My stomach stretched to the point of discomfort. Goddamn, could Valentina cook. She might not have liked to, but like everything else the woman did, she carried it out to perfection. Roasted chicken, vegetables, and a Cajun seasoned quinoa, fucking perfect. I preferred healthy and filling, so she pretty much cooked her way into my heart with that meal. I was dead tired, but fought to keep my eyes open through the movie on that bitchin’ big screen TV over her fireplace.

Her tight little ass pressed up against my semi-hard cock, and I’d been that way since I’d gotten out of her shower. I may have been tired, but the thought of being inside her was like a caffeine jolt.

She lay in front of me, head resting on my bicep, fingers linked through mine, while my other arm rested over her chest on the couch in front of her. The warmth comin’ off her skin and the fruity pineapple soap shit she used made it hard to concentrate on the flick.

The credits finally rolled and I stretched, bringing my hand back down just under her breast. I put my lips to her ear and inhaled the tropical hints of her shampoo. “John Wick . . . I didn’t know you’re a closet action movie junkie.”

She giggled, the bottom swell of her breast teasing my fingers. “I own it. I love that Keanu goes to war because of his dog.”

“That is fucking fantastic,” I agreed, moving my fingers up a little to caress just underneath her breasts. The little hitch in her breathing was the best sound I’d heard all day. “The boys always lay here like this with you?”

She flipped around in my arms so we were face to face.

Couldn’t have planned that better. I lifted her leg over mine and fit her closer to me.

“When it’s just me, but they like you.”

“Grew up surrounded by a shit-ton of them, thanks to my uncle.” I moved a hair stuck to her soft cheek. “All dogs like me.”

She flushed at the contact, because there was no way she missed the steel post of a cock right up against her. “Yeah, but my dogs really do like you, which is rare. Kyle is always somewhere close to me, but Chris would never lay under us, where he couldn’t see you. When anyone else is here, Kyle’s somewhere by me, but Chris is there.”

She leaned back and pointed over her head to Chris’s large doggie bed across the room, giving me an excellent view of the top of her dress stretched tight across her breasts.

I rubbed out the little crease in her forehead when she turned back to me.

“Before I got married, we always had dogs.”

When she smiled, I touched a finger to her kissable lips.

“My dog is actually Jessa’s dog, but he stays with me. His name’s Ari—er, Ariel.”

A small grin pushed at her plush mouth. “He has two names?”

I pulled my hairband out. Fucker had my head throbbing. Or maybe it was having her on top of me and not being able to be balls deep inside her that had both heads throbbing. “Yeah,” I ground out. “He has a name and a nickname. I got him for Jess’s sixth birthday. She named him Ariel—The Little Mermaid. She refused to acknowledge that he wasn’t a she, so I went with it. Couldn’t say no to her, so I call him by his dude name when she’s not with me. Poor guy. He’s got a chick name.”

Valentina’s grin grew into full-on smile and she kissed my neck before kissing me hard on the mouth. Right when I went to deepen the kiss, she pulled back. “Ugh. You just got more phenomenal. That’s something my dad would have done.”

“What was I gonna say, no? Dick move. She’s my baby. So me and Ari have an understanding.” I ran a finger down her nose and over her top lip.

“You’re an awesome dad.” She kissed my finger.

“Alright, enough mushy shit. So, no chick flicks for you. Straight action junkie.” I kissed her nose before she slid down my body and cuddled under my chin.

I got the impression something about my size intimidated her at times, and yet she’d somehow wiggle her way into a bear hug, or pull my arms around her, whenever we got close. While I could do that all day long, I wanted more. Needed more from her. Not in an ‘I have to get laid’ kinda way—which, okay, yeah, there was that—but in an unexpected possessive ‘I need to see this woman come apart beneath me’ way.

“I love horror movies too, and every so often, I crave a good chick flick,” she muttered. “Everything has a time and place.”

