CHAPTER SEVEN
“SO,” SHE SAID quietly to Vic as the rest of the house played a round of Guitar Hero.
He turned and pulled her a little closer. “So?”
“You want a tour? Like to see my room?”
“Hell yes.”
She waved discreetly at Maybe who waggled her brows, and then led the way to her side of the house, where her bedroom was.
Once inside, he took a deep breath and then smiled. “I’ve been wondering just what your bedroom would smell like. Jasmine. Like your perfume.”
No other men had been up there. She did her fucking in other people’s houses, or in hotels. This was her space. Her intimate place she made and kept safe. Here she could truly let down her guard and be open.
Vic wasn’t anyone else, though, and she most certainly wanted him all to herself. Wanted him all over her sheets.
He waited for her to set the boundaries. Kept an eye on her and took his cues from that.
There was something comforting and yet sweet about how he was with her. Totally focused on her. Absolutely clear that he wanted more. But he didn’t rush into her space. Not that he wasn’t dominant and charming and didn’t still manage to get his way with that roguish thing he had going on. But he just let her lead in these moments.
Which was perfect.
“You should fuck me,” she said.
“Should I?” He closed the door at his back, leaning against it as he watched her with that smirk.
“Or, I can fuck you. Either way.” She shrugged.
“Hmm. Why don’t we take this step-by-step?”
She whipped off her sweater.
“Or, you could take your shirt off and show me just how fucking gorgeous you are without it. In fact, I’m thinking that’s the better choice,” he murmured.
“Now you,” she said, turning out the overhead lights in favor of her bedside lamp.
She lit some candles while not taking her gaze from him. Not wanting to miss the reveal she was sure was going to be really fantastic.
And when he pulled his shirt up and off, she knew she’d been right. He was beautiful.
“Your body is amazing. I want to lick you,” she murmured as she walked his way.
“I’m available for licking by you at any time. In fact it’s been a recurring fantasy of mine for years.”
He reached out, brushing his fingertips over the curve of her breast where it heaved from the bra she had on. And she was so glad she chose the sexy cute matching stuff instead of her comfy granny panties.
He told her in a voice rough like a caress, “For so long you were right here. So close. I saw you all the time and I had no ability to touch you this way. No ability to make all those fantasies of mine a reality.” He circled her, looking his fill until he stopped behind her. “Oh, your back. Hold still, I want to pet and look.”
He did exactly that. Slowly stroking his hands over her skin until she was all relaxed and tingly.
“This is beautiful.”
“It’s the first tattoo I got.”
From shoulder to shoulder, across her back, a branch with a birdcage hanging from it in gray-and-black dot work. The door open. The bird was on the branch and not in the cage.
Never again with the cage.
“Tell me,” he murmured before kissing the back of her neck.
Not only had it been her first tattoo, it had been her first tattoo design, one of her first drawings in therapy, and that theme had become a central concept in her life.
But she wanted to fuck him, not have that discussion.
“After. I’ll tell you after,” she said, turning to face him.
He gave her a raised brow but she popped open the button on her jeans and that stopped him.
“You fight dirty,” he said.
“Not the only dirty thing I like to do.”
“You’re killing me. And you haven’t even taken your pants off yet.”
Rachel stepped from her jeans to remedy that.
He hissed and dropped to his knees, which only made her knees go rubbery.
“More birds.” He traced over the spots of red on the breasts of the three red house finches inked across her lower stomach in various states of wing movement.
He licked over her hip bone and she was the one who hissed. And again when he found the lines of her various scars. She flinched away but he followed, dropping gentle kisses over places born of an experience that had burned her to ash.
He kissed her scars like they were the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen. To be seen like that by this man staggered her.
Humbled her.
Made her feel like a fucking goddess.
She held on to his shoulders, keeping her balance as he destroyed her with those sweet, gentle kisses as he murmured what she assumed were some panty droppers in Russian.
Rachel dug deep into the sensation of the scrape of his beard against her side, just below her breast, the lazy flick of his tongue tracing the curve underneath, stopping short of her nipple as she held her breath.
Waiting for that explosion of pleasure when he scraped the edge of his teeth over her nipple before licking away the pain.
Her head dropped back as he slid one arm up her torso, his hand so big and powerful as it reached her chest, the edge of his fingers brushing against the hollow of her throat, bringing a gasp from her lips.
