“Yes, yes, I want that. I want that, too.”
“Fuck you until you can't walk,” he threatened. “Spank you until you can't sit.”
“All of that, and then more,” she nodded in agreement, her hands squeezing and kneading her breasts.
“God, I love how you let me treat you,” he whispered, and she felt his teeth against her ankle, biting down hard.
“You can treat me any way you want, if this is the reward,” she chuckled darkly.
“You don't deserve a reward,” he hissed, shoving her leg to the side and falling on top of her, crushing her to the mattress while his hips jackhammered against hers. She began whimpering in time to his thrusts. “Making me wait for something as good as this.”
“If I had known this would be the result, I would've tried it sooner,” she said, throwing her head back as a tremor ripped through her body.
“Fuck, Valentine,” he groaned. “I'm inside you, and I'm already thinking about the next time I'm going to be inside you. All the time. I want to be like this all the time.”
“We will,” she babbled. “We will. Fuck, Ari, I'm gonna come. So soon.”
“Yes,” he breathed. “My favorite. Seeing you under me, out of control and out of your mind. Owning that part of you.”
“Ari,” she panted, struggling to breathe. “Ari, you ... you ...”
“What, Valentine!?” he demanded, moving one of his legs up so his knee was right behind her thigh, allowing him to thrust his pelvis at an angle, hitting a spot inside her that actually made her see spots.
“You own all parts of me.”
Valentine screamed when she came, loud and long. She briefly wondered how thick the walls were, then forgot all about it when the second wave of her orgasm hit, capsizing all her sense. She locked her limbs around him, holding him tight to her while his hips picked up. She shook and she trembled and cried, and when she sank her teeth into his shoulder, it was too much for him. He slammed into her so hard, it drove her up the bed a couple inches, almost ramming her into the head board. Then he was coming, and his mouth was against her shoulder, and soon enough, she had a bite mark to match the one she'd just left on him.
“That was insane,” he was panting against her skin. “You just killed me. My dick is now broken, and I'm dead.”
Valentine managed one laugh, but was breathing too hard to do any more. Ari collapsed off to her side, his torso forcing her thighs wide apart.
When the cool air turned their skin clammy, they finally slid apart and Ari pulled the sheet up over their bodies. Once it was settled into place, he laid down on his side close to her, wrapped his arm around her waist, and pulled her into his chest.
“Careful,” she breathed. “Apparently you've got a broken dick.”
He chuckled, his face nuzzled into her hair.
“I may have been exaggerating.”
“I don't know, you seemed touch and go there.”
“Give me fifteen minutes, and I'll show you 'touch and go',” he threatened, and judging by what she could feel against her leg, he wasn't lying. She rolled onto her side and faced him.
“What are we doing, Ari,” she whispered, pressing her hand against the side of his face.
“Enjoying playful banter before I fuck you again,” he said.
“Ari.”
“Excuse me, before I 'make love' to you again.”
Valentine swallowed thickly.
“You said you loved me,” she reminded him. “Outside the club. You said you loved Val. Did you mean it? Or was that just part of your ... grand gesture?”
Ari sighed and closed his eyes, then pulled her close again, so his chin was resting on top of her head and her nose was brushing his clavicle.
“It's been a very eye opening couple of months,” he spoke softly. “I went from thinking my life revolved around my father's footsteps – not just thinking it, but believing it – to starting completely from scratch.”
“You said you already had a client,” Valentine interrupted, just remembering that fact. He laughed, the sound a deep rumble in her ear.
“We have a fairy godmother,” he chuckled. “She cusses like a sailor and owns a lot of dirty businesses – and thank god, because it means I'll always have a job.”
“Del!?” Valentine gasped, craning her head back to look up at him. “You got DelVecchio to be your client?”
“I already knew about all his legal problems, and shockingly enough, he didn't have a lawyer on retainer,” he explained. “And as bizarre as it may seem, we actually get along pretty well.”
“It's not bizarre at all, Del gets along with everybody. He just acts like he doesn't.”
“Well, he's now the sole client of the Me, Myself, and I law firm. Good thing he can afford my fees.”
“Okay, so you're starting your life anew by branching out on your own,” Valentine paraphrased as she settled in back under his chin. “What other changes are you planning on making?”
“Apparently I've acquired a sex slave, so that's a pretty big change.”
“Ari.”
“What? Just a couple minutes ago, you said I could do anything -”
“Ari.”
“I plan on learning what being in a real relationship is like,” he whispered. “Let's the hope the girl gives me a big learning curve, because I've already fucked up a lot. I'm going to fuck up some more.”
“She's fucked up pretty big herself, so I'm sure she'll give it to you,” she whispered back.
“I'm going to make love to her as often as she'll let me,” he continued, and she giggled at his word choice. “And I'm going spend every free moment I have making her believe that she's every bit as beautiful inside and out as I think she is.”
“That's a pretty good plan,” Valentine sniffled.
“You were right, Valentine. I'm a jerk. An asshole. And that's probably not going to change,” he warned her. She shook her head.
“I wouldn't want you to, I love those sides of you.”
“I don't know what I'm doing with you,” he whispered. “But I know I want to figure it out.”
“Me, too.”
“When we first me, I liked Saint Valentine from the first moment I saw her,” he kept whispering, and she held her breath so she wouldn't miss a word. “And as I got to see more of her, I liked Valentone O'Dell just as much. And when I got to know them as the same person, that's when I liked her the most.”
There was a long pause, and she finally let out her breath.
“... but?” she guessed. He sighed.
“I don't know anything about love, Valentine,” he said. “I barely remember my mother, and respecting someone and loving someone are two different thing – I'm not sure if I love my father. So I don't even really know what love is; but I do know I want to find out with you.”
“With me?” she echoed.
“Only you,” he nodded. She paused for a long time, struggling with what to say in return. Then her grandmother's voice floated through her mind, from that last conversation.