Bleeding Heart

by AM Hartnett

‘That little bastard is so powerful it actually becomes uncomfortable unless you’re using it through the panties.’

  Seth dropped it back into the basket. ‘I’m not having you put your panties back on.’

  Next came a traditional pink vibe, long and sleek but tame in comparison to the discarded rocket. Obviously unimpressed, Seth put it back. He picked through the bottles of lube and the condoms – setting one of the latter on the bed like a promise of things to come – and, to her great relief, he pulled out the rabbit.

  Without saying a word, he put the basket back and returned between her thighs and held it over her.

  ‘I’m not sure how I want you.’

  April didn’t ask if she got a say in it. She remained his concubine before him, touching herself to keep those juices simmering as he looked down upon her and plotted.

  He turned his gaze to her slatted headboard. ‘Put that pillow under you. Actually, both of them.’

  Oh, hell. Her pillows were fat and enormous, and elevating herself on top of one would have put her onto her shoulders. Also, with Seth pushing her legs apart once more and her knees close to her head, she was on obscene display.

  She had a quip ready but lost it once he leaned down and drew a wet line along her cunt with the point of his tongue. She held his gaze as he puckered his lips around her clit. With the sweet suction around her fat clit she grasped the bedding around her head and strained up towards the perfect throb his mouth created, but he had only gotten a taste. Three hot licks later and she was a fire stoked. She burned as he greedily looked down on her.

  Splaying his hand on her damp mound, he pressed the flared head of the vibe against her opening. April bit her lip as he slowly stretched her open. The shaft of the vibrator was wide and she had yet to take it when she was alone, using instead those merciless little ears as she mulled whether she could take the rest comfortably, but, as Seth pushed deeper and gave her the widest part, her body eagerly accepted it.

  With the shaft embedded, Seth smeared the ears with her juices and positioned them on either side of her clit. He pulled the hood taut so that the fat bud popped out.

  Seth grinned. ‘Now, what did you say about begging?’

  ‘Make me,’ she said so ferociously that she surprised herself.

  Plugged with the vibrator, with this big man looming over her, something clicked inside her. She wanted him to make her beg and scream, and then she wanted to sink her teeth into him while he pounded her.

  April let go of the bedding, grasped her knees and opened up completely to him, then shook all over as he turned the vibrator on.

  Though his smirk spoke volumes about how much he enjoyed watching her squirm, Seth remained silent as he worked the toy in and out of her pussy.

  Her suspicions had been right. The rabbit was much better in someone else’s hands – his specifically. He wielded the rabbit like he had done it a hundred times before, hitting all the right spots with each shallow thrust. The shaft’s wide middle shuddered against her sweet spot while the ears fluttered as they rubbed either side of her clit.

  And there was Seth, thumb crooking directly on her clit, a pornographic picture with flushed and inked flesh, a hard cock and an intense look that was as effective as what he was doing to her. She was close, fighting through the smothering pleasure within to draw a breath and release it in a moan every time. Just a little more and she would –

  ‘I don’t hear any begging,’ he said, breaking his silence. Then there was a tsking sound, and he killed the power on the vibe.

  April growled and dropped her head on the bed. She had wanted him to make her beg and she was ecstatic enough to do it, but she was so full of energy she wasn’t sure she could form words.

  ‘All right, then. Have it your way.’

  He began to withdraw the vibrator.

  April gasped and reached for him. ‘No – please.’

  ‘Is that all you’ve got?’ He filled her again, but he didn’t reignite the power. He pushed the toy in and out in an almost leisurely way.

  I can do this all night, his expression said. I can make you beg.

  He meant it. It was written all over his face, positively devious as he left her empty. Only the tip remained.

  ‘Come on, sweetheart. Tell me how much you want to come again.’

  Biting down, she gripped behind her knees and shunted her hips.

  ‘Make me beg.’

  He withdrew completely.

  ‘Maybe you’re not such a bad girl, because a bad girl would do whatever it took to get that hard cock she wants so bad.’ Setting the vibe aside, he pushed up onto his knees and closed his fist around his cock. Smirking down on her, he jerked himself. ‘I guess I’ll just come on your stomach, if that’s the way this is going to be.’

