Deeper (The Real Fling) (8 page)

She tipped her head into his. “Fine.”

“Let me guess.” His mouth grazed her ear and his breath on her neck tickled. “She is contrite.”

“Nope.” Adriana laughed nervously. “She’s mad.”

He released her. “At you?”

She hesitantly turned toward him. Brows drawn, his gaze narrowed. He was seething. She could practically feel the heat burning off of him. It shouldn’t matter how he felt, she’d just met him, but it did, more than she wanted to admit.
So much for keeping this light.

“Why?” he pressed.

“She said she was worried, and that it wasn’t right that I didn’t tell her where I was.”

His jaw clenched so tightly a muscle in his cheek twitched. “She’s pissed because you aren’t at her beck and call.”

Adriana turned her palms up. “Why are you so angry?”

Val frowned. “I don’t understand why she’s your friend. She obviously doesn’t give a damn about you.” His accent was almost nonexistent again. Definitely pissed.

“I’m a big girl. I can take care of myself.” Adriana forced herself to focus on him without blinking. He was furious, but there was something more in his eyes. “Who hurt you?” she whispered.

Val pivoted away from her. His head was down. “I just don’t want to see you taken advantage of.”

“It’s more than that. It’s personal. What happened to you?” She rested her hand on his back. His back was warm knotted steel.

He seemed almost on the verge of answering her but then checked himself.

“Why does it matter?”

Adriana wrapped her arms around her waist. “Talk to me.”

His expression softened, as he turned toward her and the look in his eyes was heart-rending. He clasped her waist and pressed her hips to his. Edging her chin up, he kissed her tentatively.

Adriana pushed into him, wanting the full pressure of his lips and tongue. He stroked her with an exquisite skill that shattered her ability to reason. It was one of his wicked kisses that made her body go liquid. Val brushed the backs of his fingers against her cheek and a soft sigh escaped her.

Adriana’s heart was beating erratically. She opened her eyes and stepped back a bit, her tone flattened with resignation. “I gotta go.”

“No.” He looked stricken. “Please, stay.”

Not trusting her voice, she shook her head and started toward the stairs again.

Val clasped her hand, pivoting her. “Don’t.”

“I have to. This was… But I can’t stay.”
It’s too much already.

“Please.” He hugged her.

It was a mistake to let him embrace her. Being in his arms made her stomach tighten in knots, and all her resolve evaporated quickly. Every instinct in her wanted to melt into him. She forced herself away. She had to go or she’d never leave, never want to. “I need to figure out what to do about my job. I’m gonna fight for it.”

“Now?”

Biting her lower lip, she began to pace. “Yeah, if I don’t do it now, it’ll be too late. I was toying with the idea of emailing the execs about keeping me on, but it would be more convincing if I had something to give them. Something tangible.” Pivoting toward him, she rubbed her hands together. “I’ve got a killer idea for our biggest brand. I even thought of tie-ins for the marketing services departments. I’ve gotta draft a marketing plan and get it to them by tomorrow so they’ll have the weekend to mull it over. I know I can convince them it would be a mistake to let me go.” She’d make it so they wouldn’t be able to say no to her.

“You can be very persuasive when you try.” He scooped her up in his arms and kissed the side of her head. “What can I do to help?”

Adriana picked up her phone. “Nothing. I’ve gotta go back to our condo, I need Wi-Fi. This will take me forever to type out on my phone.” Hopefully Jackie wouldn’t be there. No doubt she’d disapprove of Adriana’s plan.

“I have Wi-Fi and a laptop.”

“A laptop would make this so much easier.”
Okay, but keep your head above water.
“Thanks.”

His tongue explored her ear’s twists and turns. Tendrils of arousal awoke within her. This man did things to her body no other had ever done.

Despite her shrieks of protest, Val picked her up and she wrapped her legs around his waist. “How am I going to get any work done if you keep…well, you know?”

“First things first.” He carried her upstairs, sat her down on the edge of the tub, and started the shower.

His towel was wrapped around his waist, giving her a choice view of his sinewy muscles, flexing and releasing. His scars were hard to ignore. The worst one seemed to be on his right knee and up into his quad, but his right shoulder wound was only slightly less brutal. Dying to ask but unwilling to push, she bit her lip. She wouldn’t dream of doing anything to disturb his fragile façade.

