Chapter 17 #2
“If you need me to stop at any time, tell me.” V took my nipple back into his mouth, taking his free hand and sliding it down my body, finding the bundle of nerves between my legs.
This man was going to be the death of me, but I didn’t care.
If I died right now, I would have a smile on my face so telling that the coroner wouldn’t need to conduct an autopsy to determine what took me out.
My only hope was that Katy would hold up to her end of the friend agreement and destroy my e-reader before its contents could be released to the public after my passing.
“Ever, you’re slowing down.” V’s voice, made deeper by the modulator, was authoritative and sent a shiver down my spine in the best way possible.
My body trembled slightly as V continued to assault my senses. “I never knew you were such a hard ass,” I responded, speeding up again, my back scraping against the drywall.
“The only hard ass in the room with us is right here.” V momentarily withdrew his hand from between my legs to grab my ass, squeezing just forcefully enough to make me jump.
The residual sting it left behind was enough to bring me even closer to climax, a fact not lost on V by the whimper that sprang forth from me when his fingers returned to their rightful place between my thighs.
“You’re doing such a great job,” he cooed.
His praises transformed my legs into jelly as the rest of my body melted around him.
“Don’t give up on me yet. Not when you’re so close to exploding around my cock. ”
Struggling to find purchase around his waist, my legs grew numb, forcing me to rely on my upper body and abdominal strength to continue fucking V in midair while my climax continued to build. Faster, stronger, more intense, until—
“V.” I practically panted. “You’re going to need to catch me.
” No sooner had the last word left my lips than a violent orgasm tore through my body, sucking the life out of me and forcing me to go limp in V’s arms. With the advanced warning, V had been able to free up his hands, holding up his promise to catch me.
He pulled me in close to him as he took over, thrusting inside of me, using my body to bring about his own ecstasy.
“Ever.” His guttural voice, an amalgamation of pleasure and pain, forced goosebumps to rise down my arm. “Fuck.”
V threw my back against the wall, his own legs beginning to liquify, clutching my hips and slamming his cock inside of me one last time, trembling when he came.
“Did I hurt you?” he asked between breaths.
Sweat coated our bodies as the feeling gradually returned to my legs. “No. I mean, not in a bad way.”
He rested his masked forehead against mine, and I wondered how breathable the fabric was and whether his hair was soaked from sweat—if he even had hair at all.
“And I’m pretty sure we just traumatized Vinny.” I nodded in the direction of the aquarium that had a front row view of the activities taking place in the hallway.
“Well, you were going to have the talk with him sooner or later. May as well start now.” V chuckled, lowering me down. The product of his pleasure trickled down my leg as he pulled himself out of me.
“And I’m going to need to hop right back in that bathtub,” I said, glad I hadn’t drained the water out of it yet.
V scooped my body up into his arms and began walking with me to the bathroom, setting me down on the rug outside the tub and running a hand in the water, quickly withdrawing it. “Good God, is your skin made of steel? How do you stand bathing on the surface of the sun?”
I knelt down to feel the water with my fingertips. “Are you kidding me? It’s hardly lukewarm.”
“Remind me to never ever shower with you.”
I turned the handle, cranking the temperature to as hot as it would go and stepped into the tub.
“Don’t worry, you won’t. That would require you taking that mask off.
” I smirked, looking over my shoulder. Despite not being able to see his facial expression, I sensed V’s demeanor deflate a little.
He squatted down next to the bathtub, taking the washcloth draped over the edge of the tub in his hand, dipping it in the water.
“I’m going out of town next week.” I leaned against the back of the tub, placed my foot on the handle, and turned it back to the off position. “When I get back, the mask comes off.”
V nodded, taking the washcloth and running it up my leg from my shin to my thigh.
“Really? You’re okay with that?”
“I’m completely okay with that.”
The washcloth made its way to my chest, its warmth soothing. “I don’t get you at all. You spend a year sending me things, watching me from the shadows, only to now be kneeling next to me, washing away all traces of you from my body.”
“I can add more traces, if you want.”
“Very funny. Where did you even go today? Do you have family? Were you working? There’s so much I still don’t know about you. Over the last couple of weeks, I’ve gotten to know more about my coworker I told you about than I know about you.”
“Is that where you went today?”
I eyed him. “Don’t turn this around on me. But also, do I detect a hint of jealousy from you?”
V shrugged. “Should I be?”
“I don’t know.”
He nodded, sending a twinge of guilt in my stomach, made all the worse as V had me sit up so he could wash my back.
“Yes, I went to Loche’s apartment today. He invited me to dinner. I had nowhere else to go, so I accepted his invitation.”
“Have things changed between the two of you?”
I nodded. “Yes.”
V paused over the small of my back as though my answer had taken him by surprise. “How so?”
“Well, for one, I don’t think he’s a complete douchebag anymore.”
“Just a partial douchebag, then?”
I laughed. “No, actually. I understand him now. Why he is the way he is. He’s not the person I thought he was.”
“Do you like him?”
I turned around, wishing I could see the expression on his face. “I do. But I like you, too.”
He set the washcloth back down on the side of the tub and slowly lifted the bottom of his mask, exposing his full lips as he bent down and kissed me on the forehead. “I know,” he whispered, pulling his mask back down and standing up. “I’ll see you when you get back?”
I nodded. “I’ll see you when I get back.”
Even though I knew V had left, I still walked out into my living room, wrapped in my terrycloth robe that Katy often commented made me look like I was collecting Social Security, expecting to see V sitting on my couch, feet propped up with Vinny in his hand.
But the room was empty. Instead, I was left wondering whether tonight was the last time he and I would see each other, despite our conversation indicating otherwise.
I peered over at Vinny, who had swum to the side of the aquarium nearest to where I stood, fully expecting to be fed a second dinner like some kind of hobbit.
“I’m sorry you had to witness your mom getting her freak on in the hallway earlier.
But I do pay the rent here, so I can pretty much get laid on any surface of this house I damn well please. ”
With Vinny firmly in view, a thought occurred to me. Reaching into the pocket of my robe, I pulled out my phone, opening up an internet browser and finding a search engine.
How to tell the difference between a male and a female painted turtle.
A video popped up on my feed, extolling the differences between the two sexes, including claw and tail length in relation to the turtle’s cloaca, which was a part of the turtle anatomy I never knew existed.
After the video concluded, I looked down in the tank, reaching for Vinny and holding him in the palm of my hand.
What if Loche was right when he said Vinny was a girl? What could that possibly prove? It could have been a slip of the tongue. But he seemed so sure, almost as though he’d seen Vinny before.
A part of me wanted to put the squirming turtle back in my hand, to not discover the truth and live blissfully unaware, forever denying the obvious. But I didn’t.
“No matter what, I’m not changing your name.”
Vinny stared at me, blinking his eyes as though to say I’m a turtle, lady. I couldn’t give two shits less what my name is.
More nervous than I should be at a gender reveal, I turned Vinny over so that the bottom part of his body was facing me.
“I’m sorry to be invading your personal space.
I swear I’m only doing this because I have to.
Consider it for science.” Exhaling, my eyes wandered down to Vinny’s tail, and I recalled the video I’d just watched in detail, letting out a sharp gasp when I realized Vincent was more of a Victoria.