by Mary Martel
"Because you love me," she said simply and my heart skipped a beat. "And I love you. And you give the people you love what they need, it goes both ways, so there's that."
I had no idea where the sudden burst of confidence she was showing came from but I liked it. Still, because I wanted to know, I asked, "And what is it you need from me?"
I was momentarily ignoring the fact she'd proclaimed we loved each other. She was right on my end, of course, and I wasn't surprised she knew I loved her. I wanted to believe that she loved me, and made she even did, but I'd wait until she was less emotional for her to tell me again and believe it.
She gripped my ass tightly in her hands, squeezing, and I closed my eyes against the desire that shot through me.
"Ariel," I groaned her name in warning as she shuffled closer to me, not stopping until her body was pressed up tight against my front.
Good Christ, here we went with this shit again.
"What I need," she said in a breathy voice, "is for you to stop treating me so carefully and act like I'm your girlfriend for once."
Damn.
That was not what I wanted to hear her say. It sounded too much like she wanted me to have sex with her and we were not going there now, probably not going there for a while. Not until I'd had a talk with the rest of the guys, a conversation I'd almost rather be tortured than actively participate in. But I was going to do it anyways because we all needed to be on the same page where she was concerned. It was like my worst nightmare come to life.
"Tyson," she whispered my name and the confidence had started to slip away, leaving fear of rejection in its place.
"Fuck," I hissed.
Okay, so I couldn't sleep with her until after the other guys were all on the same page.
But that didn't mean I couldn't stick my hand down her pants, play with her for a bit, and make her come that way.
Her hands left my ass and she went to turn away from me, mumbling, "Sorry," in embarrassment.
I was an asshole, to be sure, but I'd never not give her what she wanted if I had it in me to give it to her.
I grabbed ahold of her hip, stopping her before she could roll away from me. My hand uncurled from her hip and slid around to the small of her back where I applied pressure and pushed her front back into me.
Her eyes were wide and wounded, thinking I'd rejected her. Her lips were parted and her lower lip quivered.
"Fuck," I hissed again before I bent my head down and roughly placed my lips to hers.
She made a small, surprised noise as I took advantage of her parted lips and slid my tongue inside. Her hands immediately went to my side and she clutched at the material of my t-shirt there, bunching it up. Tentatively, slowly, she pulled her fist up my side, taking the shirt with her and exposing my skin to her.
I cupped the side of her face with my hand as I deepened the kiss. She whimpered in the back of her throat as she let go of the shirt and her hand slid around my side, hot against my skin and moved back down to the waistband of my jeans.
In a bold move that had me tearing my mouth away from hers and sucking in a sharp breath, she slid her hand under my jeans, under my boxers and right in.
"Fuck," I snarled as her soft, warm hand cupped my ass cheek and she squeezed gently. Even though it made my dick jump and strain against my zipper painfully, I made no move to adjust it, instead letting her take the lead for now and allowing her to do what she wanted with me until I couldn't take it anymore and it was my turn to finally put my hands on her. For now, I'd let her explore.
She moved her mouth around my jaw and trailed kisses down my neck. Everywhere she touched me, my body burned. Her tongue flicked out as she moved her lips against me, tasting my skin.
I couldn't not touch her anymore.
My hand trailed up her side, under her shirt as the other one cupped the side of her face closest to the bed. I pressed her head to me as she kissed down my neck and moved to my collarbone. I skimmed up her ribs with the other hand, stopping when I hit the edge of her bra.
She sucked in a sharp breath and, much to my disappointment, her mouth left my skin. I held on to her side, under her breasts, as she sat up and threw her thigh over my lap, straddling me.
I grunted as she landed heavily on my crotch and I could feel the intense heat of her core as it rubbed up against my jean covered dick.
Christ.
I needed to get her off of my dick and take control of the situation before she got carried away with me and I was too far gone and simply let her.
Her hands pulled on the hem of my tee as she dragged it up my body, I sat up and raised my arms for her when she made it to my chest. She pulled it over my head none to gently and I lowered my arms so she drag it down my arms. Once I'd cleared it, she carelessly tossed it over her shoulder.
"Girl," I grunted as I took in the heated look in her eyes and flushed face.
Her eyes darted to mine and she licked her lips before they raked back down over my body and, fuck me, that was all kinds of hot too.
She bent back over my body and her lips landed on my collarbone, picking up where she'd left off before ripping my tee away from me.
I looked down and watched her as she moved her mouth all over my body, caressing me with her tongue. I'd groaned when it'd flicked out against my nipple. Her teeth gently scraped against it as her hands trailed down my sides and I'd had enough.
This was supposed to be about her, not me.
I shot up and she fell back, making a surprised noise and whispering, "Ty? What are you doing?"
"I'm gonna make you come, baby," I told her honestly as I pulled on the hem of her shirt and dragged it up her body. She mimicked my moves from earlier and raised her arms above her head so I could drag the hoodie over her head and up off of her arms. When I had it free of her I tossed it to the side and did the same with the tank she'd been wearing underneath the hoodie.
"I," she said breathily as her chest heaved. "Well... no one but me has ever done that before."
