7. Vanessa
7
VANESSA
“Are you sure you don’t need help?”
I can’t help but laugh softly at how intent Callie is on being useful, even when she’s on the brink of passing out right there in my arms. I nod.
“I’m sure. But thank you. It’s very sweet of you to ask.”
I lean over and plant a kiss against her forehead, tugging up the covers around her shoulders.
“You get some rest. I’ve got Killian to help me out, remember?”
But I barely get a chance to finish what I’m saying before her breathing starts to smooth out and she falls into a deep sleep. For a moment, I just linger there, taking in the sight of her like this—my little girl, passed out for the count and ready to sleep the night away. She’s just like me, honestly.
I straighten up and head for the door, pulling it shut behind me and flicking out the light as I head downstairs to see how Killian is getting on.
Honestly, tonight went a lot better than I imagined it would. The guys seem a lot more relaxed this time around, now that they know I’m not trying to burn down the forest on purpose or whatever. I guess it was a good way to make a terrible first impression, but still. I was just trying to make a damn pie.
But tonight was actually…fun. I thought it would just be a chance to lay down the groundwork for something else, but it feels as though we’re already making steps toward a real friendship. They were all so sweet with Callie too—giving her lots of attention and compliments for everything she did to make dinner. She doesn’t spend a lot of time with men, so it’s nice for her to get some positive male influence in her life.
When I get back to the kitchen, my eyes widen at the sight of everything nearly entirely tidied away and taken care of.
“You…you got through that fast!”
Killian, who’s drying his hands on a towel, shrugs.
“Military efficiency in everything I do. It’s one of the things they teach you in the SEALs.”
I laugh. “Even when it comes to washing dishes?”
“Especially when it comes to washing dishes.”
I notice that he’s left two glasses of wine out on the counter—the only thing left there. Hmm, almost as if he’s trying to suggest something, huh…?
I head over to grab a glass, leaning on the same side of the counter as him.
“Thank you for helping out,” I remark. “I don’t think I’ve ever had a guy do the washing-up for me after a date.”
I freeze as soon as the word is out of my mouth. Oh, no. Oh, shit. Did I just say that this was a date? Because—because it’s not. No way, it’s not. It was just a chance for me to get to know them, and if I think of it as a date, that’s just because…
“Not one?” he replies, sounding surprised, but not for the reason I thought he would. I breathe a sigh of relief.
“Yeah, I know. Crazy, right?”
He falls silent as he takes a drink from his wine glass beside me.
“Oh,” he murmurs, leaning in close to me. “And don’t think I didn’t notice you calling it a date.”
I squeeze my eyes shut. Crap! How could I have been so stupid? I wish I felt more embarrassed, but truthfully, the playfulness in his tone tells me that he’s far from averse to the thought of this being some kind of date.
“I don’t know if I should be offended by it or not, though,” he continues, turning to face me. I take in the sight of him for a moment—his brown eyes with a teasing glint in them, his dark hair with streaks of silver at the temples that just make me want him more, the cocky way he smiles at me… There’s something about the way he’s looking at me right now that sends shivers through every inch of my body—even though I know for damn sure I shouldn’t be letting myself even think like that.
“Why?” I shoot back. I can’t remember the last time a man looked at me like this. All I know is that in this moment, I have missed it more than anything in the world.
“Because my two brothers were here,” he murmurs, reaching past me to put his wine glass on the counter. “So I don’t know if you’re happy that I stayed behind, or if you wanted all three.”
My lips part in shock. What is he talking about…?
But before I can think about it any further, he leans forward and plants his lips against mine—and everything else falls out of my mind.
He slips his arms around my waist, pulling me against him hungrily, his tongue plunging into my mouth as his teeth catch on my lip. It’s the kind of kiss that knocks every breath from my lungs, my whole body collapsing into his, my mouth moving against his as though it’s the most important thing in my life right now…
And when he pulls back for a moment, he brushes his nose against mine, and a slightly cocky smile curls up his lips.
“So?” he says.
“So what?” I pant back. As if I can remember anything that happened before his lips found mine.
“You think you can stand having me to yourself tonight?”
I don’t bother with an answer. He doesn’t need one. He already knows it. I sink my mouth into his again, putting my wine glass aside, and he reaches down to hitch me off the ground and onto the counter, so I can wrap my legs around him, the folds of my dress spilling around me onto the marble countertop below.
His hands are hungry and insistent as they move all over my body, pushing up beneath my skirt, gripping my thighs. I don’t know what’s happening, but I know that it has been way too long since I’ve had it happen to me. I haven’t been with anyone since Johnny passed—sure, a couple of dates here and there, mostly to keep my friends off my back, but never all the way. Usually, it feels too vulnerable, too dangerous, to let someone into my life like that.
