by Scott, Raven
And, ever so nicely, Theo started playing with my hair. His palm left my hip as he leaned forward to snatch the remote off the coffee table, and he propped back to recline the seat. Behind my shuttered lids, the television flickered on, the sounds floating garbled in my ears, but he turned the volume down and didn’t stop threading my hair through his thumb and forefinger.
He had such incredible resolve, and what did I have? Some flimsy, bullshit declaration that I couldn’t keep. Theo had every right to have that first impression of me. I mean, what if my whole conviction was a lie? What if I had everything backward, and I was just pretending to be strong?
Was there harm in just giving up, or was I just screwing myself over by fighting?
“Hey, Theo?” A gruff hum met my mumble, and Theo worked his three fingers under my bun to scratch my scalp. “What did you think when you first saw me? Before everything— even going into the VIP room— what was the first thing that came to mind when you opened the door?”
He inhaled deeply, sinking a little lower into the sofa, and I curled my toes in anticipation of his answer.
“I was kinda pissed you were wearing contacts and hair dye. I had a feeling you were a lot more beautiful without them, and I was right.” Stiff fingers curled slightly in my bun, and Theo exhaled heavily as the light of the television combatted the memories. “I get why you do it, though. I wondered what color your eyes were and whether or not your ass was as tight as it looked in your leotard.”
Sitting up, I shuffled wordlessly to straddle Theo’s lap, and he stiffened with a sharp whistle of an inhale. Facing the television, thoughts were strangely absent from my mind, and I leaned back as heat seeped into my veins. He stared straight ahead, but his chin jerked when I tilted my head to brush my lips along his jaw.
“Is it?” Reclined in the seat, Theo’s abdominal muscles rippled against my ass as I ground against him, and a powerful rattle jolted up my spine. “We both know whatever comes out of my mouth is a lie. Maybe that’s why it’s so frustrating— lies are so hard to keep up with.”
Incredible, defined muscles played along the length of my back, and Theo ground his teeth audible in my ear. Rolling my hips against his bulge, I gripped his forearms just as he braced his fists around my calves, and his thick arm hair tickled between my fingers. My tongue snuck out to scrape against his stubble, and I shivered at the heady taste of him.
“Will fucking me give you the answer you’re looking for, Illya?” I paused at the probe, and Theo growled in displeasure as he thrust to keep the friction going. “I’m not gonna say ‘no,’ but it’s not gonna be my fault if it doesn’t do what you think it will.”
“I don’t even know what the question is, Theo.” His cheek twitched against my forehead as my breath rolled down his neck, and I groaned softly. Unhooking his left hand from around my leg, he reached up, and my heart jumped into my throat as my nails dug into his arm. “Don’t touch me there.”
The atmosphere became tense at my snap, and the sensation seeped through my melted skin to send tingles shooting down my sternum. Slowly, Theo lowered his hand to open my robe, and I released his forearm to hold the top closed. His jaw clenched against the bridge of my nose as I clutched the plain, white silk, but if he wondered, he didn’t do the stupid thing and open his mouth.
“Oh . . . ” Calloused fingertips circled my clit through my panties, and I gasped as shocks skittered through my abdomen. Pleasure flared to wrap my heart in a vice, and I thrust my hips against Theo’s palm in hot eagerness. “More . . . ”
“Yeah?” Nodding hastily at his low growl, goosebumps blanketed my body, and I licked my lips heavily. Theo pulled my underwear to the side, and I clenched in expectation and this growing desire to just feel light. Rough fingertips circled my bead, and pleasures tightened my abdomen as I rested my head on his shoulder. Knowing fingers spread my folds, and a gasp burst from my throat when he ground the butt of his palm against me.
“Theo . . . Theo . . . Theo . . . oh-h-h . . . ” His body jolted at my back, muscles taut, skin burning mine, as he thrust two fingers into my channel, and I moaned his name. Arching to roll my hips, my chest throbbed fiercely, but I ignored it for the moment to savor the sensation. Harsh pants sounded above the blood pounding in my ears, and Theo curled his fingers to draw me closer and closer.
Flopping forward, I braced my palms on his knees to roll and buck in white-hot need, and Theo let go of my leg to grab my ass with his right hand. His fingers inside me wiggled and curled, but he was quick to exit my channel to slip his palm under my ass.
