by Lia Lee
There had never been a lack of prospects; men seemed to come out of the woodwork even though I had a kid. But none of them had come even close to making me feel how Vlad made me feel. He wasn’t perfect—he still wasn’t—but even with all his hard edges and sharp bits, I still loved him. Imperfections and all.
“Something has been bothering you,” he said.
I jerked my head up, staring at him as my heart pounded painfully in my chest.
“I’m not pressuring you or demanding answers,” he said as if to put me at ease. “I just needed to tell you that I’m here for you. When you need to talk, I’ll listen.”
Stunned, I just stared at him.
Chapter Fifteen
Vladmir
“Give me one second,” she said, stepping outside with her cell phone.
I sat on the couch, scanning the cottage’s living room. Lunch with her had been painful and a relief. I’d said things I’d needed to say. She’d seemed so surprised when I’d come out and told her I knew something was bothering her and that I was there for her when she wanted to talk.
Whatever was on her mind, it had been weighing heavily on her. Dark circles under her eyes left me certain she hadn’t been sleeping well. Her appetite at lunch had been lackluster; she’d picked at her meal and only nibbled a bit.
But I’d told her I wouldn’t demand answers, and I wasn’t going to. The important part had been said; I’d told her I was here for her.
She walked back in, her expression still so lost I knew she’d sunk back into her thoughts.
“Come sit with me,” I said.
She walked over and sat beside me. Wrapping her up in my arms, I pressed my lips to her temple. I could feel the goose bumps on her arms, feel the shiver that rolled through her. She inhaled, and I moved my lips to her cheekbone.
“Thank you,” she whispered, glancing at me with those intense green eyes. As her eyes darted back and forth between mine, I glanced at her kissable lips. While I stared, her lips parted ever so slightly in what my body interpreted as an invitation.
Pressing my lips to hers, I felt her begin to melt and held onto her. Her mouth opened to let a little sound of approval through. My whole body roared to life as I traced her lower lip with the tip of my tongue.
As she opened further for me, I began to move into her. Within moments, she was on her back on the couch looking up at me as I pressed down on her.
As I fought to catch my breath and keep control over myself, her hands came up to cup my face. “I missed you so much,” she said softly, her eyes tracing my face like she was committing every detail to memory.
I want to tell her that my time without her felt like a dream. Like my lungs were constantly under pressure, like I couldn’t really draw a deep breath. I was going through the motions, but only when I thought of her, focused on her—on us—did I feel alive.
Instead, I kissed her again.
“Make love to me, Vlad,” she murmured as our lips parted.
I felt like I’d been waiting for that for a long time. Moving back off her, I saw the shock in her lovely eyes as I stood and scooped her up into my arms. As much fun as it was to have her on the couch, I wanted her in my bed.
Carrying her into my bedroom, I watched the fire blazing in her eyes. At the edge of my bed, I set her on her feet and pulled her in for another kiss. She melted into me, and I lowered her down onto the bed, loving the way she tasted, the softness of her curves, the way her long legs felt parting for me and gripping my hips.
“I’ve loved you forever,” I growled, kissing her throat. She moaned, the sound sending tickling vibration through my lips. “It’s always been you.” With her help, I worked her shirt off her delicious body. In her lace bra, she was all hands and soft skin as she pulled me close again, and I kissed her once more.
“Don’t stop,” she whispered.
I wasn’t sure if she meant talking to her, undressing her, or kissing her. But I helped lift her up and unhooked her bra. Whisking it down her arms, I admired her beautiful curves and pressed a kiss to the warm skin between them.
“I need you. So much it hurts.” I growled, feeling the throbbing insistence of my cock. I needed to be in her, now. I craved this woman. With every inch of my being I needed her.
“I’m right here,” she whispered shyly. “You have me.”
But it was more than that. I didn’t just want her like this. I wanted all of her. But for now, I would settle for what she was willing to share with me. Kissing her deeply for a second, I felt her back arch as she pressed up into me.