But as Killian reaches his hand up into my panties, that falls away. His fingers graze against the outside of my folds, just teasing me, and I feel a flood of pleasure course through my system.
“Oh, fuck,” I groan, and he presses his fingers with a little more purpose against my clit.
“You have no idea how long I’ve wanted to hear you moaning for me,” he whispers, bringing his mouth to my ear, letting his lips drag along the lobe. I shiver, my back arching, letting his fingers slide down my front till they’re resting against my slit.
“And how much I’ve wanted to fuck you,” he continues, slipping his fingers inside of me and holding them there. The fullness is so new, it’s almost shocking, but it makes me want more. I know there’s only one thing that will sate me right now, and I’m not willing to deny myself.
“To feel this perfect pussy wrapped around my cock…fuck, if I’d known you wanted it, I would have ripped that towel off you when we first saw you and fucked you then and there on the floor…”
The image is white-hot in my mind—Killian, screwing me as I’m on the ground, naked, while his brothers look on. I whimper and grind myself into his hand.
“Please,” I breathe in his ear. “Please, fuck me…”
He grins—I can feel the shape of it against my neck as he unbuckles his pants—and then takes himself into his hand, his fingers wrapped tight around his cock as he guides it toward me. I shift closer to him, pulling my skirt up and my panties aside as I watch him press himself into my slit.
His thick tip pops into me first, and I gasp, tipping my head back as he brings his hands to the small of my back. Taking his time, he eases himself inside of me, pushing himself into me inch by inch until he’s buried all the way up to the hilt.
“Fuck, you’re so tight,” he growls against my mouth, before he sinks his teeth into my bottom lip again. He draws himself back and thrusts in deep once more, and I have to fight to hold back a cry of pleasure. I know we have to be careful about how much noise we make, with Callie upstairs, but it’s going to be difficult to keep my focus.
He covers my mouth with his and begins to move inside of me properly, taking me in long, deep strokes right there on the kitchen counter. I find my legs extending to wrap around him and pull him into me even further, his thickness spreading me open with ease. I’m moving against him now, grinding into him with the needy want of someone who has utterly and completely lost control, and I doubt there is anything I can do to stop it.
I can feel the orgasm growing inside of me, the pleasure starting to build all through my system. I can feel it in the base of my spine, at the tips of my toes, spreading along my entire body and pulsing with a barely contained need. I want to cry out, loud enough that this whole damn forest will hear me, but all I can do to sate myself in the meantime is kiss Killian passionately as he moves deeper and deeper into me.
And then, all at once, it hits me—the shock of pleasure searing through my body and making me convulse in his arms for a moment. My thighs twitch as I pull him into me, my feet digging into the small of his back to let him know how much I want this. And as I spasm around him, I feel him reach his own release inside of me, pushed so deep I can hardly make sense of it.
He lets out a deep, guttural groan as he comes, and he holds himself there for a long moment after he’s done. My hands rest on his shoulders as I pant. I can hardly see straight, stars spinning around the edge of my vision, but all I want is to stay here, in this moment, with him, just a little while longer…
But before either of us can get too comfortable, a noise sounds from nearby—and Killian pulls back and reaches into his pocket to pull out his phone, cursing under his breath.
“Sorry,” he mutters as he checks it. As soon as I see the look on his face, I know it’s not exactly the news he had been hoping to give me.
“I wish I didn’t have to say this,” he tells me with a sigh as he goes to buckle his pants once more. “But I really need to get going. My brothers just got a call and they think it’s going to take all three of us.”
“Oh, yeah, of course,” I reply, still a little dazed. “I—that’s fine…”
I can’t help but feel a little let-down. I had hoped that he might stick around a while longer. That intense, passionate fuck felt like the first in a long night of similar fun, but I guess we’ll have to hold it off for another time. I tuck my dress under me, suddenly aware of how exposed I still am.
“But I’ll be back as soon as I’m able,” he promises me as he moves toward me again, slipping his arms around me and smiling. “Because that…”
He leans in and kisses me, hard—I can feel the shiver of tingles running from my scalp all the way down my back, spreading a delicious pleasure through my body.
“Was amazing,” he finishes as he pulls back, and I bite my lip and grin.
“Yeah, it really was,” I agree. “You promise you’ll be back soon?”
“You have my word.”
And with that, he heads for the door. As I watch him leave, I wonder if he has really just been called to some dangerous mission that requires his help.
Or if I’ve just been blown off in the most obvious way possible by a womanizer who knows exactly what it takes to get a girl into bed.
I hop off the counter and reach for the glasses of wine. I want to clear these up tonight. Because if I come down and see them tomorrow morning, and am reminded of the time we spent here alone…I don’t know if it’s going to put me in the best mood.