“Oh . . . God, yes!” My high-pitched keen when he shoved his fingers past my entrance with a grunt rang in the room, and my knees lifted off the sofa. “Yes . . . yes . . . yes!”
Pushing my ass up, I spread my thighs a little wider, and Theo ducked his head to kiss and graze his teeth over my ass cheek. His knuckles bashed my pelvis with each powerful jab of his hand, and two fingers quickly turned into three. Clamping down on his thick digits, I scrunched up my face as my thighs quivered around his forearm.
“Fuck . . . I’m gonna cum . . . make me cum . . . make me . . . I-I’m c-cu— ” Shivers assaulted my spine, and I ducked my head with a cry as my words dried up on my tongue. Theo twisted and curled his fingers deep inside me, and my channel undulated wildly as he coaxed me to jump off the edge. Waves of icy euphoria rippled up my chest, set cold fire to my ruined skin, prickled up my collar bones, and I clenched my jaw as I sat back on his hand.
Sputtering a gasp, I spasmed weakly when Theo pulled out of me, and he sighed to send frigidly cold air rolling up my back. Pushing me off him, he grabbed my bun with his right hand, but he didn’t unfasten his jeans like my addled mind expected. Instead, he just set my face on his thigh again, his soft, scarred palm rubbing my face so gently.
Now, though, I had a question. One that I thought Theo had the answer to.
What if trusting him doesn’t turn out to be a mistake like all the others?
18
Theo
My phone buzzed insistently beside me on the real leather of the couch, and my eyelid twitched in agitation when I glanced at the caller I.D. Reaching for my cell, I swiped the ‘Accept’ button because God only fucking knew that Mateo would keep calling and calling like a douchebag.
“If you’re gonna harass me all God damn day, Mateo, I’m gonna block your ass and quit.” Growling lowly into the phone, I scowled when Illya tensed against my leg, and my lip curled into a snarl. “The fuck do you want, huh? If it has anything to do with Sylvie— ”
“Get your ass back here, Theo, and bring the roommate, or you won’t have to quit. I’ll put a bounty on you. I’m done playing this game.” Arching a brow at the cold, detached tone that flowed through the line, I rolled my jaw as my prickly beard bristled. I was not Mateo’s errand boy or his friend, and I carefully picked out what I was going to say. Irritation flooded my chest, and I didn’t bother trying to hide it when I opened my mouth.
“I’ll get there when I get there.” I hung up on Mateo’s stupid ass, and I set my phone down to flop my head back and scowl at the ceiling. He didn’t scare me. Shit, nothing scared me anymore, even if Big Bro made me a little nervous. I stroked Illya’s hair in the ensuing, heavy silence. “Hey, is your name really Illya, or is that your stage name or something?”
“It really is. It was my grandfather’s name.” Surprise rose my brows, and she rolled onto her back to smile fondly when I looked down. “Yeah, it’s a boy's name. Ironically, he escaped Nazi persecution just to have his only daughter die of smoke inhalation.”
Frowning as Illya’s smile soured, I rubbed her forehead with my thumb, and my gaze flickered to the thick pad of scar tissue stretching over her shoulder. Obviously, her parents hadn’t died natural deaths, but I wasn’t going to ask. That was downright rude, and I had a hard enough time trying to not come off as a pushy asshole.
“Will Mateo really have you killed if you don’t bring me back?” Licking my teet
h at that, I reached to scratch my scruff as a harsh sigh bubbled up in my chest.
“He can try. He’s too much of a pussy to do it himself. Not to mention, if he put out a hit on me and people found out that it was for something as stupid as not doing something that’s not even my job description, he might get a visit from his brother.” Curiosity sparkled in Illya’s swirling, green eyes, and I exhaled heavily as I weighed my options. “I put up with Mateo because . . . why the fuck not, you know? I get paid a lot to keep him from stubbing his toe. He’s not exactly the guy you want to bother to assassinate, either, which makes my job easier. He runs things here, but that’s just to keep him from fucking up the real operations because he’s incompetent.”
“Like fixating on Sylvie even though it’s not gonna end well.” Nodding curtly, I slumped a little against the sofa, and Illya rolled back onto her side to stare through the television mounted on the wall. “He does know she’s had two back-alley abortions, right?”
