Chapter Thirteen
Lia
“Honey, I’m telling you I had two orgasms before that fella finished patting me down. If I had known you had all of that going on here, I would have been visiting daily.”
I can’t help but giggle as Debra tells me in detail about her encounter with the security guys in the lobby of the apartment. I’ve noticed the few times I’ve left the building since my attack that the security here is tighter than ever, but I have never been frisked, as Debra is describing. “I can’t believe they did that to you. I mean, I let them know you were coming. Maybe Lucian can speak with them about it.”
“No! Don’t you dare say anything. I insisted they do it. I informed that cute boy with the tattoos that I was feeling a little dangerous today and needed to be fully checked for my own good. He didn’t want to, but I told him I wouldn’t go away until he did.”
“Oh, my God.” I fall against the cushions laughing. Only Debra—or maybe Rose—would do something like that. Was that why all my friends were insisting on visiting more than usual? Just to be felt up?
I hear the front door slam, and I can’t help the small jump of fear that goes through me. What I told Lucian was the truth; I am better, but I still look over my shoulder…a lot. I don’t know if that will ever go away. When you truly face how vulnerable you are every day, it does something to you. I thought I was stripped of my innocence long ago, but I don’t think that really happened until I was pulled into the storage room of a busy apartment building without anyone seeing it happen.
I relax when Lucian walks into sight, thumbing through the mail he must have collected on the way up. He looks surprised to see Debra sitting next to me on the couch but not annoyed. Even though he’s such a private person, he never seems to mind having my few friends visit me here at his home…or ours, as he likes to point out. He walks directly to my side, dropping a kiss on my upturned mouth. “Hey, baby,” he says before turning to Debra. I’m further surprised and just a little charmed when he drops a brief kiss onto my friend’s cheek. “It’s good to see you again, Debra. Is Martin with you?” My tough friend looks like she’s on the verge of swooning at Lucian’s friendly gesture.
“Oh…um…no, he couldn’t get away. The man works entirely too much, but that’s the way it goes when you own a retail business.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” he says sincerely. “Maybe you and Lia can work out a day and time for us to have dinner together. I know she misses you.” Well, now it’s official: both Debra and I are putty in his oh-so-thoughtful hands. It makes me realize how much I’ve come to take his kindness for granted. He has arranged so much of his life to conform to mine almost from the start. Swallowing back tears, I acknowledge how lucky I am to have him. He has secrets and a past, which has shattered, but not broken, him. I have had so few people in my life that I could trust and depend on, and two of them are with me now. I don’t know where I would be now without Debra, and I don’t know how I survived for so long without the man looking down at me now with a soft smile that still manages to be full of possessive hunger. I love him so much my heart hurts when he’s near. A part of me knows he feels the same way, but I wonder if he’ll ever be able to tell me.
Cassie scared him. Now I know that they were going to have a baby until she terminated it. I had long suspected that the relationship between her and Lucian was a romantic one; his words have now confirmed it. What I don’t understand is all the secrecy which seems to shroud anything concerning her. Sam and Lucian’s aunt acts just as shuttered as he does when any mention of Cassie arises. I would think her dead if not for being told she doesn’t live here anymore. I’m beginning to grow impatient for the rest of her story. I’m certain now more than ever that the key to unlocking Lucian’s nightmares is to understand what happened with her. The fear that I’ve given my love to someone who can never fully accept or return it is beginning to consume me.
When I feel an elbow in my side, followed by an amused chuckle, I jerk out of the trance I had apparently fallen in. “Girl, you’ve got it bad, don’t you?” My face heats when I realize I’ve been staring at Lucian, even though I wasn’t really seeing him. He raises a brow in question, to which I give a weak smile of reassurance in answer. I’m sure what I was thinking must be written all over my face, so I’m more than happy for Debra, and hopefully Lucian, to assume I was just ogling him.
“Mmm, yeah,” I say, playing along, “sorry about that.” Lucian doesn’t look like he’s buying it but lets it go without comment.
As Debra stands, saying something about needing to get going, Lucian walks to the coffee table in front of us and sits down. “Debra, do you have some extra time? I have some news for Lia that I would like you to hear, as well.” Debra relaxes back in her seat looking just as curious as I feel. When he leans forward to take one of my hands, I become nervous. What’s left in my life to upset me? It’s unlikely he’d want Debra for a witness just to break up with me.
Suddenly, I grip his hand in fear as a thought occurs to me. “Oh, my God, has something happened to Rose?” He looks nonplussed for a moment before squeezing my hand in return.
“No, baby. I’m sorry you thought that. Rose is fine and driving Max out of his mind probably as we speak.” The deep breath he takes doesn’t do anything to dispel my anxiety.
I want to clap when Debra says, “Well, come on, son. Your girl’s about to have a heart attack if you haven’t noticed.”
