The one we could’ve been.
____________
It was a ten-minute walk back to the hotel, and I insisted we make it by foot. I needed to reorganize my thoughts and hoped the fresh air would sober me up.
Achilles chivalrously matched my sluggish pace, slowed by my three-inch heels and half a bottle of wine. It pissed me off that he was so agreeable.
Three Camorra soldiers trailed us, quietly surveilling the area.
This was our last few hours together. After tonight, I had to split and move away for good, leaving my entire life behind. We’d agreed on it, but I still struggled to imagine myself without my family, friends, and social circle.
By the time we reached our presidential suite, I was no more clearheaded than I had been ten minutes ago. He closed the door behind us, and I used the opportunity to pounce on him, jerking him close so we were flush against each other.
“Fuck me like a whore. It’s what I deserve.” I hoisted my legs up and vined them around his trim waist, pulling him even closer. His cock pulsated between us through our clothes.
This was my out. My off-ramp from all these pesky feelings he stirred in me.
“It’s so cute when you pretend you can fight me.” He clasped my jaw with one hand while he ground his shaft along my center. Goose bumps cascaded along my skin. “Like a kitty trying to take on a tiger.”
I met him halfway, thrusting my hips, as we dry-humped against the wall deliciously, slowly enough to drive each other mad. I looped one arm around his neck, my other hand trailing his sculpted chest.
“Careful, Achilles. This kitty has claws. They might leave scars.”
“You always do, sweetheart.” His mouth latched onto the side of my neck, his straight, white teeth sinking into the sensitive flesh. “And I’ll wear them like a badge of honor.”
He devoured my neck, running his hot tongue along my pulse, nibbling softly, while I rode him through our clothes, running my fingernails along his back and leaving dents.
I darted my tongue out, tracing his stubbled jawline with the tip of it. I reached between us, unbuckling him with one hand.
Up until now, he’d only taken me either from behind or with a helmet. He never let me see his face, and we never kissed. His boundaries were clear, but I wanted to smash them to dust. I wasn’t sure I had any hard limits anymore when it came to him.
His cock leapt free from his black boxer briefs. I ran my palm along the heavy shaft, thumbing a drop of precum and rubbing it. He groaned, his minty breath fanning over my face. My tongue traveled upward, tracing the edge of his bottom lip. Hismouth, God, his mouth. I only had a hazy memory of what it tasted like, but it was delicious, like every dark fantasy I’d ever had. Mouthwatering and forbidden, conjured from the most depraved corners of my soul.
He froze and pulled away from me.
“F—Ford Prefect,” he choked out.
Chapter Thirteen
Tierney
The words explodedand filled the space between us in a fog of smoke.
I reared my head back, confused. I didn’t expect him to use the words. They were supposed to keepmesafe, not him. Pulling away, I licked my bottom lip shakily.
“Are you… Did I…do something wrong?”
“No kissing.” His nostrils flared. “I…I can’t.”
I nodded, swallowing hard. “Okay. Yeah.”
He caught my waist and turned me swiftly so my stomach was flush against the door. Flipping my dress up, he reached between my legs and dipped two fingers inside, spreading my wetness. I was soaked and ready for him, riding on the edge of a dark spell only he could put me under.
Achilles kept every promise he’d made on that cliff. He flicked my clit, pushing the heel of his hand against my slit to form tension. I arched into his touch, throwing my head back, tears clinging to the tips of my lashes. His lovemaking seemed wild, intense, and chaotic, but I noticed how he took cues from me, how he withdrew when my pants became slower, shallower. How he pressed forward and gave me more when my breath hitched and my pulse picked up beneath his touch.
You don’t need violence.
You don’t need pain.
