She said something to The Suit, and Vin saw him lean back, giving her space to slip past one of his arms. Good, Vin thought. Maybe I can just go. She hadn’t seen Vin yet, so maybe he could fade into the background or play it off like he was going to the bathroom. Vin tipped backward while he watched Lily head for the stairs, but then The Suit reached out a hand and grabbed at her elbow, causing her to turn sharply and almost fall. The near fall gave The Suit the leeway he needed to pull her into him.
“What the hell?” Vin mumbled to himself as he involuntarily stepped forward, now close enough to hear them.
“I told you to leave me alone. If you didn’t want me when you had me, there is no need to be concerned about me now. Now let me go and stop causing a scene.” Lily’s words were low, but Vin still made them out. Vin could hear the faint edge of panic, and he could tell she was the one trying not to cause a scene; The Suit was banking on that. Of course, a woman like Lily, so perfect on the outside and one to go thumbing her nose at convention with her declarations, would still in the end not want to do anything to jeopardize her reputation or cause talk.
Good thing he could give a shit about that. Vin stepped in. “Lily! Damn, woman, you gonna do me like that? I leave to go hit the head and already somebody trying to get with you.” He looked down at The Suit’s hand and then back at his face. Because The Suit was a hair shorter, Vin had to look down slightly to stare straight into his eyes. The Suit removed his hand, and Lily stepped back.
“You know him?” Thomas said to Lily as if the “him” was shit he’d just stepped in.
Vin tapped him on his shoulder. Not speaking until Thomas was facing him fully. “The question you should be asking is if I’m going to know you.”
Lil C finished his song, and the air seemed extra charged in the brief pause between the end of that tune and the start of the next. Thomas shook his head and then looked back up at Vin through eyes that Vin could tell were slightly unfocused. The haze of alcohol clear. “Man, do you know who I am? You don’t want to mess with me. I could have you thrown out of this party.” Thomas said then nodded in Lily’s direction. Seemingly oblivious to the outburst a short brunette with enough hips and ass to throw a buffet on came over. “It don’t matter,” Thomas continued, his attention now on the behind of the brunette. “I’m good anyway, as you can see.”
Vin stepped up, close to his face. “You just make sure you stay that way and keep your hands to yourself, if you want to keep them attached, that is.”
He saw Aidan and Carter walk up behind The Suit and gave them an “I’m good” nod just as the buffet girl put an arm through The Suit’s. “What is going on? You said we were leaving here to go back to Lil C’s hotel for the after-party. I want to get in there early before the other girls get all the good spots.”
Vin stayed stoic but gave him a look that said going and partying with Lil C was probably a lot smarter than what he was doing.
The Suit turned to the girl and gave her a pat on the ass. “Sure, let’s go. There is nothing here for me anyway.”
“Just so you remember it,” Vin said as The Suit and the girl walked past to head down the stairs.
He looked over at Aidan and Carter. “What a dick. I don’t get why Lily would even mess with him.” He turned to ask her that exact question, but the space she had just occupied behind him was now empty.
He looked back to his friends just as Eva walked over, and he raised his hands. “She’s gone. She gave her good-byes to each of you,” she said to Aidan and Carter before turning to Vin. “And to you, she was kind enough to not have me pass on any message except check your phone.”
Vin reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone, looking for a text. As mad as he was, he hadn’t felt it vibrate. He clicked the app to read Lily’s text.
The next time you’re looking for someone to save, start with yourself. I got this and don’t need you or any other man to save me.
Well, that was that. A night wasted and he didn’t come out with anything for it but an unsatisfying argument and the possibility that he may have lost any chance with Lily. Again. Shit! At least if he’d gotten a punch off The Suit, all wouldn’t have been for nothing.
* * *
As soon as Vin got on his bike, he knew he wasn’t heading home.