  April struggled onto her hands and blew out a deep breath. ‘Fuck me. Please fuck me.’

  ‘Ah, but you don’t want my cock yet, do you?’ He removed his hand and once more rubbed his cock against her as he held up the vibrator. ‘You want this first.’

  She shook her head, and couldn’t believe it when the words spilled out, and in that desperate voice.

  ‘I want your cock. Please. Give it to me.’

  Seth shook his head and turned on the vibe before replacing his cock with it. He turned it over and pressed the rabbit ears against her clit, instantly reigniting those intense pulses throughout her body.

  ‘Keep begging for it,’ he growled, and pushed her down as she began to buck up. ‘You’re not going to get it by holding your breath like that.’

  She hadn’t even realised it until she let the air out.

  No matter what she said, no matter how much she begged, he wasn’t going to fuck her until he was good and ready.

  This is what he had meant about being the boss in bed. He didn’t use his physical power, but a silver tongue that made crass edicts sound like music.

  Seth turned up the juice, and every breath April fought to draw she let out with a plea. In spite of the hand on her, she rocked along with the powerful throbs that quaked through her whole body.

  Verging on a second and far more powerful climax than her first, April squeezed her eyes shut and kept on begging, then gasped and bucked up as she was filled again – not by the vibrator but by his thick shaft. Having tossed the toy aside, Seth hooked his arms around her thighs and held tight as he pumped his hips.

  April reached down and rubbed a frenzied circle around her clit. Even with the impact of his body slamming against her and inside her, she found herself still begging for more as he gave her what she craved.

  ‘Oh, that’s right – keep coming on my cock, sweetheart,’ he growled and went deep as pulse after pulse rocked along her pussy and exploded under her skin.

  When she could take no more on her clit, April grabbed his wrists.

  Every thrust jolted her, every furious pass of that hard length over her G-spot releasing a hot shiver up her spine.

  Head bowed, his gaze flicked back and forth from her face to where their bodies joined. There was nothing to do but hold on as he rode her.

  A throaty sound exploded from him and he went deep. Fingertips dug into her thighs. That fierce expression shattered and euphoria splashed across his face. April couldn’t take her eyes off him as he emptied into her, and moaned as the remnants of her own climax answered with a shudder around his cock.

  As the tension flowed from both of them and Seth sagged down, April released her grip on him and, with his cock still inside her softening, she stretched around him.

  In seconds she was giddy. All it took was one glance around at her rumpled bedding and the man heaving before her for elation to bubble up.

  Her bed’s cherry had been broken. It had been used and bruised and left sated and hungry for more.

  With a snuffling sound, Seth withdrew and crawled alongside her.

  ‘That was embarrassing,’ he murmured. ‘I usually last longer than that, especially after jerking off all day.’

/>   April turned her head and screwed up her eyebrows at him. ‘Are you kidding?’

  ‘No, I’m not. I planned to keep you going for a lot longer.’

  Snickering, she shook her head and rolled towards him. ‘There is absolutely nothing wrong with what just happened here.’

  Seth chuckled and lifted his head, then hissed through his teeth. ‘Fuck.’

  ‘Hrmm?’

  He sat up and looked around the bed, then held up the condom. ‘I forgot something.’

  ‘Not surprising.’

  When he didn’t return to her side, April looked up. He appeared concerned as he put the condom on the nightstand, and she ran her hand along his thigh to beckon him back.

  Instead, he got up. ‘I’ll just run upstairs.’

  ‘For what?’

  His worry was manifest in the thin line of his pressed lips as he hauled his pyjama pants on, and April was pricked with just a hint of rejection.

  ‘Uh, everything all right?’ she asked, and decided she would kill him right where he stood if he pulled a thanks-that-was-fun in spite of their earlier chat.

  ‘Yeah, it’s just my wallet is upstairs.’

  April raised an eyebrow. ‘And you want to…order a pizza?’

  ‘No, it’s for the, what do they call it? Plan B?’

