Dangerous Redemption: A Single Parent Forbidden Romance Novel (Paths To Love Book 4)

by Grahame Claire

  He ran a finger between my slit, and I bucked. “Beautiful,” he murmured, examining the tip of his finger before popping it in his mouth and sucking. “So sweet.”

  Carlos kissed the inside of my thigh, working his way up until he hovered just above my sex. “I've wanted to bury my face here since I saw that gorgeous blush of yours.” His words whispered across smooth, bare skin, and I wriggled, his big hands holding me in place. I wanted that too.

  His tongue licked along the same path his finger had taken. “Carlos,” I screamed, like a woman who had never been touched. Sparks shot up through me.

  His lips were already glistening when he smiled deviously up at me. Then he sucked on my clit. I was already lost, so attracted to him, that I'd soaked the seat beneath me. And I didn't care.

  He slid a finger inside me, stroking that sensitive spot, and I decided that, as much as I enjoyed my own touch, it was nothing compared to his. Carlos pressed the flesh as he ran circles around my clit with his tongue. That was it. I detonated, spasming around his finger, which he held still against me. I screamed his name again, the soundproofing of this car the least of my concerns. I'd set a record for coming—it had to have been in less than two minutes. So what if the world heard about it?

  I was too hot. A line of perspiration beaded my forehead as I came down from the torrent of bliss that had propelled me heavenward.

  “One.”

  Carlos grinned wickedly at me and resumed pumping his fingers in and out of me. The smoldering burn built again. There was no part of me that didn't tingle, and though I'd just come, I wanted to again. He removed his fingers, and I whimpered. I forgot about that when his tongue swept a path from the intimate place between my ass cheeks to my center, detouring for a quick dip inside before continuing its journey to my clit.

  I dug my fingers into his hair, and my ass clenched. He'd gotten too personal, yet it wasn't entirely bad. I kind of wanted him to repeat the same path to see how it was without the initial shock. “Again please,” I heard myself say, apparently not as scandalized as I’d thought.

  He complied, and this time, as I watched his head move between my legs, I relaxed, enjoying the feel. He'd gotten close to a forbidden place, enough to make me curious about something I'd never dreamed of doing. With Carlos, I couldn't rule it out.

  He lapped at my center and then pushed those tantalizing fingers back inside. “I could stay right here and let you come all over my face until I die,” he rasped.

  “You're so dirty,” I said, but a salacious smile tugged at the corner of my mouth.

  “Says the woman who just asked me to lick from her asshole to her cunt.” His eyes sparkled with the accusation. I groaned. His mouth was going to kill me. “I fucking love it. The things I'm going to do to you, Beauty.”

  He licked around my clit, and I exploded again. It wasn't that I'd repressed my adventurous side. I just hadn't known it existed the last time I'd had sex. Now that I'd had a taste, I wanted more. It felt so good to let go, to be me, even though I wasn't completely sure who that was. I only knew what I felt was a part of me I didn't want to hide. Not from him.

  “Two,” he taunted, chin shining from my wetness. His tongue flicked across his lower lip, and I seized around his fingers in an aftershock. “You can give me one more.”

  The only time I'd come twice in one day was when I masturbated in the morning and at bedtime. Never back to back. Three? It wasn't happening.

  “Touch your tits,” he instructed, and my mouth fell open. He gave me a stern warning with his eyes. One hand plowed in his thick hair, unwilling to give up touching him, while my other went to my breast, tentatively squeezing. “That's not how you did it when you fucked yourself while thinking about me.”

  How did he know? I pinched, my back arching as a spark jolted straight to my center.

  “That's better.” The look in his eyes was smoldering, and my insides coiled tight from the heat. “Show me.” He untangled my fingers from his hair and placed them just above my clit. “I want to see you make yourself come.”

  I slid my hand lower. Two of his fingers were still inside. “That wouldn't count as you doing it.”

  Abruptly, his touch was gone. “I've already made you come without even being in the same room.”

