Lulah stood waiting outside the hospital when Vince returned to collect her. Despite Ray’s improvement, he tired easily and fell asleep towards the end of her visit. Vince found a small restaurant for dinner and they headed back to the hotel to shower and change.

Once inside the hotel room, Calliope flopped down in front of the air conditioning unit. Vince pulled two bottles of water from the small fridge, unscrewing the cap on one and handing it to Lulah.

She tipped her head back to drink and he watched the rhythmic contraction of muscles in her throat as she drained the bottle without pausing. She wiped her mouth on her shoulder and tossed the empty bottle into the trash. “I needed that,” she said as her phone rang, and she stepped from the room to take the call.

Lulah paced the small balcony, pausing occasionally to run her fingers along the rail. The call took some time, and Vince fought the need to fidget as he ran through his speech. When she pocketed her phone and returned inside he beckoned her to sit alongside him on the sofa.

“That was the police. They’ve pulled in the guy who beat up Dad. It turns out the prick was a ‘collector’ for LoanStar who’d gone rogue. He was dismissed from his job, so he stole the contact details of people like Dad, with outstanding debts, and went on a two-day spree trying to beat the money out of his list before LoanStar and the police caught onto what he was doing.”

Jesus, she wasn’t going to like this. “I know.”

“You know? What? Did the police already call you? Why didn’t you say something?”

Her face screwed a little, puzzled, and he understood that she wouldn’t thank him when he told her what he’d done. Butting in on something she wanted to deal with herself would really piss her off. “I found out from LoanStar. I paid them a visit while you were with Ray.”

“Why? What made you visit LoanStar, and why the hell didn’t you discuss it with me?”

“I paid Ray’s loan—”

“You what?” Her disbelief rapidly turned to anger and Vince stood, ready to grab her if she was going to take off.

“Sit!” she ordered.

“I’m not a dog.”

“I need you to sit, Vince, and I need to stand because…what the hell? Why?”

Angry Lulah, all tight and contained, eyes like flint—amazing. Vince was happy to sit if that would appease her because her reaction didn’t surprise him at all. He’d wait, let her burn off some stress with a rant, then convince her he’d made the right move.

“That was my business, Vince, nothing whatsoever to do with you. You’ve meddled enough already, searching for Dad, coming down here and finding him.”

“Yeah, well, that probably saved his life.”

“Yeah, well, you’ve done enough. Paying his dirty loans, that’s my family business. What next? Do you have someone looking for my mother? Are you going to suggest—”

“Stop. Stop now and listen.”

“I’m not finished.”

“I don’t care. Yes, I found Ray because having him missing and in trouble was a bug in your life and you don’t deserve that. When I arrived here and saw the mess Ray was in, I had to finish that business. Do you really think I’d let you go to LoanStar when, at the time, we both thought they were responsible for sending someone to beat Ray within an inch of his life? I can’t be much for you but I will not stand back and allow you to put yourself in danger.”

“It wasn’t your business.” Her words ground out as if she had a mouth full of hot desert grit.

“Wrong, Lulah, totally wrong. It was my business because I love you so fucking much that I will do everything I can to keep you from harm. All right? That’s what I do, it’s all I can do for you. But please, don’t feel obligated by my love because it gives me the strength to live without you. Understand that it’s because of the way I feel about you that I couldn’t walk away from this job half done, no matter how much that pisses you off.”

“We could have discussed it.”

His breathing was ragged. The t-shirt she wore was filthy from cleaning out the trailer and her cut-off denim shorts had a fresh rip on the outside seam of the left leg. He stood, continuing with a measured voice. “You’re not hearing me. You would never have agreed.”

As he stepped towards her she backed away, her eyes volcanic. “I haven’t finished—”

He took a firm hold of each side of her face. “Neither have I.”

His kiss was filled with the hunger of days of denial, and when she met it, releasing her pent-up fury, heat roared through his veins like an accelerant ignited.