“I’m positive he didn’t even see her in person, yet. I really couldn’t care less, but Mateo needs to grow the fuck up. He’s only twenty-four and has a raging case of rich-bitch syndrome, so maybe that'll be the thing that screws him up just the right way.” She hummed softly, and I threaded my fingers through her thick, silky hair to scratch her scalp. That, at least, was something she liked that I hadn’t fucked up yet. “I know she’s your friend— or she was— but, frankly, I would’ve gotten rid of her the second I found out if I was Mateo.”
“Well, you’re not, so . . . ” Pushing herself onto her arms, Illya folded her legs under her, and every move she made was so graceful that it stole my breath. Gazing at me from under sunken hoods, she fluttered her lashes, and I clenched my jaw hard. “You’re a lot more genuine, even if it backfires on you sometimes, Theo.”
“I got one thing going for me, at least.” My palms itched to bury in Illya’s long hair and kiss her, and she puffed out her lips like she wanted me to. I wasn’t sure what I’d said that made that switch flip in her head, but I wasn’t going to question it, either. Reaching to stroke her cheek, my mind whirred with how fast and hard things went from Stop, do not pass Go to Collect two hundred dollars. “I’ll get around to going back. If Mateo doesn’t want to be treated like a kid, he shouldn’t act like one. It’s one thing to man-up when you knock a one-night-stand up, but it’s another thing to go about it the way he is.”
“Don’t you think he’ll find out eventually who I am? You can’t hide me forever.” Illya inched a little bit closer, and I clenched my jaw when she put her hand right on my crotch. My raging hard-on throbbed almost painfully, and a glimmer shimmered in her cobalt green eyes. Squeezing my cock outside my jeans, she puffed out a breath through her mouth, and my abdomen tightened as desire thrummed up and down my thighs. She really knew what she was doing, and I ground my teeth hard while my tongue stuck to the roof of my mouth.
“I’m not hiding you. I brought you here because I felt guilty about what I did last night. You deserve a little R-and-R, Illya.” There . . . fuck. The truth worked before. Might as well just stick with that. “I was gonna leave you here to enjoy some alone time, but then you started freaking the fuck out about— ”
Sucking in a sharp breath when Illya squeezed more firmly, I flopped my head back as fire swirled in my lungs. In the second or two that I glared at the ceiling, she attacked my jean fastenings, and I groaned when her fingers wrapped around my shaft. Red flashed behind my lids when I blinked, but she reached to touch my chin with her free hand instead of just diving down headfirst.
Glancing over, my pupils narrowed at the pink tinge in Illya’s cheeks, the brightness in her mossy eyes as they swirled with hazel.
“Theo.” My name caressed her lips, and goosebumps blanketed my bare arms as she leaned in to brush her nose up my neck. Flames licked just under my skin, and my throat flexed as every muscle in my body quivered with the thick sexual tension floating in the air. “Don’t make me regret this. Please.”
“I probably might, but stick it out.” Realization slammed into my gut as it knotted tighter with each pump of my cock, and Illya ground her forehead into my cheek. “The one thing I’ll never do is lie to you, Illya. The other stuff is accidental, but I’ll never lie to you.”
Every fucking person she ever met had lied to her somehow— her best friend, her family, her coworkers, even the guy checking out her groceries. Reaching to cup the back of her head, a growl built in my chest as her hot breath rolled down my chest under my t-shirt. My lip curled into a snarl at her little, broken hum, and she swiped the seeping head of my cock with her thumb gently.
“I trust you. A little.” The soft whisper resonated deep in me, and I gasped as Illya’s skin left my face. My right hand— or what was left of it— disappeared into her luscious hair to gather it up, and I palmed her back to pull her robe up her hips. Plump lips teased my cock, and she spit to ease the friction as pleasure rattled up my spine. Squeezing her tight ass, I nudged her legs open, and my heart stuttered when she licked the head of my cock thickly.
“Oh . . . fuck . . . ” I couldn’t remember the last time I’d gotten a blowjob. Most women looked at my hand and decided that I couldn’t deliver that shit right back, so it must not have been worth it. Sucking on my head, Illya squeezed hard as she pumped, and I thrust as a groan escaped me. Heat skittered up my abdomen, and I parted her folds to rub her clit as she gradually took me deeper down her throat.
