“You like that baby?” I pant.
Her head rolls against the tile as she remains gazing above, lost. “Yes, fuck yes.”
I suck her nipple into my mouth once more, tugging again on the bar. As I do, her pussy begins to tighten, her orgasm nearing. It’s too much, too tight, and I feel my own release burning low in my stomach.
“I’m going to come,” I warn around her nipple.
She nods vigorously, the motion causing her to bounce on my cock. It’s enough to do me in completely. I roar as I come inside her, my head dropping to the crook of her neck as I pump upward.
Her cry follows only seconds later, her pussy clamping down on me so tightly, stars dot behind my eyelids.
After several perfect moments, I raise my head to meet blissful golden eyes. Valentina smiles, just a small teasing look, before she pushes up and off my cock. Chest heaving, I watch her walk under the spray, washing off my cum before she turns around, using soap to clean me as well. I don’t move,I barely fucking breathe, as her fingers touch me with such tenderness.
When we’re finally clean, I try to speak around the ball forming in my throat, but my words come out as a whisper. “I shouldn’t have come in you. I can get you the pill or?—”
She shrugs, turning off the shower before shooting me a sad smile as she wrings out her hair. “I can’t have babies. It’s not a big deal.”
She must see the questions racing through my mind. Instead of answering them right away, she steps out of the steamy shower, wrapping herself in a towel. I stare after her, still unsure of what to do.
Finally, she says, “When I was eighteen I got a hysterectomy. I didn’t want to have kids—I never wanted them to face the fate I had.”
“Valentina, I?—”
She turns to me again, her eyes glittering with warning, and I bite my tongue. “It was the one thing I did for myself, Santos. I don’t need pity. I was afraid my father would someday want to use me as some kind of cow—continue the family line…” She shakes her head. “I would have rather he killed me than make me bring someone else into this torture. I made peace with it a long time ago.”
Once dry, she slips into a pair of silken pajamas. I remain standing inside the shower, too dumbfounded to move.
She’s so strong—the strongest woman I’ve ever known. No one should have had to endure what she did, made the choices she had to make.
“You’re amazing,” I say in awe, and she just shoots me a smirk like she doesn’t believe me.
“Here.” She offers me a towel before opening the bathroom door and striding out. I watch her go, my heart now wrapped in her dainty palm.
She doesn’t know it yet, but I’m going to prove to Valentina Reyes that she’s the most amazing woman alive, even if it takes me a lifetime to do it.
“You coming?” Her voice is filled with promise, teasing even, as she looks at me from her perch on the enormous wooden bed in her room.
I don’t bother drying off as I stride toward her.
THIRTY-SIX
VALENTINA
February 10th, 2014
I blowthrough every light on the way to the casino, my father’s warning ringing in my ears. If I don’t get there soon, I’ll get nothing.“This is your last chance to prove you’re worthy of the family name.”
I’d do anything to please him. I’d kill myself if that’s what it took—carve my heart out and offer it to him on a platter.
As I pull up, I don’t bother turning the car off. I just chuck my keys to the closest valet and stride inside, my heels clicking against the marble floors.
I don’t know what to say to him yet—I don’t know what I’m walking into, or who, but I’ll do whatever I have to. I always have.
When you sell yourself, there’s nothing left to protect.And I sold myself a long time ago.
I raise a hand, knocking on his office door. Butterflies erupt in my stomach, but I quickly shut them down, trapping them in the ice box I keep locked around my heart. Now’s not a time to act weak.
“Come in,” my father barks, and I do as he demands, quickly stepping inside and closing the door behind me. “You’re late.”
