Page 48

48

CONOR

It was the knock on the door that woke me. I stirred, clambering off the bed to unlock it and peer at an amused Cin.

“Two hours until we land.”

I scowled. “Couldn’t you have woken us twenty minutes before?”

She shrugged. “We gotta talk strategy and she can’t do that without hot chocolate.”

My mouth rounded. “What?”

“Which part didn’t you understand?”

“The hot chocolate part.”

“She should have it instead of coffee.”

“Why?”

“Because coffee makes her aggressive and hot chocolate puts her in a better mood.” She tapped her nose. “My top tip is to always order for her because she never remembers.”

“How do you know any of this?”

“Worked a lot of jobs together. You pick up shit about people in close quarters, and I’ve always liked Star. We have an unusual friendship.”

I leaned an arm against the door, curious despite myself because in all our conversations, she’d never really spoken about Cin. She’d mentioned how she believed Savannah and Katina would always leave her at some point because she was toxic but…

“Why is your friendship unusual?”

“Because we accept the worst parts about each other with no judgment and always forgive one another.”

“Why?”

Her smile was wicked. “Because we don’t know who’ll shoot first if we don’t get along.”

“Literally?”

“Exactly. It’s the great leveler, isn’t it? We may not always be in each other’s pockets, and I might not have even known she’d been inducted into the Sparrows’ trafficking business, just as she doesn’t know where I spend most of my time, but we have each other’s backs. Always.”

“She needs friends like you.”

She punched me in the arm. “I know.”

Rubbing my bicep, I clipped, “Was that necessary? I was saying something nice!”

“Just associating that sentence with pain.”

“What?!”

“Negative reinforcement. Don’t ever try to tear our friendship apart or I’ll hurt you.” This time, her smile was sweet. “Wake her up with a smile, Conor. Do us both a favor.”

Gaping at her now-retreating back, I rubbed a hand over my face before I returned to the bed and clambered onto the mattress.

Belly flopping beside her, I mumbled, “Star, two hours until landing.”

She grumbled her own dissent but slowly started to wake up—soft stretches of her toes, little wriggles of her arms as if she had an ache in them.

The gentle movements intrigued me enough that I pried my eyes open and tipped my head to the side to watch her awaken.

That was when I remembered how she’d sang to me…

This woman—capable of violence and so much cruelty—had serenaded me.

And she had no idea how beautiful her voice was. No idea whatsoever. But I did now.

Yet another of this woman’s secrets that I was starting to unravel.

I wouldn’t stop until I knew them all.

Until she was an open book.

“What time is it?”

“Too late and too early.”

“At the same time?”

I grunted.

She peeped at me with one eye. “How long until we land again?”

“Two hours,” I garbled around a yawn.

“I dreamed of you.”

My yawn froze like I’d been plunged into a vat of liquid nitrogen. “What did you dream about?”

A soft hum was her answer.

Fuck.

My dick reacted to that hum.

Hair trigger, much?

“Where was I?”

“The shower.”

The immediacy of her answer told me she’d been stringing me along for effect. Two could play that game. “What was I doing in the shower?”

A soft smirk curved her lips. “Getting clean.”

I snorted. “Is that all?”

“You were very, very, very thorough.”

“There’s a shower in the jet’s bathroom,” I informed her.

“Nah, you were too thorough for a five-minute cleanup.”

She bit her lip and then reached over to place her hand on my abdomen. I tugged on her wrist, encouraging her to straddle me. Then, I settled my hands on her hips which was when I discovered that, at some point during our sleep, she’d dragged off her jeans and wore only the boxer briefs she kept stealing from me.

I lifted the duvet and peered beneath it to take a look at her.

“My boxers suit you better than they do me.”

She snorted. “That’s because you don’t get to see your ass in them.”

“No, I prefer this view.” I let my thumbs arc downwards, mimicking the V-shape of her apex, framing it with my hands. “You going to show me this?”

A soft, surprised breath escaped her. “You want to see?”

“Does it save time to loop an algorithm instead of duplicating and ultimately having to debug malfunctioning code?”

She blinked then grinned. “DRY.” Don’t repeat yourself.

I smirked at her pun. “Nothing about you will be DRY.”

“You’d prefer me to be WET?” Write everything twice.

My thumbs rubbed in a gentle circle. “I think you know the answer to that.”

She arched up higher and wiggled her ass. “Go on then. Start moving.”

With permission granted, I tugged on the waistband of the briefs and drew them over the ripe swell of her ass. She wasn’t skinny; she wasn’t just curvy—she was muscled. Solid. I should have stopped watching American Gladiators when I was a kid. It totally fucked me over in the sack because her body was my idea of the best time.

With the briefs trapped in the crease between hips and thighs, revealing her upper mons, I gritted my teeth as I locked my eyes on where I most wanted to be.

