A Scarred Soul: A Small Town Love Story (Safe Haven Book 2) (15 page)

“The chaos?” She reminded him, the words drawn out.

In answer, he closed his eyes and accepted the calm, and as he did that, he noticed her fingers relax around his mouth, her hand trail back across his cheek to his jaw.
Caught her
. In one quick move, he rocked from his heels to his knees and gripped her arm, his fingers snapping shut around her wrist. She offered little resistance as he took her hand to the sofa, pinning it alongside her body. The full access to all the oxygen he needed gave him a heady rush over the next few deep breaths.

“Tell me what you want, Vince. When you walked across the room and crouched here, what did you have in mind?”

Joker took their attention as the dog slipped from the sofa to the floor and made his way to join Calliope in her bed. When Vince turned back to her, Lulah eyed the clasp of his fingers around her wrist.

“Touch,” he said. It was the truth. He needed to feel human, to be touched and to feel her warmth beneath his hand, the pulse in her neck, the beat of her heart. Apart from that night in her cabin when she rubbed him to life, he hadn’t enjoyed the hands of another human who cared in such a long time.

There was the hint of a smile in her eyes.

“I wanted to touch you,” he elaborated.

“Do you want to make love to me?”

Fuck yeah, he did. Every cell in his body screamed for her. “Is that what you want?”

“My question, Vince.”

Her wrist moved, and he tightened his fingers. “Yes.”

Now she smiled completely. She was fantastic, this little imp, stretched out on the sofa. He took his other hand to her hip, wrapping his fingers around so that the heel of his hand rested against the dip down to her stomach. Compared to him, she was so small. His hand looked like a bear paw as it rested on her, and he gave her a squeeze. At that, she returned a small nod, her breath a bit quicker.

“But…?”

She wanted him to continue, expected more. Could she sense the way his fear made him hesitate? ‘But’ indeed.

“What are you frightened of?”

Really, everything
.
“I don’t want to hurt you.”

“Go on.”

How could he find a voice for this mounting concern? Would she understand if he tried to explain that he had no idea if he could control himself if that terrible beating darkness rolled in. “What if I have a flashback?”

“Has that happened before?”

He shook his head. Nothing had happened before, but he’d heard some terrible stories.

With that she shifted away, and alarm shot through him. Was she leaving?

“Here,” she nodded towards the space she’d created, “lie with me.”

Could he? He stayed with her face.

“Do it,” she mouthed.

H
e pushed
to his feet and stood over her as she lay prone. A deliberate power move driven by some little piece of ego trying to get the upper hand. She gave him a saucy grin as she trailed her fingers over the vacant stretch of sofa alongside her. When she tucked her bottom lip into her mouth, he shifted his gaze. Did she have any idea what that did to him?

Honestly, he wanted to jump her, right there, strip her of all her clothing, and make her scream his name. Instead, he took every piece of calm he’d assembled over the past hour and called on it as he lowered himself alongside her.

He propped himself on his left side, arm bent, head resting in his hand. From that place, he could look down on her, watch her lively face for reactions to whatever he did. She smiled and went to do that teeth dragging over her bottom lip thing again, but he stopped her with the deft press of a single finger against the center of her mouth. “You, little imp, are a tease.”

She must have agreed with him, because she dipped her head forward a little and captured the tip of his finger with her teeth. He wondered if she really knew this game. With patience, he held his finger still, pretending he wanted to pull it from her mouth. When she lifted slightly and tried to grab hold of it, he instead used the forward motion of her head to do the opposite and slide his finger farther in.

Her eyes shone as she wrapped her lips and tongue around his finger and suckled. Turned out she was with him every step of that move. She teased with her tongue for a bit then pulled her head back into the cushion, trying to break away, but he followed with his finger so that it stayed in her mouth. When she twisted her head, he went with the move before he ducked his head down near her ear. “Imps who tease don’t always get to stay in charge,” he whispered.

She made a small noise and continued to suck his finger. Every stroke she made with her tongue seemed to travel straight to his cock. This had to stop before he exploded. He went to pull away, but she held on with her teeth again. “Lulah, let go,” he growled.

She pulled her lips back in a smile, revealing his trapped finger.

He returned to her ear. “Now, imp, before you bite off more than you can chew.” Her teeth closed harder on his finger, and he reciprocated by catching her earlobe in his mouth and gently biting. She closed more, and he matched her.

“Ah.” She released him and chuckled. “How hard would you have bitten?” she asked.

“I’d have stayed right with you. I wouldn’t have stopped until you did.” His trailed his finger, slick with her saliva, along her chin and down her neck. “Now, why don’t you lie still and behave yourself?”

“Impossible,” she said as she wriggled against him.

