Diego
“Are you mad?” Valentina gazes up at me with those large, sun-kissed eyes of hers, flooded with far too many emotions to decipher in one night.
“No, Val… I’m not mad. I’m…” Ending my pacing, I move to the bed and sit next to her.
“I’m concerned. We were snatched off the street and dumped here, wherever here is.
And sure, everything looks like you really did live here and it’s a nice story about how they were looking for you, but I don’t know if I buy that they couldn’t find you for that long.
They tracked us all over the city but before that, they had no idea where we were? ”
My lips press together.
“You’re cynical,” she replies softly while sliding her hand into mine. “They cared for me.”
“And accused me.”
“They don’t know you like I know you.” Valentina’s grip tightens on my hand.
“I know everything you’ve done to keep me safe, including endangering your own life and taking risks on a…
on a mindless woman who spent her entire time reacting to feelings.
But Diego, you trusted my feelings when I was too scared to go to the cops or a hospital. Can’t you trust my feelings here, too?”
She makes a good point, unfortunately, but my back still twitches at how Bradley dared accuse me of being the cause of all the wounds on her body. Wounds I only know of by heart because I’ve spent so long keeping her safe and alive.
“I trust you,” I say after a moment’s pause. “I do. But I don’t trust them. As I said, Bradley said the exact same thing as that cop. And pictures can be faked.”
Valentina’s face drops slightly.
“But…” I groan dramatically and flop back onto the bed. “This is a lot of work to put into a lie, and they took care of you. I’m just… suspicious.”
“I know.” Valentina eventually joins me on the bed, cuddling into me with her head on my chest and her fingers stroking lazily across my abdomen. “It’s so weird being in that room, though.”
“It is?” After some shuffling and the removal of shoes, we vanish under the blanket and pull it over our heads as if it can give us some privacy.
“They all look at me like they know me. It’s kind of like what I see in your eyes when we look at each other. But I know you. I don’t know them. At least… I don’t think I do.”
“Until you know them, I won’t trust them.
” My fingers dance ever so lightly over her shoulder.
“Let’s see. There’s the gigantic one built like a brick house called Bradley.
Dude barely looks like he can fit through a doorway.
A man like that is hardly forgettable. And did you see the bowl he broke earlier?
” I recall the clatter during the meal and the swift way he deposited the pieces in the sink.
“He’s either really angry or…” My heart squeezes. “Or you were very important to him.”
Valentina hums softly.
“Then there’s Cassian, I think. Dude with muscles, a shirt that doesn’t fit. Short hair. Seems the friendliest of the bunch.”
“I don’t think he came to see me,” Valentina murmurs. “When I woke up, a woman with freckles came to see me. Raven. She seemed really sweet.”
“I didn’t see her. So, with them, that scary-looking Ruslan guy and Ivy, there are five in total? At least. This place seems huge and I saw more than five toothbrushes in the bathroom Cassian took me to. I remember thinking it was a weird number of toothbrushes.”
“What do you think this place is?” Her head tilts up, and even under the darkness created by the blankets, I still make out the glint of her eyes.
“Honestly? I have no clue. I’ve never met people like this and while I’ve had my fair share of being snatched off the street due to debt, this is the first time I’ve been in a place this fancy.
I feel like even the air I breathe isn’t good enough for here.
Everything is so pristine and… unlived in.
But at the same time…” My fingertips walk down her arm to her elbow and then stroke back up.
“Maintaining a lie with this many people is tough. I can’t think what they have to gain. ”
“So, you think they’re telling the truth?” The uncertainty in her voice wavers through like a stiff breeze. It’s been an exhausting few days and we could spend hours talking in circles about these strangers, but until we get some real answers, we’ll never find the end.
“I think,” I say with a grin, shuffling my arm out from underneath her body and rolling on top of her.
My hands brace on either side of her head as I gaze down into her gorgeous eyes.
“I think you really are long lost royalty and we’ve stumbled into a ploy to steal your riches or use you for bait against your rich, foreign father, king of another land. ”
Valentina rolls her eyes but a playful smile stretches across her lips. “Oh, really?”
“And I, your rugged and street-wise knight, will do everything he can to keep you safe, but you can’t help but wonder if he’s in this because of the riches he’ll earn for bringing you back safe?
