CHAPTER 15
Landon Lane
CORA’S PRIUS FISHTAILED UP THE driveway.
I stood in the front yard and my jaw tensed—blood cooled. Everything focused. The first thought through my mind was that she was being chased. I sprinted farther out into the yard to get a better angle, but nobody followed her. Joe ran after me.
She was so intense. Her eyes were zoned in on me from behind the wheel. My cock stirred in my shorts from the heat in her stare.
Joe hammered me with another fist. “Pay attention, asshole!”
“I am. Trust me.” The cold breeze whipped over my sweaty chest. My whole head jerked to the right when Joe crashed another fist into my jaw. Blood arced out in a parabola and splattered on the grass. Didn’t matter. I didn’t feel shit. All I felt was her.
“Pointless.” Joe walked off.
We’d beaten the hell out of each other for the better part of an hour.
Joe was fast. He had me winded. He’d been training the last ten years. I’d been taking punches and had a lot of work to do.
Despite all of that, the fight was the furthest thing from my thoughts at that moment. Four letters flashed across my mind like a scrolling advertisement.
C-O-R-A.
I hadn’t been able to steer my brain from her since she’d left the house. Had to force-feed myself every bite of food. Stared at my keys, constantly. But she’d made her choice. I had to respect her wishes. Keep her safe, far away from Edmon and all my demons.
But why was she here? Something had to be wrong.
She slammed on the brakes and it kicked up a cloud of dust in her wake. My need to protect her kicked into overdrive. I sprinted to the car so fast I wasn’t even sure she’d seen me. I yanked open the door and pulled her into me before she could step out. “Are you safe? Is someone following you?” I glared out toward the road. It was empty and silent. What the hell is going on?
Her eyes glossed over and angled up to me. “I couldn’t stay away.”
She’s not in danger. She’s back.
Shocks of tingles surged through my limbs until I felt weightless.
I gripped the back of her head and smashed my lips into hers, then reached down and lifted her up to me. Her thighs tightened around my waist. I couldn’t get enough of her, tried to breathe her in and wrapped her in my arms so tight she couldn’t escape again. My blood smeared all over her and she didn’t care. It was animalistic and delicious. Her hands were frantic—pawing, grabbing, searching for more. She writhed against me, like she couldn’t get close enough—strained like she had an itch that couldn’t be scratched. Her tongue was hungry, and I swallowed every ounce of pent up frustration, lust, and love that she had to offer. My hands gripped her ass and she moaned into my mouth.
I sucked down her neck. It was salty and sweet. I tried to taste every inch of her soft flesh and growled into her ear. “Fuck, I missed you.”
She put her hands on the side of my face and plowed her lips into mine again. I groaned as her tongue danced wickedly through my mouth. I nipped at her jawline and a moan caught low in her throat. Her fingers dug into my cheeks and she held my face out in front of her.
Our lips finally parted long enough for me to get out three words. “I love you.”
She bit my lower lip and growled with it in between her teeth. “I love you too.”
It was primal and raw and true. I knew by the way her hips ground into me, and the way she held my face, and kissed me like she might die if she didn’t.
“I wanted you to be safe.”
She nodded against my mouth, refusing to let my lips get away from her. “I only feel safe with you.”
My hand raked through her hair, and I licked along the shell of her ear. “You’ll always be safe. I can’t let you go again.” I pulled back and pierced her armor with my stare. Alleviated every fear in her mind with only my eyes. “I won’t.”
Her hands were all over me, searching for every muscle, telling me to give her every secret. “I want to know—”
I bit down on her collar bone and she gasped out the end of her sentence.
“Everything.”
I hauled her into the house. My feet couldn’t move fast enough.
“Hey, what the—” Joe glared.
“Take a break.” I blew past him with Cora latched around me.
Logan was in school. Janet was away. Why wasn’t Cora at school? I wasn’t about to ask questions. Didn’t give a shit. I wanted her in my bed, beneath me, right then.
We crashed through the front door and I carried her back to my room. I kicked the bedroom door and it broke off its hinges and slammed against the wall. Her eyes widened and then went half-hooded. Her pussy was hot on my stomach.
“It was in my way.”
She glanced down at my face and chest. “Oh my God, is this blood?”
“Just a scratch.”
She attacked me again. “I don’t give a shit.”