He believed that. He continued to run his finger across her shoulder, watching her give a little shiver, a little shrink from the light touch. No bra strap blocked his way, and when he glanced down a little farther, he could see her nipples stiff beneath the thin cotton of her shirt. She must be able to feel his cock against her thigh. He tried not to press against her, but there wasn’t much space on the sofa, and she wasn’t exactly moving away. He continued with his finger, tracing a path, learning more about her with every inch it traveled. At her sternum, he noticed she held her breath. That place was a junction for both of them. Would he continue to her breasts? Left, right, or down? Would he tease her, wait for her to start breathing again before making his choice? He’d already made his choice, but she didn’t have to know that.

“You’ve stopped breathing, imp.”

Her chest rose slowly.

Fucking amazing. Even the way she took a breath kept him hard. He shouldn’t be doing this, he really knew that. Every smattering of sense that still existed in his head screamed no. But what, he should leave the sofa and go back to his carving when the world’s most awesome nipple was trying to pierce its way out of her shirt?

“You’re not wearing a bra.” His voice cracked.

“Not really required uniform with tits this size. They’re not exactly flying about making trouble.”

“I wouldn’t say that, they’re causing me all kinds of trouble.” His concentration broke and she took that moment to seize hold of his finger. He studied the clasp of her small hand, then met her eyes. She had that look that crossed between triumph and challenge. “Let go,” he warned.

“I want you to ‘let go’, Vince.” She squeezed and released his finger.

The way she challenged him made him want to do so many things to her. Did he want to let go? With all his heart he wanted that but he couldn’t hurt her, wouldn’t hurt her. His finger remained at that junction on her chest. If he moved it a little he would feel the beat of her heart. A slight diversion and he’d be messing with her left breast.
Awesome
. He wanted to watch every reaction on her face as he ran his finger along and over the small curve of her breast to circle her nipple.
Oh, yeah, big gasp, barely controlled jerk of her hips. Somebody loves having her tits played with.
“Like that, much?”

“I’d like it more if you kissed me while you did that.”

His own hips twitched against her. He hadn’t intended to do that. It wasn’t one of those
feel what I’ve got for you
moves because it was an involuntary,
haven’t had any kind of release for way too long
move. It was as innocent as a move like that could be. He hadn’t stopped thinking of a wet, noisy, tongue-fuck sort of kiss since it came to mind that day. In fact, too much had come to mind that day and never left. And every time he’d looked at her mouth since that moment… Jesus, his entire body jumped, ready for action. He lowered his head right down to her lips. “Christ, Lulah, if I start this I may never be able to stop.”

“Perfect,” she whispered back.

She lifted her mouth to meet his and
fucking delicious
, he was right there with it. He met her lips, trying, really trying to be gentle, but he wasn’t any good at sipping water when dehydrated, either. Her tongue found his in this crossing-swords sort of challenge and now that he had a free hand, he cupped it behind her head and brought her hard against him.

This wasn’t going to end until he was finished. She pushed her breast against his other hand and he pulled away a little, keeping the play on her nipple teasing, a little too light, a little frustrating. Lulah moaned into his mouth and, hell, his jeans needed adjusting before his dick snapped.

He kept playing with her nipple, rubbing it, circling it. He pulled away from the kiss and heard her little gasp for air.

She ran her tongue across her lips. “Tasty,” she said.

“Stay still,” he ordered, slipping his hand under her breast and drawing her nipple up to his mouth. He latched onto it through the thin cotton and Lulah’s hand reached to his head, holding his mouth to her.

“Are you hungry?” she whispered, then giggled.

Bossy and demanding. He could fix that. He lifted his head and came back to her, nuzzling her temple. “To be honest, I’m starving.” He had made her t-shirt wet so that it clung to her nipple. It must feel cold. It would feel colder if he blew on it. He placed the palm of his hand over her breast again, smiling as she rose to meet it. But instead of curving his fingers to grip her, as she might have expected, he simply grazed the nipple back and forwards with the flat of his palm. He listened to her exhale with a huff and a hiss. “Like that, huh?” he spoke against her temple.

In answer she reached for the hem of his shirt, trying to draw it up but he easily blocked her hand. “Uh-uh, don’t touch.”

“Don’t touch?”

He shook his head. “Clothes stay on.”

“Is there something you want to hide, UHT Guy?” She shifted her thigh against him. “Nope, you’ll never hide that in a pair of jeans.”

He withheld a groan. To stay in control took every ounce of strict discipline he could muster.

“I want to touch you.”

“Lulah, let’s slow down. I’m trying to keep my shit together here…trying to be a good guy.”

“Stripping me of my clothes and ravishing me, that would make you the bad guy, right?”

“You know it would.”

“Do you think you and me are a bad idea?”

He dropped his forehead to her shoulder, tucking his head in under her neck, right at a point where she smelled so sweet, so uniquely Lulah. How on earth did he answer that question? Bad idea? Good idea? No idea. He lifted his head again, searching her face, trying for that connection they reached sometimes. The one that made him feel whole.

“Uh-oh, I’m sensing the detonation of a Vince-bomb.”

“What the...?”

“Say it, go on, say what’s on your mind right now.”

“You’re fantastic, do you know that?”

