Her Hero

by Jane Henry

  Donnie nodded and clapped a hand on Andy’s shoulder as the man walked into the building. But as he held out a hand and watched Grace jog the five steps across the asphalt to join him again, he saw a look pass over Julie’s face that wasn’t entirely friendly… and he knew that, whether he was overreacting or not, he would not be leaving Grace alone with her again.

  “So, what do you think?” Donnie asked Grace, as they stood on the beach across the street from The Club and watched the moonlight dance on the water.

  “Think about what?” Grace returned quietly. She settled her head back against Donnie’s shoulder, and he tightened his arms around her waist, pulling her back more fully against his chest. He ran his nose along the column of her throat, inhaling the scent of cinnamon sugar and fresh ocean breeze, and loving the way she trembled against him.

  “Think about your birthday, baby. I’m pretty sure we’ve celebrated the hell out of it,” he told her, making her chuckle softly.

  “Best ever, thanks to you,” she confirmed softly, and he felt a knot in his chest loosen. Grace had been quiet and contemplative all afternoon, and he knew something had been weighing on her mind. Their relationship was new, even if their friendship was old, and he knew it would take time for her to instinctively turn to him when something was wrong. Still, it eased something inside him to know that whatever was bothering her, it didn’t seem to be regrets about the way they’d spent the day.

  Once he’d sorted the situation with Villi, including a quick rundown on the alarm system that he hoped he’d never need, he and Grace had jumped on the bike. They’d mostly stayed local, eating fried seafood and drinking blueberry beer at a dive bar just over the Fore River Bridge before cruising back to town to get a huge slice of the tres leches cake he knew Grace would adore from the little bakery he’d found. Donnie had parked his bike next to the beach and they’d left their shoes behind on the pavement above as they carried their cake down the wide stone steps to the sand. The sand was too cold to sit on this early in the year, so they’d eaten the cake standing up, leaning against the sea wall, and Donnie had taken great pleasure in forking enormous, messy bitefuls into her mouth, just so he could lean over and lick her lips clean.

  She was sweeter than the frosting.

  “You ready to go home?” he asked, settling his mouth at the juncture of her neck and shoulder. His breath made her shiver, and she tilted her head to the side, giving him better access. He ran his teeth over the tendon there, and her breathing changed, coming faster now.

  His Gracie was aroused.

  The urge came over him to bite her there, to mark her, but before his instinct got the better of him, he pulled away. Grace sighed.

  “Well…” she said. “I was thinking that the birthday’s not over yet.”

  He smirked. “I s’pose you have a few hours left,” he allowed.

  “Yeah, but I mean, we haven’t covered all the things on your birthday celebration list,” she told him. “I had my spanking. I had my drink. I had my cake…”

  Her voice was low and threaded with desire. She wrapped her hands around his wrists where they rested at her waist and pulled them up slowly until his hands were just below her breasts. He felt his cock spring to life as a powerful wave of lust rolled through him.

  It amazed him that he’d never allowed himself to think of Grace this way over the years, never allowed himself to imagine them together in a sexual way. Somehow, in just a few short days, wanting her had become as natural and as vital to him as oxygen. Right now, he couldn’t imagine not wanting her.

  The knowledge that she wanted him nearly as much made his breath catch.

  He widened his stance in the sand as much as his jeans would allow, mitigating their height difference, and pushed his cock against her lush, round ass.

  “Fuck,” he hissed, lifting his hand to cup her breasts, and weighing them in his palms as she moaned loudly. “You did not wanna start this here, baby. You shoulda waited until we were back in my nice comfortable bed.”

  “No,” she told him, shaking her head. “I shouldn’t.”

  She reached her hand around to cup the back of his neck and pulled his head down to her shoulder. “Bite me, Donnie,” she begged, her voice nearly a whimper. “Right here.”

  He ground himself against her again, rolling his hips as pleasure spiked through him. “No, angel,” he told her. “I’m not going to hurt you. Not like this.”

