“You don’t have to tell me,” she says in a small voice, putting her chin over her shoulder, “but I’d like you to.”
“I told you how I developed this app to aid hospitals. The app matches organ donors with recipients, and it really works. It’s a great app. It’s a good program. It’s saved lives.”
“Cole, what you’ve done is amazing. It’s incredible.”
“But Val, there is one person I couldn’t save.”
She turns around to me, the water shifting slightly in the tub as she moves, and she leans forward, putting her pretty arms under her chin on the edge of the tub.
“You can’t save every person, Cole.”
Val reaches out and puts her hand in mine.
“I could have, though. I should have.” I feel that frenetic anger inside me, the feelings that I’ve tried to push away for so long, grind into my body. I feel it in my guts, in my fucking bones. “I should have been able to save her. I had the app in development for a long time. For a long time. It started as my thesis project when I was in grad school. But I never finished it. I just didn’t push myself hard enough. And then there was the accident.”
Val leans back, taking the loofah from me, and motions with her eyes for me to come join her in the tub.
I didn’t want love for a long time. I didn’t think I deserved it. But the draw of Val is so strong that I can’t stop myself from accepting her love. She shines.
I strip off my clothes slowly and start to get into the tub, facing her.
“You sure this water isn’t too hot, doll?” I ask as I lower myself into the water.
“You like the cold, huh?”
“I guess I don’t like being too comfortable.”
She gets closer to me and links her fingers through mine sweetly. And I lean forward, taking her face in my hands, and I kiss her.
I kiss her, and I keep kissing her.
13
Valoria
Cole told me everything. He told me about how the app wasn’t completed while he was in grad school, that he wanted to finish it, but he went to work for an investment firm instead. How Cassie teased him, calling him a sellout for going into finance instead of science.
And how he quit finance after a year, and started working on the app again. And how he got some of the investors he’d worked with for a few years interested in the idea.
And how he raised funding. And how he was the new rising star of tech. He got his company off the ground.
And then there was the accident.
Cassie was driving home from his house after a party to celebrate his first round of funding. He was going to be a star. He was going to share everything with her. He was going to buy her a house next door to his.
And how she skidded on some black ice, and lost control of her car. And how it was snowing.
How he told her to sleep over that night. He told her he’d take the couch and she could take his bed.
And how she insisted that she go home, that it wasn’t far, that she would be fine.
She wasn’t fine. And she lost blood.
He told me how she lost a lot of blood.
And how, if he had just pushed himself harder and tried harder and grinded just a little bit harder, if the launch of his app had been just six month earlier, maybe he could have saved her.
Maybe he could have personally dispatched the supplies and blood she needed with the EMTs who showed up on that winding, rocky, steep road that she skidded on.
Maybe, maybe...maybe.
And then I told him about my mom, and he understood.
I told him why I was alone today, and push people away too.
It was like he already understood.
I told him how maybe things could have been different.
Maybe, maybe, maybe.
“Our parents told us to look out for each other always,” he says, pushing my hair away from my face with his wet fingertips. “And I didn’t do that.”
“Cole,” I say, aching inside, “you have to forgive yourself. What you’ve been able to build, what you’ve been able to create is one in a million. You’ve done so much. Horrible, awful tragedies happen, and sometimes you just can’t stop them from happening. You can’t go back in time, you can’t predict the future.”
“I know,” he says, closing his eyes, rubbing his forehead with tented fingers. “I know. But the feelings of guilt, I just let them overcome me for so long. I didn’t want to get too close to anyone again.”
And he looks up at me. The warmth around us swirls, and he leans forward and kisses me, taking my face in his hands. And I feel the warmth behind my eyes begin again, and the tears begin to fall.
“Val,” he says, “don’t cry. Don’t you ever cry.”
“I’m just really sorry for what you’ve been through.”
“But Val, don’t you see?”
He pulls me close to him, sliding me between his legs, and wraps me up in his strong arms.
“Val, you’ve saved me. You’ve made me feel again. I don’t want to hide away anymore. Not since you.”
“Cole,” I whimper, shutting my eyes tight. “Cole, I don’t know what to say.”
“Just say you’ll be mine forever, Val. Be mine.”
And he embraces me again, and kisses me, and finally, again, I can breathe.
Epilogue
Valoria - One Year Later
Girl, you better not hide from me. I’m going to smack your sweet little ass and give you a good talking to if you hide from me.”
“I’m not hiding,” I hear her say through the green, lush trees. Everything is wet and dewey and alive under the setting sun.
“Well I can’t find you,” I say, looking over my shoulder.
“What are you going to do if you catch me?” Her sweet voice echoes between the trees, bouncing around among them, like it’s part of the landscape.
She is. She’s part of the landscape of my heart, of my mind.
“If I can’t catch you, you’re going to get a stern punishment. And if I can...then you’re going to get a stern punishment.”
I turn around again when I hear her laughing, and I can see her bright smile in my mind.
“Promise?”
Val pops out from behind a tree, pointing her paintball rifle right at my chest.
