The corner of his mouth hooked up in a roguish smirk. “Fuckin’ love it when you beg.”
Cocky asshole, I thought, but he wasn’t wrong. As much as my independent streak hated it, I was quickly coming to discover that I’d beg Marco for anything as long as he was touching me.
As if sensing my agitation and finding it funny, his chest shook with a laugh as he trailed his tongue across my bottom lip. “And when you’re being stubborn. You’re adorable when you’re trying to deny my effect on you.”
“I’m not adorable,” I objected as he continued his assault, rocking his erection against me. “I’m tough. I’m a total badass,” I continued, but the neediness in my voice contradicted my words.
His eyes glittered with pleasure as he challenged, “I’ll fuck you hard, baby. All you have to do is ask me nicely.”
Oh, this smug jerk. “Fuck me, Marco,” I demanded, squeezing my legs to pull him closer. “Give it to me.”
“Ah, ah, ah.” He let out a warm chuckle. “That wasn’t nice, was it?”
“Now,” I hissed through gritted teeth.
He didn’t respond with words. Instead, he lifted his hand to my left breast and pinched my nipple. My head thumped against the wall again as I cried out at the duel sensations of pleasure.
That was all it took. He’d once again manipulated me so perfectly that I gave him exactly what he wanted. “Please,” I whimpered, dangerously close to crying. If I didn’t feel him inside me soon, I was going to explode. “Please, Marco. Please!”
“So fuckin’ sweet.” He lowered me to my feet and reached around to his back pocket, ordering, “Take me out,” as he fished a condom out of his wallet before tossing it to the floor.
I didn’t have to be told twice. My fingers made quick work of his fly, and I shoved his jeans down his hips just enough that I could release his cock from its confines. My mouth watered the second I palmed the silky hard length. He let out a gratifying groan at my touch.
In a blink, he had himself sheathed and spun me around, pressing me into the wall. Grabbing hold of my wrists, he lifted my arms and placed my hands on either side of my head. The heat of his chest against my back made my knees tremble. His lips brushed my ear as he whispered, “Keep them there, Gypsy. This is gonna be rough, so you have to brace. I need you too bad to be gentle.”
I felt drunk on him as I looked back over my shoulder. “I’m okay with that.”
A second later, my dress was over my ass and my panties were literally torn from my body. Before I had a chance to object to the destruction of one of my nicest pair of underwear, he lined himself up with my entrance and plunged deep in one hard thrust.
“Oh shit!”
“So goddamn tight and wet,” he ground out, pulling out a few inches so he could slam back in. “Yeah, baby. You were ready for me.”
“Don’t stop,” I pleaded, lowering my forehead to the wall and digging my fingers into the textured wallpaper as he stayed true to his word, fucking me roughly. He could be as cocky as he wanted just as long as he kept doing what he was doing. “You feel so good.”
I was close, embarrassingly so. We’d only just really started, and I was already at risk of coming apart at the seams. But that was always the case where this man was concerned. No matter how many times we were together, I just couldn’t get enough, and I was beginning to worry that it would always be that way.
“Love being inside you,” he said with a grunt as he continued to power in and out, his cock brushing against places inside of me that I hadn’t even known existed before he introduced me to them. “Nothing feels as good as you, girasol. Nothing.”
Just a few more strokes and I would have happily fallen over the edge into oblivion. But before I could reach it, Marco pulled out.
“No!” I shouted, only to have that one word cut off when he spun me around once more. My dress was whipped off my body, leaving me in only my pretty heels before he took us down to the floor right there in the entryway.
My back and neck arched off the soft carpet as he drove back inside and resumed fucking me hard.
“Look at me,” he grunted.
I managed to peel my eyelids open and saw his pupils had blown. The black had completely swallowed up the gold and green of his irises. Lifting a hand, I pressed it to his stubbled jaw as we stared into each other’s eyes. Something was working behind his gaze, something so powerful it stole what little air I had left in my lungs.