“Is that right?” I asked, taking her earlobe between my lips. I trailed my hand down her arm and brushed my fingers over the swell of her breast. When she arched into my touch, I took that as a green light. Gripping the top of her little tube top dress, I yanked it down just below her breasts. No bra. My girl liked comfort, and right about now, I was all about the fuckin’ comfort with her perfect tits pressed against my chest.

A soft, quick breath tickled across the skin on my throat and I raised her up so we were face to face. I teased and nipped at her lips, until she rolled her hips and fisted her hands through my hair. Velvet soft lips stroked and played at mine as she cupped my cheek. She was a face-holder when she kissed—nothing better or more . . . loving.

I ran my tongue between her lips, leading her into a deeper kiss, because I needed some fucking part of me inside her. Catching her head between my hands, I placed one thumb alongside our mouths. “Open, baby,” I said. “Open for me.”

She turned her head, softly sucking my thumb into the warm cavern of her mouth, and fuck me what I wouldn’t have given for that hot mouth to be wrapped around my cock.

I drew my thumb out and brought it down over her puckered little nipple. The ridged edges and constricted skin grew tighter with every wet circle. The more pronounced and sensitive the skin got, the harder I got.

Yeah, no. Playtime was over. I jerked her up higher, covering the tempting pink bud with my mouth, and teased around her nipple until she moaned my name. Only then did I suck the sweet bud between my lips.

“Jaxxon—”

“Yeah, sugar?” When she didn’t answer, I ran my teeth over it to the tip, flicking until she moaned. She tightened her grip in my hair to pull me back. Jesus, this woman was going to fucking undo me. “Talk.”

Her eyelids were half-closed and her pupils were blown. She drove her hands through my hair, both of us breathing harder and harder. “I—”

“Don’t think about it.”

“I’ve never wanted anyone the way I want you,” she moaned, her eyes searching my face as if the words said aloud shocked her.

Well, then . . .

I maneuvered under her until I was lying on my back, dragging her on top of me. “Then I’m all yours, baby.” Strong thighs straddled my hips and her swollen lips fell open. I pushed my hand through her hair and brought her down on top of me, taking her mouth once again.

Her fucking mouth. I was obsessed with it. Her lips, like a plump little fruits, so sweet under mine—I ravished her mouth, demanding she let me in. The warm silkiness of her tongue against mine sent a jolt of heat straight to my dick and I thrust up, rubbing against her pussy.

The sound of our wet lips meeting and breaking apart fed the hunger between us until we were both tugging at each other’s clothes.

Valentina ran her hands under my shirt and broke the kiss to lay her head over my heart, her ragged breath a discordant note against the steady breeze flowing in from the open window. “You’re so warm,” she mumbled and rubbed her head on my chest. Sensual, she was so fucking sensual. When turned on, her natural movements were laced with a tentative, yet instinctual sexuality.

I hadn’t even been inside her—fuck, I hadn’t gone down on her yet—and I could already feel the energy humming through every one of her quivering muscles touching mine. I wanted her to come wrapped around my cock. I needed to feel her warm heat choking me with my name on her lips.

Setting her chin on my chest, she regarded me with glazed, sex-filled eyes.

“I love that,” I groaned, running a finger under her eyes. “Your eyes turn a lighter shade of green when you’re turned on.” Her entire face lit up and she pressed her forehead against my chest. I gently lifted her head. “How far are we taking this, sugar?”

Something went vacant. She shifted her gaze just to the side of my face—switched right the fuck off.

“Valentina.” Her name seemed to break whatever place she’d gotten caught up in. “What are you afraid of, baby?”

She crawled up my body, but I kept the grip in her hair, needing her close to me. She brushed her hand over my cheek. “Jaxxon.”

My name came out a soft plea, with a tinge of regret. For what, I wasn’t sure.

Her eyes shot back and forth between mine before she took a deep breath. “Your one non-negotiable is lying. Mine is being entirely without clothes.”

The last part was so soft, I had to strain to hear it.

How was that even fucking possible? “Yeah, I remember, but babe, you were married. You mean to tell me he never saw you naked?”

