#3 —Chapter 24
LIANA
I’d married Vinn.
The shock and disbelief wore off quickly, and a boundless joy exploded within me like garish Christmas lights. The man of my dreams was my husband. I wished I could send a letter to my teenage self, and tell her one thing:
One day, he will marry you.
The lack of splendor didn’t bother me as much as I thought it might after he swept me in his arms and threw me onto the bed.
Vinn dragged me to the edge of the mattress. He wedged my thighs apart, and steam tingled my clit. I inhaled sharply at the contact. His tongue stroked my seam before his mouth covered me hungrily. The engulfing warmth shot electricity to my aching nipples. His hands locked around my hips, rocking me back and forth.
Shivers ran down my spine. The pit of my stomach churned. I writhed with the tight, heated circles of his tongue. A burning desire screamed for more to fill the void, but his lips feathered me, teasing, balancing me over the precipice. Faster and faster, he swirled and sucked, and then I shattered into a million bolts of light. Then a broad head fitted to my pussy.
Vinn slammed into me. He’d shoved me headlong into a second wave of pleasure. I seized his hair, mashing our lips together. He tasted sweet and clean, his lips wet with me, and I could’ve climbed on him again. He came with a tense arch of his body, eyes shut. Vinn’s breathless kisses faded to a peck on my cheek.© 2024 Nôv/el/Dram/a.Org.
I snuggled against him, our legs intertwined.
“I’m taking you to Paris for our honeymoon.”
My heart squealed. “When?”
“As soon as we roll out of bed.”
Easier said than done. The high of marrying my dream-man wrapped me in a stupefying bliss that had no interest in doing anything but him. Eventually, we had to eat, so we wandered into the kitchen and finished the breakfast leftovers. Then Vinn dragged me into the walk-in closet.
He crammed his suitcase with shorts and T-shirts until I made him check in a suit, so he retaliated by grabbing a scantily-clad number from my wardrobe. Laughing, we rolled our bags outside and whisked to the airport. During the eight-hour plane ride, I read Vinn’s dog-eared travel book. It tickled me that he’d already marked it up with notes. I killed the rest of the time by sleeping-I really needed to catch up on z’s-and woke up at the flight attendant’s voice crackling on the speaker.
I plastered my face to the window as the grey sprawl of Paris broke through clouds. His heavy weight leaned into me. Heat burst through my chest. I hugged him, kissing him hard.
Vinn granite lips curved. “You act like you’ve never been abroad.”
“It’s different with you.”
I love you.
The words fought for freedom as he patted my arm, pink in the cheeks.
After we landed, the cab took us to a small apartment over a cobblestoned street in the Marais. Vinn stopped at a grocery store for cold cuts, cheese, and a baguette. Then he took our suitcases up the narrow staircase into a dingy flat.
“I know it’s not a five-star hotel, but this is the better way to travel. Trust me.” He slid the bread over the kitchen table and washed his hands. “You want lunch?”
I grasped him from behind. I held him for a solid minute, refusing to release when he gently pulled at my arms.
Vinn tensed. “You letting me go anytime this century?”
“Nope.”
“All right then.”
He guided us into the bedroom with me trailing him. I laughed as we faced the tiniest double bed.
“That can fit one of my ass-cheeks, maybe.”
“We’ll make it work.” He yanked me on the mattress.
“Have you been to Paris before?”
He nodded. “A few times.”
“Did you go with someone?”
“With a girl, you mean?” Vinn’s mouth curled as heat stole over my face. “No. Never wanted to.”
My pulse pounded. “Why not?”
“Nico gave me advice once. About marriage. I took it to heart, I guess.” Vinn’s fingers trailed my temple. “If you find a woman you think is the one, travel the world with her. Visit places that are hard to get to. And when you come back to Boston, if you’re still speaking to her, marry her at the airport.”
“But you did everything backwards.”
“I figured the fake engagement thing was close enough. Stress either pushes couples apart, or it binds them closer. You and I have that covered. Don’t we?”
We did.
My stomach knotted. “Have you ever been in love?”
He hesitated. “No. You?”
I pictured Vinn as a younger man, that beaming smile, his hand closing mine over the shell. Then I thought about his murder confession and all the things I’d done in the name of love.
I met Vinn’s soft eyes, hesitating.
I couldn’t lie to him.
“Yes.”
“Love seems to make people miserable as hell.” He darkened as his gaze dipped to my throat, at the seashell hanging there.
“Sometimes it really hurts.” I gripped his hand, flipping it over to admire the gold band. “It’s like drowning and breathing the sweetest air at the same time. It’s the best thing that ever happened to me.”
I smiled at him, but Vinn glowered.
