30. Daisy
DAISY
Iwake slowly, the world taking its sweet time to come back online. For the first thirty seconds, I don’t know where I am. The mattress is too comfortable. The room is too quiet without the clunky grumble of the air-conditioning unit. And there’s something heavy wrapped around me, and—
“Oh, my gosh.”
The memories of last night crash over me. The conversation on the deck by the pool. The way Vandal carried me to his bedroom. The fact that somewhere along the way, I apparently lost every ounce of dignity I’ve ever had and begged Vandal to violate me.
Violate me.
I stifle a groan.
Behind me, a low chuckle vibrates through the broad chest pressed against my back.
“Shut up,” I say.
“Nope.”
If I squeeze my eyes shut and lie perfectly still, perhaps I can cease to exist.
“Daisy,” Vandal says, the word packed with more mischief than it should.
“I’m dead. It was nice knowing you.”
Arms tighten around me. “You seem alive to me.”
“I’m not. Your eyes deceive you.”
“And what about my ears? Are they deceiving me too? Or am I talking to your ghost?”
I bury my face in the pillow and groan some more.
In return, the chuckle turns into full-blown laughter.
“I hate you,” I say, but the words are muffled by the pillow. A different one to the one I squirted all over. Twice.
“No, you don’t.”
Unfortunately, I don’t. And that might be a problem. Because I want to repeat last night all over again, even though right now, I can’t even bring myself to look Vandal in the eye.
Large hands manhandle me, moving me around until I’m facing him. He grips my chin and raises my face to his, but I keep my eyes closed.
“Stop looking at me,” I say.
“Open your eyes and get it over with. I’m not judging, because that was the hottest sex I’ve ever had.”
I open one eye and assess him. His hair is messy, his expression amused. “Really?”
“Really.”
His lips move to mine, but I push my hands to his chest. “No. We didn’t brush our teeth yet.”
“Babe, I had my thumb in your ass—it’s a bit late to worry about morning breath.”
“Oh. My. God.” I squeal the last word and bury my head against his chest.
“Daze. Look at me.”
Looking at him is absolutely the last thing I want to do right now, but somehow I find myself doing just that. “Are you making fun of me?”
“Maybe a little. Shouldn’t we be able to? It was hot, Daze. So hot, I find myself wishing I could keep you here in this bed for a week. You need to relax a little.”
I shake my head. “I can’t relax.”
“You seemed pretty relaxed last night.” At that, he starts laughing again.
I grab the nearest pillow and smack him with it, but it does absolutely nothing to the man who is built out of reinforced concrete. “You are the worst.”
He hauls me on top of him. “Really, because I distinctly remember somebody making a speech about getting out of her own head.”
My face burns. “It wasn’t a speech.”
“It was.” His eyes sparkle. “Can we do it again?”
I hear Elsie laugh from the kitchen, then whispered voices. “Wait, who’s here?”
“Relax, it’s Havoc. And you didn’t answer my question.”
I jump out of bed. I have no idea how long I slept through Elsie being awake. God, I hope she didn’t try to get in here and panic while I was sleeping. “Yes, Van. We can do it again.”
“We can do it now. Havoc isn’t known for killing small children.” He slips the sheet down off his cock that he’s stroking gently. “Come back to bed.”
“Wait. How do you know it’s Havoc?”
“Because he’s the only guy with a key. And because he said he’d see me in the morning. We grew up together, love him like a brother. Are you really gonna make me get out of bed?”
I glance over to the door and can hear the murmurs of Havoc and Elsie talking to one another. Then my legs are walking back to the hand he has offered toward me before my brain can stop it.
Vandal smiles as he tugs me to him. “Let me make love to you to make up for fucking you last night.”
While I climb beneath the sheet, Vandal rolls a condom on, then he adds some lubricant to it.
“Using some lube because you’re probably a little tender, and I know you won’t let me keep you in here for too long for foreplay.” He grabs a tissue and wipes his hand before rolling onto his side to face me. “Now, come here.”
He wraps his arms around me and kisses me softly. It’s a very different pace than the previous evening. It’s soft, and sweet, and almost lazy.
After the shock of waking so abruptly, my heart rate settles, and I embrace the comfort that comes from realizing you’re in bed with someone you trust. My body doesn’t so much rev as it does limber. I stretch against him as his hands stroke my skin.
“This is nice,” I admit.
“See what you would have missed if you’d stayed out of bed.” His lips smile against mine.
“I admit that might have been my loss.”
