Gage seized his column with a hiss and seared another blazing kiss on her lips before steadying the head at her tight entry.
They gasped into each other’s mouths as he broke the slippery barrier, wasting no time in filling her to the hilt, as deep as he could go with one solid stroke.
“God, yes,” Veda growled, taking his pulsing biceps under her fingers and digging her nails in deep as her walls tightened around his hardness, slick with desire for him and leaving his dick glossy and glistening, more polished with each stroke.
Their eyes met and he held her gaze as he fucked her slow, the muscle under his jaw rolling, displaying his fight to hold it together as he guided her patiently to her peak. His brown orbs ran her face, drinking in every beg, every purr, every part of her lips, and every flutter of her lashes until he saw what he was looking for. The look she only got when that little ball in the pit of her stomach exploded and spread all over her body, curling her fingers, her toes, and even her lips.
He covered those lips with his own, sweeping his tongue with hers, tasting the orgasm on hers as it made her flavor even sweeter than it already was by nature.
Veda’s back left the bed, arching as far as it could go as her drenched walls convulsed around his cock, as if begging for more of its magic, and unable to stand it all at once. Her pussy twitched so hard as she rode her peak she worried her body might break his right in half.
But he held strong.
He always did.
Veda didn’t let her eyes shut as pleasure shot through her like a rocket, instead holding his, hand buried in his hair, until every twitch and convulsion had been expelled from her body.
She knew she’d given him hell. She knew she’d challenged him every day, more than any man would dare be challenged. She knew she was quite possibly the most difficult woman alive to love as much as he loved her.
And she made a promise to herself, as Gage took up a solid, desperate thrust only after she’d come that she’d never doubt him again. That she’d love him as easily, as selflessly, as he’d always loved her.
She promised herself that she’d love and trust him with every fiber of her being, because he’d always done it for her.
Because that was what he deserved.
17
How could she have ever believed he was her number ten?
Veda cuddled deeper into Gage’s chest, bringing her legs up high and nestling them into her chest, sighing when he wrapped both his massive arms around her legs and body, sealing her into his rigid chest like a cocoon.
How could a man who made her feel so snug and safe be capable of hurting her?
How could a man who’d said what Gage had said at the table that night have taken her innocence?
How could a man who only used his great strength and power to shield and encase her, like he was right then, be a predator?
It was simple.
He couldn’t.
She accepted his snuggles and snuggled right back. The remnants of their lovemaking still pulsed under every inch of her skin as she cuddled her cheek into his chest and drank in the ocean, now as dark as the night sky, from the balcony of their suite.
Gage had barely finished spilling his seed inside her, every bone in his body still convulsing, when he’d lifted her from the bed and carried her out to the balcony where he’d laid them down on the plush pool chair that faced the ocean. He didn’t let his hardness leave her body until it was too soft to remain, plopping out on its own.
For hours they’d just laid there, only leaving to use the bathroom or get a drink of water, watching as the sun disappeared beyond the horizon, taking the beautiful orange and yellow cast with it to make room for the stars winking in the black sky.
A long line of white bubbles, produced by the propellers, trailed the ship for miles, painting a white line down the middle of the sea. That line seemed never-ending, disappearing beyond the horizon and growing longer and wider as it moved.
Veda’s cell phone chimed to life just as she was moments from falling asleep on Gage’s chest. She checked the display.
Jake: We could jack drugs from the Shadow Rock Crips and tell them Jax did it.
Veda rolled her eyes, already regretting that, as a Blackwater, Gage’s room was given free Wi-Fi by default. Since setting sail, Jake had been sending her random texts about all the different ways they could get Jax Murphy out of their lives—most of which involved Jax being dead. She tapped her thumbs against the screen.
Veda: You’re getting more ridiculous with each text.
Jake: We invite him to go skydiving and give him a parachute that doesn’t open.
Veda: Really?
No response. Just as Veda had gone to set her phone down, it rang again.
