by Riley Storm
“Just a little unlike the first time we met,” Liz said, laughing softly.
Valla’s mind went back to the night over three months earlier. Yes, it was so very different. Then he’d been out on the prowl, simply looking for some company for the evening. His eyes had landed on her out of the entire crowd, and from the moment he’d seen her dancing with her friends, smiling wide from ear to ear, he’d been set.
“I seem to remember you accusing me of putting you on,” he laughed. “I came over to you, asking you to dance, and you just sort of stared at me like…what’s the expression?”
“A deer in headlights?” Liz supplied, fighting to hide her own laughter, even as she went red in the face at the reminder. “I mean, how could I not suspect that? There I was, in a club surrounded by twenty-somethings wearing little more than lingerie, and you decided to pick me? You? Look at you!”
Valla sat up straighter as he saw her eyes wandering across his body, letting the action pull his suit just a little tighter over his shoulders and arms.
“Yeah, like that,” Liz said, poking a finger in his direction. “You’re a specimen, Valla. A very attractive specimen,” she added in a slightly lower voice. “Men like you, they aren’t interested in women like me.”
Laughing just loud enough for her to hear, Valla shook his head. “Trust me when I say this Liz: there are no men like me. Not even close.”
She shrugged, but he let it slide. There was no way for Liz to know what he truly meant by that comment. Not yet. Eventually, he would have to tell her, however, because of the child she carried within her. Liz would need to know everything.
“Regardless, I was sure it was a prank,” she said. “I’m sorry if I was cold to you at first.”
Valla just smiled. “I could tell you wanted me though,” he added slyly. “That much was obvious.”
“I was drunk and needed to cut loose,” she said. “I didn’t plan on going home with anyone, but you were…shall we say, persistent, in all the right ways. Not too pushy, but not wishy-washy. And you could dance,” she added, her eyes glazing over.
“It wasn’t a fancy dinner, that’s for sure,” he said. “Not that I regret it.”
Liz sobered, her eyes refocusing back on his face. A silence fell over them momentarily as she heard his words and absorbed them. Hopefully, she would understand his full intent.
“Me neither,” she added slowly, one hand moving to caress her slowly growing belly. “Unexpected, yes. Very much that. At first, I really was panicked, but now that I’ve had a few months to think about it, I’m looking forward to it more than ever, Valla, if I’m honest with you.”
“I think of that night often,” he told her. “Of you. It was all I had to hold onto while I…” he trailed off, grimacing. He shouldn’t have said that much, shouldn’t have revealed what he was thinking.
“Where did you go, Valla?” Liz asked, leaning forward. “Three months—you just disappeared. What happened to you?”
Valla longed to tell her. To reveal that he’d been at his home under the tutelage of both Aaric and Victor, learning more about the world he’d come to inhabit. How to operate in it, how to speak the current version of the language, and so much more.
Mind-boggling amounts of technology to understand and sift through.
His brain still hurt some days from all the reading he’d done trying to catch up on a century’s worth of history and technological growth.
“Away,” he said stiffly, knowing the instant he spoke that she saw right through it.
“Is it another woman?” The question came quickly, revealing that it was something Liz had been thinking over a lot.
“No,” he said, not hesitating, stating his answer with unequivocal truth. “It was not that. It’s not something I can speak about with you at this point,” he said, hoping the qualifier of ‘not yet’ would keep her quiet. “But I will. When the time is right.”
Liz nodded slowly. “Right. I don’t understand.”
“I know,” he said, apologizing. “I don’t expect you to. There’s a lot about me you don’t know. If you want to spend more time with me like this, then eventually I’ll be able to tell you.”
“Are you saying you want to do this again?” she asked, a ghost of a smile crossing her face.
“I would like that, very much so,” he said, not bothering to hide his enthusiasm for the idea. “Like you said, it’s not quite like the first time we met, but I’d be lying if I said you didn’t look just as good now as you did then.”
Liz looked down, flushing slightly with embarrassment at the compliment. “I’m pretty sure you were more interested in my body than the rest of me that night,” she teased.
Valla broke into a wide grin. “I’m pretty sure you were more interested in my body that night. But I don’t believe it’s a crime for me to be interested in both of them. Is it?” he joked at the end.
They were interrupted by their server coming by to collect their plates and deliver the bill. Valla didn’t bother to look at the cost. He just dropped a stack of bills on the table that would more than cover it, along with a generous tip, and stood up, extending his hand to Liz.
She took it without hesitation, and they wandered through Leblanc toward the exit, neither of them speaking.
“I remember everything about that night,” he said quietly. “About the way you looked. How you moved on the dance floor on your own, and against me,” he added, lowering his voice as they reached the entrance.
The hostess had her jacket ready as they approached the exit. Despite the long crimson-red dress that Liz wore, it was still cool outside, and he wasn’t able to provide her any heat. Not without closing the distance between them considerably.
“What else do you remember?” she asked as the valet went to grab their car, turning to face him.
Behind him, Valla noticed the hostess surreptitiously move out of hearing range.
