Chapter 10
Rahat
Eventually we turned off Finchley Road and climbed into Frognal. The streets narrowed and the traffic thinned almost immediately. Victorian terraces lined both sides of the road behind low garden walls and leaf-strewn pavements. Andrea pulled up outside Carina's building and killed the engine.
"Are you sure you won't come in for a coffee?" Rex said as we exited the car.
"I'm good. Thanks, mate," Andrea answered. "Best be keeping my eyes on the road."
Rex patted the roof of the car in response. "Call me if you want me to bring you anything down," he said before closing the door.
Carina's flat was on the first floor. Rex whistled the second we stepped inside. I smiled. The Rizzos weren't exactly short of money.
After we'd taken our shoes off, I stood in the hall for a second.
The last time I'd been here, Carina and I had already demolished a bottle of Prosecco and were eager to get a second on the go.
That was before Gabriel called and told us to get the hell out of Dodge, changing both our lives in the process.
Xander Caruso had set his sights on Carina, and nobody was comfortable with that.
He was dead now, and Carina was happily married to Jameson Swash, one of Rex's club brothers, as he liked to call them.
The place still smelt like Carina's perfume, along with the scent of fresh linen, and the faint sweetness of the scented candles she liked to burn.
Or maybe, I was just imagining that because that's what it always smelt like.
I gave Rex a quick guided tour. The lamps were already on, so I had the feeling Gabriel sent someone over to prepare the place for us.
"It's very her," he said as he took in the deep forest-green walls and the walnut furnishings, which consisted of a sideboard that matched the console table by the front door, and the bookcase at the end of the hall. Everything expensive and carefully chosen.
"It's completely her," I said before heading to the kitchen to see if any of that Prosecco was still available.
"Do you ever turn it off?" I asked when I returned with two glasses in hand, only to find Rex surveying the street from one of the tall sash windows.
He looked at me confused for a moment. "Turn what off?"
"The watching," I said and gestured at the window.
He gave me a look that suggested it was a ridiculous question, which it probably was.
I placed the glasses on the side table, dropped onto the green velvet sofa, and pulled my knees up beside me.
I wished Carina was here now, that we were having a girly night just like old times, our only worry being how many guys we'd need to fend off in the club.
She and Jameson were building their lives in Colorado.
Though if Gabriel was correct, they could be on a flight by now, heading back to London.
The sofa shifted with Rex's weight as he sat beside me and pressed his arm against mine before leaning his head back. "Better than a hotel," he said.
"Much better," I agreed. "And look, it even comes with refreshments." I handed him one of the glasses before taking a long swig from my own, setting the glass back on the table, and standing.
“Alexa,” I called out. “Play the ‘After Hours’ playlist.”
What can I say? Carina’s place was like a second home to me.
A low, bluesy bassline thrummed through the hidden speakers as I stepped into the centre of the rug and let the rhythm take a hold of my hips as the soft fibres cushioned my bare feet.
Rex raised an eyebrow at me and smiled as he downed the contents of his own glass and set it aside. His dark eyes narrowed as he watched me dance, unbutton my blouse, and slide it from my shoulder. My panties flooded as his gaze tracked my every movement.
I was slow in removing my jeans. Rex’s breath hitched as I bent over, revealing my yellow lace underwear, as I pulled them off over the curve of my hips and down my thighs before kicking them away and turning to face him while biting my bottom lip.
His jaw tightened and the bulge in his pants twitched as I unfastened my bra and then hooked my fingers into the edge of my knickers. With one final swaying motion, I let the last of my clothes fall away and stood completely exposed before Rex and the heat in his haze.
“Your turn,” I said before stepping forward and climbing onto his lap.
I bunched the soft cotton of his T-shirt in my hands, even as my core ached to feel his cock deep inside me, and lifted it over his head.
Then I found the buttons of his jeans and made sure they followed his T-shirt to the floor, and straddled him again.
He reached for me, and I caught his wrists. “Today, I’m in control,” I said.
He smiled and nodded before dropping his hands to my hips in a loose grip. I ground myself against him. He was so fucking big, so fucking hard, already wanting me.