“All right, I didn’t mean to cause any panic. I just didn’t know how to begin, so here goes. Detective Michaels called Max this morning…”
“They caught him,” I whisper hopefully. Please let him be behind bars now where he has always belonged.
He hesitates and my spirits plummet thinking he’s still out there. Still waiting to catch me unaware again. “Lia, he’s dead.” I hear Debra hiss beside me, but I can’t seem to process his words. Who is he talking about? It can’t be my stepfather. I asked God to punish him for years, but it never happened, and I can’t comprehend that it would now.
“No…not him…never him,” I say in a daze. I can’t get my hopes up, because I’ll never be free of him. Hasn’t he assured me of that repeatedly? Lucian comes closer until my legs are wedged between his. He takes my face between his big hands, forcing me to look at him. “He’s never letting me go,” I say to him as Debra chokes on what sounds like a sob beside us.
“Baby, listen to me. Jim Dawson is dead. They found him earlier this morning in the French Broad River. He’s gone…for good.”
I give Lucian a dejected look as I say, “He knows how to swim. He was on his high school swim team so he would never have drowned.” I know my words must sound crazy to him. Most people would assume that my refusal to accept that my stepfather is dead stems from not wanting to lose him. It’s not that at all…I just can’t let myself believe it because I’ll break completely apart when we find out he is alive, well, and coming after me. It’s been literally beat into me over and over all my life to never wish for anything. There may be a fine line between love and hate, but the line between dreams and nightmares is even thinner, almost transparent at times.
When his lips suddenly lock on mine, all thoughts are driven from my head. The daze of a few moments ago is gone, and I feel nothing but him. His familiar smell and taste surround me as I lose myself to the stroke of his tongue. When he refuses to deepen the kiss, I raise my hands and dig them into his hair, trying to pull him closer. When Debra drawls, “Whew, have mercy,” it’s like a bucket of cold water over my head.
I was seconds away from crawling into Lucian’s lap and wrapping myself around him. Just one touch from him and I’d completely forgotten her presence and…his words. “He’s really dead?” I gasp out, finally allowing it to penetrate the protective shell I had been in. The reason for Lucian’s sudden kiss is clear to me now. He was attempting to break down my walls and get me to really hear him.
“He is,” Lucian agrees gently, rubbing my arms.
“Do the police know what happened?” Debra asks as she begins to visibly relax.
Once again, Lucian hesitates before saying, “It was a gunshot wound. He was probably dumped in the river after the fact.” My hands start to shake as everything sinks in. “He’s gone, baby…he is really gone,” Lucian adds before pulling me into his arms.
Lucian and I both startle as Debra jumps from the couch and starts throwing her arms in the air. “Hell, yes! Ding dong, the devil is dead!” Then she does something that looks suspiciously like an attempt at moonwalking mixed with some sort of break dancing. I know both of our mouths are hanging open as she continues to act as if she just won the lottery. “Hey, I’m happy as a pig in shit! If that makes me a bad person, then so fucking be it. My baby girl is finally free.”
Unbelievably, as Debra celebrates, I cry…and I mean ugly cry. I know Lucian and Debra must think I’ve gone insane. How can I possibly be crying right now? The odd thing is that my tears have nothing to do with sadness and everything to do with a twisted kind of loss. Like someone suffering from a type of reverse Stockholm syndrome, I don’t know how to react now that the evil which has defined me for years is gone.
For as long as I can remember, my life has been about survival. First with my mother, then with the monster she brought into our lives, and finally trying to make it on my own. Who am I now that I’m no longer that girl? Can I even adjust to being a person with the normal hopes and fears of a woman my age? With him gone, I comprehend that I’ve been his puppet on a string even when I thought I had won my freedom the day I left home. I was only ever as free as he allowed me to be. His very existence still controlled every aspect of my world.
The realization snaps something inside me. I wrench myself from Lucian’s arms and completely lose it. My anger bubbles like molten lava flowing through my veins as I begin throwing everything in my path. I’m like a whirlwind of destruction as I smash a glass vase against the wall. The lack of clutter in Lucian’s apartment means there isn’t much readily available on tabletops, so I move on to the bar area and start grabbing the crystal glasses and decanters there. I see Debra, out of the corner of my eye, starting to approach me before Lucian pulls her back. “She needs this; just let her go.”
You’re fucking right I need it, I think to myself as I continue to destroy the bar area. I’m vaguely aware of Debra leaving before I lose all meaning of time and place. My throat begins to throb and I wonder idly why when I realize I’m screaming and my voice has gone unusually husky. Have I been doing that this entire time? My movements slow almost as if having to think about something so mundane has brought me back to the present. I look down in surprise at the bottle of whiskey I’m holding. As I move to sit it on the bar behind me, something crunches beneath my feet. I glance down in disbelief to see broken glass everywhere. The room looks like it has been ransacked. A wave of relief washes over me when I notice Lucian standing off to the side, almost as if waiting for my next move. “Luc?” I ask uncertainly. “I…oh, my God, I did this!” The words tumble from my lips as I stare at him in horror.
