Текст книги "Worth the Chance"
Автор книги: Vi Keeland
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Текущая страница: 11 (всего у книги 17 страниц)
Chapter 34
Liv
I’ve never seen Vinny in such a playful mood. We arrive at the hospital and he takes my hand, together we walk, fingers linked, to the maternity ward. “How many kids you want to have?”
His question takes me by surprise. “Two, maybe three.”
He smiles at my response. “How about you?”
“Never really given it any thought.” He quiets for a minute, thinking. “Six.”
“Six?” I respond horrified. The number shocks me.
Vinny chuckles. “All boys.”
“Six boys? You do realize you don’t get to pick what you have, right?” I tease, nudging him with my shoulder.
As we arrive through the double doors, Nico comes into sight. He’s wearing light blue scrubs from head to toe, a cap covering his head, and matching blue paper booties on his feet. His smile is so big, I can see it even before he removes the blue mask from his face.
The two men hug, clinging to each other, tears in both their eyes. “Ten fingers, ten toes. He’s beautiful, just like his mother.” Nico sniffles back the start of tears.
“How’s Elle?”
“She hates me. Screamed something about my head being too big and that it was all my fault, right before the baby came out.” The wide smile never leaves his face.
“She’ll get over it.” Vinny grins, slapping Nico on the back.
“Yeah, nurses said that. Told me it was normal and she’d forget it as soon as they cleaned him up and she could hold him some more.” Noticing me for the first time, Nico greets me with a kiss on the cheek. “Hey, Liv. Thanks for coming.”
“Congratulations. I hope Elle doesn’t mind I’m here so soon after the baby was born.”
“You bring her coffee, she wouldn’t care if you were in the delivery room.”
* * *
Two hours later, we finally get to see Baby Nicholas’s mom. Coffee in hand, I greet Elle and congratulate her.
She smiles, quickly sipping the coffee. “I knew you wouldn’t let me down.”
Surprising me, the nurse wheels in a small clear cradle, where the baby lies wrapped snuggly in a soft blue blanket. Thinking we’d only get to see the baby behind glass, I look down at the perfect pink cheeks, mesmerized by the beauty and perfection of this living, breathing miracle that’s only hours old.
“You think you can hold ‘em without dropping him?” Nico elbows Vinny.
“I’m not you, old man. My hands are still good.” He grins.
“Wash your damn hands.” Nico chastises Vinny. The two have an interesting dynamic. It’s a cross between a father-son and brother-brother relationship, mixed with a bucket load of authority challenging on both their parts. Yet through it all, the two clearly love and care about each other deeply.
Something happens as I watch Vinny gently take baby Nicholas from Nico. A quiet moment, where all the sexual energy that emanates from the confident and controlling man slips beneath the surface, allowing a beautiful, gentle, incredibly loving man to rise to the top. Just watching him look down at the baby in awe of all his perfectness, a protective lion adoring his baby cub, clutches at my heart. I know exactly what he’s feeling as tears well up behind his eyes, love pouring out unbridled for no other reason than his heart decided it loved. I know because I feel it too…staring at Vinny.
Elle catches me staring and smiles at me, the two men oblivious to our attention as we watch from just a short distance. “He’s a good man, Liv. He’ll make a good father and husband someday.” She reaches for my hand and squeezes. “When you’re ready.”
* * *
A feeling of peacefulness replacing the playfulness of earlier, Vinny’s mood helps ward off the anxiousness and guilt that always seems to lurk nearby lately. Deciding to stay at his apartment tonight, I change in the bathroom and find Vinny sitting at the foot of the bed, head in hands, contemplating.
“You okay?” I stand between his legs, resting my hands on his shoulders.
Vinny pulls me close, turning his head to nuzzle into my chest through my t-shirt. “I’m great, you?” He whispers with a husky voice, the thickness of it telling me he’s in the mood, without the necessity of words.
“I’m good. Tonight was nice. Thank you for taking me with you.”
