Violet stepped out of the taxi after handing over the cash for the fare. She stepped up onto the sidewalk, noting how dark and quiet the street was, like it had practically shut down for the night. It was a rare find in Brooklyn where a person could always find something open, something to do.
She checked her phone again, making sure she had given the driver the right street address that Kaz had messaged her earlier. It was.
So where was he?
Shifting the messenger bag over her shoulder, Violet took a few steps down the street, and stopped when lights flashed at her from the side. Hidden just in the mouth of the alleyway between two large buildings was a familiar Porsche.
And Kaz, leaning against the hood with his key ring in hand. He hit a button on the fob, flashing the lights at her again.
“Cute,” she told him.
Kaz shrugged. “Better than standing way out in the open looking around for nothing.”
“Ass.”
“A little,” he agreed. “Are you just going to stand there all day, or …?”
Laughing, Violet made a beeline for Kaz. She was well aware of how much she constantly found herself thinking of him, or what he might be doing, and how that often left her missing him in one way or another. But seeing him brought it all bubbling right back up to the surface, fast and fierce.
It had yet to fail to surprise her.
She didn’t entirely understand what it meant.
Violet figured as long as it felt right, it couldn’t be wrong.
Kaz’s arms opened the closer Violet came to where he was leaning against the hood. She dropped her bag to the ground a second before she was swallowed by a familiar, strong embrace. Her feet came off the ground before she realized it, and her backside met the hood of the Porsche.
Violet’s grin and breathless laughter was muffled by Kaz when he kissed her hard, taking away what air she had left. For a moment, she was lost in him—again. It was easy to forget about the rules she was supposed to follow and the stupidity of her choice to be there with Kaz when his hands grasped tightly to her jaw, he forced her head back, and he kissed her even deeper, a smug smile growing.
“You sent me a dirty picture,” he told her, dotting kisses along the seam of her lips.
Violet shook her head. “That was not a dirty picture. You sent me one with your cock in it. Totally different thing.”
“Mmm, no.”
“I beg to differ.” Her hand landed against his chest, needing the space to think and talk. Kaz moved at her unspoken request, but he was still pressed firm enough between her thighs that she could feel the length of his erection straining against his slacks. “I showed you what you left. You—”
“Showed you what you left,” he replied, smirking.
Violet had to look away to keep from smiling. “You’re terrible.”
“No, I’m just not going to lose this argument. That’s all.”
“Mine was innocent. Last word. It’s final.”
Kaz cocked a brow and said, “You knew damn well that wouldn’t be innocent, and I wouldn’t take it that way.”
She had.
Violet wouldn’t admit it, though.
“I see how this works,” Kaz said after she stayed silent, refusing to budge even an inch.
“Good. Then we’re on the same page.”
His sexy grin grew into a softer smile. “Missed you, huh?”
The statement was simple enough—innocent, even.
But it still didn’t feel that way.
Violet didn’t think Kaz was the kind of man to just blurt out something like that for just anyone. And if he did say it, he likely meant it and probably more that he wasn’t saying. It was just one of the many reasons why Violet was finding it especially difficult to keep distance between her and him.
When she stayed away, or tried to, something was pulling her right back in.
“Missed you, too,” she said honestly.
Kaz swept the pads of his thumbs over her cheekbones, leaning down for another quick kiss. “I take it you didn’t have any trouble getting down here?”
“No. I came here from Amityville, and then I’ll head back up to Manhattan.”
He stiffened slightly. “Your father’s place?”
“Called me over before classes were out.”
Violet wondered if Kaz would just come right out with the fact he had a run-in with her brother, or if he wouldn’t say a thing.
He surprised her.
“I take it your brother ran to daddy, yes?” he asked.
Violet laughed dryly. “What did you do to him?”
“Very little. Less than what he deserved.”
“Carmine is a little …”
“Spoiled. Entitled. Unqualified. I have a couple more, but feel free to tell me to stop.”