Lulah’s tongue sparred with his, as if it was the only way to express her anger, and he stayed with her, holding her head firmly to give her something to fight. She was like a boxer, a flyweight he kept on her toes, her small fist pummeling his shoulder as she released of all the frustration of the past week. Finally she broke the kiss, a fast withdrawal before she caught his lip with a piercing bite.

Holy hell, he’d really made her mad.

Lulah tried to duck her head. He knew that move, where she’d put her forehead on his chest, to his heart, using it as a method to calm him, her connection to slow things down. Well fuck that. After what he’d admitted he wasn’t cutting out now.

He put his mouth hard against her cheekbone, close to her ear. His breath came harsh and hot, the blood from where she’d bitten him coppery in his mouth. “Let it out, imp, all of it.”

She remained a coil of wire, tightly strung and barbed in his arms, and Vince kept his head against hers as she struggled against him to pull herself free.

To hold her was easy and if he released her now, she’d dive for composure and surface fine. Most times he’d be happy for her to do that, but not today. “Come on, all of it out.”

“No.” Her sob filled with anger.

“You can’t hurt me, keep going.” It was bullshit. Of course she could hurt him, but not with her fist.

“No, no, no.” Each cry spilled with her mantra of denial.

“There’s more, Lulah, give me all of it. Out.”

Just as quickly, her pounding fist stilled. Through Lulah’s chest came a shuddering breath and she gripped his shirt, twisting it in her hand. “You can’t love me.”

“You can’t stop love, Lulah.” He eased his hold on her jaw as the fight left her. His blood and her tears were mixed with the grime that smeared her right cheek.

His lip swelled where she’d bitten him but the bleeding all but ceased. “I’m still not finished,” he warned. Intense longing twisted his heart in a knot and Vince took Lulah’s wrist, pulling her towards the bathroom.

If there was one thing the hotel did right, it was the bathroom. The double shower stall was enormous, glassed, the massive floor-to-ceiling mirrors on two of the opposing walls leaving you exposed if you glanced up from washing yourself. And the handrail fixed to the tiled wall gave him an idea.

Keeping the grip on Lulah’s wrist he urged her through the doorway, and turned her towards him. With one hand he pulled off his t-shirt, swapping his hold on her as he took his arms through the sleeves.

Still eye-to-eye, he dropped his shorts and boxers, kicking them to the corner with his shirt so that he stood before her, completely naked. Lulah lowered her eyes in a slow perusal of him that made his already hardening cock fill. She sucked on her bottom lip, worrying it with her teeth.

“Careful, those teeth are sharp,” he warned, his tongue again testing the wound she’d left on his own mouth.

Lulah released her lip, her gaze making another body sweep. His cock pulsed. Christ, he needed to deal with this. Dropping her wrist he told her to strip. The flash of defiance that rippled across her face reminded him of other times when she’d demanded control. He imagined her inner turmoil, a little voice, or maybe it was loud, telling her she didn’t have to do a thing if she chose not to.

For a moment he thought she’d berate him, or turn and leave but instead, starting at her shoulders, she ran her hands down her body in a long caress, pausing at her breasts, squeezing them for a moment as if to ease an ache, before continuing across the plane of her stomach, smoothing the shirt tight so that her breasts were outlined perfectly. Taking hold of the hem of her shirt, she peeled it off and, without breaking their gaze, tossed it to the corner where his clothes lay.

He gripped his cock and Lulah finally moved her focus to his hand as he allowed himself one tortuous stroke.

“Let me do that.” Her voice had that raspy edge he loved.

He shook his head. “You’re still clothed.”

Lulah’s chest rose and fell with metronomic precision and he found himself following that beat with each slide of his hand, up and down the length of his cock.

