Chapter 12 Daphne
DAPHNE
His breath caught when I called him by his given name, and heat radiated from his body to mine through my palm.
I’d reached the point where I didn’t care what we had to lose.
The attraction between us was too great to deny.
Before, I’d wondered whether he was as into me as I was him, but now, I had no doubt.
When he turned slowly and faced me, I rested my hands on his chest. I leaned up and brought my mouth to his, pressing his lips until they opened.
I whimpered when Cru finally let go of his restraint and our tongues met.
He lifted me like he had earlier, and I wrapped my legs around his waist. He had to feel my heat in the same way I did his hardness.
If our clothes weren’t between us, he could slide his cock into me with ease; that’s how wet I was.
He set me on the counter and spread my legs but pulled me toward him so my arse rested on the edge.
With one hand, he held me in place while he snaked the other down the front of my jeans after releasing the buttons of the fly.
He pushed my thong out of the way and touched my clit with the pad of his thumb, groaning when he realized I was bare.
“Please,” I begged, breaking our kiss only as long as it took me to say the word.
He responded by inserting one finger into my pussy and increasing the pressure on my clit.
“Cru—” I cried, knowing if he didn’t stop, I wouldn’t be able to hold off my orgasm.
When he added a second finger, thrust, and pressed harder, then leaned down and nipped my breast with his teeth through my shirt, I shattered. I clung to him as the continued waves of pleasure left me dizzy and breathless.
He kissed me, transitioning from heated to gentle as I floated back to reality.
Cru leaned back, removed his hand from inside my pants, refastened the buttons of the fly, then kissed me again, trailing his lips from mine across my cheek to my neck.
I had trouble forming thoughts other than wishing we could cancel dinner. “When will they be here?”
“In a few minutes.”
“Cru—” I repeated, but he stopped me from speaking with his lips, lifted me from the counter, and set me on my feet.
As he walked away, I saw him bring his fingers to his nose and inhale.
When his eyes closed and he touched the tips with his tongue, I came close to having another orgasm.
He was so fucking sexy, so mesmerizing, so passionate that I couldn’t wait until later, when our naked bodies writhed against each other.
I was already drenched, and just looking at Cru made my pussy weep more. “I need to put on different clothes.”
“Wait.” He returned to where I stood, gripping the counter.
“What are you doing?” I asked when he unfastened my pants again, pulled them over my arse, then knelt in front of me. He leaned forward, this time bringing his mouth between my legs.
“I need these.” He wrapped the lace of my thong around his finger and pulled until it tore, then did the same thing on the other side. He removed them from my body, stuffed them in his pocket, then pulled my jeans back up and refastened them before standing and swatting my bottom. “Go change.”
“I don’t think I can walk.” I wasn’t exaggerating. I was too dizzy with renewed desire. I didn’t dare release my grip on the counter.
“I can take care of that.” Before I realized what was happening, Cru lifted me and slung me over his shoulder. One hand cupped my sex as he carried me upstairs, then deposited me on the bed.
“Don’t go,” I pleaded when he took a step away.
“We both know I have to.” He rubbed his hardness. “As it is, I can’t imagine how I’ll make it through dinner without your parents and my mother and siblings knowing exactly how badly I want to fuck you.”
My eyes rolled back in my head, and I flopped against the mattress, unable to stop myself from putting my hand between my legs.
I felt Cru’s weight on the mattress but was still surprised when he wrapped his fingers around my wrist and pulled my hand away from my sex. “No touching yourself.”
I opened my eyes and looked into his.
“You’ll earn your pleasure tonight, Daphne.”
“How?”
“Until our guests leave, you’ll do as I ask.”
“What do you mean?”
He kissed my cheek. “You’ll see.” He turned and looked out the window. “Better hurry. Your parents are here.”
I groaned. “My parents?”
He nodded. “And it looks like they stopped to pick up my ma.” He was on his way out the bedroom door when he stopped and looked over his shoulder. “Daphne?”
“Yes?”
“If you touch yourself again, I’ll know.”
I nearly convulsed, looking into his heated eyes. How could I be expected to focus on making dinner or conversation or anything other than how much my body yearned for Cru’s?
“Wait,” I said, racing after him before he went downstairs. When he turned toward me, I cupped his hardness, then ran a finger down his length. “If I’m going to suffer, so are you.”
He pulled my body flush with his. “You have no idea how much I’ve suffered all these years. It started the day I met you, Daphne.” He reached up and tweaked my nipple. “Do as you’re told, and both our suffering will soon end.”
I retreated to the bedroom when he went downstairs, carefully choosing what to wear. Cru had to know me well enough to expect I’d play the game just as well as he was.