  I couldn't deny it, so I replaced his fingers with mine, sliding them through my slick folds and into the wet heat of my body, the relief not near as potent as his touch. “How do you know that?”

  “Because when I jacked off to the thought of your pretty mouth wrapped around my dick, I came so hard I couldn't stand without support from the wall.”

  “Oh,” I rasped, working vigorously on my swollen bundle of nerves as I stroked my G-spot.

  “How hard did you come, Beauty? Did you think about my mouth on you? Or was I inside you?” The tightening that always spread across my hips when I was close began. “Was I pounding into that tight cunt, or was it so slow, you thought you'd die if I didn't move faster?”

  My eyelids closed. “Open your eyes. I want to see you while I make you come.”

  I bumped closer to the edge. “Carlos.”

  “You thought about me fucking you hard, didn't you? Because I don't think you've ever had anyone fuck you the way you need to be.”

  I tensed, and the orgasm sprang free, shooting all the way to my toes, where they curled in my shoes. I trembled with aftershocks, still working to draw out the sensation.

  Finally, I slumped in the seat, panting, blissfully exhausted, and it wasn't even eight a.m. He circled a wrist with his hand, lifting my fingers to my lips. “Suck.” It was like he'd watched me touch myself before and knew my routine. “You love how you taste.”

  I burned as I swirled my tongue around his finger. We were having a sex fling. Why not unleash all my fantasies and desires?

  “I love it too.”

  Carlos straightened my skirt, smoothing it back into place, and moved to my side again. He leaned over and nipped my earlobe. “Three.”

  The car came to a stop, and in a few seconds, the door opened on my side. “What about you?” I glanced at the distinct bulge in his slacks.

  He brushed my cheek with his thumb. “Watching you has been my pleasure.” I felt a little guilty I'd had all the fun. “But I appreciate that you're worried about me, Beauty.”

  “I don't want this to be one-sided,” I breathed, the cold January wind sweeping into the car.

  “Think about what I'll do to you once I have you naked and all the time in the world to devote to worshipping you the way you deserve. Then we'll call it fair.”

  I leaned in for another kiss, unable to stop myself.

  “Go to work, Holly,” he said, nipping my bottom lip.

  I slid across the back seat and lowered my feet to the sidewalk. Before I exited the car, I said, “Thank you.”

  Before I had a chance to change my mind and spend all day in the back of a car seeing exactly how many orgasms he was capable of handing out, I hurried into the building on wobbly legs.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Carlos

  “Everything's on schedule.”

  Eduardo’s reassurance confirmed he was the right man for the job. My brain shifted back into my native language with ease.

  “Did you receive my package?” I'd paid a visit to Daniel's dentist, had my tooth removed, and overnighted it in a package of clothing.

  “Yes. When would you like me to make the discovery?”

  “Give it a few days. Buy some time. We'll leave the other one alone for now. Perhaps his fate is best left to speculation.” I was to meet with Donato Salvatore, a contact of Daniel’s, this evening when he returned from a trip out of town. Daniel had assured me he'd know the proper steps to take to ensure Muriella remained safe.

  “It's been quiet on that front. Too quiet if you ask me,” Eduardo grumbled. “The rumor is he blew up his own house and disappeared. It's as if everyone is waiting to see what his next move will be. They don't want to act first and
make a mistake.”

  “That's okay for now. Lie low and keep working.”

  “Will do.”

  I hung up and checked my watch. It was nearly two o'clock. As I stood, the iPad Muriella left me began to ring and vibrate on the desk. Stone’s name flashed on the screen, and I swiped to answer.

  But it wasn’t his face who appeared.

  “You look antsy,” Muriella said.

  I glanced at my face in the small window on the screen. Nothing was out of the ordinary. Hard lines around my eyes. A slight frown shaped my lips.

  “It’s time to go pick up Gabriel from school.”

  “You have plenty of time,” she said, smiling at my anticipation.

  “I don't want to be late.”

