Page 6

6

OLIVIA

“ Y ou didn’t have to do this, you know?” I say, cuddling the big teddy bear to my chest. I mean it, too, but I’m so grateful that Victor did. “I would’ve gone back to your place anyway.”

As instructed, Victor waited for me to finish work. He sat quietly in a waiting room chair and awkwardly greeted Dr. Sinclair as she passed by to leave for the evening. She couldn’t help but smile and laugh at the sight of this burly man with a teddy bear sitting on his lap.

“I know, but I wanted to.” Victor cranes his neck down to meet my eyes. He’s still holding the remnants of the roses I destroyed out of pure excitement for his romantic gesture. “You deserve a hell of a lot more than chocolates and flowers, but it was the best I could do on such short notice.”

“You’re sailing pretty dangerous waters with that one, captain.” I’ve got no idea why my mind went with nautical wordplay. Then again, maybe I do. There has to be a filthy joke about what we’ve been doing, how wet I get around him and seamen here somewhere.

“And why’s that?” Victor snakes a hand up my arm before slipping it over my shoulder. He pulls me tightly against his body as we walk to his car.

“Because if you’re not careful, I fear I might start falling in love.”

He stops dead in his tracks so suddenly, I nearly topple over as his arm around my neck pulls me backward.

I want to believe I meant it as a joke. That I’m just having some fun. But there’s something about Victor that I can’t seem to shake. It’s the way he acts around me. How he gets tongue-tied and twisted when I burrow into his brain with a silly comment like this one. And I’d be deluding myself if I didn’t say the way he looks at me sends chills down my spine.

Every time our eyes meet, it’s as if he sees me for the first time. There’s nothing but genuine warmth and happiness that flood his beautiful eyes.

“Only start? And here I thought we were returning to my place to plan the wedding.” He plays his shock off with charismatic charm.

“Play your cards right, mister, and we just might.” I wink at him and roll my shoulders to say we should keep moving.

As fun as it is to flirt in the parking lot, we could be doing it in his bedroom instead.

The thrill of it all is short-lived when we stop in front of Victor’s Bentley, and from the corner of my eye, I see someone approaching us. Had we been anywhere else, I’d have thought nothing of it. But Dr. Sinclair’s office has a fenced-off parking lot, and when Victor’s car is the only one here, no one would have any reason to be in it.

Shit. That could only mean it’s one person.

I choose to keep my attention focused on Victor instead of looking over. Maybe I’m wrong about who I saw. Vague shapes in my periphery hardly make up a man, right?

“Not interested, pal.” Victor waves a hand toward the guy, no doubt thinking him a bum.

“The fuck’s this, then?” The British accent confirms my fears. It’s Adam Hughes, the dickhead who followed me here from England.

My heart starts thumping faster in my chest.

Not here. Not today.

“Ah, I see.” Victor turns his attention to Adam, pulling me tighter against his body. “But it’s like I said. We aren’t interested.”

“That’s all well and good, big boy, but no one’s talking to you. This game she’s playing isn’t gonna work,” Adam says, keeping out of arm’s reach from Victor.

What game? I’ve made my intentions clear about us from the start. He was a friend when I was a stranger in a strange land. Now I’m just scared of him.

“You best think twice before you open that slimy fucking mouth of yours again.” Victor doesn’t sound angry, though his words portray fury. In fact, a wicked smile has grown where I expected to see a scowl.

Even face to face with danger, Victor stays fully in control. A master in the art of Zen and not giving a fuck.

Goddammit, he’s amazing.

“You threatening me, son?” Adam hisses.

“No. Wouldn’t dream of it.” Victor slides his arm off my neck and puts his enormous frame between me and Adam. I still haven’t taken a look at him, and with Victor acting as my shield, I won’t have to. “I’m warning you. Say another fucking word to Olivia, and I’m going to slap that cocky grin right off your face.”

Adam snorts loudly but doesn’t dare say another word. Out of curiosity, I peek around Victor to see Adam walking away with his hands raised in surrender. His freckled face sunken low in defeat.

