by Raven Scott
I really did not want to ask Delilah, but I turned to her anyway.
She licked her ice cream and took a bite out of the top, shielding her teeth with her lips.
So cute. For a moment, I just stared at her, her bright, green eyes catching mine to glisten in interest. “Carlyle is inviting us to Portland for the fairs. Do you want to go?”
Surprise flickered on her delicate features, and Delilah nodded hesitantly.
That same wariness wormed under my heart and I clenched and released my jaw before opening my mouth again, “I’m expected to do some business. Is that okay with you?”
“Does it involve leaving the country?”
Shaking my head, I held my breath as anticipation warmed my blood.
Delilah shrugged lightly. “Okay. That’s fine.”
“Good. When are we leaving?” Directing my question into the phone, I couldn’t describe the sudden wave of excitement that came over me. Not only had I never been to an American fair, but I was going with Delilah. This was perfect! It didn’t matter that Carlyle and his wife would be there, or whoever else.
“Next Tuesday. Break out the fanny packs.”
Before I could question what the Hell a ‘fanny pack’ was, Carlyle hung up on me, and I wandered back over to sit heavily on the stone bench. Turning my phone over and over in my hands, I pursed my lips thinly as the quiet of this little park settled on me before I found my voice. “What’s a ‘fanny pack’?”
Delilah went really still next to me, her eyes widening and lips parting.
I frowned deeply.
For seconds too long, she just stared at me before throwing her head back and howling with laughter, gasping, teary laughs that shook her whole body.
Reaching to nudge her only made her mirth more intense, and I shook my head a little as I sat back to enjoy the sound of her laughter… the most beautiful thing, I think I have ever heard.
9
Delilah
“Thank you for taking me out tonight.” I was convinced my life had turned into a bad adaption of a bad book as I stood in the doorway to my apartment, playing out a scene that everyone knew ended one way. “I had a great time.”
Darren took my hands, leaning over to kiss my cheek with a tender, fulfilled smile. “Good. I’m glad.” Squeezing my palms, his smile widened and he dropped my hands to step back. “Is it alright if I text you? We can set up another date?”
He’s really going for this ‘start over’ notion with all he’s got. Tonight was equally the best and strangest date I’d ever been on for a few reasons. Darren tried to act like we were complete strangers, which I appreciated greatly! But...while we may have not known each other as intimately as five years ‘together’ might suggest, we still had a lot of experience together.
Ice cream, a nice walk in the park at that sweet spot of time before the mosquitos ate us alive despite being called by Carlyle to go across the country to the fair...this date went really well, I thought.
Blinking when I realized I still hadn’t answered, I inhaled through my nose as Darren’s face washed with expectation. I don’t know what I expected, but the brief flash of panic in his brown eyes dried the words somewhere between my brain and my tongue. He was letting me have all the power here, but I knew Darren. I knew every single, horrible, dirty secret about everything he’d ever done.
I knew Darren once mutilated a woman’s face because she was sexually harassing him.
I knew he killed people before for a variety of reasons.
I knew he had a special gun he liked more than the others that he was never without. It was on him now, tucked in a holster on his hip and covered by his loose shirt. The handle was Mother of Pearl and he’d bought it at some backwater flea market when he was little.
I knew that when he was a kid, before his father fled to America, he was being bullied for being half American at school, then his dad killed that kid and his parents.
I knew things I had no business knowing, but at the same time, didn’t know his favorite food or if he liked video games, or all the stupid, mundane stuff that flowered a relationship.
The important thing is he’s trying. Darren was willing to start from the very beginning and give me all the choices I couldn’t make before. The longer I was quiet, the more his expression tightened with apprehension, and my heart ached for him.
Slowly swinging my hand to hook my fingers around his, I held my breath as my skin jumped from the shock of Darren’s touch. Tugging lightly, warmth spread up along my neck when he closed the distance between us. Goose bumps washed across my chest and down my arms when he tangled our fingers firmly.