Violet didn’t need to. “All of the above, but he’s also bitter and jealous.”
Kaz glanced down at her. “For what?”
“Me,” she said, unfazed. “And my dad.”
His fingers pressed a little firmer to her jaw, forcing her gaze back up to his. “Doesn’t that bother you at all?”
“That he’s jealous?”
“No, that your father has made him that way,” Kaz replied.
Violet hadn’t ever looked at it like that before. “Never really thought about it.”
“Maybe you should.”
“Why? I don’t see how it matters. It’s the same thing with my mother, only the tables are turned. Carmine is the golden boy and I’m the … leftovers, for lack of a better word.”
Kaz tipped his chin down, something flashing in his gray eyes. “That’s not what I meant.”
“I really don’t want to talk about how fucked up my family is. It’s better that no one sees it at all. We’re just hiding it all behind closed doors, and sweeping it under rugs. It’s always been like this.”
“But your father …”
“What about him?” she asked, feeling her defenses rise a bit at the bitter twist to his tone.
“What did he call you over for today, anyway? The run-in with your brother had nothing to do with you, no? You didn’t need to be there, Violet.”
“Wasn’t really about that. He was worried, wanted to see me. And then we had a chat about how I’m fucking up lately with school, and can look forward to becoming the best little housewife for some man if I don’t correct it and soon.”
Kaz’s hands dropped to her sides instantly. “That, right there.”
Violet’s head snapped up. “What?”
“You believe that shit.”
She opened her mouth to argue the point, but something kept her quiet. Maybe it was the way Kaz watched her silently, waiting for her to say something. Or maybe it was the way she let her mind turn over conversations she’d had with her father when she wasn’t performing up to his satisfaction in life.
“How often does he do that?” Kaz asked after a long while.
Violet glanced away, refusing to meet his stare. “I’m not sure what you mean.”
“I think you do, krasivaya. It’s the same damn thing as before—when you said he didn’t want a daughter who shamed him. Words like ‘shame’ shouldn’t be used between a father and his daughter. It’s manipulation. It’s unhealthy. And let me guess, how pissed off are you right now that I just called it out, because you want to defend him?”
She was going to deny that, too, but she couldn’t. Not with the way the anger was simmering in her bloodstream. She loved her father, and he wasn’t perfect, but he was hers.
And yet, Kaz had a good point.
Nothing he said was untrue.
“It’s not important,” Violet said weakly.
She didn’t even believe her own words.
“And this is not why I came here tonight,” she added, stronger than before.
“It might not be, but it’s out there now,” Kaz responded, unbothered at her anger. “You’re close to him, no doubt. He makes it seem like pleasing him is what will further you—what makes you better. Because that’s how it has been for forever, no? You make him happy, and in return he’s happy with you. But when he’s not happy with you, then he takes away what you want. His approval, affection, and that sort of thing. Am I wrong?”
Violet sucked in a hard breath, letting the air burn in her lungs as she held it in. “I said—”
“Don’t want to talk about it. Yeah, I got that. Just answer me.”
“Obviously you’re wrong, or I wouldn’t be here with you right now.”
“Wrong,” Kaz murmured. “That is only one single part of what makes everything I said right. Because you don’t always do what he says, and you don’t always believe what he tells you like its gospel. And sometimes it might not always feel right, but when you get someone else’s voice in your head instead of his, you start seeing that things aren’t colored just the way he says they are.”
“Kaz—”
“Like me,” he interrupted. “I am not what your father said I would be, am I?”
Violet clenched her teeth, but the word slipped out anyway. “No.”
“And that pisses you off, yes?”
Right then, he was kind of pissing her off.
Violet still knew Kaz was right. Even if it hurt a lot to admit it.
“No need to continue,” Violet said, blinking away the wetness starting to gather in her eyes. “The rose-tinted glasses have been pulled off, so thank you.”