” I lean down until we’re nose to nose and the blankets shift enough that soft light caresses the edge of Valentina’s face.
“Or is he in this because he’s fallen in love with the memory-less princess who wanders around like a lost…” I kiss her softly. “Little.” Another kiss. “Lamb?” And another.
“Lamb?” Valentina repeats as she loops her hand around the back of my neck. “Do I really strike you as a lamb?”
“To this knight, you’re absolutely a lamb. A lamb with the sharpest teeth I’ve ever seen.” Another kiss and Valentina’s giggles vibrate against me, drawing a smile from the depths of my soul.
When it’s just us like this, everything feels normal. Safe.
“What would her handsome, street-wise knight do to protect her?” Her other hand caresses my cheek as our lips meet once more.
“Everything.” Another kiss. “And anything.” Then another that starts a path trailing all the way down to her jaw, and then further to the soft droop of her earlobe.
Valentina gasps against me and runs her hand up into my hair, tugging slightly on the strands and sending heat skittering down my spine. I’m not able to let my guard down all the way, but now that I’ve started with her, I can’t stop.
I kiss down the column of her throat until I reach the hollow of her neck where her pulse leaps up against my tongue. Following along the neckline of her shirt, each button pops easily around my fingers until the fabric falls open and her gorgeous body is displayed before me.
“Wow,” I murmur, glimpsing the fresh, neat stitches replacing mine along her ribs. “They really had a professional.”
“As much as yours had character,” Valentina says softly, “these don’t hurt as much.”
“I’m glad. Far be it for this knight to want his Queen to be in pain.”
Another laugh makes her stomach concave slightly. I follow the slope with my lips, then over each rise of her strong abs to her navel. Laying a soft kiss over the top, I continue my path down until the darkness of the blankets fully consumes and there’s a brief wrestle with Valentina’s jeans.
“Next time,” she gasps after the rush of denim leaves her legs, “warn me!”
“If I told you each time I wanted to do this, wouldn’t it ruin the build up?”
My dark haven fades as Valentina lifts the blankets and gazes down the length of her body to my eyes. “Maybe.”
“Then perhaps my Queen should stop complaining and— Argh!”
She lifts both her legs and catches my head between her strong thighs, smirking as I cut myself off. “You were saying?”
“Forgive me,” I groan dramatically. “Your knight misspoke. You can complain all you like!”
Her muscles flex against my ears as she tips her head back and laughs, and it’s quite possibly the most beautiful she’s ever looked. As she relaxes, I settle fully between her legs and darkness descends as the blankets fall over my head once more.
Not that I need to see.
Every small scar and cut gains a kiss from me, every scrape and twisted bit of skin hiding parts of Valentina’s history within their shape.
I kiss them all on my way up to her panty line.
By the time I get there, the fabric is soaked through so I press my tongue flat to her pussy and lick slowly, drawing a soft, long moan from her.
Could I get her to come like this?
Just licking her through her panties and driving her wild with a touch that’s enough but not as nearly as intense as she deserves? It’s tempting and if we were back home, I probably would. Right now, I want to make her feel good and forget everything just for a little while.
With one finger, I hook onto the edge of her panties and pull them aside, then down her legs far enough that they’re no longer an issue for me.
The heat radiating from her pussy, along with her sweet scent, is enough to make my mouth water and I can’t hold myself back any longer.
Surging forward, I bury my face between her legs and slide my tongue through her damp outer lips, burying it in the heat of her inner folds and tasting every drop of her that floods forth.
“Diego,” Valentina moans in a breathless whimper above me. “Oh, my God.”
I want to know every single detail of her, every rise and fall, every bump and fold.
I want to be able to picture her perfectly in my mind if I ever need to.
Long strokes of my tongue through her pussy, from entrance to clit, gradually become kisses over her inner lips.
Soft, silky folds catch between my lips and I suckle softly on each one, kiss over her outer lips and the soft curls of hair, then I delve back into her heat and eat her out slowly.
Long, languid kisses, lazy strokes of my tongue, soft, suckling pressure over every sensitive spot, and pointed attention to her clit from the tip of my tongue.
