Magnificent Bastard

by Lili Valente

  Her words become a moan as I cover her mouth with mine and slide my tongue back between her lips. She’s so sweet, the sweetest thing I’ve ever tasted and it has nothing to do with what she had for dessert. It’s all her, all Penny, and with every kiss, I’m getting more addicted to her taste, her touch, and the way she fits against me with such fucking perfection.

  But I’ve only got a few more days to get my fix and I don’t intend to rush a single minute of it.

  I’m going to fuck her against this wall, but first, I’m going to have her with my mouth, until the evidence of how much she wants me is dripping down my chin and I can’t think about anything but how good it is to know I’m about to be buried balls deep in her tight little pussy.

  “Arms up,” I order as I set her back on her feet and reach for the bottom of her dress. “I need to see what’s mine.” She obeys, proving she is mine, at least for tonight, and with a few swift movements I’ve disposed of her dress and the white strapless bra cradling her breasts.

  “That’s better. These should never be covered up when we’re together.” My teeth dig into my bottom lip as I cup her breasts in my hands, teasing my thumbs across her already erect nipples, cock jerking as her breath shudders out. “Now spread your legs and lean back.”

  “But Bash, I—”

  “Not today, buttercup.” I move one thumb to cover her lips even as I intensify the pressure on the nipple still trapped between my fingers. “Today, I’m in control and you’re going to do what I tell you to do. And in exchange, I’m going to make you come until you can’t remember your own name. Can you get on board with that?”

  Her eyes hooded with desire, Penny nods as her tongue slips out to lave the pad of my thumb, making my jaw clench. I slip my thumb between her lips and she sucks me deep, her tongue working against my skin, mimicking the way it rolled against my cock yesterday in the shower. My dick swells with approval.

  She’s so insanely sexy, so ripe and ready for pleasure, and I can’t wait to give her everything she’s silently asking for.

  “All right then, sweetheart.” I pull my thumb from between her lips. “Then lean back and spread those pretty legs.”

  I step away, working the buttons on my shirt as she braces her hands on the wall and shifts her weight, sending her breasts tilting up toward me. Wearing nothing but those red heels and a fuck-me expression, she’s stunning.

  And this is exactly what I needed, to take back control, to remember I’m not at the mercy of anyone or anything unless I allow myself to be.

  I’ve spent the past two years with my heart stashed in a bulletproof case beneath my bed. I’m a Sex Without Feelings professional. I have a terminal degree in Casual Fucking, and from now on I’m going to make sure things stay casual.

  Casual, but still hot as hell.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

  “Wider.” I strip off my shirt, nodding my approval as Penny spreads her legs wide enough for me to see a hint of glistening pink between them. “Perfect. You’re fucking beautiful.”

  My gaze sweeps up and down, from her kiss-swollen lips to her cherry-colored toes, as I do my best to commit this moment to memory. I want to remember the way she looks right now, with every inch of her on display just for me.

  “Now I want you to make me a promise,” I move closer, bracing my palms on the wall on either side of her face.

  “Anything,” she whispers, the word sending a jolt of electricity straight to my cock, confirming that it was in the best interest of my self-control to leave my pants on.

  I reach down, taking her hands in mine and bringing them to her breasts. “I want you to touch yourself. Play with these beautiful tits while you rock against my face, but don’t let yourself come until I give you permission.”

  “All right.” She cups her breasts, the sight of her fingers lightly squeezing her nipples enough to make my dick strain the close of my fly.

  “Good girl.” I run my hands down the curve of her waist to squeeze her hips as I lean in for one last kiss. I fuck her mouth with my tongue, owning every inch of her sweet heat, silently promising that I’m going to do the same to her pussy.

  I wait until her breath is coming fast and a soft whimper vibrates against my lips before I abandon her mouth for her throat, biting and laving at the elegant column of her neck. I kiss a path between her breasts, pausing to flick my tongue across her nipples, where her fingers are still obediently rolling and plucking, before moving lower. I circle the hollow of her navel with my tongue, nip the soft curve of her belly beneath, and then pause with my mouth hovering above the thatch of dark curls between her legs.

