Page 45

"No better comfort food in the world than homemade," I smiled, strolling through my bedroom door.

Victoria looked up from where she sat on my floor, twisting a length of rope in her hand. She'd obviously taken the time alone in my room to poke around, and I couldn't say I minded. I handed a plate to her and sat down in the plush reading chair she was leaning against.

"You have a lot of rope for a tech guy." She said casually, and I nearly choked on the bite of grilled cheese I'd just taken. I could feel my face heat to what was probably a solid red, and it took a few tries to get the food to go down. When I met her gaze, it looked like she was doing everything she could to not laugh at me.

"It's usually not a good idea to kill the cook." I countered, not remarking on her observation. A giggle slipped out in her attempt to not laugh at me. I reached out to snag an errant strand of hair and gave it a playful tug, relieved to see her calm enough to find the humor in the situation. "Brat."

We finished our food in a more comfortable silence than we'd driven home in. She leaned against my leg on the floor and seemed to just be taking in my space. However, I spent my time trying not to contemplate the rope on the floor next to her leg. Trying and failing horribly.

I collected her dishes, stacked them on a table by my door, and moved to the large desk that dominated one side of my room. The array of monitors lined the back, and a couple of custom-built monitors were positioned out of the way of my workspace. I kicked the system on, and the fans hummed to life. I found the thumb drive I'd given Joey earlier sitting neatly by my keyboard.

"Make yourself comfortable, Bunny. This won't take long. I just have to get them going, so I have something to work on later." I motioned toward the bookshelves next to the reading chair. "I don't know if there's anything there to your taste, but you're welcome to look."

Settling into the computer chair at my desk, I set to work pulling up all the programs I would need to review the backup footage later. I'd barely opened the first one when my chair was tugged to the side, causing me to turn away from my monitors.Victoria stood before me, her bottom lip between her teeth, as I stared at her in confusion.

"Something wrong, Bunny?"

She tilted her head slightly and then plopped down into my lap, wrapping her arms around my neck. I went utterly still, unable to move a muscle.

"I know you have this whole thing going where you fuck with Az, but he's not here right now, so I'm not sure what you're hoping to accomplish," I said, my voice barely above a whisper.

"This isn't about Az and his bullshit. I… I need a distraction. Everything my mother worked to build vanished without a trace, and whoever did that decided to threaten me in the process."

"You know we're going to keep you safe. Nothing is going to get to you while we have anything to say about it."

"Iwantto believe that. I do." She sighed. "But Ineedsomething to take me out of this awful headspace. Please, Craig. I need this. Whatever this is that's been building. I need it."

"Victoria, I…" I groaned, my mind waging war on itself with her request despite my body's immediate and enthusiastic response. "Believe me when I say I would love to. I don't want to take advantage of you, or to have you feel like I did…"

Her hands slid from behind my neck, tracing a path along my chest, and she shifted her position so that she was straddling me. "If I'm being totally honest, I've wanted this for a while now. Today just made it crystal clear that ignoring what I want and need isn't getting me anywhere." She paused momentarily, her tongue flitting out to wet her lips. "Do you know how hard living in this house with the five of you has been? I go to bed most nights fantasizing about what it would be like if I'd met you guys differently."

My hands gripped the arms of my chair so tightly I knew my knuckles were turning white. "Victoria…" I said, my tone laced with warning.

She rolled her hips, grinding against my rapidly hardening dick. "Craig." She retorted. "I know you're trying to give us both an out, but I don't want it. What I want is to know whether the reality is better than the fantasy I use to get myself off at night. And I'm still curious about why you have so much rope."

I couldn't stop the groan that escaped me when she rolled her hips against me again. My hands moved from my chair to her hips with the same harsh grip. She slid her hands under my shirt, and I felt the soft bite of her nails against my skin. She groaned, frustrated, and did a little bounce on my lap that thoroughly scrambled my brain before she crashed her lips into mine for a kiss that was all but begging me to meet her halfway.

My grip on my control shattered. I snaked an arm around her waist, placing the other hand on the back of her neck. I teased her lips with my tongue, and she parted them to deepen the kiss. I squeezed her ass before hooking my arms under her thighs and standing.

Victoria wrapped her legs around my waist as I moved us across the room to my bed. It took every remnant of my shattered self-control to set her down gently rather than tossing her down the way I wanted. She watched me through hooded eyes as I slowly reached behind my head and snagged my shirt, pulling it off in one smooth motion.

"All of it." She demanded, propping herself up on her elbows.

"Demanding little Bunny." I chuckled, letting my hand slide down my chest toward the button of my jeans. "How about a little game instead? For every piece of clothing I strip off, you do the same. As I seem to have lost my shirt, it's only fair you lose yours."

She sucked her lower lip between her teeth before she smirked. "I'm wearing more clothes than you. That hardly seems fair."

"Oh, you'll be removing your bra too, Bunny. Fair is fair." I chuckled darkly.

"I suppose it is," she said.

Moving to her knees on the bed, she slowly pulled her t-shirt up, locking her gaze on my face. Keeping my attention on her, I moved to the nightstand and retrieved a condom before gesturing for her to continue. She finally pulled her shirt over her head and tossed it away. She made an excruciatingly slow show of removing her bra by sliding the straps down her arms before she let it fall away from her chest.

A low rumble of approval vibrated in my chest as I took in her bared breasts. The sound caused her cheeks to flush, and I fought to keep the knowing smirk from my face. As if we had all the time in the world, I placed the unopened condom between my teeth and let both hands fall to the waistband of my jeans. I watched Victoria as I slowly undid the button, then the zipper, before lazily lowering my pants inch by inch.

"Two can play the games you're trying to play, Bunny. And only one of us truly knows what it means to be in control." I growled around the condom.

I barely caught the sound of her sharp inhale before she batted her lashes at me innocently. "What games, hun?"