Into the Fire (Bridge Book 2) (13 page)

I didn’t want it to end.

Her cunt rippled over me, and she pressed her head back into bed with a loud cry. My control shattered. Pleasure fired through me like a hard drug. The orgasm rocked me, and I slammed my hips against her one last time. I fused us together tightly, embedding myself into her so completely and came.

As the seconds passed, the tension in her body released and her touch fell away. The sweat on my skin cooled, but my head was still buzzing.

As I slipped from her body, a satisfied smile curved her lips.

“You certainly know how to keep your promises, Mr. Bridge.”

I laughed softly and kissed her. I had the distinct feeling that no one had ever fucked Vanessa quite that thoroughly, and I was glad for it.

Begrudgingly, I left her to take care of the condom. When I came back, she hadn’t moved an inch. I lay beside her on the bed and admired her.

When I pressed a kiss to her belly, her stomach growled.

She laughed and put her hand there. “Sorry. I guess I am hungry.”

“I’ll get you a plate.” I moved off the bed and grabbed my jeans in case Eli decided to come back unexpectedly.

“I can get it.” She lifted to her elbows, still glowing and flushed. She was a beautiful sight.

“Relax, I’ll be right back.”

Damn, running after that boss of hers all day and she expected me to let her serve herself.

She lay back, looking thoroughly blissed out. “This is too decadent.”

I zipped up my jeans. “Yeah?”

She sighed. “I feel like I’m living on a fantasy island where all the gender roles are reversed. A breathtakingly handsome man is going to prepare me a home-cooked meal after giving me one of the most intense sexual encounters I’ve ever had.”

Pride curled through me. I planned to give her so many more encounters like this one, and I’d cook for her every damn night if she kept working herself like this.

I shook my head, feeling more and more pissed about the way her boss treated her. No respect for her time, and from the small hints she’d given me, her intellect too. She was little more than an indentured servant to him.

That someone as smart and talented as Vanessa could justify that kind of treatment blew my mind. I resolved to talk to her more about it.

“Anytime, red.”

I went to the kitchen, plated some chicken and biscuits, and warmed up the gravy.

She ate and I watched, content that the night had gone as it had. I’d missed her, but I couldn’t fully appreciate how much until she was there in front of me.

I’d had plenty of meaningless sex with women I’d never see again. But with Vanessa, each time felt new, like opening a door and discovering what lay within. Figuring out the key to her pleasure drove me, but the orgasms weren’t enough. I wanted that hazy look in her eye afterward that told me what we’d done meant more to her.

Despite my past and all my stupid mistakes, I had to make her believe that it meant more to me too.

But tonight wasn’t a night for confessions. My muscles felt too good. My cock was still humming with the memory of being tight inside her. She was glowing and happy. I didn’t want to ruin any of that right now.

I
woke
up to the unwelcome sound of my phone alarm. I turned it off. As I blinked away sleep, my room came into focus. I sighed and stretched. My muscles ached a little from being up late with Darren, but I didn’t regret a minute of it.

Darren stirred beside me. I went to the bathroom to brush my teeth, and when I came back, he was sitting propped up against the bed frame, the sheet bunched at his waist. He was holding something in his hand.

“Who’s this?” he said.

Heat rushed to my cheeks and I went to him. “None of your business.”

I reached for the little brown bear in his hands, but he moved it before I could grab it. I sat beside him on the bed and crossed my arms, feeling slightly mortified. I was twenty-six, after all.

“Put him down, Darren.”

“Listen. If you’re going to have a guest in the bed I want to share with you, I should at least know the name of my competition.”

I laughed and pushed at his chest. “He’s hardly competition.”

“No? You didn’t light up like that for me when you got home.”

“Stop teasing me.” I sat up on my knees, wrestled the little cloth creature from his grasp, and tossed it out of sight on the other side of the bed.

Truth was, I lit up every time I thought about Darren, let alone shared the room with him. Whether he could see it or not, I came alive with him in my life. That fact frightened me as much as it enlivened me.

“What’s his name?”

I rolled my eyes because I knew he wasn’t going to let up until I’d answered all his silly questions.

“Beau. Okay? Can we talk about something else now?”

His eyebrows arched. “And I’m not supposed to be jealous?”

“Beau is my dad’s name. So, no. It was a gift from one of the times he remembered my birthday.”

“Oh.” His smirk faded a bit. “Sorry.”

“Don’t be. I’m not.”

I shrugged, because, truly, I wasn’t sad about it. Beau was my father, true enough. But he was also a man. A flawed human, just like the rest of us.

“Not everyone’s cut out for parenthood. He could have stuck around, and maybe that would have been worse for me.”

“Not everyone would be so forgiving,” he said softly, tracing circles over my bent knee.

“We are who we are. Some people aren’t capable of being what the world wants them to be.”

“Did your mom ever remarry?”

“Yeah, Phil’s a nice guy.”

“You don’t sound like you’re thrilled with him.”

