Chapter 27
Paige
This time, I stand at the sink beside Vanya, washing the dishes from our coffee and sandwiches. Between the two of us, we make quick work of the chore, but every moment proves torturous.
So close and not touching.
When I reach for his hand, my fingers are slick with water. I slide my fingertips over his wrist to the scar running from just above his thumb down toward his arm. “How’d you get this?”
He goes still.
Did I go too far? Ask too much? It’s not like I don’t know what sort of job he has now…
Before I can apologize—though I’m not sure why I’m feeling guilty—Vanya cups my chin and tilts my face up to his.
The kiss is intentional. Unhurried in a new way.
Vanya sips at my lips, his tongue grazing over mine. His hands drift up my sides, his thumbs brushing the undersides of my breasts.
He lifts me onto the countertop next to the sink. His mouth travels to my throat, kissing the spot where my pulse hammers. I thread my fingers through his soft brown hair, wrapping my legs around his waist. How can I still want him this much when we just did this yesterday?
He groans deep in his throat and pulls back enough to tug the shirt over my head and toss it to the floor. My bra comes off next. Then he kisses across my collarbone and down to my breasts.
This isn’t like before. He isn’t rough or demanding or aiming to shatter me.
He’s exploring. Discovering.
What else could he possibly learn?
His tongue circles one nipple, then the other. Slowly, patiently, like he has all the time in the world.
The glide of his tongue over my skin shivers through me. I arch into his mouth, my head falling back against the cabinet behind me.
Then his teeth come together, hard.
The pain is sharp and immediate, and my exhausted body comes back to life like a flipped switch.
When my hips buck off the counter, he catches me by the thighs.
Scooping me up, he carries me to the table. “I think I want some dessert. How does that sound, Beautiful?”
Only if you’re on the menu too.
Vanya hoists my legs, forcing me to lie back. The cool tabletop greets my spine, a stark contrast to the heat flooding through the rest of me.
“Did you know they call me Silver Tongue?” He yanks me forward until my ass hangs over the edge of the table. “And it’s not because I’m such a charmer.”
Then his mouth descends on my clit, and every sane thought flees my mind.
Vanya eats my pussy like he’s creating artwork. His tongue dances in ways I didn’t know were possible. Smooth and firm, then pointed and light. He nips and bites, suckling my clit like he did my nipple.
Rough and brutal is chased by soothing and soft, with him never giving my body time to adjust to either method.
I might as well be hooked up to an electric chair. A nonstop current of pleasure-pain courses through me, frying every nerve ending. Never so much that I beg him to stop, but always on the precipice, so I’m constantly pleading.
“Please, Vanya. Shit…please.”
“Is this not what you want?” He straightens, wiping a palm over his lips. At some point, he lost his pants and rolled on a condom.
I huff, my mouth dry and my lips bruised from my teeth. “I…want…” My tongue is thick, too heavy to form the right words.
Using his hand, he slides his dick into my hot, swollen flesh. “Maybe this? Surely you can’t take any more?”
Honestly, I’m not sure I can. I’m so sore, so overworked, so raw, but the stretch as he pushes into me drags a moan from my chest anyway.
“Ooh, fuck, Vanya. Yes. Just like that.” I reach for him, desperate to cling to something solid. My mind spins, unable to keep up with the whirl of his touch.
“You like that?” He thrusts viciously, wrapping his hand around my right ankle and maneuvering it high out of the way. Then he thrusts again, hitting that spot that drives me wild. “Tell me what you want next.”
He unbuttons his shirt and lets it fall. Greedily, I devour every inch of his body as it’s slowly revealed. The bullet graze on his chest that I cleaned and bandaged is stark against skin. The scars I haven’t asked about yet are pale and shimmering in the bright kitchen light.
The answer to his question is simple. I lick my lips, my eyes meeting his. “You.”
He freezes, those hazel eyes going wide like a startled animal’s.
Like he never thought I’d speak such a truth.
I hold my arms out, and he comes to me, caging me in against the table.
He keeps his thrusts slow, his hips barely leaving mine. His languid kisses curl my toes and empty my mind. His hands wander, caressing every bit of me, like he’s afraid I’ll disappear if he doesn’t memorize my shape.
Every vigorous plunge steals my breath.
Not because it hurts or it’s overwhelming, but because I feel every single inch of him on me, in me.
I touch him back. Run my palms over his shoulders and chest, tracing the outline of his spine down his back. My hands crawl up his body as he pushes his way inside mine. Beneath my fingers, his muscles shift.
His heart hammers, another part of his body beating into mine.
He adjusts, pulling me tighter to him, and stars burst behind my eyes. “There, Vanya… Oh, right there.”
He moves in a delicious, steady rhythm. Fully connected. His forehead rests against mine, but he peers down, focused somewhere between the two of us.
I cup his face in my hands, forcing his gaze up to hold mine. His eyes sparkle with gold, darkening with lust and another flickering emotion I can’t bring myself to name.
He sees me. And he doesn’t look away.
He knows all of me now. Past, present, and maybe my future.
The last of my old self falls away, pooling at my feet like a scratchy wool blanket. I shake off the remnants of thread and bask in the sun of his eyes.
I arch under him, pleasure building low in my belly. “More. Please, I need more.”
He complies by speeding up. His thumb finds my clit and massages in time with his thrusts. I’m climbing, reaching, desperate for release.
“Vanya, Vanya, Vanya…!”
He shushes me, his lips tracing my cheek. “Let go. I’ve got you.”
I do.
The orgasm courses through me in waves. Not the high, sharp spikes of yesterday, but deep and rolling. A soundless cry scrapes my throat. As the world implodes around me, I cling to him with everything I have.
A second later, he follows, burying himself to the hilt, his whole body shaking as warmth pulses inside me and drags out my pleasure.
We collapse together, tangled and slick with sweat.
After three heartbeats, I remember to breathe.
I stare at the ceiling, inhaling his scent, and in this moment, I know I’ll never be the same. I’ll never be able to go back to a life before Vanya.
I need him.