Every part of her was super-sensitive. Cells alight with sensation and each time he kissed or touched, it set off little sparks of desire.
On his knees before her like a supplicant, he coaxed every part of her awake. Need rolled over him in relentless waves as he struggled to hold it back. Hold back his instinct to gorge on her.
But it would be over too soon that way. She was so beautiful, he wanted to worship her the way she deserved. Wanted to learn her from head to toe. Wanted to burn himself into her memory, his touch into her skin so that it was him she thought of and no one else.
He hadn’t expected the matching lingerie, but it had been the ink, the owl on her thigh, the birds in flight from ankle to midcalf that had been so perfect. So sexy.
He had an idea about the story, but he wanted her to share it.
She grabbed at his shoulders then, attempting to get him to stand. He resisted a moment, pausing to breathe her in deep and press a kiss against the front of those pretty lacy panties.
“What is it I can do for you, then? Hmm, sweet?”
Amusement slid onto her features briefly. He stepped closer to steal a kiss while she got his pants unzipped.
He could have told her to slow down but he didn’t want that. He fucking burned for her.
Given the flare of her pupils, the parted lips and the gorgeous flush she wore, she burned equally for him.
He shoved out of his jeans and shorts while she watched. Couldn’t deny the pride when she caught sight of his cock and her smile went very satisfied.
She reached out to trace over the tattoo on his chest. “I admit I’ve wanted to see this for a while but there’s never been a good opportunity to get your shirt off.”
The full color, 1950s vintage-style death’s head moth had been his tribute to Danil.
“You could have asked. I’d have complied immediately.” He sucked in a breath as she tiptoed her fingers over to the piercing in his right nipple and flicked a fingernail over it.
“Noted for future reference.”
She kissed up his neck as she rubbed herself against his body. Setting off all sorts of alarms but in a good way.
He’d wanted this for so very long it was sort of a trip that it was actually happening.
That she’d been trying to get his shirt off amused him. How long had they both been ready but neither moved for fear of spooking the other?
She was warm and sweet and he didn’t stop himself from sliding his hands all over her skin, removing the last bits of clothes as he went. Acres of it and all for him.
He braced an arm around her waist and picked her up. She wrapped her legs around his hips as he walked her over to the bed and fell to it with her.
They fit. Perfectly.
She undid his hair, running her fingers through it as she pulled him closer. This kiss was different. This kiss wasn’t a prelude to sex. This kiss was sex.
Her taste undid him as he licked into her mouth. The scrape of her teeth against his bottom lip sent a shiver through his body.
She’d landed with her legs still around him so he rested in the cradle she’d made for him. Again, fitting perfectly.
Rachel rolled her hips, grinding her pussy against him. Her wet heat sliding against his cock, rendering him nearly unconscious with pleasure. He wanted to be in her. Wanted that clench around his dick as he sank deep.
But first he had every single intention of making her come. And come hard.
He kissed down her neck, over the hollow of her throat, down her side and over each rib. She writhed slightly, so responsive to his touch. Her nails, short and neat, dug into the muscles at his shoulders, sending spikes of pleasure/pain through him.
Her nipple stood hard against his tongue as he swiped it over. Her whispered moan echoed in his head. Her muscles flexed against his as they moved against each other.
He was so hard his cock leaked. He pulled away from her a little to clear his head and keep her safe. Condoms. Yes, he needed to grab some from his pocket. But for the moment he needed to be about her.
Licking over velvety, sensitive skin, he kept heading toward her pussy, pausing again at her hip bones, nibbling around her belly button until he got to the other hip.
The sound she made when he paused, shoulders holding her thighs wide so he could look his fill at her—an entreaty, an order—tore at him as a pulse of exquisite pleasure fogged his senses and battered his control.
He spread her open and took a long slow lick. And then another, reveling in that silky sweetness. In the fine tremble in her muscles. He knew on some level that a loss of control wasn’t something she allowed herself very often. And he understood why.
He pushed though. Right to that edge. He licked and kissed her pussy like a lover. Told her just how addictive and sexy he found her.
What drove him hardest was the unabashed way she sought pleasure. There was no shying away. She was all in. Rolling her hips against his mouth. His hair in her very tight grip as she pulled him where she wanted.