When I pulled back, she was breathless, a haze of passion clouding her eyes. I worked her skirt off with as much patience and gentleness as I could. As it slid down her legs, she lifted up on her elbows.
I drank in the sight of her in those maddening, nude-colored, thigh high stockings, her long legs, the rounded beauty of her hips, the narrowing at her waist, the flair of her ribs and her rounded beasts, and finally, the beautiful confusion and hunger in her expression.
As I moved over her again, her hands grabbed the hem of my shirt, and I slipped out of it before dropping on top of her again. With a hand on either side of her shoulders, I peered down at her. Lowering until I was pressing down on her, I kissed her with all the pent up need I felt surging through my veins.
My hips moved, demanding more, and I could feel her bucking with me. Her back arched, her nipples tightened to pebbles, and moans left her mouth to flow into mine.
I could feel her fingers tuck into the waist of my pants before moving toward where our bodies met.
And I lifted up. Her eyes focused on her fingers as she found the button of my slacks. She loosened it, then the hook and zipper before dropping them as far as she could. Her expression was annoyed with my boxers, and I moved off the bed to remove them.
“Protection in the same drawer,” I said, nudging my chin toward the same drawer of the nightstand that was an exact match of the one we’d had in college. She moved toward it and pulled out the little foil package. She stared at it a moment as I stepped out of my slacks and hung them over the back of a chair.
“You okay?” I asked.
Her troubled eyes met mine. “Yeah,” she said, but there was something almost…distracted about her.
I moved in close, and she ripped the foil. Watching her slim hand unroll the sheath over me wrenched a groan from me, and it took every ounce of self-control I possessed not to just roughly take her.
I didn’t want to hurt her.
Lowering on her, I adjusted and pressed to her entrance. Her arms wound around my shoulders, and she clung to me as I slowly sank into her. Her tight body felt like it was trying to shut me out, refuse to allow me access, but I moved slowly, coaxing her to allow me deeper.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered. “For hurting you.”
“Me too,” she said.
The confusing answer stopped me for a second. But I chalked it up to the passion haze short circuiting her brain and making her unable to speak.
“You’re so sexy,” I growled, nuzzling into her neck and inhaling her sweet scent.
Chapter Sixteen
Aurora
Everything was melting down. My ability to reason was gone.
The sensation of him stretching me was almost too much to take, and the words and tone he was using overwhelmed every thought process. Struggling to breathe, I gasped as he pushed in a bit harder. The heat of him was so intense I almost wondered if that part of him was running a fever.
“I need you, Aurora,” he groaned into my ear.
The sight of his shoulders, the flexing of sinew and tightening of muscle excited me even more on a primal level I didn’t fully understand.
I needed him too. I needed this, wanted this, wanted him.
Between my legs, I felt him pressing down on my pelvic bone as he finally hit home within me. My hips moved, bucking into him, desperate for friction on that throbbing little button. But he was having none of that. He pu
lled back, then sank home once more.
Every motion drove me mad with need, and I rolled my head to the side and dug my nails into his back.
He tightened, filling me roughly. “I’m trying really hard not to hurt you,” he growled, lifting his head to look me in the eyes. The warning sent a shiver tickling down my spine.
“You won’t,” I whispered, my heart thundering in my chest at my lie. The truth was that I didn’t care if it hurt. I wanted him. All of him. I didn’t want him to hold back or tone it down. I wanted him to just let go and take me.
His eyes were locked on mine, and I could see the understanding there.
“Take me,” I whispered, heat exploding through my belly and spreading outward though my extremities like fire.
He pressed his lips to mine with a growl and rammed home in me. A shockwave of pleasure followed, but before I could process everything, he was slamming into me again. The punishing rhythm made my breasts bounce and his lips leave mine for a moment.
His overheated tongue glided over one of my nipples, and pinpricks of white hot heat danced over my skin as a moan crossed my lips.
