Chapter Nineteen
Hannah
Vik’s outburst should terrify me.
He drew a gun on an innocent man who had nothing to do with the way I treated him. The only sane response would be to run.
Yet I don’t want to. It may have happened under the worst possible circumstances, but he finally gave me what I wanted. Proof that I’m more than just a toy he picks up when it suits him.
His mouth is on mine. He kisses me roughly, and I freeze. Part of me wants to push him away. Another part...
Doesn’t.
I kiss him back, matching his intensity as the cold steel in his hand brushes the small of my back. A shiver races up my spine.
Seeing I can barely stay on my feet, Vik slips his gun hand beneath my knees and lifts me with effortless ease. He carries me through the living room to his bedroom, never breaking the kiss. When he finally sets me on the edge of the bed, he doesn’t say a word.
He doesn’t need to.
If I’d intended to fight him, I would have done it before now. I would have kicked, screamed and clawed my way free. Instead, I let him bring me here.
No matter how angry he’s made me... This is what I’ve wanted. To feel wanted. Loved. Whatever it is he’s trying to show me.
Vik takes a step back. A glint of light catches the pistol in his hand, drawing my attention.
“Does this scare you, Hannah?” he asks, extending his arm. “Or does it excite you?”
He brings it closer.
“I don’t—”
An icy sensation brushes my skin, stealing the rest of my words. A broken moan escapes before I can stop it. One corner of his mouth curls into a knowing smile. The caution he carried into the room has vanished.
“Guess that answers my question.”
The gun passes my belly button, catches on the hem of my panties, and glides between my thighs. They clench instinctively, squeezing the metal, somehow heightening the strange sensations brewing inside me. No one but Vik has ever made my body react this way.
“Oh, fuck,” I mutter.
The room falls silent and my heart pounds so fast, I’m convinced he can hear it.
“You like it, don’t you?” Vik asks, adjusting his wrist between my legs.
“Maybe.” The thrill, the danger, the excitement. Everything about this is completely insane, and I’m loving every second of it.
“Look at me, Hannah. I want to see your face.”
I do.
He twitches his wrist again, and the gun grinds against my clit.
I throw my hands around his shoulders to steady myself.
Vik grins wickedly and pulls the gun away from my thighs, but my attention is already back on him.
He leans in close, teasing me with the idea that he’s about to kiss me again, but shifts his mouth to my cheek instead.
I hear the heavy clunk of the gun hitting the floor as his lips move across my face, over my earlobe and against my neck. His hand replaces the weapon between my legs, teasing my wet panties with his fingers while his thumb presses against my most sensitive spot.
My hand travels to his belt, working it loose with shaky fingers. He peels my panties to the side and I free his cock from the confines of his jeans. A satisfied grunt leaves his lips, followed by a groan as my fingers ride the length of his shaft.
His free hand finds the back of my neck, and he guides my face back to his, trailing kisses across my cheek until he reaches my lips. Stroking his erection, I guide it into position while he crawls on top of me, parting my legs with his knees.
There’s no time to strip out of our clothes. We both want this now, no matter what obstacles get in our way. We are fired up and ready to forget about every stupid decision that brought us here.
Our mouths meet. Making out with him here is even better than the first kiss we shared. He’s intense and passionate, forcing his tongue into my mouth and taking whatever he wants. Because he knows this is what I want. What I’ve yearned for since the very first move he made.
He enters me slowly. Guiding the first few inches of his cock inside with carefully orchestrated precision. An attempt on his part, I’m certain, to show me that this is more than just us fucking.
But my desperate, eager body can’t read those signals.
It craves all of him at once, in a hot, fiery inferno of reckless passion.
So, while the anguish of taking things slowly plays across his face, I wrap my legs around his hips, pulling him closer.
I welcome his full length without resistance.
His foreplay with the gun, silly as it sounds, revved me up more than I’d imagined it would.
He crumples on top of me, and our moans echo through the room. Vik’s grip tightens behind my neck and he bites down gently on my lower lip. Taking a moment to recover from what I’ve just done.
Then he starts thrusting. Slow and teasing, and I let him have this to start. Enjoying the pleasure of him taking things at a more leisurely pace. Feeling each stroke from the head of his cock, down to the base, tickling my insides.
But I can feel how hard he’s struggling to hold himself back. He is wrestling with the demon inside who wants nothing more than to destroy my body in the best possible way. Why tease him any longer, when that’s exactly what I want too?
I dig my heels in again, adjusting his tempo, until he’s bucking in and out of me like a crazed beast. I drown out his grunts and groans with a shattering moan.
