I grip her hips and put her on the counter, where she was before her brother came in. She opens her legs, letting me in, and I push her hair off her shoulder so I can have access to her neck. “You,” I say, kissing her neck gently and she moves her shoulder up and her body shivers under my kiss, “are the only light in all of this. There is so much shit going on in the rest of my life that you are my saving grace.” I push the other side of her hair behind her as I kiss the other side of her neck. “I’m sorry it’s not going to be all roses,” I tell her as she drapes her arms over my shoulders. “I wish it was. I wish I wasn’t butting heads with your brother. Wish my team was riding high the way they should be, and I really wish you weren’t here for that conversation.”
Her hands move from my shoulder to my chest. “He was out of line,” she states softly. “If he wanted to say what he did, he should not have come to your house to do it.”
“It’s the only place where he felt comfortable doing it, without anyone listening,” I explain. “Well, there wasn’t anyone who was supposed to be listening.”
“I was this close,” she picks up her hand and holds her thumb and forefinger together, “to coming out swinging.” I tilt my head and kiss her, stopping her from speaking.
“Whatever happens with us, the last thing I want is for you to be in the middle.” I look at her and raise my hand to touch her cheek before palming it in my hand. “I will protect you at all costs.”
“My knight in shining armor.” She smiles big and I see the sadness that was in her eyes is now gone. I know I did my part in putting it there, and then made sure I took it away. I know it probably wasn’t easy for her to hear that conversation, and I wish she hadn’t, but now she knows where we all stand, I guess.
“You bet your ass,” I confirm, trying to shift the mood. “Now, what are we going to do tonight?”
“Well.” She sighs. “I was thinking we could maybe order some pizza. Then we could take a bath.”
“Is that what you want?” I ask her and she nods her head. “Do you want to do the bath before or after we eat?”
“Are you going to fuck me before or after we eat?” she counters my question with her own question.
“I was planning on doing both.” I pull her to me, my cock hard for her. “Maybe order the pizza, fuck you on the counter.”
“Yes.” She giggles. “I like the sound of that.”
“Then fuck you before we take a bath or fuck you after the bath.”
“I mean”—she looks up to the ceiling as if she’s thinking about it—“if you are really up for the challenge, you could probably do all three. Before, during, and after.” I throw my head back and for the first time in what feels like forever, I laugh, like hardcore belly laugh. “I mean, if you think your heart can handle it.” She kisses under my jaw. “I wouldn’t want to push you too far at your age. I think we should be fitting you for a Life Alert alarm.” She is fighting to not laugh. “You know, ‘I’ve fallen and I can’t get up, please help.’”
“I wasn’t the one who couldn’t keep up the last time,” I remind her.
“That’s because I had to bury my face in a pillow so no one would hear me. I almost suffocated myself.” She quickly defends herself. “I told you it was too much.”
“No, you didn’t.” I chuckle. “I believe you said, ‘give me more, Zane,’” I repeat her exact words. “I want more,” I try to mimic her voice.
“We obviously aren’t even going to have sex once with that attitude,” she sasses and bites her lower lip to stop herself from talking.
“I’m going to need you to stop talking and save your breath.” I pull her shirt off her, leaving her in her white lace bra. “Better than that,” I pick her up off the counter, “I have something to fill your mouth.”
She gasps and I’m expecting her to push me away, but what I’m not expecting is for her to drop to her knees. “I hope your heart can handle it,” she teases, unbuckling my pants, pushing them over my hips. I watch her pull my cock out of my pants and take it to the back of her throat, the conversation now tabled.
We end up ordering pizza twenty minutes later, and eating it with her wearing my shirt, I wouldn’t trade it for all the wins in the world.
twenty-six
Victoria
I pick up the phone beside my bed and see it’s Jaxon calling me. “You’ve reached Victoria,” I start to say, “she’s either unavailable or doesn’t want to speak to you.”
He barks out a laugh. “Very funny,” he says. “I’m going to be at your place in ten minutes.”
“I can’t wait.” I get up and walk to the bathroom where I put in my diamond stud earrings. “Are you going to stop the SUV, or am I going to have to jump in when you drive by?”
“Take your time,” Ariella interjects. “I have to come in anyway. I need to use the bathroom.”
“Again?” Jaxon says and I can feel the look she is giving him. “Yeah, take your time,” he tells me.
“See you soon.” I hang up the phone and then go into my closet to slip on the pair of black satin shoes with a crystal hoop on the toe. I turn as I check out the whole outfit, the black dress hits me mid-thigh, tight around my waist and then flares off just a touch. The whole dress has black flowers embroidered on it with see-through sleeves covered in stitched on flowers. I love that the V in the front gives off a hint of boob. My hair is swept back in soft little curls on the sides of my face. My makeup is smoky but with a hint of silver around the corners, making my blue eyes even brighter. I put on a bit more blush than I normally do and make sure my lips are lined with a soft pink, almost purple, lipstick, and I apply a clear gloss on them, knowing it drives Zane crazy. I smirk when I think of him as the front door opens and I hear heels on the floor. “Hello,” I call to the doorway, seeing Ariella run by as she waves her hand.
“How much water does she drink?” I mumble as I walk out of the room and see Jaxon sitting on my couch, looking at the vase of flowers I had delivered yesterday.