He reaches me just as I would have fallen to my knees in the jagged glass graveyard below my feet. He doesn’t say anything as he effortlessly swings me into his arms and leaves the carnage behind. He carries me straight to the bathroom before setting me on my feet. His eyes move over my face as if searching for something as he strips my clothing from my body. I stand, waiting obediently as he makes quick work of his own before dropping his hands to my hips. He leads me into the steaming shower and under the hot spray of water.
He washes me thoroughly and then himself. When I turn to step out, he pulls me back, enfolding me in his arms. He joins our lips in a kiss that is devoid of anything other than comfort. He is connecting with me in the fastest way he knows. This kiss is all about helping me find my center, grounding me with him in the moment, and I need it. I put my arms tightly around his neck, and he hoists me up so I can wrap my legs around his waist. He rocks from side to side, comforting me like a child. “Are you okay?” he asks against my lips as he rains soft kisses across my exposed skin.
“I’m sorry about what I did,” I say, ashamed to have lost control and wrecked his beautiful apartment. “I’ll clean it all up right now.” I begin unwrapping my legs from around him, but he stops my downward descent by refusing to release my ass. He carries me from the shower before putting me back on my feet.
“The cleaning service is on their way over now, so please stay away from all of the glass in the living room. They’ll have it taken care of in no time.” He continues to ignore my objections while we dry ourselves off. I am walking toward the closet to dress when he captures my hand before dropping to the bed and pulling me into his lap. He is wearing a pair of form-fitting, black boxer briefs and I’m in a light blue bra and panty set. “I need to tell you something else, but first I need to know that you’re okay. I’d pour you a drink first, but we seem to be fresh out of glasses.”
Maybe we both have a sick sense of humor, but the laugh that his joke brings forth from both of us is a much-needed tension-breaker. “I don’t know what happened to me. First, I couldn’t accept that he was actually dead after tormenting me all of these years, then I got so angry at myself and at him when I realized that I’ve still continued to let him run my life. Almost every decision I’ve made since that monster came into my life has been influenced by him.” I find myself choking up again, as I admit, “I never got away. Don’t you see? I was living on borrowed time and deep down I knew it. I just didn’t want to accept it. He was always going to come for me, just as he said.”
I take his face in my hands, looking into the eyes of the man who has put his own pain on the back burner to help me deal with mine. “Loving you is the first real thing I’ve done just for me. Everything else has just been out of necessity. You are a dream I never dared to dream because my mother, then my stepfather, took that ability from me. That was another reason why I was so angry. He took everything from me, and I didn’t even understand that until today.”
Lucian wipes the tears, which are once again falling from my face with his thumbs, before kissing first my mouth, then my nose and finally my forehead. “No matter what he took, he never broke you. You are the wonderfully talented, intelligent, driven, and loving woman you are despite him, not because of him. I’m in no way worthy of you, but I lay my heart at your feet because you own me, baby.” My heart skips a beat at his words. He is saying he loves me. Maybe not in the standard way, but there is no mistaking his meaning. If my life thus far was what I had to endure to find this man, then I would go through Hell again and again just to end up where I am now…in his arms.
“I love you, too,” I say softly, wanting him to know I recognize and return the feelings he is trying to express. We kiss again, both getting lost in the moment before he pulls back with a frown.
“I almost forgot what I needed to talk to you about…That seems to happen a lot when we’re together.” He looks nervous, which in turn makes me anxious. “The police want to question both you and me this evening about your stepfather’s death.”
I jump to my feet and immediately begin pacing. Can he not just be gone? “What? Why? I don’t want to relive what happened to me with them again!”
He comes to his feet, taking my shoulders between his hands. “Honey, it’s not that. It’s just that you’re the only remaining family, other than your mother, and I’m your boyfriend. According to Max, it’s just a formality and the police need to go through the motions for their paperwork. You don’t have to worry; I won’t let them upset you.”
What is wrong with me today? I seem to be going off the deep- end over everything. It is a lot to take in, though, and I had mistakenly assumed that his death meant everything to do with him was over. Apparently, not quite yet. I need to get a grip and calm down. If Lucian isn’t worried, and he doesn’t appear to be, then it’s fine. After it’s all over tonight, I can regroup and truly move forward for the first time in my life. “Oh, my God,” I gasp, “poor Debra! I need to call her. She is probably completely beside herself over my earlier freak-out.”
“That’s a good idea,” Lucian agrees wryly. “I think she was in shock when she left here. I guess she’s never seen you on a rampage before?”
My face flushes as I quickly walk toward the closet and pull on jeans and a sweater. Lucian is dressing when I step into the living area to find my phone. My jaw drops in shock as I take in the sight before me. Dear Lord, he wasn’t kidding when he said we were out of glasses. I can hardly believe that I’ve completely wrecked the bar. He comes up behind me, plucking me effortlessly off my feet. “What’re you doing?” I ask in surprise as he carries me through the wrecked room and into the kitchen before setting me on the countertop.
