Chapter 14 #2
“Well.” Sofia holds out a glass jar filled with large, whitish-gray eggs floating in it.
“I just asked if you wanted one of these with dinner, and you nodded. Which surprises me, because they look absolutely disgusting. And that’s not even considering what’s inside them.
So I’m thinking something’s bothering you, and that’s why you weren’t paying attention. ”
I grimace at the jar. It’s filled with balut, an egg delicacy from the Philippines. “Wraith,” I sigh. “He thinks it’s funny, bringing over weird foods and gifts.”
“It’s certainly weird,” she replies, eyeballing the eggs with distaste. “Does he always bring gross food when he comes over? Or was it special, just for me?”
Taking the jar, I shove it to the back of the fridge to deal with later. Then I rejoin Sofia by the kitchen island. “Not every time, but enough. And it’s not always gross. He’s brought some decent stuff, too. Like gourmet chocolate from Dubai. Or custom nesting dolls from Russia.”
Her brow wrinkles. “Why?”
“He’s odd like that. Since he traveled all over while he was working for the CIA, he discovered a lot of… strange gifts and delicacies. I always tell him to just bring pizza or beer, but he insists on bringing something unique.”
Sofia makes a little ew face. “I think I’d prefer the pizza, too.” Then she opens the box of cupcakes sitting on the island and takes a red velvet one out. She takes a lick of cream cheese frosting and hums her approval. “Or these. I’d much prefer these.”
“Me too,” I agree. “I’ll get them for you whenever you want.”
She swirls her tongue across the frosting again. “I won’t complain about that.”
There’s a spot of frosting on her lower lip, just calling to me. Begging me to lick it off.
What if I put frosting on other parts of her body? And licked all of it off?
My dick twitches. My pants go tight.
“I thought you wanted dinner?” I ask in a strangled voice. “Or are we skipping straight to dessert?”
Her eyes meet mine. The hazel shade darkens to a forest at night. “Maybe dessert first?” Then she extends the cupcake out to me. “Want some?”
Her question is simple. But the look she gives me isn’t.
“Soph.” I take a step closer to her. Need pulses inside me. The urge to touch her is almost impossible to resist.
Sofia scoops up some frosting with her finger. Her gaze heats. “What do you think, Nico? Would you like some?”
Fuck.
What is she doing to me?
“Dinner,” I manage. “And then I need to get back to work.”
Her tempting finger moves closer to my mouth. “Just a taste?”
I can’t resist her. I know I should, but I can’t. Not like this.
So I take her finger between my lips. Sugar and cream bursts in my mouth. Before I can stop myself, I swirl my tongue across her soft skin.
She sucks in a breath. Her eyes flare with desire.
My dick goes impossibly hard.
“Nico,” she breathes. “I want…” Pink touches her cheeks. “I—”
I release her finger, but hold her hand still. “What do you want, Soph?”
Her small hands come around mine. “I was thinking yesterday. And today, too. About our first time.”
“Our first time?”
“Yeah. About how nervous I was, but how it ended up being perfect. How sweet you were, with the rose petals and the candles and reading the Kama Sutra. How you made sure it felt good.”
Now my pants are unbearably tight. “I remember.”
Her gaze holds mine. “I know we were young. But being with you—the first time, and the rest… nothing’s ever compared. Not even close.”
“I feel the same,” I tell her. “Being with you—” I stop.
Then I crack my chest open and bare my heart to her.
“After I enlisted, I still thought about you all the time. I’d sneak off to take long walks at night.
Just thinking. Missing you so much it hurt.
I was mad at myself for doing it, but I couldn’t stop.
That’s why they called me Rogue. They didn’t know I kept sneaking away. And I never explained.”
“Oh, Nico.” Her eyes shine. “Back then, I never thought—”
“You shouldn’t have. It was my mistake.”
“No.” It’s firm. “No more apologies. Not now. If we want to try this again…” Sofia frames my face with her hands. “I don’t want to talk about the past. Not about that, at least.”
“Then what—”
“I want you, Nico.” Her lips come to mine. They’re sweet. Soft. Intoxicating. “I want to be with you again.”
Need surges through me. Still, I say, “I don’t want to rush you. And you’re still hurt.”
“It’s been over a week. My symptoms are almost gone. I’ll be careful of my shoulder.” Sofia kisses me again. “You’re not rushing me. I’m telling you. Unless… you don’t want to.”
She thinks I don’t want to?
When every cell in my body is aching to make her mine again?
“Don’t want to?” I pull her to me and kiss her hard. “Of course I do.”
“Then why—”
My mouth crashes down on hers again.
Lifting her into my arms, I palm her ass with one hand and support her back with the other. She wraps her legs around my waist. Her breasts press against my chest, the nipples pebbling into taut peaks. As our kiss deepens, she makes a low, sultry sound that reverberates through me.
