Chapter 8 #2
He walked over to the large tub and turned on the water. “I’m not going to lie. I bought this house because of the bathroom.”
She narrowed her eyes teasingly. “I thought it was because you liked the distance between you and your neighbors.”
“That was a close second,” he said, winking.
“This bathroom is amazing.” As the tub filled, Belle looked around at the oversized space.
There was a walk-in shower with five different showerheads and a bench and soft recessed lighting.
There was a long counter with double sinks and huge mirrors.
The Jacuzzi tub was big enough for at least four people, and he—or perhaps Viv—had lined the wall behind with staggered shelves covered in different sizes of candles.
She was about to ask if he ever used the candles, when Victor pulled a long lighter from one of the bathroom drawers and started lighting them.
“If you ever repeat this, I’ll deny it,” he said, “but some nights after particularly brutal games, I like to come in here, run the bath, light the candles, turn out the lights, and soak in the jets until the stress and physical pain goes away.”
“I can’t imagine anything better.”
Once he’d lit the last candle, he lifted his chin toward the light switch by the door.
“Turn the lights off and come here,” he growled in that sexy voice she couldn’t resist. Jesus, he could tell her to jump off a cliff in that grumbly, demanding tone, and she was pretty damn sure she’d leap without a second thought.
Turning off the lights, she crossed the room to him, accepting his hand as he helped her into the steamy bath. The water felt like bliss. He’d put some bath salts in, so the room smelled faintly of lavender.
“I was afraid you might be a little bit sore,” he said, sinking down behind her.
She was, but not enough that she intended to cut their night short.
She sighed blissfully, resting the back of her head on his shoulder as his arms looped around her, his hands cupping her breasts, toying with her nipples.
If his intention with this bath was relaxation, he was missing the mark with his touches. Especially when his lips began dancing along the side of her throat, kissing and licking his way to her shoulder.
Eventually, he rested his chin on her shoulder, turning his head from time to time to place a soft kiss on the side of her head.
Her fingers lazily stroked patterns on his strong thighs.
She’d never been more aware of the differences in their sizes as she was tonight, first, when he’d caged her beneath him on the couch, and now, when she was so completely encompassed in his embrace.
In the early years, his size, just like his scowls and growly voice, had intimidated her, but now it just felt safe. In a strange way, lying here like this, curled up against him, felt like home—warm, comforting.
They sat there, neither of them speaking for a long time, Victor seemingly as lost in his thoughts as she was.
“Still with me?” he asked after a while, his hand cupping her jaw to turn her head toward him, his thumb brushing her cheek.
“I’m here,” she said, smiling.
“Good,” he murmured, twisting her until she straddled his powerful thighs. They kissed just once before Victor lifted her ass, and she reached between them, guiding his erection inside her. She sank down slowly, savoring every single inch as it penetrated.
Once her ass rested on his thighs, he kissed more thoroughly.
“You’re beautiful, Belle.”
She blinked a few times, his words touching her so deeply, she felt a bit like crying.
While she was on top of him, Belle was under no illusions about who was in control as Victor lifted her ass until just the head of his cock remained, before pulling her back down.
He started slowly, but soon the pace increased, water sloshing over the side of the large tub. They were creating quite the tsunami.
When Victor stroked her clit, Belle was a goner. Dear God, that man could find and stroke her clit better than she could. He used it like a secret weapon, and she was not mad about it at all.
She came hard, her body jerking under the impact, and Victor came with her, filling her.
Words failed Belle, mainly because she couldn’t draw in enough air to speak, but the same didn’t hold true for Victor.
She loved the way he said her name, the single syllable laced in pleasure and pain.
“Belle!”
His hands tightened on her hips, the grip firm enough she suspected he was leaving bruises. A smile escaped when she thought that the bruises would be a nice complement to the hickey he’d left on her inner thigh.
Victor was an artist, treating her like his own personal canvas, and something told her she was about to spend way too much time these next few days admiring his work.
She wasn’t sure what had prompted her to eschew the condom. She’d certainly used them with all her previous lovers. All she knew was, she wanted to be filled by him. It made her feel even more connected to him, and she liked that.
