Thirty-One
Winslet
Marley
What time are we leaving tomorrow?
I read her text as I sank down onto my sofa with my box of Goldfish. I sighed and set my snack down so I could reply.
Winslet
I can pick you up at ten. Sound good?
Once I sent it, I stuck my hand down into the box and got a handful of the small cheddar fish. I wanted chocolate, but I didn’t have any.
Yesterday and today had gone back to normal for the most part. People would keep talking about Principal Clairton and Anya getting fired for a while. No one really cared about Mrs. Warlow. That wasn’t juicy enough gossip, although I had overheard someone say that they heard she had embezzled. It seemed like everyone that had been involved, other than Dr. Voy, had a turn of bad things happen to them. Almost as if their secrets and sins had been unleashed.
My shoulders sank as I chewed. I was sulking. It was Friday night and officially forty-eight hours since I’d seen Oz. He hadn’t stopped by again to check on me. He didn’t know I got my job back and my name cleared. His not giving me his number and not showing back up to see how I was doing were making it entirely too obvious that I had been a booty call.
I didn’t think I could even classify it as that. He hadn’t even kissed me. We hadn’t had sex. Just his very talented tongue between my legs. I swallowed, and my favorite snack felt heavy in my stomach. I didn’t want anymore. Food wasn’t helping. I was…sad.
Might as well just admit it and face it—my heart hurt. The ache in my chest and the fact that I could cry right now, if I would allow myself, were signs that I’d been a fool. All my bravado about enjoying Oz and living in the moment had sounded great when he was here, touching me. Distracting me. Making me crazy with the need to have him all over me.
But I wasn’t that girl. It was something I couldn’t change. For all my independence and a life of fighting my and my brother’s battles, I had a weakness that I hadn’t realized until Oz.
It wasn’t just the fact that the man was sinfully beautiful and that his smile hinted at wicked things you wanted very much to experience at his hands. Maybe if that was all it was, then I could have done the fling thing and been fine. But he had taken care of me. Even when he’d locked me up, I hadn’t truly suffered. I mean, not that long. The bucket thing and dying of thirst had sucked, but he’d gotten me out of there. He had wanted me out of there.
UGH! I dropped my face into my hands.
The man had dropped me off and gone poof for two months. He said he had been giving me time. That he’d thought about me. He had brought me the sloth—paid close enough attention to such a small detail. Then the wine and the other night. The way he had looked at me and touched me. I’d thought he was feeling something deeper. More. Because I was.
The ringing of my doorbell had my head snapping up. I dropped my feet back to the floor and stood. A small flurry of excitement sent hope sparking inside me, and I rushed to get the door. Just before I swung it open, I paused and composed myself. It might not be him.
I checked the peephole, and there he was. Looking like every wet dream there ever was. I bit my lip, knowing the thrill at seeing him pumping through my veins was not a good thing. Especially with the power he already had over me. The man was going to break me when he walked away, but I was too far gone to stop this. I would break my own heart if I did.
Turning the knob, I opened it, and his smile as he looked back at me with hooded eyes, as if I was all he had been thinking about, made the worry and concern float away. He was here.
“Hey,” I said as he closed the space between us, moving me back with his hands on my hips until he was inside.
The door fell shut behind him.
He tilted his head, and his gaze dropped to my mouth. “Hey,” he replied in a husky whisper.
Sweet Jesus, there was no woman on earth that could resist this. I wasn’t stupid or silly.
He lowered his head, and my lips parted in a small intake of breath just before his mouth covered mine. When his tongue with its metal bar ran along my bottom lip, I might have moaned. My feet left the floor as he picked me up and set me on the counter, not once breaking the kiss. He tasted of cinnamon. I wrapped my arms around his neck, pressing against him. My fingers tangled in his hair. He had the best hair.
His hands ran up my back and fisted my top. This was bliss. I could die now and be happy. Lived the best life had to offer. Oz’s hard, warm body heated mine, and another sound came from me. It was somewhere between pleasure and a plea for more. His mouth left mine as he trailed kisses to my chin before moving down until he buried his face in the curve between my neck and shoulder. He let out a soft growl that was just louder than a low hum as he held me tightly.
We stayed that way for a moment before he pressed one more kiss at the pulse in my neck, then lifted his head until his eyes met mine. “I missed you.” There was a fierceness in his tone as he said the words.
“You did?” I asked, wanting it to be true, not something he said to every woman he slept with or was planning on sleeping with.
The corner of his lips quirked, and he brushed my chin with his thumb. “You have to ask after that kiss? Clearly, I need to up my game.”
A laughed bubbled out of me. I was deliriously happy. That was what he did to me.
“Your game is strong,” I assured him. “I just…well, I wasn’t sure if that was it. I mean, the other night. You were moving on or whatever.” I shouldn’t have said that. I was going to ruin the mood. My words had decided to tumble out all on their own.