He tweaks one of my toes and shakes his head. “You don’t have any shoes on, Lia.”
“Oh, yeah, I didn’t think about that,” I admit as I look at my bare feet. “So, when is Detective Michaels going to be here?” I try to act as if I’m not nervous, but I know he sees it.
“I’m going to go grab a pair of your shoes for you and then I’m calling Max to see if we can meet them somewhere else.” Before I can ask why, thinking I’d much rather do this at home, he adds, “I doubt the living room will be cleaned before the police arrive, and right now it looks and smells like a scene from a bar brawl. They’d probably lock my ass up because there is no way they would believe you did all of that.”
I look at him in amazement, unable to believe he’s actually laughing at his assessment of the wreck in the other room. I am completely appalled to have done something like that to his home. He should be kicking me out, not shaking in laughter. Despite myself, I am unable to stop the grin from fully forming on my mouth. “It’s not funny,” I attempt to scold both him and myself. “It’s going to cost a lot of money to clean and replace everything I’ve broken.” He just continues to laugh until I add, “I mean it; I’m paying you back. I’m all healed except for my wrist and fingers, so I can start cleaning again.” His laugh morphs into a scowl before I can complete my sentence.
“Don’t even start that with me, baby. You aren’t my housekeeper, and you’re not going to be.” When I start to protest, he suddenly looks serious. “Please don’t worry about paying for some broken glassware. What you bring to me just by being in my life is priceless. Hell, baby, I owe you if anything. I should be your housekeeper because I’ll never be able to repay you for what you’ve given me.”
“No, no, no,” I whisper as my eyes water. He lifts a brow, looking bemused by my reaction to his sweet declaration. “Um…sorry, I just don’t want to cry again. It seems like that’s all I do anymore. You’re just so sweet to me.”
He looks slightly offended and then just downright …wicked when he steps between my parted thighs and presses his quickly hardening cock against my core. “I’ve got your sweet right here…”
I drop my head onto his shoulder, shaking with laughter. “You did not just say that. Hello, Lucian Quinn, some horny high school boy called and wants that line back.”
“Oh, really,” he purrs against my throat as he thrusts tighter against me. “How many ‘boys’ have that?” I’m helpless to contain the moan which works its way from my throat. He turns his head and bites my ear, causing a jolt of pleasure to shoot straight to my core.
“Don’t start anything we can’t finish,” I warn him as I wrap my legs around his waist to pull him even closer. My panties are flooded as I rub myself against his hard length, completely lost in the moment.
In the blink of an eye, he pulls back, causing my legs to drop. “You’re right; we don’t have time for this now. Lock and load ‘em, baby,” he says as he walks out of the room, leaving me stunned and not just a little frustrated.
“WHAT. THE. HELL?” I say to myself as I continue to gape after him, thinking he’s going to suddenly turn and come back to put me out of my horny misery. What a perfect end to a messed-up day. I wreck Lucian’s apartment, cry more than a newborn baby, and finally leave crotch drool all over his granite countertops. Okay, maybe the last part is a little bit exaggerated, but if not for my layers of clothing, it would be true. Now, dammit, I can’t get down. Couldn’t he have set me next to one of the stools? Well, I could jump, but I’m afraid of jarring the cast on my wrists or my fingers if I land wrong. I’m shifting onto my stomach so I can try to shimmy down when a loud smack on my ass has me squealing. Luckily, the arm now wrapped around my waist sets me gently on my feet before I can fall on my face. “Ouch,” I grumble, holding my stinging butt cheek.
He looks completely unrepentant as he says, “You know you loved it.” All right, so what if I did—I’m not about to admit it to him. Instead, I take the tennis shoes he is holding out to me and wedge my feet inside them without untying the laces. He just shakes his head but wisely holds his tongue. “We’re going to meet Detective Michaels at Max’s house. I told him our apartment was in the middle of renovations, and we needed another place.”
I stick my tongue out at his continued playful jabs over my earlier tantrum. The man is truly not right; otherwise, he’d find nothing amusing about having his multi-million dollar apartment trashed by his crazy girlfriend. “So, where does Max live?” I ask, picturing something similar to Lucian’s home.
“Actually he has a house a few miles from my aunt. He hates the downtown area. He never understood why I bought a place here.”
I realize I know nothing about the man who is Lucian’s friend, as well as his lawyer. Curious, I ask, “So, he’s not married, right?” Okay, so maybe I’m interested for Rose, in the name of sisterhood and all that.
“Nope,” he replies without expounding on his answer.
“Has he ever been married, or like, involved long-term with anyone?”
“Nope, and not in years.” Geez, again with the vague answers. Would it be so hard for him to just tell me a little about Max without me pulling it from him?