“Marco,” I gasped as something more than just a physical sensation washed over me. I couldn’t pull my eyes from his no matter how hard I tried.
“So goddamn beautiful,” he murmured. “You have no clue.”
He cupped my ass, tipping my hips so he could slide in deeper, and my sex clenched, gripping him so tight it was a wonder he was still able to move. Pressure began building in my core so fast it was almost frightening. My eyelids started to drift lower of their own accord, but before they could close completely, Marco’s gruff command of “Open” snapped them back up. And just like that, my orgasm ripped through me.
“Oh god. Marco!” I shouted as I came. My muscles locked, my limbs holding him tight. I pulsed around him as he continued to move inside me, drawing out every single drop of my release until I worried I couldn’t take any more. Then, with wide eyes, Marco let out a vicious “Fuck” before driving in deep. He shuddered against me, deep grunts of exertion vibrating up his throat as his cock spasmed inside me.
The tension of my climax finally drifted from me, leaving me completely boneless. My arms and legs fell to the floor, and I could no longer keep my eyes open.
Marco’s forehead dropped onto my shoulder, and he blew out a hard gust of air against my sweat-slicked skin.
I wasn’t sure how long we lay on the floor before my senses finally returned and I was able to speak. “Not fair,” I grumbled, my voice sounding slurred and sex-drunk.
His head came up, and he looked down at me with a lazy smile that made me heat up all over again. “What’s not fair?”
“You’re still dressed and I’m completely naked.”
His sluggish gaze moved down my body to my feet. “Well, not completely naked.”
“Oh, that’s right.” I lifted my leg and looked at my strappy shoes. “You didn’t even give me time to take my heels off.” I shot him a mock scowl. “Such a caveman.”
His pupils had begun to contract, showing me that hazel I’d come to love once more. “You love it when I’m a caveman,” he teased with a cheeky grin.
Wanting an unobstructed view of his handsome face, I brushed the damp hair away from his forehead as I replied, “I do. Even if you’re a bossy pain in the ass sometimes.”
Leaning in, he pressed his lips to mine in a gentle kiss that went against how rough he’d just been with me. “Sorry, baby. I just can’t help myself. I’m addicted to you,” he stated as he dragged the tip of his nose along mine and down to my neck.
And I love you.
The thought came out of nowhere, sudden and unexpected, squeezing the air from my lungs and sending a chill through my entire body, rendering me speechless.
No. No, no, no, no. This was bad. This was so freaking bad. I’d let my guard down too far, let him in too deep. This wasn’t supposed to have happened.
Oblivious to the shift taking place inside of me, Marco slowly pulled out, leaving me with a gnawing emptiness. Pushing to his feet, he reached out and helped me off the carpet.
“Gonna deal with the condom and meet you in bed.” He gave me a wink before saying, “I’ll even let you take off those sexy shoes, but don’t put anything on. I want complete access. I’m not even close to being done with you.”
Pushing the rising panic to the back of my mind, I pasted a grin on my face as we headed for the bedroom.
Discarding my shoes, I climbed beneath the softest covers I’d ever felt on my skin and sank down into the fluffy mattress. Marco was completely naked when he stepped out of the bathroom a minute later, and I had an un
obstructed view of his body in all its delectable glory just before he turned out the light, bathing the room in darkness.
The mattress dipped with his weight, the covers slid down my side as he climbed in beside me, and a moment later, I was pulled against his long, solid frame. He settled on his back, tucking me into his side, and flicked the covers back over us.
I never would have guessed that Marco was a cuddler, and it hit me then that this was actually the first time we’d be sharing a bed for a whole night.
“I thought you said you weren’t done with me?” I teased into the silence of the room.
His laughter shook me as he squeezed his arm around my waist. “I’m not, but I need some recovery time, and I’m pretty sure you do too.”
