by Penelope Sky
He kissed her on the forehead, his eyes closing. “I love you too, tesoro. So much…”
Crow never showed a moment of vulnerability to me. He was cold like steel and sharp like a knife. But now, he was just a man who loved his daughter. He showed me that weakness on purpose, to remind me that he loved her in a way I never could, that he’d loved her all her life.
I’d only been around a few months.
I could never compete with him.
We both knew it.
He let her go, affection in his eyes.
Vanessa crossed the threshold and joined me on the other side of the door.
I stared at both of her parents, unsure what to say. I didn’t know what had transpired while I was drinking my worries away, but it seemed like they’d ended the conversation on better terms. My eyes shifted to Pearl. “I’m Griffin…we didn’t formally meet before.”
She stared at me, her arms across her chest. She didn’t seem to hate me, but she didn’t seem to like me either. She kept her silence, dismissing me.
I didn’t take offense to the way she brushed me off. I turned away with Vanessa.
“Griffin.” Pearl’s voice came to me.
I turned back around, unsure what Vanessa’s mother wanted to say to me. It was probably another insult, something to accompany what Crow had already said earlier. “Yes, ma’am?” I didn’t say sir or ma’am ever. This was the one exception to that.
She kept her arms crossed over her chest. “Did she ever show you her painting?”
I knew she was referring to the one Vanessa made of me standing in the snow at Lake Garda. The picture was permanently ingrained in my mind because I’d stared at it for so long. It was fascinating to see the way she viewed me, the way she loved me despite my coldness. Vanessa told me her mother saw the painting by accident—and that was how she knew she loved me. “Yes.”
Her eyes remained steady on my face, and she didn’t blink as she looked at me. There was a hint of emotion in her gaze, a mixture of hatred and compassion. “That’s the only reason I’m standing here.”
We didn’t speak for the first thirty minutes of the drive.
Vanessa looked out the passenger window with her legs pulled to her chest. She normally sat in the middle seat right beside me, but she obviously wanted her space at the moment. She watched the golden fields pass as the night started to deepen. There was no talk of dinner because neither one of us was hungry.
I glanced at her from time to time, making sure she wasn’t on the verge of tears.
She didn’t say anything, probably unsure where to start.
I didn’t say anything either, wanting to enjoy this comfortable silence a little longer. If she wanted to stay like this for the entire drive, it was fine by me. All I wanted to do was go home, make love, and then go to sleep.
We had nothing good to talk about.
When the sun was finally gone, Vanessa spoke. “I’m sorry about the way my father—”
“Don’t worry about it.”
She sighed. “It hurt me to listen to it…I hated it.”
“I know, baby.” I kept my eyes on the road, feeling her emotion fill the car. “That went exactly as I expected it to.”
“I know…I really thought my father would be reasonable. You aren’t your father. You’re a different person. It was a long time ago. But he doesn’t think that way.”
“My father did terrible things to him. I can’t say I blame him.”
“But it’s different…”
“Hate is just as powerful as love.”
“It’s not as powerful.”
“Your father seemed a little tamer than he was earlier.”
“We talked for a long time,” she said. “At first, he was cold and ruthless. He said a lot of terrible things. But he calmed down, and we had a real conversation about it. I told him you wanted to hurt them until you fell in love with me.”
“I’m surprised you told them.”
“My father wanted to know why you call yourself Bones if you don’t share his ideology.”
I nodded in agreement. “And what did he say?”
“He said he doesn’t trust you and probably never will. But I told them I needed them to try to get to know the man I know. I told them if they loved me, they would at least make the attempt. You made the attempt for me because you love me…they need to do the same.”
“And they agreed?” I asked in surprise.
“Yeah…but they weren’t happy about it.”
I didn’t expect that kind of agreement to be reached. “So, what now?”
“I think we should give it a few days before we do something. You know, let my father cool off and think about everything…”
“He’s going to dig up every piece of information he can find on me.”
“Is that a problem?” she asked.
“No. Just don’t expect him to like what he finds.”
“Anything you haven’t told me?” She looked at me from her side of the truck.
“No. But he’ll see my relationship with whores…know about my arrangement with the police…things like that. I don’t see how your father could judge me because he was exactly the same way when he was my age. He met a woman who straightened him out…and that’s exactly what happened to me.”
She rested her head against the back of the seat and looked at me, her green eyes catching the light from the dashboard. She looked slightly touched, but her overall misery drowned most of it out. “Thank you for today…I know that was hard for you.”
It was nearly impossible for me to do what she wanted. It went against everything I believed in. “I’d do anything for you, baby.” I patted the seat in between us, wanting her right beside me.
She smiled before she unbuckled her safety belt and scooted to the middle. Her arm hooked through mine, and she rested her forehead against my shoulder. “I love you.”
I turned my face toward hers and kissed her on the forehead. “I love you too.”
We returned to my place hours later, almost midnight.
We didn’t bother turning on the lights in the entryway and living room because we went straight to bed. We didn’t eat dinner either, probably because neither one of us had an appetite.
She helped herself to my drawer and pulled out a t-shirt to wear to bed. Her clothes came off as her back was turned to me. The soft cotton wrapped around her body as she pulled it on. It reached her knees, covering her black thong from sight. She pulled back the covers and got under the sheets.
I dropped all my clothes, including my boxers, because seeing her in my bed and in my clothes turned me on. It erased all the anger I’d accumulated during the day. When it was just the two of us, we were just a man and a woman.
I pulled her to the center of the bed and tugged her panties down her legs. I wasn’t even sure why she wore them to bed anyway.
She grabbed my wrist and steadied it. “I don’t know about tonight…” When her hair was all over the place and she wore my baggy shirt, she never looked more beautiful. She was the most beautiful woman that had ever been in this bed.
“I had to deal with a lot of shit today. And you’re going to reward me.” I pulled her panties the rest of the way, and she didn’t resist me. I didn’t know how much longer I would get to keep her, but I wanted to enjoy every moment I had left.
When her bottoms were gone, she spread her legs without me asking.
I moved on top of her and folded her legs underneath me. My face hung above hers, but I didn’t kiss her. My hand moved into her hair, feeling her soft strands. I fisted them, keeping her anchored in place so I could enjoy her as fiercely as I wanted.
My cock moved against her folds, feeling the moisture slowly start to seep from between her legs. I breathed into her hair, feeling her arousal start to match mine. Slowly, I was taking her mind off the disheartening afternoon we both just experienced.
I finally pressed my lips against hers.
And I was reminded why I
fell in love with her in the first place.
Because of this…whatever it was. It was like lightning down my spine, electricity in my veins. Her kiss set me on fire, made me feel more like a man than anything else. She sucked my bottom lip with enthusiasm, her fingers slowly making their way into my hair. Now she wasn’t thinking about anything else but me.
Just me.
Also by Penelope Sky
I'm not sure how it happened.
But I've fallen in love with my family's enemy.
I try to move on but I can't.
He's the only man I want.
Now I have to choose between the man I love.
And my family.
Order Now.