  I open my mouth, warming her with my breath as I inhale the scent of her arousal. Today she has a light, sweetly pungent scent that reminds me of a sake factory I visited in Japan. Like fermenting fruit and sour apples and cool, clear water drying on wooden spoons. For a moment, I think that I would like a coffee table book filled with nothing but descriptions of the way Penny’s pussy smelled on any given day but push the thought aside before it can escape my lips. This isn’t the time for teasing or jokes. Teasing and jokes lead to laughing and feeling things, and right now, I just want to fuck.

  Turning my head, I trace the seam of her thigh with my nose, my eyes closed as I memorize her scent. She smells like something new, yet ancient, something so mysterious I’m not sure I’ll ever understand it, yet so simple I feel like I’ve known it my entire life.

  Like I’ve known her my entire life. Or maybe I’ve just been waiting to know her.

  So much for fucking without feelings.

  My lids open with a sigh, bringing me face to face with a pair of poorly tattooed manatee eyes. Mr. Whiskers. Fucking Mr. Whiskers.

  It’s a terrible tattoo, but there’s no reason for her to be ashamed, or to hide her beautiful body and prettier heart because of something like this. This is only skin deep and Penny is so much more than skin.

  On impulse I press a kiss to Mr. Whisker’s forehead, then to each of his poorly rendered tusks, moving back and forth until I’ve kissed every inch of ink from top to bottom. I’ve just finished running my tongue along the curdled rose-petal of the manatee’s creepy-looking tail when Penny whispers my name.

  I lift my gaze, meeting her shining eyes, my breath catching.

  She’s looking at me the way she looked at me this afternoon, but now there isn’t anyone else here to observe. There are no exes to make jealous, no mothers to manipulate, no one to fool or deceive. It’s just her and me and those soft eyes that promise things no one else ever has.

  Things like enough and safe and home. And maybe a little piece of forever.

  “You’re so beautiful.” I lay my hand on her thigh, covering the tattoo, feeling the steady, urgent pulse of her blood beneath my fingers. “Don’t ever doubt how beautiful you are. Every part, inside and out.”

  Her throat works as she swallows. “You make it seem so easy.”

  “It is easy. It’s the truth.”

  “It feels like the truth,” she whispers, brushing my hair from my forehead with gentle fingers. “When I’m with you.”

  “Then you should stay with me.” The words are out of my mouth before I can stop them. But fuck it. I don’t want to stop them. I don’t want to stop this. I want more than a long weekend or a few months of casual sex and if I have my way, by the time Penny and I head home on Saturday, she’ll want the same thing.

  And there’s no time like the present to start making my case.

  Holding her gaze, I slide my hand between her thighs, urging her legs farther apart as I cup her ass. “You should also put your hands back on your breasts,” I remind her. “I want to watch you touch yourself while I devour every inch of this beautiful pussy.”

  “Yes, sir,” she says, making me hum low in my throat.

  “I like that.” I press a kiss to her damp curls as her fingers find her nipples. “I like it a lot.”

  “And I like tha—oh my God.”

  My tongue find
s her clit, sending a shudder working through her as I lick and kiss and suck and tease. I make shameless love to her pussy, confessing all my secrets into the warm, wet, sweetness of her body. And it’s about so much more than getting her off—though I do. Twice.

  It’s about breaking down walls and letting hearts out of boxes and throwing open curtains and letting the sun shine into all our dark, sad corners. And it’s mind-blowing, bone-melting. It’s been so long that I’d almost forgotten what it’s like to fuck with feelings, forgotten the way they turn something good into something that can save the world.

  Or maybe just a man.

  By the time I stand, tearing at the close of my pants, I’m thinking of nothing but how much I need to be even closer to her, so close I forget that there was ever a time when she wasn’t mine. I’m so far gone, so desperate to be inside her, that all thoughts of moving this to the bedroom have vanished.