“That’s not what’s on your mind. You can’t lie to me, Vincent!”

“This nipple of yours is on my mind…a lot.” She started to wriggle if he backed off the touch, and if he pressed a bit harder she made this tiny noise, almost a little grunt. He slid his mouth along her jaw, to speak up against her cheek. “How’s that going for you?”

“It’s driving me nuts. If you keep doing that, I’m going to...”

“Explode?”

“Uh-huh.”

“And that’s a better Vince-bomb than the one you were thinking about, yeah?”

“Much better.”

“Good.” He claimed her mouth again, diving in, tasting her. He circled her tongue with his with the same intensity he worked her nipple. Her short hair was in reach behind her neck and he slid his hand and grabbed hold of it, keeping her head restrained as he pulled away from the kiss. Now she started to pass back some control.

Her hand found the hem of her own t-shirt this time, and he pinned her arm when he noticed her trying to pull the shirt off.

“Vince, I need more.”

“No.” He shook his head. “Clothes stay on.” Her eyes widened to baby-animal size, imploring. She tried to lift her head and he tightened his grip in her hair. Once she’d tested the hold she relaxed and everything changed, slower, deeper, with a more patient attitude.

“Your nipple’s like a bullet tip. Tell me how it feels?”

“Freakin’ intense.”

“Intense like what?”

“Intense like a tits-ahoy super-intense thing.”

Vince laughed and caught her nipple between his finger and thumb and squeezed. It wasn’t a pinch—that would suggest a release after the pressure. Instead he kept up a steady compression, always tightening. “Is this helping with the intensity?”

“Worse.”

“Oh,” he cocked his head, “shall I stop?”

“No, don’t stop.”

He lowered his mouth and covered her nipple, sucked, gradually closing his teeth around it so he could tease the tip with rapid flicks of his tongue. When he looked back at Lulah, her eyes were closed. “Are you going to sleep there, Lulah?”

“No, I think I’m dying of some kind of ecstasy here.”

Jesus, what a response
.
He pulled himself up hard against her, his mouth back by her ear, fingers back on her nipple. “But we’re just starting; there’s so much more of you I’ve yet to touch.”

“Vince, I’ve never felt like this before, but if you keep troubling my nipple like that, I’m going to come. I’m warning you, okay?”

She was kidding. “You’re kidding me. Are you kidding?”

“Not kidding, hot guy. Whatever you do to my nipple, it feels as though you’re doing the same thing directly to my clit.”

“You’re hot, yourself,” he said as he moved half across her and pushed his leg between her parted thighs. The way she gripped his leg made him smile. “There you go, something to work on.”

“Strip time now, please!”

He took hold of her chin, turning her face towards him. “Open your eyes and look at me.” The pleading stare she gave him was fantastic. “Clothes are staying on, okay? Let yourself go with this and we’ll see if you really can come with a bit of nipple play, huh?”

“I really want to feel you in me,” she said, her voice raspy from her rapid breathing.

“Sorry, imp, this is all you’re getting tonight. I need you to have some patience with me. Work with it.”

“What about you?”

“I’m fine, don’t you worry about me.”
Such a lie, this is agony.

She shifted her hip so that it rested against his cock. “You said you’d never lie to me.”

“Oh, hell, don’t do that.” He tried to pull away, but she moved with him. “I’m not going to be okay if you keep that up.” He cupped the top of her head with one hand, holding it still, and lowered his mouth to her throat. He could happily live right in this moment, forever. His other hand went back to her nipple, pinching and teasing. Her hips jerked, her thighs grabbing hard on his leg. His mouth kissed, his teeth grazing their way up to her ear. He covered her ear with his mouth, breathing into it, teasing with his tongue, groaning encouragement when she started to rock hard against him. “That’s it, girl, let go.” Less than a minute later, she did, crying out to him, twisting her head from his grip so that she could kiss him, murmuring his name, her gratitude, slowly coming back down.

He held her close, staying with her until her breathing eased and she pulled away a little. “Amazing. God, what a hussy I am. Like a crazy old bitch in heat.”

“I could become very fond of that crazy bitch in heat. I wonder if she’d make a good service dog.”

She did it again, right there, a small quirk of her lips, formalized with a firming of her jaw; she locked into his gaze, saw all of him, even the parts he only
hoped
were there. “Oh, Lulah, I don’t deserve to touch you.” He hadn’t intended to speak the words, the admonishment only for him. He didn’t want his words to sow any doubt in her mind because even he had a future, some promise, didn’t he?

“Silly,” she whispered, stroking her knuckles across his forehead.

He pushed himself up and swung his leg across to straddle her. She winced as he moved. “Your leg, I’m so sorry. Is it okay?”

She answered with her fingers running down his spine, making him shiver. “Touch, Vince. Remember? It doesn’t have to be this difficult.”

But it is. “I’m so tired, you know? When I lie down with you, I’m lost in the pleasure of
you.
But I’m scared that if I let myself relax I might fall asleep.”