He grabbed my neck. He hovered an inch from me, bristling. “I’m the best thing that ever happened to you. Don’t you forget it.”
Of course you are, you idiot.
I love you.
TELL HIM. You’re married.
It made no sense to keep the truth from my husband, except for the violent fear jangling my nerves whenever I opened my mouth. I’d already said I-love-you in so many ways. I’d skipped classes during midterms so he wouldn’t be alone while he recovered in the hospital. I should’ve confessed, but the past decade had thoroughly jaded me.
He would never love me.
Maybe it was beyond him.
I needed to live with that and stop forcing him into a box, but my heart broke at the idea of never being loved. What if I told him, and he patted my shoulder like I’d paid him a nice compliment?
The battle waged within me as we spent the day sightseeing. We visited art museums, kissed under the Eiffel tower, and ate brunch. I had a bounce in my step, but what I looked forward to most was wrapping up the evening in bed.
We retired to the flat after dinner to “rest,” which was code for “fuck” because he pressed me against the wall the second we closed the door.
My pack hit the floor.
His elbow bumped the switch, bathing us in semi-darkness. Outdoor lights slid across Vinn’s face as he gripped my arms. His punishing hold sent a warning shiver through me. I angled my head. He stiffened when I went for the kiss.
Great. He was in a mood.
“What’s got you all bothered?”
He glowered at me, his voice filled with reproach. “Every Frenchman in this city thinks it’s all right to ogle my wife.”
A fierce breeze swept the wings of my butterflies.
I rolled my eyes. “Nobody’s ogling me.”
“You haven’t noticed, but they are.”
“Better not take me to Italy. You know how the men behave over there.”
“Do I ever.”
“Or the South of France. Topless beaches.”
“Don’t tempt me.” Vinn’s hands glided to my waist as he guided us toward the living room. “I’ll have us there in an afternoon just so I could admire the light from the water bouncing off your tits.”
I laughed. “Then everyone else could see me.”
“They would have my permission.”
I gaped at him. “Really?”
“There’s a big difference when I invite others to watch what they will never be allowed to…” he broke off, his fingers brushing my breasts, “touch.”
My blood pounded like an awakened river. He fondled one globe, his thumb teasing my nipple to hardness. I went limp. All day, we’d exchanged chaste kisses because Vinn wasn’t a fan of PDA. My body sang as he slipped under my bra. His warmth enveloped my tits, and he squeezed, dragging a moan from me. Then he ripped the shirt over my head. My seashell dangled on my neck.
He gripped the chain. “I will fuck him out of you.”
Good luck with that.
Holding the necklace like a leash, he yanked down.
My knees hit the floor.
His fist balled my hair and the golden string. His expression was tight with strain, as though he’d held off on dominating me, and it had cost him. He smiled, but it was without humor, and the tension grew between us, stretched beyond endurance.
“Who do you belong to?”
My pulse beat erratically. “You. Always.”
“Show me.”
A hot tide surged into my thighs. I stared at him, amazed by the enthusiasm his command gave me. I unzipped his jeans and tugged them down my husband’s gorgeous legs. I stopped to stroke the slab of thigh muscle before splaying over the bulge straining against the fabric.
He was so hard. His briefs didn’t want to come down. I pulled the elastic, and the heavy weight of him dropped into my hand. I leaned forward, hands braced on him. My tongue traced the head throbbing with his heartbeat, and then he tightened his hold. I cringed at the hair-pulling as much as I relished his possession.
He slid inside my mouth, velvet wrapped around steel. He didn’t give me time to adjust. Vinn took his pleasure first. A sensual flame ignited in my pussy. Slick arousal pooled into my panties as he sawed my tongue. It was a relief for him to seize control so he could fuck me however he pleased, to submit to this burning ecstasy. We might’ve not known what to do with our words, but our bodies communicated just fine.
Vinn tapped my cheek. “Do you want them to see?”
I looked at the half-open window, tempting a breeze. We weren’t that high above street level. Anybody could glance up and see Vinn taking my mouth.
I reeled back, gasping.
“I didn’t tell you to take my cock out,” he chastised, forcing me to swallow him. “Answer my question.”
I murmured a yes, but all that came out was an unintelligible gurgle.
Vinn rolled his hips, stabbing deep. “Sorry?”
My cheeks burned as I nodded.
“Good girl.”
The compliment stroked me with feathers. Then he dragged me toward the window.
He gripped my head and pushed inside me. His hips pulsed, fucking me until my throat was raw. He let out tortured groans that radiated to my pussy.
As if I were drugged, my senses slowed. Shivers of wanting rippled through my body, the look in his eyes so stimulating that the window disappeared. He claimed me, testing my boundaries until he’d anchored himself.
He gritted his teeth, holding me there.