She wasn’t exactly noisy, but she made the hottest moans, especially as she approached orgasm. He supposed she probably kept it up during her climax but she clamped her thighs over his ears so he couldn’t hear anything.
* * *
IN ONE LONG BREATH, Rachel released all the tension in her body, falling limp to the bed.
She would have praised what had been a very fine blow job, but she wasn’t sure if her lips—and the rest of her orgasm-stunned body—would be moving again for at least another minute or two.
He heaved himself up, resting his head on her belly, and she managed to get her muscles working well enough to reach out and caress some reachable part of that taut skin.
Rachel honestly couldn’t wait to tell her sister what Vic looked like without his shirt.
Well, okay, she could definitely wait until after some more sex with Vic.
“My toes are still tingly,” she told him as she reversed their positions so that she was on top of him, resting between his thighs. That first real look at his cock had made all the spit in her mouth dry up.
He laughed, easy and confident. Preening a little as he shifted his arms above his head, he lured her in for a kiss that tasted of her.
“You’re a lot like a big cat at play. Most of the time you’re sassy and charming, but when you want something you move.” That he’d gone so suddenly from laid back to hyperintense and focused was dizzying.
And it made her wary. This close, this intimate she could see the predator in him. Like to like. He could hurt her.
She closed her eyes against the panic attempting to well up, instead redoubling her focus on him. On the way he felt skin to skin with her. On the taste of him as she licked over his nipple and the bar she’d suspected but hadn’t seen until that night.
“This.” Pulling back enough to look up into his face. “Quite the surprise under those shirts.”
“Good surprise?” he teased as he slid his palms up her sides and around to cup her breasts. “As in, these were a very good surprise. Better than I’d imagined.”
As if he’d sensed she needed to lighten up a little so he could charm her back from her panic.
He’d been right.
“Yes. A very good surprise.” Like a fucking hot secret she hadn’t known until she got to find out this way. So much better than seeing him working in the garden without a shirt or something. “Very sexy.”
She kissed her way down his—ridiculously firm—belly, down that trail of hair leading to his—seriously impressive—cock.
“Now this?” She traced a fingertip from the root to the tip, slick with precome. “This is an excellent surprise.” Gaze locked with his, she licked her fingertip before grabbing him in her fist, sliding her hand up and down a few times.
He groaned, a little growl at the end that had her bending to lick around the head to the crown. That growl went into a snarl.
Feeling very satisfied with all that power, she changed positions to better get at him, licking and sucking until he was little more than the writhing mass he’d reduced her to.
He was big enough that she couldn’t get the whole thing in her mouth, but it didn’t matter. Not really. She did the best she could with what she had and he seemed to be pretty happy with the result.
Happy enough that once she dipped her head to kiss down to his sac and back up, he picked her up and set her to the side while he rolled off the bed and began to pick through the pockets of his pants until he held up a square packet.
“Thank god,” she said, getting caught in how he looked all naked, hard and ready to fuck.
He took a long, careful look at her. Intimate as a caress. She let him see just how ready to be fucked she was, needing him to understand she was good to go with whatever he had in mind.
“Ass up,” he said, voice rough with sex.
She rolled and looked back at him over her shoulder. He grinned for a moment before rolling the condom on.
“Brace your hands on the headboard.”
A shiver worked over her skin as she shimmied up the bed a little so she could grab the bottom of her headboard, which handily was a spindle big enough to hold comfortably.
His hum of satisfaction seemed to echo through her nipples. She hadn’t been so exposed and vulnerable, not during sex, in at least six years.
So when he aligned his body behind hers, the backs of her thighs seemed extra sensitive where they brushed against the hair on his. Enough that she turned her face into her pillow when she moaned so the whole house didn’t hear.
He was so big, the heat seemed to radiate from his skin over her like a blanket. The hands petting down her back and over the curve of her ass were powerful. But leashed. Creating nothing but pleasure. Showing nothing but delight.
His hands left her hips and shortly after that, the head of his cock nudged against her, pressing ever so slowly inside.
Sweet baby Jesus eating pizza, that was good. So good she began to push back as slowly as he pushed in. The edge of the burn at his invasion wisped away as she adjusted around him.
He lapsed into Russian at a few points, holding for a few breaths before continuing. It had taken all her control not to shove herself back as hard as she could.