  “Please, Donnie!” She turned her head, and in the moonlight he saw that her eyes were shining with love and trust… and need. “God, please.”

  He swallowed hard, trying to remember why this wasn’t a good idea. Grace… he couldn’t hurt her. He needed to protect her. He needed to take care of her.

  He didn’t realize he’d said the words aloud until Grace turned to face him, wrapping her arms around his neck and threading her fingers through his hair.

  “If you want me, and you want to take care of me, please don’t hold back with me, Donnie. That’s the worst thing you could do.”

  He shook his head and clamped his hands on her hips, holding her immobile, even as vicious longing thrummed through his body, nearly overwhelming his caution. “You don’t know what you’re asking.”

  “Someone told me recently that there are two types of girls, Donnie. The girls men fall in love with and the girls men fuck. Is that true?” Her eyes narrowed, her hot breath lashed his cheek, and his hands clenched involuntarily at the way her full lips looked as she pronounced the word fuck. Then the meaning of her words penetrated the haze over his mind.

  “Who said that?” he demanded, holding her steady as she tried to pull herself against him.

  “Doesn’t matter. Is it true? Is it wrong for me to want things with you? Things I… things I’ve only read about? Things I’ve wanted to try? I was a virgin until this morning, but that doesn’t mean that I haven’t thought about it. Dreamed about it. Do you only want me if I’m some pure, sweet, virginal little—”

  “No!” he told her, stung by her words. “Christ, no. I’ve wanted you from the second I laid eyes on you in that tiny little bed at Joe’s. I could barely keep my hands off you, even then, and every minute since has been… torture.”

  She shook her head impatiently. “Then you’ve gotta see that I’m not a little girl anymore. I haven’t been for a long time. I’ve been dealing with mi mama, and Pedro, and Mikey, and all that bullshit for years. Running the household, holding down a job. I love that you want to take care of me, and God, I want you to do that. I like having you in control. But I don’t need to be locked in an ivory tower. I don’t need to be protected from my own desires or yours, because… That’s not safety, it’s suffocation.”

  “You’re wrong,” he said, the words rough and heavy. “It’s not about girls you fall in love with and girls you fuck. I don’t even know what that means. There is only one girl I’ve ever fallen in love with, Grace Diaz, and if you think I don’t want to fuck you every minute of the day, you’re crazy.” He lowered his head and bit her bottom lip hard enough to make her moan, and his hands slid around to cup her ass. “But I don’t want to do anything that would harm this… us. I don’t want to fuck this up.”

  She pressed herself against him, and he could feel the stiff peaks of her nipples rubbing against his chest, even through their clothing. He bit back a groan.

  “If you want me, the real me, you can’t put me on a pedestal,” she whispered. “Believe me when I tell you what I want and what I need. And if you want this thing we have growing between us to last? Then you’ve got to show me the real you, and trust that I can handle what you need, too.”

  Donnie sucked in a breath and lifted his hand to cup her cheek. The wind whipped her long hair around his arm, tethering them together.

  “And what do you want, Grace?” he demanded.

  She stared at him, unflinching.

  “I want all of it. Every kinky thing you’ve ever done to another girl, I want you to do with me. Every dirty
fantasy you’ve ever had in the dark of night that made you blush in the morning, everything you’ve ever tried to convince yourself that you shouldn’t want, that no nice girl would ever want, I want you to unleash on me. I want you to tie me up, strap me down, and show me how very, very good it can feel to hurt.”

  Her words were a match that set fire to his blood. His cock strained against his jeans, his pulse beat a furious tempo in his brain. That was what she wanted? What she needed?

  Nothing in life had ever come easily to Donnie. He’d never gotten anything that he didn’t have to fight and bleed for, and suddenly this woman, his woman, was saying that his every twisted fantasy was his for the taking… that he could have the beauty and the glory of Grace, and every depraved thing he craved, as well? He couldn’t make sense of it.

  She simply didn’t understand what she was asking for.

  But he’d show her.

  He grabbed her wrists roughly, yanking them down from his neck, then twisted them high behind her back, forcing her up on her toes. She whimpered, and he felt a frisson of satisfaction at the sound.