Jake: I’m still down for the ten-cent pistol.
Veda chortled.
Veda: No, fool! I told you I would think of something, didn’t I? Now can I please enjoy my cruise with Gage? We’ve finally ended our dry spell and I’d like to make it count.
Jake: Okay, have fun, but this isn’t over.
“God,” Veda mumbled, throwing down the phone and cuddling back up to Gage. Did Jake think she didn’t know this wasn’t over? Did he think she hadn’t spent the last ten years knowing this wasn’t over?
It wouldn’t be over until she said it was. And as far as she was concerned, it wasn’t over until she’d tracked every last one of the bastards who’d raped her and separated their balls from their bodies.
That included Jax Murphy. She just hadn’t figured out how she was going to pull it off.
But she would.
Gage squeezed her. “Who keeps texting?”
“Jake’s crazy ass.”
“You two have gotten pretty close, huh?”
“Pretty sure he’s my best friend on the island, besides Coco.”
“It’s so hilarious to me. How you came home dead set on shutting out the entire world and now you’ve got three people who you care about so much. I don’t know why you work so hard to act like you’ve got this heart of stone when really you’re just a big ball of sunshine and roses.”
“That’s the most offensive thing you’ve ever said to me.”
He moaned out a laugh into her ear and kissed it softly. Then he leaned over to the side table and swept up his own phone. “Speaking of texts, I forgot about the picture message that girl sent me.”
“You’ve got it backward, baby. You’re not supposed to tell me about the random thots that send you picture messages.”
“What’s a thot?”
She cut a look at him. “I love you.”
He hissed out a laugh, tapping on his phone. “No, no. This is the girl from work. The one who said she knew you in high school. Remember I told you about her? The one who hated me on sight until she found out you were my girlfriend?”
“Oh yeah.” She turned against his chest, squinting at the screen after he pulled up the picture and turned it toward her.
The moment she saw the photo of a slim brunette girl with dark brown hair, enough piercings and tattoos to call herself a work of art—including a stud through the nose—and a pair of sad hazel eyes that appeared to have seen far too much, her heart came to a grinding halt.
“Holy shit.” She snatched the phone.
“You know her?” he asked. “Her name’s—”
“Hope Dickerson.”
“Yeah, that’s it. So you do remember her, then?”
How could she forget? After the night that had changed Veda’s life forever, she’d gone out of her way to punish the world, including her closest friends. Friends who’d been by her side since kindergarten. Friends who, once upon a time, she couldn’t see her life without. Friends who, after being raped, she’d slowly grown to resent. She’d resented their carefree ways. Their genuine smiles. The innocence that still gleamed behind their eyes. Innocence that had been stolen from her prematurely. She’d resented them so much that she’d started treating them terribly. It hadn’t taken l
ong to remove them from her life completely. In fact, they’d removed themselves, hurt by Veda’s sudden and intense change in attitude and demeanor.
But Hope.
Hope had remained.
Hope had been the only friend with the same storm behind her eyes as Veda. A storm that had raged long before Veda’s attack, and remained long after. Hope was the only friend who hadn’t been spared life’s darkness. Life’s tribulations. Hope had been the only friend to accompany Veda when they’d crashed the party at the Blackwater mansion that night. Unlike her other friends, Hope had known the change in Veda had happened the night of that party. She’d seen it rise overnight. Hope had never asked Veda what had occurred after they’d gotten separated at that party.
She hadn’t had to.
Hope was the only person who’d understood… without ever having to ask.
One night, months after her attack, during a tear-filled, drunken rant, Veda had told Hope everything.
Everything.
Hope Dickerson was the only person on Shadow Rock Island, besides Jake, who not only knew what had happened to Veda, but also who’d been behind it. Hope was the only one who could look at the men being castrated and make the connection to Veda.
Veda didn’t know if Hope had already made that connection—odds were that she hadn’t—but she did know Hope was the only person who could. It was the main reason Veda hadn’t reached out to her since returning home. She hadn’t wanted to alert Hope to her presence right before the balls of the men who’d raped her started coming up missing.