“I want to see you,” he said.
I felt him move, felt the whole world shift as he rolled us. Suddenly on top, I stared down at him, stunned, breathless, and excited. His hand found mine, and our fingers laced down by my thighs. Using the little bit of leverage that allowed, I began to move, rocking my hips.
The motion ground down on my clit, and a gasp escaped my lips. A delighted, evil little grin tugged the corners of his lips.
His eyes left mine to trace my breasts, and my nipples tightened even more under the heat of his stare. I felt him pulse deep within me, and my hips bucked.
“You’re so beautiful,” he growled, his eyes taking in every inch of me.
Excited and feeling the building pressure within me, I rocked harder. His eyes moved to my bouncing breasts, then his hands left mine and he pressed his palms to my chest. The sensation instantly ramped up the pleasure as his powerful hands brushed the ultra-sensitive tips of my nipples before pressing to them.
My body and brain blocked everything but this need, the desire for pleasure. Focused on that, I studied his handsome face, his sensual lips, the hard planes of his body. He was an attractive man.
He felt so big and hard inside me it was shocking. I struggled to move, to keep up this pace with his rock hard cock deep in me.
“You feel so big,” I moaned, as if I needed an excuse for something.
“Maybe because you’re so tight, love,” he said, his eyes dark and glittering with need as they met mine.
The words triggered the need to confess something else that had weighed on me. “I haven’t…with anyone else.” It had felt like such a shameful secret before.
“At all?” he asked, heat filling his features.
“At all,” I whispered. It had only been him. Forever. I’d been so sure he was my soul mate, my one and only. I’d never gotten over him, never really loved before him.
“I need more of you, Aurora,” he murmured. “I need all of you.” His hands lowered to my hips, his fingertips digging in in a way that dared me not to breathe. Something in his eyes told me he wouldn’t stop until he got exactly what he wanted, and knowing what he wanted was me sent signals to my brain that had my core filling with liquid heat.
“Say it,” he said. “Say you’re mine.”
“I’m yours.” The words went off like a flash bang deep within me. Excitement tingled through me, and everything in me tightened up. Pleasure ripped through my belly, rippling outward as my body forgot how to move.
His hands held me as I sank down on top of him, spasms still bouncing through my body. I continued to try to move, my pace jerking and anything but rhythmic. Still, I felt him swelling within me. Felt him growing larger and larger. Suddenly, a shudder rolled through him, and I felt warmth deep in my core.
His lips pressed to my temple, and his arms tightened around me, his hands fisting in my hair and holding me closer to him.
A moment later, he gently moved me off of him and left the room. Knowing the routine, I settled under the blankets and waited for him. As I waited, the realization of what we’d done filled me.
I hadn’t told him. I’d promised myself I’d tell him before letting things get to this point again. But I still hadn’t told him.
I was a horrible human being. We’d slept together again, and I still hadn’t come clean. I’d even thought about it, seeing the condom and wondering if he remembered that night so long ago when we’d gone without one.
I needed to tell him the truth. No more putting it off. No more excuses. No more justifying it. It wouldn’t be easy. It wouldn’t be fun. It would be cringy and possibly painful. But Vlad had proven himself. He wasn’t that hotheaded, angry man he’d been then. He was patient, kind, sweet. He wouldn’t lose his mind and blow like he used to do.
I grabbed my pants and pulled out my phone. Unlocking the screen, I glanced at it, feeling sudden panic. I’d called my mother and asked her to pick up Ashley. She’d agreed, telling me she hoped I had a good night. I’d silently thanked my lucky stars she’d been willing to leave it at that. No third degree, no questions asked, just a simple enjoy yourself, you deserve it.
Would she be upset if she knew? Maybe. She remembered the heartbreak. And of course, I’d told her everything. But I haven’t told her about our reconnection. Maybe I was scared. Maybe it was all too new to try to explain or quantify.