I shrugged again. “He’s fine. Beau was the love of her life. What they had, she’ll never have with someone like Phil, but they’re happy together. I’m glad she’s not alone anymore. And I know he’ll never break her heart.”

His eyes were serious, but he didn’t say anything for a while.

Deep down I knew that Darren already had the ability to break my heart. Shatter it beyond all recognition. The passion we had between us was unrivaled. It was also dangerous. The men of my past were nothing next to a man like Darren.

As if he wanted to derail those unspoken thoughts, he reached for me. In a flash, I was under him, his warm naked body stretched over me. I released a breathy sigh when he pinned my arms above my head. Something inside me melted at the feel of him over me, holding me captive.

Then he spread his touch everywhere. Pushing my nightshirt up with one hand, he toyed with my nipple until it beaded under his touch. Then he flicked his tongue over the tip.

“Love your tits. Your body.” He sucked my nipple into his mouth and released it with a pop. He trailed his lips over my breastbone, hovering over my heart where he placed a gentle kiss. “Everything,” he whispered, his light brown eyes bewitching me.

I was falling for this man. Hook, line, and sinker.

I closed my eyes, letting the memory of last night wash over me, adding to the potency of what Darren’s touch was doing to me now. Even being tender from our exertions last night, I ached for him again.

“And this…” He slid his hand into my underwear.

I bit my lip when he found my clit, rubbing it to life and sending pinpricks of heat over my skin.

“Darren, what are you doing to me?”

I didn’t think we had time for a diversion this morning. Even so, I spread my legs wider to accommodate his touch. I shifted my hips forward, and he answered by slipping two fingers into me, his thumb barely grazing my clit. Just enough to keep me wanting more. He twisted gently inside me, teasing the walls of my sensitive inner flesh and then withdrawing. Over and over. Carefully at first, and then rougher. Every nerve ending was alive, pulsing with pleasure.

My cheeks warmed. The city was still asleep, the morning still quiet, and I was being hurtled toward an orgasm that felt bigger than my body. But it was the dark hunger in his eyes that pulled me out of my own pleasure and made me bold.

I reached for his cock. He exhaled in a rush before thrusting into my touch. That promise of the pleasure I could give him was all I needed to keep going.

While he rubbed me toward my release, I brought him with me, circling him and stroking him from root to tip.

His flesh was throbbing, hot to the touch. We were completely focused on one another, making everything I was feeling even more intense.

I was seconds from coming and sensed he was too. I fantasized about putting him inside me bare and coming together that way.

Not yet…

I closed my eyes with that thought and tensed everywhere. I soared, completely enveloped by the intense pleasure.

My entire body felt racked by the violence of coming so hard so quickly. I caught his tense expression as my hips undulated on the wave of my fading orgasm. His fingers, slick from my arousal, came around mine, adding pressure and strength to the strokes I’d faltered on with my own release.

Only a few seconds went by before he flipped us, so I straddled him and his back was flat on the bed.

His grip tightened and sped up. “Fuck, baby, just like that.”

Strain marked his features, and his lips fell open. As his torso curled up, his cock jerked in my grasp.

His release spilled over my fingers and onto the sharply cut ridges of his abdomen.

“Wow.” With a shaky exhale, he relaxed back, eyes to the ceiling.

I smiled, sticky and equally sated. The satisfaction of inspiring that face on him landed like a cherry on the hot fudge sundae of an orgasm he’d given me.

“That officially made my day.” He grinned lazily.

I laughed and leaned down, kissing the sweet lips of that man who was winning me over, one mind-bending orgasm at a time.

I stiffened when I thought of the time. Damn it. I had to be on my way soon. I scooted off the bed.

“My shower was not built for two. You’re messier, so you can go first.”

I visited the bathroom, cleaned myself up a little, and turned the shower on to warm up for a bit. When I emerged, Darren hadn’t moved.

“It’s all yours. I’ll get some coffee going for us.”

“Thanks, red.”

I rolled my eyes. Was he ever going to give up on that moniker? Maybe the feistier side of me wanted to rile every time he said, but then I thought about what he’d said in the ocean our first night together. That I was vibrant in his mind. I’d always remember those words because I felt the same way. Darren lit up my life like no one else.

I went to the kitchen and poured a measured portion of coffee grounds into a flimsy filter. I hummed to myself, an old tune that my mom used to sing when she was in a happy mood.

The shower door shut with a thud, and I checked the time on the microwave, making sure I wasn’t going to be late for work.

I set the coffeemaker to brew and poked around the refrigerator for anything I could make. I didn’t have a lot of time, but the sexually satisfied female in me wanted to make my man some breakfast all the same. Before I could patch together a plan with the sparse contents of my kitchen, a quiet bell rang.

I glanced around. Darren’s phone was set on the coffee table. I picked it up with a plan to take it to him. Instead, I froze in place when I saw the message lighting up the screen.