The upset in his eyes calmed. “You don’t have to do this, Delilah.” A mix of desire and tentativeness roughened Darren’s tone. His eyes tore into mine, searching for something he wouldn’t find.
My lip twitched in a small smile. “I spent the past six years wanting to wake up next to you. I was stupid to let Carlyle control me because of you. I was stupid for fantasizing about a future with you without actually trying to make it real. I was stupid for thinking that you and I were in love when we never saw each other. But...going on this date made me realize that because of all of that, you’re willing to put in as much effort as it takes, and I should do that, too. You’re willingly, trying to overcome the past and simultaneously try to make up for it. You can’t do both. You can only do one.” My little tangent came to an end.
Darren reached his free palm to my cheek.
My breath hitched, the fine hairs on the back of my neck standing up even as more words spilled out of my mouth uncontrollably, “Besides...our relationship may be built on sex, but it wasn’t often, and you always ruined it. If you’re gonna make up for anything, it should be that.”
That earned me a dark look. I bit my lower lip when Darren’s palm flexed against my cheek. My heart beat harder, faster, until the blood drumming in my ears was impossibly loud and sung with expectation. I expected him to sweep me off my feet with a kiss, like in the movies, and my goosebumps intensified when he crossed the threshold into my apartment. He moved slowly, not like he was waiting for me to protest, but more like he was setting up to pounce and didn’t want to spook me.
A real predator. Darren was a monster of a man, and was an unbreakable force of nature. It seeped from his pores and drenched his clothes, flooding every room he was in and overwhelming every person inside.
My heart leapt into my throat when he kicked the door shut with a loud bang, and frigid desire speared my abdomen when he loomed over me.
His palm on my cheek caressed down my neck, his hand around mine tightening as he took a domineering step forward. Calloused fingers wrapped around my throat.
My eyelids fluttered as I automatically took a shallow, hot breath into tight lungs. There was no fear, but thrill was a drug that sloshed through my veins, and Darren had barley done anything.
Darren leaned to whisper in my ear, “Is that what you want...to get fucked until you can’t see the point of leaving me?”
I jumped a little when my back hit the short, open wall to the kitchen. Somehow, he’d managed to get me to back up all the way through the living room without me even realizing it. His fingers flexed around my throat when I went too long without answering, and my lips stuck together until I pried them apart. “Yeah. I want...I want you to show me who I could spend the rest of my life with, not who I spent the past five years with.”
Darren lifted me up onto my tiptoes by my jaw, and he looked mad. He had that face I’d seen on people, the second after they got over the shock of being offended and were trying to determine how bad the damage was.
I tensed as my heart went wild and the blood drumming in my ears vanished as I held my breath.
Leaning in close enough that I could see the flecks of gold in his eyes, Darren dragged the tip of his nose up my cheek. He took a sharp breath, sucking the heat from my skin, “Close your eyes, Delilah.”
My breath caught below my heart th
robbing in my throat. My eyelids fluttered at his breathy demand, and I gulped harshly when his hand tightened around my throat. His palm flush against mine dragged my arm around my back, and my thighs quivered when he hoisted me into the air. Finally, his fingers loosened from my neck to prop up under my ass, then Darren walked through my apartment to my bedroom with strong, long strides. “Spread your legs and tell me how much you love me, baby...” Sitting me on the foot of my bed, Darren pushed me back.
A gasp escaped my tight chest. I could feel him looking at me, looming over me, and I rose my free arm above my head to grip the sheets with white-knuckle tightness. The cold of the room rushed up my inner thighs as I parted them.
“You wore your sexy panties, were you expecting to get fucked tonight?” Darren’s gruff, throaty sound echoed in the dense atmosphere.
“No, I wore them for me.” My raspy whisper thickened when Darren grabbed my knees and spread them farther.
It seemed like the whole bed rattled when he got down on his knees, and hummed softly as he kissed up my calf. “They’re cute. Ya ne khochu ikh rvat’.”
