Chapter 32
Mace
Iabsorb the sight of Lily’s figure in all its glory, albeit bright green glory thanks to the night vision goggles.
I’d happily take her in any shade of the rainbow because she’s mine.
I’d clung to Maddie’s words of hope, but it was the meeting request Lily had sent to Calder that allowed me to breathe again.
I was being played, and there’s no one I enjoy playing with more than my Slayer.
“You’re going to trip over your jacket,” I warn as Lily does a mummy impression to find her way through the darkness.
“You’re an asshole, Mace.”
“Nice gesture,” I reply as she lifts her middle finger and adjusts her trajectory. Now she’s heading straight for the corner of the kitchen island. “Turn to the left before you do yourself an injury.”
She turns. “You could just turn on the lights.”
“But I’m in my comfort zone.”
Lily holds onto the back of one of the couches as she explores. “I’m not here to make you comfortable.”
She’s not wrong. “Why are you here, Lily?”
She turns a few degrees, but she doesn’t move forward. “Because I know all I need to know about you. I’m not scared when I’m with you. In fact, I’m the exact opposite.”
“You know I’m obsessed with you, right?”
There’s a flash of white as my goggles pick up her smile. “Then we both struggle with an obsession.”
“Are you sure you don’t want to take a moment and consider how I knew you were in the coffee shop? Or waiting outside my office? Or listening in on your conversation with Calder?”
Lily covers her face and she groans into her hands. “You put the tracker back on my phone, didn’t you?”
“I did,” I admit. And since I want her to hear all my confessions, I add, “And you should also know that I never removed the listening device I planted in your living room that first time you let me into your apartment.”
Her hands drop to her sides, but her scowl is directed at a floor lamp. “Are you trying to make me mad?”
“I’m simply pointing out what you’ve signed up for.”
Her arms fly up. “I’m not leaving!”
I can’t answer straight away because I’m grinning so hard.
“Oh, I know you’re not. Your choice has been locked in,” I say, but it’s nice to have the confirmation that we’re still in agreement.
“You’re mine, Lily. Tonight. Tomorrow. And every tomorrow that follows.
I’ve had a taste of life without you in the last eleven days, and I’m sorry, but it’s just not for me. ”
“I’m hardly going to walk out in just my underwear,” she says, slightly breathless.
I’m not sure what effect I thought my confession would have on her, but seeing her turned on is beyond my expectations. My cock hardens. “And you look so fucking hot in that underwear.”
“Knowing that you’re always going to be my shadow doesn’t frighten me, Mace,” she says. “It makes me feel less alone.” She takes a step forward. “Even in the dark.”
Without warning, Lily launches into a run.
Only she’s not heading straight towards me.
She’s heading straight for a wall. Fear clutches my heart as I launch myself towards her.
There’s only a fraction of a second to spare as I wrap my arms around her waist, and swing her around before she can crash headfirst into brick.
I turn to take the impact, and my back hits the wall, knocking the wind out of me.
“What the hell, Lily?” I cry out, adrenaline flooding my veins.
Lily twists so she’s facing me, her laughter tickling my chest as she presses up against me.
“I knew you wouldn’t let anything happen to me,” she says.
I’m too winded to react before she pulls off my goggles.
She flings them onto the porcelain tiled floor, and I’m pretty sure I hear a lens crack.
I don’t care. I have Lily in my arms and the chase is over.
Every feeling I’ve been trying to hold back surges through me, and my mouth crashes against hers.
Her tongue meets mine and I kiss her deeply, but not deeply enough.
My fingers thread through her hair to keep her mouth pressed to mine as I suck on her tongue.
Tasting her. Devouring her. Sweet chocolate. Salted caramel. All Lily.
She breaks the kiss. “My shadow,” she whispers.
I spin us around and press her back against the wall. “My light. And the only reason my heart keeps on beating,” I reply. “Now let me kneel and worship you.”
She gasps back a sob, then gasps again as I get down on my knees and take her in my mouth. I suck against her panties directly over her clit, my tongue laving the silk that’s drenched with her arousal. “I need you naked,” I growl.
I’m about to strip her when Lily puts her hand over mine to stop me. “What if your brother comes home?”
I nip her panties between my teeth before letting go. “I’ve reprogrammed the entry system to lock him out until I say he can come in.”
“You can’t–”
I stand up and silence her with a kiss. “No one gets in until I’m done fucking you. Which may be never,” I say as I wrap my hands around her thighs and lift her.