Vinny pulls me down to him, seating me on his lap, his big hand gathering my hair aside as his mouth goes to my neck. I feel his words spoken on my neck. “Want to make love to you, Liv.”
My heart thuds loudly in my chest, “I want you too.”
“More. I want more, Liv.”
“I don’t understand.” Pulling my head back to look into his eyes, he looks down for a minute, avoiding my eyes, contemplating, before his baby blues find their way to me.
“I’ve never made love to anyone. Closest I came was with you, a lifetime ago. Scared me back then, scares the crap out of me now. But I want you, Liv. More. Just damn more. I’m not even sure what that means myself, yet I’m surer of it than anything I’ve ever been in my entire screwed up life.”
There are no words to respond with to what he offers me, so I don’t, I give him what he’s asking for. Sealing my mouth over his, I kiss him with everything I have. It’s different than our usual hot and heavy, it’s soulful, and beautiful, and forever life changing.
Gently, Vinny lifts me from his lap, and places me in the center of the bed.
* * *
Vinny
I force myself to ignore every impulse in my body, telling me to pin her down and sink deep inside of her. Instead, I hover over her, one hand on the side of her head holding myself steady in place, the other lifts her hand and brings it to my mouth. I kiss each finger gently.
She lifts her arms without words as I slip off her shirt. Looking down the length of her, I admire the beauty of her body. It’s god damn perfect. Soft on the curves, toned on all the muscle, and creamy white everywhere.
She watches me intently as I slowly lean down, flicking the tip of my tongue over her nipple. It hardens to my touch and I feel my cock twitch from her body’s reaction. Sucking the pink pebble into my mouth, I draw firmly, falling short of biting, even though the urge is great.
Nibbling gently from one firm breast to the other, my mouth takes the other waiting nipple as my fingers gently pinch at the other hardened point. Liv moans, and it’s that sound that drives me crazy. A throaty cross between a moan and a purr, it made me crazy back when we were just kids, but could drive a man to do feral things as an adult.
I watch as her face goes soft and she closes her eyes and reopens them hooded a minute later. Lining our bodies up, my head looming over hers, my cock is positioned perfectly at her opening. I can feel the wet heat radiating from her slick pussy and I want nothing more than to dive inside, riding her hard and filling every last inch of her.
But I don’t. Closing my eyes, I brace myself, hovering over her. Waiting. Watching. My arms begin to shake and I clamp down on every ounce of control within me and reign in my need. Her big, round, hazel eyes meet mine when I look down at her, and I find them filled with emotion. It takes me back seven years, to a time when I didn’t trust myself to not hurt her. Just like so many years ago, I find myself staring at eyes that scare the living shit out of me, eyes that trust me. Only this time, I want it. Need it. Finally man enough to take it.
So I kiss her softly on the lips and smile down at her. Wrapping her arms around my back, she smiles back at me and together we make love for the first time. I enter her slowly, our gaze never breaking, even when I’m seated deeply, the base of me flush against her wet opening.
Pulling back out, almost in unison we both take a deep breath in, and still for a minute before beginning to move again. Together, we find our rhythm, moving in and out slowly, unhurried, each breath and thrust in perfect sync with each other. Our eyes never parting for more than a few seconds, only out of necessity to steal a kiss.
Minutes later, I watch as her face changes, my slow thrusts speeding up, her hands on my back slipping down to grip my ass as she comes closer.
“Show me. Show me, Babe. I want to watch as that tight pussy grips me. Need to see you.” Her eyes begin to roll back and drift shut, I know she’s close. “Open, Babe. Let me watch you give yourself to me.”
Glazed over, she struggles to keep her eyes open as her orgasm begins to pulse through her. Her body spasms beneath mine as I tremble to continue, holding back my own release, thrusting in and out, rocking back and forth, over and over again. I feel every pulse of her orgasm grasp and milk me, until finally, I can’t hold back anymore. I smother her moans with a kiss. The sound of her being stifled by me is almost too much to bear. Panting and sliding my cock in as deep as I can, I release into her, my own body spurting uncontrollably as she moans my name through our kiss.
