The Purest Hook (Second Circle Tattoos)

by Scarlett Cole

“Fine. Then let’s figure this out.”

  Hours later, when the conversation was over, and dinner had been eaten, Dred found himself alone in his room. He picked up the phone and called Pixie. The shop was most definitely closed, and he hoped she was at home. The phone rang once then was answered.

  “Hey, let me turn this down,” Pixie said.

  He could hear loud music playing, a musical as always. Something about the crème de la crème of the chess world and Yul Brynner, which seemed a totally random combination.

  The music suddenly died. “What was that, Snowflake?”

  Pixie laughed, the sound music to his ears after the day he’d had. “The Chess soundtrack. Written by the guys from ABBA about a cold-war chess tournament. I need to educate you.”

  “Yeah. No, you don’t. Sounds boring as fuck. I can live without it, thanks. What are you up to?” He swivelled on the sofa, put his feet up on the opposite arm to the one he was leaning against.

  “Planning for my day off tomorrow.”

  “You plan your day off the night before?”

  “I do if I am trying to fit in a hike, some sewing, brownie baking, card making, and watching Rent for the five-hundred-twenty-five-thousandth-sixth-hundredth time.” Pixie giggled again. “You don’t even get that, do you?”

  “Not even a little bit.”

  “Listen to ‘Seasons of Love’ from Rent later. It’ll make more sense.”

  Dred took a deep breath. In a matter of minutes on the phone with her, he felt calm again. Being around her strengthened him. “Your day sounds perfect, Snowflake.”

  “Wish you could share it with me.”

  Dred sighed. He wanted that, too. He didn’t know where his daughter was. His creativity was shot. For the first time in a long while, the loneliness that had threatened to swallow him whole as a child was back. It was bone deep, and disheartening.

  And then an idea hit him, so obvious, he wondered why he hadn’t thought of it before.

  * * *

  Pixie tightened her hiking shoes. A backpack filled with a light sweater, water bottle, and lunch was by the door. She checked the route on her phone. Bus to Coral Gables to explore the Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden, then pick up the Old Cutler Trail and walk the five miles back to Coconut Grove. There, she planned to treat herself to dinner at a little outdoor café before heading home for the brownies currently cooking.

  As if by magic, the timer buzzed and Pixie hurried to remove them from the oven. They smelled so good, it was tempting to eat one even though she’d eaten her breakfast a few minutes earlier.

  Lia rushed into the kitchen, her red hair perfectly styled in the classic victory rolls she preferred. “Oh my God. Give me some of that, whatever it is.” She poured herself a travel mug of coffee and added a sickening amount of half-and-half into it.

  Pixie cut into the brownie, giving Lia a healthy piece because she’d only complain if it was too small. She wrapped it into a napkin and handed it to her.

  “You are the best,” Lia said, punctuating it with an air kiss near Pixie’s cheek. “See you later, tonight.”

  With a slam of the door, she was gone.

  The brownies looked so good, she cut herself a little piece. She popped it in her mouth and savored the soft chocolaty goodness.

  There was a knock at the door. Lia must have forgotten her keys. Pixie pulled the door open. “You’d forget your head if it wasn’t . . .”

  “Your day sounded so perfect I wanted to share it with you.” Dred grabbed her around the waist and picked her up. He walked them inside, kicked the door closed with his foot, then turned to push her up against it. There was a loud thud and she realized he’d dropped the bag he was carrying.

  His lips smashed against hers. Never had she felt so wanted, so consumed from a kiss. Her hands found their way into his hair and tugged hard. He was really here. With her back firmly against the metal doorframe, she felt secure in his arms as his hands gripped her butt. When his tongue pushed its way into her mouth, she groaned. Breathless, she welcomed his warmth, savored him as he explored her.

  Just as she was about to die from the intensity, Dred pulled back and put his forehead to hers, a tender gesture and so polar to his initial greeting. “I missed you, Pix.” He wrapped his arms around her and gripped her tightly.

  The hard erection pressed up against her core reminded her that he was stopping for her. Not because he wanted to. And neither did she. She wanted to stay in this moment with him. Not think about everything that had gone before. And she certainly didn’t want some misguided sympathetic attempt to get her through it. She wanted this man to take her as though his very life depended on it.