A hint of frown touched her lips as she began to pull away. “I know it sounds insane, since we were married for so long, but not really. Only once. He walked in on me in the shower.”

I sat up and brought her with me so she straddled me. Now was not the time to talk history, but she was shutting down and I needed to figure out why. “And?”

She rested her hands on my shoulders. “And . . . we’d never had sex with the lights on. It wasn’t an issue for him. He knew about the scars before anything physical happened between us, of course, and never turned on lights. When he walked in on me that day, what little sex we did have became even more scarce. What he saw disgusted him. And he wasn’t wrong to feel that way.” Her voice trailed off at the end, twisting my insides.

I stretched out my fingers a few times, not allowing them to fist. The urge to beat the shit out of this prick for making her this self-conscious, feel this undesirable, was near uncontrollable.

Comfort zones I could work around until she got comfortable enough with me. She’d been with a dick who didn’t do a damn thing for her sexually. In a way, her lack of experience made her an innocent. She had nothing to compare the explosive attraction between us to.

I moved her mussed hair behind her ears and stroked her face. “Sugar, whatever you need. I’m a creative motherfucker. I can work with what makes you comfortable.”

A soft chuckle escaped her mouth, but when her eyes met mine, I caught the steely resolve behind them. “Why? You don’t have to settle for half a woman. I’d understand.” The seriousness in her tone, marked her words as truth, not self-pity—she believed it.

Settle?

The fuck . . .

Encircling her biceps, I drew her closer to me so my cock pressed against her core. With a hand on her lower back, I guided her right up against me. “Does it feel like I’m settling for you?” Her head dropped, but I slid my hand around her nape. “Eyes, baby.” She met my gaze. “Answer me.”

“No,” she whispered. “But—”

“No buts. I understand we’re still getting to know each other here, so let me be clear: I’m not a man who settles. I want what I want. You told me about the scars. I told you I don’t care. If it makes you uneasy to be naked, then you won’t be. Done.” I brought her lips to mine, but kept her from making contact. “I know you want me. I’ve made no secret about wanting you. Christ, I’m constantly hard as a fuckin’ rock around you. This is your call. Don’t write this thing between us off because of some asshole. You’re not the only one taking a chance here.”

“I know that.” She leaned back to stare at me.

I let her take as long as she wanted. Anything further had to be her decision and not something she went with because she was turned on. I didn’t want her that way. I’d broken all my rules for this woman, but I needed it back or I was out.

I was an honest motherfucker, I could admit I was more invested in her than I ever intended to be. I’d back off, if she needed me to. The last thing she needed was to be hurt by another man. I could push this, and she’d probably give in to me, but that would make me an asshole. I wanted her real, raw, and that I would demand of her.

Sitting up straighter, she glanced at the light on the table by the couch. “Can I turn the lights off? Will you mind?”

A fucking meat hook through the chest would have been easier to take than the insecurity lacing her voice. Fuck yeah, I minded, but right now, I’d pretty much give her anything she wanted, sex or no sex. “If you have to move, hell yes, I mind. I’ll get it.” I sat up, pushed my hands around her ass, and stood. Strung so tight I wanted to break shit, her laughter lessened the rage pulsing through me—men who ruined good women, hell reserved a special place for those motherfuckers. “Better yet, can we move this into your bedroom?”

She nodded and I yanked her up higher, getting a better grip on her. reaching up, I tilted her head to the side and took her mouth like I fucking owned it.

Her soft tongue stroked against mine, hesitant at first, then more aggressive. Her arms locked around my shoulders, her legs a vise grip around my waist created a heaven I’d stay locked within as long as she let me.

I marched down the hallway, praying to whatever the fuck saint made men last longer, because I hadn’t been laid in a while, and this was goin’ until we both passed out.

Trudging through her bedroom door, I stopped short. “Dogs?”

“Out,” she murmured against my lips.

Slamming the door with my foot, I stopped at the edge of her bed.

I let every inch of her supple body slide against mine, as I lowered her to the floor. When her feet hit the ground, her arms shot around my waist.