Chapter 35
Liv
The next morning when I awake, I roll over and find a cold bed where Vinny should be. A note on the pillow catches my attention. “Went for a run sleepy head. Be back soon. Be naked.” I smile, amenable Vinny gone, back to the demanding man this morning, not that I mind. I had no desire to get out of bed anyway.
Half an hour later, a knock at the door wakes me back out of my semiconscious state. Grabbing Vinny’s shirt from the night before and wrapping the sheet around me, I pad to the door, the floor cold beneath my bare feet.
Opening the door, I expect to find Vinny, instead a vaguely familiar face greets me on the other side of the doorway. One that’s wearing a short skirt and has more cleavage popping out of her scant top than breast underneath.
“Can I help you?” Please tell me you’re at the wrong apartment. I try to remain hopeful, but deep down I know she’s looking for Vinny.
The bottle blonde sizes me up and down, a look of annoyance on her face as she responds, “Is Vince here?”
“No.”
“Who are you?” Attitude and all.
“Considering I’m the person wearing his shirt from last night, I think I should be asking you that question,” I give it back as good as she gives.
“I’m Krissy. Tell Vince I have what he needs and to call me.”
“I don’t think you have anything he needs anymore.” I respond curtly, barely holding my temper.
With an irritating smile that I know is about to deliver news I won’t like, she says, “That’s not what he said the other night.”
* * *
I deliberate staying and calmly asking for an explanation when he gets back from his run, but then my mind starts to question things. Maybe we’ve never defined our relationship, but holding himself out as my boyfriend and telling me he wants us to make love sure sounds like exclusivity to me. I go from talking myself into there being a valid explanation to thinking I’m a naïve idiot all within the span of ten minutes.
The need to clear my head wins out and I decide to get dressed and talk to Vinny later. Only I’m not quick enough. Sitting on the bed, I’m in the middle of putting on my shoes when Vinny strides into the bedroom.
“You’re supposed to be naked in bed.” He flirts as he takes off his sweaty t-shirt. His shorts hang low on his hips, the sight of his defined abs a distraction I don’t need.
“I was. Until you had a visitor.” Standing, I look around for my bag, I must have left it in the kitchen last night when we came in.
Catching on that something is awry from my icy tone, Vinny stops, arching one eyebrow and has the nerve to look like he has no idea what I’m talking about.
“What visitor?”
“Krissy. She said she has what you wanted the other night.” I push past him as he stands in the doorway.
He follows. “It’s not what you think, Liv.”
“Really?” I turn to finally face him. Not even the sight of his ridiculously sexy sweaty body can cool my anger. “Were you with her the other night?”
His jaw clenches. “Yes, but…”
“Get out of my way, Vinny.” He blocks the front door so that I can’t leave.
“No.” Seemingly calm, he folds his hands over his chest and settles in.
“No?” My voice rises higher.
“Give me a break, Liv. I didn’t do anything wrong. Don’t you trust me at all?” Really? He’s annoyed with me? What’s that old saying…fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice…
“How would you feel if it were you opening the door to a man who said he was with me the other night?”
He flinches. His jaw tenses and the answer to my question is clear without words.
“Fine. But hear me out. Nothing happened. I was looking for someone and ran into her and her friend. I asked her to get in touch with me if she saw the guy. I didn’t think she would come here.”
I try, I really try, to accept what he’s telling me, his voice even sounds so sincere. But history and my own self-doubt overshadow his words. Then I suddenly realize why she looked so familiar. She was the girl from the gym. The one that Vinny had waiting in the car for him the day we reconnected. It makes me feel nauseous to even think about.
“Did you sleep with her?”
Remorse on his face, words not necessary. “It was before I met you.”
“Let me go, Vinny.”
Taking two steps from the door toward me, he stands before me. “I haven’t been with anyone since the day I saw you in the gym, Liv. I’m a lot of shitty things, but a liar isn’t one of them.”
It takes all my willpower to step around him and walk out the door.