  “Tastes like I missed the brownie making.” Dred lifted his head from hers, the huskiness in his voice sending shivers through her. “So what’s next? Hiking?”

  She looked up at him from under her eyelashes, hoping to heaven that she didn’t look or sound as nervous as she felt. “Can we play?”

  Shock registered across his features followed by a broad smile. “Play?”

  “Play,” she answered confidently.

  Dred groaned. “Best fucking word. Ever. Where is your room?”

  Pixie pointed down the hall and laughed as he carried her quickly to her room before lying her gently down on the bed, her legs hanging over the edge. “What’s rule two?” he asked her as he crouched by her feet to remove her hiking boots and socks.

  “Licking and sucking?”

  “Always with the licking and sucking, huh? You get to say stop,” he reminded her. Dred stood, kicked off his boots and removed his socks.

  With his feet still soundly on the floor, Dred leaned over her body, putting his hands on either side of her head. No part of him was touching her, yet he was dwarfing her all the same.

  Sunlight beamed through the windows, burning away her worries.

  “You like this T-shirt?” he asked before nuzzling the side of her neck. It tickled in a deliciously crazy way.

  “It’s an old work-out top,” she replied.

  Dred gripped it at the neck and ripped it from her. It was so unbelievably primal, and yet as he winked at her, she melted a little more. “I’ll buy you a new one.”

  He buried his face between her breasts and inhaled deeply before kissing her. Little nips and bites, interspersed between slow licks over her tender skin. The rough of his tongue abraded her skin. Dred dropped between her knees and continued to kiss her stomach. “You taste like a perfect slice of heaven.”

  Pixie slid her hands into his hair and pulled lightly. The groan he emitted confirmed how much he liked it.

  He reached for the button on her shorts and paused to look at her. Without a word, he was asking for her explicit consent to go further. It surprised her how willing she was to go along. She nodded and gasped as he popped them open and slid them down her hips, leaving her in her practical cotton sports bra and panties. Not the sexiest choice, but thank heavens she’d waxed.

  Dred stood between her legs. He tore off his leather jacket, dragged his T-shirt over his head, and pulled his belt through the loops of his jeans. She could see his erection pressing against the denim, and feeling bold, she sat up and ran her fingers across it, garnering a hiss from Dred. He covered her hand with his, tightening her grip. With his head thrown back, and broad shoulders and chest exposed, he looked like a fearsome warrior.

  Trusting her judgment that this was both the man and the moment to let go of her inhibitions, Pixie opened the button of his jeans and lowered the zipper.

  “I swear your fingers would tempt the strongest angel to take a fall,” he said, grabbing her wrist.

  In one swift move, he lifted her and landed them both fully on the bed. Using his teeth, he bit the zipper of her sports bra and lowered it down, freeing her beasts. Her nipples stiffened, suddenly exposed to the cool air.

  “So fucking sensitive,” Dred groaned before taking one into his mouth, sucking on it hard. Electric pulses fired in her very cor
e, and if she didn’t know better, Pix swore his actions were going to get her off. His hand grabbed the other breast, kneading it hard. No gentle playful touches, but a hard-and-fast devouring. There was no room left in her brain to process anything other than the sensations he created.

  Dred stood suddenly and dropped his wallet on the bedside table. He tore his jeans and underwear off so quickly she could do nothing but stare at the gorgeous naked man standing in her bedroom. The only item that remained was an anchor on a black leather thong around his neck.

  “You’re . . .” What. Beautiful? Intimidating? Huge?

  “I’ll take speechless as a compliment,” he grinned. Thumbs hooked the waistband of her panties and he lowered them slowly over her hips and down her legs, pausing here and there to kiss the skin he’d uncovered. When she was totally naked, Dred climbed onto the bed, and pulled her next to him. It was the first time she’d ever felt skin against skin like this. It was heaven, and yet frightening as hell, the intimacy equally suffocating and liberating.

