wring just an ounce of recognition from the aging man.

There had been no good results, only one dispiriting outcome that made her realize life with her uncle would never be the same.

“It's just,” she began again, “he had no idea who I was last time, and it would just be a pointless trip. The tickets cost so much, and I think I would rather just stay down here with you, if that's alright?”