“Why not? I mean…Oh, no! Does he actually like women? I mean, like them for you know…sex?”
“As far as I know.” When I just stare at him, he huffs out, “Yes, I’ve seen evidence to support that fact.”
I know I’m pushing my luck when I ask, “So, you know him well then? Is he seeing anyone right now? Do you think he’s interested in a relationship, or is it just all casual with him?” Yikes, I think I went too far with the last line of question. Lucian is standing in front of me now, his hands on his hips and a frown on his face.
“You know, baby, I’m really trying not to read too much into the fact that you’re displaying an unusual amount of interest in my lawyer. Is there something we need to talk about?” I go all gooey inside. Jealous Lucian is seriously adorable and even hotter than usual. I want to beg him to throw me back on the countertop and fuck me…hard. However, I hold it together. Partly because I know he doesn’t want to be late to meet with the police, and also because I feel strange about begging for sex after my meltdown just hours earlier. Something must surely be wrong with me lately because I’m either crying or horny. There doesn’t seem to be much middle ground right now. I settle for wrapping my arms around his waist and grinning innocently up at him.
“Come on, Luc; work with me here. If I’m not interested in Max for myself…which I’m not in the slightest, then why would I be asking questions about his personal life?” He absently rubs circles on my back as he ponders my question. I see the exact moment the dots all connect for him.
“No, Lia,” he says sternly as he begins shaking his head at me. “We aren’t meddling in Max’s love life. Besides, he thinks your friend is off her rocker.”
“Lucian…” I pout. “Don’t you think there’s something there? I mean, look at how crazy he acts where she is concerned.”
“And you think acting crazy is a good thing?” He takes my hand and starts pulling me toward the front door. “I mean it, baby; we’re not getting in the middle of those two.” I try to hide my smirk as he closes the door behind us and we walk into the elevator.
“I promise I’ll be good,” I say sweetly. “I will be good; I just can’t guarantee Rose will be.”
Lucian
True to Max’s prediction, our interview by Detectives Michaels and Haynes is brief and uniform. I get the feeling without her putting it into words that their department doesn’t like expending valuable time and resources on someone like Jim Dawson. With the testimony that first Lia, and then her mother, provided the police, they have a clear picture of the type of person he was. Unless someone runs up and down the street in front of the police station yelling ‘I’m guilty,’ this case will be closed in short order.
I was proud of Lia. She answered each of Detective Michaels’ questions clearly and concisely. When the detective was leaving, she dropped a hand on Lia’s shoulder, saying, “This wasn’t exactly the way I had planned to get justice for you, but…” I was sure the other woman wanted to add something like, ‘the Lord works in mysterious ways,’ but she refrained from it. I thanked Max for allowing us to use his home and rushed Lia out the door before she could arrange a double-date with him.
I’ll admit I was a bit pissed when she started quizzing me about him earlier. She’s never asked me that many questions about Aidan or even Sam. I haven’t felt jealousy over a woman in many years, and even though I enjoyed the normalcy of it, I didn’t want to feel that way again where Lia was concerned. She was mine and I wasn’t letting her go.
She had worried me earlier when she’d first been so resistant to the news that her stepfather was dead, and then she had completely snapped when it finally hit her. People process grief in different ways, and I know that venting was her way. Her grief was not for Jim Dawson, but for the death of her innocence all of those years ago at his hands. At some point in their lives, every person carrying around rage inside eventually needs an outlet to purge it from their system. Lia had been fueled by hate for so long that the crash was inevitable.
I’m not naive enough to believe that just because he’s dead everything is suddenly perfect in her world. Her childhood was ripped from her hands, and she’ll never be able to fully erase the scars that were left behind. I also know that it’s ironic that I’m sitting here pondering her ghosts when I haven’t dealt with my own. I plan to start taking steps in that direction tomorrow, though. I’ve arranged to meet my aunt at the coffee shop down the street in the morning. I am going to tell her about my cocaine addiction and ask her to help me overcome it. I’ve long denied to myself that I’m an addict just because I don’t use every day, which is bullshit. If I wasn’t addicted, I would be able to walk away from it…and I can’t. I have to find the strength for myself and for Lia to leave my crutch behind. It has enabled me for years to push my demons aside instead of dealing with them. To be the person she deserves, I have to be the person I once was before Cassie and I ruined each other’s lives.
After I speak with my aunt tomorrow, I plan to talk to Lia about Cassie. It’s time she knew the complete story there. It’s not fair that I constantly preach full disclosure on her thoughts and feelings, yet I continue to avoid any of her questions about my past. What she must think I can only imagine, but sadly, I fear it’s not even close to the web of lies, hate, and betrayal that consumed my last year with Cassie. For all of the hate I feel for her, I know I’m to blame, as well. It’s likely that my actions were even the catalyst for her final break with reality. Some would call it survivor’s guilt, and I suppose that analogy is correct in a way. Out of Cassie, our child, and myself, I’m the only one who really still lives. Cassie may be alive, but she has been so lost in her own mind for the last eight years that she may as well have been dead. I think, in the end, as evil as she had become, she couldn’t deal with what she did so she retreated in the only way she knew.