Vandal shifts his hand down my thigh, then hooks behind my knee to bring it over his hip, opening me wide to him. “If this hurts after last night, tell me and I’ll stop.”
But the hunger I always feel around him unfurls low in my belly. And I know there is no way I’ll stop this. “Just make love to me like you promised.”
Vandal smiles at that, and I can’t help but think he looks more at peace right now than I have ever seen him. He reaches between us and nudges his cock against my lips. Just the tip to start as my pussy clenches around him.
“Mmm,” I say, lazily.
He strokes a knuckle along my cheek. “I’ll never get sick of this feeling.”
“Same,” I say, slipping my fingers into his hair, being careful of the spot just at his hairline that always feels tender.
Vandal nudges in farther. Just an inch. A slow and tender edging in. Then a withdrawal that makes him sigh. Sunlight dances around the edges of his curtain, casting a sliver of sun across his shoulder, and I kiss it.
“I think we need a rule to start every day like this, and end it like yesterday,” I say.
Vandal brushes his lips over mine. “I second that motion.”
His hand drops lower, sitting just above my ass, his thumb stroking the dip between my cheeks. “Don’t get ideas about trying that again this morning.”
He kisses me deeply this time, his tongue teasing mine, and all thoughts of brushing my teeth are long gone out the window. “I’ll always take you any way I can get you.”
He shifts the angle of his hips and hitches my leg further over his thigh, his cock sliding deeper as he does. The friction against my clit goes from nice to…
“Ahh,” I gasp.
“Quietly,” Vandal reminds.
I hope he kisses me like this forever. Hopeful and possessive.
I hope it always feels this way between us.
Everything starts to coalesce at my core. “Please, Gideon,” I whisper.
As if reading my mind, he speeds up his thrust, sinking deeper and deeper until he fills me completely.
“Ah, fuck, Daisy. Your pussy feels incredible.” He’s so thick and hard and I can feel him everywhere. My heart races and my breath comes fast.
“I need more,” I mutter.
And as if knowing what I need, he rolls me onto my back, still buried deep inside me, and slides his hands beneath my ass. I hook my hands around him as he begins to thrust in earnest.
The headboard bangs against the wall, and he stops for a second to stuff a pillow behind it as I chuckle.
“Fucking bed,” he mutters as he picks up his pace again. “Jesus, it feels so good, Daze.”
But I can’t reply. I want him to keep doing exactly what he’s doing because—
“Gideon,” I mutter against his lips. The world tilts as I come. My eyes squeeze shut at the intensity of it. My body shakes as my pulse races.
“Yeah, ah, I can feel that, fuck…Ah, Daisy.” And then Vandal’s whole body stiffens against mine, and I can feel the pulsing of his deliciously thick cock as he comes in me.
His breath comes as fast as mine as I press kisses to his jaw, his neck, the side of his head.
“…umph,” he mutters as he buries his head in his pillow.
I stroke my hands over his back as we both find our feet again. And when he eventually lifts his head, he kisses my forehead which makes me melt all over again.
“I got some big feelings for you, Daisy. Not gonna lie.”
My heart does a backflip. “I have some pretty big feelings for you too.”
His smile is everything I ever needed. “Glad I’m not the only one.”
Eventually, we move. Vandal gives me some privacy to quickly clean up, and then I get dressed while he does the same.
After another kiss that reminds me of the one Knox planted on Maren and made me sigh, we’re both headed down the hallway.
Vandal’s fingers trail along my lower back, and I can’t help but smile at the gesture.
Somewhere between the honest conversation on the deck and the way we met each other in bed last night and this morning, things have shifted.
I feel safe here with him.
Halfway down the hallway, I hear my daughter say, “But I live here.”
“That’s a strong point, Els. But…I have a key,” Havoc replies.
I pause and hold my hand out to stop Van. We both look at each other, confused.
“I feel like having a key gets me bonus points on the best friend scale because it means Van trusts me to come here, even when he’s not home.”
“No. You don’t even live here. And he tucked me into bed last night. Did he tuck you in?”
Havoc chuckles. “Not last night. But there has been more than one occasion when I couldn’t get myself into bed and he did it for me.”
“Were you sick?” my daughter asks.
“Depends how you define ‘sick,’ Els. Might have had a beer or two too many.”
We reach the end of the hallway, and Elsie is sitting cross-legged on one of the kitchen stools. There’s a frown on her face as she watches Havoc make pancake batter.
“That’s not the same.”
Havoc stops beating. “You gotta state your argument.”
