Chapter 8
Chapter eight
Blaine
“Give me one more, Sunshine. You can do it, baby,” I coaxed, my hands hovering at her waist.
“I can’t… I can’t…” she panted, whimpers breaking between shallow breaths. Her body trembled, arms giving out as her grip slipped.
“You can, baby. You’ve got this,” I murmured, but her hands let go of the bar and she collapsed straight into my arms.
Her face was flushed from exertion, skin damp with sweat, strands of blonde sticking to her temples. Gently, I set her down, brushing a curl behind her ear.
“That was five pull-ups, Sunshine.”
She huffed, grabbing her water bottle. “I can do more. I’m a dancer, you know. You were watching me and making me nervous!”
I chuckled, leaning back on the bench as she turned to the mirror, kneeling as she fixed her ponytail.
As much as I wanted to listen to Kiki’s voice of reason… I couldn’t. Maia and I just clicked. There was something about her that flipped a switch in me, something that made the possessiveness I swore I didn’t have crawl to the surface.
Especially when I thought about her going back to Vaughn or any other jackass, letting sleazy men with fat wallets and small dicks devour her with their eyes.
“You really would’ve gone back to Vaughn or some other creep for a job?” I muttered.
She sighed, meeting my gaze through the mirror. “I wouldn’t have a choice, Blaine.”
“Why do you need the money so badly?” I pressed, leaning forward, elbows on my knees.
Her shoulders tensed. She looked away.
I wasn’t Sherlock Holmes, wasn’t fucking Inspector Gadget—but I knew when someone was carrying more than they admitted.
“My uncle,” she whispered. “He owes a very large debt. He used to gamble, and the man he owes is… persistent about collecting. After my uncle went to rehab, I took on the burden. To ease his mind.” Her shrug was small, but her voice cracked.
“He was drowning. And because he raised me, because he was there for me, I felt like I didn’t have a choice but to help. ”
“What if I wanted to give you choices?” I muttered.
Her brows pinched. “Choices?”
“Financial freedom. If you’ll let me.”
She turned, sitting back on the floor now, studying me carefully.
“Blaine… I don’t know. It feels like a handout. Like I’d just be bleeding your pockets. I don’t want to suck you dry.”
My eyes locked with hers. “What if I wanted you to?”
The shift was instant. The flicker in her eyes, her lips parting before curling into a seductive smile.
“Then I’d say I already did a pretty good job of that last night,” she giggled, and I rolled my eyes at the double meaning.
Leaning back, I beckoned her over with a finger. Instead of standing like a normal fucking person, the little temptress crawled over. Slow, deliberate, gaze locked on mine with those doe eyes that made my cock twitch.
She stopped in front of me, waiting. I tilted her chin up, bringing her closer until her pouty mouth was all I could focus on. Her scent, her warmth, everything about her tested my composure.
“Why won’t you let me take care of you?” I asked, voice low.
She bit her lip. “Well… why would you want to?”
And fuck if I didn’t ask myself the same thing. I barely knew her. A one-night stand gone too far. So why did I suddenly feel like strapping on a shining suit of armor and guarding her like she was mine?
“I don’t know why,” I admitted. “I just do.”
“I’m not a damsel in distress,” she whispered.
My hand tightened on her jaw. “No. You’re an expensive goddess who deserves to be spoiled rotten.”
“So your proposition is… to be my sugar daddy?” she teased, giggling at the title.
“To an extent, sure,” I muttered, groaning at how smug she looked.
“Why assume I like to be spoiled?”
“Because your eyes lit up in the hotel room, in my penthouse, in my car…”
She shrugged, feigning innocence. “Maybe I just like the finer things.”
“And I want to be the one who gives them to you.”
She tilted her head. “I thought guys like you stayed away from gold diggers and wannabe sugar babies?”
“Guys like me—” I leaned in, voice rough “—want to spend every dime on the woman they’re with… and come home to find her head in the sheets and her ass in the air.”
Her breath hitched, but her eyes sparkled with mischief. “So that’s what you’ll want in return for our arrangement?”
“That—and I want to know you. I want your laughter, your horrendous jokes, your smile… everything.”
“I’ve only given those parts of me to you for a short time, Mr. Porter. You’ll get sick of me. I know it.”
“Then make me so sick you kill me, Sunshine.”
“Only if you put me in your will,” she giggled.
I hummed, kissing her quickly before pulling her closer. Her arms wrapped around my neck, warm and tight.
Lucifer’s voice nagged in the back of my head, telling me she was a mistake, that I was a fool repeating the same patterns.
My life was full of mistakes—my father had drilled that truth into me enough times.
And yeah, I knew the disaster of a one-night stand gone too far. If that’s what this was, so be it.
But my gut told me otherwise. She was different.
“My turn,” I muttered, standing and grabbing the pull-up bar.
Her gaze snapped to me, wide and eager. I felt her eyes track every ripple of muscle, every flex in my arms and abs as I repped twenty without breaking a sweat.
Dropping back down, I didn’t give her time to process before I stalked over, scooped her up, and let her squeal into my shoulder. Her arms and legs clung to me instinctively as I palmed her ass in both hands, carrying her back to the bar.
Her brows furrowed, panic flickering in her eyes. “Blaine…” she whispered, biting her lip as I reached up and grabbed the bar again.
I looked her dead in the eye, a smirk tugging at my mouth. “I’m going to do another twenty with you holding on.”
Before she could protest, I hauled us both up, her gasp hot against my neck as I completed the first rep effortlessly.
“What, do you suddenly have bodybuilder on your résumé too? Put me down!” she ordered, squirming.
I only chuckled, hauling us up again. “Unfortunately, Sunshine, I’m going to give you something else to worry about…”
Her eyes narrowed. “And what’s that?”
By the time I hit five, I smirked. “If I get to twenty… you’re going to let me do another ten. Only this time, I’ll be filling your sweet little cunt while I do it.”
Her eyes went wide. She shook her head furiously. “Nuh-uh. What you’re doing now is barely safe!”
I laughed, unfazed, even as she pried at my grip. At eleven, she tried harder to distract me, tugging at my fingers, but I didn’t break rhythm.
“It’ll be fun,” I promised with a chuckle, but her protests only grew louder.
By fifteen, I relented—didn’t want to actually scare her. Dropping back down, I landed steady, my hands locked tight on her ass.
“You’re terrible, Mr. Porter,” she scolded, rolling her eyes.
I stole a kiss, lips brushing hers, even as my arms trembled under her palms. She gave me a knowing look.
Sighing, I broke. “Fine. You got me. Truth is… I was about to fucking die. My arms were seconds from giving out.”
Her laugh rang out as she threaded her fingers through my hair, scratching lightly at my scalp.
“I know somewhere we can go that’s just as dangerous, just as exciting, and will leave us wetter than we are now…” she teased.
I tilted my head, already grinning. “Between your thighs?”
She rolled her eyes, smacking my shoulder. “The shower, you idiot.”
Her laugh was all I needed. I practically sprinted us toward the bathroom.
Could my arms barely hold her because I wanted to show off? Yes. Was I ignoring Killian’s orders by being here with my Sunshine? Yes. Did I care about getting too attached or moving too fast? Fuck no.
Was she about to give me another ride of a lifetime? Fuck yes.