Chapter 18
18
Vinnie couldn’t take his eyes off Lorelei. She was stunning when she laughed. She was stunning when she was engaged in a conversation. She was stunning all the time. He couldn’t fathom not being a part of the world he’d been introduced to thanks to her.
“Things are going well?” Marcus asked, leaning against the wall where Vinnie stood.
Vinnie nodded. “Yeah. She’s ready to have that cast off.”
“You know I don’t mean that.”
Vinnie stopped and looked at Marcus. He wanted to play dumb and pretend he didn’t know what the question really was, but it was Marcus, and that wasn’t an option.
“I don’t know. I think so. You know how I am.”
Marcus nodded. “Always waiting for the other shoe to drop. What if there is no other shoe?”
Vinnie shook his head. “There’s always another shoe.”
“What do you think it could be? What are you worried about?”
Vinnie shrugged, but the answer was right there.
Marcus waited him out, letting the silence drag on until Vinnie had to fill it.
“She’s too good for me.”
“What makes you say that?”
Vinnie snorted. “You and I both know she’s meant for so much more than me. I saved her life, but that doesn’t mean she’ll stick around forever.”
Marcus chuckled softly. “You’re the only one who thinks that. If you look around this room, you’ll find a lot of these couples who started out in a similar way, but it was more than that. You’re selling yourself short, Vinnie.”
“Am I, though? She didn’t know me before, and after she refused to stay with her family and close friends. She’s leaning on me. As soon as that cast comes off and she can be independent again, she can drive herself around and work and do all the things she wants and needs to do, I am no longer necessary.”
“There’s a big difference between her needing you and her wanting you. Which would you prefer?”
Vinnie rolled his eyes. “Of course I’d rather she wants me, but that’s my point. She’s needed me, so she’s never had to consider if she wants me.”
Marcus shook his head, a smile on his face. “And again, you’re the only one who thinks that woman doesn’t want you. Look at her.”
Vinnie looked at Lorelei, laughing at something one of the women said. She leaned in closer to Karli, then jerked upright. She turned, her gaze colliding with Vinnie’s. She smiled, and every inch of him responded to the look in her eyes.
“That’s what I’m talking about. That feeling right there. The one that has your breath rushing out of you, your body responding to the woman you love, and everything in you aching to go across the room to her.”
“It’s so not fair that you can read me so easily. No one else can do that.”
Marcus laughed. “I’ve known you long enough that I should be able to. The only thing I haven’t figured out is why you went after her.”
“What do you mean?”
Marcus shrugged. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy you did. I’m relieved you found her alive. She’s an amazing person, and she’s a valuable asset. But you didn’t know her. You risked everything to try to find her. Why?”
Vinnie hadn’t been asked directly. He wasn’t sure he could explain it, not even to Marcus. But he owed the man the best answer he could give. “As soon as I heard she was missing, I had this feeling inside that she was dead. That she wouldn’t be found alive, maybe is a better way to say it. She was too close to all of this. Trevor Davis and Damon Street and all the others. She was the one piecing it together. She was leading the charge, from what I could tell. Nothing against Adam, or anyone else, but Lorelei wasn’t distracted by anything else. She wanted to solve this. To put away the people responsible for all this hell.”
Marcus nodded, following and not disagreeing.
“We’ve been on some of the calls. Some of the houses that were used for these women. Not a lot, but a couple of them, and the conditions these women are in would turn your stomach. But more than that, the things they do to these women…”
“I know,” Marcus said. He nodded, staring at the floor as though seeing his own horrors.
“When I heard Lorelei was gone, I worried we’d find her in one of those houses. Every life is important, but I knew if they went after her, she was getting closer than they wanted.”
“I agree. And I’m sure that’s exactly what it was.”
Vinnie nodded, hoping that would be the end of it.
Marcus was too perceptive. “There were a lot of people looking for her.”
“Yeah.”
“Why you? And how did you know she’d be at her apartment?”
Vinnie shook his head. “That’s the part I can’t explain. I just had this feeling that’s where she would be. This pull inside me to go there. To check. To see for myself if she was there.”
“Intuition.”
Vinnie nodded. “Yeah. After you see enough of this, you almost know their thoughts. Someone checked her apartment the day after she disappeared, but no one was sitting on it. It was too far from where she was taken. They were sitting on her hotel room, but not her apartment. It was a good place to hide her body.”
“It would have been, if you hadn’t figured it out.”
Vinnie swallowed roughly, remembering how he found her.
“That kind of intuition is very valuable. It’s the kind of thing that saves lives.”
“Yeah,” Vinnie said. “I trust my gut, and my team does, too.”
“Don’t stop. We need more cops like that.”
Vinnie chuckled. “I’m not sure most of the detectives would agree with you.”
Marcus shook his head. “Every job is different. A detective has to prove something. Your job is to stop things from getting worse.”
Vinnie exhaled a laugh. “That’s a good way to put it.”
“It’s true. And you’re good at it. Damn good, Vinnie.”
“Thanks, Marcus. That means a lot.”
