Page 22

twenty-two

. . .

Tony

I’m an idiot. That’s my only conclusion as I knock on Vivienne’s door at ten thirty. This is not a good idea. We both have training early tomorrow, plus?—

The door swings open. Her eyes widen at the sight of me.

She’s wearing a pair of soft cotton pajamas, her long hair tied up in a bun. Her face is free of makeup. It’s clear from the look on her face she wasn’t expecting me.

This was a bad idea. Maybe I shouldn’t have come.

Vivienne reaches for my jacket and yanks me bodily into her apartment. I can hardly breathe before she’s shoving me against the door and crashing her lips to mine. Sliding my hand to the back of her neck, I meet her halfway, and the second we connect might be the single best moment of my life. Even better than winning the bronze medal. Want bursts inside of me, flooding my body with anticipation.

Our time together three years ago was brief, a snapshot of time on the precipice of something immense. It hasn’t kept me from thinking about it all this time. None of the women I’ve dated since—the very few and far between—have held a candle to her. Our connection that night, it’s the kind of thing people write love songs about.

I’ve been waiting for her to get on my level. I think she might almost be there.

“I wasn’t expecting you,” Viv murmurs against my mouth.

Breathing hard, I pull back. “Should I leave?”

I don’t want to. It might kill me to walk away right now. But if that’s what she needs, who am I to stand in her way? I can’t put my wants above her needs.

“Fuck, no.” She tugs at my leather jacket, working it off my shoulders and dropping it on the floor.

She goes to kiss me again and I cup her face, running my thumb over her cheek.

“I wanted to see you,” I murmur. “I wasn’t expecting you, either.”

Her coming into my workplace? That wasn’t my idea of a good time, having to maintain a specter of professionalism when all I wanted to do was claim her in front of everyone.

More than that, I wasn’t expecting her to crash back into my life. I’d lulled myself into a false sense of complacency without her. Now that we’ve connected again, I don’t think I can let her go.

I have a job to do. Three of them, actually. I need to focus on training, on preparing for Worlds. I need…

Her soft brown eyes flicker up to mine, vulnerability shining in their depths.

I need her.

Walking her backward into the apartment, I don’t stop to take a look around. Instead, I drop onto her sofa and pull her down onto my lap until she’s straddling me, her core directly over my stiff cock. I’m not sure she can feel the hard length of my erection until she shifts and then her eyes go wide, flying up to mine.

Vivienne swallows. “Hi.”

“Hi.” My face heats, but I won’t allow myself to be embarrassed about my body’s reaction to her. I don’t expect anything from her. If she wants to tell me to get lost, I will. If she wants me to stay the night, I’ll wrap her up in my arms and hold her as she drifts off. And if she decides she wants to get naked… well, I’m not about to say no.

Her fingertips trail over my rough cheek. I didn’t shave this morning, in too much of a rush to get out the door, so the prickly sensation of the hair beneath her fingers sends pinpricks of delight through me.

“What are we doing?” she asks.

I cock my head. “Like, right this minute, or…?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, I’d like to think we’re dating,” I say lightly. It takes a considerable amount of effort to meet her eyes directly. “Is that what you want?”

“It is,” Vivienne says quietly. “I know there are… financial considerations at play.”

“There aren’t. Not for me.”

“The endorsements…”

I shake my head. “Would the money be nice? Yeah. But not at the expense of what we have. If you want me to turn it down so we can be together, I will. What we can have together is more important than money in my bank account.”

I can’t believe I’m saying it, but I wholeheartedly believe it. Believe in us.

“I’m just worried it’s a lot of pressure to put on something new and fragile,” she says.

“Right there with you. I don’t want you to think I’m using you, trying to take your connections to get ahead,” I tell her. “I can get there on my own. This thing with us… it’s special.”

Vivienne frowns. “I don’t think you’re using me. I want you to get ahead. I want to help you get there.”

“Okay. So I’ll meet with your agent,” I agree. “But let’s not talk about work right now.”

A smile curves across her lips. “Oh? What would you like to talk about?” She shifts over my hard, aching cock, her eyes fluttering.