Shivers assaulted my spine as Darren spoke in Russian. I didn’t know the tiniest bit of the language, but whatever he said sent fire through my veins. His lips brushed my clit outside my panties, and my own parted in a silent gasp. “I missed how you smell.”
“D-Darren...” It’d been months, seemingly forever, since the last time I’d had any fun with anything but silicone, and urgency heightened my voice.
Darren hummed softly, taking his sweet time as he peeled back my sheer panties from my core.
My folds quivered, and the coil in my abdomen tightened from the weight of his attention on me.
“Tell me how much you love me, Delilah.”
Darren’s command sent shocks surging up my body, and he buried his face between my legs with a groan. My eyes rolled back as pleasure flooded every cell in me, and I lifted my hips eagerly. Flames engulfed my abdomen when he licked between my folds with all of his tongue. I choked my own my spit as he nibbled my clit hungrily.
His ravenous grumbles and hums rattled up my spine.
Darren shook his head between my clamped thighs.
The roughness of his tongue caressing my pussy sparked stars behind my eyelids. My feet flexed in my boots and I arched sharply as my free hand flew to bury in his thick, brown hair.
If no way else, Darren was my sexual soulmate. Just a suggestive look from him could make me come. He’d never failed to get me off, to spend me completely. Everything he did, I enjoyed, even though a lot of it I didn’t have experience with. It was like he knew exactly how far to push me.
“Oh God!” Calloused, meaty fingers slipped into my pussy, my juices easing the friction as Darren suckled my clit with a ravenousness. The sharpness of his jab as he stretched my entrance set me off and I clamped down on his two fingers. The pressure behind my eyes intensified. Clenching my jaw as I came hard, my juices squirted out of me to stain the sheets. I couldn’t breathe as my heart beat too fast and I only realized that Darren took his palm from mine when it wrapped around my neck.
Pushing my trembling legs off his shoulders, Darren curled and thrust his hand hard into my throbbing pussy. Rising my orgasm, his fingers around my neck were dangerously tight.
My abdomen cramped slightly from the force of my squeezing his thick digits, and colorful spots assaulted the backs of my eye sockets and rolled all the way back.
“Yes-s...Delilah...” Rasping the guttural praise that rose above the ringing in my ears, Darren choked me harder. He twisted his fingers, the butt of his palm rubbed my clit as his movements became sharper and rougher.
My legs twitched uncontrollably, and I couldn’t feel my feet or hands under the powerful waves of euphoria that crashed up my torso. When I cracked open my eyes, I could barely see Darren’s features with any clarity as tears blurred my vision. My face felt so hot, but the fire of his kiss on my cheek scorched me.
He leaned down to trap me under him. “It’s okay, just let go. Trust me,” whispering so sweetly in my ear, Darren pressed his cheek against my temple and released my neck.
The sudden rush of blood to my head made me dizzy, only amplifying the pleasure that buzzed under my skin. For a fraction of a second, I wondered if he’d meant to go this far. Choking me wasn’t new, exactly...but wherever that thought could go was shrouded in the black that cast over my thoughts.
10
Delilah
Cracking open my eyes blearily, I could barely blink from the caked-on tears and remnants of makeup that I hadn’t washed off. Darren’s steady, firm, heartbeat thumped against my cheek and I inhaled deeply through my nose before his arm tightened around my shoulder. “When’s your flight?” I sniffed a little as I heavily threw my leg over his.
Darren’s thick chest hairs bristled when he tensed at my mumble. “I’m not goin’ anywhere, baby,”
I didn’t know what was wrong with my brain this morning as a powerful wave of disappointment sloshed through me. Darren’s garbled words didn’t make the right connections between my ears and my mind. I reached to rub my eyes and peek up at him. “Yeah, but when’s your flight? We can at least have breakfast together this time, right?”
Finally, Darren’s features grew sharp, and he frowned at me under tightly knit brows.
For a second, the silence was deafening, but in his sparkling eyes, I saw a sadness that kicked my sluggish thoughts into action. The blood drained from my face, and my lips thinned as I ducked into his side. A fury of emotions battled in me, even a little bit of shame, despite having nothing to be ashamed of. Rolling onto his side to hold me to his chest, Darren’s heart beat hard against my forehead.
