Chapter Seventeen

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Vienna

Nyx, quite frankly, kicked my ass in class.

Once we got through the basics of self-defense, she'd said it was time to put in some mouth guards, and actually try to fight each other.

Needless to say, she was more experienced and had a lot more muscle on her than I did.

So, yeah, I felt like a walking bruise when I got back to the clubhouse.

When I realized that Riff was at the gym with Detroit and Colter, I gathered some bath stuff, and made my way into the bathroom, scrubbing the tub, and then filling it with super hot water.

I dropped a few bath bombs in, watching the bubblegum pink and lilac shades swirl and fill the water before I stripped and slipped under the water, feeling the warmth chase away the ache in my muscles.

My eyes drifted closed.

And my mind immediately drifted to all the many times over the past several days that Riff had been home that he'd let me kiss him, when he'd kissed me back, gently teasing me with his lips, tongue, and teeth until the ache of longing made it hard to breathe.

Alone in the tub, the need reignited, a heaviness in my breasts, a thrumming sensation between my thighs, and a pressure on my lower stomach.

The water that had been nothing but comfort a moment ago suddenly felt sensual as it moved over my skin and I shifted my position to ease the ache between my thighs.

When pressing my legs together did nothing to ease the ache growing between, instinct had my hand slipping down my body, little sizzles of desire left in its wake, before my fingers teased between my thighs.

There was a second where I tensed before I took a deep breath and filled my mind with thoughts of Riff, something that chased away anything else that threatened to steal this moment from me.

My breath went slower and deeper as my fingers slipped up my cleft, finding my clit, and teasing it gently, feeling the need grow stronger with each passing moment until, like a sun breaking through a storm-weary sky, pleasure started to take root and grow, spreading as my hips rocked and my fingers teased.

I was so absorbed in the sensations, in the reclamation of this part of myself, that I didn't hear the footsteps, didn't even notice the door opening until I heard someone's breath gasp.

My eyes shot open, rounding, as I looked over, seeing Riff frozen on the spot.

My mind flashed back to leaving the door open when I'd been scrubbing the tub, not wanting the scent of cleaner to get trapped in the room and give me a headache.

And when I kicked it closed, I totally forgot to slide the lock like I normally would.

"Fuck. I'm sorry," Riff said, rushing to grab the doorknob again.

"No," I found myself saying, voice high, a little desperate. "Don't go," I added, watching how his wide chest expanded as he sucked in a deep breath.

"Vienna…"

"Stay," I said again.

This time, his eyes slid open, his gaze drifting over to where my upper body was slightly out of the water, my breasts exposed, nipples tight. And I swear the way his eyes slid over them only managed to make them get even harder.

His gaze slid lower, following the way my hand disappeared between my legs.

Desire reignited as a rumbling sound moved through him. His gaze when it rose to mine again was molten.

"Darlin'…"

I couldn't quite find the words to say anything, so my free hand rose from the bath, water dripping from my heated skin onto the ground as I reached out toward him.

Riff didn't hesitate.

He was across the small room in a blink, dropping down onto his knees beside the tub, and taking my hand in his, pulling it up to press a kiss to my knuckles.

I slid my hand up to his wrist. Then, before I could overthink it too much, I pulled his hand with mine under the water, pressing it against the hand between my legs.

Riff's breath shook as his fingers gently pressed against mine, pushing them against my clit, and dragging a little whimper out of me.

I let him guide my fingers for a few moments, the pleasure starting to build.

Eventually, though, the urge to feel him actually touch me won out. I let my hand slide away, and as his hand pressed up against me, Riff's gaze cut to mine, a silent question in his gaze.

Taking a deep breath, I let my legs fall open in invitation.

Because that was what this was.

Something I wanted.

Something I was in control of.

Riff's thumb teased across my clit, making my body jolt at the sensation as a whimper escaped me.

Spurred on by my reaction, his thumb did another swipe. Then another.

It wasn't long before the need was growing, weeks of closeness and barely-contained desire reached a fever-pitch, leaving me writhing against his touch, my whimpers becoming moans.

Riff's free hand reached for mine, fingers lacing as he drove me right to that edge, then pushed me over, leaving me falling, then crashing into an orgasm that had me crying out as my body tensed, as my back arched, as my hand clung to Riff's.

A slight tremble worked through my body as I came back down.

"You okay?" Riff asked, voice soft, his hand still between my legs but gently resting on my inner thigh.

I worried that the memories might flood back.

But when all there was in my mind and heart was the pleasure of this moment, of this connection with a man I was really beginning to love, I shot him a smile.

"Yes," I said, sitting up out of the water, so I could seal my lips to his, kissing him with all of the joy and relief I felt flooding my body right then.

Riff's arms went around me, hauling my soaked body against him, soaking through his shirt as his lips pressed the kiss a little harder, his own hunger clear in his kiss.

But he was the one to pull away first.

No pressure.

"Did you… were you going to take a shower?" I asked as his fingers pressed my wet hair behind my ears.

"That was the plan," he agreed.

"I'm done," I told him, pulling away, sinking into the water for a second to press the drain, then taking his hands when he offered them to me, and getting to my feet.

Riff reached for a towel, but he paused in wrapping me up, his gaze sliding down my body.

I looked different now.

Thanks to Detroit's cooking, and the endless supply of takeout and snacks Riff was always bringing to me, you could no longer see the outline of my bones. They were safely protected by a decent layer of flesh now, rounding me out. Just in a slightly different shape than I'd even been before. A little fuller in the chest and hip and thigh.

I'd always been hyperaware of my body before, ready to go on a quick crash diet if I felt like I was gaining too much weight, my clothes starting to get uncomfortably tight.