Chapter 36
Vince
I don’t even have a number for Krissy. Guess I should have thought things through before asking her to get in touch with me if she hears from Jason. I’m pissed that she came by my place, but even more pissed that Liv doesn’t seem to believe me when I tell her nothing happened.
Two minutes after I walk into the bar, Krissy walks in with her head giving friend. “Hey Vince,” she coos in her nasally voice.
“Krissy,” I nod my head. She really didn’t do anything wrong. It’s not her fault that I have no interest. For the first time, I feel badly for the way I’ve treated her…and maybe a fuck of a lot of other women too.
“Guess you got my message.” She grins. Any remorse I felt wanes as I realize she enjoyed upsetting Liv.
“Don’t fuck with Liv, Krissy.”
“I didn’t fuck with her. But you’re gonna have trouble with that one, she thinks she owns you.”
Like running straight into a Mack truck, I realize for the first time, she fucking does.
* * *
Fifteen minutes later, I have an address for Jason. Asshole ran clear across the state, rather than man up for the shit he’s got himself into. Tomorrow I’m gonna have to take a whole day from training, a long road trip to find the fucker. Pisses me off, but tonight, I’ve got more important shit to deal with anyway.
Ally answers the door and is surprised to see me. Guess I’m surprised I’m here too. It’s almost eleven o’clock and I didn’t bother to call first. What’s the point, if she tried to blow me off, I was coming anyway.
“Ummm…” She opens the door, but doesn’t invite me in.
“I need to talk to her, Ally.”
Hesitantly, she steps to the side, allowing me to pass. I look around, finding the apartment quiet.
“She’s in the shower.”
I nod.
“And she’s pretty drunk.”
“Drunk?”
“Yeah.” She motions to the empty wine bottle on the counter. “I came home, she was slurring her words and rambling on about you and Missy.”
“Krissy,” I correct her, not that it matters.
“Nope, it was Missy. Trust me. I spent two years listening to her go on about Missy. That’s who she was talking about.”
I nod as if it all makes sense to me, but I’m actually pretty lost. What the hell does Missy have to do with any of this?
“I’m going to go over to Andrea’s. She lives two buildings over. We’re going to drink mojitos, watch a movie with a lot of naked men, curse like sailors, and wind up stalking the internet. I’ll be gone at least a few hours, so you’ll have privacy.” She smiles on her way to the door, but then stops and turns to me, a serious face replacing her smile, “Please, don’t hurt her again, Vince.”
The gnawing unsettled feeling I’ve had in my gut all day today getting the best of me, I don’t wait till she’s done. Opening the bathroom door, my voice intentionally low to not scare her, I speak quietly, “Liv?”
“Vinny?” She pulls back the shower curtain.
“Yeah, Babe.”
“Why did you pick Missy over me?” With no curtain to deflect the water, a hard stream of water hits her body and splashes onto the bathroom floor.
“I don’t understand?”
“Neither do I. I…I…I loved you.” Her words are a bit slurred, but she’s very much in control of her mind. “And you picked Missy over me.” Tears stream down her face, every inch of her body soaked with water dripping everywhere.
Reaching in, I turn off the spray of water, drenching myself in the process. Wrapping a towel around her body, I hastily dry her off before lifting her and cradling her in my arms. Carrying her to the bed, I gently lay her down and crawl into bed next to her.
Brushing her wet hair from her face, I lift her chin and force her eyes to meet mine. “I didn’t choose Missy over you. You were so young and sweet and innocent.” I pause, thinking of the right words. Although I’m not sure any words are right, since I don’t truly understand my own actions still to this day. “And I was a fucked up loser who’d just got expelled. I didn’t want to hurt you, Liv. You trusted me, and all I’d ever done is ruin things. I didn’t want to ruin you.”
Sadness etched on her face, it breaks my heart to know how badly I must have hurt her. “I didn’t touch Krissy either.”
“I know.” A lone tear slips from her face.
I hold her tight until I eventually hear her breathing slow and I know she’s asleep. And then, I just keep holding on.