  Well…this is unexpected.

  ‘You want to get dressed and go back downstairs so you can give me money for the morning-after pill?’

  She could see his cringe ripple over him as he sank down on the edge of the bed, half-turned towards her.

  ‘I’m not usually that careless,’ he said quietly, and took a quick look at her. ‘Not that I sleep around, either, but I can usually keep my head about me.’

  ‘I’m on the pill, so no baby landlords coming out of this vagina.’ She gave him a nudge. ‘Also, I’ve never had sex with anyone without a condom before, so nothing else unpleasant.’

  ‘Me neither, except –’ He stopped short and met her gaze at last, then grinned. ‘You look wrecked.’

  ‘So do you.’ She tossed the pillows back into place and stretched out on the bed, then returned a smile just as his faded.

  The bold flirt she had created was hidden for now, and in his place was a shy man. She didn’t believe he was trying to make a selfish escape. He was just uncertain.

  It was sweet, or would have been if every muscle wasn’t reminding her of having been fucked so thoroughly. Watching him pull his clothes on, she was silent and a little puzzled. He had confessed to having a bisexual fling with the neighbours like it was no big deal, and yet he couldn’t meet her gaze as he shook out his T-shirt.

  She hated to think that she was wrong and he was about to cruelly ditch her after coming inside her, but things had become awkward in a hurry.

  Once he had dressed, he looked at her again. ‘You OK?’

  ‘I’m good,’ she told him. He was obviously ready to go, but no matter what was going on in his head she wasn’t going to walk him to the window or the door. She was staying in the bed and enjoying her afterglow, thank you very much.

  Seth hesitated. ‘You sure?’

  ‘Oh, yeah.’ She propped herself up on her elbow. ‘So, I guess I’ll see you around?’

  For a moment it looked like he might linger a little longer. He looked at the empty space on the bed next to her, and a faint smile emerged as he turned his attention to her naked, flushed body, but then the uncertainty returned.

  ‘Yeah, I’ll –’ he began, then pressed his lips together. He knelt on the bed, leaned over her and pressed his lips to hers.

  April stiffened in surprise, then closed her eyes and let him drink her in. As far as goodbye-thanks-for-the-sex kisses went, this one could have won awards. He cupped the back of her head and the bristle that surrounded his mouth tickled rather than burned. He handled her so softly, but his insistent tongue sweeping past her lips was possessive.

  By the time he broke the kiss, April felt as though she was floating an inch off the bed.

  ‘See you around, bad girl,’ he murmured, and before her lashes fluttered shut he vanished into the living room.

  She didn’t know what to think of his exit, or his behaviour, and as she flopped back she discovered she didn’t care so much. Fucking him had been just as good as she had imagined it would be, and, for now anyway, she was going to lie there and bask, and the inevitable obsessing could wait until tomorrow.

  Chapter Seven

  Evie left the room, making a disgusted noise in the back of her throat and shaking her head, and Seth stretched his legs out in front of him and groaned. Ryan, who was leaning against the deck’s railing alongside the barbecue, burst out laughing and almost dropped his beer on the lawn.

  ‘It’s not that bad,’ Seth growled.

  ‘Yeah, it is,’ Ryan said in a gasp. He straightened up, made an attempt to wipe the hilarity from his face and failed. ‘How does that not sound bad to you? You offered a woman money after you had sex with her.’

  ‘For the morning-after pill, because I –’

  ‘It doesn’t matter. You made her come and then you offered her money. You know who does that? Villains in old movies, right before the heroine throws herself out of a window.’ Ryan moved back to the barbecue and jabbed the steak with a fork, then flipped it over. ‘I have to say, this makes me feel so much better about myself. You’re more inept than I could ever be.’

  Seth rose to the challenge, ready to pull everything he had on Ryan out of his arsenal to defend himself, or at least make himself feel better. ‘Oh, is that so? Since when?’

  ‘Since you offered a woman money after having sex with her,’ he retorted. ‘There is nothing, and I mean nothing, that I’ve done that could possibly beat that.’

