Beautiful Mistakes: Contemporary Romance Boxset Books 1-4

by Victoria Snow

“Alright,” she said after a deep breath. “Whatever you want. I should put ice on your cheek anyways.”

  Whatever I wanted? I wanted her.

  The sheer force of it hit me like a semi-truck. I wanted her. Entirely and completely. Maybe it was cruel what she was doing, dangling herself in front of me, what I desired most in the world, but I couldn’t resent her for it. I could only be grateful that, even after everything that had happened, that she was in my house and in front of me.

  Gently but firmly, I pulled her into my lap. She went carefully, and I could tell she was trying not to hurt me. But I wanted to tell her that she couldn’t. That I was so high on her attention and relaxed that she could probably stab me, and I wouldn’t feel a thing.

  “Relax,” I murmured when I saw her eyeing my injured sigh with worry, afraid to lean her weight against me. “I want to hold you.”

  Those seemed to be the magic words and she stopped fidgeting, letting herself settle. Once she was steady, she grabbed an icepack and more paper towels, holding it to the side of my face while I just looked at her.

  My hands traveled up and down her sides, her back, the tops of her thighs. None of it was sexual, just affirming. Proving that she was really there, giving me comfort with the weight and certainty of her form. I could sit like this forever, just feeling her.

  “I don’t want you to ever have to be alone after a fight again,” she murmured after a long period of contented silence.

  “Oh?” I murmured, half out of it and completely relaxed.

  She nodded, her eyes boring through me intensely and I couldn’t help but wonder if this was how people felt when I stared them down. It woke me up a bit, and I felt like something important was happening. Some sort of weight to the air that could snap at any moment.

  “I want to be there for you, you know, if you get hurt. I… I don’t think I could live with the thought of you just sitting here, in the dark, not having eaten anything but some oatmeal this morning.”

  The sheer amount of concern in her voice moved me. “I’m not normally like this-” I started. I was good at taking care of myself just like I was good at taking care of everyone I loved. It was just that there were, uh, some extenuating circumstances recently. Mostly having to do with Amber.

  “I know. I just…” she took a shuddering breath and my grip tightened on her, trying to show her that I was there. That she could take strength from me. “Do you think, after everything I’ve done, you want to try dating? Usually that’s the step that comes before marriage, but I think we might have mixed that up there.”

  I sat there for a moment in pure, undiluted shock as what she said pinged around my brain. She wanted to date me? Not fuck or mess around with, but date?

  “What changed?” I heard myself whisper, not daring to speak too loudly and ruin the moment.

  I could feel her tense in my lap, but I had to know. “I just realized it wasn’t enough anymore.”

  “Wasn’t enough?”

  She nodded. “I’m doing great in my business, but I shouldn’t have let everything else fall to the side. It’s a bit lonely you know, and empty. Sure, I’m proud of what I’ve done, and I let that be all I needed to fulfill me for a long time. But when I saw you getting hurt, and when Michelle and I had a talk about things, I realized that my life would feel much fuller if you were in it, instead of me always pushing you out.”

  “Wait, you and my sister talked about me?”

  “Don’t get sidetracked,” she said saucily, straightening her back so that we were almost eye to eye. “The important part is that I’m here now, asking for a second chance if you have any interest.”

  “Yes!” I said, joy and shock running through all of me. “Amber, I’m more than happy to date you.”

  She took a shuddering breath, her shoulders sagging with relief. “Good. That’s good. Thank you.”

  “You don’t have anything to thank me for,” I whispered, my hand going to the back of her neck and pulling her towards me. “At least, not yet.”

  And then my lips were crashing to hers. A real kiss to start our very real relationship. I couldn’t believe that Amber was in my lap, asking me to treat her how I always wanted to.

  If it was a dream, one thing was entirely for certain.

  I never wanted to wake up.

  18

  Amber

  Our lips fell into a familiar dance as my arms wrapped around his shoulders. God, it felt so right for us to be interlocked again, moving with each other, feeling, just being, and my body rushed with euphoria.