“I told her we should all have dinner at the house one day,” Gage said, tilting his head to look at her. “I hope that’s okay. You’re looking a little… unhappy to see her.” He chuckled.
Veda stared at the photo for another long moment, shaken by the vast array of memories blasting her. Clearly her shock was showing on her face. But she wasn’t unhappy to see Hope.
Once upon a time, Hope had been her only friend.
“No,” she finally croaked, handing the phone back to him. “I’d love to see her again. I’d love that.” She took a deep breath. “As soon as possible, actually.”
“All right.” Gage sat the phone back on the side table and resumed encircling Veda’s tiny body in his big arms. “I’ll set it up.”
Veda accepted the warmth of his embrace once more, the comfort of his strength, and the blanket of his muscles. Her eyes remained riveted to the long white line shooting down the middle of the black waters, splitting the sea in half.
18
The golden rocks of El Arco Cabo San Lucas, rocks that had beckoned them from the balcony of the cruise ship hours earlier, proved to be just as tall and dominating up close. Like the ebony cliffs of Shadow Rock, the tawny mountains erupted from the sea at every turn, fracturing the blue sky. Somehow, those rocks didn’t unsettle Veda’s heart nearly as much as the ones at home. She gazed across the waters of the Baja Peninsula, the calm surface ebbing from navy to baby blue to turquoise. The closer the lapping waves grew to the tall rocks, the lighter their color, crashing onto the golden sands that housed the arched cliff Cabo was known for.
The peninsula went empty that afternoon, save for her and Gage, and Veda was sure the smile hadn’t left her face in days.
Her eyes left the cliffs and shot across the bright red paddleboard. Gage sat on the opposite end, naked as the day he was born. His black hair was wet, pasted to his forehead from a long day of swimming, as well as the smattering of black hair on his massive thighs. His skin was more tan than she’d ever seen it, gleaming under the sun shining down from the clear sky. The calm water lapped onto the board, keeping both their thighs glistening, their feet and calves submerged in the water from where they straddled the board.
Veda let out a whine. “I can’t believe this is our last day. I don’t want it to end. I don’t want to go back.” Back to Jax Murphy, back to the hospital, back to the madness. “Are you sure you don’t want to let the ship leave without us? Especially knowing it’ll be taking Todd Lockwood with it?”
Gage chortled, moving the paddle in his hand back and forth, leisurely guiding them toward the small island beach that the rugged, taffy-colored arch sat on. “I appreciate you being so patient with Chad and Todd the other night. I know you can’t stand Todd, but you still made the effort for me.”
“Chad is bearable, which is a relief. For a moment I was worried your taste in friends was nothing short of abysmal.”
“Sitting across that table from Todd, I felt like I was seeing him for the first time. I actually started having flashbacks of all the disgusting things he’s said and done over the years.”
“That must’ve been one hell of a show.”
“To put it mildly.”
Veda raised her eyebrows, relieved that she was no longer the only one of them plagued by horrific memories whenever she was in the presence of Todd.
“I had no idea that me breaking ties with my family would actually be me breaking chains with my family,” Gage said. “They had me in chains, Veda. Not just physically, but mentally. I couldn’t see the horrible things going on all around me. I couldn’t see what a terrible human being Todd was. I couldn’t see.” He shook his head. “You opened my eyes in a way they’ve never been opened before. Honestly? I’d be okay with never speaking to him again. The way I feel with him, with my family, and the way I feel with you… it’s like two completely different worlds. With them, I’m always on guard, always tensed, always waiting for whatever battle will inevitably come. But with you? Even when you and I are at battle, even when we’re going through a dry spell… it’s different. It’s such a different world I don’t even know how to explain it.”
Veda felt her eyes burning with emotion. “I like Chad. He seems like a good guy. A good friend.”