His body tenses and tightens and I know what’s coming next. I reach between our bodies and rub myself. Vik’s hand cups my breast and he teases the nipple, gazing lower to see what I’m up to.
“Fuck.” It's the only warning he gives me. It’s also the only one I need.
His somewhat stable pace becomes more erratic after the word. His hands tighten their grip as he pulls me into another kiss. I moan against his lips, climaxing on his cock as the first spurt of cum fills me up.
Vik’s body buckles with every subsequent movement. Every twitch of his dick or rotation of his hips ushers in a new wave of sound I’ve never heard from him.
I fucking love it.
When it’s over, he holds me close and rests his head against my breasts, his ear pinned to my chest. He is spent and exhausted, listening to my heartbeat. Pleased in the knowledge that it’s pumping just for him.
***
An hour passes, maybe more, mostly in silence. But I’m okay with it. We’re okay with it.
There’s no need to fill the silence. Lying in Vik’s arms is peaceful. He makes me feel safe in ways I haven’t experienced since childhood. Everything in the world feels right.
But, as always, my mind betrays the moment.
Before, overwhelmed by the kiss and a side of Vik I’d never seen before, Andrew Jensen became an afterthought. Now, at the very moment we’ve found some peace, he comes rushing back.
I open my mouth, then hesitate. I’d rather stay like this a little longer. Pretend we never fought. Pretend this is an ordinary night shared by two people in love.
It isn’t.
“Would you have actually done it?” The words tumble out before I can stop them.
“Done what?” Vik asks, shifting to face me.
“Shot him.” I keep my eyes on Muffin, who’s perched in the far corner of the bed.
“No, I wouldn’t have,” he says carefully. “But I had to do something to keep you here.”
“It was careless. Reckless. The complete opposite of your usual, well-put-together self.”
Maybe I’m prying. I want to understand what was going through his mind more than he’s willing to admit. Keeping me here hardly seems reason enough to risk criminal charges.
And yet... His actions said everything his words never could. This... us... means more to him than I ever realized.
He has a strange way of showing it, but I’m beginning to understand that’s simply who Vik is. Nothing about him is normal. Oddly enough, the more I understand him, the more I’m drawn to him.
This realization comes with its own burden. Vik has shown me every side of himself—the good, the bad and the ugly. I’m still hiding parts of myself. Still keeping secrets. Still pretending my life fell apart because of someone else’s actions.
“I need to tell you something, Vik.”
“Okay.” He shuffles closer.
“It’s about why I’m here,” I say with a sigh. “I lied to you.”
“I know.”
I turn to him. “How?”
“Because you’re not very good at lying, Hannah. I knew the day you moved in. I just didn’t care.” He slips an arm around my shoulders and pulls me against him.
“So... tell me what happened.”
“I got fired for trying to help someone who was in pain.” It’s hardly the whole story, but I don’t want him thinking I was simply bad at my job.
“He couldn’t afford the medical bills, but he couldn’t live with the pain either.
The hospital called him a junkie. They said I was incompetent and untrustworthy. And that’s how I ended up here.”
“Fuck ’em,” Vik says.
It’s not the response I expected, but I can’t help smiling.
“But why did you break protocol for him?” he asks.
“I made a promise to do right by people who need it.”
I take a slow breath. “Because years ago...”
Here it comes. The truth. Warts and all.
“I killed someone.”
“You what?” His tone barely changes. For a moment, I wonder if he already knows.
I made my mother promise never to tell anyone, but the promises made to frightened children aren’t always kept. Still, I decide to believe he doesn’t know.
So, I tell him everything. Running away from home. The accident. The dying man’s face. Every word drags the memories back to the surface.
Vik doesn’t interrupt. He listens. He strokes my cheek when the tears begin to fall. He simply holds me.
“You didn’t kill anyone, Hannah. He died because of his own foolish choices. He drove drunk.” His thumb brushes away another tear.
“You weren’t malicious. You were a frightened child trying to escape a bad situation.”
“You really think so?” My voice catches.
As though sensing my distress, Muffin stretches, purring loudly before he pads across the bed and flops into my lap.
“I’ve seen the worst this world has to offer.” Vik reaches over to stroke Muffin. “I’ve looked into the eyes of real monsters. You aren’t one of them.”
A sense of calm washes over me. Fresh tears spill down my cheeks as I bury my face against his chest. This time, they aren’t tears of guilt. They’re tears of relief.
Nothing has changed between us. If anything...
We’ve only grown closer.
For the first time since Vik walked into that diner, I truly believe we might have a future together.