I collapsed on top of her on the bed. She was so damn beautiful it hurt. I dipped down and sank my mouth onto hers. She writhed underneath me, hungry and needy.
Our arms and legs were tangled in a heap of desire. Her breasts arched into me, rubbing and bucking for any extra bit of friction she could get between us.
My mouth moved to her neck and I cupped one of her breasts in my hand. Pinched her nipple hard between my fingers.
“Shit.” The word came out of her on an exhale. She grabbed my face and held it up in front of her. “I’ve never been with a man.”
Something inside of me roared to life at her admission—the opportunity to be her first. “Really?”
She nodded and bit her lip.
I slanted my mouth over hers and never wanted to stop kissing her. My tongue worked along her neck. I sucked down her throat and then kissed back up to the shell of her ear.
I flipped her tight red shirt up over her tits. They bounced lightly and then fell into place, high and firm. She hadn’t worn a bra and her nipples were light pink and hard. I sucked down on one of them and bit. She arched into me and a small yelp of approval caught in her throat.
I stared up over her breasts as I kissed down her flat stomach.
She squeezed her eyes shut and moaned. “God, that’s so good. Don’t stop.” She gripped a handful of my hair.
I smiled like the devil against her flesh.
She had on tight Levi’s and red Chucks with blue laces. I yanked each shoe off and then her pants. She lifted her ass from the bed and they slid right off.
I pulled her panties down and slid them off one foot. She kicked them against the wall. It was sexy as hell. I stood from the bed and stared at her, marveled at her. She was the most beautiful creature I’d ever seen. Her legs spread. Showed me her pretty pink pussy with a thin landing strip of hair. The place no man had ever been. I’d be the first and the last.
I dropped to my knees and her legs spread wider. I worked up her calf, to her inner thigh. Her legs tried to squeeze together but I held them apart with my hands while she squirmed against my grip in the best possible way.
“I’m so close already.” Her hips tried to rise from the bed and I pinned them back down. I hadn’t even made it close to her pussy yet, and I could see her folds glistening. She was wet for me.
My nostrils flared when I smelled how eager she was. I wanted to taste her. I wanted her to get off and come undone while she fucked my face. I licked up her inner thigh, bit down lightly on the soft tender flesh, and sucked her skin into my mouth hard enough to leave my mark. It made a pop sound when I released it from my teeth and she belted out a moan.
Her hands worked through my hair. Fingers wild and uncontrolled and her nails dug into my scalp.
“I’m going to fuck you with my mouth until you come all over my face.”
“Oh my God.” Her head flew back into a pillow.
Her fingers gripped my hair and she tried to pull me up to her.
I resisted, only because watching her body beg for my tongue sent more blood rushing straight into my cock. I was so damn swollen and hard that it hurt, but it would be worth the wait.
I traced a circle with my tongue around her entrance and felt the heat from her core against my cheek. She was so damn wet. I took my thumb and forefinger and spread her lips. The hood over her clit slid back and revealed a large, swollen bud. I flicked my tongue across it and she gasped.
“Holy. Shit.”
I growled against her pussy and the vibrations sent her hands flying back toward the sheets. I stroked her with my tongue, harder. And then harder. Until she was squirming against my mouth and her hands beat against the bedsheets, searching for anything she could grab hold of. I kept my head buried between her legs and stared hungrily over her mound where all she could see was my eyes. Then I flattened my tongue and licked her from just above her ass, the length of her seam, and all the way up to her clit, slow and deliberately as my tongue parted her folds. She’d sucked in a deep breath and her eyes locked onto mine the entire time.
They rolled back into her head when I hit the magic spot. “Fuck, Land—”
I swirled my tongue around her clit and she couldn’t finish her sentence. “Say my name when you come all over my mouth. While I fuck this pussy with my tongue.”
Her hips bucked against my lips and I buried my tongue inside of her. I dipped in and out while I kept her thighs pinned to the bed. Felt every bit of energy building in her clit. She nodded furiously like it was time. Like she couldn’t hold out anymore.
I clamped my lips down on her clit and worked my tongue back and forth over it—sucking, pulling, rolling.
She planted her feet and rammed her hot pussy into my face, nothing but air between the mattress and her ass. She’d forced herself up through my hold. I reached below and slapped both hands on her ass and curled her up to my mouth like I was doing a rep at the gym.
