I tangled my fingers with his. I dragged him to my cheek and kissed his knuckles, my breath hitching. My nails dug into his hand. It was much better now, so easy. Lying under him while he worked up a sweat while fucking me was the best thing ever.
Amazing.
Every sensation heightened my arousal—his strained grunts, the obscene, wet slapping, the sharp scent of male, the chest hair tingling my breasts.
His arm buckled, and he fell as though weakened. He seized my hips, and he pounded me with an unhinged rhythm. It was like he shoved his cock into my stomach.
I gasped as my breasts crushed against his pecs. I explored the planes of his back as he caged me in his arms. I melted, my world filled with him. His hard body sailed in my hands. He clutched my hair and mashed his kiss into me. His tongue forced my lips to part, and I succumbed to his domination. I burned for more. He showered kisses over my mouth and jaw. My emotions and thoughts whirled and skidded. All I could do was take the rolls of his hips.
He kissed my nipples, rousing a melting warmth. He picked up a lock of my hair and inhaled. The raw passion lifted me to blissful clouds. I soared. My blood sang with the tempo of our bodies. I raked his shoulders.
Then I shattered into a million glowing stars. Ecstasy flooded my whole being as his cock anchored deep. A tremor heated my thighs as a gust of pleasure swept me away.
Vinn arched. His face squeezed, and he let out a delicious groan. Liquid heat jetted from his cock, filling me with wetness. I quivered with the sensation. I couldn’t speak. I did nothing but savor him.
His pulse hammered my breast. He panted, forehead touching mine. A bead of his sweat trickled to my cheek. His eyes crashed into mine, no longer pools of pitch-black but burning with a feral possessiveness.
My giddiness popped like bubbles from soda, exploding with Vinn’s growing smile. He looked at me under his lashes with an arrogance that demolished his sweetness.
I moved to free myself. Bitterness cut my chest when he resisted, eye-fucking me.
He kissed my cheek.
That one kiss sparked a fierce ache.
He pulled out, hands sliding over my body like furniture. He tapped my leg and slid off the bed. Then he disappeared into the bathroom to clean himself.
My stomach gaped hollowly. I’d saved myself for him only for it to be met with his indifference. This moment was supposed to mean something, and now it was ruined.
I trembled. My throat burned with a silent scream. I shoved off the bed and picked up my clothes, eager to put every moment of this night behind me, until I kicked something round and hard. The necklace he’d ripped off me dug into my foot.
I grabbed it.
I was a volcano on the verge of erupting, all my bottled feelings slamming into my chest. Years’ worth of anguish clawed at my throat as I met his puzzled gaze.
Vinn stood in his carpeted walk-in closet, pulling on slacks. He pulled on his jacket, but I laced my hands with his, stopping him from buttoning.
He resisted. “I have to go.”
“Stay with me.”
My eyes pinched shut against the rejection that would come. A sick yearning assaulted me. My throat tightened. I was tired of this. I couldn’t bear the sight of his coldness without breaking down.
I can’t do this.
He pulled me off him and pinched my chin. His lips curled with a small grin, as though he found me begging him to stay amusing. “I had fun, but I’m still very pissed. I’ll be back. Tomorrow.”
The stone wall within me crumbled.
My palm opened around the seashell clutched in my fist. My thoughts careened as I slowly untangled the chain and draped it over my neck.
Vinn ripped away from me and roughly tugged on his jacket. His stiff outrage was my only victory. The only power I held over Vinn was the pendant dangling on my neck.
He would never love me.
I had to shove him away.
He gave my throat a bitter glare, and left the room.
Nineteen
Vinn
Fuck, she’d been a great lay.
The best I’d ever had. I couldn’t get it out of my head, how her soft curves had molded into my body. She might’ve been a virgin, but she got my blood pumping like nothing else when she arched her back, ripped at my clothes, and slashed my mouth with her tongue. She should be held responsible for turning me into a maniac.
Thirty years, and I’d never made the stupid decision to fuck a woman bareback. I’d taken note of men like Michael, who’d ruined his life by knocking up a stripper, and kept my dick wrapped up. If a girl hinted at having stronger feelings, my ass was out the door. And yet, I’d broken every rule tonight, and I wanted to do it again. I might’ve gotten her pregnant. A sick part of me hoped I had.
I could keep her forever.
The reckless thought consumed me with a flame before I shoved it away. Jesus, I’d lost my mind. I’d officially gone off the deep end, if I was that desperate.
The shot of whiskey trembled in my grip. I’d headed straight for Sunset Tavern, and I’d stared at the glass for the last fifteen minutes. Hanging out in bars was terrible for my sobriety, but if I didn’t drown myself in alcohol, I would do something insane.
A body bumped into my chair. Only one motherfucker would be so cavalier with my personal space, and I had no interest in listening to his snide comments all night.
Michael leaned against the counter, his teeth flashing with a fake smile. “Let me guess. You’re in the doghouse for being a prick.”
“We’re not fighting.”
“Then why are you at the place where you find all your hookups?” A deadly edge crept into his voice.
“I don’t want anyone else.”
I swallowed the drink as the truth burned in my chest. Liana was mine, wedged so far inside my chest I couldn’t breathe without a sharp ache.
Was it the same for her?
No.
She couldn’t go a day without pining after the other man, regardless of her “crush” on me.
I hurled the glass at the wall. It shattered, raining on the peanut-shell-covered floor.
Michael gave me a vicious side-eye. “What the hell happened?”
“None of your business.”
“She’s still my sister,” he warned in a deep growl. “And I’m waiting on your wedding invitation. Don’t think I haven’t noticed, asshole.”
“There will be a wedding.”
And hopefully, a baby.
God, I was fucking nuts.
“When?” Michael pressed, shoving a tumbler of seltzer in my hands. “She’ll be showing soon. There’s nothing tackier than a bride with a baby bump.”
“Within a month.”
“Then you need to get with the program.”
He was absolutely right.
“Thanks for the pep talk.” I patted his shoulder, and he flinched. “Later.”
I grabbed my coat and slid off the stool, leaving the bar.
My mood was black.
My hatred for the man who gave her the necklace clogged my lungs like toxic smoke. I couldn’t breathe without the sting of a thousand tiny knives. This was unlike me. I didn’t become a fuming wreck when they wore another man’s jewelry. I didn’t stalk their exes.
Exes.
The frat bro’s round face swam in my mind, poisoning my stomach. James had signed his own death warrant. He’d touched parts of Liana I considered mine. He’d almost raped her.