Neco

I stared up at Ruby, under me, in my bed. I had a handful of soft creamy flesh in one hand, her other tit in my mouth, sucking her tight, fucking pierced, little nipple. Finally tasting her, feeling her on my tongue, I was struggling to fucking breathe. She was mine. I finally had her where she should have been for the longest time, and it was taking everything in me not to lose my shit, strip her down, and fuck her like a goddamn animal. The animal I was, the one I’d been hiding from her, the one that was created out of necessity. But that could never happen. I had to be careful with Ruby, and not just because of her fading bruises. I had to keep the ugly in. Keep the angry, rough, relentless side of myself away from her. I’d never hurt her, but I was afraid if she got a glimpse of that part of me, she’d run. That couldn’t happen again. Never again. She’d suffered enough, had faced enough of that in her life. I was determined to be her safe haven, her shelter from the outside world, and that meant keeping all that dark shit from her.

I couldn’t lose control with her, not like I had earlier when I’d kissed her. I’d walked out, convinced to take this slow. But then I’d seen that video footage of her in her room, proof that Scott had been watching her, how much danger she’d been in for so long, and that tiny bit of control I had holding me back, decimated.

I dropped my hand to the front of her jeans and tugged open the button, sliding down the zipper. Her eyes were wide, staring up at me, a mix of innocence and lust that twisted my gut and made my cock throb like fuck.

“It’s not just your tits I’ve been dreaming about, babe.” I tugged the jeans down her smooth thighs, revealing a plain pair of blue cotton underwear. They were nothing special, but the way they hugged her pussy had me fighting back a growl. I pulled off her boots, dropping them to the floor, then her jeans the rest of the way. “What’s between these sexy thighs has been fucking with my head.” I slid my hands from her calves, higher, and dipping my fingers down the sides of her panties, slowly dragged them down.

She sucked in a sharp breath as I revealed the last secret between us, and I lost the battle, growling like the animal I was. “Fuck.” I dragged a hand across my mouth, positive I was drooling. “Spread for me, baby. Show me what I’ve been dreaming about.” I sounded as close to the edge as I felt.

Color darkened her cheeks and her thigh muscles quivered in a way that told me just how hot she was. Then she bit her lip and slowly, so fucking slowly, parted her thighs. My hand dropped to my cock and I squeezed through my jeans, a deep groan ripping from my throat. She was pink and delicate and wet as fuck. I reached back and tugged my shirt off over my head, breathing like I’d just finished a goddamn marathon. Sliding my hand up her inner thigh, to her sweet little lips, I dragged my thumb through her juicy slit. “I’m gonna taste you now, Ruby. I need to feel you under my mouth before I finally get inside you.”

She fucking undulated on the bed, spreading wider for me. I damn near shot a load in my boxers. Giving my now painfully hard dick another squeeze, I dropped to my stomach and pressed open mouthed kisses to her inner thigh, sucking and licking her smooth skin, moving higher . . . I paused, something gripping me like an iron manacle behind my ribs, a need, so strong it wouldn’t let go. I lifted my head, hand sliding to her hip, to the Superman symbol there. I’d been desperate to see it again since the night she got it, the night I tore us apart.

I leaned in and kissed it, drawing in the scent of her skin, absorbing her heat, the soft moans she made with every touch of my lips.

“I let you down, sweetheart,” I muttered. “I won’t do that again.” Then I shoved her legs wider, dipped my head, and dragged my tongue through the center of her.

She cried out, hips lifting off the bed for more. I held her down and fucking lost myself to her. To the first taste of my woman. Mine. I took my time, sucking and licking until she was squirming and begging. Tonight wasn’t for begging, though. Tonight I was going to give her anything she fucking wanted. It was my privilege. Her pleasure was mine. So, sliding one finger inside her, I pushed deep, cursing at how tight and hot and wet she was, and worked at getting her off, giving her what she needed.

“Oh shit.” She did it again, body rolling. Sexy. As. Fuck. “God, please, Neco . . . more.”

I pulled out and shoved in a second finger. She screamed, back bowing as she came. I kept at her, sucking her tight little clit, keeping her coming as long as I could. When the tension in her body left and she collapsed back on the bed, I climbed off and shoved down my jeans, kicking off my boots. A better man might wait. But Ruby wasn’t the only one that had been waiting for this, and I wasn’t a better man.

