by Holly Hart
He paused for a long time before he spoke. "I don't blame you, Cara," he whispered, his breath tickling my ear. "I was raised by a succession of nannies who ran the second they realized what dad did for a living. Sometimes they were scared off by the psycho himself, when he needed a new victim to torment. I don't blame you for hiding Kitty from me. What the hell kind of father could I ever be after that?"
I froze. I didn't know what to say. This was a new side of Val, one I'd never seen before. When we were kids, hell – that was only two years ago, even if it felt like a whole lifetime had passed – life was easy. At least, I could pretend it was as easy as it had ever been for me, and apparently, Val did as well.
Val had been my escape valve. I never told him about the troubles I had at home because when I was away from them, I didn't want to think about them. I didn't realize how selfish I'd been, thinking that I was the only one with problems. Val had a whole personal hell of his own, and it put mine to shame. But the way he was talking shone a light on an entirely different person – a man who wasn't just muscles and stunning good looks, but one who had a mind to match.
A vision of the three of us – one happy family – filled my mind. It was a mirage, a life that I had never lived, but that I'd always dreamt of. In all my twenty-one years I hadn't come close to experiencing that kind of happiness. But I wanted it more desperately than anything.
I said the only thing that came to mind – the truth. It was shocking but, strangely, not scary. "I want to find out."
It was Val's turn to freeze. He was already so still that it was hard to tell the difference, but his breath stopped licking at my ear and toying with my hair.
"Wha … What did you say?" He croaked.
"Only if you want it too," I said hurriedly, my breath caught in my throat, not knowing whether I would be able to handle him turning me down.
Val looked at me with a face twisted by pain and suspicion. It broke my heart. When he spoke, the fearful accusations tumbled out of his mouth and landed upon each other in a heap. "You don't mean it. You can't. I don't believe you."
The hair on my neck bristled. "Valentino Marius whatever the hell you're calling yourself these days, you had better stop telling me what I do and don't mean, and start giving me an answer!"
And preferably the answer I want…
Val stared at me dumbly, as if scared my offer was too good to be true. I watched as the expressions on his face twisted and shimmered like clouds seen from space; as frowned wrinkles and dimples disappeared, only to be reshaped and reformed by an overjoyed smile that dug divots of its own.
"Then yes; definitely yes; a thousand times YES!"
Val pulled me across his body without breaking a sweat and dipped his mouth to mine. I lay on his lap, his arms cradled around me and holding me up. He pressed his lips to mine like he thought he was giving me the kiss of life. In a way, he was. His black, now thickly stubbled chin grazed my cheek, but I didn't care. I barely noticed. I wanted Val and every damn hair on his body if that's what it took.
"You know ever since you came here you've been teasing me, right?" He growled. I felt him hardening underneath me, the heat of his cock pulsating through my flimsy nightwear.
"I –"
I had no idea what to say. No words came to mind, just an overpowering chemical lust.
Val looked me up and down, his gray eyes filled with an inky blackness. He moaned, and I shivered. He was the Val I knew – and something more. Something else lived in those eyes – the darkness inside the man I –.
Loved?
"The things I want to do to you, Cara, you wouldn't even imagine. You make me feel things I haven't felt in years. But…"
"But what?" I said, filling my voice with a hungered hardness. I needed him, now. No but in the world was going to stop me from getting what only he could give me.
"But like I told you," he groaned, raking his hands up and down my body, but never touching skin. It was like he was worried that once he did, he wouldn't be able to stop. "I'm different now. That cell, it changed me. When I fucked you in that hotel, I was holding back. I don't know if I can do that again."
I studied his face. I knew deep down that whatever he said, maybe even whatever he thought, Val would never truly hurt me. Not more than I could take. And if he could, well there was only one way to find out.
"Then don't," I said simply.
Val's eyes filled with hope. "Don't what?" He asked, as if worried my answer was too good to be true.
