I’d missed him so much.
I rolled in his arms, bringing us heavy breath to heavy breath.
“I need you,” I whispered into his neck, braving a kiss, rolling my hips to bring us closer.
He ground against me in response, a low moan rumbling in his chest. “I need you, too. So fuckin’ bad.”
He was already hard. His arousal swollen and warm against my skin.
I slid a hand down his torso, then farther still, his skin tightening, muscles tensing under my touch. When I curled my fingers around his hard flesh, his body jerked in response. He sucked a sharp breath through his teeth, and my soul swelled with a rare, heady sense of power.
I pumped the smooth, taut skin.
Tito caught his breath.
I pumped again. He rolled into my touch, one hand cupping my ass and squeezing tight, his other hand fisting my hair.
I stroked him, from base to tip, again and again, high off the thrill, the anticipation, the desire rolling and building inside me. My bruised body ached with new cause, my wounded spirit warming and healing under the sound of his moans, his lustful breaths, his greedy lips.
Wounded, battered, weak Tuuli didn’t exist in Tito’s embrace, her fragile shell replaced with that of a woman wanted, a woman cherished, a woman worthy, unbreakable in the arms of a man like Tito.
Tito broke the kiss, his hand covering mine to halt my slow pump. Lips parted, chest heaving, eyes dark and possessive, he studied me.
I was heat, and liquid, and needy, my body arching into him, a silent plea for more.
“I need to be in control tonight, Tuuli. I need to be in charge.”
I needed him to be in charge, too.
I relaxed, ceding control. Giving myself freely, out of want, not obligation. Out of selfish desire, not stolen will.
“I was scared shitless for you tonight. Out of my fuckin’ mind. That asshole touched you. Fuck. He touched you.” His voice cracked. “I need to touch you until there’s nothing of him left. I need to be the only man touching you. Tell me you understand. Tell me you trust me.” He stared, eyes pleading, jaw clenched.
“I trust you.”
Faster than the words left my lips, Tito dropped his head and sucked a nipple between his teeth, flicking the bud with rough strokes.
I writhed beneath him, pleasure shooting through me with each tease, every suck, each draw of his tongue across the responsive skin.
He slid a hand down my waist, across my hip, and lower still, until he cupped my sex, applying pressure on the sensitive nub. He toyed, brushing soft strokes across my folds, teasing the entrance, rubbing slow circles with his palm, all the while suckling my breast in slow, aching pulls.
I tried to watch, entranced with the rolls of each carved muscle in his chest, shoulders, and arms, the heavy-lidded glaze of his eyes, the contrast of his large frame over my slight build. I tried to watch, but the pleasure slammed through me like a crashing wave, and I threw my head into the mattress, arching against his mouth, his hands, his heat.
I fisted the sheets at my sides, bucking and trembling under the overload of emotion.
His ministrations traveled down my torso, marking every inch of skin, as promised, with lips, and touches, and nibbles, and raspy exhales. Oh, God. He was undoing me, inch by inch.
Tito moved lower, peppering kisses below my navel, traveling down, down, until he pressed hot, soft lips against my sex, pausing a moment, inhaling, and then diving in, with tongue and teeth and fingers, and I lost my mind, bucking against him, then digging my heels into the mattress, my fingers into his hair.
My body coiled, tense and on the cusp of shattering, my hips rolling, grinding against his mouth. I was a woman possessed, chasing my release, greedy, and strong, and taking what I wanted, fucking the mouth of my lover, demanding he take me over the edge.
When I came, when that moment of all-consuming bliss struck, I arched off the bed. Tito wasn’t finished. He cupped my ass, digging into the soft flesh, holding my pussy to his mouth, and he sucked harder, unrelenting, until I cried, rasping, yes, yes, yes, tearing his hair, holding him between my thighs while he devoured my pleasure. When I couldn’t take anymore, when I tried to back away from his eager mouth, he stilled, pressing his lips to me, his tongue moving in slow pulses, holding me still, holding me together while I rode the wave of tremors.