  Why had I been denying myself this so long? The weight of choreography, and personal responsibility on top of money and all that other mundane stuff all faded into the background, leaving only me and Mickey. Just a couple of brawlers who happened to get all soft and mushy around each other.

  It was a bit embarrassing, and yet I wasn’t embarrassed at all. It wasn’t bad to need someone. I wasn’t weak for doing so. And I wasn’t weak for loving the way that Mickey took care of me, or how he took charge during sex. We were two puzzle pieces coming together exactly as we should have, and the utter alleviation was dizzying.

  His arms wound around my body, his biceps strong and crushing in the best way I could possibly ask for. For a split second I was worried about his injuries, but then I reminded myself that he was responsible. He would make sure he didn’t hurt himself; I just needed to trust him.

  And surprisingly, that trust was easy to slip into. He was my warrior, mighty and masculine and heady with desire. All of that swirled around in my head, making me feel just as drunk as I had been when we had first hooked up.

  And to be honest, I loved it. It consumed my senses, filling them up and making me fly higher and higher. I could spiral out of the sky and into space and I wouldn’t care one bit as long as he kept touching me.

  Mickey seemed just as enthralled with me, his fingers gliding along the various curves and angles of my back, and then my shoulders, then my neck and finally my face. It was so… intimate, so reverent, almost like a prayer. But if was a prayer, then I was happy to be the alter at which he knelt.

  “I can’t believe you’re here,” he whispered to me, as if he was afraid that if he talked too loudly that I might vanish. I gripped his arm with either hand, my fingertips digging in just enough for him to know that I was indeed there. He let out a heady, grateful sigh at that, and his hands slid down lower.

  It felt like a sacred pilgrimage as they moved over me. Warm, almost burning but in the most delicious way, they glided over my sides until they reached my thighs, which he caressed carefully, thoroughly before returning back. Fingers slid up my front, digging ever so slightly into my soft belly, the dip between my ribs, until they finally cupped a breast.

  I gasped and arched into it, breaking away from his kiss to suck in a draft of air. He didn’t seem to mind the pause in lip-contact however, and his attention turned to peppering kisses along my jaw and neck.

  I melted into his action, feeling my bones turn to jelly. The only thing holding me up was my arms around his neck. Otherwise I might have melted right into the chair like soup. He was all I needed to anchor me though, I was content.

  Except… it wasn’t really. The more he kissed me, the more he touched me, the more I needed…well…more. I wanted him to touch every single bit of me until he knew everything about me. I wanted him to pull pleasure out of me, to leave me raw and open and aching, all of my defenses crumbled in front of him.

  “I want you,” I managed to gasp, tilting my head forward to lock lips once more.

  “I can accommodate that,” he answered before returning my kiss with twice as much passion.

  “I thought you said you weren’t going to sleep with me today.”

  “I changed my mind,” he rumbled, claiming my lips again.

  If my mouth wasn’t so occupied, I would have giggled salaciously. But as it were, it was quite occupied, and I didn’t plan on being free anytime soon.

  Mickey h
ad other plans though. While we were still pouring our passion into each other, his hands wrapped under my butt, and suddenly we were standing up.

  This time I did laugh giddily and wrapped my legs around his waist. He was so tall! I wasn’t exactly pocket sized myself, but he was so much bigger than me. It wasn’t something I was exactly used to, and it had my body responding in ways I didn’t anticipate.

  “How about I show you the bedroom?” he rumbled into my mouth, voice so low and sexy that I felt it make me grow that much wetter.

  “Yes,” I answered emphatically. “Please, please.”

  “Don’t worry, baby girl, I’ll give you what you need.”

  God, he really was going to, wasn’t he?

  The thought had me breathing hard, wanton, and then I was moving backwards. It was such a strange sensation to be a grown woman being carried somewhere, but it was also exactly what I needed. Mickey could manhandle me any which way he wanted. The control was in his hands. All I had to do was lay back and be. Just enjoy the pleasure for once without any plans or plots or responsibilities.