  She grinned, and I wondered exactly what she found so amusing. It was Gabriel's first day of school. He would be released at three o'clock, and I wanted to be there. I was anxious to find out how it had gone, but more than that, I'd missed him. How did Holly deal with leaving him every day? Not that she had a choice. She had to provide for her son. I saw exactly how much it tore at her when we’d dropped him off, though she put on a brave front.

  Vivian’s face crowded next to my sister’s on the screen. “I see you haven’t burned the place down.”

  I bristled, an image of the compound in flames flashing through my mind. She didn’t know, didn’t mean anything by it. Fortunately, I was centered in my reality now. No more incidents of losing my focus. The devil wouldn’t win.

  “Not yet.” I responded with more conviction than the situation warranted.

  “Did everything go smoothly with Gabriel this morning?” Muriella asked.

  “He wasn’t scared at all.” He’d seemed happy, brave really, as he went into the new place.

  “What are you going to do when you pick him up this afternoon?”

  “Ooh, you should take him for milkshakes to celebrate the first day of school. M, send him directions to the place we like not far from Saint Pius.” Vivian nudged her, and in no time, an address popped up on my screen.

  “If you take him back to the church to play afterward, that should occupy the time until Holly arrives home.”

  I wanted to hug my sister for the suggestions. Entertaining a five-year-old for hours on end wasn’t in my repertoire.

  “They have a fabulous playground,” Vivian chimed in enthusiastically. “He’ll love it.”

  “We’re only a phone call away.” The reminder was reassuring, but I wondered if Muriella lacked confidence in me to take care of Gabriel. “You can do this.”

  I nodded once. “How’s Miss Ruby?”

  Both of their faces dimmed. “She’s still in ICU,” Muriella said.

  Words lodged in my throat. The old woman had treated me like a son she was proud of from the first time we met.

  “She’ll pull through.” Vivian sounded more confident than she looked. “She’s a tough old bird.”

  A moment of silence passed between us for Miss Ruby.

  “Don’t forget I have the ingredients for a pot roast in the fridge,” Muriella said. “I’ll email the instructions to my tablet. You can cook that tomorrow.”

  “I didn’t think about tonight.” I ran a hand through my hair. Being on my own for so long meant eating out at whatever establishment suited my taste at the time.

  “I took chicken tortilla soup out of the freezer before I left. Just dump it in a pot, heat it up, and throw in the crispy tortilla strips I set on the counter. Done.”

  “Sounds simple enough.” I wanted to have a meal ready for Holly so she could relax this evening. My sister had saved me from screwing that up. Every time I saw how capable, how caring, how strong she was, my cold heart rejoiced. I’d never pay back the debt to Daniel for how he’d stepped in and rescued my baby sister. Never. So the sooner we had Rosca out of our lives, the better.

  “We’ll talk soon.”

  We said our goodbyes, and I grabbed the keys to the SUV. Time to go get Gabriel.

  * * *

  Sitting behind the wheel of the Range Rover, I watched the clock and the door to the school intermittently. The second the first wave of children exited, I was out of the car, waiting on the sidewalk, searching for any sign of Gabriel.

  The other parents and nannies didn't seem all that concerned, casually chatting or checking their phones while they waited patiently for their child. I was about to lose my shit, shoving my hands in my pockets and craning my neck, my eyes trained on the school door. When Gabriel burst out with a big smile on his face, relief and elation coursed through me. I took off toward him, and when he saw me, his grin only got wider, his little legs running as fast as they could toward me.

  I caught him, lifting him in the air and spinning him around before gathering him against me. Gabriel's arms went around my neck, and I hugged him close, the tightness in me uncoiling into an unfamiliar warmth. I couldn’t believe how right, how natural, this felt. “Hey,” I said, kissing the top of his head. “How was it?”

  “It was awesome. My teacher is super cool, and I made a new friend.”

  “So you liked your teacher?”

  “She’s new. Like me,” Gabriel said, cheeks turning pink from the cold or maybe it was excitement. “Can I stay and play on the playground? My friend is.” He looked around and pointed toward another boy who was dragging his mother back toward the school.