Marcus clapped him on the back. Gage and Braden came over and asked if they were ready to start cooking, and the men moved to the patio to start the grill.
Vinnie joined them, hanging on the outskirts. With Marcus, he felt like he belonged, but until he knew Lorelei wanted him around for longer than she needed his help, Vinnie knew his connection to the others was tangential. Getting too attached would only end badly for him.
“I can’t believe you threw me a cast party,” Lorelei said when she and Vinnie made it home.
Home. Back to his place. She wasn’t sure where home was for her. Besides with Vinnie. She hoped.
“We wanted you to know you have people who care about you.”
“Are you one of those people?” she asked. What Karli and the others said about Lorelei being in love with Vinnie had been on her mind for the last two hours. She knew it was too soon to tell him how she felt, but with the knowledge in her mind, she couldn’t argue with it either.
Vinnie walked up and wrapped his arms around her waist. He looked her in the eyes, his soft and caring before he nodded. “I’m definitely one of those people.”
“Yeah?”
Vinnie nodded. “Yeah.”
Lorelei felt the words billowing to the surface. Before they could fall out of her mouth, she dropped her crutches and pulled Vinnie down for a kiss.
Vinnie didn’t waste any time wrapping her up and lifting her into his arms.
She squeaked and tried to pull back. “I’m too heavy for you.”
“Not even close.” His whispered words were accentuated by him carrying her through the apartment and depositing her gently on his bed.
Lorelei didn’t let him go, pulling him down on top of her.
He crawled over her, bracketing her hips with his knees. He let some of his weight rest on her. Her ribs were mostly healed, but Vinnie was still careful with all of her injuries.
Too careful if Lorelei had a say. She wanted to know what he was like unfiltered. Wild and passionate and crazy for her. A part of her wondered if he wasn’t that interested in her. If he’d never be that way because they were just sleeping together and she was the only one falling in love.
He nipped her lip, and she gasped. “You’re getting lost in your head. What’s going on?”
She shook her head.
Vinnie propped himself up. “You can tell me.”
“I’m just worried about what happens after tomorrow.”
His sharp intake said he’d been wondering the same. “Maybe we just take it all one day at a time.”
“We can,” she said, hedging his answer with her own stilted one.
“You can stay here as long as you want to.”
She nodded. He wasn’t asking her to stay, but he wasn’t throwing her out either.
“Do you want to talk about it?” He didn’t move, but his corded muscles said he was ready to if that was what she wanted.
She shook her head and slid her hand over his chest. “I don’t want to talk at all.”
His smile was all the promise she needed. He let her feel his weight again and kissed her until they were both breathless and writhing on the bed, desperate for more.
Vinnie climbed off her. He looked down at her, his gaze drifting from her face to her toes and back. “I love seeing you in my bed.”
She smiled, hoping he still felt the same way after her cast was off and he didn’t need to help her with everything. “I love being in your bed. But I prefer to have you a little more naked.”
He chuckled and reached back to tug his shirt off. He tossed it toward the laundry basket, then hooked his thumbs in his shorts and briefs. Both came off at once.
Her mouth watered for him. He’d resisted for a month, but she was done letting him hide from her. She reached for him, wrapping her hand around his length. She surprised him by sliding to the floor and stretching her cast out next to him, bringing his cock to her mouth.
“Lorelei,” he groaned as she sucked him inside.
She hummed, hoping he wouldn’t pull back from her. Her ankle was healed, her ribs were better, and she wanted to taste him. She wanted to know she gave him something. Not as a thank you, but a memory.
She held his hips, her fingertips digging into his flesh as he started to move. His hands went into her hair, smoothing her natural curls back so he could meet her gaze.
“Fuck,” he groaned. “That’s the hottest fucking thing I’ve ever seen. Watching my dick disappear between your lips.”
She groaned her agreement and took him deeper, wanting to know he was enjoying it.
“Fucking hell, Lorelei,” he grunted.
His abs rippled in his attempt to hold back, but she wasn’t having that. She slicked her tongue around his crown, then sucked him in deep, repeating the process until he fucked her mouth without thought to how she was handling it.
“Oh, fuck,” he whispered. “Fuck, I’m gonna come. Lorelei. Fuck.”
His breathless pleas urged her on. When he tried to pull back, she held on and sucked him deeper.
“Oh, fuck. Lorelei. I can’t stop. I’m coming. Fuck.” His words ended with a grunt and a gasp before he gave in and came in her throat.
She held on to him, loving the way he let go. His body trembled and jerked with aftershocks from his release.
As soon as he was done, he jerked her back and lifted her to her feet. She swallowed and smiled at him. “You’re fucking amazing. I wasn’t expecting that.”
“I’ve been wanting that for weeks. You always stop me.”
“I didn’t want to hurt you.”
“I feel pretty amazing right now,” she said.
“Don’t think a blow job means I’m done with you.”
“Promise?”
Vinnie chuckled and nodded. “Fuck yeah. Your turn.”
She sucked in a breath. The look in his eyes was almost as intoxicating as the way he looked at her when her lips were around his cock.