Chapter 37
Liv
I wake to a throb in my head that reminds me of how much I drank the night before. I’m content, a warm body holding me tight, but then I remember the night before. Drunk. Shower. A whole conversation about Missy. And Krissy. Ughh…the thought makes my head pound louder.
A full bottle of wine presses on my bladder and I slip from the bed, still wrapped in the damp towel from the night before. Looking in the mirror, I scare myself, wet bed head and streaks of makeup dried down my face. It’s not fixable without a shower.
I wash the makeup off my face and I’m just about to put the conditioner in my hair, when the shower curtain opens, revealing a naked, and very erect, Vinny.
He grins and steps in behind me. “Morning.” He kisses my wet shoulder.
“You’re blocking all the warm water,” I scold. He is, but I’m kidding and he knows it.
“I’ll keep you warm.” He turns me, wrapping his arms around my waist, takes a small step back and holds me tightly so we’re both under the stream of hot water.
We stay that way for a few quiet moments, until Vinny pulls his head back, looks down at me, and asks, “We okay?”
“I think so.”
“Think?” Putting his fingers under my chin, he tilts my face up, forcing me to look at him.
“I’m just a little scared.”
He exhales. “So am I, Liv.”
I nod.
“Turn around.” Vinny suds up my back, taking his time at my shoulders, rubbing a full day of stress free from my aching muscles.
I groan. “God that feels so good.”
“Turn.” I obey, dropping my head as he works his fingers into the top of my shoulders from the front. His thumbs dig into my collarbone while the tips of his strong fingers work their way on either side of my spine at the nape of my neck.
My tense muscles relaxed a few minutes later, his hands caress their way down my sides, coming to rest on my hips. His voice changes, lower and raspier, “Open your legs.”
I comply. Reaching up, he repositions the showerhead so that it’s spraying only on me. Warm, strong streams of water run over my back, as his hands continue their descent downward. His fingers glide across my clit, two fingers settling in to gently rub small circles. The taut bundle of nerves sends a current through my body, my skin reacting with goosebumps even though warm water blankets it.
Leaning forward, he takes one nipple into his mouth and teasingly tugs at it as he bites down and pulls with his teeth. I moan as the two fingers on my clit reach lower, slipping inside of me, his thumb replacing the pressure on my waiting swell.
My breaths coming faster and more shallow, I quickly find myself heading toward my climax. Sensing my body’s reaction, Vinny growls, “Don’t come.”
As if there was anything I could do to stop it from happening, the feeling of euphoria quickly taking hold of me. “I can’t,” I pant, so close to the brink, needing to free fall over and wash away all of my thoughts, if only for a short time.
Withdrawing his fingers, for a second I want to kill him, leaving me dangling, perched on the edge.
“Turn around, grab the wall.”
Desperate to get back to the place where I just was, I comply quickly, turning so my back faces him, bending at the waist and palms pressed firmly against the tiled wall, he wastes no time. Entering me from behind, with the water and my own slick juices, he easily slips into me. I feel every thick inch of him as he gloriously stretches me, seating himself fully in one agonizingly slow, incredible thrust in.
“Slow or fast?”
Oh god. He’s giving me a choice. Just hearing him say the words is almost enough to bring me back to the edge. “Fast.”
His big hand tightens on one hip, the other snakes around underneath me and lifts me at the waist, bringing my ass up slightly higher and positioning me for what he’s about to deliver. I gasp as the hard-driving thrust of his thick cock begins to pound into me with a fury.
Holding me immobile, pinned to the wall as he powers into me, over and over, I moan his name as my core clenches around him, my orgasm beginning to form again in the distance. “Fuck!” he growls, leaning over me, his wet, hard chest pushing firmly into my back as he sinks his teeth into my shoulder. A sting of pain rushes throughout my body, turning my waning orgasm into a tsunami that washes over me, taking my ability to function with it. My body trembles as it works its way through, leaving me completely vulnerable to his strength, unable to even hold myself up.