When I joined him and our guests downstairs, I had on a short skirt similar to the one I’d worn before and a bra matching a different garter belt that held up another pair of the silk stockings I’d purchased.
I wore a sweater and shoes but no panties—something I intended to make Cru very well aware of.
After greeting my parents and his mother, I stood in the kitchen, prepping the rest of dinner.
Cru approached me from behind, shifted me so the lower halves of our bodies were obstructed from view by the island, and ran his hand up my leg.
When he reached my pussy, his breath caught at the same time mine did.
I closed my eyes and leaned into him when he brushed my clit with his index finger. A split second later his touch was gone and he was headed to the door to greet Alex and Maddox. Even with broken ribs, I doubted Alex’s husband was in any more discomfort than I was.
“Less getting up and down,” he mumbled when he sat at a stool near the bar and Alex asked if he’d be more comfortable in a chair. “Good to see you, Daphne,” he said, resting his elbow on the countertop and his chin in his hand.
I walked over and kissed his cheek. “How are you doing, Mad?” I asked.
“A lot better than I will be when the pain meds wear off.”
“I’ve been where you are, so I can empathize.”
“Yeah? How many did you break?” he asked.
“Four,” I responded, returning to where I’d been air-frying nori.
He raised a brow. “Ouch. How?”
“Surfing.” My cheeks heated when Cru stepped behind me for the second time.
“Anything I can do to help?” he asked as his hand trailed the same path it had earlier—up my leg until he reached the apex of my thighs.
“You can get your brother-in-law a drink,” Maddox responded.
Cru squeezed me, then removed his hand. “What are you allowed to have?” he asked.
“Whatever the fuck I want.”
When my eyes met Maddox’s and he winked, I wondered if he’d picked up on what Cru had done. My cheeks flushed.
“Looks like Daph could use a drink too. Bring me a finger of bourbon. She might need two,” he said, winking a second time.
I looked around the room. “Where’s Trevino?”
“When they told me Maddox was being discharged, I messaged him, and he responded to head here without him. I expected him to have already arrived,” Alex said when she approached and delivered our drinks.
I thought she might give Maddox a hard time about adding alcohol on top of his medication, but all she did was kiss his cheek. “Can I help?” she asked.
I pushed the note I’d jotted in her direction. “If you’ll find out what everyone wants, I’ll start assembling tacos.”
“What can I do?” my mother asked.
“The salad is chilling and only needs to be dressed.”
“On it,” she said, opening the refrigerator door and pulling it out. “This looks fantastic, Daphne,” she said, removing the cling wrap and tossing it with the serving utensils I’d left on the counter.
I looked around the room until my gaze met Cru’s. He held it, making sure I was aware when he reached into the pocket where he’d put the remnants of my panties earlier.
“Is everything okay, sweetheart?” my mum asked. “You look flushed.”
I glanced down at the empty glass that had held the bourbon I’d finished in one drink. “I could use a glass of water.”
She poured it and set it in front of me. “Anything else?”
“Yeah, I need to talk to Cru for a minute.” I walked over to where he stood talking to his sister. “Have you heard from Bit?” I asked.
He shook his head. “This kind of thing isn’t unusual from him. I just wonder where he went and how he got there, given I have his vehicle.”
“I’m assuming you’ve tried reaching him.”
Cru nodded. “It’s going straight to voicemail.”
“Should we wait?”
He looked at Alex, who shrugged. “No telling when he might show up,” she said.
“It’s fine, Daph. He’ll eat when he gets here.”
“I’d planned for us to sit on the terrace,” I said, glancing over at Maddox.
“I can manage,” he said, standing with Alex’s support. She slid the list of what everyone wanted over to me before helping him through the doors that led out to the dining area.
Since everyone appeared to want one of each type of taco, my mother and Lucia helped me with the assembly, setting each inside the holders Cru and I had purchased at the home-goods store.
He, Alex, and my dad carried food out, then returned for more while my mum and Lucia went out to take their seats.
“Are you worried about your brother?” I asked when he came in ahead of the others.
He shook his head. “This is more like the Bit I know than the one who’s been hanging around lately.”
“This is the last of it,” I said, motioning to the final platter when my dad returned.
“We’ll be out in a minute,” Cru said to my father.
Once he was out the door, leaving us alone, Cru leaned into me, pressing his hardness between the cheeks of my bottom. “Are you still wet for me, Daphne?” he whispered, his warm breath teasing my ear.
I reached behind and between us. “Just as much as you’re hard for me.”
“This is going to be a very long night,” he murmured.
“During or after dinner?”
“Both.” He nuzzled my neck. “Do you remember I told you to do as I asked?”
“Yes.”
“Good.”