I laugh, putting up my hands slowly.
“You’re the boss,” I say, “and you’ve got me painted into a corner. So I’ll do whatever you tell me to do.”
“I think shooting you would be too much of an empty formality,” she says, pointing her rifle away from me and starting to walk toward me. “I don’t need to shoot you.”
“What do you want to do instead?” I say, linking arms with her. “Hot bath? How about some of my famous pasta?”
“I was thinking of something else,” she coos, her fucking sexy voice teasing me. “I was thinking something to commemorate our first day together. It was a year ago.”
“You say that like it’s even within the realm of possibility for me to have forgotten. And anyway, I thought this outing you organized was to commemorate our first day together.”
“Oh, I see,” she teases me, giggling. “Well that’s fine, if you want to just go to bed when we get home.”
“Fuck no,” I say, spinning her around and kissing her. “Fuck. No.”
She jumps up on me, wrapping her legs around my waist, putting her arms around my neck, and I get hard as a fucking diamond when I feel her little body grinding against mine.
I push her against a tree, our mouths crushing together, our tongues slipping against each other’s in a kiss that is fucking hot and wanting and needing as our first. And it’s warm out tonight, the air is like silk dancing against our skin, and I put her down on the ground so I can slip her little black panties to the side.
She gasps as I push my fingers against her skin, finding her clit.
“You are already soaked,” I growled. “I still make you fucking wet.”
“Here,
though?” she mewls sweetly, biting her bottom lip.
“This is my mountain, and you are my queen. Now get down on your knees baby.”
And she drops down against the tree, her luscious blonde hair flowing wildly between my fingers as she yanks my zipper down and pulls out my cock.
It’s a fucking glorious sight to behold as she opens up her lips and sucks me into her mouth, my precome coating her tongue, her throat.
She pumps at me furiously before getting up, and I scoop her ass up into my hands, pinning her against the tree again.
“I am going to fuck you senseless, and I am going to paint the inside of your pussy with my seed. You ready, baby?”
I push into her tight cunt and she gasps, throwing her head forward into my shoulder as I push her legs open.
“I want you to come deep inside me, Cole. Deep. But...”
“But what, love? What is it?”
“I...I am already pregnant.”
“What?”
My heart fucking soars.
We had her go off birth control last month because we wanted to start trying. But we didn’t think it would happen right away. Not during the first month.
I had no fucking idea it would happen right away.
And this is my dream come true.
“Val, I love you,” I growl into her ear, my sweet lovely girl holding onto me tight. “And even if there’s already a baby growing inside you, that’s not going to stop me from pumping my come deep inside you. I want to mark you every single chance I get.”
“Please do it Cole, please,” she begs. “Please. Make everyone know I’m yours. I’m so...happy.”
I reach down between us and I catch her clit against my fingers, and as I feel her comeming, my cock explodes deep inside her, depositing my seed deep inside.
And I’ll never stop. I’ll never stop loving her.
She’ll never stop loving me.
She’ll never stop being my Val. My Valoria. My Valentine.
And right now, we’re only just starting.
Sneak Preview - Claiming His Princess
I’m standing at the sinks in the ladies’ room on the top floor of the museum, and I can barely catch my breath.
I just went from decidedly not being on a date with a man who is nearly twice my age and completely forbidden, to agreeing to go to his apartment for a drink.
I rest my hands on the edge of the big, black marble sink and my fingers curl under the edge. Except I’m not really resting my hands on the sink. I’m holding onto it for dear life.
I’ve been close to older men before. In college, I befriended my Greek professor. I went to his office hours with a few of my girlfriends, and I always ended up staying behind to continue chatting with him after my friends had left to go off and get ready for parties or dates with men - boys - our own age.
I was close to my last dance instructor, back in my hometown, and he was as hot as Theodore is. All of his students were close to him, and nothing inappropriate or untoward ever happened.
But I never felt attracted to him. I was able to acknowledge that he was sexy while never having feelings for him.
I look into the mirror in the dim ladies’ room. There’s no one here, and the museum is closing in just a few minutes. I think we outlasted everyone, in fact, because Theodore and I were able to peruse the last several paintings in solitude.
I shouldn’t be doing this, but I can’t deny my feelings. And it’s just a drink - I’m a grown woman, and I’m just going to have a drink with my dance instructor. The code of conduct does dictate that students and instructors are not to have romantic relationships, but it’s not like we’re doing anything illegal.
We’re just two people, spending an afternoon and evening together.
I watch my reflection as a smile pulls at my lips.
And I can put a stop to it at any time. Nothing has to happen that I don’t want to happen. If I don’t want him to kiss me, I can just push him away. If I only want him to kiss me, and nothing more, I can push his hands away as they snake down my hips, his fingers hooking into the waistband of my panties through the thin fabric of my little black dress.
And if I let him try other things on my body - things no one’s ever done to me before - I can always stop him before we go farther.