Cupping the back of my head, his palm was warm, and his lips were soft as they graced my crown with a kiss. “We can have breakfast together every day, now, Delilah. Want to cook something or go out?”
Misery tightened my throat at the roughness in Darren’s tone and I palmed his side with tingly fingertips. “Um...” Clearing my throat roughly, I sniffed hard, and a faint, achy throb built up at the back of my mouth. “Yeah. Eating in sounds great. The only thing, I can make without burning it are pancakes.”
“We’ll make something together.”
Slowly, the memories from last night came flooding back to me, playing like a reel behind my shuttered eyelids.
Stroking my head and down my hair, Darren pulled his head back from my crown to sigh softly. “I really love what you did to your hair.”
“I told the salon lady to surprise me. She did a great job. You should’ve seen Carlyle’s face when I bumped into him after I got back. He almost displayed some surprise.” Smiling faintly at my own drawl, I tilted my head to catch Darren’s eyes as they glittered with admiration.
Threading his fingers through my hair, his lips quirked in a small, tender smile.
Flames licked my cheeks. “I-it’s a little weird, since my hair was so heavy, but it was easy to get used to.”
“It’s a great style on you, and the color’s wonderful. Different.” Earnestness thickened Darren’s tone.
I puffed out my lips before he ducked to capture them. The passion in his kiss stole my breath. Cozy warmth spread through my chest, intensifying when I wiggled a little closer. He slipped his tongue past my teeth to tangle with mine. Tingles rose along my skin at the musky taste of him and I moaned softly.
Long, greedy fingers caressed down my back to grab my ass and squeeze. Shivers played up my spine and I rolled onto Darren as he laid back. Propping myself on weak arms, I deepened the kiss as his free hand moseyed down to knead my right ass cheek. Grinding against the hardness of his cock, heat pooled in my abdomen. His tongue danced with mine, his throaty groan thrilling my taste buds.
I pulled away to sit back. Gripping his wrists to stable myself, I rolled my hips as the flames licking my abdomen pushed hot, short pants from my lungs. Darren’s multitude of tattoos glimmered slightly under the thin sheen of swe
at on his tanned skin. They all meant something, somehow, but to me, they were just beautiful pieces of art. A hard shiver raked up my back and jerked my shoulders when he spread my ass cheeks and dug in his fingernails. I tore my eyes off his inked chest to throw my head back and moan.
“Delilah...” He growled my name with reverence.
I didn’t know if I wanted sex or to just be close to him, but it didn’t matter. He seemed just as confused as I was when he sat up swiftly to bury his face between my breasts.
Pink clouds muddled my thoughts as my skin jumped in delight and I threaded my fingers through his luscious hair. Panting lightly, I gulped down the dense lump in my throat as Darren sucked my nipple between his teeth. His fingers reached down, down, down to tease my pussy. Inhaling a sharp whistle of a breath, my core throbbed with need, as straight, white teeth rolled my nipple before tugging harshly. The twinge of pain tightened my fists in his hair, and he kissed up along my neck to capture my lips in a heated kiss.
Unfurling my stiff fingers from his gorgeous locks, I reached between us to palm his hard, hot cock with a moan of greed. Sweat trickled down the back of my neck.
Pinching the spongy head of Darren’s cock weakly between my thumb and forefinger, I relished his sharp gasp, his eyelids fluttering briefly in my skewed vision. I leaned back, breaking the seal on our lips to pant shallowly. All the air that flew into my lungs was eaten up by the fire in my belly.
Wide eyes strafed me from top to bottom, and he inhaled a shaky breath as he stuffed his knuckles between his teeth. Darren’s face flamed red with just a white line around his mouth from his biting his hand. Stroking his cock, I palmed the base as it twitched and rippled dangerously, and his abs became more defined out of the bottom of my vision. “Darren...?” I bit my bottom lip.