  “You want this, Grace? You want me rough?”

  “Yes,” she said defiantly. “Yes!”

  “When you’ve had enough, you say Stop. But until then... here’s your first lesson.” He moved even closer, so his words were a whisper in her ear. “Have you ever gone down on a man, Grace? Ever sucked a cock between those lips?”

  He was pretty confident she hadn’t, but with his cheek pressed against hers, he could feel the heat rise to her face and knew she was blushing hard.

  When she didn’t respond, he tugged harder on her wrist, forcing a cry from her. “Answer me,” he told her.

  “N-no.”

  With his free hand, he gripped her jaw lightly but firmly. “Tonight, you’ll call me Master Nolan.”

  She swallowed, and her eyes widened further. She licked her lips. “Yes, Master Nolan.”

  Christ. The words threatened to send the red haze over his vision that always preceded a loss of control, but he beat it back.

  “I’m going to force you to your knees, Grace,” he told her conversationally, brushing his thumb roughly across her bottom lip. “And you’re going to suck me off. Right here. Where anyone could see us.”

  Her breath hit his damp finger in shallow pants, and he wasn’t sure if it was arousal or fear that had her breathless… but she didn’t say Stop, so he told himself he didn’t care. He was waiting for her to call his bluff. Any minute now, she’d tell him she’d had enough…

  “Yes, Master Nolan.”

  Fuck.

  He released her hands and pushed her down until her knees hit the cold, damp sand. “Grip your hands together behind your back,” he commanded.

  He carefully unzipped his jeans and pushed down his boxers, allowing his rock-hard erection to spring free. Once again, he spread his legs, lining his cock up with the height of her lips. “Open.”

  Her eyes were dark liquid fire that burned in the moonlight, and her cheeks nearly glowed with heat as her mouth opened for him obediently.

  The first warm, moist breath that passed her lips had a drop of pre-cum beading at his slit, and despite the near-darkness, he saw her fascinated gaze lock there. Without prompting, her tongue darted out to lick it off.

  “Jesus, Grace.”

  Any chance that he might have had to call this off, any dim idea in his mind that this was just a test and he wouldn’t make her go through with it, receded with that first touch.

  He needed to own that pretty mouth.

  “Suck it,” he told her gruffly. And then, because he couldn’t help himself, he wound her long, silky hair around his hands and guided her head forward.

  His entire body seized, muscles locking down, as she sucked the tip in first. She was hesitant and cautious, and it hit him again that he was the first man to ever use her this way. He felt himself grow harder.

  “You keep that mouth open, Grace,” he warned her. “And when I let go, you swallow me down.”

  Her eyes. Fuck, those eyes. She was afraid, but she trusted him. And she wanted this as much as he did. That was enough to make him loose the reins.

  He pushed himself forward, holding her in place as he slid into the wet furnace of her mouth and the head of his cock touched the back of her throat. Part of him screamed to push harder, to fuck her face and thrust himself down her throat until she gagged and choked. But then her cheeks hollowed out as she sucked him hard, distracting him.

  As he pulled away, her tongue swirled against the underside of him. His fingers clenched in her hair reflexively and she groaned around him. The connection he felt to her was beyond anything he’d ever experienced.

  “God, angel.”

  He’d participated in a million scenes over the years, fucked dozens of women, but none had ever been like this. Every slide, every thrust, every moan and catch of her breath, reminded him that she was there for him, on her knees for him and only him. Nothing had ever felt so good.

  Within minutes… fucking minutes… he could feel his balls tightening and he picked up his pace, fucking her mouth with short but brutal thrusts. She gagged, but then hummed in pleasure, and the vibration of her lips around him had him nearly at the edge.

  “I’m close,” he warned.

  He could feel that her eyes were watering as beads of moisture ran down her cheeks and collected on his thumbs, but she didn’t make a single noise of objection, she simply sucked harder. Her eyes lifted to meet his, incandescent with arousal, and she undulated her body as though seeking friction. Christ, was she wet from sucking him? From being used this way?