Even sucking cock, Illya was graceful, her lips wrapping and releasing until the head hit the back of her throat. Her knees slid outwards, and she popped her ass up even as she tilted her head. Groaning when she swished her tongue along the underside of my shaft, I pushed her head down until her beautiful little gag shattered the atmosphere.
“Illya . . . fuck . . . ” I’d had this hard-on all damn morning— since she so politely told me to fuck off at the waffle place— and my breath hitched when she gagged around my head. Pulling back, she sucked in a short breath, and I closed my eyes and let my head fall back in pure bliss. “Yeah . . . ”
Circling her clit, my fingers slickened with Illya’s juices, and I clenched my jaw as I worked two fingers into her tight channel. Her hot mouth took in my cock again before she set a steady, deep pace, and her moan reverberated up my shaft to bristle the hairs on my abdomen. When I fingered her, it’d been frenzied and quick, but this was slow and savory, and damn, did Illya know her way around a cock.
The roughness of her tongue along the thick vein under my cock was tantalizing, and I pushed her head down and thrust up. Illya choked harshly but didn’t pull away, her teeth grazing the base of my cock. Her soft palm cupped my balls, and I sputtered a gasp as my heart palpitated in pleasure. Grappling her perky ass with my good hand, I couldn’t do two things at once, and her throat tightened around my head.
“Shit, Illya . . . I’m gonna cum . . . f-fuck . . . ” My voice shook with need, and she moaned around my cock and squeezed my balls expertly. Clenching my jaw hard, tingles shot up my thighs and down my spine to ball up in my tailbone. “Stay like that . . . stay just like that . . . ”
And she fucking did. Illya tensed, not moving, and goosebumps swept down her back against my forearm as her ass cheek flexed in my palm. My cock rippled from the base up, and I held my breath as hot cum spurted from my head and down her throat. Only then did she pull back to suck me dry, and she pumped my cock as spasms raced up my legs. Forcing my eyes open, I gulped harshly at the absolutely heavenly sight of her, her slender brows furrowed, eyes glistening, face red. She was so fucking beautiful with her hollowed cheeks and flexing throat as she greedily swallowed my cum.
That release almost fell to the wayside to Illya’s beauty, and I unhooked my fingers from her ass to caress the sharp line of her jaw. Bright, swirling eyes met mine, blazing with intense need, but I only cupped her face and drew her to my chest. My heart thundered against her cheek, and she curled up with satisfied, ragged pants that seeped through my shirt.
>
“You should take a really long, nice bath. Maybe take a nap in a real bed. I’ll order room service. This trip is not gonna be ruined.” My harsh whisper earned me a hiccup of a breath, and I stroked Illya’s face and hair as I sunk into the sofa. Neither of us made any attempt to move, but I was perfectly okay with that. She didn’t rub up against me. In fact, her chest didn’t touch me at all, but she did put her hand on mine.
That was enough. That was more than enough.
19
Theo
Stepping into Mateo’s nice, high-security home, I glanced around as an eerie silence met me. He lived the way a spoiled child lived, in a house too big, with furniture that wasn’t used and a living room with a huge flatscreen he’d never turned on. The baby blue walls resonated with the silence, and I shut the front door and locked it.
More so, he couldn’t escape than I could run because, let’s fucking face it, Mateo couldn’t get me on my worst day, and I was most definitely not having a bad day.
I’d dropped Illya off at her apartment after she spent all day in the lap of luxury, and I glanced down at my phone to scan the screen. The time read two a.m. on the dot, and a scowl twisted my lips because I would rather be passed out with her curled up against my side. She slept all bunched up— I knew it was because of that damn cot, but I couldn’t do anything about it.
The hairs on the back of my neck bristled in threat, tearing me from my reverie, and I acted before my eyes focused in the gloom. Whipping to the side, I shoved my body, and a terrified squeak echoed in my ears as I held a body to the wall by the throat. Blinking hard, a ghostly white face became sharper, and Julie sniffled hard when I released her as gently as I could.
“Don’t sneak up on me like that, Julie— I could’ve hurt you.” In the faint light from the backyard light that seeped through the curtained sliding doors, a glint on her face drew my gaze. Frowning, I reached to wipe the spot with my thumb, and the metallic scent of blood blossomed with her pained whimper. “What happened?”
