Chapter 12
Chapter Twelve
Sofia
I tried to tell Rosa that Dakvaar wouldn’t want to skate with her after spending all day at practice. And I thought she was listening; when he walked through the door, she threw herself into his arms and didn’t immediately demand he take her out back.
Instead she blurted, “Mama says you’re too tired to skate with me, so we can just draw pictures of me skating instead, and you tell me how you put your pads on, and we can pretend to skate inside, okay?”
He so rarely showed emotion, but now his lips curled just slightly, and he brushed his nose against her hair, a habit I didn’t think he was even aware he did. “Far be it for me to contradict your mother, but I’ll always have the energy to skate with my favorite kitling.”
“Yay! Put me down, I gotta go get my sparkle pants! Mama did laundry today, I think she washed your underwear too!”
As always, my heart gave a little squeeze at the sight of them together, the way he so effortlessly showed her that he cared for her.
Dakvaar held my daughter as if she was precious, and listened to her chatter as if it were fascinating, and shared his interests with her, and solemnly joined her in her favorite things.
I remembered my suspicion the first time he’d sat down at the counter to draw with Rosa, thinking he was just trying to manipulate me.
Because I’d never, not once, met a male who treated a little girl as if she were precious; not because of what she could bring him, but who she was.
At Sunday’s game, I’d met a whole busload of them. A whole team of them. The Teal Terrors had adopted Rosa as one of their own, and I heard more than one of them say they’d won because she was cheering for them, which had made her feel very special indeed.
It was impossible not to compare them—Dakvaar—to Anthony, and how he thought of his own daughter. As an asset, something to be traded for more power, money, influence.
Well, fuck him.
I’d run before, and I could run again, but I didn’t want to, not now. I loved Bramblewood Bluff, I loved this home, and I loved Dakvaar. I wasn’t going to let Anthony take that from me.
Not again.
Sunday night I told Dakvaar the truth about my past; now I had to tell him the truth about my future. I needed to tell him I loved him and wanted to stay with him, if it was possible.
When he crouched beside my daughter at the back door to zip her into her fluffy winter coat, I smiled and pressed a kiss to his forehead. Dakvaar tipped his head back and peered up at me, that green gleam back in his eyes.
“What was that for?”
I merely smiled, knowing this wasn’t the time, not yet. “I’ll cook dinner while you’re out there. Chicken thighs and Caesar salad, I’m thinking?”
His chin dipped slightly. “Sounds delicious. There are breadcrumbs in the pantry.” He stood, pulling my turquoise Terrors hat over Rosa’s curls. “I meant to ask you—can you pick out a helmet for her? One I can order? I’d feel more comfortable with her protected.”
Of course he would. I smiled and shooed them both out the door. “Remember she can’t see in the dark as well as you!” I called into the cold night, then shivered and shut the door, heading into the kitchen.
I hummed, feeling strangely excited for the evening. Tonight, I was going to tell Dakvaar I loved him. And seeing the way he was favoring his left side, I had an idea how to do it.
And if everything worked out, I might get something else I’d been needing: his cock.
Sure, I’d been enjoying the last few evenings, where he seemed just focused on my pleasure.
But the fact that his body had responded to me—was there anything hotter than a guy losing control and coming in his boxers because of how turned on he was by eating me out? —told me he was holding himself back.
Once he learned how I felt, surely, that would be enough?
After dinner and seventeen games of Go Fish, I handed him one of the fluffy bath sheets he favored, and nudged him toward the back porch. “I’ll put Rosa to bed. You look like you need a soak.”
He took it with a grateful wince. “Torrk says I’m going to be bruised. We had a good practice, but we’re pushing ourselves for Thursday’s home game.”
“The hot tub will be good for you. Go.” I softened my command with a saucy wink, which had him raising a brow as he drifted toward the back door.
Rosa demanded three books before bed, and I found myself rushing to get her tucked in, which was an interesting twist; usually I cherished my time with her, but tonight I was looking forward to a chance to be Sofia instead of Mama.
Still, I made certain to kiss her forehead gently. “Goodnight, mija. Sleep tight and cozy.”
“I will,” she yawned, eyes already closed, and Veth’kar the dragon snuggled up beside her. “I’m safe.”
My chest tightened, and I brushed my hand over her hair. “You are. Dakvaar will keep us safe.”
I didn’t know how, but he would.
