She tilted her head, her cheeks growing redder. “I’m not exactly well-endowed.”
He growled, hoping to God no man had never complained about that to her in the past. “You’re fuckingperfect,” he said. “Gorgeous.”
Her eyes lit up, just as they always did whenever he paid her a compliment. Her happiness made him want to tell her how beautiful she was every single day.
She lifted her arms, clearly intent on resuming the kisses, but Victor resisted the pull. He wasn’t finished looking…and he hadn’t even started the touching.
Reaching out, he drew one finger along the top of her bra, watching as her nipples budded behind the lacy material. He couldn’t hold back his grin when she shivered in response. Her arousal was as easy to read as her happiness, though he wasn’t sure if that was because she was an open book or if he’d been studying her for so long, it felt simple.
Now that he’d stopped lying to himself, he could admit—even if only in his mind—that he’d been fascinated by this woman since shortly after their introduction. Victor was a tough son of a bitch, the kind of guy who was slow to warm up, the type who never had a lot of friends.
He preferred quality over quantity, so his close friend circle was small, filled with people who’d gone the distance and proven themselves loyal and trustworthy. And because of that, he gave those same things back in return.
Belle had won him over far quicker than anyone else in his life, which was saying something, because he’d been an outright bear to her in the earliest days of her employment. His overprotectiveness had been amplified a million-fold after Phil’s death and Pip’s birth, and Belle had been tossed right into the fire, forced to prove herself to him right out of the gate.
She never wavered, never faltered, never quit. Instead, she got up every morning with a compassionate smile, a patient demeanor, and a strength that not only helped get Vivian through the hardest time of her life, but him as well. Because he’d been grieving, too. Devastated over the loss of a man who’d become a true brother to him, and his heart broken for his sister, who’d been widowed far too young.
Victor dipped his finger into the valley of her breasts, tugging her bra down until her nipples popped out over the material. This time, Belle did lift her arms, intent on covering herself.
She stopped when he shook his head.
Her hands lingered in midair for a few seconds, and he imagined she was waging an internal battle, wanting to hide but also wanting to obey.
When she lowered her arms to her sides once more, he gave her a soft kiss on the cheek. “Good girl.”
Those two words produced an even bigger shudder, her face rife with hunger, her eyes heavy with need.
Jesus Christ. This woman was made for him.
Victor slid his arms around her back, unfastening her bra, dropping it on the floor with her dress. Belle’s arms remained lowered. At least for a moment.
That was when it appeared her patience ran out. She tugged his T-shirt from his jeans, working the cotton upward until she could pull it off. He loved her eyes on him, loved the way she tugged at her lower lip with her teeth.
He’d caught her staring at his chest countless times over the past couple months, whenever they were in the pool together. Those glances had been torture, and Victor couldn’t believe he’d been such a fucking fool for so long. At the time, he’d been proud of his strength, of his ability to do the right thing, but now, he could see all he’d truly done was waste too much precious time that the two of them could have spent together.
Belle’s hand trembled slightly as she placed her palm in the center of his chest, her fingers sliding over his bare skin. The appreciation in her eyes felt good.
“You are so damn hot,” she breathed.
He chuckled, the response drawing her attention back to his face.
“Especially when you smile,” she added.
Victor knew he had resting scowl face. He’d been told by his parents, sister, teachers, friends, coaches, and teammates that he needed to smile more, but he’d never found much worth smiling about.
Pip and Vivian were good at making him laugh, and now Belle.
Something told him he was going to be hard-pressed tostopsmiling whenever he was with her, simply because she made him feel so good.
Victor pulled her back into his embrace, kissing her once more. As their tongues touched, he slid his fingers beneath the elastic of her panties, sliding them down. Belle shook her hips, helping him guide the silky material over her ass.
Breaking the kiss, Victor decided to follow them the rest of the way down.
Dropping to his knees, he hissed when Belle’s hands grasped his long hair, pulling it roughly.
“Victor,” she said on a gasp. “You don’t have to?—”
“Have to?” he echoed, more sharply than he intended, even as he lifted one of her feet, then the other, taking the panties off completely. “Nothing about this is a ‘have to’ situation, Sunshine. Now open your legs like a good girl.”