“All set.” He pivoted toward her.

Adriana tried not to grimace. It was one thing to be naked outside in the darkness, with bubbling water obscuring her, but quite another to be in a well-lit bathroom.

Almost as if on cue, he dimmed the lights, stepped out of his towel, and came toward her with his outstretched hand. Taking it, she dropped her towel. His eyes never left hers as he led her into the shower. The temperature couldn’t have been better if she’d set it herself. She leaned back, letting the steaming water fall over her head.

Val shampooed his hair quickly. His body was sublime. The suds snaked down his pectoral mounds, dripping over each ridge of his ripped stomach. He had a light dusting of blond hair on his chest, and a darker line that led down from his belly button. He was so toned and majestic that if she hadn’t just had the most epic sex ever, she’d be too self-conscious to be with him. What a waste that would have been. Thank God for darkness, bubbles, and ditching friends. She laughed to herself.

“What is so funny?”

“Nothing.”

His arched brow indicated he wasn’t letting her get away with that non-answer.

“This whole day. Us. Being here. How we got here.”

“Things happen for a reason.”

“You really believe that?” The water bounced off him and battered her face.

Moving into the stream to block it from her, he inhaled. “I do.”

“Everything?” She searched his expression, but he seemed to be telling the truth.

“Very strong thing, fate. Cannot deny it.” He put a generous amount of shampoo in his palm and began shampooing her hair.

Adriana turned her back to him. “Even bad things?”

His hands stopped. “Yeah.” His voice was thick and strained.

“Why do you think that?” She backed into him. He was definitely ready for round two.

“I just know.” His voice was so low Adriana almost missed it. She wanted to dig deeper—he clearly had a reason—but Val began kneading her head and all conscious thought was lost. Adriana moaned. “You like that,” he whispered in her ear, and her body shook.

He rinsed her off and applied a generous amount of conditioner to her hair. She enjoyed every last scrape of his fingers. Then before washing her off, he turned her around. The water splashed on her face as Val kissed her lids and temples, working his way down to her neck, and over to her mouth.

Adriana tried to reach for his neck with both her hands and yelped in pain.

“Oh, babe.” Val kissed her shoulder. “Come. Let me finish your hair and we will get cozy in bed, yeah?” He rinsed every inch of her body and wrapped her in a towel. With his arm around her, he ushered her into the bedroom.

She sat on the edge of the bed, breathing out in short puffs.

“It’s all right.” He kissed her cheeks. He towel-dried her hair, brushed it, and she climbed into bed with him.

Lying down wasn’t easy, but she managed to lie on her left side. Val climbed in behind her and snuggled in the crook of her neck. “You smell amazing,” he breathed her in. “I cannot get enough.”

His stubble tickled and she giggled.

He put a pillow in front of her belly. “Lean on this. I am going to massage you.”

“It’s gonna hur…”

“Shh.” He kissed her neck and shoulder. “I will not hurt you. I promise.”

Was that his tongue she felt?

He went over to his dresser, got something, then sat back down on the bed. With coated hands, he worked the muscles around the area that ached. His rubdown was lazy and warm. Adriana concentrated on his fingers. They were so gentle but there was no mistaking the strength in them nor the expertise. The balm smelled wonderful.

“What oil are you using?” She slurred her words.

“An old family remedy.” He kissed her neck. “Passed down from my great grandmother to my mom and me.”

“Did you make it?” So many scents mixed together—chamomile, peppermint, eucalyptus, lavender, ginger, and maybe rosemary?

“I did.” Gently he went over her shoulder and out to her biceps. His fingers dipped lower on her chest but never reached her breasts, which were again longing for his touch. He worked his way down her back, up to her shoulder, then lower once more. He caressed her butt, circling it with his hands, up and around and in between the cheeks, then across her lower back.

“And it works?”

“It does, and fast.” His lips were on her spine, licking and kissing each vertebra. He bit her butt cheeks lightly and licked his way between her lower cheek and upper thigh.

Soft noises escaped her throat, as her nipples reacted instantly, hardening against the pillow and bed. “Is that how your mom showed you to apply it?”