“What?” Little lines appear across my daughter’s nose.
“You have to explain why it doesn’t count. You can’t just say it like you’re the expert.”
“And you can’t just claim him as your best friend.”
Havoc sighs dramatically, and I can’t help but smile. “Kid, I’ve known him all our lives. That’s a lot more years than you’ve been kicking around.”
“I live with him.”
“I have a key.”
“You said that already.”
“So did you.”
Vandal chuckles, then shocks the heck out of me by bursting into song as he approaches the two of them.
Something about trying not to hurt someone even though they try.
Then the chorus kicks in, and I recognize it as “Every Rose Has Its Thorn.” Some ’80s band.
Guns N’ Roses? Def Leppard? Poison? I don’t remember.
But Vandal goes to Elsie first and kisses the top of her head.
Elsie smiles evilly at Havoc. “See, he came to me first, so he must be my best friend.”
“Morning, sweetie,” I say, wrapping my arms around her neck. “And that’s not how best friends work. You and Havoc are gonna have to share Vandal.”
But when I look up, I see there’s a lot more emotion in Havoc’s eyes than this conversation requires. Vandal rounds the kitchen island and playfully traps Havoc in his arms and places a fat, playful kiss on the side of Havoc’s head. “Love you too.”
Havoc blows out a breath. “Been waiting a while to hear you start singing your ridiculous ’80s rock again.”
“Well, seems like today’s the day,” Vandal says.
Havoc finally smiles as he points a whisk dripping with batter in my direction. “You have no idea how awful his taste in music is.”
“I’d probably say that if it’s anything like his taste in best friends, it’ll be okay.”
Havoc drops the whisk in the batter with a splat. “Nope. No. Not today. You can be sweet to me some other day. But I gotta look manly while I make pancakes that absolutely will not have chocolate chips in them.” He looks at Elsie and winks.
My daughter does her best to wink back, but it’s more of a blink.
Vandal moves to the coffee pot. “Want one?” he asks.
I nod. “Would love one.” I pull out the stool next to Elsie just as Vandal, without warning, starts belting out another song. Something about a little miss innocent sugaring him. He turns to me and grins.
I nearly choke as his shoulders shake with laughter.
The bastard knows exactly what he’s singing about, and my cheeks warm. Then he turns back to pouring us some coffee.
“You alright there, Daisy?” Havoc asks.
“What?”
“You look warm. You can jack up the aircon over there.” He innocently points to a panel on the wall, before lowering his head to whisk. But it’s impossible to miss the way his shoulders move in laughter too.
“Assholes,” I mutter, which only seems to make them both laugh harder.
“Momma. You shouldn’t say bad words.”
I try to school my face. “You’re right, sweetie. I’m sorry.”
But something twists warmly in my chest. I feel like I’m building a family. And my daughter finally has some good men in her life.
A few minutes later, there’s a knock at the door, but it opens without waiting for Vandal to answer. In walks a woman with dark hair like Vandal’s, only hers is streaked with beautiful thin strands of silver.
But her eyes are just like her son’s, and so is her smile.
“I heard there was a little girl called Elsie in the house,” she says.
My daughter, who seemingly has found magic in the walls of this house, drops down off the stool. “That’s me.”
Usually, she wouldn’t be so quick to ingratiate herself with strangers, but I think it’s because she’s feeling the same kind of safety I do here.
“Well, I’m Elaine, and I figured you might like apple pie and ice cream.”
Elsie looks up at me and then grins. “I love apple pie and ice cream.”
“Then it’s a good job I made you some, isn’t it.”
Vandal walks over to her and kisses her cheek. “Thanks, Ma.”
“Good morning, sweetie,” she says, placing the pie and ice cream down onto the decorative side table before pulling Vandal into a tight hug.
It makes me smile. Moms everywhere, still calling their kids sweetie, regardless of their age.
“You must be Daisy,” she says, finally releasing him as I stand to greet her. But just when I’m about to raise my hand to offer it to her, she tugs me into a fierce hug too.
“It’s nice to meet you,” I manage.
“You must be a very special woman,” she whispers, then smiles at me like we now have a secret.
“Who wants completely natural, healthy pancakes, made from organic ingredients that definitely do not contain chocolate chips?” Havoc asks.
“Me,” Vandal and Elsie say at the exact same time.
“Ha!” Elsie says and looks to Havoc. “We said it at the same time. Told you he was my best friend.”
Havoc sighs. “Guess you must be right.”