  Sinking deeper in the plastic deck chair, Seth pulled up his hood and covered his face as far as it would go. ‘Fuck my life.’

  Ryan’s reply was a little gleeful. ‘Yeah, fuck your life. What are you going to do now? Evict her like you evicted us?’

  ‘I didn’t evict you. I suggested you find somewhere else to live.’

  ‘You tossed us out on our asses, but that’s OK because we have this sweet place now, and you’re the guy who gave a nice girl money after having sex with her.’

  ‘Ryan, stop.’ Evie had returned. She handed a beer to Ryan and a Coke to Seth, then sat down next to Seth. She sipped her own beer, then cocked her head at him. ‘Did you apologise?’

  ‘I didn’t even know I’d done something wrong until you told me.’ He crossed his arms over his chest and shook his head. ‘This is how you become that guy who lives in an apartment filled with newspapers and owns venomous snakes.’

  ‘You’d better apologise,’ Evie told him. ‘Especially if you want to go out with her again.’

  ‘Who says I wanted to go out with her again?’

  Evie was mortified. ‘So you’re going to have sex with her, offer her money and never talk to her again or something?’

  ‘Can we please stop pointing that out?’ Seth snapped. He tore off his hood and leaned forward, clutching his soda in both hands. ‘Yes, I want to ask her out again. I shouldn’t. She’s going to fuck me up worse than I already am, but I like her. Once you get to talk to her and get over the fact that she looks like she should be modelling underwear, you find out she’s a bit of a smartass. I like that.’

  He looked from one to the other, hardly believing that he was seeking relationship advice to begin with, let alone from two people he’d been inside in the recent past.

  Ryan shrugged. ‘Well, you could start by not –’

  ‘Don’t,’ Seth snapped, jabbing his finger in his direction. ‘Do not say a word about money.’

  ‘I wasn’t. What I was going to say was that you could start by not getting that panicked look on your face at the thought of asking her out. Just do it. Take her out, and by “out” I mean out of the building. Food or coffee.’

  ‘If she’ll talk to you,’ Evie added, then gave him a sympa
thetic look. ‘Sorry, but it’s true. Even before you think about asking her out, you need to make sure she knows you weren’t trying to offend her but that you’re just kind of…’

  Seth raised his brows. ‘An asshole?’

  ‘Out of the game – without making it seem like you’re still not ready to do something other than screw around.’ She pressed her lips together, then tapped his foot with hers. ‘Assuming you’re there, that is.’

  ‘I don’t know,’ he said honestly. ‘I really don’t. I still feel like I’m married. As crazy as it sounds, some days it feels like I’m just waiting for her to come back.’

  The barbecue sizzled as Ryan checked his steaks. ‘Another few minutes. So, let me ask you, and don’t get offended, but have you done any sort of grief counselling?’

  ‘I don’t need grief counselling.’

  ‘I’ll take that as a no. It might help. You might get closure.’

  ‘Hey, I know she’s not coming back, OK?’

  ‘That’s not the same as closure,’ Ryan went on. ‘You’re not doing anything to get your life back. You’re in the apartment all the time doing the same thing that you did when Rita was around. When my dad died, my mom learned to drive. That went a long way for her. It made her feel like she could actually do something on her own.’

  ‘You took off your ring,’ Evie mentioned.

  ‘I never wore my ring,’ he countered, flexing his left hand in front of him. ‘Neither did Rita. We were worried we’d lose them while working. By the way, I haven’t actually asked for this advice you’re both dishing out. You asked if I’d been getting any and I told you, and now this.’

  Both Ryan and Evie kept their mouths shut as Seth stewed. He didn’t want anyone telling him what to do. He resented Ryan for suggesting that he had no life. He had a life. It might not be filled with rainbows and sunshine like the one Evie and Ryan had made since coming to terms with the fuck-ups in their relationship while living at Winsloe Court, but it was his life and he was contented.

  Mostly. He had no social circle to speak of and, no, he didn’t leave the building a whole lot, but he wasn’t that bad. He’d managed to have one hell of a roll in the sheets with a hot blonde, hadn’t he?