She was looking up at me, eyes glazed as they moved over my naked body—and fuck, her nipples puckered, tightening, then her legs spread for me again.

I dragged in a rough breath and climbed on the bed, straddling her. Then, shoving open the bedside drawer, I grabbed a condom and suited up. She watched me roll the rubber on, licking her lips. My balls drew tight. I needed in, now.

The way I was feeling, I couldn’t go easy. I sure as hell couldn’t give her sweet and slow like she deserved for our first time, so I dropped to my back, reached out, and lightly touched one of the fading bruises on her ribs. “Get on, babe. You’re gonna have to ride me so I don’t hurt you.”

If she were still in pain, you wouldn’t know it. She moved easily, up and straddling my hips a few seconds later.

Her hands went to my abs and she trailed her fingers over my skin, a tiny shiver racing through her. “God, everything on you is so hard and smooth.” She licked her lips again, then grabbed her glasses from the bedside table and slid them on. A sweet, sexy as hell smile lifted the corners of her lips. “I don’t want to miss a thing,” she whispered.

Now I was struggling to breathe again, heart pounding like a jackhammer in my chest.

She looked down at me as she rose up, color on her cheeks high. “I can’t believe this is happening,” she said blinking fast, her voice soft, husky.

“Me either,” I murmured, a fucking lump in my throat as I dragged a hand up her thigh, fingers digging into her hip. Fisting my dick with the other, I waited while she positioned over me—then finally started to ease down my hard-as-iron cock.

She was so tight, so fucking hot.

Her mouth dropped open as she stretched around me, hips lifting then rolling slightly, working me in deeper, inch by painstaking inch. Her head fell back and I held her waist, holding her up as she got lost in sensation, the feel of me finally filling her. She was soft and languid in my hands and when she lifted her head and looked down at me again, beautiful blue eyes on me as she dragged her hands from my chest to my abs, I had to fight the relentless urge to thrust up into her as hard as I could. Finally, she took the last couple of inches of me deep inside, her pussy contracting around me like a fucking fist, and my eyes damn near rolled back in my head.

“Jesus Christ.” I started to shake. “I need you to move, baby girl. Rock those hips for me. Shit, please, sweetheart.” Now I was the one begging, pleading, and I didn’t give two fucks.

Her hands slid to my chest and she did as I asked, rolling her hips forward, keeping me deep while she did it, making me crazy, close to losing my damn mind. I gritted my teeth, tightening the leash on my control while she took exactly what she needed from me—how she needed it. The color in her cheeks darkened and she started to move faster.

“That’s it. That’s it, baby, take it, show me. Show me how good it feels to have your man finally inside you,” I rasped. “Tell me,” I demanded, all of a sudden fucking desperate for her to say the words. “Tell me how good it feels.”

Her eyes stayed on me as she rocked and ground down on me, working herself on the head of my cock deep inside, grinding that stiff little clit against me at the same time. “Oh God. You feel . . . so much better than good.”

A startled cry burst past her lips and I felt her start to tighten even more around me. “Who am I, Ruby?” I grunted. “Tell me.”

“My man,” she gasped, then she screamed and started coming around my cock, squeezing me so fucking tight I was seeing stars.

I blew up with her, no way could I hold off with the way she was tightening around me. Not after hearing those words on her lips, watching her hot, curvy little body take pleasure from mine.

She finally fell forward, sliding her legs down along my body. My cock was still buried inside her, and I didn’t want out, not any time soon. Her lips slid against my neck, kissing me, hot breath making my scalp tingle.

I dropped a hand to her ass and squeezed, twisting to kiss the top of her head. “Okay?” I asked, hoping I didn’t sound as overwhelmed as I felt, that she didn’t feel the way my heart was close to pounding right out of my chest.

“Yes,” she whispered.

She didn’t say any more, was quiet for the longest time, and I thought she was asleep, until she spoke into the darkness.

“Did this actually happen?”

My chest squeezed. “Yeah, babe.”

“I’m not going to wake up in the morning and have this be some kind of dream?”

“It’s not a dream.” My voice suddenly sounded as wrecked as the organ beating behind my ribs.

“It feels like a dream,” she said softly.

She wasn’t wrong. I’d wanted this for so damn long, but never thought I would ever have her like this.

