by Penelope Sky
After a very long ride, I was back in Milan.
I was tired from driving all afternoon, and now it was evening. All I wanted to do was go to bed. I’d even skip dinner because I didn’t have the energy to make something or pick something up.
The streets started to look more familiar as I approached my neighborhood.
It’d been a week since I last spoke to Bones. I said goodbye to him at the car because I never wanted to see him again. I wanted our sick and twisted connection to sever in half for good. But I thought about him every day that I was gone, and I thought about him now.
A part of me wanted to drive straight to his place.
I could sleep in that comfortable bed with that strong man beside me. He would keep me warm during the night, give me the sex I’d been missing, and protect me from all the evil things in the world—except himself.
It was so tempting I almost drove past my apartment.
But I found the strength to pull into the parking lot, grab my bag and my painting, and walk inside.
My apartment was freezing, so I cranked up the heat to chase away the frost. I set my bag on the floor and leaned the wrapped painting against the wall. Even if I wanted to display it somewhere, I couldn’t right now.
Not if I didn’t want Bones to see it.
I normally wore a long t-shirt or a nightdress to bed, but it was way too cold for that. I pulled on thick sweatpants, a t-shirt, and a thick sweater. I hated wearing clothes to bed because it wasn’t comfortable, but it was better than freezing.
And I didn’t have my personal bed warmer with me.
I lay in bed in the dark and closed my eyes.
Despite the exhaustion of traveling all day, I couldn’t sleep. And it had nothing to do with the freezing temperature.
I couldn’t stop thinking about him.
A week of silence had distanced me from him, but that silence only made me miss him more. I wondered what he was doing while I was gone. Did he pick up a job? Or did he go out to a bar and find a woman to entertain him? Did he think about me as much as I thought about him?
He didn’t call me.
Maybe he wasn’t as obsessed with me as I thought he was. Maybe I was easily replaceable. Maybe my cold goodbye made him move on to someone else?
My stomach clenched in pain.
Why did I have to feel that way? Why did I have to care?
I shouldn’t care.
I lay in the dark with my conflicted feelings, thinking about the man who wanted to hurt my family. If our relationship disappeared, he would have no interest in leaving my family alone. I could convince him to drop his vendetta with my silence. I wasn’t a prisoner anymore, but I was still bound to him.
I tossed and turned multiple times as I tried to get comfortable, but nothing worked. This bed didn’t feel right without that enormous man inside of it. I remembered the last night I stayed in this apartment and the way he camped outside in his freezing truck to keep me safe.
I’d never felt more protected as I did when he was there.
I felt invincible. More invincible than under my own father’s watch.
I’d never needed a man to protect me, but now I wanted Bones to be my guard dog, to chase away evil men with just his size and ice-cold expression. Men didn’t cross him, not unless they wanted to die.
He really did make my other lovers look like boys.
I hated that he was right.
I wondered if he was outside now, parked at the curb in his truck. He’d probably been watching my tracker regularly, wondering what I was doing and if it seemed like there was anything suspicious going on. When he saw my dot leave Tuscany and head north, he probably knew I was on my way back home.
So I was sure he knew I was there right now.
Maybe he was outside.
I stayed in bed and thought about it, wondering if his silver truck was parked at the curb down at the street. I couldn’t close my eyes because that was all I was thinking about, wondering if that behemoth of a man was braving the freezing temperatures to keep a lookout outside my apartment.
My curiosity got the best of me, so I took my phone with me into the living room. I separated the blinds and looked outside. It took a second for my eyes to adjust to the bright light from the streetlamp. But after a moment, my eyes acclimated, and I could distinguish the street.
And his truck.
It was parked exactly where it was last time. His outline was difficult to see, but I could make out the shadow of his muscular arm and shoulder.
My heart started to race.
I could go back to bed and pretend I didn’t know he was there.
But I stayed in front of the window, debating what I should do. It was freezing cold, and I didn’t want to leave him outside. I didn’t care that much about his discomfort; it was just an excuse. But if he was going to watch me, I’d rather it be from inside my apartment.
That was an excuse too.
All I’d been doing for the past three months with this man was make excuses.
I walked outside into the freezing cold. Despite all my layers, it wasn’t enough to defend me against the frosty air that pierced right through my clothing. My arms immediately crossed over my chest, and I stood at the railing, looking down at the silver truck that contained a beast of a man.
Within seconds, his peripheral vision picked up on my movements, and he turned to gauge the situation outside my apartment. His gaze locked on mine, and he stared at me with blue eyes that reflected the frigid winter. It was a clear night and the stars were bright, but the lack of cloud cover only made it colder.
He stared at me without blinking, watching me with his usual intensity.
I’d missed it.
And I hated myself for missing it. No other man had ever looked at me that way. No other man was man enough to pull it off. Only Bones had the testosterone to make a single look so powerful. Only Bones had the strength to make a woman like me feel weak…and enjoy feeling weak.
Nothing happened as we stared at each other. He didn’t get out of the truck to join me. As if he was waiting for me to go back inside, he sat absolutely still, like a mountain in a storm.
I pulled out my phone and called him.