  Dred’s hand roamed all over her body, sweeping the curve of her hip, between the cheeks of her butt, the crease of her thigh. His lips consumed her whole. Feeling too much like a passive observer, Pixie ran her hands over his shoulder and down his arms, savoring the way his muscles flexed beneath her hands.

  When his mouth returned to hers he was ravenous. He kissed his way down her body, and Pixie flinched when she felt the warm heat of his breath on her most sensitive parts. Using his shoulders, he spread her legs wide. “Anybody else ever got this far before, Snowflake?” he asked gruffly.

  Rising up on her elbows, she shook her head.

  Dred closed his eyes as if in prayer and took a deep breath. “Everything about this . . . it’s nirvana, Pix.” His eyes opened, alight with lust. He stared at her for a moment more then, using his fingers to pull her lips apart, he buried his head between her legs. Pixie gasped, her back arching from the bed as he touched her with his tongue, evidently trying to torture her to death. When he added a finger, slowly sliding it in and out of her, her vision doubled. “Magical” didn’t even come close to describing the emotions racing through her as she felt her orgasm start to build.

  She tried to inch back up the bed, away from the sensations he was creating in her, but he placed his hand on her tummy and held her steady. He kept her anchored to the bed as she tumbled over the edge, crying out his name.

  * * *

  Feeling her tighten against his fingers, hearing his name tumble from her lips, knowing he was the first person to do this for her, were sensations Dred wasn’t prepared for, nor did he know what to do with them. All he knew was he felt like someone had blown a shotgun straight at his heart leaving his chest cavity wide open. Pixie might be the one laid out naked on the bed in front of him, but he was the one who felt exposed.

  Thank God for the sunlight so he could see every moment of this. A literal brightness to his dark.

  Dred climbed up the bed and licked his lips, savoring the taste of her. Pixie looked at him through heavy eyes. Her neck and cheeks were flushed, a light sheen of sweat grazing her perfect skin. Was he really going to take her virginity? Could he hurt her like that? Fuck.

  “I spent hours watching snowflakes fall from the sky as a kid, but I swear to God, none of them were as perfect as you, Pix.” He kissed her, allowing their bodies to slide against each other.

  She didn’t reply, simply sighed against his lips and ran her fingers through his hair.

  Dred grabbed the condom from his wallet and put it on. She deserved sweet, loving, and memorable, but he wanted to take her hard. To grip her hips and pound into her over and over.

  Pixie watched him from the bed. Neither of them said anything, and he wondered if it was because she was struggling to give voice to what was happening between them too. Words would sully the perfection in the moment.

  He crawled back onto the bed, moving between her legs, struggling to contain the grin of satisfaction as she opened them for him.

  Lining up against her, he held himself up on one hand, using the other to help his entrance. Staring into Pixie’s eyes, he could see the depths of her fear and the heat of her need. “Please, play with me,” she whispered.

  He slid in an inch. Fucking heaven. She was wet and ready as if she were made for him. He pulled back and pushed in further, harder this time, and met her resistance. Dropping his full body weight onto her, he kissed her with every ounce of everything he was feeling, the gratitude she’d picked him, the desperate need to consume her, to let her know how unbelievably perfect and unique she was. And most important to show her she was his in every way that mattered.

  As she softened against him, he withdrew and pushed back in hard, tearing through the thin shield and settling deep inside her. He felt her tense, swallowed the whimper that escaped her, and held her tight. When she clenched around him, he almost came. So close to the edge, teetering on the brink of his own orgasm, he wanted to experience it with her.

  He lifted off her and studied her eyes, which were filled with heartbreaking tears. He’d hurt her, and even though it was to be expected, it crushed him that this wasn’t the most perfect moment for her like it was for him. “You okay, Snowflake? I can stop.” Even if it killed him to pull out, he’d find a way to withdraw.

  “It’s just . . . I’ve waited . . . and you . . . it’s—”

  “A fucking miracle.” Withdrawing slowly, he looked down toward where they were joined. “Look how perfect we are.” Seeing his cock slide out of her set off a tightening in his balls. This wasn’t going to last long. Pixie was watching it too. “See how you can take me? See how hard you make me? Hear how tough it is . . . for me not to come in you . . . right now?”