“Luc…Luc…LUCIAN!” I jerk as Lia pokes me in the side. “Good grief, where did you go?” she jokes as I focus my thoughts on her. Sometimes it’s rather scary how you can drive a car for miles and be so deep in thought that you don’t remember the trip. I wonder if Lia was talking to me, while I’ve been ignoring her.
“Sorry, baby,” I say lightly as I shift the Range Rover into park and cut the engine. As usual, Lia had joked that she couldn’t believe I was driving and not having Sam take us in the Mercedes. I noticed Sam and Cindy leaving the office together earlier, so I didn’t think he would appreciate being disturbed on his date…or whatever the hell they do together. I don’t even want to go there. “I was just thinking over everything that has happened today.” I want to take those words back when I see her smile dim slightly. I’m sure the last thing she wanted was to have another postmortem on her stepfather.
She sighs, letting her head fall back against the headrest. “Yeah, it’s been a hell of a day, hasn’t it?”
I chuckle, tweaking her nose before opening my door. “That it has,” I say as I hurry around to help her out. Putting my arm around her as we walk toward the building, I lower my voice, saying, “All I want to do is get you naked and fuck you till you beg me to stop.”
She stops in her tracks, blinking up at me like an owl. She licks her plump lips and surprises me by saying, “What if I never want you to stop?” Then she drops her hand, cupping the hardening bulge in my pants. “How long do you think you can keep going?” She blushes adorably at her own bold question, making me almost blow my load in my fucking pants.
Pushing her against the building, I lower my body, letting her feel how much I want her. I rim the shell of her ear with my tongue, smiling as she shivers against me. I keep my mouth there as I whisper, “Don’t confuse me for a boy, Lia. After I fuck you once, you’ll feel it for a week. You’ll think of nothing but my cock tomorrow when you’re walking around with that sweet burn between your thighs. That’s all me, baby.”
“Ohhhh, myyy,” she moans and nearly sags to the ground when I suddenly release her.
I swagger away, calling nonchalantly over my shoulder, “Are you coming, babe?” I can’t help but notice, as I look back, that she’s already walking funny. Apparently, I don’t even have to fuck her to cause the sweet burn I was just enticing her with. She catches up to me just before I reach the door, wrapping her arms around me from behind and snuggling into my back. We stand there for a moment just enjoying the feeling of peace, which has been so elusive lately.
“So, Max was looking good tonight, right?” she teases before releasing me and running. I’m left standing on the sidewalk with my mouth hanging open. The little minx got me back. I grin and take my time catching up with her. She probably hasn’t realized that I still have the upper hand. Unless I’m mistaken, she doesn’t have her purse, which means she probably doesn’t have a keycard to the elevator so she’s not going anywhere.
As I stroll leisurely into the lobby, she’s standing at the locked doors with a look of chagrin on her beautiful face. “I saw that going so much better in my head,” she whines as she kicks the steel doors.
I pinch her ass, causing her to shriek…quite loudly. The concierge glances up from her desk in the corner frowning. I suspect that she never has sex and thinks we’re pigs because we obviously do. Hell, I’d almost do it right now against the marble walls of the lobby just to see how long it would take her to call the cops. Owning a penthouse here probably wouldn’t save me. Of course, what she doesn’t know is that I’m pinching the ass of her boss’s, Lee Jacks, daughter. That might actually buy me some serious ass-kissing…or not. She appears to hate men in general. Sam is terrified of her.
We make it in the door of our home with only some light groping in the elevator. “Clothes off,” I instruct Lia as I throw my keys on the entryway table. She walks toward the bedroom grumbling under her breath. Even though we’ve had sex against the glass windows in the living room, she still shies away from walking through this part of the apartment nude. My little Lia might talk a good game at times, but she is still modest at heart.
I’m moving to follow her when it finally hits me that everything has been cleaned up. I had completely forgotten about the service that was to arrive this evening to handle the removal of most all of my glassware. Looking around, I am impressed. I had to give them credit; they might cost a small fortune, but everything looks just as it did. Well…other than the missing pieces which would need replacing. No wonder I was getting the evil eyes from the concierge. She had to let them in and no doubt thought Lia and I had had some out-of-control party.
I walk into the bedroom just as Lia upends a duffle bag onto the bed. I’m getting ready to comment on the fact that she’s still wearing clothes when I do a double-take as one item from the bag rolls out front and center. I move closer, thinking I must be imagining what I think I’m seeing until Lia hisses, “Oh, shit!” She reaches for the big, purple vibrator just as I grab it from the bed and eye it before looking at her in question. She is blushing furiously. “Oh, my God, Luc, give that to me!”