  I could feel my adrenaline spike even more at the thought of it all, and by the time he was setting me on the bed, I was practically vibrating with urgent need.

  His hands went to my waistband first, and he pulled away from our kiss once more. His lips were slightly puffy from our fervent kissing and wet from my tongue. He looked wrecked, consumed by his passion, which made me wonder what I looked like after everything that was affecting me.

  “Will you let me take care of you, my good girl?”

  The subtle praise made me ache. God, he was so thoughtful. So tender. And yet so obviously full of desire for me that I felt like my brain was cooking inside of my skull.

  “Yes,” I whined, my hips trying to push up into him, to force him to give me stimulation. He just responded by pressing a kiss to me again while holding me still until I calmed and let him take charge.

  His fingers went to work, and within seconds he was pulling the fabric from my form. The cool air of his house made my skin prickle as it was exposed, and I barely suppressed a gasp as his hands slid down my bare thighs.

  “No, don’t hold back,” he said, pulling my hand away from my mouth. “I want to hear all of it. Every single little noise. You let me know everything that you feel.”

  I nodded, sinking down into a soft, noiseless place that made me feel heavy and content. It was a strange contrast compared to the raging need inside of me, but it wasn’t a bad one.

  After my pants, his fingers found the bottom of my shirt and pulled it upwards. The excitement was ramping up in true fashion, and I helped him as best I could by raising my arms and arching my back.

  Then it was up over my head and I was in just my underwear, spread out naked and wanting below him, his thick, powerful thighs on either side of my legs.

  He sat up and looked me over, devouring my form with his eyes just like he had in his trailer. I would have thought that he was familiar enough with my body by this point, but no, he looked at me like it was the first time all over again and I was some goddess laid out across his sheets.

  He really was something else.

  However, all thoughts of those thoughts faded as his hands went to his own clothes, pulling his sweatshirt up and over his head then undoing the tape holding the ice pack in place. I would have protested, but considering how slender the thing was, it was probably already melted.

  His slightly tanned skin was revealed to me bit by bit, and soon I could see his entire sculpted upper torso. How much time did he spend in the gym to be so jacked? I wasn’t sure, but I certainly was a fan of the build. More than I ever thought I would be.

  I reached out to him, letting my fingers slowly slide over his frame. I had just touched him while I was tending to all of his various wounds, but this was different. That had been all about taking care of him, making sure I eased all his hurts. This was just about… being with him. Enjoying the feel of him and everything that attracted me to him.

  I expected him to focus on his own pants next, but no. He leaned down over me, his hand sliding under my bra until his calloused fingers found one of my nipples, already hard and aching for him. Once more I found myself gasping, arching up into him while I begged for more. Always more. Something about the man made me endlessly hungry for what only he could give me, and it was deliciously maddening.

  His fingers rolled the bud between them while his teeth went to work on my neck. The counterpoints of pleasure and pain were extraordinary, and almost too much to handle. I was caught between a rock and a hard place, and yet I had never so honestly wanted to be crushed.

  “You are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen,” he rasped into my neck, his heated breath making me tremble.

  There was that smooth talking again, making me thrum and grow wetter than ever. I let out a whine and pulled him down into another kiss. He chuckled, allowing me to yank him to me before his mouth devoured mine.

  I was lost in the euphoria for several minutes, and I didn’t mind one bit. But eventually, Mickey seemed to want to move on, and he pulled away once more, his coaxing me up with him so he could unclasp my bra.

  He didn’t waste a second after that, and soon my panties were off too, leaving me completely bare before him. I could feel him lean down again like he was going to settle, but I stopped him with a single hand to his chest.

  “Don’t you think you’re a little overdressed?” I asked with a raised eyebrow.

  His responding smirk was true sin, and he stood to slide his sweatpants down his muscled frame, his underwear along with it. I wasn’t surprised to see that he was already fully erect, his length full and flush with need for me, but it still thrilled me down to my very core.