Contained in the message was a selfie of a woman lying in bed, barely clothed. The sender, “Ellie,” was a beautiful brown-haired woman with bedroom eyes and enough cleavage to make me jealous. Another message quickly came in above it.

E
llie
: Woke up missing you this morning. Call me soon xx

T
he words slammed right
into me. Anger swiftly replaced all the warm fuzzy feelings I’d been enjoying seconds earlier. My jaw locked tight, and I swiped the screen. “Ellie” had texted him several times last night, inviting him to meet up at her place. His only response was that he had plans. I couldn’t stop myself from scrolling down for more. Two other texts from single-named girls that had gone unanswered. Then one that made my empty stomach roil.

R
aina
: Just want you to know, I have no regrets about what we did. I had an amazing time, and I know we could again. Casual and discreet. Cameron never needs to know.

T
he soft shuffle
of Darren’s bare feet across my wood floor was barely audible over the blood pounding in my ears. I looked up, not recognizing the person in front of me. He wasn’t the man I’d slept with last night. He couldn’t possibly be the same man I was falling hopelessly in love with. How could I have been so stupid?

He frowned as I handed his phone to him, my hands shaking badly.

“What’s wrong?”

“Who is Ellie?” No amount of composure could keep the heartbreak out of my voice.

He studied the phone for a moment and then looked up, an expressionless look frozen on his face. “No one. Just a girl I used to hang out with.”

“And…Raina? Don’t you work with her?”

His jaw tightened. “Were you… Did you go through my phone?”

What I’d done wasn’t right, but I’d done it. Something inside me went cold. I moved around him, went to the bedroom, and started shuffling through clothes for work. I had no idea what I was doing, but it beat carrying out the total breakdown I wanted to have right in front of the man who was inspiring it.

“Vanessa. Baby, talk to me.”

I whipped around. “I’m not your baby. I’m not your
red
. I’m nothing but another name in a long line of women who obviously know you better than I do.”

“Those women mean nothing to me.”

He tossed his phone on the bed and came closer to me. Heat and anger and all the love I resented feeling for him vibrated between us.

“
Nothing
. Do you understand? They aren’t you.” He cupped my cheeks. His eyes said more…said things I wish he’d say out loud.

I couldn’t tell him I loved him. Not now, when I couldn’t possibly mean as much to him as he did to me. I couldn’t look any more pathetic, but I could hold onto that small piece of dignity.

“I don’t fit in your world.” I closed my eyes. “I shouldn’t have looked at your phone. That was private. I saw a message come from one of those girls, and I couldn’t stop myself. I felt…possessive, which was stupid. I obviously have no place feeling that way.”

His touch fell away. “I wish you hadn’t seen it, but in a way I’m glad you did because now I have to face something that I was hoping like hell I could avoid.”

I waited for him to tell me something terrible. As if I could feel any more insignificant or broken, I waited for the words that would surely end whatever this was between us.

“I have a colorful past. You know this. I’ve been with other women. Never anything serious. But nonetheless, some of these women I’ve been intimate with—”

“Don’t… Just…stop talking.” I winced and retreated a few feet away. “All my instincts told me this was going to happen, but whatever you do to women, Darren, you’re damn good at. Because I’m just as hopeless as the rest of them. The only difference is that I’m not going to do ‘casual and discreet’ with someone I care this much about.”

“I would never ask you to.”

“Then I suppose we’re at an impasse.” I shrugged like I didn’t care, but inside I was dying a slow death. All I could see was a future without Darren, and it was bleak. I barely knew the man, but somehow he was so far under my skin I couldn’t breathe, couldn’t have a day pass without wishing he were in it. Even as I fought for those moments, incredible moments like last night, not having any of them was an unbearable thought.

He came close again. I wrapped my arms around myself, as if that could protect me from his next words.

“You’re the only one I want to be with.”

“If that’s true, why haven’t you told anyone?”

He exhaled sharply. “It’s complicated. I have clients. Not everyone obviously, but a lot of these people are clients who come to the gym.”

“Well, are you running a gym or a fucking escort service, Darren? I mean, why don’t you charge them for the extras while you’re at it?”

“You’re getting too emotional about this.”

I laughed because if I didn’t, I was going to break down.

“Yes, I am. For the record, this is what it looks like to care about someone you don’t want to share with the rest of the world. Take a good look, and maybe one of these days you’ll meet someone who makes you want to see only that face. Not a thousand women with bedroom eyes and cute names like
Ellie
.”

He grabbed his phone from the bed with a curse. “Do you want me to call her right now and explain to her in detail what my relationship with you means to me?”

“Don’t bother. You’re officially back on the market.”

I tried to move past him, but he blocked me. In the small room and with his large frame, it didn’t take much.

“Like hell I am.”

“Just go.”

“I’m not going to cheat on you, Vanessa.” He placed his hands on my arms.

The possessive touch gave weight to his words, but how could I believe him?

“That’s reassuring,” I said, unable to meet his imploring gaze. “Let me go. I need to get ready for work.”

“Let’s talk about this.”