Valentina comes apart. Every part of her trembles, her moans grow muffled, likely from her fingers covering her mouth, and her hips rock back and forth against my mouth as if she’s trying to entice me to go harder.
I keep it slow. Sensual. I study every inch of her until she’s about to come apart at the same and every ragged breath past her lips is muffled music to my ears.
She comes when I finally apply harder pressure to her clit and as her thighs close around my head, I thrust my tongue inside her to feel every quiver and pulse of her gorgeous pussy.
“Holy… shit,” Valentina pants hoarsely when I crawl back over her. Her gorgeous, golden honey eyes stand out starkly against her flush, rosy cheeks.
I kiss her, gently brushing some damp strands of her hair away from her forehead. “Good?”
“So good,” she murmurs with lazy blinks. “You’re so fucking good at that.”
“I know.” Drawing her into my arms, I wrap myself around her as tightly as I dare due to her still healing wounds and tuck her head under my chin while my cock protests my lack of further action with her.
Given where we are, I’m not risking any of those strangers pulling something while both our pants are down.
Valentina falls asleep within minutes, safe in my arms, and my mind wanders back to one throwaway comment that suddenly carries more weight than I expect.
…Or is he in this because he’s fallen in love with the memory-less princess…
Have I fallen in love with her?
I’ve never been in love, not real love, at least. Infatuation, sure. Lust, definitely. But this with Valentina? I’ve not put a word to it until now because it was just there, growing without my focus, and I didn’t have time to focus.
Now I face a very real chance that I’ve returned her to where she’s supposed to be and the life waiting for her doesn’t have space for me.
And that thought makes my guts ache like they’ve been carved out with a wooden spoon. Losing her… not seeing her face or her smile, hearing her teasing or smelling the vanilla in her hair… it’s not worth thinking about.
I put it out of my mind, but one thing lingers.
I think I have fallen in love with her.
The next morning, hunger draws us from our room and we follow the scent of food back to the kitchen we abandoned the night before. Not eating the pasta offered has left us both starving and after peeking around the door, I spot a woman with freckles and curly hair.
“Raven?” Valentina asks cautiously.
The woman jumps slightly and turns, then a wide smile spreads across her face. “Valentina! And… Diego, right?”
I nod. So this is Raven.
“Are you guys hungry? I can’t stop, but I’ve made bacon, tomatoes, potatoes, hash browns, and sausages.
Well, I say me. Bradley did this and I’m here taking credit.
I’m more of an instant noodle kind of girl.
” She talks quickly, shoves a piece of bacon in her mouth, and then waves at us with a couple of fingers before fleeing the room.
Valentina and I exchange a glance. “Did we scare her?” I ask.
She shrugs. “She seemed… a little skittish when I met her yesterday, but she was gentle. In the same way Ivy was gentle.” Valentina frowns slightly. “Almost as if they’re trying to appease us.”
“Well, she put the bacon in her mouth so chances of it being poisoned are pretty slim, right?” Squeezing Valentina’s hand, I release it and walk to the trays laid out on the stove, where food continues to sizzle even though I can’t work out the source of heat.
“Dying from breakfast wouldn’t be a bad way to go,” Valentina chokes, then she winces slightly. “Ow.”
“Sore?” Concern immediately overrides my hunger in case I was too rough with her last night, but she reassures me with a squeeze of my arm.
“Painkillers are wearing off, I think.”
“Sit. I’ll grab plates.”
Two minutes later, we sit at the table with plates loaded with everything while Valentina pops some pills from the bottle the doctor gave her and chases them with two mouthfuls of orange juice.
“I dreamed something last night,” she says quietly. “Something weird.”
“What was it?” The sausage snaps between my teeth.
“I don’t know. Blurry things. I was cold. Really cold. And I think I was underground, but I don’t know how I knew that. Everything was so blurry and I think… I think it was damp.”
“A dream?” The alternative is much worse.
“I don’t know.” She toys with her bacon, but as soon as she starts eating, it’s as if the floodgates of hunger have opened. We’ve nearly cleared our plates by the time the door opens and the gigantic man, Bradley, walks inside.
“Good. You’ve eaten.” He remains as gruff as he was last night. “Valentina… It’s time we told you the truth about who you are.”