“Landon. Landon!” Her whole body trembled, and her thighs quivered against my cheeks. Her legs wrapped around my head and I kept my mouth suckled to her clit, refusing to give her a second of reprieve while her orgasm rolled through her hips and I swallowed every ounce of electricity from her body. My name on her lips only spurred me on, and I sped my tongue up on her. Her whole body convulsed, and her legs went stiff as multiple waves filtered through her limbs. I rode it out with my hands cupping her ass. Kept her lifted to my face and pulled every ounce of pleasure from her with my mouth. It was heaven.
After a few more jolts and shivers, her entire body relaxed, and a satisfied smile curled on the corners of her mouth. Her eyes slowly eased open and she stared at me like she was in another world.
I lowered her ass back to the bed and stared down between her legs. Her pussy was darker pink now and swollen, almost like I’d bruised her with my mouth. Every primal urge in my body told me to claim her. Mark her as mine.
I sat beneath her for a moment and licked my lips. Her wet pussy had coated my chin. Cora’s stare angled down at me. My greedy irises flicked back up at her, only the top half of my face visible, and I wiped away her wetness with my palm. I leaned back and drew my hand up to my mouth. Made a show of licking and sucking her from each one of my fingers like I’d just had her for a meal. “Fucking exquisite.”
Her breath hitched, like I’d stolen the air right out of her lungs. I didn’t want to stop staring at her. I wanted to stay on my knees and worship her. She was strong and fierce. A woman with a powerful body and an even more powerful mind. Her breasts rose and fell with each huge breath she panted.
I finally stood and leaned up over her. Her legs parted. Nothing separated us from joining but a layer of thin fabric. “You’re fucking perfect.” I yanked the elastic waist band of my shorts down my legs and my cock sprang to life. It bounced up and down when it released. Her mouth parted and her tongue poked between her teeth at the sight of it.
I shifted over the top of her. My shaft glided over her wetness and rested flat against her belly. A shiver ripped through her legs when I grazed her clit. Her eyes widened. There was no doubt in my mind that she wanted it to happen, but I could sense fear in her too. I moved back down and lightly pressed my mouth to hers in an attempt to ease some of her tension. Her hard nipples pressed into my chest. She ground her hips up into me, and I pinned her hands above her head and lined up with her entrance.
“Take it. Take me.” Her legs spread wider, offering herself. A precious gift that only I could have.
I slid the tip inside her. Her body opened up to me and I squeezed through her tight entrance. As I inched farther in, she became hotter. Wetter. Tighter. This was going to hurt her. And even with that knowledge, it took a ridiculous amount of self-control not to shove into her on the most primal level of instincts.
I inched inside a little farther, just barely. It was so tight and hot, like fucking heaven. A groan rattled around in my throat. I wanted her wrapped around me. I wanted to live with my cock buried in the depths of her.
She winced as I eased into her farther. I stopped once I was halfway in. She must’ve seen the worry on my face.
Her hands reached down, and her sharp nails dug into my thighs. “Fuck me. I don’t care if it hurts.”
God, her words. The pain with which she wanted me. The pain that her nails sent through my thighs. I thought she might split into two if I pushed any farther.
Her teeth gritted. Her fingers drew blood from my leg. “Fuck me,” she growled. “I want it. I want you.”
I pushed my cock into her and she cried out in pain and sucked in a huge breath. My heart nearly stopped, but her fingers dug harder into me, telling me to keep going. I glanced down as I eased halfway out and my cock was coated in a faint shade of pink that mixed with her arousal. I thought it’d make me stop, make me weak for her, but I only wanted more of it. I wanted more of her. My brain cringed at my sadistic thoughts, but the sight of her blood only amplified my need.
I went slow and pushed in again and she yelped, but it wasn’t as loud this time.
“More. More.” Her hands were needy as she clawed at my hips and thighs like she enjoyed the pain. My cock somehow grew harder at her words and I crushed her with a kiss. Swallowed her moans, her pain, her want, and I started a slow pace, in and out. Her pussy wrapped around me so tight and squeezed so hard I thought I might pass out from the euphoria. Her nails yanked me harder into her again.
I wiped a few sweaty strands of hair out of her face and stared into her eyes. Her hands came up and her arms wrapped around my neck. Her nails drilled into my shoulders, and I wanted to wear the marks for her, like I was as much hers as she was mine. Adorn them with pride and glare at anyone who threatened her.