No, no, no. I am letting my mind get away from me. This is not a date, and he is just being nice to me. Taking an interest in one of his students. That’s all I am to him. A student. After the experiences he’s had, he would never go for his mousey, lanky, slightly-nerdy, crab-rangoon obsessed ballet student.
I attempt to banish the forbidden thoughts from my mind.
He isn’t even that hot, anyway. He’s British. They all have bad teeth and eat weird foods.
Except he doesn’t have bad teeth. He has a sexy smile with rows of perfectly straight white teeth, and even though I’ve never seen him eat anything, I’m sure he consumes a diet of caviar, steak tartare and fresh veggies to keep his protein up, given all of the physical activity he does.
I am woefully inexperienced for my age, and the second he figures out I’m a virgin, I am rather confident that he will lose all interest in me.
And suddenly, I am thankful to be pulled out of my thought by a knock at the door.
“Um, it’s not a single stall thing, you can come in,” I shout toward the door. But no one comes in. Instead, there’s another knock.
With a huff I walk over and swing the door open.
“You can just come in,” I start, but my voice trails off when I see Theodore standing there, his arms spread out with both hands gripping the doorframe. He’s caging me in, and I’m suddenly more hot inside than I’ve ever been before.
I can feel myself suddenly becoming very wet.
“Are you alone in there?” he asks.
“Yes, but this is the ladies’ room,” I say, a fluttering excitement zipping up my spine.
And I lose myself in his power as he bends down, pressing his lips to mine as he parts my mouth, pushing his tongue inside me. He pushes me into the ladies’ room, our tongues gliding together as he consumes my mouth, sending fire into my clit and making my pussy clench up as he pulls me close, making my breasts press up against hm.
A moan comes out of my mouth and then a yelp as he spins me around roughly, picking me up and putting me down on the edge of the sinks.
This is so damn wrong, but I would let him do whatever the fuck he wants to my body right now.
His eyes meet mine, those flashing, dangerous and perfectly green eyes making me chew on my bottom lip as they drag down the front of my body, searching every single inch of my curves.
Then I watch as his big, rough hands find my knees and he pushes them apart, making my dress glide up my thighs.
“Feet up here, baby,” he commands as he slips my black pumps off by the heels, making them crash onto the floor with two quick, erotic clicks. I whimper as I hook both of my naked, smooth heels onto the edge of the desk and he kneels down between my legs, his hands spreading my knees far apart as he looks at my pussy, barely covered by the little black thong I’m wearing.
“Oh my god,” he growls, hooking one of his big fingers inside the thin strip of fabric. His eyes stay between my legs as I look down, watching him intently, unable to comprehend what the hell is happening inside my body.
He pulls on the strip of fabric, his finger never touching my soaked slit or my wet pearl. His teasing is infuriating and making me want to push my pussy against his finger, hovering just above my clit, but something tells me he wants to be in charge. Something tells me I’m going to be in big trouble if I try anything like that.
And as if he can read my thoughts - or maybe he can just read my aching, needy body - he smiles a wicked grin up at me and pulls the fabric aside, making it pull up against my skin, splitting my ass cheeks in two as I feel the thong against my skin. He slowly leans down at as I watch his delectable lips move toward my aching pussy, spread open between my legs, my
head falls back softly as my eyelids flutter closed.
“No,” he growls roughly, and my eyes fly open as I feel him put his hand on my chin, “you watch what I’m going to do to you, princess.”
I squeal like I have no control over what’s happening inside me, looking down, following his command, as his tongue sweeps out from between his lips to glide against my clit, finding every groove around it slowly as he tastes me.
“Oh fuck!” I cry out as his delicate tongue traces around my pearl slowly.
His eyes flash up to mine, and I watch as darkness passes across his expression.
“Quiet,” he growls, moving one of his hands from inside my stretched-out thigh to the front of my black silk and lace dress. His fingers move up my body with an aching slowness and his finds one of my nipples along the way, pushing his hand inside my dress. “We’re going to talk about the fact that you’re not wearing a bra later. But for now, you keep quiet.”
He brings his index finger to my bottom lip, pulling at it slowly as I open up my mouth for him. He pushes his finger past my teeth and I wrap my lips around it, hollowing out my cheeks and I suck on it out of instinct, tasting his sweet skin against my tongue.
He pushes one of my knees back and my belly bends as my body curls on the desk slightly, sinking down a bit further as I watch his mouth come to my pussy again. The black lace thong is tight against my inner thigh, where my most intimate place meets the line of my leg, and I keep sucking on his finger softly as he slowly pushes it in and out of my mouth.
“You are exquisite, princess,” he growls, spreading my pussy open with two fingers. Out of need and a strange sense of obedience I keep my legs spread open for him, my knees nearly up by my ears, as he puts his hot, expert tongue deep inside me.
His eyes flash up to mine as if to ensure I am still watching, still obeying his command to look at what he’s doing to me, before his eyes shut away that beautiful green. He fucks my pussy with his tongue as I watch, his hard muscle hitting every ridge inside my hot, needy slit.
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