She didn’t give me a sexy strip tease, just made me jump by bouncing once on the bed and using the momentum to stand. She kicked her leg over me, shimmied the fabric down her thighs, straddled me once they were puddled around one ankle, then seamlessly returned to my lap.

“You’re harder,” she growled, her hand settling on my cock.

“You just flashed your pussy at me, Star, and pulled ninja moves. How did you think I was going to react?”

“You’re such a nerd.”

Her laughter was teasing, but I ignored it to watch as she dragged off her tank and sat there utterly naked in front of me. I knew she had no body issues. I’d also picked up on the fact she wasn’t uncomfortable nude—I didn’t want to think about why because it would have nothing to do with body positivity.

Tongue cleaved to the roof of my mouth, I watched as she pressed a hand to her breast, fire gleaming in her eyes, lighting up her expression with sparks I felt wherever we connected.

The difference in her was electric. If she was leading things, she was at ease. It was when I was the one doing the touching that she shied away. Just thinking about her aggressive blow job made my cock weep pre-cum at how this could turn out.

She plucked at her nipple and tipped her head to the side. “I want to see your dick.”

Not about to argue, I angled upright and dragged my tee off then tossed it on the floor. My belt came next, and then I unfastened my fly and released my cock from the crippling pressure of my jeans.

When my shaft flopped back against my stomach, her eyes lit up. The tip was already slick and white pearly dots had started to leak onto my skin.

“Who’s wetter?” I rasped.

She licked her lips then reached down and spread her pussy lips.

That was me— boom . Cross-eyed.

“I can’t see,” I countered. “Show me.”

She released a shaky breath as I took back some of the control, and I watched as she let her fingers rub her clit before sliding farther down to ‘test’ her slit.

When she retreated, the tips gleamed, and I opened my lips. “I want to taste.”

She moaned as she pressed the digits to my mouth and I sucked one in deep, then the other. Her hips rolled in response and she whispered, “How do I taste?”

I nipped her pointer finger. “Like mine.”

The moan morphed into a groan.

“I want to see you come, Star. In the full light of day.”

Her gaze turned playful, those cat’s eyes of hers peering down at me like I was the supplicant and she was the queen, and I was more than okay with that kind of goddamn roleplay.

“Only if I get to watch you too.”

“You want to watch me jerk off?” I asked, using the words.

Her mouth worked before she whispered, “Yes. I want to see how you stroke your dick so that the next time you let me do it, I get it right.”

“I don’t think I could handle you getting it righter , Star.”

She released a soft chuckle that made me grin at her.

Whenever she got tense, I knew humor would calm her down, and for some reason, she liked my jokes. Talk about a match made in heaven.

Then, her grin faded as the gleam in her eyes disintegrated to be replaced with something else—need. For me. It was ten times more electrifying, a thousand times more potent than a bottle of Valium.

I watched her fingers slide back down, still slightly wet from my mouth, and she touched her clit. I released a guttural sound when she did, then she angled back so her legs were farther apart and I could see every-fucking-inch of her. Goddammit, she was beautiful. So fucking beautiful.

I had to tell her.

“You are amazing,” I breathed. “My sweet, sweet girl.”

The need in her expression seemed to double down. “I like being your naughty girl, Conor,” she rasped, her head arching back.

I clucked my tongue. “Eyes on me, Star. Always keep your eyes on me so you know who I am and you know what I am to you.”

Her throat bobbed but she listened. Her gaze, now locked on mine, turned dreamy as she started to finger herself. Her whimper made my dick ache, but I groaned in return when she shifted down and drew her digits along her folds, gathering her slick and using it to move faster.

“Conor, I want to see your hand around your dick.”

My smirk was honestly earned. Smug, I grabbed my cock and fisted it. She sighed in delight as I started to roll my hand up and down my shaft, and she watched me use my pre-cum as lube because it bubbled free for her.

“You get me so fucking hard, Star. Do you know that?”

Her next inhalation hitched in the middle. “I-I do?”

“You think I’m a two-pump chump for anyone else?”

That made her snicker. “Don’t make me laugh when I’m rubbing my clit.”

I winked then showed her my fingers. “My dick is leaking for you , Star. No one else. Just you.”

She bit her lip then reached over and slipped her other hand through the mess I’d made on my stomach. “You haven’t come yet,” she breathed, the tips sticky with both of us now.

“Not yet. Soon. Touch your pussy with those filthy fingers, Star,” I whispered, watching with satisfaction as she complied.

A keening noise escaped her and she wriggled forward until my dick and her cunt were barely inches apart. She coated her clit with more of my seed then rolled her hips as if she were really digging the feel of that.

Eyes locked on mine, she whispered, “Rub my clit with your cock.”

Her hands fell against my abs as she leaned into me, and I nudged my shaft forward, letting the glans slap against her pussy. Both of us were a slick mess as I placed pressure on the tip and rubbed it around her clit.