I slumped—drained and sated and breathless—into the mattress. Tito curled his arms around my waist, laid his cheek against my pelvis, and held me, his head rising and falling with my heavy breaths. He held me until my heart rate slowed, and that vibrant pulse between my thighs dulled to a slow throb.
“Beast,” he murmured, sitting back on his heels, gripping my hips, and pulling me closer until my butt rested on his thighs. “You sexy little beast.”
He flashed one of his rare smiles. My heart burst. A sharp sting pierced my chest, then spread, warming my veins. Gripping my hips, he positioned me, nestling his thick, hard arousal between my thighs.
“Do me a favor, Bunny. Reach over your head. There’s a condom on the nightstand.” His gaze remained focused between my legs, where he teased, rubbing his length in slow strokes across my slick and sensitive folds, driving me insane. I wiggled to free myself, but the man only held me tighter.
“Fuck, baby. Hurry, or I’m taking you bare.”
I reached over my head, twisting in an effort to reach the nightstand, still coming up two inches short of my goal. I planted one foot on the mattress for leverage and stretched until my fingertips grazed the corner of the foil packet.
Tito groaned.
I pushed harder. Tito’s fingers tightened around my waist, but he let me move off his lap long enough to grab the prize.
The world stopped spinning when our eyes met. He’d never looked so beautiful. Cheeks flushed, lips parted, eyes dreamy and drinking me in.
He oozed boyish charm, deep dimples making a rare and brilliant appearance when he whispered, “Damn that was sexy, watching you squirm.”
“You did that on purpose.” I threw the packet at his chest. It bounced and landed between my legs, the corner scratching my inner thigh. “Ow,” I said, giggling.
He gestured at his erection. “Can you blame me?”
And then Tito broke my heart. Tore it wide open. His grin spread wider, and he laughed. He laughed. From his gut. “You should see the way those tits were bouncing. Prettiest thing I’ve ever seen.”
Despite the heaviness of the day, my chest loosened, my spirit soared, and joy filled my hollow parts.
Still chuckling, Tito rolled the condom on and sunk into me, filling me with heat, and pleasure, and gentle bliss. I melted into the bed, absorbing his thrusts, soaking up his kisses, getting lost in the way he loved me with his body.
Fuck, I loved her body. I loved loving her body. I loved commanding, touching, tasting, smelling, and sinking into her body.
She was my drug. My light. My release, my…peace. The calm to my storm. Tuuli took everything I gave, following my lead, melting into me, clinging, writhing, begging for more. What started slow and easy, fun and playful morphed into frantic, desperate, greedy fucking.
I’d pull away, she’d cling tighter. I’d pound harder, she’d whimper but counter my force.
Inside, Tuuli was liquid silk, tight friction, heavenly torture. Outside, she was sinful temptation. Soft and flawless.
We fucked. We purged. We devoured. We unleashed.
When we collapsed, beat and out of fucking juice, Tuuli curled into me, naked, warm, and limp. I wrapped trembling arms around her, tangled our legs, and buried my nose in her hair. So damn sweet. Even after I’d fucked her raw, she still smelled like an angel.
The clock read 2:58 a.m. I closed my eyes. When I opened them again, the clock read 8:16.
I stretched across the wrinkled sheets, sore and sated, absorbing the sunshine that reached through the small basement window.
On a normal day, I would have already finished my run, and either b
een at the gym or neck-deep in research.
Instead, I lay completely at peace and willed my morning woody to calm the fuck down. Hard to do when the room smelled of sex and Bunny. Greedy bastard.
Music broke my trance, an uplifting beat that brought ice to my veins. Heavy on the organ, hand claps, and layered harmonies. No. Just no.
I wrestled into a pair of running pants and went in search of my girl, my stomach rumbling when the scent of bacon hit me, body heating when I took in the scene.
Tuuli stood at the kitchen table. God, the way her eyes lit up every time I entered the room? Sucker punch to the chest. Never got old.
“Morning,” she sang, head bouncing to the music, hips swaying under the loose-fitting dress she wore. A sheer scarf covered her bruised neck. The pinks and yellows in the fabric brightened the blue in her eyes, and I couldn’t help but smile. So beautiful. So clueless to the power she had over me.
