Chapter Five #2
She bit down on my lower lip just enough to make my cock jump against her pussy where she ground herself over my erection. I growled into her mouth and she answered with a hungry noise that made me need to take what she so aggressively offered. Lord knew I wanted to.
Her tongue swept against mine, hot and demanding, and I let her take whatever she wanted because the alternative was taking control and I didn’t trust myself with that right now. Not with the aftermath of killing still fresh in my mind and body.
I walked her backward until her spine met the glass wall, never breaking the kiss.
The sunset bled orange and red behind her head, turning her hair into molten copper, like an angelic halo around her head.
I pressed her there, one hand still under her ass, the other braced against the window beside her head. The glass was cool through my sleeve.
When Tessa broke away to breathe, her chest heaved, and I watched her mouth. Swollen. Wet. Mine. The word landed in my chest like a blade. She pulled back just enough to look into my eyes before pressing my forehead to hers. “Say my name,” she whispered.
With any other woman, that simple order would have ended the encounter.
First, no one ordered me to do anything, no matter how softly worded.
Second, anything in my life that felt like a compulsion I cut out with ruthlessness.
Doing as she commanded felt too much like surrendering and I did not, by God, surrender.
I opened my mouth to tell her exactly that, but the only thing that emerged was, “Tessa.” I sounded as wrecked as I felt.
For the first time in my life, and possibly not the best timing, I felt my loyalties…
not shifting exactly but expanding. And right now, they included this woman as much as my father.
She smiled against my mouth and kissed me again, slower this time, her hands sliding from my jaw down to my shoulders. She held on like she was afraid I’d disappear, and I realized I was holding her the same way. Like she might slip through my fingers if I loosened my grip.
“Tonio.” My name came out roughly, and I wanted to hear how rough it could sound after I’d made her scream my name for hours on end. Hearing her now, I realized we shared the same boat. We might well drown, but it looked like we were headed toward the wave swell and in a Goddamned hurry.
Tessa was heat and defiance and purpose as she kissed me again, and I’d never wanted anyone more in my life. She was the light to my darkness. The angel to my demon, but so much more. I had no words for what she meant to me.
When she broke the kiss, she pressed her forehead to mine once again. We both breathed hard, mouths open. “You’re not going to break me, you know,” she said.
“No,” I said. “But I’m beginning to think I want to.”
She grinned, teeth white and sharp. “Then stop being careful.”
She didn’t have to ask twice. Without letting her go, I found the hem of my shirt and yanked it up and over my head. I placed my forearms on the glass while I leaned in to kiss her again simply because, now that I’d had a taste, I couldn’t get enough.
She wiggled, shimmying out of her shirt and bra before latching on to my shoulders. Her nails bit into my skin as she pulled me against her to mash my chest against her breasts.
I let out a breath and caught her jaw in my hand. Her mouth was red, parted. She didn’t flinch. I continued kissing her, biting her lower lip until she gasped. She arched against me, eyes wide.
I cupped the back of her head and held her steady while I kissed her throat.
The intoxicating taste of her clean sweat and delicious woman nearly brought me to my knees.
She made a small noise, so quiet I might have missed it if I hadn’t already known I couldn’t fuck her tonight.
Not like this. I’d give her what she needed, then see what happened.
Instead of needing me to back off, she only wanted to reach between our bodies. Finding my belt, she tugged it open almost before I realized what she was doing. I caught her hands again and made her wait.
“Not yet,” I said.
She groaned, the sound raw and honest.
I looked down at her breasts. Her chest heaved, nipples drawn tight, the air in the room cold enough to spread gooseflesh over every inch of her I could see.
I bent and closed my teeth around one ripe peak, giving the tight bud a sharp nip.
She yelped this time before giving what almost sounded like a defeated groan.
She ripped my belt loose and shoved at my pants until they dropped. My cock slapped against her belly, hard and leaking. She reached for it, but I caught her by the wrist and pinned her again.
“Not yet, honey.”
“But --”
I leaned in to kiss her, hard and demanding, needing to divert her attention. When her body relaxed and I knew she’d do what I wanted, I pulled back.
Before she had the chance to protest more, I shoved her shorts and panties down her hips to pool at her feet, then gripped her ass in both hands and hefted her up the window so her back rested high on the glass and her legs ended up over my shoulders.
She barely had time to squeal before I buried my face between her legs and sucked her pussy like my life depended on getting every drop of essence from her sweet little cunt I could.
And, oh, my God, her pussy was delicious.
She shuddered and grabbed my hair, grinding against my tongue. She was hot, slick, so ready for me, it hurt knowing I couldn’t fuck her.
There was nothing gentle about the way I ate her out.
I dragged my tongue through her folds until she whimpered, then sucked her clit between my lips and rolled it hard.
Her thighs clamped against my ears. Her heels dug into my back and she ground her pussy against my mouth.
The sounds she made came out broken, desperate, holding nothing back about what she needed from me.
Her cries went straight to my cock, which throbbed in a hard, insistent ache.
“Tonio -- fuck --” Her voice cracked on my name and I nearly came right there.
I didn’t let up, sucking her clit again.
I slid two fingers inside her and curled them up, finding that spot that made her jolt, then scream.
Then she arched her back and her pussy quivered against my mouth as I milked her for every ounce of orgasm she had to give me.
After she collapsed against me, I slid her down the glass, urging her legs back around my waist. I circled my arms tightly around her, holding her like I never wanted to let her go. And maybe I didn’t, which was the whole Goddamned problem.
I carried her to the plush rug in front of the fireplace.
Though the staff hadn’t lit a fire, the place was still cozy and romantic.
God knew this girl deserved both. I reached behind us to the couch where a soft, thick blanket rested.
I sat with my back to the couch and pulled her into my lap.
She tucked her head under my chin and didn’t say anything.
We stayed like that for a long time. I stroked her back, up and down, holding her like she was precious to me.
She spoke first. “That painting in the hall. The sunrise. It’s beautiful.”
I went rigid. It hurt more than I thought it would. “Yes,” was all I managed.
She didn’t ask anything further, and I knew I’d missed a golden opportunity to connect with her. The pain was still too sharp, though. I needed to really think about what to tell Tessa. Or if I even wanted to.
She drifted off soon after, curled in my lap, her body gone soft and trusting against mine. I watched her sleep and thought about what it meant to lose control of a room.
I’d spent my whole life making sure nothing ever owned me. I didn’t know what to do with the feelings inside of me, all of them centered directly around the slight young woman in my arms.
It scared the fucking hell out of me.