Then her ever-hopeful heart went ahead and imagined there might come a day when she went off birth control as they made a baby together.
Her body continued to tremble, aftershocks striking when Victor gently lifted her off his now-soft cock.
Later, much later, Belle lay curled against Victor, her head on his chest, listening to the steady rhythm of his heartbeat beneath her ear.
She felt…floaty. Light. Like if she tried hard enough, she could actually lift off the bed.
“Sunshine.” Victor’s voice was quiet, thoughtful, and not at all gruff from sleep, which surprised her. She thought he’d drifted off ages ago.
“Hmm.”
“We need to talk about something.”
Damn. There it was.
Reality…knocking at the door.
She sighed softly but didn’t lift her head or move away. “Okay.”
His fingers traced absent patterns on her arm. “Pip.”
Belle braced herself, because she truly didn’t know what he was going to say next. He told her by the pool that nothing could happen between them because of Pip, because she would be the one to lose out if things went south.
That fact hadn’t changed, and yet…
Here they were.
She took a steadying breath, then lifted her head, resting her chin on her hand that lay flat on his chest. “Pip,” she repeated, terrified he’d come to his senses and was regretting what they’d done.
If that was true… Well, Belle wasn’t entirely sure she’d handle the fallout from that with much grace or style.
She wasn’t much of a crier, but if Victor pushed her away after everything they’d just done, then the world was in for a flood of tears.
Victor hesitated, which gave her hope. “I don’t want her confused. Or thinking something’s changed that might not—” He cut himself off, his jaw tightening.
Belle stilled as she filled in the rest of his sentence in her head.
Something that might not last.
For a split second, that thought stung. But only for a second.
Because she understood him and where that fear came from. He’d thought Amelia was the one, so much so, he’d bought a ring. And then, she’d knocked him for a loop after two years and living together, telling him she couldn’t handle him being gone so much.
No one could predict the future, and as amazing and perfect as this felt now, Belle knew Victor well enough to understand just how cautious and careful he was about things that involved his family.
Rolling out a changed dynamic between them in front of a five-year-old Pip, who was observant, curious, and deeply impressionable, would be a huge mistake.
“Hey,” she said softly, brushing her fingers over his bearded jaw. “We don’t have to define this,” she waved her finger between them, “tonight. I don’t want to confuse her either. So no PDA in front of Pip. We keep things the same, act normal.”
Victor nodded. “Okay, yeah. We’ll keep it on the down-low. For now.”
Her concern over him pushing her away faded when he added those last two words. Because there was an urgency behind them that told her Victor wasn’t willing to keep what was happening between them a secret forever. It was reassuring enough that she decided they’d said enough for tonight.
Or…almost enough.
“I think we’re smart to keep this just between us,” she said. She’d intended to stop there, but now that Victor had opened the gate, another concern creeped in. “Vivian.”
Pip was only one part of the equation here.
Because while they hadn’t mentioned Vivian before, Victor’s sister was also in the line of fire if things didn’t work out.
And Belle knew exactly which side Vivian would take if that happened.
Blood was thicker than water, and Victor and Vivian were closer than any siblings Belle had ever met.
Victor harrumphed. “Vivian is going to have opinions.”
Belle giggled softly. “That’s putting it mildly.”
“She loves you,” Victor said.
“Which means we have to be careful. Take this slow. Because if…” Belle stopped talking. She didn’t want to say the rest, didn’t even want to think it.
Victor ran his fingers through her hair, tucking a strand behind her ear. His gaze told her that he knew exactly what that meant.
If Belle was a braver woman, she’d ask him if he was worried about this thing between them not going the distance, but it was way too soon to start forcing declarations from him.
So she held her piece, doing a reset on her thoughts, returning to the attitude she had when she followed him to his bedroom tonight.
She was on the path and they’d started the hike. For now, she was just going to enjoy the scenery until they got to…wherever they were going.
* * *
Keeping things a secret from Pip turned out to be interesting.
“Why are you smiling?” Pip asked her two days later, eyeing Belle over her bowl of cereal like a tiny detective.
Belle jerked her gaze from where she’d been ogling Victor’s tight ass as he poured them both a cup of coffee, acting so guilty it was a wonder the cops weren’t here to arrest her.