  On that thought, he exploded, his cum shooting down her throat as he cried out her name. After a single, startled, choked breath, she swallowed, and then swallowed again, until she’d taken every last drop. While his chest heaved like a bellows, her tongue darted out to lick the last bits of semen from his cock.

  “Oh, angel,” he said hoarsely. “The way you look on your knees with your mouth on me, the way you swallowed me down, the way you cleaned me up so prettily…You’re so fucking dirty, and so fucking amazing.”

  He lifted her to her feet and pressed his lips to hers, feeling a possessive thrill when he tasted himself on her tongue. He wrapped his arms around her, cradling her like she was the most precious thing in his world.

  Because she was.

  He pulled back a moment later and watched her carefully. Her lips were swollen and darker, her cheeks were flushed, and her eyes were damp, but she held his gaze, and then she smiled, wide and happy. Proud.

  “You liked that, didn’t you?” he murmured. “You liked having me fuck your face, letting me use you like that?”

  “You don’t scare me, baby,” she whispered. “I want this. I want you. Because, Donnie? When you’ve shown me all of your fantasies and all of your darkness? When I’ve shown you that I love every corner of you, even the parts you’re not proud of? Then you’ll be mine… the way that I have always been yours.”

  He shook his head in disbelief. God, his woman undid him.

  He wanted what she promised. And all he needed to do to have this was to rid himself of every preconceived notion of how he should act with her, talk to her openly and listen to her cues, and trust that she would be honest about her limits. It was a basic idea. The kind of Dominant Training 101 shit that he was paid to teach others, but somehow it was harder when it was Grace.

  He opened his eyes and nodded.

  “Come on,” he told her shortly. “You have a few more hours of birthday left, and I know exactly how I want you to spend them.”

  Chapter 8

  Half caught in the enchantment somewhere between waking and sleeping, Grace sighed with contentment as she woke. No. No, this wasn’t a dream. Neither had her birthday, the day before, been a dream. She was pressed up against Donnie’s warm, bare chest, his arm tucked around her waist, his huge hand flat against her belly. She was warm and content, the strength and prote
ction of the man she loved as comforting as the blanket over her. She’d never pegged Donnie as the spooning type, but had he ever proven her wrong. After a full day of birthday festivities, she’d collapsed into bed exhausted, and for the first time since he’d taken her to his apartment, he’d joined her.

  It had been the best birthday of her life, better even than the one time in her childhood she ever remembered her mama throwing a party where Grace got to invite her friends from school. They’d had a piñata, and games, and she’d gotten so many birthday presents she couldn’t see over the top of the pile. She remembered that birthday for years, but it paled in comparison to spending the day with Donnie. She squirmed. Everything paled in comparison to taking his cock and sucking him off as his eyes went half-lidded on the beach.

  “You awake, angel?” His deep voice, still gritty from sleep, made her spine tingle.

  “Mmmm,” she said, twisting around to him. When he lifted his arm, she crawled in, nestling her head on his chest while he held her, hitching up her knee against the length of his long, muscled legs. She shivered. He was delicious. “I’m awake,” she said. “But I don’t want to move. This is too nice.”

  He chuckled, one hand traveling down to her ass and squeezing. “Is it?” he said. “Cuz I can think of a few ways it can get a whole lot nicer.”

  And just like that, her breasts swelled, her pussy throbbed, and she tingled with excitement. He yawned, as she watched his sleepy brown eyes focus on hers, smiling at her. His long blond hair was tousled on the pillow. Running a finger along the scruff on his jaw, she smiled softly to herself.

  “Oh yeah?” she teased. “How so?”

  He grinned. Flat-out grinned. “You could go make me some coffee and some breakfast.”

  “Donnie!” she poked his belly, and his hand nabbed her wrist.

  “No poking,” he said, growing sober. She shot him a mock glare, but he raised an eyebrow, and she felt the responding thump of her heart.

  “You can tease me but I can’t poke you?”