  The second my cock is free, I hitch Penny up around my waist and drive inside her, groaning as I push into where she’s molten hot and still pulsing from the second time I made her come on my mouth. And she’s paradise, perfection, everything I’ve ever wanted and everything I’ve been too stupid to want.

  As I drive deep into her welcoming body, I’m filled with the explosive surety that this is where I’m meant to be. Right here with her because nothing else matters the way this matters.

  She sobs against my neck, wrapping her arms and legs around me so tight I can feel the echo of her heartbeat in my chest. “I love this. I love this so much.”

  “Me too. It’s so good with you. So perfect.” I drive between her legs, fucking her hard and fast, unable to take things slow, no matter how much I want to make it last. But I’m already too far gone, desperate to come, to lose myself so deep inside of her she’ll feel me for days.

  The best I can hope for now is to hold on until I bring her over a third time.

  “Are you going to come for me again?” I drag my teeth across the sensitive skin where her shoulder meets her neck, biting down as I feel her pussy tighten around me in response. “Are you going to come on my cock, baby?”

  “Yes,” she gasps, rocking against me, meeting me thrust for thrust. “I’m so close. God, it’s so good.”

  I clench my jaw, fighting the wave of bliss bearing down on me, threatening to pull me under, refusing to come until I feel her go. I hitch one of her knees even higher and grab a fistful of her ass, leveraging her closer until I’m grinding against her clit at the end of every thrust and the air fills with the sounds of our joining.

  Hot, sticky, urgent, wild sounds that make the pressure in my balls unbearable. I’m moments away from losing the fight against my own orgasm when her body locks down around me, squeezing my dick so tight I’m helpless to do anything but pin her to the wall with my last thrust and come like the world is ending.

  I roar something unintelligible as my cock begins to jerk inside her pussy, throbbing against the entrance to her womb. I can feel the hard ring against the tip of me and for the first time in my life I’m keenly aware that, without the interference of the pills she takes every morning, we could be making a baby right now.

  Surprisingly, the thought gets me off even harder.

  I’ve never considered the prospect of getting a lover pregnant anything but terrifying—even with Rachael, I wasn’t ready for baby makes three—but the thought of Penny big with my baby takes my orgasm to a completely new level. I imagine the way her breasts would swell along with her belly, her entire body transforming because of what we did together, and keep coming. Waves of bone-deep satisfaction surge through me until my knees go weak and I would have slid to the floor, taking Penny with me, without the wall there to hold me up.

  Finally, my cock begins to still and the last of the tremors rocketing through me abate and I’m left clinging to Penny, heartbeat gradually slowing in the wake of our hottest fuck ever.

  Maybe the hottest fuck ever though, at the moment, I’m too orgasm-stupid to make that kind of call.

  “Wow,” she finally says, her breath still coming faster against my cheek.

  I make a too-satisfied-to-do-anything-but-grunt sound that Penny answers with a hum of approval. Usually, the exchange would make me smile. But there’s nothing funny about the thoughts in my head right now, thoughts of taking Penny bare with no protection, no pills, nothing to stand in the way of getting her knocked up, from making her mine in the most primal, basic way.

  Just imagining it is enough to get my blood pumping faster and my cock thickening again, two minutes post coming my brains out.

  Clearly, I need an intervention.

  Or, at least, some time to think.

  Having more-than-friends feelings for Penny is one thing. Wanting to fuck a baby into her so the entire world will see she belongs to me is entirely too caveman for my liking. That’s not who I am and not who I want to be. Considering becoming a dad should be something discussed rationally with the person you love, preferably long after you’ve said, “I do.”

  I’ve got to get out of here, away from Penny and the crazy-making lust spell she casts over my body and get some perspective.

  With one last kiss to her cheek, I pull out and set her feet back on the floor.

