Chapter 30 – Vale #4
I take off. I run like the wind. I’m strong.
I’m a wild cat, all lithe muscles and grace as I escape Oliver’s sexual thrall.
I feel so mighty, impervious. I’m finally in control, and it feels so good.
I run around the pool house. I don’t look back.
I want him to chase so the next time he catches me he’s so excited he forces his cock inside me.
He can deny it all he wants, but we both know where this is leading.
“Don’t you dare, Vale!” he yells.
I start laughing. “Why not? Mine is there.”
I’m running, but I know I can’t keep it up forever. I’m only human. All the muscles in my body are on fire, wanting to seize up. I’ve burned through more energy than I’ve taken in today. I’m so sweaty I feel the forest debris sticking to my knees. But I keep running. Nothing will stop me.
“Yours belongs there.” He’s so close, those words so surprising my legs slow. Then I make a mistake, I look back.
He grabs me with the force of a linebacker, slamming into me, stealing my breath. I scream like I’m being attacked, and we go flying through the air. I close my eyes as he cradles my head, protecting me. I’m scared for all of a tenth of a second before we crash into the pool.
Oliver tightens his grip around my waist and forces me up out of the water.
I gasp for air as I push against him trying to get away.
I give him a dirty look even as I laugh.
He presses me up against the wall of the pool, then holds my jaw between his thumb and index finger as we tread water.
He forces me to look into his beautiful eyes.
There’s a moment of capitulation between us that drags on and on, seemingly forever, as he studies me.
The only sound is our harsh, mingled breaths.
I open my mouth to speak but my words get lodged in my throat.
He presses forward, and I spread my legs for him.
When he slides between them, where he belongs, I wrap my legs around him.
I press my palm against his chest where his rapid heartbeat gives me a sense of pride.
I did that. I made his heart race. He’s always done that to me, but now I’ve done it to him. It gives me hope.
“Vale,” he whispers against my lips. “You’re something else, something amazing and wonderful. You’re so beautiful.” His words are genuine, and it makes my heart sing with a different melody. There’s admiration in his eyes I don’t understand and affection for me that I’m so grateful for.
Tears leak from my eyes. “Oliver,” I cry, ruining the mood.
I don’t know what to say. I’ve dreamed about him telling me I was beautiful.
He looks at me with his loving, beautiful green eyes that speak volumes without saying a word.
He knows how the word “beautiful” makes me feel. He knows how I need to hear it.
Oliver cups my cheeks reverently, making me feel precious.
We stare at each other for so long, our breath melding, our bodies wrapped around each other.
Then he says the words I’ve been dying to hear, “I want you, Vale, all of you.” It’s a painful confession against my lips.
The need in his voice is so overwhelming it shocks me.
Oliver Byron wants me. He wants me!
He kisses me and at first it’s so gentle, like that first touch. I wrap my arms around his neck. I need to be closer, always closer. I try to hold every part of him with every part of me.
There’s no denial in this moment. It’s too precious. There are no maybes, probablys, or perhaps. I love him. I love Oliver Byron with all my heart, my soul. I love him with every piece of me.
“Oliver,” I moan against his lips, the kiss getting more heated. I need to tell him. “I—”
“Vale! Oliver! Are you two alright? Is everything okay?” Gramps yells from the veranda, and I lose my chance.
We smile at the same time against each other’s lips, then break apart after the quickest of kisses. I swim toward the shallow end, putting space between us. Space I don’t want. I need him closer always.
“Fine, Gramps!”
“There was a bee,” Oliver and I yell out at the same time.
Our eyes meet, then laughter bursts free from both of us. I cradle my forehead in my hand, shaking my head and laughing so hard. I’m so impossibly happy. Joy, like I’ve never felt, is filling me up. I feel weightless and light. He does this to me. I’ve never felt this way, not once in my life.
I splash water at Oliver as he swims closer. I’m wrung out, but I still want to play. I still want the chase, the colliding, the aftermath of us. I don’t want to lose the joy we’ve found today.
Oliver splashes me back. When I wipe my eyes and look at him, his smile is only for me.
It’s so beautiful. There’s joy in those green eyes I haven’t seen before.
It’s new, and I worry Gramps will see it too.
He’ll see what it is, and he’ll know what we’ve done because, for the first time, Oliver isn’t hiding his feelings so well.
“That must have been one huge bee,” Gramps says, then laughs as he gets to the pool, taking a seat on a lounge. “I heard you scream and got worried. You sure it wasn’t a wasp? Nothing inspires more fear in a grown man’s heart than a red wasp. Even I run from those buggers and I’m sixty-eight.”