Until the Stars Fall (Just the Way You Are Book 1)

by Abigail Kade

  Connor continued to massage and rub me until I was nearly boneless. I was so relaxed that I didn’t even notice he’d moved until I felt his warm wet mouth engulf my erection all the way down. I was nowhere near as big as Connor, but I wasn’t small either. He had me moaning and wiggling at the shock of the feeling, my hands settling in his hair. I wanted to both pull him closer and push him away. My muscles jerked and nerves sparked everywhere with the overwhelming feelings of bliss. He eventually pulled off, and I protested, reaching out to try to pull him back.

  “I’ve been wanting to do that since the first time I saw you in the storage room. I couldn’t wait to get my hands on you that day.”

  I was intrigued by that thought, actually more than intrigued. It sent my mind off on a tangent and down a winding road of lust. I had never thought of role-playing before, but God the idea of the intensity of that first time I’d seen Connor was more than I could resist. I didn’t have to resist my attraction now. He leaned down to take me back into his mouth, but I reached out my hand and stopped him. “What would you have done that day if I had really been a man breaking into the building? Would you have really done everything you wanted to do to me?”

  Connor looked me over carefully, and I knew what he saw. My cheeks were flushed, and my eyes were bright with this new and sudden desire I was feeling. Slow and easy was so very nice, but I really wanted to feel the full power of Connor again. I wanted to know how far Connor would have gone. I needed to know and feel the full force of him.

  Connor finished reading my reactions, then smiled the same sexy smirk he had worn that day when he’d first seen me check him out. He was reading me exactly right and seemed more than willing and ready to proceed. “I’m going to go get us some water and lock everything up. I’ll be back in here in just a few minutes.” He looked me in the eyes pointedly, “I expect you to be ready when I get back.” He got up, slid on a pair of sweatpants from his bag and left, closing the door behind him.

  I jumped up—my adrenaline pumping with excitement and trepidation at this new development. I ran to my closet and pulled on a pair of black sweatpants and one of my black button-down shirts. I looked in the mirror and figured I looked as close as I could get to a burglar on such short notice. I heard a noise in the hall telling me Connor was making his way back down the hall, so I snatched up a backpack from the bottom of the closet, ran over to my dresser, and pulled open my accessories drawer to pull out a watch and some cufflinks. When I heard the door squeak open, I didn’t turn around because I wanted to be surprised. I had to bite my lips together to keep the smile from showing. I did not want to mess this up. I took a deep breath and pushed myself into the moment.

  “Who the fuck are you?” I jumped a foot when I heard his loud growl echo into the room even though I knew he was there. I spun around dropping the bag, but still holding the watch in my hands. “I asked you a question, boy. Who are you and what the fuck are you doing rummaging around in my boyfriend’s things?”

  I stood stock still and silent, simultaneously processing the role I was playing and secretly reveling in Connor calling me his boyfriend for the first time.

  “Your boyfriend?” I heard myself sneer. “You gay or something?”

  Connor’s eyes flew wide open at my attitude. Wherever I had come up with this role, I knew Connor was loving this new direction.

  “Oh, so you’re a straight boy? Is that it?” he had a smooth sound to his voice now. I was mesmerized by the sheer power that seemed to radiate off Connor. I took a long slow sweep. He was embodying badass to the extreme since he stalked in and my whole body was responding to his forceful presence.

  “You’re not completely straight are you?” I began to protest, but he cut me off. “You’ve done nothing but eye fuck me since I came into the room, boy. You’re lying to yourself, but you can’t lie to me.” Connor moved closer to me, and I stepped back instinctively. He was stalking me now. Walking steadily toward me, he was herding me back to the corner of the room on the far side of the bed. He was pinning me in, giving me no options for escape.

  “You’ve never looked at a guy and wondered what his lips and beard would feel like on your mouth?” I shook my head in answer, but my eyes were drawn to his tongue making a slow slide over his lower lip. That mouth smirked, and I knew I had been caught. He moved forward, and I again felt hunted. “You’ve never wanted a man to grab you and kiss you?” I shook my head again, but it was a weaker denial because I really, really did want him to grab me, right now!