Kaz grabbed her waist hard and pulled her to the very edge of the hood, keeping their bodies firmly pressed together. “I didn’t say it to make you angry with me.”
“I know.”
“But you are. Angry with me.”
“More with myself,” she admitted softly.
Kaz sighed, and then quickly pulled her down from the hood, snagging her hand with his own and weaving their fingers together. “Come on. Let’s go do something.”
“Like what?”
“I’ll figure something out.”
Violet didn’t doubt him.
The Porsche came to a stop on wet sand, and Violet was already unbuckling her seatbelt to get out.
“The pier is closed for a week,” Kaz informed, opening his door as Violet climbed out of the car. “They’re doing some minor construction, and closed down the beach for about a mile either way for safety’s sake, but they’re lax on monitoring it during the night.”
Violet looked around, noting there was no one as far as she could see. Parked right beside the pier, the Porsche was hidden by shadows, and so were they.
“And what happens if someone catches us down here?”
Kaz laughed. “They won’t.”
“You don’t know that for sure, Kaz.”
“I’m pretty sure,” he countered. “And it was this or my place again.”
Violet’s brow furrowed as she met him at the front of the Porsche. Kaz leaned against the hood, holding a hand out for her to take. She did, letting him tug her into his side. A heavy arm rested over her shoulder, and she smiled when he kissed her temple.
“I like your place,” Violet whispered.
Kaz’s lips moved against her skin when he said, “I know you do, but you should see more than just the walls of my apartment. Do something with me other than hide away in my bedroom.”
“I like that, too.”
He chuckled, deep and heady. “Keep that up and I’ll run us over there. I’m pretty confident I can get us there in under ten minutes.”
Grinning, Violet pushed away from his side. He said nothing when she kicked off her suede, booted heels, letting her feet sink into wet, cold sand.
“What are you doing?” he asked.
“I want to check the water.”
“It’s going to be freezing.”
The air had a chill as it was late fall, and winter would be coming soon, but it wasn’t bad.
“Violet,” Kaz said, half amused and half warning, “do not go into that water.”
She wasn’t listening. Before Kaz could reach out and grab her again, she was already heading toward the water lapping at the pier. Her toes hit cold water first, but her feet and ankles quickly followed when a small rush moved up the sand.
Kaz was right.
It was like ice had been poured onto her skin.
Still, Violet didn’t move. Her dress rested just above her knees, high enough not to worry about it getting wet. The stinging sensation of the freezing water eventually dulled to the point it was bearable.
But she didn’t care.
Spinning around, she faced Kaz.
He just shook his head, still leaning against the car and watching her like she was the most important thing to grace his presence for the day.
“How long are you going to stand out there freezing your feet off?” he asked.
“Maybe until you come get me.”
Kaz made a dismissive sound. “You’ll be waiting for a long time. I know how cold that water is.”
“But what if the water got really high, really fast?”
“It won’t.”
“But what if?” she pressed.
Kaz sighed. “I suppose I would have to come out and get you.”
“Don’t sound so excited about saving my life, now.”
In a blink, his amused features hardened, turning cold. “Violet, had I thought there was any risk to your life, you wouldn’t be standing in that water in the first place.”
Oh.
For something that was as sweet and protective as that statement had been, Kaz had spoken it rather candidly and with a sobering quality that edged the words.
Violet turned back around, watching another rush of water come in and lap at her ankles. It was enough to send her flying out of the water, as the prickling sensation of the coldness was too much on her legs for a second round. Kaz laughed at her until she was all the way back up to the front of the Porsche, and far away from the water’s cold touch.
“Told you,” he said, smug as fuck.
Violet shot him a playful glare as she bent down to put her shoes back on. She didn’t even get the chance to grab the first shoe before she was lifted off the ground. She only realized what happened when her backside met the hood of the Porsche, and Kaz’s smirk filled her vision once more.