I hold it out of her reach, shaking my head as I cluck my tongue. “My, my, Miss Adams, what do we have here?”
“It’s nothing, just give it back!” she cries as she tries to reach high enough to wrestle it from my hands. “Luc!”
“Tut, tut,” I say, waving it around. “It looks like a big, purple cock to me. Now, whatever have you been doing with this?” Taking in the length and girth in my hand, I’m secretly relieved to know I still have the biggest dick in this house, but it’s damn close.
“I can’t believe Rose did this to me! She was only supposed to bring my underwear.” She’s now given up trying to get her plastic friend back, and she’s standing there with a hand over her eyes, looking mortified. I want to tell her that this is tame compared to some of the things I’ve seen women use in the name of pleasure, but I don’t think she’d appreciate that right now…or ever.
Shaking the vibrator, I say, “Well, obviously Rose thought you might need your purple friend here. Come on…tell me, have you missed using it?” She shakes her head, still refusing to look at me. “Ah, come on,” I continue to tease, “you’re not going to hurt my feelings by admitting it.” Okay, maybe that’s bullshit, because it probably would wound me a bit to know she was pining for a battery-operated boyfriend while sleeping beside the real thing.
She falls face-down on the bed, lying across the pile she had just tossed out of the bag. I barely make out her muffled voice saying, “This is so humiliating.”
I hate to admit to myself that I’m suddenly even more turned on imagining what I could do to her with the toy I’m holding. Yeah, I’ve used all manner of things with women before, but not with Lia. I want…no, I have to see her take this purple dick deep into her pussy. I only hope she’ll agree. For a moment, I wonder if tonight is the best time to be thinking of kinky sex with all that has happened today, but maybe we both need the stress reliever. It’s sad, really, to think of the reasons why, but Lia bounces back amazingly swift from the blows life throws at her. I know it’s because she conditioned herself to do just that years ago.
I drop the vibrator onto the bed and lower my body slowly over hers. I hold the brunt of my weight off her slim frame, allowing my cock to nestle against her backside. I nip the outer shell of her ear with my teeth and smile as she shudders. Pushing my denim-covered cock into the cleft of her ass, I purr, “Feel how hard I am. That’s all you, baby. Just thinking about watching you pleasure yourself is driving me out of my mind. I’ll make you good and wet, and then I want you to take over. Can you do that for me?”
I hear her groaning into the bed, and I have no idea if it’s in embarrassment or desire. I wait with bated breath to see what she’ll do. I half-expect her to hit me over the head with the big vibrator and run, so I’m pleasantly shocked when I hear a muffled, “Um…okay.”
Holy hell, my cock is on the verge of busting through my zipper at her reply. It takes all the strength I have to keep from jerking both of our pants down and plunging into her from behind. There is no way I can miss this, though, regardless of the discomfort in my pants. I roll to the side and let her turn to her back. Her face is bright red, but her nipples are hard and pressing against her shirt, and her knees are shifting together, which I know is a sure sign of her arousal.
I don’t want to ruin the mood by teasing her any further, so instead I take charge. “Stand and take your clothes off,” I instruct her. She barely hesitates before sitting up to kick her shoes off and then rising gracefully to her feet. She makes eye contact with me and never looks away as she pulls off first her shirt and then her bra, dropping them to the floor. This isn’t a slow, erotic striptease; she wants the clothing off because she’s completely turned on. “That’s good, baby,” I praise her as she unsnaps her jeans and shimmies them down her hips, taking her underwear with them. She has learned to work around her cast and is proficient now in dressing…and undressing with it.
In what seems like record time, she is standing before me naked and almost defiant. I have a hard time containing my grin. She is telling me without words that she won’t back down. She knows well that I never thought she would go through with this. My baby picks odd times to let her competitive nature come out; I fucking love it. “Lie on the bed and put a pillow under your ass.” She follows my orders perfectly, taking only seconds to get into position. I sit up on the bed, unable to do anything but look at her. God, she is so beautiful she steals the breath from my body.
I almost choke on my tongue when she says in a bored tone, “Are we doing this or not?” Instead of laughing, as I want to, I decide on a little payback.
“Stay where you are. I’ll let you know when I’m ready.” With those words, I stand and walk into the bathroom, closing the door behind me before leaning against the wall and laughing my ass off. How many other women could step so far out of their comfort zone and then neatly turn the tables? I know her well enough to understand that lying there exposed like that is probably killing her, but she won’t back down. I’m betting right about now she’s cursing me under her breath and trying to talk herself out of covering up with the comforter.
Unfortunately for her, I have a big problem to take care of before I go back. Yeah, if you’ve ever wondered if it’s true about men jacking off before a big date, then let me answer that question: abso-fucking-lutely. I know I’ll give in and fuck her too soon if I don’t relieve some pressure. Therefore, I kick off my shoes and lower my pants and boxers. I’m so hard that no extra foreplay is needed. I go straight for the long, rough strokes, and within an embarrassingly short amount of time, I’m shooting into my hand. My moans of satisfaction have probably alerted Lia as to what’s going on. I’m betting she wants to kill me right about now. I take my time washing my hands and pulling off my shirt before walking back into the bedroom. I feel somewhat better, but I’m still hard, and looking at Lia lying with her legs open isn’t doing anything to help that.