  “I know you said no to ice cream.” I fight to keep my tone light as I pull my pants back up around my hips, not wanting Penny to have any clue I’m on the verge of a meltdown. No need to upset her with my crazy. “But the only thing that could make this afternoon better is an obscene amount of ice cream. I’m going to go kill a few cartons. Do you have any special requests?”

  “No, but I’ll get dressed and come with,” she says, smiling dreamily up at me. “I don’t like the idea of being away from your cock for more than a few minutes at a time.”

  “I don’t like that idea, either,” I say, thinking fast. “But I do like the idea of you relaxing in a bath while I hunt dessert. I think you deserve a little pampering after a job well done.”

  Her brow furrows lightly. “Are you sure? I don’t need to be pampered.”

  “I insist.” I kiss her forehead before moving away, grabbing my shirt from the floor as I head for the door. “It’s all part of the Magnificent Bastard customer service experience.”

  I’ve already scooped the keys up in one hand and am reaching for the doorknob with the other, seconds from making my escape, when Penny calls out—

  “Is everything all right, Bash?”

  I turn back to her with what I hope is an easy grin. “Of course. Why wouldn’t it be? I just had a great day and a great fuck with one of my favorite people. Things couldn’t be better.”

  She nods, but she doesn’t look convinced and the eyes that were so clear and open a few minutes ago are clouded. A part of me wants to turn around, carry her back into the bedroom, and kiss that vulnerable expression back onto her face, but the other voice, the “what the fuck is wrong with you” voice, is louder.

  So instead, I wink and promise, “Be back soon.”

  Closing the door, I hustle down the steps, trying not to think about how much my speed walk toward the car resembles running away.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

  From the text archives of Sebastian “Bash” Prince and Penny Pickett

  From Bash: Hey, remember the other night when you said I didn’t like being alone? Well, I just ended things with Christie and left halfway through our date because I’m so okay with being alone.

  Take that, Pickett.

  Loner, out.

  From Penny: Christie, the woman who owns the bookstore?

  Bash: The same. Christie with the sexy librarian thing going on and the amazing taste in grilled cheese condiments. But I left because it wasn’t working and I am so INCREDIBLY OKAY with being alone.

  Penny: This is the same Christie with a much younger brother she adopted after her parents died, right?

  The little boy you were supposed to meet this weekend?

  Bash: Your point?

  Penny: No
point. Just making sure I had the right woman.

  Bash: Are you as bad a liar in real life as you are via text?

  Penny: I’m not lying…

  I’m withholding.

  There’s a difference.

  Bash: You shouldn’t withhold from your boss.

  I’m pretty sure that’s illegal in a few states.

  Probably New York.

  Lots of things are illegal in New York that you wouldn’t think are illegal. Like throwing a ball at someone’s head for fun or walking around with an ice cream cone in your pocket.

  Penny: farting unicorn emoticon

  Bash: I’m not that easily distracted. Though that’s cute. I like unicorns, especially when they fart.

  What are you withholding?

  Penny: farting panda emoticon

  Bash: So you think I shouldn’t have called it off with Christie? Is that what you’re implying with the farting animals?

  Penny: I can’t speak to that. I don’t know Christie.

  Bash: Just say it, Penny. Whatever it is. Say what you want to say.

  Penny: heavy sigh

  Fine, but if you get pissy the way you did last time, I’m never telling you anything you don’t want to hear ever again.

  Deal?

  Bash: I’ve never been “pissy” in my life. I experience manly anger that arises from justifiable causes.

  But yes.

  Okay…

  If I had plans to be pissy, I’m canceling them now. I just want to hear the honest opinion of a friend.

  Penny: You don’t like being alone.

  But you don’t like being too close, either.

  And maybe beautiful Christie, with her big brain, grilled cheese skills, sweet little brother, and complicated life that is just begging for a commitment was tempting you to let down your guard and….get close.

  But close doesn’t have to be bad, you know, Bash.

  Maybe it might even be good for you. Some day. When the time and the woman are right.