  I wanted him. I wanted him more than anything else in my life. More than success. When I was with him, my ambitions weren’t the maddening uproar that they were usually in the back of my mind. He made me feel at peace while also driving me absolutely wild. And if I didn’t have him inside me soon, I was going to go certifiably insane.

  Mickey knelt back down on the bed then he was lowering himself onto the bed and over me, kissing up my frame as he went. For a moment, I thought that he would just enter me, and I felt a sliver of nerves, but then his hands wound under my hips as he sat up.

  “What are you-”

  But the words died on my lips as he suddenly yanked me upwards, hips clearing right off the mattress, and his mouth found my center.

  Oh.

  Oh!

  His tongue licked a long strike up me, laving my slickness along all of me. He avoided my clit at first, focusing instead on kissing and sucking at all of my lower lips. We’d only been together three times, and yet he knew my body so well, building me up before getting to the real stuff.

  I moaned without restraint, so loud that I was sure that the neighbors could hear down the road, but I didn’t care. I was utterly lost with the sensations running through me and it should have been illegal to feel so good.

  He pulled me up higher, positioning my legs over his shoulders and practically bending me in half as he knelt. I’d never met someone who gave oral with such skill and enthusiasm, and all of my thoughts began to slur together.

  “Oh my God, Mickey. Please,” I begged, not entirely sure what I was asking for. My hands longed to bury themselves in his hair, to press his mouth into me so I could rut recklessly into his mouth, but his head was freshly buzzed, leaving only the slightest bit of length to brush against my palms.

  He pulled away slightly, nuzzling at my thigh before his teeth sank in. I gasped and jerked in his hold, but he held me fast.

  “Let go. I want to hear you come.” His voice was doing things for me and I heard myself mewl.

  “I need you in me.”

  “Not yet. I have you here right where I want you, and you’re going to fall apart. And then I’ll make you fall apart again, and then again. Only then, when you’re sure that there’s no more pleasure in
side of you, will I fill you up and show you just what I can make your body do.

  “Oh fuck!” I whispered, but then his mouth was over me again and he finally applied suction to that sensitive bundle of nerves at my apex.

  He worked it over, making pleasure build in my abdomen quickly. Just when it was bordering on too much, he moved his mouth back to my opening, tongue sliding inside of me as one of his hands released my hips so that his thumb could rub frantic circles over my clit.

  “Ah, ah, ah! Mickey! I’m gonna! I’m-”

  I couldn’t even get the words out. Instead, a keening cry burst from my lips as every muscle in my body tensed. Mickey groaned, lapping everything up as I tumbled into my own orgasm.

  It was wave after wave of pure pleasure, and I could hardly breathe during it. When I finally came back down, I was panting hard and slack against the mattress, so thoroughly debauched that nothing else really mattered.

  “There’s my good girl,” he said, gently setting me back down on the mattress. His hands were all over me again, stroking me. It wasn’t strictly sexual, but more assuring. Comforting. It helped me settle with the aftermath of a climax that hard.

  But my eyes flicked to his manhood, still standing tall and weeping for me. “Your turn?” I asked hopefully.

  He shook his head. “Do you need any water?”

  “No, I’m fine.”

  “Good.”

  He laid beside me and rolled me to face him, drawing me up into tender, loving kisses. They were so sweet, so kind, that it was easy to sink into that same relaxed sort of syrupiness that he brought out of me.

  The more he kissed me, the more he stroked my sides and whispered little praises, the more I felt myself pick back up. It didn’t take long until I was subtly writhing against him, trying to entice him into taking me like I knew he wanted to.

  “Recovered already?” he asked, chuckling.

  I nodded into his chest, and he surprised me by rolling onto his back, dragging me half on top of him.

  “In that case, up.”

  I followed the command, posting myself on his knees, straddling his chest and looking down at him like I panted. It felt like all of my body was clamoring for him. Demanding to be filled and pounded into.