She yanked me harder into her, spurred me on with her hands, told me to keep going with her eyes. I swallowed down every one of her moans, like even the sounds uttered from her lips were my possessions. I owned her mouth and every inch of her body. I was where nobody had ever been, and where no one but me would ever explore. Staked a claim on her. Conquered her. It was all mine. She was mine.
Cora seemed to handle each thrust with less pain than the last, and I was about to explode inside her. I raked a hand through her hair until it was tangled up in her locks and reached down with the other. I stroked her clit with my forefinger in lazy circles, hoping she could get some kind of pleasure while she writhed beneath me. An orgasm boiled inside of me, and she clenched her slick walls around my cock. It was like flint to a torch and stoked the animalistic flames even higher, until I was immolating from within. My balls lifted and tightened. Her chest arched up into me, and I wanted to be as deep inside of her as possible, as close to her soul as another human being could get. Her pussy clamped like a vise around my shaft and I couldn’t hold back any longer.
I groaned and rutted like a wild animal marking what was his. Her fingernails clawed into the back of my shoulders and yanked me toward her. Something about her, that moment, needing me so bad she pulled me into her despite her own pain. It sent me reeling over the edge of the cliff. My cock kicked and hot jets of come shot into her. I groaned her name against her neck over and over “CORA, CORA, Cora—” until it faded into nothing but a distant echo. My whole body stiffened, and my shaft clenched once more as her pussy greedily milked every last drop I had to offer.
I exhaled and gasped, frantically trying to suck in the air between us, totally spent. It took everything I had not to collapse, but I balanced my weight over her and kissed her. Tried to kiss every ounce of pain out of her body from the heartbeat on her neck to her flushed cheeks, and then I kissed the tears at the corner of her eyes. Her lips curled, and I moved down and brushed my mouth across her smile.
I wanted to stay there forever and just watch her, kiss her, love her—but eventually, I rolled over to the other side of the bed. Both of us lay flat on our backs, staring up at the ceiling fan, panting. As a soldier, I’d been pushed to the brink physically, to the point of total exhaustion, but Cora lifted me to a whole new plane of emotional existence.
I glanced over, and she had my blood and sweat all over her cheeks. Her eyes were wide open, and I couldn’t tell if she regretted what we just did, or was basking in it. I moved my gaze down to the faint red streaks on her thighs and my still-hard cock.
I shuddered a little at what I’d just done to her. I wanted to regret it, but I didn’t. I silently hated myself for loving every second of her pain, because it brought us that much closer together. Because I’d just marked her for eternity as her first. Just as the guilt swirled through my stomach and threatened to tie it in a knot, her hand reached over to my arm.
Her finger traced the length of my bicep and came to rest on my forearm. Cora’s palm moved back and forth, stroking gingerly, like she sensed my guilt and wanted to assure me that it was okay. That she wanted it too.
Then her hand went down to my thigh where she’d dug her nails into me. Her fingers traced across the wounds where she’d broken my skin. “I don’t know what came over me. I’m sor—”
I whipped my head over. Stared into her eyes. “Don’t.”
“I know but—”
I stared down at the wounds on my leg. “Don’t ever apologize for loving me hard enough to draw blood.” I caressed the edge of my hand along her cheek.
“Same for you, okay?”
I glanced between her legs once more and then back at her. “Sit still.”
She frowned when I moved from the bed, but I jumped up and grabbed another plain white tee shirt out of my drawer. I carefully wiped her cheeks and neck until all my blood was gone from her face. Her eyes remained locked onto mine the entire time like magnets. I gazed down at the streaks of blood on her inner thighs. I couldn’t pry my eyes away from them.
“Landon.”
I looked up at her, and she smiled. Completely exposed, hurting, legs open to me, and she was smiling. It only confirmed what she’d already told me, that she definitely loved me. I felt it in every cell, every double helix of DNA, like both of our souls were somehow quantumly entangled. I caressed her face in my palm. “You’re gorgeous.”
She blushed and turned away. “Thank you.”
“I mean it.”
I scooped her up slowly, around her neck and under her knees. She winced when I lifted her up, even though I’d been as gentle as possible. My heart constricted. She tried to downplay it like it was nothing.
“What are you doing?”
“Shh, just let me take care of you.”
