34. Arden
34
ARDEN
My whole body tingled with that pins-and-needles feeling you get after coming in from hours in the cold. Muscle and sinew waking up. All because of Linc.
And it wasn’t him just pulling me out of my haze. It was more. He woke things inside me that felt as if they’d been frozen for years.
It scared the hell out of me.
But I wasn’t walking away. I was stepping into the fear without armor. No bleeding it into my art. No fighting it out on the mat. No riding for hours to drown it.
I was diving in.
Linc’s hand curved around mine. “Whatever you need. Take it, Vicious.”
My nipples pebbled, and my core clenched as the water fell on my back, just enough to keep me warm. My hold on Linc’s hand tightened, and I moved it between my legs. My hand beneath his, I used his fingers to part me.
My mouth fell open in a silent gasp. There was power in this. In us being together. Moving as one.
I dragged his fingers over my slit, rocking into him. Goose bumps rose on my flesh as I guided him where I needed him the most. Together, our fingers circled my clit.
My breaths came in short pants now, and when my head tipped back down, I found Linc watching me with reverence.
“So beautiful, taking what you need. Owning your pleasure.”
I shivered, but there was no fear here. Only heat. Just promise.
I dropped Linc’s hand, pulling down the only thing between us—those soaking-wet boxer briefs plastered to his skin. My knuckles grazed his powerful thighs, making mine clench in response. Then I climbed onto the bench to straddle him. The hard, cool tile dug into my knees, but I didn’t give a damn. Not when I was about to get what I wanted most.
My hand encircled Linc’s dick, gliding up and down. He let out a moan, and his eyes fluttered closed for a moment before flying open again as I squeezed gently on an upward glide. There was fire in those green depths as Linc looked up at me, still not touching. Then he cursed. “I don’t have a condom.”
The reminder of what we were about to do had everything in me tightening in the perfect way. “I’m on the pill, and I’ve been checked.”
“I have, too. I’d never take risks with you.”
Invisible claws dug into my heart. “Linc.”
“Tell me. What’s my girl going to take now?”
“Everything.”
“My vicious girl,” he breathed.
I guided him to my entrance, sinking down slowly. My head tipped back as I took in the beautiful stretch, the one that flickered on the border of pain but reminded me that I was alive. That I could still feel .
Linc’s hand found me then, gliding up my belly and between my breasts. He slid it higher, coming to rest where my neck met my jaw, his fingers tangling in my hair. “So fucking perfect.”
His words echoed in the space, ricocheting off the tile like beautiful bullets. I let each one hit without protest, welcoming them.
I sank lower, taking all of him, feeling the power and pleasure surging. Linc rocked against me but didn’t power up. His muscles trembled with the force it took to hold himself back. The gift he was giving me… Total and complete control.
I rose again and sank down once more, a little faster this time, more force behind my movements. That sense of power swept through me as Linc’s other hand cupped my breast, his thumb circling my nipple. I arched into him as I rose and sank down again.
Giving myself over to it, I moved on instinct, in some nonsensical pattern all my own. And Linc let me find it—my way, my path. When my eyes met his, his fingers tightened in my hair. “There she is. Came back to me.”
My walls fluttered around him. “Linc.”
Those eyes burned, leaving brands.
“Let go,” I whispered.
“Vicious—”
“Let go .”
Linc gave me exactly what I asked for, what I needed, just like always. He let go.
His big body thrust upward, driving so deeply into me my eyes watered. The flicker of pleasure and pain mixed in the best way, reminding me this was just like life. You couldn’t have one without the other.
But I didn’t let Linc have his way alone; I countered each move, sinking down to meet him, my nails raking across his shoulders with a force I knew might’ve drawn blood. Linc’s fingers tightened in my hair, pulling my head back as he powered into me again.
My walls fluttered around him as I teetered on the tipping point.
“Break with me,” he growled.
I rocked, arching perfectly to bring him exactly where I needed him. Everything broke apart. Light and shadow mixed before my eyes as Linc moved through my orgasm, riding every wave, drawing each one out as far as they would go.
With one last thrust, he emptied into me, and a feeling of fullness I’d never experienced before surged. Because this was Linc, and he took me in every way, never settling for just the physical. He wanted it all.
As we came back to ourselves, Linc stroked my face, staring into my eyes as if trying to decipher my secrets. “Falling in love with you.”
I stiffened, my muscles going rock-solid.
Linc’s fingers stilled. “You run, it’s really gonna piss me off.”
Straight to the point. Like always.
“Not running,” I whispered, fear wrapping around my vocal cords like a boa constrictor.
“But?”
“I can’t say it back.” It would be tempting fate. And I wasn’t about to put Linc in the crosshairs.
His expression softened, and that thumb started stroking again. “Just because you don’t say it doesn’t make it any less true.”
My mouth fell open. “Cocky much?”
Linc grinned, but it was almost childlike. “Not cocky. Sure. Sure of you. Sure of us. I’ll believe for you for now. Until you can say the words.”
My eyes burned, filled. “I’m not crying.”
“Okay.”
Tears slipped down my cheeks, and Linc wiped them away.
“That’s water from the shower.”
“All right.”
“Why do you have to be so perfect?” I asked, a mixture of warmth and annoyance filling my tone.
“Because I live to piss you off.”
I laughed, the sound sending vibrations through us both.
Linc cursed. “Are you trying to kill me?”
“Sorry.” I pulled off him, wincing slightly.
Linc was on me in a second, hands gently cupping my face. “Are you okay? Was it too much?”
“It was perfect. You gave me exactly what I needed.”
He bent and brushed his lips across mine. “Always will.”
Linc shut off the water, but he wasn’t done caretaking. He wrapped me in a towel and dried every inch of me. His hand ghosted over my face again. “Are you okay?”
I knew he meant so much more than what we’d just shared. My fingers traced his tattoos, truth over one pec, trust over the other. The first time I’d seen them, I didn’t know they were the things Linc valued the most. The two things he never got growing up. I might not be able to give him I love you , but I could give him those two words, the same way he’d given them to me.
“The lights went out, and my flashlight wouldn’t work. I left my phone in the studio. It was so dark. And it was like I was back there, seeing it all over again. I freaked.”
Linc wrapped his arms around me and pulled me against him. “I’m so sorry. It was a trigger. And with everything that’s been going on, it’s completely understandable.”
“I miss her,” I whispered. “Him, too. Even though I should hate him.”
Linc pulled back. “He’s your dad. He made mistakes, but that doesn’t erase all the good.”
My throat constricted, but I managed to nod. “I don’t want to be scared anymore.”
Linc’s expression hardened, a coldness settling into his features. “I don’t want you to be either. We’re going to find this monster, and he’s not going to hurt anyone else. Not ever again.”