Without taking his eyes off me, he took the call and pressed the phone to his ear. But he didn’t say anything, so silent, I couldn’t even hear him breathe. He had the confidence to stay quiet for long periods of time, not caring about the discomfort that stretched between him and another person.
I knew no words were forthcoming, so I spoke. “I thought you might be out here.”
Nothing. Not a word.
I held his gaze, hoping he would say something. “Are you going to do this every night?”
Another pause ensued. It lasted so long I assumed he wasn’t going to say anything. Eventually, he did. “You want me to leave?”
“If I said yes, would you?”
His blue eyes were pretty even this far away. “Yes. You have the power to make me do anything now. Ask me to disappear, and you’ll never see me again. Ask me to stay and never leave, and you’ll have me.”
“Wow…that’s a lot of power for one person.”
Finally, the corner of his mouth rose in a smile. “I think you can handle it.”
“I’m not so sure.”
Another minute of silence. Another minute of direct eye contact. Another minute of me in the freezing cold.
“You should go inside.”
All I had to do was walk in and forget about him, but now that I’d seen those pretty eyes that haunted my dreams, I didn’t want to go inside without him. My bed suddenly felt lonelier than it ever had before. Without him beside me, it would never be comfortable again. “I will…but you should come with me.”
He didn’t wear a victorious expression or grin in arrogance. He hung up the phone immediately and got out of the truck, dressed in his black hoodie and black jeans. He looked up at me as he approached the stairs, his blue eyes focused on me like
a target. As he came closer, his size became more enormous. His shoulders were broad, his arms were sculpted, and he was every inch of the man I remembered.
He stopped in front of me, his chin tilted down so he could look at me. He didn’t touch me or kiss me, acknowledging the distance between us. A week of silence had passed, so neither one of us knew what this was anymore.
I walked inside first, and he followed.
We headed to my bedroom, and the clothes dropped to the floor behind him. His sweater made a dull thud against the floor, and his shoes were just as heavy. He stripped down to his boxers.
I turned around and looked at him, unable to take my eyes away from the enormous bulge in his boxers. Long and fat, he was as hard as ever. I was still in all my baggy clothes and without makeup, but he was harder than a steel rod.
I guessed he hadn’t been with anyone else this past week. Good to know.
My eyes took in the sight of his muscled torso, of his strong pecs and his enormous shoulders. His ink contrasted powerfully against his skin, the colors so opposite that it made a beautiful sight. I’d never had an opinion about tattoos either way, and I’d never dated a guy with ink, but with Bones, I liked it. It was a big component of who he was. The ink fit him like a second skin.
I pulled my sweater over my head and then left the sweatpants behind. I kept on my long t-shirt, and it reached my thighs and covered my panties. I was excited to sleep in my own bed tonight—with my teddy bear beside me.
He got into bed first, lying back with his hand propped under his head.
I pulled back the sheets then slid between the covers. I lay beside him, not crossing the line and touching him, but close enough to take advantage of his warmth. Like laying out in the sun, just being near him was enough to get warm. He radiated heat over the sheets with the warmth that burned off his muscles, making the bedding feel like it just came out of the dryer.
I closed my eyes for a moment, feeling so comfortable that it seemed like a dream.
He turned his body toward me and lay on his side, his shoulder extending far past mine toward the ceiling. The veins along his arms were like rivers that ran all the way down to his hands. His blue eyes were on me, aggressive and soft at the same time.
I didn’t touch him, but my body started to ache with desire.
My panties were getting wet. I could feel it. I wanted to moan even though his hands weren’t even on me. Just being this close to him made me so aroused I could barely contain it. It must have been the last week of no action that was driving me crazy. It must have been the way his big dick looked in his boxers that made me struggle to catch my breath. I felt the heat flush into my cheeks and chest, felt my heart race in anticipation. All I had to do was lie there and go to sleep.
But damn, the last thing I wanted to do was sleep.
I opened my eyes again and looked at him, the sexiest man I’d ever laid eyes on. Dangerous and temperamental, he was the wrong guy for me. But I’d never felt more satisfied, felt more like a woman, than I did with him. And right now, my body was overriding the logic of my mind. I was getting wetter by the second, soaking my panties, and all I could think about was that cock I’d missed for the past seven days. “Bones?”
His eyes had been open the entire time, hardly blinking. He hadn’t touched me, but it felt like his presence was completely wrapped around me. He was touching me with his heat, with his desire. “Yes, baby?”
“Fuck me.”
He didn’t smile in his typical asshole way. His eyes intensified for a brief second, and then he was up on his hands. He moved on top of me in a flash, his mouth crushing down on mine with a kiss so searing it burned my lips. “Yes, baby.” He pulled my bottom lip into his mouth and dug his large hand into my hair. He possessed me immediately, like he was waiting for me to say those words the entire time. Full of restraint, he was barely holding on to his resistance. His heavy body pressed me into the mattress, and he smothered me with his size and smell. He immediately took me like I belonged to him, like I was still his even when he’d set me free.