I didn't reply, not with words, not this time. I leaned upward, straining my neck to close the inches between us, and laced my hand into his midnight black hair. I pulled him down and toward me. Our lips met, and Val's tongue flicked out, but I ignored it. I took his bottom lip between both of mine, rolled my tongue around it, and closed my teeth on it. I bit down hard, until I knew that his eyes must be watering, and that every fiber in his body would be screaming at him to pull away.
The tiniest drop of coppery blood tingled on the tip of my tongue. The second it did, I released him.
It was my turn to growl, "Don't fucking hold back."
It was as though my permission had been the last thing holding the dam together, and the second it was given … the walls came down and Val poured through.
My pajamas were off my body and on the floor within seconds. The seams tore and split as he ripped the cloth off my body. I wasn't wearing any underwear, so other than my hands, which jumped – embarrassed – to cover the slit between my legs, I was naked. It all happened so fast that I was still wondering how I was going to get back to my bedroom without Kitty noticing when Val ripped my hands aside.
"No hiding," he growled, drinking every inch of my skin up with greedy eyes. "I want all of you."
He ran his hand roughly from the seat of my ankle, up my thigh and grazed my sex, but he didn't stop there. His fingers sped upwards, leaving a trail of fire behind. His palm scraped against my right nipple, and I clenched my legs together as a desire began to build between them. With his bare hand, he roughly tore my legs apart.
"I told you," he said gruffly, "No hiding."
I wanted to scream that I wasn't hiding, that I needed him inside me – every inch, but he didn't give me the chance. His right hand caressed my neck now, as his left fingers probed my wet slit, and he was everywhere all at once. His lips dipped to mine, his fingers tangled in my hair and pulled oh-so-gently, and he pressed his palm against my pussy. I pushed my hips up, up and out, desperate for his touch.
He pulled his head back, and a wicked grin curled across his face. "Oh, you like that do you?"
It was all I could do to nod. My face must have been flushed red, because my skin was burning. Whether it was from embarrassment, or desire, or hunger for his cock, I didn't know – perhaps all at once. I needed him, right then, and he could tell.
I didn't have to wait long.
Val tossed me to one side as easily as throwing a pillow. He pushed me off him, and onto my back. I whimpered my disappointment, but I knew from the darkness that flooded his eyes that I wouldn't have to wait long. Val had unleashed the beast inside him, and until its hunger was satisfied, there was no quieting that raging animal.
He lifted himself off the bed, chest once again glistening with a faint sheen of sweat. He stood in front of me, eyes greedily devouring my nakedness. My hands had once again crept to cover what little of me they could – but Val shook his head once, and I let them fall to my side. My fingers curled and clutched the sheets as my face burned. It was embarrassment this time, I had no doubt.
But Val had stoked a fire, and the heat on my face paled in comparison to the inferno blazing within. "Please, Val…" I begged, "I need you. All of you."
A grin tickled the corners of his mouth as he stood by my feet, lazily unbuckling his belt. He pulled the buttons that held his fly loose one by one, and the denim that rode his hips fell past his thighs. His cock fell out, loose, arrogant …
and huge.
&nbs
p; Val chuckled, taking his cock in his hand and stepping out of his jeans. My eyes were glued to the thick rod which was between his fingers, still growing and showing no signs of stopping. I bit my lip, wondering how the hell it would possibly fit inside.
Was it that big last time?
I didn't know. It didn't seem possible, but how could it have been anything else?
"Oh, you'll get it," he reassured me. He grabbed my right foot with his free hand and pulled me towards him, bicep bulging as I slid across the sheets.
Memories of two years of celibacy fought in my mind against what I remembered of our teenage tumbles. They were nothing like this. Confused, hurried couplings, when neither of us knew what was meant to go where, when, and for how long. And then after, when I’d ended up in his bed in that hotel, Val was reserved. He held a part of himself back.
Val wasn't that boy, not anymore. Not with me.
But was I still that girl?