  He was pushing me back against the corner, stepping into my space, his breath warming my cheek. “I think you have, pretty boy. I think you’ve fantasized about a man like me. You’ve wanted someone to take you and give you absolutely no choice but to take what he gives you.” He leaned into my ear. “You’d take it all and beg for more wouldn’t you, pretty boy?”

  My head fell back against the wall, and my eyes slid closed as I involuntarily moaned at the images he had just elicited in my mind.

  Good God, yes! Grab me and make me take it all!

  Connor licked his hot tongue up my neck, making me arch my body into his, asking for more even as my mouth protested, “No! No, I haven’t. I don’t want anything to do with you.” I tried to sound firm, but it came out as a needy moan.

  Connor chuckled his deep rumble, and I felt the vibration deep inside my chest. The butterflies in my belly went wild because I knew what was about to happen, and I was equal parts excited and a little scared.

  “You’re a liar as well as a thief aren’t you, beautiful? I guess I have no other choice than to prove you wrong.”

  No warning, no pretense, Connor squeezed his right hand around my throat and slammed his mouth down on mine. This was nothing like earlier. This new dance was barely leashed violence and power. He took without asking, and I had to give. It was the most primitive dance on Earth, full of power and control, dominance and submission.

  Connor let go of my throat and fisted both sides of my shirt and ripped it apart, shredding the material, buttons flying. My pants were ripped down my legs, and I had to jump to get my feet out of them before they, too, were ripped away leaving me bare and vulnerable. I was panting in shock but latched onto his shoulders to pull him closer when he crouched down and sucked one of my nipples deep into his mouth. I instinctively arched into him, moaning at the pleasure and pain he created.

  “God, you’re a beauty, aren’t you, boy? All pure, snow white skin. You don’t have a mark on you do you?” He spun me around to face the wall, looking at every inch of my skin, hands roaming, squeezing and gripping. “I think you need to be marked. I think you need my marks all over that silky skin, so you know who you belong to.”

  And mark me he did. Connor sucked up love bites and nipped places all over my shoulders, neck, back, ass, and thighs. He laved his tongue over my skin like I was the best ice cream cone he’d ever tasted. He licked the sweat and salt from the skin on my thighs, then spent time licking my sides into my armpits. He was taking my taste into himself and learning me while at the same time transforming me into someone that was undeniably his. But he never touched me where I wanted him the most. I was a wet, writhing ball of raw nerves and want by the time he stripped his own pants off and reached into my bedside table drawer. He got himself covered and lubed before turning me to face the wall so he could spread the slick over my hole, teasing me with his fingers until I was squirming with need. Finally, he reached around and grabbed my leaking cock and began to jack me ruthlessly.

  “I’m taking you now. I’m going to fuck that tight hole and own you up against this wall, and there’s not a damn thing you can do to stop me. You can protest, say no and I won’t stop. I’m going to own you until I decide to let you go.” He put his hand under my chin and forced me to turn my head, then looked me deep in the eyes, silently willing me to understand. “Do you understand?”

  I knew what he was doing. He wouldn’t break character, but he wanted to make sure this was what I
really wanted.

  “Do your worst, you bastard!” I sneered back at him. My words were hateful, but my eyes held all the lust and excitement I was holding back.

  Give it to me, Connor. I want you to own me, body and soul!

  He moved, and I was lost. Connor was rough and even brutal in the way he took me up against my bedroom wall. He pushed me hard and fucked me even harder. I’d have finger-shaped bruises on my hips and ass tomorrow from his punishing grip. His grunts and groans with every slam of his hips into mine blended with my whimpers and moans until all the sounds melted into our own sound of longing and want.