Shoving the troubling thoughts aside, I saw I’d also missed a call from that newswoman, Sally.
She’d been checking in along the editing process, so I decided I could check the voice mail tomorrow. For now, I wanted to be present for this moment with Vlad.
Placing my phone on the nightstand table, I rolled onto my back and stared up at the ceiling.
“Need anything?”
I jolted, glancing over to see Vlad, fully naked in all his glory, leaning on the doorframe between the bathroom and bedroom, his eyes locked on me.
Opening my arms to him, I whispered, “You. I need you.”
Chapter Seventeen
Vladmir
I blinked, pulling her warmth into me as memories from last night assaulted my thoughts. Waking up to her felt so right, and I studied her. She stirred a little, slowly waking up, and I kissed her. Her lips curved into a smile at the corners, and memories of so many mornings like this crowded my mind.
How many mornings had I woken up feeling like the luckiest man on earth? How many mornings had I woken to her making breakfast wearing only one of my shirts? How many mornings had I brought her breakfast in bed?
Despite all that had worked against us, there had been so much love in our lives. I took full responsibility for the hardships, the trouble, the problems.
“I’m sorry I screwed up,” I whispered again, needing to say it. No, needing her to know it. Not just hear it, I needed her to know it.
She made a soft little noise, still clinging to sleep even as she slowly began to wake up.
“I meant it when I said I need you.” It might have been one of the most honest things I’d ever said to her. I needed her in my life. Living without her was like living life in sepia tones. Everything was washed out and faded away. With her, life seemed bright and impossibly beautiful.
I just needed to figure out how to convince her to give me another chance.
“Good morning, love,” I murmured as she blinked at me.
That beautiful curve to her lips became a full smile. “Good morning.” Her voice, husky with sleep, hit me like a blow to the gut. Below the belt, I began to stir to life once more and realized the craving for her, for her touch, was not sated. Not even a little bit. If anything, I might have wanted her more.
I kissed her lips, but she pushed me away. “Morning breath,” she said. I wanted to tell her I didn’t care, but I knew she did, and I let her go. Watching her head toward the bathroom, I admired her beautiful curves.
While she closed the door, I heard her phone buzz. Part of me wanted to pick it up just out of curiosity. Seeing her so focused on it last night had made my gut sink to my toes, but I knew better than to intrude.
I ignored the buzzing and tucked an arm behind my head. Last night had been amazing. Somehow, we’d fallen back in like we’d never been apart. Her body still responded to me like it was built for me. And mine still had a mind of its own as far as she was concerned. Control was damn near impossible around her. But I’d mostly managed.
I heard the water run for a moment and thought about her in there, brushing her teeth, her beautiful breasts bouncing with the motion. Groaning a bit, I moved my arm over my eyes and began to think of anything else.
A nagging idea in my mind called out to me, and I found myself rising out of bed, listening even as I tried to talk myself down. Grabbing a fresh canvas and my charcoal, I sketched the faintest hint of an outline, inspired by the absolute peace flowing freely through my veins. She was back, back in my life, back in my blood, back to being my muse.
The unmistakable sound of the shower dragged me back to the present, and I put the canvas down, the thoughts still nagging but quieter now that I’d at least gotten the bones drawn. With fire blazing through me, I headed in to join her in the shower, that hunger eating at me once more.
Forty-five minutes later, feeling momentarily sated and ready to escape the water that was beginning to run cold, I stepped out of the shower.
She was right behind me, a private smile on her lips as I wound a towel around her. And something changed. Her expression suddenly became troubled.
“We didn’t use protection,” she said.
It hit me, but the fear wasn’t there. I hugged her close. “I’m sorry, I should have been more careful. But if something were to happen, I’d be right there by your side no matter what you wanted to do.” I pressed my lips to her temple as a sudden thought of her pregnant with my child filled my mind. “I like the thought of you carrying my child.”