Chapter 37 #2
“They’re not. Not even close. But they are both survivable. Both are forgivable.” She reached for his hand. “If you can’t forgive yourself yet… at least let me.”
Silence filled the cabin, but he didn’t push her away. Not this time.
“Let’s go home,” he said finally.
She nodded, swallowing past the ache in her throat. “Okay.”
The second they stepped through his door, he had her.
Rush shoved it shut with his boot and backed her against the wall, his mouth unerringly finding hers. She opened for him instantly, sweet and eager, and the second her lips parted under his, he lost whatever grip on control he had left.
Her coat hit the floor, and then his hands were under her dress, dragging it up, baring smooth skin he couldn’t get enough of.
Lily gasped when the cold air hit her legs, but he was there to cover her, his palms possessive and greedy for her narrow waist, her ribs, and finally the soft weight of her breasts under the thin dress.
No bra. No nipple covers, thank God. Her nipples were already hard, pressing against his palms through the fabric. He wanted them in his mouth.
“Rush—” Her whimper only made him hungrier.
Behind him, a sharp bark broke through the fog of his desire, followed by the click of nails on wood. Riggs nosed them curiously, and Rush dropped his head to the crook of Lily’s shoulder with a grumbled fuck.
Christ. He needed to get himself under control.
He couldn’t help it. Lily, with her sweet eyes and her body made for sin, made him lose his damn mind every time he touched her.
“Hi, Riggs,” Lily said cheerfully, reaching to scratch his head. The nosy dog leaned into her touch and sat at her feet like he’d been waiting his whole life for her attention. “I think he likes me now.”
Rush’s mouth trailed down her neck—how the fuck did she always smell so good?—biting and sucking at the graceful column. “I like you now,” he said gruffly. “Go lie down, Riggs. This is mine.” He was only half joking.
Riggs gave a sharp bark of protest then nudged Lily’s hand for more pets. She laughed, delighted, and obliged him while Rush glared at his dog.
“Who’s a handsome boy? I knew you’d come around,” she baby-talked him while Rush’s cock throbbed painfully, begging for her attention.
Figured Riggs would turn into a lapdog at the worst possible moment.
He’d never liked any of the women Rush had brought home over the years, but now, apparently, he couldn’t get enough of Lily. Damn dog.
“Go,” he said more sternly. “She’ll pet you later.”
Riggs gave an annoyed huff but padded back to the kitchen with a long-suffering sigh.
Rush turned back to Lily and lightly scraped his teeth on her neck.
“Mmm,” she sighed, tilting her head for more. “Where were we?”
She wrapped her arms around his neck, kissing him like she couldn’t get close enough. He pressed her into the wall, eating up every sound she made, every arch of her body against his… until she froze.
Her arm brushed against the cold weight at his side. His gun.
Shit. He shrugged out of his suit coat and tossed it over the banister.
“What’s that?” She leaned back, her eyes widening at the sight of his shoulder holster.
“My gun,” he said shortly. He drew it, checked the safety, and set it on the table by the door. Out of habit, he pulled the cuffs from his pocket to set down, but he paused.
He turned back to Lily. Lips swollen the same deep red as her dress. Breathing fast and watching him with those same wide, curious eyes she’d had at his cabin.
Something darker unfurled inside him.
He caught her hand and tugged her closer to the stairs. She followed, her eyes flickering nervously to the table, to the gun, then back to the cuffs still in his hand. Jesus. That shouldn’t have been as fucking hot as it was.
“Cuffs? At a Christmas party?” she whispered.
The tiny shiver gave her away. She knew exactly what he was going to do, and she wanted it, even if it made her nervous.
“Everywhere,” he said roughly, backing her against the banister. He stepped close enough to feel the heat of her body, nudging her legs apart with his thigh, and taking her hands firmly in his.
The snick of steel closing around her wrists echoed in the house.
Her lips parted on a gasp, her breasts rising sharply, and fuck if that didn’t go straight to his cock. His mouth curved slowly. His good girl was turned on.
He tested the hold—firm, secure, but not tight enough to hurt her. Just enough to keep her where he wanted her after a week of ducking his calls, dodging him, and making him crazy.
He lifted her arms above her head and hooked them over the banister.
The position arched her back, thrusting her breasts out.
He shoved down the neckline of her dress with his hand and caught her tight nipple lightly in his teeth.
She tipped her head back against the wall and closed her eyes with a groan.
Pinned like this, she couldn’t cling to him, couldn’t grab hold. She had no choice but to let him touch her. Let him kiss her. And Jesus, she looked gorgeous restrained like this, trembling and open to him. Molten-hot desire clenched his belly, surging through his body.
“Perfect,” he growled, crowding her closer, his mouth already searching for hers again.
“Rush,” she whispered, flexing her arms and testing the hold.
“Yeah, angel,” he muttered against her throat, biting and sucking the sensitive skin there. “You’re not going anywhere.”
He slid a hand down, fisting her dress and dragging it high over her thighs.
Satin bunched at her waist, baring smooth, pale skin and the thin strip of lace barely covering her.
He lifted her leg over his hip. The wet heat of her pussy pressed right against the ache straining his zipper, and he nearly came in his pants. Thank fuck she was ready.
“Fucking soaked.” He pushed two fingers into her, using his thumb to circle her clit until her head dropped back and her hips bucked against his hand.
He kept the pressure on her hard little clit just relentless enough to make her gasp again.
Groaning, she closed her eyes and tipped her head back.
“You like being tied up, don’t you? Say it,” he said roughly.
Her eyes flew open, green fire burning into his. “Yes,” she gasped. Her voice broke as he thrust into her again, curling his fingers against the sensitive places inside until she cried out, “God, yes. I love it.”
The admission snapped what little restraint he had left.