At his words, I shifted, clenching my thighs to test his theory, and discovered he was right. There was a dull throb, not unpleasant in the slightest, but it warned that I wasn’t quite ready for more just yet.
“See?” he stated smugly.
I let out a huff and rolled my eyes. “Anyone ever tell you you’re a cocky pain in the ass?”
“You do on a regular basis. Fortunately, I’ve got thick skin, or you’d really hurt my feelings.”
A very unladylike snort burst past my lips. “I’m pretty sure your ego’s too big to let that happen.”
“Ouch,” he replied playfully. “See what I mean?”
With a giggle, I snuggled closer to him. I wasn’t too far from dozing when a question began niggling at my subconscious. It was something I hadn’t noticed until tonight, but thinking back to every time we’d been together, I saw a pattern there I hadn’t seen before. “Marco?”
“Hmm?”
“Why do you do that?”
“Do what?”
“Every time we… have sex, you change our position or tilt my chin so we’re always face-to-face at the end. Why is that?”
His muscles tensed under my arm, and I waited with bated breath for him to answer. I wasn’t sure what I’d been expecting, but nothing could have prepared me for what he said next.
“That wall you have up is clear as day in your eyes. I see it every time I look at you. Except for when I make you come. For however long that lasts, the wall drops, and I get all of you. I don’t want to miss that, so we end face-to-face, Gypsy. Always.”
That chill I’d experienced earlier came back, only this time it was about a million times stronger.
“Gypsy?” he asked seconds later when it became obvious I wasn’t going to respond. “You get me?”
“Yeah,” I croaked, my throat suddenly feeling uncomfortably tight. “I get you.”
He let out a defeated sigh, and it wasn’t hard to read that he was unhappy that I hadn’t given him more just then. As the days ticked by, it was becoming more and more obvious that he wasn’t happy with just the scraps I’d been giving him. But I’d been down that road before, and I’d be damned if I traveled it again.
And it wasn’t as if he was being totally open and honest with me either. I still knew absolutely nothing about his life before he joined the Army.
“Will you tell me about your family?” I asked quietly, trying one last time. As hard as it would be, if he’d open up and give me the secrets he was holding back, I’d try to find a few more pieces of myself I could afford to lose and hand them over.
“It’s late,” he answered, extinguishing that small amount of hope I had left. “Some other time, yeah?”
“Yeah. Okay.”
Just like that, my wall slammed right back into place.
I’d given all of myself to my parents, desperate for their love and approval, and they’d thrown it back in my face. I’d done it again with Trina, then with Nick, and they took the love I offered and ripped it to shreds. Calvin and Randy destroyed the rest.
I’d learned my lesson. I wasn’t a woman capable of receiving love. Not in the way I saw with Eden or Tempie or Nona.
There were only five people in this world who loved me unconditionally, with everything they had, and they were the only ones who’d get everything I was in return.
For a few hours tonight, I’d let myself forget. I’d allowed myself to be swept up in the fairy tale. But reality had come crashing back down.
Eventually, Marco would get tired of me, like the shine wearing off a new toy, and I’d be discarded. He’d find someone else, and I’d be just a memory.
And the only way to make sure I kept myself together when that finally happened was to keep that wall firmly and permanently in place.
I’d give him my eyes when he made me come. But that was all Marco Castillo was going to get.
Chapter Nineteen
Marco
She was pulling away again. The chill coming off her felt like needles jabbing into my skin. She was good at pretending everything was fine, but I’d felt the shift. I just didn’t know what the fuck happened to bring it on.
I’d gotten through last night. I knew it. The whole concert, I’d held the real Gypsy in my arms, and it was the real Gypsy that came undone for me only hours later.
Then it happened. She retreated back behind that goddamn fortress.
I woke up this morning and reached for her just like I’d done more than once in the night, only the last time, my hand encountered nothing but cool sheets. I’d sat up and listened as the shower cut off, and a minute later she came out in a cloud of steam, a towel wrapped around her head and a thick terrycloth robe covering almost every inch of her body.