But I knew Ruby wasn’t saying what she was thinking. I could hear the doubt in her voice. She was afraid, afraid I’d push her away again. And that was on me. I was the one that’d destroyed the trust between us, and it was my job to build it back up again. The only way to do that was to be here in the morning. To be here every morning until she didn’t wake up surprised I was still here, but expected it.

I wrapped my arms around her. Words wouldn’t do shit. I’d have to show her.

She’d figure out soon enough.

I was never letting her go.

* * *

Ruby

“Wake up, babe.”

Neco’s voice penetrated my sleepy brain, which half woke me. Then his body covered mine, arms curling around me, and he rolled to his back, taking me with him. I blinked my heavy eyes open and stared down at his chest, then lifted my head, shoving my hair out of my face, looking up at his.

His rough-skinned fingers slid down over my butt, down to my knees, making me shiver as he slid them apart, so I was straddling him.

“Morning,” he said in a husky voice as he tilted his hips, sliding the hard length of his cock through my already slick but highly sensitive flesh. He was already wearing a condom.

My lips parted on a moan, still trying to work the fuzz from my brain, while grinding back down on him, sensation winning out over full consciousness. “Morning,” I managed to say back as he slid his fingers lower, dipping between my thighs.

A rough sound vibrated through him. “Shit, Ruby, you’re already wet.”

“Mmm.” I ground down on his fingers, seeking more.

He took his hand away, and before I could protest, pushed his cock inside me with one deep thrust of his hips.

“Ahhh.” My forehead dropped to his chest, hands sliding up to circle his neck, hanging on as he held me down, thrusting up into me over and over.

“Come here,” he rasped. “I need that mouth, baby girl.”

I lifted my head, stretching up so I could kiss him. He kissed me back hungrily, still holding me immobile while he drilled into me. The angle was perfect, my clit getting the attention it needed. He thrust up harder and I gasped. God, he’d only been inside me a few seconds and I was close to flying already.

“Shit, I’m nearly there.” It started building, steady and strong and I pulled away from the kiss, nails digging into his shoulders, dragging down his chest, lips parting on a cry as it shot through me—a full body orgasm that had me trembling from head to toe, sucking on his skin, biting as my body jerked, fighting against his hold on me. Somehow, being held like that intensified everything.

“Fuck,” Neco muttered. “So fucking hot, sweetheart. Shit.”

Then he rolled me to my back, and holding himself above me, staring down, jaw tight, expression intense, and started fucking me again, deep and slow. Sweat coated his skin and his biceps were twitching.

I lifted my knees higher, reaching down to grab his ass. “I’m okay,” I said. “You won’t hurt me.”

His next thrust was harder. “You sure?”

“Oh God.” I whimpered. “Yes.” It should be impossible, but I felt another orgasm building. The angle he thrust into me hit deep, sliding across that spot that made me catch my breath on every pass. “I’m going to . . . Oh shit.” My head pressed back into the pillows and I quivered and groaned as it slid through me, my toes curling, hips lifting to meet his. Not as strong as the last, but still so damn good.

Neco started pounding into me harder, but still controlled, his big body shaking hard enough to make the bed quake beneath us. I forced my eyes open to watch him. His were on me, locked onto mine, expression fierce as he took me. And that’s exactly how I felt. Taken. It was hard to hold his gaze, the intensity was too much, almost frightening. I wasn’t scared of him, but something was different now, and I wasn’t sure what that meant for me . . . for us.

Then he slammed forward one last time and grunted, shaking and growling as he pulsed inside me, coming as hard as he’d made me. He dropped to his side, carefully dragging me in close. One of his hands slid over my chest, cupping my breast possessively.

“I could watch you come all fuckin’ day,” he said against my shoulder.

I had no idea why, maybe it was the light coming through the window, taking away the shadows, bringing in the harsh light of day, but suddenly I felt . . . self-conscious. Heat crawled up my neck and I cringed inwardly. This was Neco. My Neco, and he was naked beside me—I was naked beside him. He had just finished fucking me. We’d had sex. Twice. This was everything I’d wanted and now I had it, I felt . . . completely out of my depth.

“Why are you blushing?” he asked, a smirk curving his lips. “Don’t tell me you’re getting shy on me?”

I tugged the blankets up over my head, face getting hotter. “No?”