He swiveled, sending sharp zings of pleasure through her and her breath shooting from her lips.
Still, she held on because when he finally bumped all the way home, he bent over her, kissing up her spine.
“You’re so fucking sexy,” he murmured right before sinking his teeth into her shoulder. Just shy of leaving a mark. All while continuing a slow controlled thrust in and out. The way he’d shifted, his body dominated hers, keeping her exactly where he wanted.
He controlled the speed and depth, the angle. It enabled her to let go and still have the ability to tell him what she needed. And left her with an absolute surety that he’d respect anything she said.
How it could be scary and comforting at the same time she didn’t want to think about too much. Especially as he began to go harder and deeper. She allowed herself to drown in feeling.
The way he stretched her, coupled with the angle, began to build a new orgasm deep in her gut.
“Beautiful. Soft. Wet. So hot,” he murmured as he reached around to pinch her left nipple. He left her speechless with the way he saw her. With the raw need she apparently evoked in him.
She let her head fall forward as she tightened herself around him. He slid a palm down her belly and found her clit, circling in time with his thrusts. Before long, climax slammed into her as she writhed around him, nearly overwhelmed with sensation.
He bent again, his face in her hair as she whimpered with the last of her orgasm when his came.
* * *
HE’D ROLLED OFF to the side and gone to rid himself of the condom before joining her in bed, this time under the blankets where she’d burrowed. It pleased him when she sighed happily and snuggled into his side because he’d been worried he’d been too hard with her during sex.
Given the way she slung her leg over him and looked up, smiling sleepily, they were both okay.
“I’m hungry.”
“Want a sandwich? There’s bread and corned beef.”
Her smile went soft. “You’re offering to make me a sandwich?”
“Yeah. You just made me come so hard my teeth ache. I’m totally good with making sandwiches.”
“You’re pretty handy to have around.”
He kissed her slow, easing back into that soft, intimate place they’d newly carved out.
“Is your sister going to run in here when I show up in the kitchen?” he asked, pulling his jeans back on.
“Probably. Best to just get it over with and she’ll scamper off when her prurient interest is satisfied. Hopefully by the time you return with sandwiches and grape soda.”
He wrinkled his nose. “For you I’ll bring grape.”
He tried not to stare too long when she got out of bed to get dressed but failed, so she tossed a pillow at his head. “Go on!”
Laughing, he headed out to make his woman a sandwich.
Alexsei was in the kitchen as he came in. He gave Vic a long up and down and then smirked. “Go on, hummingbird,” he called out to Maybe, who scampered off to interrogate her sister.
There was no need for Alexsei to question Vic. He was the quiet one in their relationship. It was Vic who loved to talk.
He assembled the food as his cousin did the same.
“The Dolan sisters need to be coaxed to eat more,” Alexsei said at last. “So busy all the time.”
Rachel was driven, as was Maybe. Vic liked that about them. They had dreams and aspirations and they worked for them. Both sisters were so smart and tough.
They were also vulnerable. Not so much physically, though certainly he was concerned for Rachel’s safety. But emotionally. Their father had a great deal of power to hurt their hearts. He couldn’t prevent that.
“Fortunately, I have a connection when it comes to food. My mother won’t let them starve,” Vic said.
“Your mother is one of my favorite people of all time.” Alexsei held up one of the noxious grape sodas the Dolans seemed to love. “Strange.”
Alexsei didn’t ask if he was serious about Rachel. Didn’t probe for details. He knew that Vic wouldn’t be there if she’d just been a casual hookup. He wouldn’t have let Rachel get close to his parents if he wasn’t serious.
And Vic understood Rachel enough to know he wouldn’t be in her kitchen after having sex when her sister was home if he’d been a casual hookup for her.
The words didn’t need to be spoken. He and Alexsei would be united in protecting Rachel and Maybe the best they could.
“They’re very close,” Alexsei said as he cracked two beers open before handing one Vic’s way. “It’s not about you. Or me.”
“Understood and agreed.” He’d never dream of coming between Rachel and Maybe.
Maybe came back into the room, gave Vic a thumbs-up as she reached between him and Alexsei to grab a beer. “You better get that sandwich up there. She’s super bitchy when she’s hungry.”
“Wouldn’t want that.” With a quick goodbye, Vic grabbed the food and headed back to Rachel and her bed.