Chapter 32
THIRTY-TWO
D AKOTA
I feel a weight off my shoulders knowing he’s staying the night. I want him, and it’s going to be damn near impossible to keep my hands to myself, but I’m going to do my best. I wasn’t lying when I said I needed him. The last thing I want tonight is to be alone—in this apartment or in a hotel room. I don’t want to think about what might never be with him. I don’t want to think about my troubles with the bar. I definitely don’t want to be trying to recite my maid of honor speech in my head at three in the morning because I’m worried I’m going to mess it up. I need him there to help me forget all of that.
When we get inside the apartment, Vendetta rushes us, jumping up on the table so I can pet her. Her eyes dart warily to Grant. She’s never been a big fan of outsiders, but the fact she’s not hissing at him or disappearing to a corner the minute she sees him is promising. He’s always been kind to her, but I’ve never thought of Grant as a cat person. If anything, he’s a Rottweiler or a Dobermann sort.
“I can just sleep on the couch.” Grant takes his suit jacket off and hangs it on the back of one of the chairs before he holds out his hand for Vendetta to inspect. She nudges her head against his palm and purrs. I bite my tongue to keep from making a comment and raise my brow at him.
“That couch wasn’t made for a six-four man to sleep on. You can sleep in the bed.” When he gives me a skeptical look, I return it. “We’re adults. I can make a pillow wall if you need it.”
“I’m good.”
“You can shower in this bathroom, and I’ll shower in mine. I’ll just get you some towels.” The hallway bath shower is a little bit bigger than mine, and it was the one Jesse had always used since he’d given me the master suite in the apartment growing up.
I disappear into my room while Vendetta keeps him entertained, returning with a stack of towels and an extra bottle of body wash.
“There’s shampoo and conditioner in there. The good stuff because that’s where I do my hair treatments. You’ll have to settle for smelling like key lime though. Unless you want peaches or pineapple.”
He smirks. “Key lime works.”
“All right. I’ll meet you back in bed.” I wink at him.
“Don’t do that.”
“Do what?”
“You know what you’re doing.”
“Okay, Cowboy. If you say so.” I smirk and then turn around to head for the bathroom before I halt in my tracks. “One last thing… did you want a last set of pictures tonight?” I glance back over my shoulder at him .
I can see him thinking through the consequences, and he shakes his head. “Better not.”
As I finish up my shower, I glance down at my vibrator that’s sitting on the edge of the tub. If I’m going to be as good as I promised for him, I’ll need to take care of myself first. I’ve barely turned it on when there’s a light rap of his knuckles against the bathroom door, and I freeze in the shower. I swear this man reads my mind.
“Yes?” I call out.
I expected him to talk to me through the door, but instead, I can hear him open it and step in. In the small space between the wall and the shower curtain, I can see him in the mirror, wearing nothing but his boxer briefs, and it’s not helping my self-control.
I try and fail to turn the vibrator off, my finger slipping off the button. I’m worried I’m going to come while he’s in here or that he’ll hear the low hum of it. Usually, I wouldn’t care, but it feels embarrassing to admit I’m this desperate for him that I have to take the edge off my nerves. Thankfully, he starts talking, and I’m hoping between that and the water he can’t hear.
“My eyes are closed, but I was just wondering if you have a—” He stops mid-sentence and clears his throat. “Are you… do you have a—” he stumbles over his words, and honestly, Grant Stockton lost for words in my bathroom in his underwear is simultaneously the cutest and hottest thing I’ve ever experienced in my life. At least until he rips back the curtain and glares at me.
I jump back and hide the vibrator behind my back. Don’t ask me why. It’s not like he doesn’t know. I’m just working on instinct at this moment .
“If you want me to be good, then I have to make sure I can be,” I say defensively as his eyes drift over me. He holds out his hand, and when I hesitate, his lashes lower, and his eyes narrow. I place the vibrator in his hand, and he exchanges it for a towel.
“Get out here.”
“You can’t be mad at me for this! I’m doing what you wanted.”
“You know, I thought about it when I was in the shower. Getting off with the smell of your key lime soap and shampoo all around me. But then I thought, no… I shouldn’t. It won’t live up to what I really want, and if she’s being good, I can hold it together for one night.”
“I never said it was living up to what I want. I just thought it would take the edge off so I could sleep next to you and stay on my side of the pillow fortress.” I towel myself angrily.