Yeah. Fuck yeah, but I liked the sound of that a whole hell of a lot.
"I'll use my fingers this time," I informed her. Then, I went on to promise, "You'll like it."
And she would, I'd make sure of it.
"Okay," she whispered and I grinned down at her.
She lay on her back on my bed with her head now aimed towards the foot of it as I hovered over her. The upper half of her body now only covered in a red lacey bra that exposed the top half of her pale breasts that were moving up and down with each heavy breath she took.
My eyes skimmed over her, taking in the circular burn scars littered across her collarbones and the upper parts of her arms. I took in her heaving breasts and her flat stomach that had a little more meat to it than it two weeks ago, thank fuck.
She was incredibly beautiful, scars and all.
I dipped my head down to hers and kissed her, my tongue moving right in and taking over. She whimpered and I lowered my body down beside hers so I was pressed up against her side, feeling a good deal of her skin against mine for the first time.
It burned in the best kind of way and I shivered uncontrollably as I deepened the kiss.
Her arms came up and she latched on to my shoulders, her fingers digging in painfully as she held on to me.
I broke the kiss, my own chest heaving now as heavily as hers was and I dipped my head down towards her tits. My mouth met with creamy skin as my hand hit her pants and I moved it down her bell and right in.
She sucked in a sharp, surprised breath as my tongue moved along the lacey edge of her bra and I cupped her mound with my palm.
"Tyson," she breathed out and my mouth curved up and I smiled against her skin.
Not fucking around and not giving her a chance to back out or change her mind, I slid my fingers through her wet heat until I hit my target and her body jerked violently. I didn't start her off slow, she was already so wet and ready for it that I immediately rubbed circles around her clit as I pulled the e
dge of her bra down with my teeth.
I raised my hand, the one not busy feeling up sweet pussy, and I dragged down the cup of her bra. I palmed her tit and pushed up as my mouth moved her nipple. Her hips bucked as she rode my hand and her body began to tremble. I sucked her nipple into my mouth and she moaned sweetly and her hands moved to my hair. She buried her fingers into the hair at the top back of my head and she tugged roughly, urgently against my hair.
My scalp stung and I didn't mind in the slightest as my mouth moved against her nipple, my tongue tasting every piece of her skin it came into contact with as my finger moved against her clit.
"Ty," she whimpered and I heard it in her voice. She was close. Her first time getting off not by her own hand wasn't going to take her long at all and I could not fucking wait to see it.
I moved my mouth off her tit, replacing my tongue with my thumb and moved up her body until my lips were a hairsbreadth away from her own.
I snaked my tongue across her bottom lip as one of her hands left my hair and dropped down to my wrist. She wrapped her hand around my wrist and held on tight, not stopping me, just holding on for the ride. Her hips bucked one last time as I watched her eyes screw up tight from up close and my name was whimpered out past her lips.
Her nails dug into my skin as she came on my fingers while I watched pure beauty wash across her face, given to her for the first time by someone else, by fucking me.
Yeah.
Fuck yeah.
I loved Ariel Kimber more than anything else in this whole goddamned world because she was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen.
Chapter Thirteen
Something essential to life settled in my chest
I ran my fingers through the soft strands of her light hair. When the strands fell through my fingers I picked up another thick chunk and repeated the process.
"What are you doing, Ty?" She asked in a lazy voice.
Instead of answering her, I asked, "Will you go somewhere and do something with me?" I licked my dry lips, nervous she might turn me down and crush my fucking soul.
"Where are we going, Ty?" she asked in response and I closed my eyes tightly in relief. I should have known better than to ever question or doubt in her.
"It's a surprise," I told her on a grin.
She blinked slowly as her eyes zeroed in on my mouth.
“Don’t,” I said in warning.
She blinked, this time not slowly and looked shocked. “Don’t what, Ty?” She asked hesitantly.
“Don’t look at my fucking mouth like that right now, like you want my tongue again.” I warned her seriously. “Or I am going to give it to you and, I know you missed it earlier because you were crying your eyes out, but Uncle Quint has already walked in here once to check on you. If we’re holed up in here for much longer, there’s a good chance he’ll bust in again and I really don’t think you want him to do that when I’ve got my mouth on you.”
“Shit,” she muttered, sounding horrified and I couldn’t keep the grin off of my face.
I shook my head as I tried hard to suppress the laughter. The twins were so fucking delusional it almost wasn't even funny.
"It wasn't..." she trailed off and waved her hand vaguely in the direction of the door. "While we were, um... busy?"
Busy?
My eyebrows raised.
"Is that what the kids are calling it these days?" I asked, teasing her. Her lips flattened into a tight line and, before she could chastise me, I rushed to assure her. "No, he didn't come in here while we were busy, and, even if he had, I wouldn't have noticed because I was all about you. He came in while you were crying, shook his head at us and left the way he'd come, quietly."
She pressed her hand into my stomach, low, just below my bellybutton as she muttered, "Weird, and not like him at all."
She had that right, it was incredibly weird but that was just my Uncle. There was no explanation for half the shit he did and I wouldn't even begin to try. It'd be wasted breath.