Swinging us both around, I sat down on the bed, keeping her standing between my legs. Yanking up the hem of her little dress, I wedged a hand in the front of her shorts and drew her to me. Gripping the sides of her dress, I gave a small tug.

She dropped her arms, her white skin glowing soft against the dim rays of moonlight coming in through the sheers. I made quick work of that dress, scrunching it down around her waist and wrapping my arms around her before she got too lost in her head.

Soft breasts pressed against my chest, her perfect nipples digging into my pecs. I skimmed my hands up her back, wrapping rich, silky hair around my hands and slammed my mouth over hers.

With a sexy moan, she pushed against me. I lifted her up to straddle my legs. Even through the material of her shorts, the heat of her pussy warmed the place where our bodies connected. I licked inside her mouth, savoring the sweet taste of chocolate and bananas from the dessert she’d made earlier.

She locked her arms around my neck, devouring my mouth with hers. I laid back on the bed, taking her with me. The harder I kissed her, the more she fidgeted. A hand on my cheek cradled my face in an erotic exploration, all tongue, lips, teeth, and hands.

When she grinded on top of me, I used the dress to hold her immobile as I pressed myself against her. Her quick intake of breath tickled my ear. Her thighs tensed as she sat straight up.

She shifted her hips back and forth so slow, I grabbed the comforter so I didn’t grab her, as she moved on my cock as if to get a feel for me. And a man can only take so much . . .

Pushing up, I sat with her astride my hips, and lifted her until I caught one tight nipple between my teeth. I bit down just enough to give her a touch of pain, testing her boundaries. She moaned deep as I licked at her, only to flatten out and stroke the entire area. My name tumbled from her lips on a breathy exhale. I slid my thumb over her before drawing the swollen bud back into my mouth to soothe the pain.

“Yes,” she groaned into my hair, raining little kisses over my face. “Jaxx . . . more. Please.”

Untangling myself, I slid off the side of the bed and pulled her by the ankles to the edge. When I reached my full height, she looked up at me with eyes so big and so wild if I were a lesser man, I’d have come right then.

With trembling hands, she reached for the elastic of my workout shorts and unlaced the tie. Her fingers sweeping and stroking anywhere close to my cock was a big no-go until I had her soaking wet and ready.

At six-foot-seven, I was a big man, and the rest of me was proportioned to my height. She’d need some time to get used to me, especially since it had been four years for her.

I covered her hands with mine stopping her from doing anything that might bring my gentlemanly efforts to a screeching halt.

I took her face in my hands and leaned down, not kissing her, but nipping at her lips. Using my chest, I forced her to lie back and knelt between her legs. As soon as I slid my hand up her calves and under her knees to pull her down to me, she stiffened.

“Wait,” she gasped and jolted up. “What—what are you doing?” Her hand covered mine.

Oh, my fuck . . . This cocksucker.

I brought my fingers to the front of her shorts. “Baby, did he go down on you?”

When she jerked back, I held her in place.

“Jesus! Jaxx . . . ah . . . he tried once in a while . . . ” Her chin dropped to her chest, but I lifted it back up with a finger.

Her blank stare damn near shattered my heart.

“It—it wasn’t his thing.”

The scars.

Jesus Christ! Who was this prick?

Her arms snaked around her chest and a shiver racked her body.

Had to squash that shit quick. I pulled her forward by the ass cheeks. “Hey, sugar, look at me.” When she finally raised her head, I drew her even closer. “Any man who doesn’t eat pussy is a selfish prick, and doesn’t know dick about pleasing a woman—cold, hard truth.”

Her eyes widened and her hands flew over her face.

At first, I thought she was crying.

Then the laughter finally broke through her fingers as she shook her head. “You—I—you. The things that come out of your mouth!”