Finally she reached behind her, releasing the hooks on her bra, adding it to the corner pile. Her hands found her nipples, pinching them, too hard if the quick blink he saw was anything to go by. Quicker now, she released the button on her shorts, the zipper drawn down with a smooth tug and the garment dropped to her ankles. A deft backwards kick and her shorts came to rest against the far wall. Using her right hand she pulled her tiny panties to one side and slipped a finger between her legs.

He heard his groan, but more than that, he felt it erupt from somewhere near the base of his tightening balls. He released himself, closed the distance between them and used his finger to tease his way inside her briefs until he covered her hand with his own, feeling the movement in her knuckle as she worked her finger in a steady circle. He squeezed her hand, heard the short “uh” as her finger stilled and moved to withdraw. “Keep your hand there, I want to feel with you.”

The weight of her shoulder came against his chest for support as he slid one finger alongside hers, following her circle. “You’re so wet.”

“All wet for you, Vince, only for you.”

His breath roared in his ears, ragged, struggling, as he continued the slide, his cock twitching each time their fingers bumped her clit. He worked a second finger under the elastic of her pants, and heard her huff his name as he slipped it down and tracked the swollen entrance of her pussy, feeling one pulse as he pushed into her. The elastic pulled tight over the back of his hand but it felt good the way it trapped his hand between her legs. He lowered his lips, a kiss to the crown of her head, and he rested there, inhaling the scent of her. Lulah’s breathing was more erratic and her hips started to do that involuntary grind each time he thrust his finger deep inside her. “Are you going to come if we keep doing this?” he asked.

“Yes.”

“Nice. Stay on your clit.” He covered her finger and pressed hard to accent his words before he worked his second finger into her pussy. Vince stepped around her, clamping Lulah side-on so that the base of his cock pressed against the top of her hip. With his free hand he squeezed her butt, ostensibly holding her fast against him. She tried to buck against his hand and he tightened his hold, tensed his thigh, immobilizing her. He caught their reflection, and the drive to thrust against her for some release nearly finished him. “Lulah…the mirror, fuck, you’re hot.”

She met him there, in the reflection, her cheeks pink and flushed with arousal. Their bodies were an ancient tangle, as if two garden vines met to wrap, climb and secure themselves around one column. Lulah’s hand that gripped his arm tightened and her pussy spasmed over his fingers. “Fucking hot yourself, UHT Guy.”

He pushed two fingers deeper into her. “Close now, imp?” She answered with her hips working against his hand, using the small amount of movement his tight hold allowed. Her eyes lowered. “Uh-uh, eyes open, stay with the mirror.”

With the lift of her chin she met his gaze and he took that moment to course his hand over the sweep of her buttocks, up her waist, to her breast, to her nipple. He rolled it between his fingers, and she moaned.

“Too much,” she said.

“Not enough.”

“Vince…” It wasn’t a cry or a plea, but a warning he heard and felt, with her desperate struggle for more.

“Shh, you’re okay.” He quickened his hand, thrusting into her, wishing it was his cock, when he watched her face in the mirror tighten with need. “Come on, Lulah, let go.” He gave a twist to the nipple he pinched and her pussy seized his fingers.

In an instant her head dropped against his chest and her body arched against him. When she rose he followed with his support, keeping her on her toes as he released her breast to cup her chin. He kept her head high, her focus towards him in the mirror, and all the while her pussy gripped his fingers, over and over.

His cock throbbed, petulant, when he pulled his hips away from her. Withdrawing his fingers he grabbed the top of her underwear and took the soaking scrap of cotton to her ankles. She was weak in his arms, still gathering her breath, so he helped her, lifting each foot and adding the final garment to the pile in the corner.

Vince kept a steady arm around Lulah as he turned on the two showerheads, leaving his hand in the flow of water until he had the temperature adjusted. “There you go.”

Lulah stepped into the stream of water. “Oh glory, glory, glory, I need all this.”

I need this, too, Vince thought as he grabbed a condom from the bathroom cabinet, rolled it on and joined Lulah in the shower.

She swung towards him with soapy hands and started to lather his chest. “Hey, Vince.”