But his deep blue eyes never break away from mine. Looking at me as if to say, “This isn’t over.”

“The fucking nerve of that guy,” Victor says once we’re in his car and heading to his place. He’s doing a great job hiding his anger, but he doesn’t have to do so around me.

“Don’t give him any more thought,” I say, touching his inner thigh. If I wasn’t sure he was still seething, I might’ve made a move for the throbbing slab of meat a few inches away.

Watching him put Adam in his place did unimaginable things to the lustful demon who possessed me on the day I met Victor. Soft, kind, and caring when it comes to me, I wasn’t sure how he’d handle a threatening situation.

And if I didn’t believe what I told him before, seeing his raw, primal, and protective side towards me all but seals my fate.

If he’s not careful, I’m going to fall deeply in love with him.

“Tonight’s still about us,” I add, to bring him back from whatever furious place he’s wandering to. “And Benjy, of course.”

“You’re right. I shouldn’t let—” Realizing I said another name, he snaps his neck towards me and stares at me, puzzled. “Benjy?”

“Yes, that’s what I’ve named him.” I pat the teddy bear’s head and watch Victor’s stone-cold face soften with a smile.

By the time we arrive at his apartment, Victor’s back to his usual self.

Good. Because I wasn’t going to let Adam’s interruption get in the way of what I planned on doing to him. And with the way Victor handled himself, I want it so much more.

“Wanna watch a movie?” Victor asks as he flops beside me on the sofa with two beers in his hands.

I can think of a thousand things to do instead, but we have the whole night to get to them.

“Sure.” I grab one of the bottles and take a sip.

It’s the first time I’ve seen him in something other than a full suit, and I’m definitely not disappointed. Still wearing his white button-up, he rolled the sleeves up his meaty forearms. Without his tie and the top button of his shirt fastened, I get my first glimpse of the muscles I’ve only had the pleasure of dreaming about.

Victor grabs the TV remote and slides an arm around my shoulders. While he starts his search for something to watch, I get comfortable by resting my head on his chest and kicking my feet up.

After a tireless search, he settles on a rom-com and kicks one leg onto the coffee table when it starts.

Unsurprisingly, it doesn’t take long for a bulge to form in his pants. And by the halfway point of the movie, the outline of his cock against the fabric has gotten so big, it’s nearly blocking my view of the screen.

Crap. I can’t do this anymore. I’m just tormenting myself. Why are we watching this movie when we could be…?

I move my hand over his abs and sink it towards the throbbing meat in front of me. Victor doesn’t make a sound at first, letting me do as I please. And what I please is grabbing his zipper and pulling it down, giving his manhood some much-needed reprieve from the confines of his trousers.

I slip my fingers through the hole his zip opened, fidgeting with his boxers while my knuckles graze the monster. Choked growls fight their way out of Victor’s mouth while his chest rumbles with eager anticipation.

After a short, awkward struggle to maneuver his boxers out of the way in such a confined space, his cock springs free in front of my eyes. My entire body vibrates with a chill at the thought of this thing entering me. It’s thick, veiny, and nearly the length of my forearm.

But the nervous apprehension is quickly consumed by thrill.

Wrapping my hand around the base, I roll my head over Victor’s chest until I’m facing his thick girth. My first stroke is met with a soft groan, and as my pace hastens, so do the sounds emitting from Victor.

I observe him for a moment instead of taking things further. Watch as his head snaps back and his eyes lock onto the ceiling. See the strain his flexing muscles put on the poor seams of his shirt. I can’t stop grinning at the idea that I’m the one making this giant monster squirm.

“Victor,” I call when I’ve had my fill. I don’t stop my hand’s motion but allow the other to travel to his strong jaw and bring his face back to meet mine.

He doesn’t speak, or maybe he can’t while getting his cock stroked, but his eyes meet mine with the same fiery passion I saw a few nights ago.

And while staring deep into them, I scooch forward and kiss him, kicking off the rest of our night’s adventure.