I snatched the remote off the counter and muted the volume, too many images pelting my psyche, threatening to let loose demons I wasn’t ready to share. Ugly memories that belonged nowhere near my girl.
Tuuli made a pouty face. I kissed it away.
“Is that bacon I smell?”
“It’s in the oven.” She snatched her purse off the counter and headed toward the door. “There’s a breakfast casserole in there, too.”
“Wait.” A hammer pounded my ribcage. “Where are you going?”
“Church,” she replied.
“Are you fuckin’ kidding me right now?” I immediately regretted raising my voice.
Her gaze dropped to the floor.
She shook her head, straightened her shoulders, and met my eyes again. “Tito. It’s Sunday. I’ve missed the last few weeks. I really need to go.”
“After what happened to you last night, you’re just going to walk out of here, alone?”
“I have the Uber app.” She held up her new cell and forced a smile.
Un-fuckin-believable. “Are you insane? Uber?”
“I could call a cab if you think that’s better?”
“No! Christ! Not the point. So not the point.” Was she really that naive? “You were attacked last night, and you’re going to stroll out of here like there isn’t a maniac out there waiting for another chance to grab you?”
“That’s why I called for a ride instead of taking the bus.”
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. The girl made me crazy. “Why didn’t you ask me to take you?”
“You were sleeping so sound, and…” Her gaze dropped to her feet. That damn little heel bounced on the floor, her nervous tell.
“And what?”
“I didn’t think you’d want to take me. You made it clear how you feel about church.” Her shoulders dropped. “Why are you mad?”
I wasn’t mad. Was I? Not at Tuuli, anyway. I was angry about the situation. I wanted her time. I needed her time. After last night, she wanted to be with a God who didn’t give a shit? Wasn’t I enough?
Shit. Now my head was all twisted up. “You know how I feel about church. But…Fuck. Don’t you get it?”
“Get what?” she asked, head cocked, eyes worried.
The words slipped free before I considered the consequences. “How I feel about you, Tuuli.”
Shit.
Every feature on her face brightened, lifting toward the sky like she’d tasted her first kiss of sunshine. “How do you feel?”
Shit.
Shit.
Shit.
Fuck.
“You know, don’t you?” Don’t make me fucking say it.
She dropped her purse back on the counter and stepped closer, predatory in her approach. “No, Tito. I don’t know how you feel.”
“You know.” I took a step back. The words were there, acid on my tongue. Words I’d never dared entertain.
“Why can’t you say it?” She took another step toward me, the bunny stalking the beast. God, her bravery.
After all she’d been through, there was still that goddamn hope in her eyes, that need to be wanted, claimed. She stalked closer still. I retreated, a motherfuckin’ coward. They were only words.
Words that would not form.
“Why can’t you say it?” she asked, half growling. And then my timid little bunny shocked the shit out of me. With all her might, she shoved at my chest. “Say it. Say how you feel, Tito! Say it!”
I stumbled backward, confounded by her outburst. My heel caught on the rug, and I fell on my ass. Pissed, but embarrassed more than anything, I shouted, “What the fuck, Tuuli?”
Color drained from her face. The fight dissolved from her spirit. She backed away, head down, eyes to the ground.
I rose, nerves vibrating, angry at myself for not being able to tell her what she needed to hear, for being weak, for being less than she deserved.
I fisted my hands at my sides, my nails digging into my palms. I hadn’t the wherewithal to fight, the weight on my chest no longer bearable. My body, my heart, my soul, were no longer mine to command. She owned them. She owned me. Why couldn’t I verbalize what was so blatantly obvious?
“I’m sorry I pushed you,” Tuuli spoke to the floor. Stopped, straightened her shoulders, and met my glare. “I need to go. I’ll see you later.”
She stared for a heartbeat longer, waiting for me to speak. When I didn’t, she turned and headed for the door.
She couldn’t leave. She couldn’t walk away. “Don’t go.”
“Why?” she asked, one hand on the doorknob.
I closed the distance between us, pressing my chest to her back, and slamming a palm against the door. “I’m addicted to you. I’m obsessed with you. You’re all I think about.”