He helped her remove her clothes quickly, then eased her onto the bed again, with her legs hanging over the edge. He kneeled between her thighs. “Spread wide for me, Lorelei.”
She did as he asked, moving her legs as far apart as they could go before he leaned in and licked her fully from her entrance to her clit. Her hips lifted from the bed, seeking more of him.
Vinnie didn’t waste any time. He plunged his tongue into her core, swirling it around before exploring her folds on his way to her clit.
She was wet and ready and halfway to an orgasm from giving him a blow job, and with his tongue settled on her clit, she went off like a rocket. “Oh, fuck. Yes.”
Vinnie chuckled, digging in harder and licking her clit until she screamed her way through a second orgasm and ran toward a third. He slid his fingers into her, and she lost her mind, grabbing his head and pulling him closer until her orgasm crashed hard over her and stripped her of all her energy.
He wiped his mouth on the back of his hand and kissed his way up her body. “You’re delicious.”
“Same,” she breathed.
He kissed her hard, his bare cock resting next to her entrance.
She wanted to feel him without protection, but she couldn’t promise him she was safe. She needed to add that to the list of things to talk to her doctor about after her cast was off.
Vinnie pulled back and grabbed a condom. He rolled it on and positioned himself, her legs propped up on his shoulders. He pressed into her, slowly at first, then slammed in hard.
“Oh, my God,” she breathed, her body reacting to him instantly and finding a new reserve of energy.
“You feel so good,” he grunted. His hips set a fast pace, neither of them willing to slow things down. He held her thighs and slammed into her, each stroke hitting her just right inside and pushing her closer and closer to another orgasm.
“Vinnie,” she whimpered.
“Come on, Lorelei. Come with me.” He squeezed her thighs and shifted his position, and she was done.
“Vinnie!” she shouted, unable to stop the shout before it fell from her lips.
“Fuck, yes,” he yelled, falling right with her.
Lorelei watched him as he came, his mouth falling open in a soft O, his cheeks red, his eyes closed but relaxed. He was beautiful. And he was hers.
How did she get so damn lucky that he was the one who found her?
Vinnie held her hand in the waiting room at the doctor’s office. When Lorelei’s name was called, he stood and handed her the crutches for the last time. She said he was there with her, and the nurse let him follow them to the exam room.
A few questions and the nurse left, assuring them the doctor would be in soon.
“What do you want to do first?” Vinnie asked.
“First?”
He shrugged. “I broke two fingers a few years ago, and the first thing I wanted to do when I got my cast off was… well.” He made a motion for jerking off, which was the truth.
Lorelei snorted a laugh and shook her head. “Well, I haven’t been neglected thanks to you.”
Vinnie leaned over and kissed her hard. He didn’t mean to admit that to her, but he was happy with her response.
A knock on the door had him pulling back long before he was ready.
“Good morning,” Dr. Tucker said, smiling at both of them. “I know you’re ready for this.”
Lorelei nodded. “I am. So ready.”
“Good. Well, as we talked about before, you’re still going to need to take it easy. You can walk and do all your normal activities, but it’s not unusual to feel some discomfort for a while. Weeks or even months.” He pulled out a sheet of paper and handed it to Vinnie. “She’s going to need to do these exercises for at least a month, longer if possible, to strengthen the muscles that haven’t been used for the last seven weeks.”
Vinnie showed Lorelei the sheet. She reached for it.
“I gave that to him because you need to lie down,” Dr. Tucker said. “I’ve learned it’s easier when you’re not watching and trying to move. My wife says they tell her the same when she gets a pedicure.”
Lorelei chuckled. “I would definitely do that.” She laid back, staring up at the ceiling.
Dr. Tucker started the small saw he had for cutting through the cast. Vinnie watched as the doctor zipped through the hard material like it was nothing, freeing her leg in under a minute.
“That was fast,” Vinnie said.
“It didn’t take long last time, either. Mark said the same thing,” Lorelei said.
Dr. Tucker and Vinnie both looked at her.
“Mark? Who’s Mark? Do you remember something?” Vinnie asked.
Lorelei chuckled. She nibbled her bottom lip.
Vinnie wanted to demand she tell him who she was thinking about, but he didn’t. He kept his mouth shut while she decided what she wanted to tell him.
“He was an ex. I just had this memory of getting a cast off my left arm. We… he took me to the appointment and thought it was going to be longer than it was for my cast to come off.”
“When did you date him?” Vinnie asked.
Lorelei shrugged and looked at the doctor. “Um, we can talk about this later. It’s not important. Are we all set, Dr. Tucker?”
The doctor nodded. “You are. Do those exercises and let us know if you need anything.”
“I will. Thanks.” Lorelei eased down from the exam table. She lifted her right leg and landed on her left, then put her right foot on the floor carefully.
“Everything feel okay?” Vinnie forced out.
Lorelei looked up at him and smiled. “All good.”
Vinnie nodded, but he knew she was lying. Her leg might be good, but they weren’t. The other shoe dropped.
And its name was Mark.