  As hard and rough as this mating was, Connor eventually turned tender, I arched back to kiss him, but after a while we weren’t even kissing anymore, just breathing heavily into each other’s open panting mouths, eyes locked, never looking away. We were one at that moment, and I knew he felt it, too.

  “Grab your cock and come for me, Ladd.” Connor panted, increasing his rhythm to slam into me with more force again, pounding my chest and arms into the wall with only one of his hands on my shoulder to keep me from letting my head hit the wall. I did as told and took less than a minute to get close.

  “Connor, God, babe, I’m coming!” I screamed and finally closed my eyes, swinging my head back, teeth grinding as I tried to contain the unbelievable pleasure that was ripping its way through my body. “Ung! God, yes!” The feeling of painful relief was almost too much.

  Through my haze of release, I finally felt Connor pull out. I heard him rip off the condom before I heard him grunting his pleasure over and over until he had finally released everything he had to give all over my back and ass. We stayed where we were so long, panting, catching our breath, letting our hearts settle, that his cum had started to cool on my skin before either one of us spoke. I looked down and released a little laugh because I knew I would need to clean the wall in the morning. No way was I in the mood to do it now.

  “God damn, you are something special, my Ladd.” Connor sighed as he spun me around and hugged me close, holding me softly but firmly, like I was something precious to be protected and cherished.

  “I love you, Connor,” I said without thinking, only feeling. Connor stilled in my hold, not breathing for a moment before he pulled back to meet my gaze. My feelings were raw, and I saw them reflected in his eyes that were slightly shiny with emotion.

  “Jesus, I fucking love you, too, my Ladd,” he whispered and pulled me in even tighter. “So much it scares me.”

  We finally separated, slightly sticky but very happy, and cleaned up with another shower, keeping the comfortable silence we’d somehow agreed on. Afterward, we cuddled together under the covers and settled to sleep. Just as I was about to drift off, safely nestled against Connor, my head on his heart and held tightly in his arms, I heard him whisper thinking I was asleep. “I love you so much, Ladd, and I’ll be thankful you love me every day. I always dreamed of a man of my own and a family of my own. I want that more than anything with you. Please love me as much as I love you. Love me until the stars fall from the sky, Ladd.”

  I felt my tear slide from the corner of my closed lid but didn’t move or speak. I did not want to stop this perfect quiet moment, but I would tell him soon enough. I would absolutely love him forever if he’d let me.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Ladd and I spent every moment we could together over the next week. The repairs were finished on the job, and we had gotten an all clear from the mold remediation guys. It turned out, there never was any black mold, to begin with, and the inspector had been wrong. It was weird, but we chalked it up to simple human error.

  During the days, we worked together, had lunch together and even argued a little. Then every night, I went home with Ladd. We’d never discussed my moving back to the loft after we got the all clear. I didn’t want to move back, and Ladd never mentioned it, so we settled into a very domestic routine. Every night I would cook dinner, we’d watch TV or read, then at some point we would abandon whatever we were doing and make love before going to sleep snuggled together. I loved this feeling of contentment and routine we were forming together. Even Penny had taken to me which amused the hell out of Ladd because I was weirdly intimidated by his fluffy feline. That first night I’d slept over, Penny had abandoned her place by Ladd’s legs and taken up a place curled up beside my neck. I hadn’t noticed anything until the next morning when I’d opened my eyes to a face full of fur and freaked out.

  I knew I had practically levitated out of the bed to get away from what I had thought was a wild animal attack. I had jostled the bed so hard, I scared the hell out of Ladd, too. He’d jumped up on the opposite side trying to figure out what the fuck was going on. Penny had remained completely unfazed. Now, every time I sat down or went to sleep, Penny, the traitorous bitch, abandoned Ladd and was right on top of me. Ladd said he couldn’t really blame her though.

  “I want to be right on top of you every second of the day and night, too. On top of you, under you, wrapped around you like a kudzu vine around an oak tree, it doesn’t matter to me. I just want to be near you whenever and however I can.”

  My man is the sweetest, God! What did I do to get this lucky?