He’s only half listening, though, because he’s opening my drawers methodically until he lands on the one that holds the rest of my toys. I assume he’s going to put this one back, but instead, he starts looking through them.
“What are you doing?”
“Deciding which ones I want you to use.”
“Excuse me?”
“You already started it, so we’re going to finish it. But we’re doing it my way. Not with you cheating behind a curtain.”
“I wasn’t cheating!” I huff, tossing the towel over the bar to dry.
I watch as he pulls out a small anal vibrator and sets it alongside the regular one I’d been using in the shower, smirking to himself before he grabs a bottle of lube and lays it out next to them. Then his brow shoots up at something in the drawer. He pulls out another, holding the bendable one up and looking at me with curiosity .
“It bends so I can switch it up, front to back,” I explain.
“Interesting,” he mutters, and my skin heats at the way his eyes rake over my body like he’s imagining it.
“If you get to use one on me, I get to use one on you.”
“I’m not making deals here, Hellfire.”
“But I am,” I argue. “I was going to be good, but if you’re going to start crossing lines, then I think it’s only fair.”
“I don’t play fair, and you weren’t being good.” He tilts his head. “I play dirty, and after that little stunt… It’s gonna be real fucking dirty. I don’t even know if I’ll let you come. I might just torture you until you fall asleep from exhaustion.”
“You could do that… or you could give in and let yourself have something you want too.” I hold up the anal vibrator. “Think how good this would feel buzzing inside you while I suck your cock. How hard you’d come.”
His brow goes higher, but I see the way his eyes spark with interest.
“Don’t tell me you’ve never tried it.”
“Can’t say I have.”
“Oh… you’re missing out.”
“Now you’re just trying to distract me.”
I reach into the drawer and pull out the smallest one I own. “I have a smaller one. Perfect for beginners.” I roll my lip between my teeth as I watch him consider it. “I’ll let you torture me as long as you want if you try it for me.”
His nostrils flare, and his eyes widen at that. His hand wraps around my throat, and the other slips down over my naked form.
“You don’t let me do anything. I tell you what to do, and you listen.” He practically growls the words, and the sound of his gravelly voice is like fire down my spine. I’ve hit a nerve with my attempt to bargain, and his fingers dig into my flesh as he turns me around to face the mirror. “Do you understand?” he asks me, his eyes meeting mine in the mirror.
I nod, nibbling my lip nervously as I take the sight of us in.
“What’s your safe word?” He kisses my neck and shifts my hair forward. Drops of water bead off the ends of my hair and run down over my nipple, making it peak under the cold.
“My safe word?” I ask, the question clear in my tone. It’s hard to imagine the protective man I usually know pushing my limits.
“You’ve got me worked up and greedy to hear you beg. It’s not a good combination for you.”
“Avarice.”
He frowns.
“That’s my safe word.”
“Interesting choice.”
“Just making sure you have to think about me every time you see it.” I grin at him in the mirror, and he nips at my neck.
“Always trying to find a way to manage me.”
“It’s worked well for me so far, hasn’t it?” I sass him again, and this time, his hand slips around the side of my throat as he kisses his way down the other side and over my shoulder. I rock back against him, rubbing my ass over his dick through the cotton of his boxers. His hand coasts over my hip, and he grabs my ass cheek, squeezing a handful as he watches me in the mirror.
“We’ll see if you’re saying that in a few minutes,” he threatens, taking the bendable vibrator from the table and turning it on. He hands it to me.
“Show me how you fuck yourself with it,” he instructs.
I take it from him and let the head of it brush over my clit. “You don’t want to fuck me like this? I’m already nice and wet from thinking about you fucking me in the shower.”
His hand runs down over my forearm, and he puts his palm over my knuckles, guiding me and the toy downward and then pushing it slowly inside. I close my eyes as the mild vibration starts bringing my nerve endings back to life from the abrupt ending he gave them a few minutes ago. He uses the pads of his fingers to press the other end of the vibrator against my clit, bending it close so that it gives a soft vibration to my piercing.
“Fuck me,” I curse.
“You’re the most gorgeous woman I’ve ever seen, Hellfire. When I close my eyes and dream of all the perfect things I could ask for… it’s you. These perfect hips. These full tits. This ass that’s so sweetly shaped. A perfect fucking handful.” His fingertips trace all the parts of my body, and he squeezes my other cheek for good measure. Then his hand slips up between them, a finger teasing my entrance. “You like being full, don’t you? All these toys for it.”