* * *
Hair still damp and skin pruny from a shower so long the water goes cold, Vinny settles in on a bar stool, watching me make us both breakfast.
“You look like a pro in there,” he says as I slide a potholder on. I open the oven door and pull out the biscuits just as the timer rings. I tip the oven door shut with my foot and grab the pan just in time to turn the eggs.
“I like to cook, but I don’t get to do it often.”
“I like to eat, maybe you should come by and make me dinner every night.” He grins.
Laughing, I shake my head and pull down two plates from the cabinet. “My personal chef services are pretty expensive.”
“Maybe we can take it out in trade?” Vinny arches one eyebrow with a sinister smile. The man has a one track mind, it’s a good thing I like what he’s playing.
Plating the eggs, bacon, and biscuits, I set down breakfast in front of him and walk around to the other side of the bar to join him. “That depends on what you have to trade.”
Catching me as I’m about to sit, he pulls me onto his lap, teasing me with a piece of bacon at my lips, pulling it away as I open my mouth to bite, “You’ll cook, I’ll feed you.”
Leaning forward, I steal the entire piece of bacon with my mouth, nipping at his finger in the process. His eyebrows arch in surprise, but there is no hiding how his eyes dilate instantly at the feel of my bite on his skin. Grabbing my ass firmly, he growls. “Do that again and I’m gonna be feeding you here on the kitchen counter, and your food’s gonna get cold while you’re busy taking what I’m gonna put in that sexy damn mouth of yours.”
My stomach flip flops and I lean in to cuddle into his neck, needing my goosebump laden skin pressed up against him, wanting to show him the effect his words have on my body.
Blind to what’s happening around us, I completely miss the clickety-clack of Ally’s sandals on the wooden floor, not noticing her entering the room until she’s in the refrigerator. “Don’t you two have jobs or something?” she asks as she smiles and pours herself a heaping glass of orange juice, guzzling the tall glass in one long gulp.
“Thirsty?” Vinny teases.
I attempt to hop off his lap, but his grip on me tightens, keeping me locked into place.
“Very. And hungry too. Wanna share that egg sandwich, Liv?” She helps herself to a bite that consumes almost half of my breakfast, before I even have a chance to respond.
“Help yourself.” Shaking my head, my response a moot point, I smile anyway.
“Can you drop me at school on your way to work? I have to work on a project with a group.” Her happy face falters as she groans the last three words of her sentence.
“Not a good group I take it?”
“Five girls. I was hoping the big guy with the goatee would be in my group.” She wiggles her eyebrows for effect.
Chuckling, Vinny shifts me on his lap to grab his breakfast. “I’ll drop you. I’m heading to the gym. It’s on my way.” Two bites and the entire plate is gone. Perhaps I need to rethink the quantity of food I prepare. I’m definitely not used to cooking for a man that burns more calories in the gym than I consume in a month.
“Do you have your truck or motorcycle?” Ally clasps her hands together excitedly, her posture reminding me of a little girl waiting to find out if her mom bought her a new pony she’d been begging for.
“Bike.” Vinny stands, setting me on my feet, and turning me to face him. Pushing a lock of hair behind my ear, his voice low so only I can hear him, “That good with you?”
Nodding my head, finding it sweet that he cares enough to clear my best friend riding on the back of his bike, I ignore the tiny bit of jealousy I can’t help but feel at the thought of another woman with their arms wrapped around Vinny. Even if she is my best friend.
“Nico’s back today, I’ll be at the gym all day, then I have to take a road trip tonight.”
“Road trip?” My brows furrow.
“Something I have to take care of for my mom.” Sadness darkens Vinny’s eyes, his voice reaching for casual, but his clenched jaw and forlorn eyes offering a window into his heart.
“Can I help?”
A genuine smile warms my heart. His hand slides down my cheek, and gently glides to the back of my neck, “Just offering helps.” He squeezes the back of my neck and lowers his mouth to mine, kissing me softly, sweetly, on the lips. “Have a good day, Beautiful.”