Kissing her jaw, I work my way down the column of her neck, licking and sucking her skin. She smells like strawberries and tastes even better.

“How about politics? Current events?” I suck on the spot below her ear, and just like I remember, she gasps and arches against me. “The state of the economy?”

She pulls back. “Or what if we talk about getting naked?”

“You only want me for my body,” I tease, but there’s a shred of truth to my fears. What if this is only physical for her? I can’t separate sex from emotions. They’re too intertwined for me.

When it comes to her, I’m hopelessly devoted.

“I mean, it’s nice,” Vivienne says, running her hand over my chest. “I like other things about you too.”

“Oh yeah? Like what?” Is it obvious I’m fishing for compliments?

“Like, you’re driven and ambitious. You’re working hard for your goals. That’s sexy,” she says. Her hands curve around the back of my neck. “You have a huge heart. You act like a grumpy bear, but you care deeply about your friends and family, even if you’d try to deny it,” she says, her eyes narrowing. And I have to laugh, because she’s right on the money there. “The way you held that tiny kitten…”

“Shadow. I adopted her,” I admit.

She bites her lip, and gently I pull it from between her teeth, rubbing the pad of my thumb over the indentations.

“When I saw you take her home on your motorcycle…” She mimes fanning herself.

I grin. “Yeah?”

“Almost as hot as when you took me on your bike.”

“We can do that again, anytime you want,” I offer.

Vivienne’s smile fades. Her face creases with sadness. “You can’t do that.”

“Do what?”

“Make promises you don’t intend to keep.”

“What makes you think I don’t intend to keep them?”

“I’m… a lot.” She looks away.

Taking her chin between my fingers, I wait until she looks back at me. Uncertainty shines in her eyes.

I don’t think she lets people in. She keeps up a front, pretending like everything is okay, while inside she’s a mess of emotions she never lets anyone see.

“I want to keep you,” I tell her. I’ll keep telling her until she believes me. “For as long as you’ll have me.”

She swallows heavily. “You’ll change your mind.”

“I won’t.”

“Everyone else does.”

“I’m not everyone else.” I brush my fingers over her cheek. “You’re worth fighting for, putting in the hard work. You’re worth it. ”

I see the moment it finally clicks for her. It’s like a bomb detonated inside her brain and she’s left at the site of the blast, debris floating around her. We can work on that. We can tackle this—together.

Her mouth crashes onto mine. Surging forward, I slide my hand into her hair and meet her lips with my own, licking into her mouth. Our teeth clack in our mutual eagerness and she laughs against my lips.

Pulling back slightly, Vivienne reaches for the hem of her sleep shirt. My hands land on her strong hips, not pressuring her either way. If she wants to get naked, I’m all for it. If she decides she’d like to end the night here, I won’t fight her on it. It’s been an emotionally charged night. I won’t hold it against her if she needs time to decompress.

She whips her T-shirt over her head, leaving her top half bare to me. My eyes roll back in my head and I think I’m drooling.

Vivienne is a solid wall of muscle and strength. Her shoulders are rock solid, her biceps toned and sleek. Her strong waist and the flare of her hips are just as attractive to me as her obvious dedication to her sport.

Her strength is sexy.

Moving my hands to cup her breasts, they’re the perfect handful. The tight buds of her nipples pebble against my calloused palms.

“I think I’m dead,” I admit quietly.

She cocks her head.

“I’ve died and gone to heaven.”

Vivienne bursts into laughter. “You’re ridiculous.”

“Only for you.” I kiss her, hard, tugging her more firmly onto my lap until there’s nothing between us except a few scraps of fabric.

She scrambles for my shirt, undoing the first few buttons before she lets out a grunt of frustration and rips the thing off me. I’m wearing a T-shirt underneath it, and as I help take it off, I’m treated to the sight of her sliding her hand into her sleep shorts.

My cock jerks in my pants, and I know she can feel it because her eyes widen before she shifts on top of me, shamelessly grinding on top of me.

Maneuvering her off me, I lay her out on the couch and reach for the waistband of her shorts. She helps me get them off, lifting her hips, and I fling the fabric away. It lands somewhere behind me. I don’t care right now. She’s fully nude, her strong, toned body on display for me.