He chuckled low and rough, making my nipples tingle. The sheet was tugged away and he dragged me back up over him. “Look at me, Ruby.”

I kept my head against his chest. “I’m good like this.”

“Look at me,” he muttered again.

Goddammit. Woman the hell up. I forced myself to lift my head, my face still embarrassingly hot, which just made me more embarrassed. It was a vicious circle.

“What’s going on?” he asked. “You had no problem calling me in the middle of the night, causing me all kinds of trouble, and now you’re gonna get embarrassed because I watched you come? Which, by the way, is the hottest show on the face of the earth. I’m not lying when I say I could watch you scream for me all damn day and never get sick of it.”

My face got hotter still. Crap. “It’s not that . . .”

A frown lowered his brows. “What is it?”

I quickly shook my head. He looked worried now and that’s the last thing I wanted. “I guess, I never thought . . . you and me . . . it’s always been this, this abstract thing in my head. I never thought it would actually happen, you know?”

His frown deepened. “And the real thing doesn’t measure up?”

I lifted to my elbows, so fast I felt dizzy. “No . . . God, no. It’s not that . . .” I shook my head. “What we did last night, this morning . . . I never imagined it could be like that. It’s never been like that . . .”

The frown vanished and he grinned. Wide.

Cocky bastard.

He brushed my hair back from my face, keeping the strands between his fingers and tugged lightly. “Then what is it?”

I shook my head and glanced away. “Just drop it, would you?”

He stilled, fingers sliding under my chin, holding it, forcing my eyes back to his. “I can’t and I won’t. Something made you uncomfortable. I need to know, so you don’t ever feel that way again.”

I couldn’t leave him hanging now, knowing he thought he’d done something wrong.

He brushed the backs of his fingers down the side of my face, waiting for me to say something. Neco had a short fuse, but he could also be patient when he needed to, especially with me. The crap he’d put up with from me over the last few years was a testament to that. He wasn’t going to drop it, I knew that much. Neco never dropped anything.

I closed my eyes so I didn’t have to look at him. “You and me . . . like this, it’s just going to take some time to sink in. How this all works. I’ve never even been in a real relationship before.” Everything had changed between us so fast. One minute he was pushing me away, and now I was in his bed.

He was quiet for several seconds, deafeningly so. I opened my eyes again, and his eyes had softened.

“I’ve never been in a relationship either.”

“You’ve had girlfriends. I’ve only ever had a few one night stands.”

He shook his head. “Anyone before you . . . they’re nothing. Meant nothing. I don’t remember anything about any of them. This is you and me; what we’ve got is special. We’ll make our own rules and figure it out together.”

A smile tugged at the corners of my mouth. “Okay.”

“But there’s more, yes? I can see it, hear it in your voice.” His gaze slid down to my mouth. “Talk to me.”

“It’s nothing . . .”

His eyes narrowed.

Now I felt like a dick, but there was nothing for it. If I didn’t say it, he’d find a way to get it out of me, he always did.

“Well, you’re just so . . . you’re intense . . . the way you look at me, while you’re . . . moving inside me. I guess I feel a little self-conscious.” I wasn’t going to tell him that the look in his eyes scared me sometimes. That he overwhelmed me. But it was the truth. The way he looked at me was almost fierce.

“The way I look at you, that isn’t going to change.” His fingers slid down the side of my face, cupping my jaw, his green eyes boring into mine, making my belly squirm. “What you’re seeing is the look of a man who knows how fucking lucky he is. A man who knows he doesn’t deserve what he’s got, but is gonna keep that gift anyway.”

Oh my God.

My eyes started stinging. Again. I blinked rapidly, fighting the rush of emotion. I had no reply. Nothing.

He tugged my hair again, obviously seeing how his words had affected me and giving me a break by lightening the moment. “You’ll get used to it.”

I didn’t think he was right. I’d never get used to it. And I realized I didn’t want to. Neco did something to me, got to me like no one else had ever been able to. His edge, the danger, the intensity, was part of that. It was an oxymoron, but that barely leashed part of him that made me a little nervous was also the part of him that made me feel safer than I’d ever felt. Cared for.

Neco kept me on my toes, made me feel like I was home, and gave me a rush of the best high I’d ever had.

He was my drug. A fix like no other. And I had no intention of ever quitting.