Maggie had been texting me throughout the week, demanding to know when I would be returning. I’d explained as much as I could—ex-husband after my daughter, finding a place to lie low, hoping to come back soon, etc.—but she was demanding answers.
Answers I didn’t have.
Anthony was nursing his wounds somewhere, I knew it.
He’d found us, which meant he would return—for Rosa, if not for me.
He had plans—disgusting plans—for her. Dakvaar’s friends had seen no sign of him around town, but I knew he would come back, probably when we least expected it, and try to hurt us both.
I took a deep, shuddering breath, delighting in the way my ribs didn’t ache from it.
I didn’t know what the next few weeks would bring, but I was enjoying this little vacation.
We were in limbo here in Dakvaar’s home, hiding from reality; hiding from my past, but also our future.
Tonight, maybe I’d set something in motion.
When I joined him on the back porch, the beauty of the night made my breath catch in my throat: the frigid, crystalline air, the snow-capped mountains, the candles lit along the railing.
Dakvaar was lying with his eyes closed and his head back against the edge of the hot tub, the water bubbling over him, the steam wreathing him.
I saw his lips twitch before he said, without opening his eyes, “I was lying here wondering if you were going to join me.”
“Of course. And I had to hurry before you got all wrinkly and pruny.”
He sat up, water sluicing off him, and I saw he indeed had some impressive bruises on his side, which I suppose was normal for a hockey player. “Orcs don’t get wrinkled in the water. We—”
I don’t know what he was planning on saying, because at that moment, I decided I was too cold to stand around talking, and I shucked the oversized robe. The fact I wasn’t wearing the bathing suit beneath it—wasn’t wearing anything—apparently arrested his attention.
“Sofia—”
I hushed him as I climbed into the hot water, then made an exciting discovery. “You’re not wearing a bathing suit either,” I announced with satisfaction. “I hope I’m not going to hurt you too much.”
Dakvaar shifted over so he was sitting higher, his back supported by the hot tub’s cover and his cock—his delicious-looking, ridged cock—rose from the steam. I felt myself getting wet just by looking at it.
“How are you planning on hurting me?” he rumbled, his eyes going half-lidded as he watched me climb into the water.
“I’m hoping I don’t, because tonight I’m going to get what I’ve wanted.”
He opened his mouth—probably to ask what—but I smirked as I planted a palm on his chest and pushed him back, then climbed up into his lap, my thighs straddling his. I reached between us and took his cock in both of my hands, stroking him as I leaned forward to kiss him.
“You have a piercing,” I murmured against his lips, as my hands worked him. “I had no idea.”
His breathing was coming faster, and I could hear a strange rumbling from his chest. “It’s… Gods below, Sofia.”
“Si?” I smirked, trailing my lips over his jaw, down his throat. “Your piercing?”
“It’s for a female’s pleasure.”
“Oh, I know it is.” I straightened, lifting myself. “I’m going to enjoy the fuck out of it.”
His hands went to my hips, steadying me as I poised over his cock. “Love, you need to—”
Again, I didn’t give him time to finish, but began to sink down on top of his cock.
It was thick—thicker than any human’s, the ridges swelling as I sank down, stretching me in a way that burned and ached and ay Dios, it felt good. Right. Perfect.
Each ridge caught on my entrance, dragging against my walls, filling me in a way I hadn’t known was possible. My breath hitched, my fingers digging into his shoulders as I took him inch by inch, my body opening for him as he watched me with that intent green stare.
The water bubbled around us, the steam making my skin prickle, my nipples tightening into hard peaks.
Dakvaar’s hands gave gentle caresses, his thumbs brushing the undersides of my breasts, his touch sending sparks through my nerve endings.
His cock pulsed inside me, the piercing at the tip cool metal against my heated flesh, dragging against my G-spot with every slow inch I took.
“That’s it,” he murmured, his voice rough, one hand on my hip, guiding me. His other thumb brushed my nipple, rolling it between his calloused fingers, sending sparks of pleasure through me. “Fuck, you’re perfect, Sofia. So strong, so beautiful.”
His praise sent a fresh wave of heat through me, my body clenching around him.
The ridges of his cock stretched me, each one catching on my entrance before slipping deeper, filling me in a way that made my toes curl.
I could feel the way my body opened for him, the way my walls fluttered around his thickness, my pussy already slick and aching.
His hands slid up to cup my breasts, his thumbs flicking over my nipples, his touch reverent. “Look at you,” he murmured, his voice thick with awe. “Taking me like this. You’re amazing.”