  It was now Sunday morning, and Rhett had finally called us to let us know he’d come up with a rock-solid plan to take care of the Troy situation for good. I couldn’t wait to get it over with, so we could forget the past and continue moving forward. Rhett had said we should meet him over at the main house that afternoon, but I had to send a text to Troy first asking him if he’d be available at five p.m. for a chat.

  “I have no idea what Rhett means by a chat. I really don’t want to talk to him if I can help it.”

  “I know, Conn, but if we can get this taken care of, then we won’t ever have to deal with him again. I for one would love that.”

  Troy had texted back almost immediately and said yes, so a little before five we headed over to the house. Rhett and Remy were in the living room with Taylor and James, and the place looked like a movie studio. There was a laptop on the table behind the sofa so that I could sit in the chair opposite the sofa and see the screen. I was going to have Troy on a video call, and two other cameras were facing the laptop screen and a microphone standing right next to the laptop to capture sound and everything that he did on screen. I had a feeling I knew what they had in mind, but I was very reluctant to ask. Rhett took the lead to explain the plan.

  “So, Connor, you’re going to sit in the club chair over there, and we’re going to set up a Skype call with Troy. We need for you to get him to give you some type of show or some kind of sexual situation so we can get him on tape. I don’t care what you have to say to him to get him to do it, we just need him to get naked, or close to naked, and put on a show. I understand this might be uncomfortable, but he’s going too far calling your mother and harassing you every day and night. I know you want this to end before the cops have to get involved, right?”

  I felt really uncomfortable with this plan, but not for the reasons Rhett thought. Knowing that what I would have to tell Troy to get this to happen would be against every feeling I had was the reason I was apprehensive. Ladd knew what I was feeling with one look. “Conn, it’s fine. Don’t worry about us or me. I know how you feel and you know how I feel, too. This needs to happen so we can get him gone forever. I’ll be right here the whole time.”

  “Actually, Ladd, can you stand right behind the laptop so when I’m talking to him, I can actually be looking at you? I’m a terrible actor, and I think that would help.”

  “Absolutely, Conn, anything to make this work for you.” And Ladd walked over and gave me a light kiss before going to stand behind the laptop.

  Rhett looked at me. “James and Taylor are going to be handling the recording equipment and Remy and I will stand by to let you know when we have enough and you can quit.”

  “Now, listen, Connor, we all know this asshole deserves to be taken down, but we have to mention that we’re re
cording him for this to be legal. Tell him you want something for you to be close to him until you can be with him again soon. He has to agree though, okay?” It was a little surreal to hear Remy sounding so official and talking about laws.

  “I got it, can we get this show on the road now?”

  Rhett held up his finger for silence and then pointed it at me giving me the signal to get started. I went over to the computer and put in the information to connect with Troy. Sooner than I had thought, Troy was connected and peering back at me through the laptop screen looking as dark and pretty as ever. His dark brown hair and pretty brown eyes were the same, but they didn’t have the same hold on me that they used to. I’d have to fake it to get through this after all. I glanced at him, then lifted my eyes to Ladd’s just above the laptop camera and put on the best fucking front of my life.

  “God, T, I’ve missed you so much.”

  “Connie! Sweetie, I’ve missed you, too. I’m so glad you finally quit acting like a baby and admitted you still love me, sweetness.” Had his voice always sounded so high pitched and whiney? I didn’t remember it like that, but the sound grated on my nerves now.

  I smiled through the pain. “T, you know me too well, you always did. I miss you so much. I know we can’t be together for a little while, but I don’t think I can wait, T. Let me see you so I can record it and remember what I’ve been missing.” I put all of my longing and lust I felt for Ladd in my voice, hoping Troy was going to believe me and go for it.

  “Sweetie, I don’t know, I could just come down there and see you.”

  “No, that won’t work, T, I don’t have any place good enough for you to stay down here and I know how cranky you get if the thread count isn’t high enough.”