CHAPTER 23
NERO ZANTHOS
Nina shifts on the narrow bed, and although I love having her pressed so tightly against me, the very real risk of falling off it makes me—for the first time in a long while—consider moving into my own place.
It’s the fourth night I’ve slept in her pink-walled bedroom, even though on the second night the stuffed animals mysteriously disappeared, and on the third, the posters were gone too. Since she told me her mother would be away for a few days, keeping my distance has become an impossible task.
She’s told me dozens of times how unnecessary it is for me to fold her into my routine just so she won’t be alone during these days. Creating a routine is a much more accurate description of what I’ve actually done.
For the past four days, I’ve picked Nina up from the shop at the end of her shift and only parted from her the following morning, when I dropped her off there again. And the unsettling part is that the more time I spend with her, the more I want.
“Are you sure I can’t buy you a new bed?” I offer—just as I have on every previous night.
She laughs before refusing, exactly as she has every other time.
“I’m sure. Absolutely.”
I exhale loudly.
“And if I buy a bed for myself? Will you sleep in it?” Nina turns in my arms, pressing her chest to mine.
“Don’t you already have a bed?” she asks, brow arched.
“Very funny…” She chuckles, but the moment doesn’t last.
Her eyes drift somewhere deep inside her own thoughts with alarming speed, and I discover I’m more selfish than I ever believed—because I realize I don’t want to share her, not even with her own mind. Not here. Not now.
“What is it?” I ask, cupping her cheek with my hand.
Nina blinks, returning to me, and slowly shakes her head.
“I don’t want to talk about it,” she admits.
I frown, but nod.
“Do you want to sleep?” I ask.
She shakes her head again.
“I can’t. I’m too restless.” I nod once more as my thumb slides up and down her cheek. “I think I’ll make some tea.”
A wicked smile curves my lips.
“I know a very good one.”
“Fennel?” she asks.
“It’s sweet…” I whisper, bringing my lips close to hers.
Nina tilts her head against my arm, thoughtful. Stifling a laugh is a serious exercise in control.
“Sweet grass?” she asks, still not catching my meaning.
I shift, moving over her so my thighs frame hers.
“It’s hard too,” I whisper in her ear and lick behind it.
I blow cool air over the skin still wet with my saliva, and Nina squirms beneath me. She lifts her hands, slowly tracing the sides of my body, narrowing her eyes as realization finally dawns.
“You’re exactly the kind of friend my mom always warned me not to make.”
“Friend, huh?” I bite along her jaw, dragging my teeth down to her throat, sucking there without mercy and licking the mark until a moan slips from her mouth.
“So you’re not my enemy?” she teases, keeping the game going as I grind my cock against her and bring my right hand up to her throat. Nina grabs my wrist with both hands and smiles provocatively.
“Are you going to kill me?”
“I’m going to teach you how to call me the right way.”
“And what would that be?”
“You have options. Boyfriend—or my love.”
“And if I don’t?”
“You have a gift for challenging me in all the wrong ways,” I warn.
My fingers thread into her hair, digging into the roots until I can pull and force Nina to expose her slender neck to me.
I trail that perfect skin with savage suck marks, and she gasps, moaning loudly when my tongue reaches one of her nipples and I suck hard. Her entire body writhes beneath mine, pinning a smile to my lips even as they stay glued to her skin.
Her muffled protests are delicious encouragement, and I take even more of her breast into my mouth.
She squeezes her eyes shut and spreads her legs wider to accommodate me as my tongue dominates that small point of pleasure, promising far more than words ever could.
Nina tries to grind for more contact but is immobilized by my weight. She hisses a protest when she can’t move.
I laugh freely.
“What did you say, sweetheart?” I tease, blowing cool air over her nipple, making it tighten even more. I rub my palm over it, up and down, drawing an angry little cry and a glare from my girlfriend.
“Tell me, Nina. I can’t help if I don’t know what you want in the first place.”
The words are breathed against her stiff nipple before I abandon it.
I scrape my nose over her other breast, building her anticipation—only to completely frustrate her by kissing her ribs lightly instead.
“That’s blackmail, Nero,” she whines.
“Last I checked, I have at least two lawyers. Sue me.” I graze my teeth over her hard peak.
“Are you sure you want to bring Atlas and Apollo into our bed?” she asks, trying to throw jealousy at me.
It’s a clean hit—but Nina should know that my desire for her will outrank jealousy any day, any time. I smother the burn her words spark in my stomach, and within seconds it’s gone.
“Is that a request, Nina?” I draw out the words and push aside the thin panties she’s wearing—the only piece of clothing left on her body. Her eyes widen at the suggestion, and she shakes her head.
“Good,” I say—then thrust into her without warning, long, deep, and very slow.
My movements dictate her breathing, and I toy with it, watching her chest rise and fall, hyperaware of every tiny reaction.
I stop touching her completely.