His brows lowered, and he pinched my chin, holding my head still as his eyes bored into mine. “Moving on?” His tone had taken an edge.
Yep, I’d ruined it. He was mad.
Grasping at an explanation to fix things back to the hot and wild kiss he’d just given me, I blurted out, “I’m not being needy or anything. I just meant, we haven’t exchanged numbers, and I get it. That’s a step you don’t take. And I haven’t seen you since Wednesday night, and I didn’t lose my job. They found out who had lied about the pregnancy and fired everyone involved. I was just going to tell you, but again, we hadn’t shared numbers…so I thought…” I wasn’t sure that made anything better.
God, why am I so bad at this? Shut up, Winslet.
Oz let go of my chin and slid both his hands under my butt, then pulled me closer to him until the hard bulge in his jeans pressed between my open thighs. “Let me clear some things up for you, darlin’,” he said as he leaned close to my ear and pressed a kiss to the area just below it.
My body shivered.
“My number is in your phone. You want to talk to me? Call. You need me? Call. As for your job, I’m real happy for you. That’s wonderful news.”
My brows drew together. “I have your number?”
He nodded his head slowly.
“Since when?”
His tongue slid over his bottom lip as he licked it. “Since I put it in there when I had you in Louisiana.”
“Really?” I asked in surprise.
“Yes,” he confirmed. “I haven’t called or texted you because I was waiting until you were ready for that step. If I’d known you were, I’d have called you yesterday to check on you. Make sure you were okay. I had to leave town and handle some business, but I got back here as fast as I could. Because I wanted to see you.” He put emphasis on that last word.
As wonderful as all that sounded and as much as I wanted to wrap myself around him and hold on for dear life, I was now going to need a little clarification. Because what I thought this was for him and what he was saying were not the same.
“Are we—I mean, this thing—is it not one of your flings? The have sex and move along thing you said you do? Because, well, I’ve never done that, so I’m not sure how it works and if I am reading into things wrong.” My face was getting warm.
His eyes locked on me, as he seemed to hang on every word out of my mouth, made it hard to make sense. I was getting flustered.
“Why don’t you tell me what it is you’re reading into?” he urged. There was a flicker of amusement in his expression, but he didn’t smile.
I shook my head. “No. It’s—I’m not saying any of this right. Just forget it.”
He squeezed my bottom. “Oh, no. You aren’t stopping now.”
I sighed. “Fine. I have never just had sex with a guy. I was always in a relationship. There were feelings involved. We were together. Committed. I don’t know how to tell the difference between that and no-strings-attached sex. You…you confuse me with all your sweet words and the way you look at me. I start to believe there is more than just the sex we’ve yet to have, and when I’ve convinced myself that I am wrong, that I’m reading too much into it, you do something like this,” I said. “Kiss me like you can’t get enough and tell me you missed me. Because until the other night, we had been…well, nothing. You were in my fantasies only.”
When I stopped—afraid if I kept talking, I would embarrass myself—he leaned in, and his teeth grazed my earlobe, causing my nipples to pebble. “Are you done?” he asked in a low, raspy whisper.
I nodded, and he pulled back to meet my gaze.
“We were something before the other night. We’d been something for two months, and this won’t ever be just sex. Not with you. I’ve never taken it slow with a female in my life because I have never cared to find out anything about her. With you, I can’t seem to get enough. I want to know every fucking detail. What you’re thinking, what it is you need, what you want, what makes you smile, what makes those gorgeous eyes of yours fucking twinkle,” he said as he tucked hair behind my ear.
“I don’t say shit I don’t mean. I’m blunt. We have a beginning that isn’t pleasant, and if I let myself think about what I did to you, I start to get edgy and unhinged. The idea of it makes me want to rage and break shit.”
He moved his hand up to cup the side of my face. “I wanted to give you time to see past that guy. The one I was. The man that didn’t know you. That hadn’t spent time with you. Heard how musical your laugh was or been weakened by your smile.
“I hadn’t been prepared for how strong the pull would be when our eyes locked at that festival. I realized then that I couldn’t give you any more time. I wasn’t going to be able to stay away.”
His thumb gently caressed my cheek. “I’m not a good guy. I do things that you wouldn’t like. I live a life that is hard for many to accept. There is a dark side to me that’s levels in hell worse than what you saw of me in that basement. But it won’t touch you. All I want to do is protect you and fuck you as much as I possibly can.”
I let out a surprised laugh, and he smirked.
“I lay myself bare like that, and you laugh?” There was a teasing tone in his husky voice.
“The fuck part,” I said. “It was unexpected.”
He dropped his gaze, then lifted it back up, looking at me through those lashes of his. “The long, hard thing in my jeans pressing against your cunt right now is my cock, darlin’.”