“What are you—”
Violet’s words drifted away when Kaz pulled one of her legs up, and his hands closed around her freezing foot. Over and over, he rubbed his palms against her cold skin until the stinging sensation was gone and it didn’t hurt as much. He did the same to her other foot without a word, seemingly unbothered by the sand getting all over his suit and her dress.
“I may not get in the water for you, but I will certainly warm you up after,” he told her.
“I’ll take that deal.”
By the time Kaz was satisfied he had sufficiently warmed Violet up again, he dropped her feet and stepped in between her widened legs.
“This was nice,” she said.
Kaz’s hands landed on her thighs, skipping up under the hem of her dress just enough to make her grin. “What was?”
“This. Pretty decent, for a second date, I think.”
“I didn’t say this was a date.”
“It’s kind of like one.”
“When was the first?” he asked, a smile growing.
“The diner.”
“Ah.” Kaz tipped his head down, his nose touching hers a second before his lips grazed her mouth softly. “We kind of did things backward, no?”
“How so?”
“Get to know someone. Date them. That sort of thing. We did it all backward.”
“I don’t mind,” Violet whispered against his lips.
Kaz kissed her again. “Me, either.”
“By the way …”
His mouth hesitated against the path it was starting to make down her jaw. “What?”
“You were right.”
“I usually am, but enlighten me.”
Violet squeezed her thighs around his hips, forcing him closer. “Smartass. The picture. I sent it knowing it wouldn’t be innocent for you. After all, you took far too much enjoyment putting that bite mark there.”
Kaz let out a hard breath, the warmth pulsing along her neck. “Yeah.”
She let her hands travel down his chest, lower to his stomach, and then grazing over the front of his slacks, barely touching where she knew he was hard and likely aching.
“Care to make me another?”
Violet smiled when she felt Kaz’s teeth bare to her cheek. “Like a matching set?”
“We can go with that.”
“Don’t tempt me,” he warned quietly.
“No tempting. Demanding. I like seeing it.”
“In that case …”
Kaz’s mouth crashed down on Violet’s as his fingers dug into her thighs, keeping her firmly in place and her legs wide. She gasped his name in a breathy laugh, earning her a nip of his teeth to her bottom lip as his hands traveled higher under her dress.
He fisted the sides of her panties, yanking on the fabric until she lifted just high enough for him to pull them down her legs.
The cold air danced along her skin, but it was hard to notice when she was hot under Kaz’s wandering hands and mouth. His lips touched down to her cheek, over her jaw, and across her neck. He tasted each and every spot he kissed with a strike of his tongue to her flesh, pulling her even closer until she rested at the very edge of the hood.
“Someone has to break this damn car in,” he said, his gaze darkening as he looked her over.
Violet wet her lips, reaching for the button of his pants. “Oh?”
“Yeah.”
“You haven’t yet?”
“Didn’t want to,” Kaz said before he kissed her again.
Violet let him dominate the kiss, tilting her head back and parting her lips to let his tongue slip in with hers. There was something about the way he kissed her, so hot and hard, and always taking, that she liked the most.
She was only slightly aware of the pier, and where they were. The shadows kept her nerves at bay as he bunched her skirt up around her hips, and his hand slipped between her thighs. Firm swipes of his fingertips grazed her sex, making her rock into his hand and whimper for more.
A touch wasn’t enough.
She knew exactly what he could do.
And a touch wasn’t even the tip of that iceberg.
“Shh,” Kaz shushed against her heated skin.
Violet sighed the second his fingers swept over her bare pussy for a second time. She found her chin in his hand, her head tipped up, and his eyes seeking hers as two of those fingers thrust into her core, fast and deep. His thumb flicked up at the same time, pressing hard to her clit. A knowing grin spread Kaz’s lips as he drew her mouth closer to his, and his hand worked between her legs.
“So fucking wet,” he told her.