I’m going to be good. This is about her .

My cock is aching, throbbing, and as I reach down to squeeze myself firmly, she reaches for the button on my pants.

Fuck it.

Working my pants off my hips, I let them drop, and then crawl onto the couch, on top of her. I’m still wearing my boxers. That’s my line in the sand. If she wants more, she’ll have to make the next move. I won’t pressure her into going farther than she’s comfortable. If she changes her mind and doesn’t want to do this, I might die.

It would be worth it.

We collide in a frantic crash of lips and tongues. I can’t stop touching her, cataloguing her smooth skin and sexy muscles. Her bare skin pressed to mine is doing funny things to my heart rate.

Vivienne wraps her legs around my waist, bringing us into direct, intimate contact. The heat of her cunt against my fabric-covered cock makes me jerk and twitch against her. Giving an experimental roll of my hips, I grind up into her core and she shudders beneath me. The friction on my cock feels…

Her hands rove over my shoulders, my arms, my back, like she can’t get enough of me, either. When I suck on that spot just beneath her ear, her nails rake down my back, digging into my lats. The little pricks of pain send even more blood rushing to my cock, making me even harder. I don’t think I’ve ever been this insanely turned on before.

She’s rocking her hips, grinding her bare pussy onto my cock. The slick heat of her cunt leaves a wet mess on my boxers. I’ll wear her brand like a badge of honor. Her hand slides into my hair, guiding my mouth back to hers. Relentless, she takes what she needs, using me for her pleasure. I’ll happily be her toy to use as she’d like whenever she wants.

She nips at my lips. It’s hard to concentrate on kissing her breathless when her slick pussy heats me to my core.

Breathing hard, Vivienne’s mouth opens in a silent scream. Her entire body goes tense as her hips jerk against mine. It takes everything in me not to lose my rhythm, giving her exactly what she needs as she twitches and trembles beneath me. Her fingernails dig into my skin almost to the point of pain, raking a line down my back.

She sags against the couch, a sated, satisfied smile lighting her face. She finally looks relaxed. Happy.

And that’s what does it for me. Burying my face in her neck, breathing her in, I let myself go. It only takes a few swivels of my hips against hers before I seize above her, my orgasm hitting me like a freight train. My release floods my boxers, leaving me wet and sticky in the mess.

Collapsing on top of her, it takes everything in me to hold my weight off her. But Vivienne wraps her arms firmly around me and tugs me down until I’m resting on top of her, my weight pinning her onto the sofa.

“Mm.” She runs her hand lazing through my hair. “That was nice.”

I pull back to meet her gaze. “Yeah?”

Viv nods, her eyes half-mast like she can hardly keep them open. “Yeah. We’re going to have to do that again.”

“Anytime you’d like.” Kissing her softly, I cup her cheek, marveling at her smooth softness.

A warm burst of happiness floods through me, lighting me from my head to my toes.

Slowly maneuvering off her, I work my way to standing and wince at the mess in my boxers. That’ll be fun to deal with later.

For now, I help her up and then lift her into my arms. Vivienne lets out a giggle when I toss her over my shoulder, my hand sliding over the curve of her ass and squeezing before I return it to her back.

I stride into her bedroom, laying her out on the unmade bed. Pulling the covers over her, I press a soft kiss to her forehead.

She blinks up at me through sleepy eyes. “You’re not staying?”

“Do you want me to?”

“I do.” Some of that earlier vulnerability is in her expression again. “Stay with me.”

Cupping her cheek, I run my thumb over the curve of her smile. “Okay. I will. Let me clean up first.”

Vivienne nods, shifting in the bed to watch as I navigate the small apartment to figure out where her bathroom is. Leaving the soiled boxers, I do the world’s fastest clean-up job and return to her, crawling naked into her bed and pulling her into my arms like it’s the most natural thing in the world.

Because it is.

She turns in the circle of my arms, wrapping her arm around my waist and resting her head on my chest. “Good night,” she says around a yawn.

Hiding a smile, I kiss the top of her head. “Sleep well.”

With her in my arms, I know I will.