Page 17 of Hidden Ties (Made Men #11)

FOURTEEN

RENDERING VALERIE SPEECHLESS

T aking the offered water, she desperately began drinking the contents, swishing it a bit in her mouth while he went through the menu of the game.

Sal was right; it was scorching in here. He’d brought her one measly glass of cold water when she needed a fire hose to put out the flames he was raising in her body.

Scooting into a more comfortable position, she rested her back against the headboard, then pulled her legs together in a lotus position that she had learned when she had briefly taken up yoga to help her quit vaping.

It was one of the less extreme measures she had taken, while the more extreme ones had involved acupuncture and hypnosis.

She wished she could say they worked, but each one had been a failed attempt to meditate away her cravings.

Only when she had switched one craving for another—aka her vape for snacks and candy—had she been successful.

Hoping her yoga classes weren’t all for naught, she breathed in like her instructor had taught her, trying to meditate away the new craving Sal was giving her. It was working about as well as it had in removing her smoking cravings.

When Sal caught a glimpse of her looking at him, she started fanning her face while holding the controller with her other hand. “You’re right; it is hot in here. You should turn the air conditioner a bit colder.”

Fanning herself faster, she tried to think of a way to get herself off the bed and back downstairs.

Fuck the game. If she didn’t get out of here, she was going to start licking Sal as if he were a popsicle.

One time, she had eaten five popsicles in a single sitting to curb the smoking cravings, so he was in for a real surprise if it came to that.

Sal’s fingers started moving on the controller. “Breathing cold air isn’t good for you.”

“That isn’t true,” she scoffed, wishing his fingers were playing her instead of the controller, which couldn’t appreciate his nimble fingers.

“It’s a scientific fact.”

She had a scientific fact that she was going to fucking hit him if he didn’t turn the air conditioner down or put his shirt back on.

“Why are you trying to bug me?”

“How am I bugging you ?” He said it in a way that he knew exactly what he was doing to bother her.

Sassily, she snapped her fingers in front of his face. “I’m hot. Turn the air down.”

“Fine, you win. I’ll turn it down.” Nonchalantly talking while he took his cell phone from the nightstand, he scrolled through his apps. “Are we going to play, or what?”

Oh, she wanted to play, just not the same game he wanted to. “Yes.”

“Well, then pick who you want to be already.”

Harassed he wasn’t moving from the bed to turn the air down, she chose Yoshi while he, of course, picked Toad.

Sal plunked his cell phone back down on his nightstand. “There. Satisfied?”

“No?” Am I losing my mind? she thought, giving him a crazed look. “You haven’t even moved from the bed …”

His steady gaze studied her. “I did it through my thermostat app.”

“Of course, you did,” Valerie grumbled, looking around at his place. The rich asshole was taking his life in his hands. If she didn’t hate jail so bad, she would strangle him.

“You finally ready to play?”

“Mmhmm,” she lied, hoping the game would take her mind off licking or killing him.

She and Yoshi were kicking his and Toad’s ass in the game … until Sal shifted on the bed and raised one of his legs, keeping the other one straight. The gray sweatpants tightened at the crotch, showing Sal had a better asset than an apartment she would die for.

“Don’t you want to put your shirt back on? The room’s cool now.”

“Nah, I’m good,” he commented lazily.

It honestly didn’t even look like he was even trying, and that alone drove her crazier. How could he be better than her ? She wanted to cry. Hard—Don’t say hard! she screamed at herself.

How could she want to have sex with him? If he hadn’t ever helped her with her groceries, he wouldn’t be the type of guy who cared if his sexual partner got her cookies off before he got his.

When she lost the game, a string of curses escaped her lips. To be fair, it was hard to concentrate with Sal sprawled out next to her.At least, that was what she told herself.

“This game doesn’t count. I’m just getting warmed up.” The fact that Sal was, too, didn’t matter to her.

When he restarted the game with a smug fucking grin that she wanted to wipe right off his face, she untangled her legs and scooted closer to him until she was practically on his lap.

Thinking, Two can play this game , she tried to even the playing field …

right up until he shifted again, moving his leg to give her more room, causing Valerie to fumble the controller from trying to get more eye candy.

Yoshi swerved into a guardrail, leaving devastation behind.

“Valerie …”

Him calling her name had her reluctantly dragging her gaze away from his crotch.