I smiled and formed my hands around her calves. “Baby, I can do some wicked shit with my mouth,” I teased. If fluorescent red was a color, it covered her entire torso. “You’ve been with one asshole who didn’t know what the fuck he was doing.” I put a hand around the back of her head and pulled her down to me, putting my lips to her ear. “All week . . . I’ve been in your office, trying not to go to you, not to touch you. Since the first night, I slid my fingers through your warm, wet pussy, all I can think of is your taste on my tongue. Teasing you until you beg me to make you come, and sugar . . . you will beg.”

Her breathing skipped as I dropped my hands, unbuttoning her shorts and dragging the zipper down.

She clutched my shoulders. “You, don’t have to do this.” The words were soft, unsure, but there was an undercurrent of straight-up need there too.

“What if I said I do?” I wedged my hands into the back of her shorts.

If she was gonna stop me, she could, but her shaking hands and the question in her eyes said she was on the fence. I slowed, but kept sliding her shorts down and she didn’t stop me.

That’s it, sweetness. Take a chance.

My gaze never left hers as I got the shorts around her hips, and with a firm pull, wedged them under her ass “Lift up, sugar.”

She anchored her hands behind her on the bed, leaned back, and lifted her hips slightly.

As soon as she moved, I pulled her shorts down her legs. The scent of her arousal hit me, fresh and clean like a cold winter morning with slightest, sexiest hint of female musk. My cock grew harder, which I didn’t think fucking possible at this point.

I dragged them over her knees and off her feet, dropping them to the floor. Anchoring my hands under her knees, I guided her to the edge of the bed, until her ass came right to the end. She grabbed my discarded shirt and yanked it across her stomach.

Her lace-covered pussy glistened in the moonlight. Her chest rose and fell faster as I leaned up, forcing her to lay back on the bed. Her thigh muscles quivered under my fingers and I massaged my way back down to my knees. “Shhh, baby. Easy.”

I kissed the inside of her knee, working my way up her soft thigh, leaving no part of her skin untouched or unattended by either my mouth or my hands. I traced the long scar with the tip of my tongue, kissing her as I worked my way up. Her legs shook so hard, I tightened my grip and kissed along the lacy seam of her panties, her scent enveloping me.

“Fuck me, sugar. I’ve gotta taste you,” I growled against her skin. The movement was small, but I caught the slightest rise of her hips toward me.

As I ran my thumb over her mound, she moaned and pushed against me. The tension in her thighs eased a little. I looped my fingers around the sides of her thong, caging her cleft and working her swelling clit using just the material. Up and down, I used the lacy strip to build her up until she was moving with me.

She was saturated—fucking phenomenal the way she responded to me. I ran a finger along one side of her soft, bare lips. A small strip of dark hair lay under her wet panties, but the rest of her was completely bare. When she canted her hips again, I yanked that cock blocking material to the side, finally about to taste my new favorite obsession.

And my motherfucking phone blared through the room like a goddamn national alert.

Motherfuck! Valentina jumped so high that I grabbed her and held her down. “Slow, sugar. Hold on. Shit, baby, I gotta check it.”

“You have kids.” She jerked her legs out from under me. “Of course! Check your phone.”

With a grunt at my fucked to shit luck, I stood, dug through my pocket for my phone, and shackled her ankle. “Stay there, could be nothing.” I fully planned on kicking Chase’s fuckin’ ass on Monday all the way into goddamned Tuesday if his name came across my screen.

The only reason I did check lit up my phone. “It’s my daughter,” I said as I answered. “Jess? What’s up, honey?”

Valentina yanked my shirt over her head and wrapped her arms around her legs.

“Calm down. Where are you? Put Mom on the phone. Leah? What the fuck happened?” I stood up and listened to my ex while looking around for my damn shoes.

Valentina jumped off the bed, pointed at my feet, and then to the door and took off at a sprint.

“She fell? How? Is it bad?”

Valentina came back in with my shoes, keys and a bottle of water.

“Yeah, I’m coming, put her back on. Hang tight. Atme, meine Kleine. I’m on my way, sweetheart.” Poor Jess, she was trying to hold it together, but she’d never had to get stitches before. “You’re okay. Mom says the doctor fixed you up good. Yeah, honey. I’ll check out his work. If I don’t like it, I’ll kick his ass, deal?”