Violet’s throat felt tight, like someone was squeezing it. She didn’t mind the pressure, and she didn’t need to talk. He liked her sounds far better, anyway. And each little cry that escaped as she rocked into his fingers, his grin only deepened as he urged her on for more.
“Louder, Violet.”
She whined low.
“Let me see it,” he pressed.
Another thrust of his fingers, a quick press of his thumb, and she was there.
“Kaz.”
Her shout of his name echoed across the quiet beach. As fast as she had let it out, and the first waves of her orgasm began to flood her body, he muffled whatever sounds she might make next by kissing her. Violet panted into that kiss, stunned at how quickly her body had reacted to his touch.
“Shit, yeah,” Kaz said, smirking as he kissed the corner of her mouth. “I don’t think there’s anything quite like the sight of you getting off on my car, Violet.”
She blinked away the haziness in her vision, grabbing his shirt in her fist to pull him closer. His forehead rested to hers, and for a short while, they stayed still and quiet like that.
Watching.
Touching.
Silent.
When his fingers pressed into her inner thighs, Violet widened her legs, a soft moan falling from her lips.
“More?” he asked.
“More,” she demanded.
Their next movements came out rushed and harsh as she worked at the zipper and button on his pants. Kaz’s hands were already at the back of her neck, ripping down the zipper of her dress, and pulling the clothing over her shoulders until it pooled at her stomach.
Her heels dug into his lower back when she finally freed his cock from his boxer-briefs. She barely had his pants shoved down around his hips before he was spreading her thighs wider—wide enough to make her muscles protest and ache.
“Jesus,” Violet ground out through clenched teeth.
In her palms, his cock was hard and pulsing with every fast beat of his heart. She only let go of his length when his hand wrapped around the base.
Kaz’s free hand came up fast, his thumb catching her bottom lip and making her mouth open. “Palms on the hood, Violet.”
She’d been watching him through her lashes, but those words made her eyes widen.
“Now,” he added lower.
She didn’t entirely understand why he didn’t want her hands on him while he fucked her, but she listened to what he said, anyway, putting her hands down to the hood on either side of her body. She sucked in a sharp breath as he ran the head of his cock from her clit down to her entrance.
There was no pause between the brief moment when he was there, at her slit, and when he was pushing in.
One hard, deep thrust was all it took. The shock of that first thrust was brutal to Violet as he filled her full and stretched her open. She was wet enough to ease the intrusion, but it still took her breath away all the same. The slight bite of pain danced hand in hand with the bliss, and her lashes fluttered closed.
“Watch me,” she heard him growl.
Violet’s gaze snapped open instantly, but instead of Kaz’s eyes, she was drawn down to where he was watching. Between their bodies, the sight of his cock buried almost all the way in her sex, and her arousal smeared along the base of his cock and her thighs. His hand was still holding tight to the base of his length, but a tremor skipped over his fingers.
Her fingers clenched against the hood of the car, the cold metal doing little to soothe the fire sweeping her senses.
Kaz let go of his cock, grabbed her thigh, and flexed forward, giving Violet that last couple of inches that he’d been holding back.
And it was heaven.
“Fuck,” he mumbled.
Violet’s gaze flew up to find his, a cry breaking free from her throat.
A long groan fell from Kaz’s lips as they parted. His jaw was tight, a tick showing each time he swallowed. Violet was damn sure she had never seen him look more free, more content … never sexier than right then, as deep as he could be inside her, fucking her on the hood of his car.
Never.
Violet pressed her heels into his lower back again. “Fuck me.”
Kaz breathed deep. “Hands stay on the hood.”
She nodded once, and that was apparently all he needed before he pulled out, and thrust right back in again. When his hand tangled into the hair at the nape of her neck, tugging firm enough to stretch her neck bare for him, she finally understood why he wanted her hands on the hood and not on him.
She needed support.
Something to keep her steady.
Because all he wanted to do was fuck her there like that.
Raw. Hard. Fast.
And it was wonderful.