She lifted her hot gaze to his, noticing for the first time that his eyes were, in fact, not black like she had thought.

They held a deep shade of blue in them, reminding her of the blueish-black shade she liked to dye her hair in. “Yeah …?”

“You lost.”

“I-I did?”She bit her lip hard then lied, “It’s your fault. You hit me with a shell. You wanna play again?”

“No.” He let his own need finally become apparent. “I want to play something else.”

Licking the part of her lip that she had just bitten, she nodded before finally admitting the cold hard truth out loud.“Me, too.”

Her admission was all he needed.

Sal lifted then sat her on his hard belly. The fast action took her by surprise, even though she’d had her own plans of plastering herself to him. It wasn’t exactly how she thought he would make his first move, but this works .

Wiggling on him to make herself comfortable, she thought she had gone to gamer girl heaven. Oh, this definitely works.

Suddenly, Sal’s hands gripped her hips, stopping her.

“Stop it,” he gritted out. “You’re going to make me finish before I can get you wet.”

Valerie stared down at him unabashedly. “Oh, you are so late to that game.”

When a satisfied smile played on his lips, her eyes drifted down to them, causing a knot to form low in her belly. Strong hands then slipped down from her waist to the top of her thighs before he spread his fingers out and hooked his thumbs under her panties.

“Kiss me.”

He spoke the words with such need that showed he needed this as much as she did, and Valerie didn’t have to be told twice. This was a once-in-a-lifetime experience for her, and she wasn’t about to let it slip away after waiting for well over twenty years.

Expecting his mouth to be hard, she gave a low moan at how soft it actually was.

Barely skimming her mouth across his lips, she grew braver when Sal stayed still.

She pressed her lips against his harder and almost swooned when he finally took control.

Melding his lips to hers, he parted them, so his tongue could swipe in to tangle with hers.

Jerking her mouth away once she picked up the fresh minty flavor, she straightened to stare him down, which wasn’t easy since, technically, he was already down. “You jerk. The least you could have done was to have brought me a mint, too. I’m the one who has Cheeto breath.”

“Don’t worry; you taste like you,” he promised, erasing her fears.

Damn. Who knew Sal could go and say something to make her even hotter?

Figuring she could give him a break with that save, especially since he was doing marvelous things with his thumbs on her clit instead of the controller, she went back to kissing the asshole.

“I like kissing,” she admitted against his lips, instantly regretting it when Sal pulled his lips from hers.

Opening his eyes, he gave her a scrutinizing gaze. “Why does it sound like a surprise to you?”

Nervously, she laughed, really wishing she had kept that as an inside thought, especially considering he had stopped his petting altogether, and she had been on the verge of already climaxing.

“Valerie …”

“Have you never kissed anyone before?” He didn’t mean for his voice to come out as harshly as it sounded, but it did. The passion she made him feel, along with the shock of realizing she hadn’t been kissed before, was what had caused it. Knowing it was true, he still wanted to hear her say it.

“I haven’t.” It had taken her a few moments until she was finally brave enough to admit her secret. “The boy I had a crush on in high school told me I was too abrasive for guys to want to kiss me.”

“Well, you didn’t graduate yesterday, did you?” He couldn’t help it. He was still in disbelief.

“No, but I think older guys think I’m abrasive, too.” Valerie shrugged before asking, “I mean, I don’t think I am. Do you?”

Wisely, Sal kissed her to shut her up. He had been an outcast in school, too. That some guy she liked had told her she was abrasive at a young age and right after puberty made him feel bad for her. I mean, she definitely was a bit abrasive, but the dick didn’t have to tell her that.

Using his body, he flipped her onto her back, then rose onto his knees and tugged her panties off before pulling off the shirt he had given her to sleep in.

Looking down at her body, he couldn’t believe the masterpiece he had just discovered.

Underneath the baggy clothes was a sleek body that made him wish he hadn’t wasted six months getting the girl next door into his bed.

She had a narrow waist with perfect breasts that had him dipping his head to take a peach-colored nipple into his mouth.

Valerie made a sexy sound he had never heard a woman make before. It was filled with need, want, and delight.

The sound filled his chest with pride. He’d been with few women until the last six months. Then he had been with plenty. But each time he had, he’d asked himself if they wanted him for him or because he was one of the only available bachelors left in the Caruso family.