Chapter 5
CHAPTER
FIVE
VALENTINA
Never in my life have I been so supremely taken off-guard. The very last thing I expected Banon to say was that he lusted after me in a bikini. And my voice? Who notices somebody’s voice?
I can feel Banon’s heavy breaths against the shell of my ear, and it sends a shiver down my arms. Instantly, my body is awake, remembering every last dirty thought I’ve ever had about him.
Dirty thoughts that he has apparently also had about me.
If I hadn’t seen the pained expression on his face as he told me, I would never believe what he just said. I can’t help but feel like Banon’s messing with me, somehow. Am I going to wake up and this will all be a dream? Is it an elaborate joke and I’m walking right into it?
He tattled on me having a boyfriend because he was jealous. That makes it sting far less.
Banon holds my hand, perilously close, the scent of his cologne filling my nose. He’s worn the same one since high school, and it still does unspeakable things to me. My body is warm all over, so warm that I don’t even notice the cold breeze picking up.
“I was fifteen when you left home,” I say slowly, still trying to understand.
Banon exhales. “I know. Fucked up. So fucked up. That’s why I had to go.”
That makes so much more sense now, too. It’s not how I would’ve gone about it, but at least I understand.
“Hey.” I lean back so we can look at each other. It’s always been wonderful to me how inhuman his face is, with his long muzzle and broad nostrils and wide-set eyes. “You don’t have to be ashamed. With me. Of how you feel.”
He inhales sharply. “Really? You’re not… horrified?”
How could I be, when I’ve had the same thoughts ever since I met him? That first time I was introduced to Dad’s new girlfriend and her teenage son, I was a goner.
“Well, would it be even more horrible of me if I said that I get it?” I wrap both my hands around his. “That I’ve felt the same way since the day our parents got married?”
His jaw flexes. “It wouldn’t be horrible, no,” he says, voice strained. “Not at all.”
“Then what you feel isn’t horrible, either.”
Banon doesn’t look like he believes me. “You can’t be serious.”
I guess it’s time. He’s bared his soul to me, told me the truth he’s been hiding all along, and now I should do the same—take a leap, hoping it’s the right one.
“Dead serious. I couldn’t take my eyes off you on that Cancún trip, either.” I bite my lip, thinking of the moment that changed my life forever. “And… I saw you. Once. With Lillian. Back in high school.”
His brow wrinkles. “What do you mean, with Lillian?”
“Prom night. You brought her home.” I swallow hard as I stare my shame right in the face. “I peeked.”
His eyes get huge. “You saw me fuck Lillian?”
I nod.
“Fuuuuuck.” He rubs his face. “You should never have seen that. No, no, no.” He drops his head into his hands, and I worry I’ve severely messed up.
“What’s wrong?”
“I don’t want you to even think about that!” He sits up abruptly and glares down at me. “Don’t ever, ever think about that, Valentina. That wasn’t about her, not ever.”
“How could it not be?” I ask. “You were… inside her.”
Banon groans miserably. “Yeah, I was. Fuck. I was. But…” He turns his head away, like he can’t look me in the eyes as he says what comes next. “It was always about you. About how much I wanted you. I’ve only slept with other women because I can’t have you!”
Words I could have never dreamed of, never imagined. Words that ripple through me, from my chest down to the emptiness between my legs.
Banon. The minotaur jock who’s been the subject of my fantasies for years, wants me.
Suddenly, I don’t just want to kiss him. I want to get on his lap and give us what we both want, what we both deserve. I need him to wrap those arms around me and tell me this all over again, that it’s for real and I don’t have to hide from how I feel anymore.
I want to know him. To learn him, without this wall between us. And then I want more, and more, and even more than that.
“I won’t ever think about it again,” I whisper to him, raising my hand to brush along his cheek. “If you give me something else to think about instead.”
His breath hitches. “You don’t mean—”
“I do mean.”
Banon licks his lips, his eyes homing in on me. With his other hand, the one not trapped by mine, he skims down my shoulder to my side, then over my hip. There, he stops and grasps it tight.
“You don’t have any fucking idea what you do to me, do you?” He tilts his head. “No clue. This whole time.”
I shake my head, unable to utter a word.
“You make me crazy.” He shifts me closer to him, his neck bending further down so our faces are very close together. “And you felt the same way. All this time.”
His mouth is dangerously close to mine now. If we do this, we can’t go back. There’s no reversing it.
“All this time,” I agree.
When he finally kisses me, it’s rough. It’s rough and demanding and so ravenous that all I can do is cling onto him and go along for the ride.
I’ve never been kissed like this, as if he’s everywhere, surrounding me.
He’s invading my mouth with years of pent-up need and unleashing all of it at once.