  Grabbing her leg under the knee, he hitched it up by his waist, speeding up as he kissed her again. The difference in angle allowed him to go faster, deeper. Oh, fuck.

  “Dred, I’m . . . there. Please. Like that.”

  The moment her orgasm hit, everything tightened. He could feel the vibration all the way down his spine. And without thought, he followed, pulsing deep inside her.

  For a moment, he lay there stunned. No one else but him could claim to be her first. That memory would be reserved solely for him alone. The thought of it made him hunger to take her again and again. As much as he wanted to lie there, he rolled to the side, taking Pixie with him, her breath ragged, her heartbeat matching his own.

  When he’d booked the private jet the previous evening, his only thought had been getting to her. Sure, once he was on the plane, he’d thought through all the different ways it could go, and strangely every outcome worked for him. Everything from a simple fun day hiking to an erotic tied-to-the-bed-frame fucking. Whatever she’d wanted.

  But he’d not expected the first words from her mouth to be an invitation to play. Their ideas of “play” were still quite different, but he couldn’t wait to educate her.

  He ran his hand through her hair, and smiled as she sighed. “You okay?”

  “Mmm. Better than okay.” She wriggled closer to him, and he wrapped both arms around her.

  He faced the huge windows that ran the length of Pixie’s room. The Miami sky was a brilliant blue, the water of Biscayne Bay a clear aqua. He felt the warmth in his bones and wondered if this was more to do with the woman in his arm than the panoramic view.

  “Thank you, Dred. For being my first. You didn’t give me time to think.”

  “Is that a bad thing?” He kissed her forehead, then tilted her chin so he could look at her properly.

  “No. It was a perfect thing. If I’d had time to think, I would’ve stopped. More from fear of the unknown, than really being terrified.”

  Terrified he could identify with. Telling her about Petal weighed heavily on his mind.

  Purple-tipped fingers fiddled with his anchor, turning it over and back. He reached for her hand and stilled it. “I didn’t hurt you, did I?”

  “Nothing I wasn’t expecting to begin
with, then everything I wasn’t at the end.” She blushed and ducked her head away.

  Quickly he grabbed a tissue and dealt with the condom. They lay cuddled up against each other for a while, neither in a hurry to get out of bed. Dred realized he needed to tell her about Petal. He wouldn’t put secrets between them. It wasn’t fair to Pixie, and it wasn’t fair to Petal. She wasn’t a dirty secret.

  He drew her fingers to his lips and kissed them. “I need to tell you something, and I’m scared shitless.”

  She looked back at him, her face full of concern. “What is it?”

  He took a deep breath, knowing how shocking the news would be. “I became a father recently, to a little girl . . . wait, where are you going?” Pixie pulled out of his arms and scurried to the end of the bed, pulling the silk robe off the bedpost, which she then slipped on and wrapped tight around her waist.

  “You’re a father? Oh my . . . Are you in a relationship already?” She attempted to stand, but he reached for her arm and pulled her, kicking and fighting, back against him.

  “No, I’m not. And trust me, while I’m not proud of this story, I’ve done nothing wrong here except have sex with the wrong woman nine months ago. So please, stop struggling and listen.”

  Pixie stopped. “I’m listening.”

  Dred hated the look of hurt etched across her features. In the space of an hour, he’d sent her soaring and crashing. He was an asshole. “My mom had some issues. My childhood sucked beyond belief because of it. So I’ve never wanted kids because of the way I was raised, and because the lifestyle I lead can be very unpredictable.”

  Pixie paled at his comments. Shit. He wasn’t sure what had caused it. Did his story appall her? Did she want kids of her own? Fuck. Why hadn’t that occurred to him?

  “Anyway, I’ve always taken precautions, and . . . I . . . erm, well I always used my own. But I got caught out by the oldest trick in the fucking book. And now I have a kid.” He sat up in the bed, kicking himself for bringing his dirty fucked-up mess to Pixie’s bedroom. Her perfect white sheets suddenly seemed too clean for his skin.

  “Shit, Pixie,” he said softly, his throat raw. “She’s not just a kid. She’s the tiniest, cutest little thing called Petal.”