“Fuck,” she choked out. “That feels so goddamn good.”

Gritting my teeth, I nodded as I started to move faster, sliding it in a circle around the sensitive nub, watching as her pink skin became dotted with more of my pre-cum.

I wanted to coat her in my release. Wanted her walking around all day with it dripping down her?—

God damn it.

My head arched back against the pillow as the imagery whacked me in the face with the power of a two-by-four to the temple.

“You are so fucking perfect, Star. Do you know that?”

“M-Maybe I’m perfect for you.”

I growled, “Who else matters?”

“No one,” she conceded shakily. “Conor, that feels so fucking good. I-I think I’m going to?—”

“That’s it, baby. Give it to me,” I ordered. “I want it. I want your pleasure. I want to see you shatter. You’re so fucking gorgeous when you let go for me. Me. No one else. Me. This belongs to me. Just like I belong to you.” I slapped my dick against her clit, watching her jolt in reaction. “My cock is yours, Star. Who owns your pussy?”

The moment I said the words, I regretted them. I half-expected them to trigger a deep freeze, but she stunned me.

Her pupils like pinpricks, she whispered, “You do, Conor. It’s yours. I’m yours.”

“Please tell me you’re on birth control,” I groaned.

Shit, we should have had that conversation the first time we dry-humped on Anton’s sofa.

“Copper,” she panted. “IUD.”

Thank fuck.

I sped up then because I needed her to get off so that I could find my release too.

When she whimpered, I could feel how close she was, but something was blocking her. Maybe my words, maybe her orgasm was just out of reach, so I stayed patient. I carried on teasing her clit, but with my other hand, I played with her slit, filling her with the tip of my finger.

Then, with her bombarded with me, my scent, my touch, I whispered, “Let go, Star. You need to let go so I can see you come. So I can watch it happen. You are the most beautiful woman in the world to me, baby. But when you come, I could die a happy man at that moment knowing that I’m the one getting you off. That I’m the one doing this to you.

“I’m going to slide into you someday soon. I’m going to fill you with my cock. And you’re going to ride me until you climax?—”

She started to shatter.

Right in front of me.

Her arms tensed, her back stiffened, her head rolled on her neck, and she quivered in place, all her muscles frozen, still, her strength locked in as if that were amplifying the ecstasy.

When it cascaded from her in a choked sob, I let myself fly too.

I focused on the sensitive tip, knowing that would make me break faster, needing to share the moment with her.

Working my hand quickly, I came with a long, low groan and my cum splashed over her cunt, drenching her in the mess.

For endless moments, nothing mattered other than the sound of her choppy breathing and the ringing in my ears from just how fucking awesome that had felt. Then, her hips rocked forward and she started to rub her silken, slick folds down the underside of my dick, gently working every drop of pleasure out of us.

When I thought I’d go blind from her ministrations, I grabbed a hold of her hips to keep her in place, then I peered at her. “If you want to wake me up every day like that, you’re more than welcome to.”

She hid her smile by rolling her lips inward, then her hand landed on the pillow beside my head and she loomed over me, her mouth connecting with mine in a soft, gentle kiss.

“Thank you for being patient with me.”

For a second, I didn’t know what she meant. Then, I thought about her struggle midway to find release.

Hitching a shoulder, I told her the truth, “Whenever we’re together, it won’t end until you come, Star.”

“I get… That’s a lot of pressure.”

I tutted her. “I don’t mean it that way. It’s not a sprint. It’s a marathon. If you want to stop, we stop. But if I can feel you’re close and just can’t get there, then I will do everything in my power to make you find that release because there’s no fun in this if we don’t do it together.”

“You really mean that, don’t you?”

“When have you heard me say things I don’t mean?” At her slow blink, I teased, “Anyway, I’ve come to accept I’m Starsexual.”

She sniggered. “Shut up.”

“I won’t. It’s true.” I knew she saw my amusement and was waiting for the punch line. “It’s my fate to only want to fuck you. That’s been my problem all along. If you hadn’t taken ages to find me?—”

“Break into your code, you mean?—”

“Exactly. My code was always there, waiting. Just like me. For you to come in and rattle things.”

Her fingers traced over my jaw. “I think I’m the same.”

“It’s called something.”

“Everything’s got a label now,” she sighed. “Can’t we be undefined?”

“Nope. Demisexual. That’s us. We connect on many different planes, not just sexually.”

“That sounds… right,” she agreed, her voice gruff.

“Star?”

“Yeah?”

“If it triggers you, you don’t have to but… I want to think about my cum covering your pussy for a little while.”

She angled her head to the side. “Fair’s fair. You stay crispy; I’ll stay crispy.”

My nose crinkled. “Don’t spoil the imagery!”

Her eyes twinkled with a light I knew that only I put there. “You want to think about me all wet and creamy for you, hmm?”

The breath choked from between my lips.

It was official.

She was going to kill me.