“Fuck, Lily,” he groaned. “I can’t wait, darlin’. I need to be inside your tight little pussy.”
“Yes, now, please,” she begged. With her arms cuffed above her head, she had no choice but to let him take control.
“Lock your legs around me,” he grunted. Using his body to pin her in place, he shoved her thong aside, yanked at his belt with one hand, unzipped just far enough to free his cock, notched the blunt head to her cleft, and pushed inside her in one bold thrust.
“Oh God, oh God, oh God,” she chanted in that breathy way of hers that made him want to lick her up.
“Look at me, Lily.” He braced one hand on the rail above her head, the other gripping her ass, using her bound body to take him as deep as he needed.
“Do you know what you’ve been doing to me?
” he growled, thrusting up and grinding against her clit before pulling back.
“Ducking me.” Another thrust. She moaned.
“Running every time I get close.” Thrust. Thrust. Grind.
“I’ve been losing my goddamn mind wanting you.
” He gripped her, keeping her exactly where he wanted her, using his hips to keep her slick and swollen pussy spread open for him, as he ground against her.
“Ohh,” she whimpered. Her pussy fluttered, her tell. She tried to push down on him, chasing her orgasm, but he tightened his grip on her ass, using his body to control hers.
“No,” he said, low and rough near her ear. “Don’t you dare come yet. I’m not done fucking you.”
“Oh,” she cried out, squeezing her strong dancer’s legs around him, bouncing herself harder on his cock.
He felt her inner muscles clench around him, grasping at him, and nearly lost it right then.
She was hot, slick, tight as sin, gripping him like she was made for him.
He set a steady pace, driving into her deeper, harder, faster while she arched in the cuffs.
Sweat gathered near her hairline, and he licked it, tasting salty, sweet, perfect woman.
Fucking Lily—her soft, pleading cries in his ear—was the only thing anchoring him.
Every moan she gave him cut through the roar in his head like a lifeline.
When she gasped louder, a high-pitched, shuddering sound that punched straight into his gut, he shifted his angle, chasing the needy little noise he craved.
For a few blessed moments, he escaped. There was no canal, no failure, no guilt when he was inside Lily.
It was just the two of them. There was no finesse, but they had gone past that point in his truck.
She was slippery wet, pulling him into her so tight he couldn’t be anywhere but this moment, right now.
His Lily, gasping his name with that faint, breathy sound that he knew meant she was close to coming.
Fuck, he wanted to make her come. He needed it.
“Christ, Lily—you have the greediest pussy. My sweet girl’s cunt was made just for me.” He didn’t know what the fuck he was saying, but he couldn’t seem to stop talking.
His breath came raggedly. He didn’t just want her—he needed her, needed to bury himself so deep he’d forget every dark thought that had haunted him for the last year. It was hot and fast, consuming them both because if he stopped, she would see who he really was.
He thought he might die if she ever stopped looking at him like she did now.
“Please, Rush,” she groaned as if in pain. Her lips were swollen and puffy from his kisses. He dipped his knees, holding her ass pinned to the wall still, and kissed her hard again.
“Ohh,” she gasped, her eyes squeezing shut as the flutters turned to a tight grip, and her legs locked around him so hard they shook. “I’m—I’m—oh, God!” She shrieked the last word and quivered, forcing him to hold still while she trembled on him, braced between his body and the banister.
It was the hottest goddamn moment of his life watching Lily come harder than a freight train. It sparked something primitive, something darkly possessive, in him.
He braced her tighter, holding her gaze hard. “Mine. You hear me, Lily? You’re mine—” he groaned, his own control shredding. He thrust up hard, once, twice, and came with a guttural sound while she still fluttered around him, milking every last drop from him.
She buried her head in the crook of his shoulder, taking deep breaths while they recovered. He kissed her hair, her cheek, anywhere he could reach, while her body trembled from the aftershock and his words echoed in the house.
You’re mine.
He hadn’t meant to say it out loud. Christ, he hadn’t even meant to think it.
But the words were still hanging in the air like smoke, thick and impossible to take back.
“Let me down,” she whispered eventually. She tightened her fingers around his shoulders.
Every muscle in his body went taut. Shit. Had he hurt her?
He eased out of her slowly, found the key in his pocket, and unlocked the cuffs with shaking hands. The steel clicked open, and her arms dropped down. Faint red marks ringed the delicate skin.
“Christ.” He rubbed the tender spots with his thumbs, guilt choking over him. “You—” His voice cracked. He cleared it roughly. “Okay?”
He leaned back to look at her face carefully. She was breathing shakily, but he didn’t hear the telltale wheeze in her lungs.
“God, no,” she breathed, nuzzling his jaw. She looped her freed arms around his neck. “I don’t think I can stand.”
“Stay the night,” he heard himself say. “Please.” The words seemed to shock her as much as they shocked him.
They hadn’t spent the night together since the cabin, and suddenly he knew he didn’t want her to go.
He wanted to sit on the couch with her under a blanket and stare at the Christmas lights she’d made him string up, and wake up with her next to him in bed on Christmas morning.
Who the fuck was he?
She blinked up at him. “Sleepover? But… it’s Christmas. Don’t you have plans with your family?”
He brushed a curl behind her ear, grazing the scattering of freckles on her cheek. “The girls are away with friends. I’m going to visit Pop in the afternoon.” His throat felt tight, but he forced it out casually. “You could come with me.”
Lily went very still, searching his face. He didn’t know what she’d find there because he wasn’t sure himself, but he sure as hell knew he didn’t want her to leave him again. He’d had a week of that fucking misery, and it was enough to let him know he wanted her with him.
“Are you sure?”
He nodded. “Yeah, I’m sure.”
She grinned then, and he remembered to breathe. He kissed her soft pink lips and patted her bottom. “Come on. Let’s go sit down.”