“I’d like you to meet more of my friends, the good ones, once we get home,” Gage said. “They’re not all bad guys.”
Veda could only hope the ‘good ones’ he decided to introduce her to weren’t the ones who’d been instrumental in the worst night of her life. She didn’t want him lumped in with those monsters. She didn’t want him in that box anymore. Especially not when they’d just enjoyed three days of fun, sex, and more sex in beautiful Cabo San Lucas.
“Do we have to go home?” she begged. “Can’t we just stay here for the rest of our lives?” She leaned over and covered his splayed thighs with her hands, seeing that her skin was a few shades darker than it had been when they arrived as well. “It’s not as if you’ve got a job to rush home to anyway.”
“But you do. A job you love and worked your ass off to get. We can’t just run away from the world. I wish we could, baby….”
He was right. If it were possible to run away from her world, from her thoughts, from her demons, she’d have done it a long time ago.
She spread her fingers wide on his legs, always loving their massive difference in skin tones. “We’re going to have some serious tan lines when we get home,” she said, unable to stop her greedy fingers from climbing up his naked thighs, easing toward his dick, soft and hanging happily between his legs. She licked her lips at the sight, digging her nails into his skin.
He smiled at her, the paddleboard pausing on the water, his brown eyes nearly gold under the sunlight. “I’ll have tan lines, you’ll have blan lines.”
“Blan….” Veda considered his words, then laughed. “A black tan?” Her laughter picked up when he nodded. “You’re a mess sometimes, you know that?” Her hands continued to travel, the wet hairs on his upper thighs tickling the pads of her fingers. She drank in the sound of his hushed gasp when her fingers came inches from his cock. It leapt for her soft touch.
Her smile grew at the sight but she bypassed his eager member, even as it stood tall on its own, his erection bobbing in seconds.
“Don’t tease me like that,” he whispered.
Veda swung her legs in the water as she dragged her fingers up his body, through the wisps of hair that
led a trail to his hardness, along the deep V at his hips, his eight-pack abs, around each of his pink nipples, and the strong circular lines at each of his pecs. She followed the trail of freckles on his collarbone and massaged every peak and valley of his arms, all the way down to his elbows and back up again. She traced his neck and chiseled jaw before sinking her fingers into his black hair, pushing it away from his face completely. The water helped it stay back, showcasing his gorgeous face.
“Thank you,” she said, their eyes searching.
A quick smile lifted his lips but was gone in an instant, a soft, confused frown taking its place. “For what?”
“For the last three days. For knowing better than I did how much I needed this vacation. For being patient with me during the longest dry spell of our relationship. For dealing with my absolute, complete, and utter insanity.” You have no idea how deep my insanity runs. She bit her lip before speaking her thoughts out loud. “Thank you for being my sanity, Gage. Thank you for being crazy enough to put a ring on my finger, and for letting me keep it on even when I’m acting like a crazy person.”
Gage turned his head and kissed the inside of her hand, his eyes never leaving hers. He spoke into her palm. “When your lease is up next month, don’t renew it.” He took a deep breath, letting one hand abandon the paddleboard so he could cover hers with his. “Move in with me.”
Veda’s breathing picked up. Since her eyelashes were already wet from the ocean water surrounding them, she knew he couldn’t see the tears threatening to pop out of her eyes. “I’ve never lived in a mansion before.”
“I’m sure you’ll adjust.”
“I can’t cook or clean.”
“Please tell me something I don’t already know.”
Veda slapped his cheek softly, playfully, drinking in his smiling face. “I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with you.”
“I can’t wait either, baby.”
She drew in a breath, her nostrils filling with a mix of ocean water, sunscreen, and sunlight, immediately easing her bones and her mind. After the hell she’d put Gage through, after being stupid enough to believe he could ever be ten—that he could ever hurt her—she found herself hungrier than ever to make it up to him. And hungrier than ever for the hardness bopping between them on that red paddleboard.
Purr (Revenge Book 3) Page 13