Every movement I make—every shift of my body—is focused on ensuring that our only point of contact is her pussy, which compensates for the lack of closeness by sucking me in tight, clenching around me.
My hands sink into the mattress beside her hips as my thrusts grow crueler. Nina whimpers, grinding, touching me, squirming and taking me deeper, demanding more.
“What do you want, Nina?” I call her by name again, knowing she hates it—her jaw tightens every single time.
“I want you to stop trying to prove your point and fuck me properly,” she blurts out, breathless. Her words grow weaker as I keep driving into her, making it impossible for her to think—or speak—clearly.
“Where’s your romance, sweetheart?” Calling her sweetheart again pushes her to the edge of fury.
Nina slaps my arm, then digs her decorated nails into my shoulder, dragging them down without mercy.
I laugh again, feeling how soaked she is around my cock. The ease with which I slide inside her is proof of how close she is to the edge, even with my lazy pace.
“Enough, Nero,” she begs—and I stop moving.
“No—not like that,” she clarifies, and I start thrusting again. Slower now. Even slower.
She screams in frustration.
“Fuck. You’re a—”
“Devoted boyfriend?” I supply, and she clamps her mouth shut instantly when I stop moving for a second. “Attentive boyfriend?” I add, my hand finally gripping her small waist.
“Blackmailing boyfriend,” she accuses firmly.
“A weak combination, but you’re getting warmer, sweetheart.”
“If you call me sweetheart one more time—” Nina growls, more frustrated than angry.
“Annoying, isn’t it?”
I pull out of her tight heat and strip away the fragile fabric of her soaked panties. I give myself only a second before returning to her warmth, spreading the slick leaking from her channel up to her clit with the thick head of my cock.
“Nero…” she whimpers, completely unable to maintain her angry posture.
“When people don’t call us what we like,” I murmur, rubbing myself between her swollen lips. When Nina holds her breath, I press my palm against my erection, deepening the friction and thrusting shallowly. Our arousal spreads over her skin and coats my hand.
Her fingers clutch the sheets as the orgasm crashes over her body, ambushing her. Her thighs tremble against mine, begging for more even as her words accuse me.
“You’re a terrible boyfriend, Nero.”
“So now I’m your boyfriend?”
“Did you hear the terrible part?”
“I also heard the boyfriend part.”
“You are, damn it!”
“I am what?”
“My boyfriend.”
“Good.” I thrust again, my cock—still hard and unsatisfied—sliding easily to the hilt, her muscles still tense from the quick orgasm yet perfectly wet.
“And what do you want, Nina?” I repeat wickedly.
“I want my boyfriend to fuck me.”
“Good girl, Little Fae,” I reward her for the rude confession, and she smiles for only a second before I reposition, my hands gripping both her breasts, hers immediately covering mine, and nothing about it is slow anymore. “Your boyfriend is going to fuck you.”
The promise is the last thing to leave my lips before my hips take over with a punishing rhythm. Each thrust carves a different mark inside her.
The excess slick and the deep penetration combine to send Nina into a second orgasm much faster than I expected—but it isn’t enough for me.
I keep moving in and out of her as her body convulses around mine and her pussy clenches rhythmically, demanding my own release.
I come inside her with a roar, every muscle in my body clenching and releasing, my temples pounding.
I collapse onto my back and pull her with me, resting her against my chest.
“You okay?” I ask, breathless.
She nods, sparing the words. My fingers roam freely over her skin, stroking her arms—but she doesn’t look ready to sleep.
“I need water,” she asks without moving.
I get up, completely naked.
“Boyfriend?” she calls when I’m crossing the doorway. I turn back with a proud smile. “Please stay away from open windows.”
“Don’t worry, Little Fae,” I promise as I head downstairs.
***
“Did someone wake up with good ideas?” I ask with my eyes still closed, feeling Nina’s lips wrapped around my cock.
“Good morning, boyfriend.”
“Good morning, Little Fae,” I greet her, fully aware of the scene unfolding before me—my erection sinking calmly between her lips. “If this is your idea of revenge, Little Fae, you chose poorly,” I warn, but she silences me by circling my balls with her thumb, making me jerk against the mattress.
Nina plants a quick kiss on the glossy head of my cock and looks up at me, suddenly worried.
“If it’s bad, will you tell me?”
“It’s you, Little Fae,” I reassure, bringing my hand to her face and trying to sit up to calm her—but the rest of my words die in my throat when a small but firm hand on my chest stops me.
“I didn’t say you could get up, boyfriend. I just said to tell me if something went wrong. It’s my first time doing this,” she explains, bossy and confident.
“I’m all yours to experiment with anything you want,” I promise, lacing my fingers behind my head, ready to enjoy the moment.
“I know. My boyfriend, my cock, my moment. It’s long past time I step off the stage of your favorite show and watch the premiere of mine.”
She confides with a wink.
“Please.”