“I remember the way you felt when I touched you here,” he said, lifting his hand, brushing his fingers against her cheek with the lightest of strokes.
Liz shivered but he knew it wasn’t from the cold. Not this time.
“Stop,” she said quietly, without enthusiasm.
“You said that as well,” he reminded her. “So, I did, for a bit.”
This time, his fingers lingered on her face, moving ever so softly against her tender skin.
“I know,” she said, her jaw lifting as he hooked his fingers under it and exerted light pressure. “I didn’t want you to think I was easy.”
“Never,” he assured her in that same quiet tone. “I could see that in your eyes.”
“You could?” she asked in a tiny voice.
Valla nodded. “But I couldn’t help myself. I wanted you from the moment I set my eyes on you. There was never any question on my end.”
He shuffled a little closer, entering her personal space for the first time since that night, though this time, he did so with more than a little trepidation and uncertainty over how she would react. Then, on the dance floor, it was expected they would be up against one another.
“When I took you by the waist and felt your body press against mine, I almost had to have you right then and there, on the dance floor,” he growled, his head swaying closer to her.
Liz gasped softly at his proclamation. “I didn’t know…”
He nodded. “Yes, you did,” he said, remembering it all too well. “Because I felt it in you too. The heat from your body, the sway of your hips. You felt it too. You wanted me from the second I pulled you close.”
He put action to word then, slipping his other hand to her waist and pulling her in close. “Like this.”
Liz took a startled breath, but she didn’t back away, nor did she turn her head.
“That was when I knew,” he continued, his voice a low rumble now.
“Knew what?” she squeaked. He could practically feel her heart as it thundered, the pulse easy to detect on her neck, where it beat against his fingers.
“I knew that I was going to kiss you.”
Once more, Valla put action to word, delivering a searing kiss that shocked him with how hot she felt to his touch. Liz moaned and flung her hands up around his neck, forcing him to stay locked to her, letting the kiss deepen. Lips parted and tongues eagerly darted back and forth.
Never in his wildest dreams had he expected the night to go this well. He’d hoped, but he hadn’t known until seconds before that he wasn’t alone in feeling the pull toward her.
He almost pushed her back against the wall, but the rumble of his car as the valet pulled up front of the restaurant interrupted their little makeout session with unbelievably bad timing.
Valla straightened, tossed Liz a wink and then escorted her to the waiting vehicle, pulling the side door open for her.
“To your house?” he asked, knowing the evening to be at an end.
Still, it had gone better than he’d had any right to expect. A lovely conversation just between the two of them. They hadn’t truly talked about anything important, but that didn’t matter. It was the act of talking, of just being together, that had been important to him. Then they’d shared a kiss, a kiss that was so similar to the first time, that he knew it wasn’t the alcohol but their connection that had fostered it.
“No.”
He raised an eyebrow in surprise. “Dessert then?” he asked, having already thought of several places they could go to satisfy their sweet tooth.
“No,” Liz said, reaching out to run a hand along the front of his dress pants. “Your house.”
Valla momentarily forgot how to speak, so stunned was he by her order.
“You’re positive of this?” he asked, knowing that she wasn’t under any influence this time. Not while she was pregnant.
“Yes.”
Then it was Liz’s turn to toss him a wink.
Valla didn’t hesitate any longer, practically throwing himself over the hood of the car as he got in the other side. If this was what she wanted, then who was he to argue?
Chapter 21
“You really do live way out in the middle of nowhere,” she remarked as they finally pulled into the underground garage. “Though I suppose where else would you keep a castle?”
Valla smiled at her. “You don’t seem that surprised by it.”
“Well, Cheryl’s let a little slip,” she admitted. “The house was one of those things. It’s as beautiful and as large as she described, so while it’s my first time seeing it, I was kind of prepared.”
“I see.” Valla pondered something for a moment, then spoke again, parking the car while he did. “Did she tell you anything else about us? Or me?”
Liz shrugged. “Not really.”
“Here, let me get that for you,” Valla said, slipping out of the car and rushing around to open the door for her, then extending his hand to help her exit.
“Thank you,” she said with a giggle, stepping as close to Valla as she dared upon standing up.
The big man didn’t move, accepting her presence quietly, though she did feel his hand slide down her back before finding the small of it and staying there.
With a forty-five-minute drive to his place, the mood between them had cooled off, which was only to be expected. Still, Liz had come back with him, and she knew what lay before her, what the two of them were going to do.
What she had yet to figure out, was just why she was doing it. As Valla had said, this was the first she’d actually spent time with the father of her future child. No loud music to shout over to get the drink order right. No slow game of where to put your hands while dancing. No tentative attempts to kiss her in public.
It had all been so nice.
You like him on the dance floor, and you kind of like him off it too. There’s no denying that now, not after one kiss brought you back here.
One kiss, and the memory of the first time she’d slept with Valla. He had been the best she’d ever had, and it wasn’t even close. Now that she was already pregnant with his child, it seemed like not such a big deal to sleep with him again.