Val chuckled as he kneaded her aching quads and hamstrings, working out the knots. When his fingers found the sensitive folds of her sex, she stiffened. She was shamelessly wet for him. How’d that happen? In pain one minute and in lust the next. What was this sexy Russian doing to her?

Indeed.
He ran his forefinger along her lips, spreading her juices from her opening, around her nub and back between her cheeks. Kissing the curve of her lower back, he spread her legs wider apart, skimming his fingers across her clit. She tingled all over. His breath gusted across her thighs as he licked the crease were her ass and thighs met. Opening her folds, he buried his fingers in her pussy.

Adriana’s muscles froze.
Zowie.
In and out and up and around, he concentrated on her swollen clit, amping her desire. Just as she relaxed a bit, he stopped. Val helped her roll onto her back. He straddled her and kissed her mouth, then traced kisses down to her nipples, teasing her tightly budded peaks with his tongue. Rolling one between his teeth, he licked and sucked while his fingers strummed her clit.

Lusting for the weight of his body on her, she bucked toward him, but his hips were too far away. She ran her hand through his hair, tugging gently, trying to get him to lower himself. He groaned but remained where he was. She wasn’t the only one who liked her head massaged. He kissed a trail past her belly button.

“Val.” She nudged his head away from her triangle, but he wasn’t having it. He moved back and nibbled the curve of her inner thigh and her hip bones. Her body went limp.

“I love touching you. Looking at you.” He parted her lower lips and beheld her. His breath gusted across her clit and sent jolts zinging through her.

Incredibly titillated and embarrassed, she was paralyzed against his advances. Before she could cover herself or squeeze her thighs together, he took her pussy in his mouth. The intensity of the pleasure he was giving her was savage. Heat swept over her as her urge magnified.

He alternated suckling and blowing her throbbing clit, overwhelming her. The feel of his five-o’clock shadowed cheeks on her thighs countering his velvet tongue was obscenely erotic. She tilted her hips toward him more, chasing her orgasm. He entered her with first one finger than two. Curling them up, he twisted them while he lapped at her. It was all too much. Her inner walls began palpitating as she came with a throttled shriek. Her insides shook sharply, but oh so divinely, and her climax split through her.

Val was attentive to every twitch. When her climax subsided, he kissed her hips and waist and slowly came up and rested next to her.

Adriana rolled to her side to face him. “That was…”

He wiggled his brows and licked his lips. “Heaven.”

She folded into him, kissing between his brows, down his nose to his mouth. It was his contradictions that enraptured her, his jagged scars and savage handsomeness, his torment and happiness, his control and willing surrender. There were so many layers to this beautiful man, she wanted to unwrap him like a precious gift.

Adriana guided him onto his back and sat on top of him. “I want more.” Her left hand was on his chest. She settled his dick in place and pushed onto him.

Tight after her orgasm, and sore from before, it took her a couple of heartbeats to navigate how she was going to get him inside of her without too much discomfort. With each undulation she edged him in more, but Val wasn’t moving. “Did I wear you out?”

He brushed the back of his hand across her cheeks and trailed his finger across her mouth as he pulled out of her. “You have to be sore.”

“I’m fine.” She fingered his nipples and tried to get him back in.

He arched his brow and turned his hips away. “You are lying.”

“I want you more than any ache.” Adriana licked her lips.

“Not if I will cause you pain.”

“You won’t.” She stared at him boldly. His obstinacy and… yeah, he had to work on his flexibility. “Cut it out. I’m a big girl, remember? I need to feel you in me again.”

Regarding her with a thoughtful frown, Val repositioned his erection. “But we will stop if I hurt you.”

“Okay.”

He clutched her ass cheeks and pushed into her slowly. It stung, but there was no way she was telling him. She knew that in a few moments she’d be in paradise, and her itch for him overpowered everything. She let him set the pace, needing that time to adjust. Hell, he was magnificent. Her insides clenched around him, bringing him in more fully, until he hit the very bundle of nerves that set her off last time.

She dropped her head back. “Feels so good.”

He rolled her nipples, tugging and pinching with precision.
Ah.
She had some secret nerve that he lit up each time he touched her nipples. It sent a steady throb to her clit, and intense pleasure swirled like a tornado through her insides.