Rex growled as I curled my fingers around his cock. “Lean back,” I said.
He obeyed, his breathing ragged as he reclined against the deep green velvet of the sofa. I settled between his legs. I started slowly, making long sweeping strokes over those perfect abs and then the firm muscles of his inner thighs.
The heat coming off him, and the way his cock glistened when I wasn’t even touching it made my core pulse with need. When I finally put my hands on him, he already felt fit to pop.
I used a slow twisting motion, moving up and down his shaft with a firm pressure. His head fell back against the cushions and his eyes fluttered shut, but I wanted his eyes on me where they belonged.
“Look at me, Rex,” I said, unable to keep my own need from my voice.
His dark eyes snapped open, and I changed my rhythm. One hand followed the other in a continuous, flowing descent. I made sure to catch the sensitive bundle of nerves beneath his head on every pass.
My heart raced at the friction of his hardness against my palms. I rose slightly on my knees as I worked and leaned in to kiss him. My nipples brushed against his skin as my lips claimed his and my hands continued their intoxicating movements.
“You’re so close,” I said, my lips ghosting over his jaw. “I can feel it.”
I slowed down and teased him with slow and light strokes that brought him right to the edge. He groaned and his body trembled beneath me. But I wasn’t ready for him to finish. I needed to feel that same pulsing energy inside me.
“Christ, Rahat,” he said when I pulled away.
“Good?” I asked.
He answered by pulling me closer, and I laughed into his neck as his hips shifted up to meet my core. I sank down on him in one slow slide that made us both go still for a moment. A wave of pleasure shot through me as my muscles stretched to accommodate him.
“Fuck!” Rex said.
“Yeah. Fuck,” I agreed before setting the pace.
His hands gripped my hips as I found what I wanted, where I wanted. I brushed my thumbs over his nipples and rolled my hips.
Rex watched my every move, his eyes both hungry and happy as I rode him. Pleasure built, and I increased the pace.
Rex thrust up to meet me, his hand gripping my hips tighter and tighter and he slammed into me, making me scream.
“Fuck,” he said again, before reaching his hand around my head and pulling me in for another kiss.
Pleasure shot through every part of me, sparking and spreading with every movement. There was only me and Rex with his perfect body, feeding my every need.
And I so fucking needed this. Needed him. The weight of his hands on my hips, his mouth crashing against mine as his tongue explored and his cock filled me, hitting the right spot over and over.
I pulled back and braced my hands on his chest and moved faster. Rex groaned beneath me.
“Rahat--”
“Don’t stop,” I said. “Don’t you dare fucking stop.”
He shifted one of his hands from my hip and found my clit. I gasped and rode him harder, keeping my eyes locked on his as he teased it with his fingers and thumbs.
“You’re so fucking perfect,” he told me for the millionth time. “I can’t believe you’re mine.”
“You’d better believe it,” I breathed. “Because I am.”
When I came it was hard, wave after wave of pleasure left me shaking and breathless as he filled me with his seed.
I collapsed against him, and he stroked my hair. I could stay like this forever, or at least I wished I could.
“That calls for another drink,” I said before pulling away and gathering our glasses.
My mouth went cold and a metallic taste built in my mouth as I poured us both another drink and delved into my handbag for melatonin powder I'd brought back with me from Colorado, just in case I suffered any jet lag.
Rex had the most beautiful smile on his face when I returned and handed him the glass.
“Hmm, fruity,” he said.
I studied the way the lamplight caught his jaw, and glistened in his dark eyes, the way his cock was already hardening for round two, and nearly snatched the glass away.
My stomach churned and my chest tightened at the thought of what I'd done.
But there was no way I'd get away to meet Adam if Rex was conscious.
He'd want to come, and I couldn't risk that.
I had to deal with this myself. I had to prove that I was no longer a frightened teenager and that Adam held no power over me.
He smiled and tucked a strand of hair away from my face, brushing my cheek with the back of his hand in the process "You're still not going to tell me what's going on in your head," he said as more of a statement than a question.
"Not tonight," I said, answering him anyway. “Tonight, I have other plans,” I said before licking my lips and dropping to my knees before him.