Though I’m tempted to shove everything off the island and take her right here in the kitchen, I won’t. Not for our second first time.
As I carry Sofia towards my bedroom, she drags her lips from mine. “If you’d rather wait, I understand. Maybe you need more—”
I silence her with another kiss. Once we get into the bedroom, I lay her on the bed and climb over her, bracing myself up with one arm. “I don’t need more time, Soph. Not a single second. I want this. I want you.”
She stares up at me with eyes nearly black with desire. “I want you, too. I don’t care if it’s soon. I want to be with you again.” Her hand comes to my biceps, tracing the black ink tattooed there. “I want to see all of your tattoos. I’ve been wondering…”
I lower my lips to her collarbone. Roughly, I ask, “Wondering what?”
“Wondering about the tattoos I can’t see. The ones under your clothes.” As I trail a line of kisses across her skin, she gasps. Her back arches. “I wondered if there were more.”
“Oh, there are more.”
Her eyes flare with interest. “Are there?”
“Yes.” I rock back on my heels. “Would you like to see them?”
She nods quickly. “Yes. I want to see all of them.”
Reaching for the bottom of my shirt, I yank it up and over my head, then toss it to the side. Sofia’s eyes widen as she takes in the designs covering my chest. After a moment, she says, “Nico. They’re beautiful.”
I get off the bed and pull off my pants and briefs faster than I ever thought possible. I start to climb back onto the bed, but Sofia holds her hand up to stop.
My heart stutters. Falls. Shit. Why did I take off all my clothes like that? It’s too much. Too fast.
“Sorry,” I start. “I’ll get my pants—”
“No.” Her voice is hoarse. Needy. “Don’t you dare.”
“What—”
“I just want to look.” Sitting up, she moves to the edge of the bed. Her hands come to my stomach, first tracing the intricate designs across my chest, and then, down to the ones on my leg. “They’re all so beautiful, Nico. I never imagined…”
“They all mean something,” I tell her. My hand covers hers, moving along with it. “The feathers are for a falcon. The fox, well… it’s obvious. Sine Pari is the Delta motto. It means without equal. And this”—I touch a series of Roman numerals on my ribcage—“is the year my grandfather passed away.”
Her gaze wanders across the pattern of tattoos, lingering at the large one on my right thigh that covers a bullet wound scar. “Nico.” Her fingers go to the puckered scar. “How it must have hurt.”
“It was fine.” Not really. It hurt like a bitch. But I’m not telling her that.
“And this…” Sofia touches a small tattoo just above my heart. As she looks at it, her chin quivers. “Are those our initials?”
“It was my first. I hadn’t shown it to you yet. I worried you might think it was stupid.”
“It wasn’t.” Tears spring to her eyes. “It wasn’t stupid at all.”
“Ah, Soph.” I climb back over her and brush my thumb across her cheekbone. “Don’t cry.”
“I’m not. It’s just… dusty. Or maybe it’s my allergies.”
“In the winter?”
She gives me a defiant look. “Maybe.”
I’m not going to argue. Instead, I kiss her.
As we’re kissing, Sofia reaches between us to wrap her hand around me. My dick throbs against her fingers. Every stroke is agony and ecstasy rolled up in one.
I let her keep touching me until I’m close to losing control. Then I pull her hand away from me and say, “It’s incredible, Soph. What you’re doing. But I want to make you feel good before I finish.”
She frowns. “But—”
“Soph. I am this close to coming right now. And that is not how I want our second first time to go.”
“Our second first—” Understanding dawns. “Right.” A smile lifts her lips. “Well. How would you like it to go?”
“With you wearing less clothing, to start.”
“Okay. Do you want to take it off? Or should I?”
Fuck.
“I will,” I reply roughly. Then I peel her tempting leggings off, revealing her perfect legs inch by inch. Her panties are next, answering the question I’ve been wondering for the last few days—shaved, trimmed, or all natural?
Neatly trimmed, I discover—short, dark curls that do nothing to hide the evidence of her arousal. I stroke the velvety soft skin at her center, feeling the hot dampness waiting for me. Sofia’s legs fall open and her hips jerk as I find her exposed bud and flick it gently.
“Nico,” she gasps. “Oh—”
I want to touch her everywhere. Her thighs. Her breasts. Her stomach. Every inch of her satiny soft skin.
Belatedly realizing her shirt is still on, I pull it over her head and add it to the growing pile of clothes on the floor. “No bra?” I ask with an arch of my brow.
Sofia’s lips quirk. “Wishful thinking?”
I take a nipple into my mouth, rolling my tongue around it. She arches into my mouth. A flush spreads across her chest. “Nico, oh, God.”