“Hey, Lulah.” God, his dick was screaming, Enough with the niceties; haven’t we met already?

“Come here often?”

“I’d like to,” he answered and he stopped her hands. “Why don’t we get dirty before we get clean?”

She grinned.

He turned her to the tiled wall and took each hand to the rail, wrapping her fingers around. “Can you hold tight for me, Lulah?”

“You bet.”

“Don’t let go, okay?” He placed his hand on her hips. “Step back towards me.”

She moved so that now she was bent over, open for him, her pussy still dark and engorged, slick moisture glistening at her entrance. He collected some with one finger and reached around her to rub it over her nipples, circling and pulling on them and her hips edged towards him.

The water streamed across her until Vince covered her back, protecting her from much of the flow. One hand he braced on the wall above her head, reaching the other around her waist to keep her steady. He nuzzled the back of her neck, grazing it with his teeth. “Lulah, can you promise to hold on tight? Because when I fuck you, I’m going to fuck you hard.”

She ground her ass back against him and his cock jumped.

“That would be yes?”

“Big yes, Vince.”

It was impossible to completely trust Lulah to stay still, to not suddenly turn the tables on him and demonstrate what she thought he might enjoy, and as fun as that was, in this moment he needed to be buried deep inside her.

He gripped her hip tight and reached between her legs where she was still slick and swollen, ready for him. He rubbed the head of his cock between her lips, bumping on her clit, as much a tease for him as it was for her. He tried to strangle the groan, tried to continue the hot slow slide between her pussy lips to match her arousal with his, but when he hit the crevasse that would take him deep inside her, his resolve vanished so that he pushed, one thrust, to the hilt.

“Vince…”

God, he’d never tire of hearing his name on her lips, just as he’d never cease to be amazed at how her pussy welcomed him, gripped tight and engulfed him in such tremendous heat. It wasn’t even a relief to be buried inside her, his balls resting against her thighs, needing more.

He squeezed his eyes shut to muster every piece of control available to him. He tried to nudge in farther, as if that was possible, feeling her tremble as he bumped her cervix. “Easy,” he murmured against her neck, a warning to himself, hoping like hell she wouldn’t notice the way his own voice wavered, because an excruciating and delicious need rose within him, making him greedy, and he wanted to stay in this moment, in the heat, with water cascading over them.

Vince’s hand on her hip tightened, the other on her shoulder perfectly countered any forward movement. His torso covered her back, chin hooked over her shoulder. “Lulah?”

“Uh?”

Good. It seemed she was about as capable as he was at assembling a coherent sentence. “Your pussy’s all thick and wet from your orgasm, slippery with your come. I thought I’d feel better for being inside you but, fuck, it adds to the torment.”

“Mission almost accomplished, then, hot guy.”

“Almost?”

“I aim to bring you to your knees.” She squeezed and held him with her inner muscles.

Now her name crossed his lips like a curse. “You’ll pay for that.”

“I hope so.” She squeezed him again and this time he pulled out of her, because if he stayed in there he was going to erupt.

“Spoilsport.”

“You’re incorrigible, imp. I was going to offer you mercy, but a tease like you doesn’t deserve clemency in any form.”

“Doesn’t even want it.” Her breathing was ragged as she tried to squirm her hips for contact with the head of his cock and he tilted himself away from her, controlling her at arm’s length, his hand firm in the scoop of her lower back.

“Ah, Lulah, you’re going to have to beg, now.”

“I’ll go down on my knees, do it with my mouth, make you beg instead.”

“I’ll fuck you first, and keep that smart mouth busy until you run out of clever words. When you’re finally silenced, we’ll talk again about mercy.”

Making good on his promise he took a half step forward, releasing his grip on Lulah’s shoulder to take hold of his cock, take it to her entrance and fill her with one hard thrust. “Brace yourself,” he warned as he withdrew and slammed back into her, probably too hard if he could have thought about it, thought about anything beyond the fire that consumed him.