He also knew he had no business heading to Lily’s house, but after texting Simon and getting threatened with brother-in-law bodily harm, he finally finagled her home address from him and was now parked in front of her building, holding his phone as if it were some sort of life line. He tried calling her cell but she wouldn’t pick up, so he was texting in hopes she would at least hear out his apology.
I know you don’t want to hear from me but I’m sorry. I was an ass.
Lily responded:
Well you got it right on both fronts. Good to know you’re not as dumb as me.
Vin chuckled.
OK, you got me. Now will you let me apologize in person? I want to make it up to you. Make sure we’re still cool.
There was a long pause as Vin stared at the phone waiting for her reply. Just then a black car pulled up in front of the building, and a few seconds later there she was, getting out and looking more beautiful than she had earlier. She turned and looked his way.
“What are you doing here? How did you know where I lived?”
Vin held up a hand and went jogging across the street to her. She folded her arms across her chest and stepped back as if weary of him, and the movement caused his heart to plummet to his feet. “Trust me, I’d never hurt you. I just wanted to say I was sorry in person. To let you truly see that I am.”
Lily still looked at him wearily.
“Trust me. If I do anything to hurt you, or to make you any madder, Simon and your growing army of brothers-in-law will have my ass. Simon let me know where you lived only because I promised I’d be cool.”
As if on cue, Lily’s phone buzzed with a text. She looked down, quickly typing something before looking back at him seriously. “That was Sophie checking to see if I’m okay and probably to determine if Simon has to put a hit out on you.”
Vin raised a brow. “I hoped you told him to stand down.”
She tilted her head to the side, the motion sending a curl into her face. Vin wanted so badly to reach out and move it from in front of her pretty brown eyes. “I told her I was fine. Let’s hope it stays that way.”
Vin swallowed and stepped forward. “You never have to be afraid when you’re with me.”
Lily let out a frustrated sigh. “But that’s just it. I’m not with you. And you don’t have a right to stake any sort of macho claim on me.”
He closed his eyes and then opened them back up, looking at her deeply. “You’re right, and I fucked up. It’s just, I can’t deal when I see any woman—well, anyone I care about—hurting or possibly being hurt. I was the only one around to protect my mom when she was here, and I did my best to do my job.” Shit, he was screwing this up. Vin ran a hand over his head frustratedly and paced back and forth on the sidewalk before turning back to Lily. “You know, I’m just making things worse. I really just wanted you to know I’m sorry. I saw that dude being all possessive over you and you didn’t look particularly comfortable, and I went too far. You are right. It was your place to ask for help if you wanted it and not my job to go stepping in. For all I know, you have a deep history.” He let out a strangled breath, fighting the intense need he had to stop talking and start kissing her. Show her the depth of his feelings for her.
“I’ll just go. I hope we can still find a way to work together.”
Vin turned to head back to his bike when her hand shot out and touched his. It was so light if he wanted he could have mistaken it for a breeze, but still he turned.
“It’s okay,” she said softly, her eyes bright under the light of the street lamps. “Maybe you’re not the only one who should be apologizing. I shouldn’t have gotten on you like I did in front of your friends. It was uncalled for, and I�
��m embarrassed by my behavior. I should have stayed instead of jumping into a cab, a slow one at that, and he gouged me for an extra ten after taking the wrong route.” She waved her hand after looking frustratingly down the street. Lily looked back up at Vin. “That’s neither here nor there. The fact is, we both played our part and not well. How about we just call a truce?”
It was less than what he wanted, but he’d take what he could get. Vin put out his hand to shake hers. “So, back in business?”
Lily nodded and put her hand in his. Slow and easy she caressed his palm and came toward him, stretching up and moving close to his mouth with her full, pouty lips. “We’re back in business.”
Chapter 15
One moment she was arguing with him and the next she was all over him in her elevator. Or maybe he was all over her. No matter, Lily thought. They were all over each other, exiting the elevator and then making their way to her apartment door. Lily suddenly stilled, and Vin looked down at her lips and eyes and, oh Lord, his broad shoulders. “I can still go, you know. You don’t have to invite me in.” His gravelly tone revealed his hurt.