Val stopped pulling, and I was there, so close to his cock that I felt the heat radiating off his thighs. He stood between my open legs, grabbed my hips and pulled me the last few inches towards him, and then he was inside me.
He thrust into me in one easy movement until he was buried 8 inches deep; easy for him, maybe, but not for me. A tear welled in my right eye, and the breath died in my lungs as he pressed into me.
"Jesus wept, Cara," he said, whispering into my ear. "You're so fucking tight."
Am I? I thought. Or is it just that your cock's thicker than most tree trunks?
But it didn't hurt. None of it hurt, because I was wetter than I had ever been before in my life. My skin was on fire, screaming out for him to touch me, to take me however he wanted. I could barely move, I had so much of him inside me, and yet I wanted more.
Val was happy to provide it.
I whimpered as he dug his fingernails into the soft, tender skin of my thighs and pulled me towards him, barely giving me a second to acclimatize to the thickness that was stretching me from inside out. My legs dangled off the bed, but as he started thrusting, I forgot they were there.
I forgot every part of me, except the one exploding between my thighs. Val's legs crashed against mine as he thrust inside me. This fuck wasn't about me – it was about Val. Val's wants, Val's needs, his hopes, his fears and his dreams. His cock ground into my pussy so hard it had me gasping for breath. His hands gripped my legs so tightly that bruises were already forming. I knew they'd mark me for days.
And yet …
And yet, it was the kind of fuck that most women only get to dream about. The kind you read books just to imagine – the kind that triggers sensations from the tingling from your toes to the blinding flashes behind your eyelids – the kind that sparks to life a pile of firewood, neatly stacked and ready to burst into flame.
Val flipped me around, pushing me roughly onto my knees, never letting his cock feel the touch of cold air. He slapped my ass so hard the handprint it left seared through my body and appeared on the other side.
"Again!"
I didn't recognize the voice – she sounded ragged, hoarse, and desperate. But I found my lips forming the word and loosing sounds I would never have believed. "Again!"
He did as he was ordered, grabbing a handful of my hair with his left hand and pulling back so hard my eyes dripped wet with tears. I rammed my ass back into his toned, muscular body, bouncing off every time and returning harder, faster, better, stronger. I was a goddamn Black Eyed Peas song and I couldn't have cared less.
I was close now, so close. "Don't stop," I groaned. "Don’t you dare stop…"
I squeezed my eyes shut, and stars exploded in the blackness. I clenched my legs together, pressing my clit harder against his thick cock. It was almost sore now, but I didn't care. My fingers scrunched at the bed sheets, squeezing with all my might, and the first wave of my orgasm broke. Even as I screamed out with pleasure, Val never stopped.
And then his fingers circled my throat.
I was exhausted, completely drained – but he was barely getting started.
13
Val
It was two days later and I still didn't believe any of it had really happened. Two days of fucking – two years’ worth, and I still wasn't done. Cara made my cock jump like no woman I'd ever seen, and I knew I made her come like no man ever had before now.
Not even me.
And then there was Kitty. My daughter – can you believe that? I still wasn't sure I could. Sometimes I caught myself in the mirror, rolling her name across my tongue, saying the words out loud,
my daughter.
But I didn't have time for any of that here. Not now. I had to be a different person: harder, meaner. I had to be the man my men thought I was. The man I'd been without blinking until that little cock tease strolled back into my life. I cracked my knuckles, one hand then the other.
"Boss?"
I turned to see Dimitri a couple of feet from me. Judging by the vaguely anxious look on his face, this wasn't the first time he'd attempted to get my attention. When I spoke, I didn't acknowledge that I had drifted away. My men had to believe that I was all-powerful, all-knowing – and invincible – even when I doubted it myself.
"Report, Dimitri," I barked.
He nodded. He was a damn good right hand man – quick thinking, honest, and loyal to the hilt. I hoped that was the case, anyway. Loyalty's best tested when the storm hits, not when the sea's calm as a mirror. We hadn't yet suffered together, and until we did…
Well, let's just say I'm a suspicious man.