Her breath hitched.
“Actions speak louder than words, Bunny.” I bent and whispered in her ear, “What have my actions told you?”
Tuuli sucked in a sharp breath, her head falling back against my chest. She turned, circled her arms around my neck, and pulled me close, smashing her lips to mine. She kissed the ever-loving fuck out of my mouth, decimating my unease, igniting instinct, smothering that cold, black lump in my chest with her warm, bright life.
I coiled my arms around her hips, lifting. Her legs locked around my waist. Her tiny body writhed against me, rubbing me wrong in all the right places.
Hell. Sweet fucking hell.
Too soon, she ended the assault. I struggled to breathe. Tuuli planted her hands on my shoulders, stared at me long and hard, smiled, then shimmied free of my embrace. She opened the door.
“Tuuli,” I managed to groan. “Don’t.”
Over her shoulder, she argued, “I need to go to church, Tito.”
Actions speak louder than words, I reminded myself. Fuck. “You’re not going alone.”
She stopped, halfway over the threshold.
I didn’t have the heart to chastise her defiance. I was proud of her for fighting. For standing up for herself, even if I didn’t agree.
Erik was out there, somewhere, biding his time. I couldn’t let her go anywhere alone.
So, for the crazy little woman who’d brought me back to life, I broke one of my cardinal rules.
I sucked in a sharp breath, and said, “Just wait, please. Let me change. I’m going with you.”
“Are you coming in with me?” I stood next to his window, arms at my sides, heart in my throat.
“I’ll wait in the car.” Tito eyed the steeple, the muscles in his jaw working overtime.
“You do know there are three different entrances into the building, right? You can’t watch them all.” Low blow, playing on his protective instincts, but he’d brought me this far. A little extra nudge wouldn’t hurt.
“Fuck.” His face reddened, then paled. He studied the building, gnawing on his lip.
“I’m going in.” Walking away was hard, but if I waited, I would cave. He seemed so vulnerable, and I hated knowing he was doing something so out of character just for me.
I started across the parking lot, forci
ng my smile, scanning for signs of Erik, or any of my family for that matter.
Halfway to the entrance, a warm hand cupped mine from behind. Tito laced our fingers and squeezed tight. Painfully tight. I pushed through the discomfort, aware of his struggle, sensing how hard it was for him to walk through those church doors, remembering how difficult it had been my first time.
My stomach knotted. Maybe I’d pushed him too hard. Would he regret coming along and decide I wasn’t worth the trouble?
I glanced up and shivered at the hard set of his features, the haunting sweep of his gaze. He seemed to study every face we passed, assessing every threat.
His body stiffened with each step closer to the building, his fingers tightening around mine. His silence was deafening. Nauseating.
Two feet from the doors, I pulled Tito aside. I’d lost all steam. I studied his shoes and struggled to force the words from my head to my tongue.
“What’s wrong?” Tito stepped in front of me, then tapped under my chin, urging me to look up. “You okay?”
“You don’t have to do this. It’s okay. We can go home. I never should’ve pushed the issue.”
“Oh, baby.” He dropped his forehead to mine. “I’m proud of you for pushing. Don’t back down now. We’re almost there.”
“I can tell you don’t want to go in there.”
He lifted our joined hands. “See this?”
I nodded.
“I’ve never held hands with a woman. Ever.” With his free hand, he cupped my jaw, his thumb tapping a soft rhythm on my cheek. “I’m holding your hand right now because I need your strength. You’ll help me tough this out. We’re doing this together, me and you. Okay, Bunny?”
Together. God, how I loved that word. “Bunny and the Beast.”
He laughed before landing a soft kiss on my nose. I’d never felt so cherished. “Yeah. Bunny and the Beast. I like that.”
He stepped back and sighed. “Church is important to you. You’re important to me. So, I’ll deal. Got me?”
I nodded, silenced by his tenderness, his perfect words.
“Just don’t let go, and I promise not to freak on you. Sound good?”
“Yeah. That’s good,” I whispered.
Truck Stop Tempest Page 17