Lily let out a breath and looked down to find the right key. Surprised at how calm and steady her hands were, she opened the door and then looked up at him. “I’m inviting you in.”
Vin smiled. The sweetness of it mixed with a definite hint of heated danger had her practically melting. Lily led the way in, thankful that the tiny apartment wasn’t too much of a mess. She closed the door behind them and hit the deadbolt. “Should I be afraid?”
It was her turn to smile. “I don’t know, maybe you should.” Pushing him slowly backward, Lily directed him into the living space. She eased his jacket off his shoulders, taking her time to feel that insanely broad chest of his and his corded muscles as the jacket slid to the floor.
Once again his lips were on hers. Full and heavy. His breath becoming hers and hers becoming his. For a man so large, he took things slow. Lily was hungry and eager, ready to devour him in one gulp, but he forced her to slow down and keep time with the languid strokes of his tongue. Lily felt her body heating past what was certainly considered normal and her legs turning to jelly underneath her. She pulled back and gulped some air, and Vin held her gently by both of her forearms.
“Are you all right? Are things all right? I can still leave, you know. It’s okay.”
“If you leave now, I don’t think I’d be able to take it.”
He let out what seemed like a relieved breath and smiled at her. “Good. Because if you asked me to, I’m sure I would, but you might find me collapsed outside your door come morning.”
Lily laughed at this. He was always such a surprise. On the outside he looked so stoic, so tough, and then he would go and say something like that. Lily turned away from him to display the back of her dress. “Can you unzip me?”
Like everything else, he did it slow, bringing the zipper down and slowly kissing her spine as he did so. She leaned into him as he came back up, spreading the back of her dress open and kissing the spot between her neck and shoulders. Lily felt her body shudder, and she blinked, then opened her eyes and focused on the scene she was in the middle of creating. It all seemed too perfect. The apartment was lit by the perfect level of moonlight and city streetlight. She stood half naked with easily the hottest man she ever had, or ever would, in her living room. And he made her shudder. When was the last time anyone had made her shudder?
She wanted more. Turning, she nibbled at her bottom lip and took Vin by the hand. “Come with me.”
And there went that quirky brow. His reaction caused her to replay what she’d just said over again in her mind and she caught herself and the double entendre. Giggling, Lily was surprised by the sudden playfulness of the moment. She didn’t laugh during sex or before. Was a person even supposed to do that?
He leaned down and kissed her quickly. “Sorry, you set it up. Let’s go.”
She shook her head and, as sexily as she could on not-well-thought-out heels and wobbly legs, started to walk toward her bedroom. She flipped on the light, and the brightness came on fast, almost breaking the spell. Lily quickly flipped it back off. “No need for all that.”
Vin chuckled behind her and walked over to turn on her bedside lamp. “I’d really like to see you, if you don’t mind.”
She let out a sigh. “Okay, but it’s at your own risk.”
And with that Vin tugged off his shirt. The sight of that much of him made her mouth immediately water. The light was a good idea. Shit, she should have had her camera phone handy. The man was disgustingly bragworthy. She fell back down, sitting on the edge of her bed, taking him in as he kicked off his boots. Then he went to his knees before her. God, he was a lot to take. His mouth was once again on hers, and then suddenly she was leaning back and he was over her, going from her lips to her collarbone with his tongue leading the way as he traveled lower. Head between her breasts, he lingered, flipping open the back of her bra like some one-handed master, and then, there they were. Her breasts loose and heavy, and there for his taking.
And he did. Teasing one breast with his tongue while his hands traveled along her body in some crazed, hypnotic way that had her legs spreading and inviting him to go even further. When he touched her center and she gasped, she felt his smile spread across her breasts, those deliciously wiry hairs on his cheeks teasing her even more.