He set up a rhythm, fucking hard, each thrust an attempt to bury himself deeper inside her. He could see the muscles in her forearms tense as she anchored herself on the handrail, using the hold to meet each thrust as if she, too, wanted to consume him. “Like that, huh? A good, rough fucking to keep your smart words at bay.”

“Love it.”

“Tell me if it gets too much.”

“Never too hard…never too much.”

He pulled out again, leaving the head of his cock inside her, taunting the cluster of nerves at the mouth of her pussy with shallow, fast stabs, and the effort it took to stay in that place was rewarded when she started to pant. The water streamed across her back. “Don’t drown, babe.”

“Taking you with me if I do.”

“I’ll be right there.” He thrust back into her, hard again, his balls tightening, drawing up, begging for release. Fuck, he didn’t want to come yet, and she wasn’t going to thank him for what he was about to do. He released her hips. “Work with me now, imp, and steady yourself.”

One free hand he reached beneath her, taking her breast, sliding his hand up, taking a firm grip on her nipple. Her pussy grabbed him as he pinched, pulling a cock-deep groan from him. “These are about to get harder,” he said, rolling the nipple between his fingers and, at the same time, reaching out and swinging the shower mixer around towards cold. When the blast of water hit them they jumped in unison, even though he shielded Lulah from the bulk of the torrent.

“Bastard!” she hissed, struggling to dodge the occasional jets of water that he allowed to wash over her.

“I told you, no mercy.” Vince’d had enough cold showers that he acclimated to the temperature quickly, and Lulah writhing in his grip was making him harder, if that was possible. With two hands free to work her nipples, her movements became quieter, offset by the trembling throughout her body. He knew that she’d still in his hands for those two seconds before coming around his cock.

He changed the angle of his thrusts, drawing an appreciative murmur from her.

“Fuck, yeah.”

“Potty-mouthed little imp.”

“I’m going to kill you when we’re done in here.”

“You’re killing me now.”

“So cold…and so hot.”

“I know, intense, huh?” He took one hand in a glide down her stomach, to reach between her legs cupping her and squeezing her swollen labia around his cock as he continued to surge inside her. She bucked against his hand and with that her back arched as her orgasm tore through her. As she rose to him she released her hold on the handrail and took the full force of the cold water over her chest and breasts, pulling the last gasp of air from her lungs.

He kept her there, back bowed, one hand at her neck, the other holding her close between her legs and lunged one final time into her. He shouted her name as he climaxed, too overwhelmed to keep it to himself as she spasmed around his cock, drawing every agonizing drop from him. Vince left the shower stall first, grabbing a towel and holding it open for Lulah. “Here, imp, let’s get you out and dry before you slip off down the drain.”

She closed the faucet and stepped into his arms.

He took his time drying her, knowing that this could well be the only chance he ever had to care for her this way.

She stood quietly as he adjusted her body so he could reach all of her places, the crease between her elbows, the tuck beneath her chin. He went to his knees, taking care to dry between each toe, the arch of her foot and around her ankle before making his way up her legs. He tapped inside her knee and at his unspoken request she parted her thighs. He took a new towel, dry, and paid attention to each thigh, placing a kiss midway up when he was done.

Standing now he reached the hand with the towel between her legs, cupping her and steadying her with another hand on her shoulder. He stood like that, putting increasing pressure between her legs, and bent to place a soft kiss at the corner of her mouth.

She shifted slightly, up, as if to take his mouth to her but he moved away and she settled as he finished his task.

“You’re so beautiful, Lulah,” he said as he allowed her to pick up a corner of the towel and dry his chest.

She touched the swelling on his lip. “I hurt you.”

“And I hurt you, too, so I guess we’re even.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be.” He tested the split again with his tongue, and he wanted to trouble it, chew it, forever keep the wound raw as a reminder of Lulah’s pain.