His foot tapped uncontrollably as he spoke. "No movement; none all day. If there's anyone in there, then they're either hung-over or holed up."
My fingers played a tune as they drummed against my thigh. Every possible way that this could go wrong flashed across my mind. The “safe house” door could be wired with explosives. The gas stove might have been left on with no pilot light – waiting for a stray spark to turn the whole place into a blasting inferno. That was just the kind of deadly, underhanded trick my father loved.
But none of that mattered. The longer I lingered, the more advantage shifted to my father's court. I'd already lost the element of surprise with the last attempted – bungled raid, but the momentum could still be mine.
"My money's on empty," I growled. "If my father knows I'm in town, his men will know better than to let drink get the better of them."
"So what do you want to do, boss?" Dimitri asked, voicing the question that the circle of men surrounding us was too afraid to ask. They were killers, every one of them – and dressed like it, to boot. If I didn't know better, I could have mistaken them for a SWAT team. Black radios dangled off body-armored chests, and they bristled with weapons like a porcupine's spines. It had all cost more than a pretty penny, but I had those to spare.
I grimaced. This was the part of leadership I hated. I didn't mind knocking people's heads together or putting myself in harm's way to prove my courage to my men. That was all in a day's work – and I'd never much minded danger, anyway.
No – the hard job was that every damn day I was assaulted by a tidal wave of decisions. And today's was a big one. Half a dozen men was a very small number with which to wrestle back control of an entire city, and if I lost half of them in one fell swoop…
Then I'd be in very deep shit indeed.
The silence built around us. Dimitri's tapping foot sounded like a ticking clock. I left my fingers through the hair on the back of my head and looked up – hoping for divine inspiration.
I got it.
"Dimitri, you're with me – understood? We'll take the back." I raised my voice, studying each man's face in turn. "The rest of you, go through the front door. Not until you hear two clicks on the radio, understood?"
Three nods.
"Understood?" I repeated, harsher this time.
Five nods greeted me this time, accompanied with a chorus of "yes boss."
"Good. Let's move out."
Dawn was bare
ly tickling the sky as I ran, Dimitri by my side. It was the perfect time of day to strike – when men and beasts alike are in bed: except mine.
Dimitri turned into the alleyway and stopped a second later, when he realized that the sound of my boots had died away. He turned and looked at me, head cocking to one side with surprise. "Boss," he whispered. "What's the deal?"
I held a finger to my lips and gestured at him to come closer. A bead of sweat trickled off his nose, and he walked towards me with a face that reeked of worry. I knew exactly what was running through his mind. They called me the Phantom because of moments just like this – when men entered an alleyway and died without a sound. I let the tension build.
I never wanted to run an organization in which my men were terrified of me…
But a little dose of healthy fear couldn't hurt.
I waited until Dimitri's face was ashen with worry, and then…
I winked.
He blinked, and his shoulders sagged as the stress and tension drained out. Hiding a grin, I took a finger from my lips and pointed directly up, resting my hand on a dented black flight of fire escape steps to reinforce the point. "We're going up."
Dimitri followed without complaint, moving as quietly as a church mouse, even in his heavy combat boots. I knew I shouldn't have played with him like that, but what's the point in being king if you don't get to have some fun from time to time?
Behave.
I slowed my breathing until a casual observer might not have realized my chest was moving at all. But I didn't see any casual observers, not tonight. They don't call the hour before dawn the witching hour for no reason. The only life up and crawling the filthy streets of Vista Beach – a gritty suburb right out on the edge of the Industrial District – was made up of dealers and their unfortunate clients, and they had their own dismal business on their minds.
Why the hell do they call it Vista Beach anyways?
The place was a concrete jungle – a warren of decrepit low blocks of apartments. The only beach I could see was a dried out canal, once used to shift goods, now a thicket of discarded shopping carts and used needles. Not much of a vista, not much of a beach.
