Chapter Nine
Nine
Keys tossed the condom and started the bathwater.
Hot. She was going to be sore. He hadn’t been in the least gentle with her, but he knew her.
He couldn’t give her time to think, only feel.
He stared at himself in the mirror, scrubbed his hand down his face, shocked for the first time in his life.
Truly shocked. He was well and truly fucked, and he’d brought it on himself.
He hadn’t been lying when he told Lyric he’d been with hundreds of women.
He’d had sex in every way possible. He loved sex.
He craved it. But never once had it been like that.
Never. He’d felt every inch of her silken tunnel wrapped so tight around him he could barely breathe.
He couldn’t imagine what sex with her would be like when he taught her all the ways they could share pleasure.
He should have known Lyric would focus her entire being on him, on the sex, on learning what he wanted.
That was her personality. She might be scared, but she’d given him whatever he demanded.
She wouldn’t take the initiative, he knew that, but he was a man who needed to control his partner during sex.
The problem, as he saw it, was he wanted her addicted to him, and he had no doubt that he would make that happen, but he was more than addicted to her.
She was his need. That was bad. She was stubborn as hell and went her own way.
He needed to have the upper hand in their relationship or she would walk all over him.
Who knew a woman might rule him with sex?
He found himself grinning in the mirror like an idiot.
Might be a good way to go out. He wanted her on birth control as soon as possible because, for the first time that he could remember, he wanted to go bare.
Feel every inch of all that silk. All that scorching heat. Every tight squeeze.
He went back into the bedroom and, without saying a word, picked her up and carried her to the tub. He got in with her, lowering them both into the hot, steamy water. She hissed out a long breath that told him he may have used her a little too roughly.
Keys wrapped his arms around her waist and dropped his chin onto the top of her head. “Never felt like that before, woman. When I say we were made for each other, I mean it. Had a lot of experience and nothing was ever that good.”
She dropped her palm to her thigh and rubbed along her leg where the scar was still raw. “Where do we go from here?”
“I know you’re scared, baby, but I’ve laid it out for you numerous times. Telling you what we’re doing isn’t getting me anywhere, so I’m showing you. This is you and me. Our start. Our relationship. I’m in it for the long haul and so are you.”
“Because you say so.”
“That and you want it, whether you want to admit it or not. No woman lights up like you do if it isn’t right. We’re right.”
“And when you get tired of one woman?”
The challenge in her voice nearly brought his cock to life again. Sheesh. He’d never had better sex, and instead of being sated, he was starving.
“I’m inventive, Wildfire. Very inventive.
I like to play, and you’re going to like playing with me.
I like toys. I like bondage. I like nipple and ass play.
I want to teach you to take my cock down your throat.
You think I’m going to get bored? We’re going to have sex whenever, wherever and however either of us wants it. ”
She was silent. He was used to her thinking things over and didn’t press. Sometimes Lyric would come out with something extremely important if he didn’t jump in and try to fix things or insist on her telling him what was wrong.
“What if I can’t do the things you want me to do? Some of those things sound very scary and not something I would ever try.”
He could hear real fear in her voice. He rubbed his chin on top of her hair and turned his hands over, cupping her breasts. His thumbs slid over the upper curves possessively.
“Think about who you’re with, Lyric. You’ve known me for over six months.
When I want something, I get it. You know that about me.
I’ll handle you with care, especially when you’re afraid, but in the end, you’re going to give me what I want because you’re you.
And I’m going to make certain every fuckin’ time you do, you’re going to love what we do.
The scarier something is and you do it for me, the more I’m going to make certain rockets go off for you. ”
“I want my car back.”
He laughed. “You’re so damn stubborn. I’m talking fireworks and going into outer space and you come back with you want your car. It’s a piece-of-shit car held together by rubber bands, and it isn’t safe. Are we finished with the subject of sex?”
He couldn’t resist massaging her breasts and then tugging and rolling her nipples. She had great nipples. Perfect. He immediately wanted to pull her breast into his mouth and spend time discovering everything that set her off. She was sensitive to his touch. To his mouth, particularly to his cock.
He wanted her to get used to his body. He wanted her to like looking at him.
He wanted her to love his cock. His touch.
Everything he did to her. He didn’t mind her being shy.
He didn’t mind if she didn’t actually initiate sex, because he could read her like a book, and he’d always know when it was on her mind.
He caught her hand and brought it between their bodies, circling his cock with her palm, his fingers closing around hers to make a fist. “That’s yours, Lyric.
It belongs to you. You have a little bit of homework.
I want you to spend as much time as possible getting acquainted.
That means you touch me. You put your mouth and tongue on me.
You find out every single way that gets me hard and makes me want to come down your throat. ”
She didn’t pull her hand away, but then he had been certain she wouldn’t. She was curious, but more than that, she liked pleasing him. She liked him giving her instructions when she felt clueless. It was easier for her to follow his lead.
“Is our relationship going to be about sex?”
That was a Lyric question if he’d ever heard one.
He didn’t know how to have a relationship or how to have a woman in his life permanently.
He did know she brought him to life. He didn’t think he was entirely a monster when he was with her.
He was willing to build his life around her, but he’d have to figure out how.
Lyric had no idea how to have a relationship either.
And he’d been a first-class dick in front of her.
She was certain he would only want sex from her and that sooner or later he’d tire of her.
He couldn’t change that perception with words.
She’d come to trust him once she allowed their friendship.
He knew he would have an uphill battle earning even more of her trust.
He had promised himself he would be as honest with her as possible.
“Sex is a big part of our relationship. You know what I’m like.
After having you, I’ll be honest, I’m going to need sex with you more than once a day.
I’ll get some cream to help with the soreness.
But no, a real relationship, which is what we’re going to have, is far more than sex.
We’re going to be living together. Since neither of us has ever been in a relationship, I imagine we’re going to have to go slow, talk things out often and find our way.
If we both work at it, we’ll be all right. ”
Her hand slid down the length of his cock. Just that small gesture of acquiescence. At the same time, he didn’t want her to think they would only relate through sex. He wanted her to know he cared about her. Constantly being in a state of arousal wasn’t going to help his cause.
Lyric was confused and afraid. She didn’t want to lose him, but she didn’t believe he could want her.
She really didn’t believe he could love her.
Keys knew it was necessary to give her the things that would eventually give her confidence in the two of them.
He realized that if he let her, she would use their sexual relationship to try to keep her heart intact.
And he wanted her heart. He was determined to have it.
Very, very gently, he removed her hand from his cock and brought it back to her thigh, pressing her palm into her muscle.
“You can rest for a little while, and then we can take a look at the greenhouse. You said you were interested in plants. It was a state-of-the-art greenhouse at one time and can be restored. I just never bothered with it before because there didn’t seem to be a reason. ”
She looked at him over her shoulder. Her green eyes were darker than normal, still a little dazed, unsure.
He dropped another kiss on top of her head and tightened his arms around her.
She felt fragile to him. He was certain he would always think of her that way, just because she had scared the holy hell out of him with her head injury.
“Tell me about the man you kept alive. You brought him here, didn’t you?”
“Yes.” He couldn’t help the clipped, abrupt way he spoke, trying to warn her off. That man had been thoroughly interrogated. He had quite a bit of information on why Lyric and Keys had been targeted, none of it good. “Why are we talking about him?”
“I don’t know, Keys. Maybe because you’ve suddenly decided I need to stay with you. Maybe this is about you being you after all.”