My lungs screamed for air. I dug into his legs, and he drew out and jerked me upright. I breathed deeply as he placed my palms over the windowsill.
“Bend over.”
I obeyed, distracted by the ache clenching on air.
He unzipped my skirt, sliding off my panties. Then he hooked his head over my shoulder.
“Stay.”
My nipples tingled as he left the room to rummage through a suitcase. He returned, his body warming my back.
“Guess what I brought from home?” He revealed a small butt plug in his fist. “I just bought it. Yours were a bit too adventurous for the first time.”
Oh my God.
He stuck it in my mouth. “Get it nice and wet.”
My heartbeat skyrocketed as I lapped around it, shivering from the magic of his touch. His big hand held my face as he pulsed the toy between my lips.
I murmured something.
He took it out. “What’s that?”
“I said, aren’t you going to use your cock?”
“Hold your horses. You need to be eased into it.” He replaced the plug and nipped my ear. “Hands on the wall. Keep sucking.”
He moved behind me. A moan shivered through my clenched teeth as his thighs pressed into mine. A blunt edge glided in the river of my arousal before he shoved inside.
No condom.
Jesus, we were playing fast and loose with the condoms, but I stopped caring after the third thrust like always. He fit so perfectly that it was sacrilege to erect a barrier between us. We were two incomplete wholes, shoving into each other. It was divine ecstasy.
I gasped.
“Keep sucking.”
I obeyed as he plowed into me, but Vinn’s steady, brutal thrusts made it hard to concentrate on anything else. My senses reeled as though short-circuited as he stroked my belly and hips. He tapped my clit, showering my body with sparks. He plunged deep, knocking the breath from my lungs.
I almost dropped the toy.
He yanked my hair, forcing me arch. Then he took the plug from my mouth. A coolness slipped down my skin. The rubber skimmed my ass, circling to a forbidden spot. He teased the opening as he fucked me, and I bit my lip against the groan.
“Somebody’s looking.”
I choked, my eyes flying open. “Really?”
“Yeah, some guy.”
Sure enough, a man in a parka stood in the middle of the street, head angled toward us. He was too far to read his expression.
My breath quickened, and my cheeks warmed. My burning shame rushed down, claiming my neck, shoulders, and breasts. The thrill of being watched flooded me with unexpected heat. So wrong. Why did it make me want to widen my legs?
Vinn traced my breasts and impaled me with jerks of his hips. He worked the toy inside, and, as he did, my walls protested. It was a giant invasion, but the overwhelming fullness tingled my pussy.
This was incredible. Dirty. So goddamned hot.
“I’m going to finish inside you, and then I’m fucking your ass. What do you think? You want that?”
“Yes, I-oh.”
The room split with my moan. Vinn chuckled softly, and then he fucked me in earnest. For a solid minute, I was nothing but a body to make Vinn come. His tempo increased. I came apart from the merciless pounding, and then he made a desperate sound that clenched inside me. I came as sweet warmth pulsed from his cock. My thighs shuddered, and a peace entered my being.
He eased the toy out, the delicious fullness ripped away. I ached with the void. Then he squirted lube all over me, shoving it inside with his fingers. Slowly, he pushed. I gasped at the blunt edge warring with my body, which wanted to tighten.
“Relax,” he said hoarsely, stroking my back. “This part hurts the most. Once my head is inside, it’ll feel better.”
My mouth gaped as the slick pressure widened me. God, it was so naughty, so against what I’d been led to believe that I was supposed to enjoy. My pussy contracted against the ache not-quite rubbing in the right spot. He went slow, and then a buzz hit the air and suddenly-electricity shot into my clit.
He massaged it before shoving another toy in my pussy. It anchored over my clit. I’d never been filled like this. My body shattered and melted as he picked up speed. He rubbed in lazy circles.
Everything was hazy except for the blinding pleasure in my pussy. I might’ve screamed as I came, shuddering and crying. I was thrown into a tsunami that yanked me deep into the undertow, the sensation violent, like water flooding my lungs.
His cock pulsed, filling me with seed. He pulled out and dragged me into his arms, taking me to bed. He balled me into his chest, soothing me from the shock of shattering that last barrier.
He wiped the tears tracking my face and ghosted kisses to my neck until he reached my ear.
“You’re the best I’ve ever had.”
That swelled behind my ribs, pleasing and disappointing me.
I fulfilled his desire, but sex with him tore apart my soul.
He cradled me until I almost drifted off, when a loud shriek jerked me into alertness. Vinn disengaged from me, the floorboards creaking as he sat upright.
He answered the phone. “What is it?”
He sucked in air, the irritation smoothed from his face as a voice blasted from the speaker.
“Nico was shot. He’s dead.”