My arms hooked over his shoulders, and I pulled him close to me, sighing in relief through my nose because it felt so right. It was so wrong, but so damn right. I breathed into his mouth and dug my nails into his fire-hot skin. My ankles locked together around his waist even though we weren’t quite naked. I felt his enormous cock throb against me, felt the moisture of my panties seep into his black boxers. I wanted sex as much as this.
Whatever this was.
His kiss slowed down, less aggressive but just as passionate. He gave me his tongue and felt mine as he pulled my shirt up my belly to reveal my stomach. He pressed his defined abs against me, the hard muscles and grooves warm against my cold body. He held most of his weight on a single arm, and his thick bicep flexed with the muscles and veins.
I could feel his length right against my clit, my wetness dampening both of our clothing.
When he moaned quietly into my mouth, I knew he could feel it.
I wasn’t even ashamed this time. I didn’t care anymore. The past week was a pointless attempt to cut him out of my life, and since I couldn’t remove him from my thoughts, the whole exercise was worthless.
“So wet, baby.” He didn’t stop his kiss, speaking right against my mouth.
I dragged my fingers down his back, my nails slicing into his skin. My thighs squeezed his torso, and I ground against him, excited to feel him stretch me in a way no other man ever had. The second I felt his warmth surround me, I stopped thinking about all the difficulties in my life. I didn’t think about how bad this was, how terrible Bones was. I just fell into him, not thinking, only feeling. “Now, let me get you wet.”
He stopped kissing me for an instant, his groan moving directly into my throat.
I pulled his boxers down so his cock and balls could be free.
He kicked them away before my thong was yanked from my body. He separated my thighs with his hips and sank me back into the mattress again. This time, he didn’t kiss me. He stared into my eyes as his crown found my entrance and slid inside.
My palms pressed against his chest, and I took in a bracing breath as his cock moved deeper and deeper. Every inch was a stretch, and I felt like he was breaking me in all over again. A week without him had caused my body to tighten back up. It hurt a little more than usual, but that pain felt so good. I was out of breath and weak, so consumed with this man who was burying himself inside me.
My lips ached to say his name, to connect with him on a whole new level. I wanted him to know how good he felt, how much I let him have me. I’d never said a lover’s name in bed, but I wanted to say his.
But I refused to say “Bones.”
The name was evil, tainted.
“Tell me your real name.” My hand slid up his corded neck and into the back of his short hair. His blond strands were soft, and they were the only soft part of his body—other than his lips.
He paused as his entire length was plunged deep inside me, my juices surrounding him and soaking him all the way through. His blue eyes burned into mine, not with hostility or anger, but with a slight hint of confusion. “Why?”
“Because I want to say your name as you fuck me.” Again, the shame had been stripped away. I didn’t care how wrong this was anymore. I decided to own my mistakes and be real with myself. No more lying. This was the only man I wanted in between my legs. No other man could do it the way he could. I craned my neck up and kissed him as I brought him closer to me. My ankles locked together at his back, and I rolled my hips, moving his fat dick inside me.
His breathing picked up slightly.
“Tell me.” I fisted his short hair as I spoke into his mouth. His cock was so full inside me, stretching me until my entire body ached. He could hurt me so good. I loved it when he hurt me like this, made my body scream as it tried to accommodate him.
He held his massive body on his arms with ease, and he breathed into my mouth while his cock twitched inside me.
His cock became gently reacquainted with my pussy, with the tightness and wetness. “Only in bed.”
My heart started to race when I realized I was getting what I wanted. He’d refused to share this information with me for the past three months. It was just a name, so I didn’t understand why he made a fuss about it, but to him, being referred to as Bones was important. But I would never say that name when we were like this, when we were lost in each other in bed. “Alright.” My nails gently dragged down his back as I waited to hear the name he’d carried since birth, the name he’d turned his back on once he became a man.
He kissed me softly as he started to rock inside me again, to push his big cock deep before he pulled it out again. In and out he went, pushing through my wet slit with a quiet groan. “Griffin.”
My ankles immediately pressed into his lower back, and my nails dug a little deeper. I stopped kissing him because all I could do was breathe. My eyes closed, and I treasured the sound of the name, turned on by the sound of his confession. He’d confided something so personal to me, and now I had a piece of him.
Just like he had a piece of me.
He positioned himself closer to me, so he could hit me deep and hard, his balls tapping against my ass with every thrust. He didn’t thrust quickly, but he gave it to me at a good pace, making sure I felt him from crown to hilt before he pulled out and rammed me once more. The muscles of his torso were flexed to full capacity, the blood and muscles working together to fuck me good. His skin blushed red, and his muscles bulged like they might burst from the skin. Sweat collected on his perfect physique, the glistening forming on his neck and chest. The only thing that remained cold was the color of his eyes. They were focused on me, unblinking, like he didn’t want to miss a single moment of this.
I dug my ankles into his body as I moved with him, my hands shifting to his powerful shoulders. I couldn’t control my breathing because this felt too good. I’d lain in a large bed all alone for the past week, and it wasn’t comfortable at all. It was cold, absent of the beast of the man who kept me warm through the night. I missed his rhythmic breathing, missed the way he was at full alert even when he was unconscious.