Completely impatient, Lily pushed up and pushed off her heels. With a tug she let her half-on/half-off dress slide to the floor, and the useless bra was next. She stood before him in her panties, waiting for some hint of judgment or dissatisfaction to show on his face. Perhaps her hips were too big or her stomach too heavy. But all Vin did was stare, taking her in from head to toe and then back up again. When he came to meet her eyes, his voice was a low hum. “God, I’ve waited a long time to see you like this. What an idiot I was.” He swallowed and then leaned forward, kissing her stomach and then easing his large hands into the sides of her panties. With another slow motion he kissed her as he uncovered her and, when Lily finally was naked before him, picking her up and laying her gently on the bed.
She looked up at him. So much hard muscle and just barely reigned-in emotion. The weight of it all was almost too much to take. But take him she would. Happily. “I’m feeling way underdressed for this party.”
He grinned. “Well, let me take care of that. Fair is fair.”
Lily watched, barely breathing as Vin’s jeans came off and she took in the full extent of him. She leaned forward and looked up. “Maybe I was the idiot,” she said.
Vin crawled over her, a slow and sexy panther, and gently spread her legs. “Let’s just call this one a draw and say we both screwed up.”
Lily nodded as Vin once again captured her with his mouth while using his hands to drive her completely insane. When her breaths were coming in shorter and shorter gasps, he came up and gave her a bit of air, only to continue the torture by rubbing his stubble down the length of her body until she was open and wide before him. His tongue snaked out, at first slow and easy, tasting each spot except the one she knew would break her apart. He reached up and massaged her breast, teasing at her nipple so that her whole body was nothing more than one big, heightened nerve ending. All it would take was the slightest pressure and she knew she would blow. Vin let out a torturous breath of air on that spot, and she whimpered. He did it again, and she just may have whined. Then his tongue snaked out once more, swirling and flicking right at her center, and Lily heard a low, deep moan that she knew she’d later deny was her own. She felt the quake come on, but it was faster than she could prepare for. She reached out for the sheets, grabbing at them, twisting hard at Vin’s strong muscles, searching for some type of escape from his exquisite torture. When he finally let up, and she sucked in a much needed breath of air, he was over her again, ripping a condom packet open with his teeth and then rolling it over his hardness.
Lily swallowed as she inched back on the bed as a way of preparing
herself, looking him in the eyes. Vin returned a steady gaze. All playfulness was gone. His voice went impossibly low, making her insides go soft. “Tell me this is what you want. I need to know you’re sure.”
Lily sucked in a breath, then bit her lip. The answer was clear. Her body said it all. But her mind was still at war. Lily shook her head to shut out the little nagging voice that dared to deny her this need. She looked at him. “This is exactly what I want.”
She licked her lips again and smiled. “Is there anything about me that gives off a hint of ‘I’m not sure’? I’d like to see you try to make it out of this bedroom without finishing what you started.”
It was his turn to smile. “It’s always a challenge with you, isn’t it?”
Lily looked down at his delicious hardness, then back up into his eyes. “I’m afraid so. But somehow I think you’re up for it.”
But when he entered her for the first time, all the challenge completely went away. The fight was drained from both of them and in its place was nothing but the beautiful need that each of them had to satisfy themselves and each other. It didn’t take long until Lily was moaning once again as she was clamped around Vin, all her muscles tight as he wrapped his strong arms around her. He flipped her so that she was over him, riding him face-to-face. He kissed her hard as quakes rocked through her body, and she heard her name deep in the back of his throat as he started to shake along with her. Together they collapsed as one, wrung out like two marathoners crossing the finish line together. Lily wanted to say something fun and quippy to keep the mood light because, as she lay sprawled across his chest, his heart beating in sync with hers, her usual thread of fear started to weave its way into her belly. She pushed up and looked at him, then smiled, about to ask if he wanted something from the kitchen, but the way he gazed at her with those midnight eyes stopped the words in her throat. He looked deep, and for a moment Lily thought she saw more than a quick one-off or possibly two-off in his eyes. The thread of fear started from her stomach and wrapped around her heart.
To Me I Wed Page 16