I laughed again. I felt light. The heavy ache I’d been carrying around earlier was gone. I couldn’t remember being happier. He liked me. He had feelings for me. I had made the sexy playboy feel something.
“Are you clear now? This isn’t a fling. Your pretty legs only spread for me. Understood?”
Oh sweet Lord. Yes, please.
I nodded.
“Don’t flirt with anyone either or allow them to get too close to you. It will end badly.”
“End badly?”
His expression went dark. No trace of a teasing glint in his eyes. “That’s not a joke, Winslet,” he said, jerking me forward and rocking his rigid length against me. “Don’t make me do something that would upset you.”
My hands grabbed his biceps as he pressed into me again. I bit my lip to keep from moaning. I was one hundred percent positive that I could forgive him anything. That was a weakness I just had to accept.
“This is mine,” he growled out, his fingers digging into the plump flesh and squeezing.
I nodded. I’d agree to anything when he looked at me like that. I wanted to be his. I had never felt as if I belonged to anyone. And I wanted to belong to him.
His mouth came down to cover mine, causing me to moan with pleasure, need, the ache only he caused. He kissed me hard and deep, flicking the metal expertly. He made the world fade away until there was nothing but us.
I lifted my hands as he took the hem of my shirt and broke the kiss to pull it over my head and drop it to the counter. The quick removal of my bra while he licked and nuzzled my neck was impressive. When both his hands covered my breasts and squeezed hard, I let out a cry.
“I don’t want to fuck you for the first time on a kitchen counter,” he said, sliding his hands under my butt again and lifting me.
I wrapped my legs around him, and he began walking us toward the bedroom. He ducked his head to pull a nipple into his mouth and sucked.
How many times had I imagined this man in my bed? Countless.
He put me down on the bed and jerked his shirt off, then removed his pants. Although it was entirely too quick, I savored every moment of it, burning it into my memory. There wasn’t an inch of the man that wasn’t hard, toned, and sculpted. I lay back as he grabbed the waist of my pajama shorts and took them, along with my panties, in one fluid motion. Then, he paused and stared down at me for a moment. My eyes moved slowly down his chest to his thick, swollen erection that jutted up, looking a little intimidating.
Oz moved over me, and I opened my legs, my eyes swinging back up to lock with his. The wide, round head pressed against my entrance, and he let out a low, deep groan.
“Fuck, you’re dripping wet.”
Yes, well, he had that effect on me. I was also panting with ache and anticipation.
“I know I said I wanted to protect you,” he said as he clenched his teeth, “but that doesn’t apply to my cock. I want to slam into this pussy and fuck you like an animal.”
I lifted my hips, shuddering as my body pulsed with longing. “Yes, please,” I breathed.
His eyes darkened, and he let out a curse that vibrated from his chest like a growl. He entered me exactly like he’d warned, causing the headboard to knock against the wall so hard that I heard something fall from the wall—not that I cared.
“FUUUUUCK! That little pussy is tight.”
He reached down and grabbed the back of my head, fisting my hair in his hand. He pulled me toward him as he began to pump into me, stretching me, hitting a spot deep inside that sent jolts of added pleasure through my body. I shook each time, crying out from the new sensation.
“Goddamn, you take it like such a good girl,” he snarled.
Veins stood out on his neck, and the hard pecs on his chest flexed with each thrust of his body. The word owned took on a new meaning.
“Oz.” I moaned his name, and his eyes blazed, making me shudder beneath him.
He let go of my hair, and I fell back onto the bed while he placed a hand on each side of my head. I lifted my knees as he drove deeper into me. I had never felt so full.
“Christ,” he swore as my walls clamped down tight, squeezing him just before my climax hit me.
Throwing my head back, I bit my bottom lip, then screamed his named as my body bowed off the bed.
“Fuck, you’re perfect.” His voice was hoarse.
My eyes locked on his face just as he jerked. His lips parted before he shouted as the heat of his release pumped into me, sending another wave of euphoria coursing through me.
He lowered himself, resting on his elbows. His heavy breaths caressing my skin, he buried his face in my neck. “The condom. It’s in my pocket,” he said as his lips brushed a kiss where they touched me. “You make me forget things. Distract me.”
I pressed my lips together, then smiled. I knew that feeling well. It was good to know he suffered from it as well. I liked being a distraction.
“I’m on birth control.”
“And I’ve not been with anyone since before the day in Hobby Lobby. I got tested about a month ago, and I’m clean. I wouldn’t have sunk my dick into you, even with a condom, if I wasn’t.”
He lifted his head and looked down at me. I stared up at him as his words registered in my head. He hadn’t slept with anyone since he’d met me?
He ran the tips of his fingers down my face and moved my hair back over my shoulder as his eyes followed their path. The reverent expression as he looked at me, along with what he had just said, shook me. I was never going to be the same. Not after Oz.
Not after us.