“Morning,” she’d offered with a smile. That was when I saw the hardness was back in her eyes.
“Why didn’t you wake me? We could’ve showered together,” I said, trying to coax her back out. But it had been no use.
“It’s already close to checkout. Didn’t think we’d have time since we need to get on the road.”
On the road? What the hell was she talking about? “I was gonna take you around the city. Show you some of the sights.”
For a second, I thought I saw a glimmer of excitement, but she quickly snuffed it out. “I should really get back to the kids. And I already called Odette to tell her when she should expect us.”
Just like that, she’d quickly and efficiently put an end to our time alone together.
We’d checked out of the hotel and started the drive back to Hope Valley. She talked and didn’t shy away from my need to touch her, but she was only a shadow of the real Gypsy. A vague facsimile of the woman I had last night was holding my hand now.
And fuck if that didn’t piss me off.
“Ooh, there!” she cried, pulling me from my morose thoughts. “Would you mind pulling over there?” I looked to where she was pointing and saw the sign for a chain coffee shop. “I’m in desperate need of caffeine. I won’t make it back to town without a boost.”
I took the exit off the interstate and made my way into the parking lot. She still let me hold her hand on the way into the coffee shop, but she kept at least a foot of space between our bodies, making it impossible for me to hold her flush against me like I wanted.
I knew the anger burning in my gut was irrational, but I couldn’t help it. She’d given me a taste of everything I wanted last night, then ripped it away only hours later.
I wanted it back, goddamn it.
We moved forward with the line in silence until we reached the register.
“Hi,” Gypsy chirped to the girl behind the counter, offering her a smile. “Can I get a caramel macchiato with an extra shot?”
The girl hit some keys on the register before looking to me. “And for you?”
“Large Americano with two sugars. Thanks.”
She rang up our order and announced the total, and Gypsy moved like lightning, pulling her wallet out of her purse.
“What are you doing?” I asked, my tone injected with more indignation than I’d intended, but for Christ’s sake, we’d had this particular argument more than once already. “Put your wallet away.”
“Marco,” she started stubbornly.
“I can pay for a couple coffees. It’s not a big deal.”
My eyebrows dipped, a deep frown digging into my forehead. “Never said you couldn’t. But you aren’t paying now.” I retrieved my wallet while she continued to argue.
“You’ve already spent enough on me this weekend. That hotel couldn’t have been cheap. And that’s not even counting all the money you’ve spent on me and my family the past couple months.”
Pulling out a twenty, I passed it to the girl and shot Gypsy a harsh look. “For Christ’s sake, you act like I’m keeping a tally or something.”
I took the change the now-nervous barista handed back, slipping a couple bills into the tip jar before moving off.
“I didn’t say you were keeping a tally,” Gypsy carried on as we moved to the side to wait for our order. “It’s just… too much. It’s all too much. I can’t ask you for anything more.”
“You didn’t ask me for anything, Gypsy.” You never do. Your pride won’t allow you to ask me for a goddamn thing, I left unsaid, the ugly thoughts leaving a sour feeling in the pit of my stomach.
“Marco—”
“One Americano, two sugars, and one caramel macchiato with an extra shot?” the barista interrupted, placing two paper cups on the counter. I grabbed both, handing Gypsy hers, and started for the exit, ignoring the fact she’d been trying to say something.
* * *
Gypsy
The rest of the drive felt like it took an eternity, and once we reached the town limits, I breathed a sigh of relief. The tense silence that had plagued the entire trip home was too much to bear. I felt like the walls were closing in on me, and the urge to run was palpable.
While my heart ached with the desire to make things better between Marco and me, I couldn’t bring myself to say the words. Fear kept them lodged firmly in my throat.
We were ten minutes from home when my cell phone started going off. Seeing Odette’s name flash across the screen, I answered the call and put the phone to my ear.
Wrong Side of the Tracks: a Hope Valley novel Page 15