Now, though, I didn't view my body the same way. I wasn't seeing it through the lens of anyone's preferences but mine. And what I preferred was proof of being well-nourished and healthy, of never having to miss a meal again.

"You're so beautiful," Riff said, his words a soft caress over my skin as he wrapped the towel around me, pulling it tight, and tucking it up by my chest.

I climbed out of the bath, making my way toward the counter to dry my hair with the extra towel, then running a brush through it as Riff reached for the wand in the tub, washing the traces of my soap and bath bombs off the walls of the tub.

"I'll be done in a second," I told him as I rubbed some lotion on my arms.

"You can stay if you want," he said as he reached up behind his back, and pulled the shirt over his head, then tossed the shirt toward the hamper.

It didn't matter how many times I'd seen him with his shirt off. I was always greedy to see him again. So I didn't even try to hide the way my gaze moved over his chest and stomach.

His muscles were even more taut than usual, thanks to the killer workout Detroit had put him through.

As my gaze slid to the waistband of his basketball pants, his hands moved there as well, pausing, waiting to see if I wanted to take this chance to retreat.

But I found myself transfixed, anticipation skittering across my nerve endings.

Seeing no signs of hesitance, Riff grabbed the waistbands of his pants and underwear, and pushed them down his legs.

His cock was hard, pressing out thick and long, and I was surprised by the way my sex clenched hard.

Riff didn't move toward me.

He stood there for just a moment before climbing into the tub, but leaving the curtain open as he turned the water on.

I could have left. Maybe I should have. But I took the open curtain as an invitation to stay, to watch, to give myself this chance to see how I reacted to having him close by and completely unclothed.

I didn't feel fear.

I didn't even feel anxiety.

No.

The way my pulse was thrumming in my chest and throat and, well, other places had nothing to do with panic and everything to do with interest.

Riff stood back under the spray, his head tilted back, eyes closed, and I was helpless but to watch the rivulets of water slide over his chest and sneak into the indents of his abdominal muscles.

My breath caught in my chest as his hand lifted, sliding up his thigh, then across, and gripping his cock with me standing just a few feet away.

Again, though, all I felt was, well, interest, as I stood watching him start to lazily stroke himself.

He wasn't asking me for anything.

He was just letting me be there while he brought himself relief.

No pressure.

Just a new level of intimacy between us.

Riff's head fell back as he sucked in a deep breath while his hand started to stroke faster and faster, driving him closer to that edge.

While desire pinged off of every one of my nerve endings, making my breathing get fast and frantic, and the recently sated ache between my legs returned and grew, until I was pressing my thighs together to ease the ache as I listened to Riff's ragged breathing, heard his quiet groans, then watched as he finally made himself come, his whole body tensing hard with the intensity.

I was still standing there a few minutes later after he quickly washed himself up, grabbed a towel, wrapped it around his waist, and climbed out.

He drew closer, the heat from his body warming me as his hand lifted, gently snagging my chin, and drawing my head up.

His head tipped to the side as he looked at what had to be the evidence of the desire I was feeling all over my features.

"Are you done?" he asked, his thumb tracing my lower lip. "Or do you need a little more?" he asked.

When all I could manage was a little whimper, his eyes warmed as his hands sank into my hips, lifting me and placing me on the sink counter.

"Don't worry," he said, fingers tracing where my towel had split on my thighs. "I'm just going to taste you," he told me, chasing any lingering worries about not being ready yet away as he lowered down.

When his hands reached for my knees, they fell open easily for him, inviting him in.

But he was taking his time, kissing up one thigh, then the other. Until I was writhing and my fingers were digging into his shoulders, silently begging for what my body was craving.

As if sensing I couldn't take the sweet torment a moment longer, his face was where I needed him most, his tongue tracing up my cleft, then lazily circling my clit. Like he had all day. Like the need for release wasn't steadily becoming a clawing pain again.

My fingers slid up his neck, sank into his wet hair, holding him against me as my hips rocked rhythmically.

But, still, he refused to give me exactly what I wanted.

It wasn't until little whines were escaping me and my fingernails were digging into his skull that he finally let his tongue slide across my swollen, sensitive clit.

I nearly came right then and there.

The pleasure was almost blinding, dragging a loud moan out of me.

"Reid, please," I begged.

Against me, he made an approving sound before he finally stopped teasing and started to work my clit relentlessly, but just a tad too slow to get me there as quickly as my body was craving.

His hand inched up my thigh until I felt his fingers against me, just circling, teasing.

When they started to press, to penetrate, I felt myself start to tense.

But no.

No, I wanted this.

I was safe with him.

There was nothing I needed to worry about.

Taking a deep breath, I relaxed into the sensation. Sensing it, one of his fingers started to press further inside of me. When all he got was a little whimper, a second finger joined, just a fullness there for a moment, waiting to see if I changed my mind.

When I didn't, he started to stroke, creating friction that pushed me more quickly toward that edge.

By the time his fingers crooked and started to stroke against my top wall, I was already teetering there.

And he just shoved me over, leaving me crying out, my body trembling as the orgasm overtook me.

He kissed back down my thighs as I came back down, before standing back up, giving me a self-satisfied smile that he'd totally earned.

All of the relief at being able to have this with him without the ugly thoughts creeping in had a smile tugging at my lips until it stretched hard enough to hurt.

Riff returned the smile, then leaned down to give me a quick kiss.

It felt like everything was starting to fall into place.

I had no idea at the time that Riff was keeping secrets from me.

Ones that would end up allowing me to make a decision that would screw everything up again.