Plus, she wanted it. Maybe it was the pregnancy hormones she’d heard so much about, but Liz was practically on fire with a need to have sex. She just knew on a base level, that going home and touching herself wouldn’t cut it. She needed sex.
She needed Valla.
You still know better. You shouldn’t be doing this. It’s giving him more legitimacy to be a part of raising the child than you’re ready to give him yet.
Liz knew that. But she just didn’t care. Not right then, not with the way her body was on fire, every nerve ending on fire, and knowing that nothing but Valla’s soft touch would quench it.
Her hand reached out to press against his chest, index finger digging in ever so slightly.
The tension that had been absent sprang back into existence like a reignited fire, and all at once her back was pressed against the car while Valla leaned in to kiss her.
“Gentle,” she said, though he hadn’t been rough.
He eased the pressure against her body until it was feathery light. Liz shivered in delight, and then once again pulled his face down to hers.
They were here, she’d committed to this, she may as well have some fun with it. Right? After all, what could go wrong this time?
Then her jacket shifted, and she yelped as the cool metal of the car pressed against her exposed lower back.
“Are you okay?” Valla asked, jumping away, hands extended as he looked her up and down frantically.
Liz took in his protective stance and the worry on his face and couldn’t help it. She burst into laughter, reaching out for his arm to steady herself.
“Yes,” she barely got out. “I’m fine, Valla. I promise. Oh, God, you’re so adorable. The look on your face… I just got some of the car touching my bare skin. It’s cold. That’s all.”
“You’re sure?” he asked, the concern easing slightly.
“I promise. Yes,” she assured him, patting his chest. “Now take me somewhere warmer.”
Valla gently swept her from her feet, taking care not to squish her stomach as he carried her from the parking lot with surprising ease. She’d known he was strong, but he didn’t seem to be exerting any effort with her whatsoever. It was like she weighed nothing.
“I don’t remember this from the first time,” she teased, resting easily in his arms.
Arms thick with muscle corded like steel. She could feel them pressed against her now and it felt nice. No, it felt hot.
They went up a short elevator ride—of course, the castle had an elevator in it—and then proceeded down a maze of hallways until he gently kicked open a door that, to her eyes at least, looked the same as all the others.
Behind it though was a beautiful furnished set of rooms, including a couch in front of a blazing fire.
She eased herself from his arms only slightly regretfully, looking at the fire, feeling the warmth of the room. “You expected this to happen, didn’t you?” she asked, slipping from her jacket anyway.
“Expected? No,” her giant date for the night said, grinning at her. “Hoped for, certainly. But never expected, no. I know you better than that.” He stuck his tongue out at her, a teasing reminder of her statement that she didn’t want him to think she was easy.
“You hoped I’d come home with you?” she asked softly.
Valla shrugged. “Is that really so surprising to you, that I would want you again?”
“You could have,” she said. “Had me again, I mean. But you never called, Valla. Three months, and I only hear from you out of sheer coincidence.”
“Coincidence,” he repeated, sounding like he didn’t entirely believe in it. “I’m sorry. I couldn’t call. But I’m here now. Telling you that I want you,” he said, stepping closer.
Liz didn’t back away. She stood her ground, letting him approach. The truth was,
if she admitted the truth to herself, she’d also hoped the night would go like this. From start to finish, it had been perfect.
“I like hearing that,” she admitted. “It’s not something I’ve had told to me often.”
“And that is a shame,” Valla stated, slipping into her embrace, nuzzling his face against her neck, kissing it, then biting down gently on the skin.
Her entire body shuddered in anticipation, knowing full well what else he could do with his mouth.
“I find you beyond gorgeous,” he growled, his voice deep enough to send vibrations through her skin. “Every line and curve of your body, so lush and womanly. It drives me wild.”
Hands heated like fire pokers slid up her back, finding the zipper and tugging at it gently until it opened. It was short, only securing the top of her dress that looped around her neck, so that the entire back could remain exposed.
When it came free, so did the entire dress, falling to her hips. Two gentle tugs from Valla’s hands and it fell to the floor, leaving Liz in nothing but a stick-on bra and underwear.
“You know,” she teased, accepting his kiss, but pushing his hands down as he tried to remove her bra next. “It’s really not fair how little effort that took, compared to me having to deal with all this.” She leaned back to look at his full three-piece suit, even while she was undoing the buttons of the jacket first, then the vest.
Valla worked on the shirt while she fiddled with his belt and pants, managing to drop those to the floor before he was even halfway done with the shirt.
A growl of frustration filled the room and then Valla simply took a fistful of material and ripped the shirt from his body, revealing his impressive musculature in one swift movement.
The sheer masculinity of his action spiked her already heated desire, in a way that Liz had never known she would like. The power behind it was arousing, and she felt the air between them grow harder to breathe.
His effect on her was practically toxic, in that she felt paralyzed, only moving when he made her, or told her to. She wanted to please him, knowing that he wanted nothing more than to do the same to her.
“You’re so hot,” she moaned as he casually pulled her bra off and let it fall aside.