I carried her into the bathroom and leaned against the wall with her cradled in my arms, then used one foot to turn on the water in the tub. I brushed my lips across hers and slowly made love to her mouth while the water warmed—anything to take her mind off the pain until I could get her in a bath and take care of her. I checked it with my toe and then sat her down in the tub. For a moment, I wondered what Joe would think if he walked in the bathroom and saw what was taking place. Me bent over naked, wiping the blood from Cora’s soft skin.
“Pinch my arm if anything hurts, or if you need me to slow down or stop.”
She nodded.
I rested a rolled-up towel behind her and propped her head on it. She closed her eyes as I sponged her gently from head to toe, learning even more intimately every curve of her body. I started at her neck and worked down as the tub filled with more water. When I got to her waist, I skipped down to her feet and then worked up each of her legs.
“You ready?”
She nodded.
I put her hand back on my arm. “Don’t open your eyes, I want you relaxed.”
She nodded again.
I was as delicate as possible as I dabbed the sponge along her inner thighs. I moved up toward her pussy and she started to wince, but stopped herself. I logged every one of her reactions, and I grimaced when I thought about how hard I’d fucked her. How forceful I’d been while her nails clawed into me. She didn’t pinch me, but I knew it had to hurt like hell, and she was trying to ease my regret. She opened her eyes against my wishes and stared at me, watched me as I cleaned her.
“You don’t have to do that.”
I glared up at her. “Yes, I do.”
“Why?”
I gazed down at her pussy. “Because that—” I glanced back up into her eyes, “—is mine.” I leaned up to her mouth and kissed her on her lips. “I protect and take care of what’s mine.”
She stared at me, eyes wide and full of love. “Okay.”
“Say it.” I growled my words. “Say it’s mine.”
“It’s yours, babe.” She smiled against my lips.
Babe.
My heart exploded on the inside. Everything, the way she called me babe. Nobody had ever called me that before. The whole scene in front of me, her. This was what I wanted. Cora Chapman. Forever. Her and Logan were my life.
I cradled her face in my palm. “I love you always.”
Her eyelashes fluttered, and her cheek pressed into my palm. “Always.”
I drained the water from the tub, and toweled off most of her body, skipping the extra sensitive areas. Then I went and gathered her clothes. Her jeans would be painful for her, so I grabbed her panties and one of my tee shirts. It’d swallow her whole, but she wouldn’t hurt as much.
She waited by the tub and I stood her up and got her dressed, then carried her back to the bedroom. We lay down on the bed and I pulled her in close and held her. Just held her in my arms for probably twenty minutes. One arm around her shoulder. My other hand explored her body. I couldn’t stop touching her—the curve of her hip, the side of her knee, the swell of her breast, along her ass. She was mine. All of her. No matter what. Nobody was taking her away from me.
I pulled her in close for another kiss. I could’ve sat there for hours, but there were pressing matters.
She cocked her head to the side and returned my stare. “What?” Her face was bright pink.
“Happy you’re here. With me.”
She grinned. “Get used to it.”
“TAKE THE AFTERNOON OFF.” I yelled at Joe out the front door.
“What the hell am I supposed to do?” Joe was standing on the front porch.
“Don’t care.”
I walked back inside and picked Cora up from the bed. Carried her out to the sofa. “Will this be too rough for you to lay on?”
She shook her head. “I’m fine. I promise.”
“You want something to eat? To drink?”
She chuckled a little, but I could tell she appreciated my attention to detail. That I wanted to make her as comfortable as possible. “I’m fine, thank you.”
I sat down near her legs and pulled them up into my lap. Rubbed her feet almost on instinct, anything that might make her relax and feel at home. This was her life now and the way it would be—me taking care of her. I knew what I had to do, what I needed to say. Gave her the sternest look of my life.
I think it threw her off guard a little. She sat up a bit. “What is it?”
“Once you go down this rabbit hole, there’s no going back.”
Her face tightened and her neck tensed. She nodded. “I’m ready. My decision. Mine. And it’s a yes.”
“You didn’t know what you were getting into before, though.”
She reached for my hand and I moved so that she didn’t strain herself. “I tailed Janet home. I followed you in the supermarket. I pressed and pressed.”
“You still didn’t know.”
Her hand squeezed on my fingers. “I’m in. Let’s leave it at that. Nobody is to blame.”
I nodded. Saw the conviction in her eyes. I couldn’t change her mind if I wanted to, and it set me at ease. I took in a huge breath and stared right at her.
“I was born in a place called Hell’s Island.”