She’s glaring daggers at me as I smirk at her. “Should I have been taking care of things on my end, as well?” she asks in a snide voice.
I manage to keep my expression impassive, but it’s a struggle. “Oh, no, baby, you don’t take care of anything until I’m here to watch.” I sit on the side of the bed, near her hip, and idly stroke my hand down her leg, stopping just short of the juncture of her thighs. The smell of her arousal is causing my head to spin, and I know I’m only killing myself by torturing her. My control seems to have left the building. She gasps out as I drop my hand between her legs and circle her clit. She had obviously been expecting me to continue to deny her my intimate touch. I push a finger into her experimentally, finding her wet and swollen. She moans as I add another digit, sliding them easily in and out. “I think you’re wet enough to take that big, purple friend of yours without my help. Is thinking of that what’s got you this hot?” I’m not sure if I want to know the answer to that question. I don’t think I’m ready to share her, even if the other cock is plastic.
“Mmm, no,” she moans.
“Then what has you this wet?” I ask as I add a third finger, stretching her tight channel.
Her hands drop to her breasts, taking her nipples between her fingers and tugging on them. Shit, I’m feeling lightheaded. “You…watching me,” she finally replies. Well, hell. I pull my fingers from her pussy before I lose it. I stick them in my mouth, sucking each one clean of her spicy essence before slowly backing away. I need some distance between us now.
“All right, baby, show me how you fuck yourself,” I say as I settle in the chair at the foot of the bed, close enough to see perfectly and far enough away to keep myself from touching her. I hold off giving her further instructions because I want to watch her take charge of her own pleasure.
She leans forward to grab the purple vibrator, and then relaxes back with it lying across her stomach. She pulls on a nipple with the two free fingers of her injured hand while dropping the other to her pussy. My eyes are riveted as she massages her nipple into a stiff peak while pushing one finger inside her wet heat. Shit, at this rate, I’ll never make it until she uses the vibrator. I’m on the verge of yelling mercy when she finally picks up the big cock and lowers it to her slit. She moves it up and down, coating the tip in her juices before settling the tip against her entrance. “Luc,” she whimpers as she pushes the head inside.
Fuck me; I don’t know if I’ve ever seen anything hotter than her taking that plastic cock while moaning out my name. Did she do that when she was alone in her apartment? Did she imagine the vibrator was my cock as she fucked herself with it? “Take all of me, baby,” I shudder as she pushes it in to the hilt.
I take my cock in my hands, pumping up and down as I watch her plunge the purple dick in and out of her pussy. She continues to moan my name as she grinds against the plastic base. I hear the hum as she flips it onto vibrate, and I see her body tense before jerking with her release. Fuck, I can’t take it anymore. I cross to her in two large strides and fall onto her like a hungry animal. She opens her eyes as I pluck the vibrator from within her body and throw it to the floor. I take a second to sheath myself in the condom she had thrown on the bed at some point. “Luc, please!” she cries as I take her ankles in my hands. I push her legs forward, completely exposing her ass and cunt, and I bury myself to the hilt. She takes me easily, still slick from her earlier orgasm. “Oh, God,” she shudders as I hold her legs close to her head and pump deep.
I bottom out on each thrust, feeling my balls tighten as my release comes roaring to a head. I pull back slightly to pinch her clit, hoping to hell she is close because I can’t hold off much longer. When she screams and her body clenches, I blow. I shoot load after load of cum into the condom as I come…hard. Her body milks everything I have. I drop her legs and then collapse over her thighs. I wince as my cock slides halfway out of her. I know I need to withdraw completely and dispose of the condom, but I can’t resist pushing back inside as I relax over her body. We stay connected as I lean down to slide my tongue in her mouth, kissing her languidly. “Holy hell,” I rasp against her now-smiling lips.
“I can’t believe I did that,” she says shyly. “I’ve never…I mean…”
“I know, baby.” I smile tenderly, dropping soft kisses on her neck. “Don’t ever feel embarrassed about anything we do in the bedroom or anywhere else. There isn’t a part of you I don’t adore.”
“Ditto,” she says as she reaches up to cup my cheek, rubbing her hand lightly over my stubble. Wiggling her brows, she asks, “Did you really masturbate in the bathroom earlier or were you teasing me?”
I start laughing and pull out of her snug body. I raise her leg up enough so I can pop her ass lightly before moving from the bed. “You just want the details, my little pervert. If you’re nice to me in the shower, I might do a little reenactment for you…” She jumps from the bed and runs after me. Yeah, I did hit the replay button for her.