“Yes, sometimes.” I rock the toy in and out to give myself a taste of what I need—what I really want from him. “Sometimes, it feels better that way. I can pretend to be Charlotte.” I smirk, knowing damn well he’s going to wipe it off my face, but I can’t stop myself.
He reaches down and grabs my wrist, stopping the motion and pulling the toy out of me slowly. He sets it back on the counter, a low guttural sound releasing from his throat when he sees how wet it is already.
“You better not be imagining you’re anyone but you right now in this moment. Because you’re gonna want to remember everything I do to you.” He picks up the first anal vibrator he pulled out of the drawer. It’s a rainbow metallic color with a little heart-shaped jewel at the flared base. He douses it in lube and puts some on his fingers. He slips them back between my cheeks, massaging me gently with it, taking his time teasing me before he starts to slowly push the toy in .
“Hmm…” I make a soft humming noise, breathing out as he slips it in.
“Fuck. Look how pretty you look with that. I don’t think there’s a single part of you that isn’t gorgeous,” he comments as he reaches for the vibrator I’d been using.
He reaches around and presses it against my clit, turning it on to a low setting that has me running my teeth over my lower lip. My hips rock back of their own volition, searching for his cock.
“All I need now is you inside me.” I lift my lashes to meet his eyes. “You could fill me all the way up, Daddy.”
“Trust me, when I finally fuck you, you’ll be so full of me, I’ll be leaking out of you for days.”
“Do it. I want you so bad I can barely stand it anymore.”
“It’s not that easy.” He kisses his way over my shoulder and across to the other shoulder, all the while teasing my clit and then taking it away again. Over and over until I feel like I might scream.
“It is that easy. You just pull these down.” I reach back and slip my fingertips under his waistband. I’m desperate for a glimpse of his cock. He looks big, feels big. I just want to stop guessing and know for a fact that he’s been the one I’ve always needed. I tug slowly, and he lets me, his eyes following the movement in the mirror.
The head of his cock strains against the elastic for a moment and then finally slips free of it. And fuck if it isn’t perfect. I let out a soft cry of approval, and his brow arches up at me.
“I can’t help it. Look at you…” I whisper as I wrap my hand around him.
“Fuck.” He presses his forehead to the back of my neck and kisses me softly. “I’ve needed this. ”
“I know, Cowboy. I can take care of you. Just put me to work.” I start to stroke him slowly.
“You’re playing with fire touching me like this. You’re gonna bait me into breaking our rules.”
“I don’t care about rules.”
“We need them. It’s the only thing that keeps you…” The words fade on his lips as I grip him a little tighter.
“Keeps me?” I ask.
“Keeps you safe.” He slips the vibrator back inside me, and I let out a soft moan. The feeling of being full and having him in the palm of my hand is the best I’ve felt in a long time. But I can still think of a few things I’d like better.
“You gave me a safe word. If I need it, I’ll use it.” I breathe the words more than say them because I’m lost in how good it all feels. “So tell me what you need from me. Tell me what part of me you want to fuck first, and it’s yours.”
“I can’t fuck you. I do, and it’s over,” he insists, and he pulls away from my hand. “There were ground rules for a reason.”
“Stop trying to be noble with your rules,” I snipe at him, and his eyes snap up and meet mine in the mirror, the blues there fading to a near black the longer I talk. “I don’t want your good-boy act. I want the man who takes what he wants. I want the dark side.”
“Get on your knees,” he growls.
Fucking finally . I hit them hard. Even with the fluffy bath rug under my feet, I can feel the impact. I’ve been waiting for this—dying for it. When I look up at him and see his determination, I have to suppress a smile. As his fingers slip through my wet hair, tightening in the roots, and he nudges his dick against my lips I know I’m finally getting what I want.
“Open and let me see that wicked little tongue of yours,” he grinds out, and I do as he asks. He slides his cock over it, the tip almost hitting the back of my throat. He slips it back out and back in again, taking it a little deeper on the next pass and again on the next as my eyes water with the effort. “This what you want? Me using you like I own you?”
I blink my yes. “Fuck… you should see how stunning you look. Taking my cock down that pretty pink throat. Keeps you from telling me what to do when your mouth is full like this, doesn’t it?”
I hum a soft yes.
“Close your mouth and suck like it’s your job.”