The chuckle coming through the other end of the phone reset my heartbeat back to normal. Her fear outweighed the pain at this point.

“Right, don’t tell Mom I said that. Hang tight until you see me, and then you can cry all you want. That’s my girl. I love you. On my way.”

I stood up, shoving my feet into my shoes. “I’m so damn sorry, baby. Shitty fucking timing.” I glanced at Valentina, curled up, arms around her legs on the bed. “My daughter tripped on my ex’s stairs. Few stitches—”

“Stop. Don’t explain! Poor thing. Is she okay?”

I reached out and squeezed her hand. “She’s fine, but I have to—”

Valentina jumped off the bed and scurried toward the door. “Yes! Go—you have to go to her. I’d want my daddy too.”

I glanced at her as I sat down on the bed to tie my shoes.

Daddy . . . The word came out unconscious, instinctual. Almost like she wasn’t even with me in the room. I took a quick inventory of her, making sure she was okay. Her eyes appeared glazed and vacant. The word “daddy”—really, it was more the tone—just hit me as . . . haunted.

Snapping out of whatever fog she’d been in, she glanced down her body and came back to the bed, about to lift my shirt off.

I grabbed her hand again. “Keep it on. I have another one in the truck. You look good in my shirt.” I tied my last shoelace and got up off the bed.

She stood there, staring at me as if looking at a stranger.

“Babe, you okay? Jessa’s fine. She just needs to see me.”

“Atme, meine Kleine,” she whispered with perfect pronunciation. “Breathe, my little one. That saying . . . it’s . . . familiar . . . ”

Her voice had grown soft, unnerving, and I leaned down to make out what she was saying. The far-off look was back.

She shook her head hard and refocused on me.

I ran a hand over her cheek. “You know anyone who speaks German?”

“I don’t.”

“But you know the translation and your pronunciation’s perfect.” I wrapped my hands around her hips. “Jump.”

“I know a few words,” she admitted, but jumped up on to me while I walked out of the room.

She locked her legs and arms around me so tight, I hated to have to put her down. I put my lips against her ear, taking in her tropical scent, and lowered her until her feet hit the floor. “My ex says it’s not bad, but I gotta see her myself. You want me to come back?”

“Yes,” she mumbled against my shoulder. “If you’re not too tired.”

“Tired’s a state of mind. Do me a favor while I’m gone?” I kissed her forehead and she jumped down.

“Anything.” She held out my hoodie.

I took it from her and shook my head, unable to hold the chuckle back. “Sweetness, never respond with ‘anything’ when a man asks you to do him a favor.” Lifting an eyebrow at her, I shrugged into my jacket. I took the keys from her, bent down and kissed her neck. She wrapped her arms around my waist and I nuzzled her ear.

“I’m about to hold you to that ‘anything,’ because I cut you off in the worst fuckin’ way. I want you to go to sleep. Fucking rest, baby. When you wake up . . . ” I moved so our lips almost touched. “Stay in bed. Get comfortable. Snuggle deep, and I want you to touch yourself. I want you to think about me, about my tongue on your clit. Licking you, tasting you.”

I sucked her bottom lip and let go, but kept her mouth against mine. “I want you so wet, your fingers slide through that pussy I want so fuckin’ bad until you can’t take anymore. Own your pleasure, baby. And when you come, say my name. Out loud.”

Her entire body stiffened, her eyes went wide, and her soft mouth shaped into an inviting “O” I had no time to take advantage of. I kissed her on the forehead and tapped under her chin.

“Close your mouth, sugar.” I winked at her, shut the door behind me.

Arousal was ninety percent in the mind. After making sure my daughter was good to go, I fully planned to finish what I’d started. Jesus, cutting her off like that sucked ass, especially because she wasn’t used to it. Until I got back, I needed her to stay aroused, hot.

Hopefully the suggestion worked. Right now, my daughter needed me. I’d make sure the most important female in my life was okay, and then come back and take care of the one fast becoming more important than I cared to admit.