I untangled one hand from her hair and lowered it to my stomach where I placed it atop hers.
"You should get dressed before someone else busts in here on us," I advised.
She grinned at me, big and happy and I felt my breath catch in my throat at the sight of it. Her smiles were a rare gift I'd never ever grow tired o her granting me.
"I'll get dressed, Ty," she told me sweetly. "But, only because I want to see this surprise of yours, not because I care about someone walking in on me in here with you."
I frowned at her. This was not the shy, prudish girl I'd grown to love. This girl was bold and made me look like the prudish one of the two of us.
Good grief.
"I care," I told her honestly. "But I would appreciate you getting dressed so we can get out of here."
She smiled, put slight pressure on my stomach as she leaned into me and kissed me on the lips before moving back away from me and sliding off the bed.
I watched her as she moved around my bedroom in her bra and pants as she searched for her top and hoodie. She still wore a smile, but it was slightly smaller than it had been before, but it was still there and I couldn't help but find it endearing.
I shook myself out of it as she picked her shirt up from the floor and shook it out.
I sighed as I tore my eyes off of her and reached a hand out to my phone on my nightstand.
My fingers slid across the cracked screen as I activated it, bringing my phone to life. I pulled up the group chat I had with the rest of the guys. I scanned through the texts, noticing none of them were mine even though more than a few had been addressed to me. I really had been pushing them all away and I was a serious asshole.
I did what I should have done weeks ago and I sent them all a text message.
***
An hour had passed since Ariel and I had left my house. We'd stopped at a diner that was open around the clock and, even though she claimed to not be hungry, I forced her to order something to eat anyways. She was putting on some much needed weight but it wouldn't stick if she forgot to eat and skipped meals. I'd do my bit to make sure she continued to put on the pounds until she looked healthy like I'd never seen her look before.
Even though she'd claimed she hadn't been hungry, she still ate the food I had forced her to order and, the entire time, she acted like it had been her idea to order the shit in the first place.
We'd left the diner hand in hand after I paid for our meals and I escorted her to my Audi and opened the passenger door to let her in. She'd held my hand in hers sweetly as I drove us to my new shop. She remained quiet on the drive as she watched the scenery change out the window as we drove by. I had expected her to ask questions, to demand to know where I was taking us. It wasn't like her to be so quiet, so complacent. I took that as the rare gift it was as well and decided not to poke at it.
I parked on the street behind the twin’s giant black beast of a truck and got out. Ariel wasn't far behind me. She didn't look at the building but her eyes were instead glued to the vehicles lined up on the street.
Uncle Quint's sedan was in front of the truck, a black Camaro in front of the sedan and a big sliver SUV in front of the Camaro. They were all here and I assumed since they weren't all standing out on the sidewalk that Uncle Quint had unlocked the shop and let them inside. I hoped he'd gotten the tour out of the way as well because, even though renovations had started on the apartment upstairs, nothing had been done to that damn ritual room in the basement. I couldn't hire normal people, non-magical people into the basement to clean that shit up. Rain had offered, but I wasn't comfortable with having that freak down there when he seemed so fucking excited about it.
The man scared the shit out of me. I did not want to know what the hell kind of chaos he'd cook up down there and what the hell it'd mean for me or my newly acquired building.
"What's going on here?" Ariel asked as I took her hand, laced her fingers through mine and herded her towards the front door.
I di
dn't answer her and she remained quiet as the bell rang above our heads as we entered the shop.
"What is this place?" Ariel asked in quiet awe as she looked around with big eyes. I found myself looking around the space the same way, in awe.
It looked different when filled with my family and the people I loved. When I was last here, the space had seemed dark, gloomy and dusty, and I wasn't sure I'd really had any desire to return.
The twins were seated at the round table covered in black cloth and they were across from each other. Abel held the old blind broads’ beautiful deck of tarot cards in between his hands as he shuffled through them carefully.
Both their heads turned our way when the bell rang out above us. They smiled playfully at me, openly, before turning their eyes on Ariel where they lit up joyously. Abel said something quietly to his brother and Addison nodded his head before pushing his chair back and coming up to his feet. Without hesitation, he moved right towards Ariel. When he stood in front of her, his eyes skirted to the side and he stared at me in question.
My lips tipped up in a small smile as I nodded and let go of her hand.
Addison's hand replaced mine in hers and he gave a gentle tug on it.
She looked back at me questioningly and I grinned at her before patting her on the ass. She scowled at me before being dragged off behind Addison and her fake, angry gaze was lost to me.
I didn't mind losing her to my brother, though; she was in good hands.
I looked around the room, taking everything in. And, what I saw had warmth, which I hadn't felt in fucking months, bloom and grown inside my chest like a fragile thing.
I was lucky to have been born into the family I had. My mother and my father having been extraordinarily beautiful, loving people who'd been the best parents any kid could have asked for.
Then they were dead and I was lucky to have the family left that I'd been raised in, then smart enough to choose for myself.
Lately, I'd been so busy beating myself down, that I'd forgotten and lost sight of all the good things I'd also been blessed with in my life.