I feel the dam break, too, and then I’m practically in his lap, our hands all over each other, our lips moving in a sensual, messy rhythm.
He’s pulsing under me, his fingers everywhere, tracing the outline of my tits, the curve of my hips, cupping my ass.
They dig in, squeezing me, and his mouth grows even more urgent and insistent.
His hips buck up into me, and under my hands, I can feel his heart racing as fast as mine.
“Valentina,” he moans, and the sound of my name in that throaty, lusty voice makes me want to rip off my clothes and do unspeakable things to him. But we’re in public—in a park, no less—and we have things to do or the parents will get suspicious.
Reluctantly, I pull away, and we’re both gasping for air. Then Banon grabs my face in his hands and brings me in again, whirling me into a bruising kiss. Finally, he releases me, and he’s hard as a rock under his jeans.
“Heh,” he says as I stand up, and he follows me. His erection is tenting his pants in a noticeable manner. “You should walk in front of me for a while. So I can admire your ass.”
Hearing those words in Banon’s voice does something to me. My thighs clench, but I try to ignore it as we resume walking down the path. After a few minutes, he takes up step beside me again, and it looks like he’s mostly returned to normal.
I’m most surprised when he scoops up my hand in his much larger one, twining our fingers together. When I glance up, he’s smiling down at me, and now I don’t have to wonder anymore what it would feel like if he smiled at me that way.
When we get back home, it’s all hands on deck getting ready for Thanksgiving. We’re all in each other’s way, despite how we prepared and scheduled, because our little side quest took some time.
Banon finds an opportunity to glance his hand over my ass as we pass each other by the sink, and I nearly jump out of my skin. He winks as he goes by with the container of flour.
We take breaks while things cook, snacking on vegetables and ranch dressing. Marissa turns on some holiday music, and we take turns dancing along with it. Dad takes Marissa by the hand and twirls her around, making her giggle.
Banon glances at me like he would if he could.
Soon, the alcohol comes out, and the turkey gets closer to finishing. Everyone is in a good mood. Whenever I look over at Banon, he’s already got his eyes on me, watching like he wants to eat me even more than Thanksgiving dinner.
Finally, the oven timer beeps, and the turkey comes out. Banon whips together the gravy while the last few items come off the stove, and we plate everything up and bring it to the table.
“Thanks for pitching in, everyone,” Dad says, raising his glass of wine. “This year, I’m grateful for my kids, who always find time to spend with their folks even though they have lives of their own. Cheers to another year.”
We all hold up our drinks and clink them together. Then, we dig into the food.
I’ve always loved Thanksgiving, as problematic as it is. Each year, I try to take a moment and reflect on what I’m truly grateful for.
Under the table, a foot nudges mine, and when I glance up, Banon’s smirking at me.
“Valentina,” he says in a silky voice, “pass me the gravy?”
Marissa nods approvingly, clearly pleased that we’ve made up.
I stuff myself so full I almost don’t have room for the amazing pie that’s been cooking, but I manage. There’s always room for pie.
After we’ve all worked together to clean up and put away the leftovers, Marissa yawns dramatically.
“I’m exhausted, Fred,” she says to my dad. “Can you wrap up out here?”
He nods and kisses her on the nose before she retreats down the hall. I find myself pretty exhausted, too, so after finishing off my wine, I get the dishwasher going and say goodnight.
“Goodnight, sweetie,” Dad says, giving me a hug.
Banon nods at me with a grin, his eyes twinkling. “Goodnight, Val.”
I smile back, and for the first time since I was a girl, I feel like I finally understand him. Like the pieces of the puzzle that is our lives makes sense.
I wave as I head off to my room. “Goodnight.”
I’m reclined on my bed in my pajamas, reading a book I swiped off Marissa’s shelf, when I hear the slightest, lightest knock at my door.
It must be Banon.
I open it quietly, and sure enough, there’s an immense, handsome minotaur standing on the other side.
“Can I come in?” he whispers.
My entire body lights on fire at once.
“Yes,” I say, opening it for him. “Please do.”
In the blink of an eye, he pushes the door closed with one hoof, then descends on me.
His arms curl around my back, dragging me in close as he kisses me again.
This time, he’s gentler, more exploratory, but his hands are another story.
One ducks under my shirt while the other slides down my ass to cup it.
With our hips pressed so close together, I sense when he grows hard under his jeans again, and I want nothing more than to set him free.
“Valentina,” he murmurs against my lips, gently pushing me toward my bed. “Do you know how to be quiet?”
I nearly choke. So he wants the same thing I do. Right now.
“I know how to be quiet.”
Little does he know I’ve had quite a bit of dorm sex, trying to keep it down so I don’t wake the girls that share a thin wall with me.
“Good,” Banon says, his blue eyes burning. “Because I’m going to make you want to scream.”