SHE CAME out of that bathroom like a spirit stripped bare. When I pulled her close, she didn’t fight me. Asking her if something had changed or was wrong wouldn’t have worked.
Her happy wall would fly back up, and I didn’t want it between us in the dark of the night. I’d opened the window so the cool breeze rustled in. The air in this town smelled greener, like fresh-cut grass and forest. If I could smell that mixed with strawberries, I’d contemplate giving up just about anything to keep it forever. I buried my nose in her hair and sighed.
She turned to me, her whiskey-colored eyes as dark as chocolate in the night and murmured, “I think I might be falling in love with you.”
Those words should have scared me. They would have coming from any other woman. I had become more attached to this woman than I’d ever planned and knew that meant one thing. Something else would suffer. Relationships were give-and-take.
Her hands curled up over her chest, and she shrank back from me, shrank back from the words. None of it was supposed to be romantic. She lay there, a vision with pink-blonde hair encircling her, eyes glistening in the moonlight, and confessed to me like a sinner in a confessional. A tear streamed down her face.
“Victory, don’t cry.”
“It’s just … I can’t stop it. I’ve told my heart not to. I have thought of every logical reason we won’t work. Still, my mind keeps restructuring the narrative.” She took in a shaky breath. “Now we’re here at your parents’ like we’re serious, and I’m in your childhood room and this house and this town and everything is so damn perfect.”
“You’re painting a pretty picture, Pix,” I reminded her, reminded myself. Still, the picture was starting to feel very real.
“That’s the thing. I’m not. For once, what I’m saying, I’m not even exaggerating.” She sighed. “I just need you to know. I’m falling but I’m trying not—”
I took her pouted lips in mine and didn’t let her finish her sentence. Victory Blakely was quickly becoming the thing I wanted most. More than Bastian not bothering me about Levvetor, more than my job, and more than Stonewood Enterprises thriving.
I threaded my fingers through her hair and memorized the silken texture. Her hands gripped my shoulders as I took the kiss deeper and moved closer to her, rubbing my length against her. Her leg slid up my thigh like she couldn’t stop herself.
My hand pushed her shirt up, and I dipped it into her bottoms, groaning when I realized she didn’t have panties on. “Are you trying to kill me?”
“I wanted you to sleep on the floor.”
“Damn,” I grunted and rolled my thumb over her clit.
She hissed.
“Quiet, Pix. Or you won’t get to come in my bed.”
“This shouldn’t be happening.”
I ran a finger over her pussy and she was so wet, I knew she didn’t mean it. “Want me to stop?”
“We should,” she whispered as she arched her tits against my chest.
“Right.” I moved to her neck to suck at her collarbone and she gripped my hair as I worked her clit just the way she liked. “Remember to stay quiet.”
She moaned into the pillow.
Her hands flew over me and then she was down by my shorts, but I leaned away. Her eyes fluttered open, “Jett?”
“This is for you. I get you in my old room where I used to not worry about a damn thing in the world. I want the same from you right now.”
“I’m not worrying. I just want to make you feel good like you—”
“That’s the thing, Pix.” I slid my hands to her waist and she protested. I hushed her and turned her around so that her ass was right up against my dick. I rubbed the peaks and valleys of her curves and whispered into her neck, “I’m making you feel good now. Forget everything else.”
Her ass pushed into me, and I nipped at her neck as I slid my hand back in her shorts. When she started to pant and moan louder, I sucked the sensitive skin right below her ear.
“Oh, God,” she breathed out.
“Your god, woman. I’m here to deliver you to heaven, and you’d better go willingly.”
Her hand crept back toward my shorts. I bit her ear. “Remember I can fuck you to hell too, Victory. Do what you’re told. Tonight, take the pleasure.”
She chanted, “Yes, yes, yes.”
I covered her mouth. “I’m starting to think you want them to hear.”
Her thighs squeezed tight around my wrist as my fingers slid in and out of her. I picked up the rhythm.
“From now on, you take what you want from me. You don’t worry about what I want or need. Understand?”
She didn’t respond at first so I slowed my pace.
“Jett!” she ground out and rolled her ass back into me.
“Say it, Pix. Tell me you understand.”
“Fine. I understand, you prick.”
She didn’t. Not really. But I was going to make sure to teach her.