  “Sure. And after that, why don’t we go get a milkshake to celebrate your first day?”

  “Yes!” He grabbed my hand and led me toward the playground, pretty strong for such a small body.

  His friend had already claimed one of the swings. Gabriel released me, tossed his backpack to the ground, and rushed over to an empty one. He looked back, and I . . . I wanted him to always see me the way he did now. Like I was a hero.

  “Will you push me?”

  I stepped behind the swing and gave it a shove.

  “Higher.” Gabriel gripped the chains attaching the swing to the metal beam above. I pushed a little harder. “Higher.”

  Soon, he was swinging a little farther off the ground than I’d like, but his giggles eased my apprehension.

  “I’ll be up in the sky when I’m a pilot,” he shrieked as I continued to push him.

  “Want me to teach you how to fly?”

  His head whipped around so fast, his whole body went with it. He slipped off the seat and my heart stopped when there was nothing beneath him but air. I ran forward, batting the wildly flying swing out of my way, and caught Gabriel before he hit the ground.

  He beamed up at me while I struggled to catch my breath. “You know how to fly?” Those blue eyes were luminous with wonder.

  “Yes,” I croaked as I set him on his feet.

  He hopped right back on the swing as if nothing had happened. “Push me again, please.”

  I would . . . when my heart made it back into my chest cavity. Fuck . . .

  * * *

  After he enjoyed a few more lift-offs, I thought it was time for our treat.

  “So what do you think? Strawberry? Chocolate?”

  I loaded Gabriel into the car seat in back and tucked his backpack on the floorboard at his feet. The cowboy I'd given him was poking out the top. My throat tightened, and my vision got a little clouded. He'd taken his buddy to school.

  “Cookies 'n cream?” he asked hopefully.

  “Whatever you want.”

  * * *

  We didn’t have time to enjoy our milkshakes at the shop, so we got back in the car and drank them on the way to pick up Holly. She might get irritated about our adventure, but I was banking on her son and the chocolate milkshake mitigating that.

  “What do you think of the city, Gabriel?” I asked, glancing in the rearview mirror at him.

  “I like it better here,” he stated firmly, sucking on his milkshake.

  “Really?”

  “Mama's happier here.”

  “And that makes you happy?” I probed.

  Gabriel
nodded. “She's not as stressed here.” Holly did an incredible job of disguising her worries from her son, but he was intuitive enough to pick up on that. “Mama's most relaxed around you.” He casually sipped on his drink as if he hadn't dropped a bomb on me.

  “Your mom’s a special lady.”

  Gabriel beamed. “The specialest,” he confirmed with emphasis, depositing his empty drink in the cup holder.

  “Bet she can't wait to see you,” I said. I sure as hell was excited to see her.

  “Can we play soccer when we get home?”

  “Sure. As long as it's okay with your mom.”

  We were quiet for a few blocks. “Are you going to marry my mom?”

  I tightened my hands on the steering wheel. “What would you think if I did?”

  The smile on his face told me everything I needed to know. He had cookie crumbs on his mouth and a few between his teeth. “I'd like it. Then we could build Lego stuff all the time.”

  “That would be pretty great,” I confirmed.

  “And you could be my dad.”

  Fuck me. As nervous as that made me, when I looked at him, I realized I wanted him to be mine.

  When we pulled up in front of Holly’s building, she pushed through the door. Her dress was slightly wrinkled, one strap of her bag fell off her shoulder, and her hair was held up by a pen stabbed through a knot in the back, one chunk falling in her face. She looked exhausted, like the day had been tough, but I'd never seen anyone more beautiful.

  “There she is.”

  I jumped out of the car and jogged around to the passenger side.

  Her steps faltered when she saw me, her expression unreadable. Gabriel's reaction to my presence had been far more favorable, but Holly and I would get there.

  “Hi.” She had a shyness about her that drew me in, but I loved how that disappeared under my touch.

  As if reading my thoughts, she blushed. I touched her cheek. “Beauty.”