Lily ropes her legs around my waist, pressing her soaking wet pussy against my hard-on. Her arms circle my neck and she fists my hair as she covers my jaw and neck with kisses. When she moves to my mouth, her lips ghost mine. “I want the lights on.”
“All you have to do is ask.”
She can’t see my eyes twinkling, but she hears it in my voice. “I thought I just did. Explain.”
“I clear my throat for dramatic effect. “Neo. Kitchen spotlights on low.”
Light appears from deeper inside the apartment, dissolving some of the darkness in the entrance hall. It’s enough to highlight the shape of Lily’s face, which softens as she gets her first glimpse of me.
“Neo?” she asks.
“How can I help, Lily?” a robotic male voice asks.
“It knows my name?” she whispers in shock.
“It recognizes your voice and your face. How else do you think the door opened for you?”
She beams a smile that cuts through the dark. “Lights on, please.”
I squeeze my eyes shut in anticipation, but Lily’s body jolts when every light in the apartment switches on. As I adjust to the brightness, I see Lily blinking away the sting in her eyes.
“Lights off,” I say, and the apartment plunges back into complete darkness. “And that’s enough fun with my virtual assistant. You’ve kept me waiting long enough, Lily.”
Ignoring the ghostly impressions of the harsh light, I move towards my bedroom door. I’m confident of where I’m going, but I hold out a hand in front of me because I have my most prized possession in my arms and I’m not taking any chances.
My bedroom door closes softly behind us as I kneel onto the mattress and let Lily unhook herself from me. We’re both on our knees, facing each other. For now, we don’t touch.
“This is where you’ll be sleeping from now on,” I say.
The mattress rocks slightly with Lily’s movements. I can hear the soft wisp of fabric against skin. “Sleeping?” she asks as something drops onto the floor. Her bra.
Damn, I love how nothing I say fazes this woman. “Once I’ve tired you out.”
I suck in a breath as she traces a finger along the waistband of my boxers. My cock is twitching before her fingers find me. “You can try.”
As our bodies slam together, all pretense of restraint is gone.
My tongue plunders her mouth as Lily tugs my hair.
She climbs up my torso, her legs wrapping around me again as I drop forward and pin her to the bed.
My kisses move to her neck, and my hands move to tug off her panties, forcing her to unhook her legs from my waist.
While she’s pulling my boxers down over my ass, I take one of her pebbled nipples in my mouth and I suck hard enough to make her cry out. In our frenzy, our underwear tangles at our ankles and we both kick and twist to free ourselves.
And then her legs are back around me, holding me in a vice and stopping me from moving my mouth lower.
“I need you inside me, Mace. Right now,” she gasps. “Please. You have to fuck me before I self-combust.”
She’s not the only one, and it’s going to take all my self-control to hold back long enough to satisfy my girl first. As I rear up over Lily’s body, she wraps her hand around my cock.
My balls contract as she glides my tip through the seam of her pussy.
Wet heat greets me and my legs tremble as I dampen down the fire in my belly before it can consume me.
“Mace,” she sighs and that’s almost my undoing. She knows my name. I’m someone’s prize.
Lily grinds her clit against my crown before gliding my cock downwards. Her breath stutters as she seats me at her entrance.
“You need to move your hand away, Slayer, or I’m going to crush it,” I warn.
And the second her hand moves, I thrust deep inside her, burying myself to the hilt and forcing the air from her lungs.
Her fingers dig into my back as I ride her hard and fast. I flay her body with mine, plunging into her again and again.
With each thrust, Lily releases a harsh gasp.
She lifts her hips to meet mine and her pussy spasms around my cock.
I can’t see her face, but the way she hums, I can imagine those pretty lips pressed tight in concentration as she chases her orgasm.
“Come for me, Lily,” I beg because when she sails over that precipice, I’ll be right there with her. Where she goes, I’m always going to follow.
I lean in to kiss her and she moans into my mouth while I continue to pound into her.
She’s close, but not as close as me. I grip her hips and I spin us, so Lily’s on top.
Her hands press against my chest as she takes control, her hips coming down and her legs spreading out behind her as she finds the friction she needs.
“I need…”
“Tell me what you need, Lily.”
There’s a hint of laughter in the next breath she takes. “Neo, lights on low in Mace’s bedroom.”
Soft light glows from the two bedside lamps, illuminating Lily’s flushed face above mine.
“I need to see you,” she says.