Page 58 of A Bond Beyond Blood (The Butcher’s Daughter Trilogy #1)

V inny

It was nearly dawn when I finally stepped inside the gym and made my way to my apartment upstairs.

As soon as I walked through the door, my girl’s scent overwhelmed me, curling into my nose and warming me from the inside out.

A smile teased at the edges of my lips as I picked up on the second scent, the headier, masculine scent.

And the sex, fuck me , this place reeked of it.

My cock stirred as I swung my gaze around the room.

Had they just finished fucking?

Gannon was perched in the gaming chair at my desk in the corner of the living area.

He glanced up at me, then his eyes quickly widened as if realizing I could scent what he’d done with my girl.

But then his eyes jerked down to the blood coating the front of my shirt and his brow furrowed with concern.

“It’s not mine.”

He nodded. “She’s asleep in your room.”

I stared at him for a moment, curiosity burning in my chest, but then he returned his attention to the combat game he was in the middle of and I made my way to my bedroom.

Their evening with his mother was none of my business.

As much as I hated the idea of him, the kid had begun to grow on me.

And, like it or not, Jacqueline loved Gannon—and he obviously loved her very much, past mistakes aside.

And my girl deserved all the devotion in the world.

“You good, kid?” I asked.

He nodded, so I left it at that. We weren’t really on a ‘discuss our feelings and personal lives level’ yet—and I was cool with it staying like that.

As he’d said, Jacqueline was sound asleep in my bed, so no matter what happened on their date, I was the one coming home to her.

I closed the door behind me and listened to her soft breaths for a moment, then I stepped past her into the bathroom, closing that door quietly behind me so as not to disturb her.

I removed my shoes and socks, then unbuttoned my jeans and pushed them down my legs, smiling when the soft thud of her feet hitting the floor alerted me to her approach. She knocked on the door softly. “Vinny?”

“Come in,” I said as she pushed the door open.

Her breath hitched as she took in the sight of me.

“Hey, hey, it’s not mine.”

Her gaze flicked back and forth between my eyes, then down to the blood, then my hands, checking my knuckles for injuries. “I’m okay,” I stated firmly as I tugged the henley off and tossed it into the hamper in the corner. “I wasn’t in a brawl.”

I turned on the shower, twisted the nozzle to heat the water, then extended my hand. “Come ‘ere, little Fiorino.”

She slipped her hand into mine and I pulled her toward me, stopping her before she crashed into my chest. I wanted to remove the blood from my skin before I really touched her. Instead, I slowly undressed her, even though seeing her in my clothes was something I wanted burned into my retinas.

“How was your night, sweet girl?” I tugged the old White Sox jersey from her body, then quickly followed with the sweats she’d found, pushing them gently down her sculpted legs. I trailed my hands back up, leaving goosebumps in my wake as I stood.

She chewed on her bottom lip and wouldn’t meet my eyes.

“No,” I said as I tugged her lip free, “none of that.”

I motioned for her to get into the shower, then quickly followed, wrapping her in my arms as I positioned us both beneath the stream of the rain showerhead I’d installed above. She tilted her head back and closed her eyes, and I couldn’t resist dipping my head to taste the soft skin of her throat.

“Tell me,” I whispered. “No secrets, okay?”

She nodded, then opened her eyes to meet my gaze. “We, um...” She winced, and that full bottom lip found itself at the mercy of her teeth again.

“I can smell him on you, Jacqueline.” I bent to tug her lip free with my lips, then kissed her slowly, assuring her without words that nothing she could say—or do, for that matter—was going to push me away. When I pulled back, she frowned, searching my gaze.

“You’re not mad?”

I licked my lips, considering how to answer her. Was I mad?

Did it matter?

As possessive as I was over this girl, the angry and jealous boyfriend was not who I wanted to be for her. I wanted to give her safety and love, all the things she’d been missing since her father died and Gannon fucking bailed on her.

“If I could have you all to myself and know without a doubt that you’d be happy, that’s what I would want,” I admitted.

She breathed deeply and I pulled her closer, nestling my hardening cock against her warm body.

“But if I have to share you with another man who loves you almost as much as I do?” I shrugged. “I can do that.”

Her lips twitched on a smile and she shook her head. “Who are you, Vincenzo?”

I chuckled softly, then dropped down to lick her nipple into a stiff peak.

I moved to the other one, and continued ravishing her, and when I was satisfied with the results—and my girl was breathing heavily—I lowered to my knees on the tile floor and looked up at her.

“Let’s just say I’m a man who’s been around long enough to know that when you find a good woman, you don’t let her go—and you certainly don’t clip her wings. ”

Her bottom lip trembled with emotion, but I wanted her trembling for entirely different reasons, so I leaned forward and, ignoring the heady scent of her ex-boyfriend still lingering on her pretty pussy, I began to lick her slowly, spreading her thighs with my palms so I could position my face between them.

Before I really committed to devouring her, I looked up once more and added, “But forgive me if the idea of his cock inside this sweet cunt makes me want to erase even the thought of him from your mind and body.”

Jacqueline licked her lips, and the way her pupils dilated as she looked down at me hungrily made my own appetite roar to life.

“You might want to hold onto something, sweet girl.”