Chapter Forty

Bianca

“I still can’t believe you stayed home and gave up on your promotion for me. That was so stupid. You should have gone. I would’ve been fine by myself.” I hopped up on the kitchen counter as he sat at the kitchen table, his head in his laptop, typing rapidly.

He paused and peered up at me, shaking his head. “You don’t know, do you?” A grunt escaped his lips, and he muttered something to himself before shutting the lid on the laptop. “You’re the most important thing in my life. Screw my job. I don’t need a promotion, trust me. I have everything I need right here.”

My heart practically galloped out of my chest. All this time I’d known I was fighting for something amazing, for someone amazing. And I had known good, decent men existed because I knew Dom. Then Frankie, who practically kissed the ground Perla walked on. It never seemed attainable for me, though, and I didn’t want to believe it could happen.

I’d figured that it was me—that I was broken or something, and I’d only ever be the no-strings-attached girl who men wanted to have fun with. I wasn’t the person you settled down with or had kids with, I was the one you did exciting stuff with. The less personal things were, the better. It was sad, but I was okay with it because I didn’t want to lose anyone important to me. And, trust me, no man I had ever been with was important to me.

But I wasn’t a floozy. I just enjoyed a man’s company, that was all. You could judge me for it, but until you walked a day in my stilettos, you’d have no idea how messed up I was, especially after losing my mom. It was really bad after that.

Tears welled in my eyes, but I blinked them back before Knox noticed and went back to the topic at hand. “And that’s sweet, but we both know you deserve the promotion.”

He shrugged nonchalantly. “Sure, maybe I do, but it is what it is and I’m just glad you’re feeling better.”

With my hands on either side of me, I gripped the counter. “Thanks to you.”

He sat back and crossed his arms. “Your sisters warned me you weren’t good at being sick. They were right.”

I rolled my eyes. “Who is?”

“True, but you tried convincing me you weren’t even sick.”

“And now that I’m mucus-free and my brain can function properly I admit that maybe I was, in fact, sick.” Maybe. I said maybe.

He cocked a brow. “No maybe about it. You were sick.”

“You turned down sex.” Ha. That was definitely worse than refusing to say I was sick.

“With a sick person? Absolutely.”

I shook my head and swung my legs out in the front of me. “I’ve never known a man to turn down sex. Maybe your head is the one that should be checked.”

“Nope.” He stood up and walked over to me. “I’m perfectly fine in the noggin. Just would rather have you, be deep inside you, when you have your wits about you.”

Hello, that was all I wanted— make a home in there for all I care . “Yeah, when is that going to be exactly?” Now would be great.

He tucked a strand of hair behind my ear, and I shuddered at his touch. “You have no patience.”

When it comes to you? No. No, I do not. I think I’ve been patient long enough, don’t you? “I am a lot of things, baby, but, no, patient is not one of them.” I reached out and placed my hands on his shoulders, running them down his arms slowly. “Truth be told, I don’t do much dating. I just jump right to the good stuff—usually.”

He smirked. “Oh, no. Have I made a mistake, dating a girl with more sexual experience than me?”

Don’t make me laugh. I dropped my hands from him and snickered. “What a load, that I have more experience than you.” I found it hard to believe. Although, I had been with my fair share of men. . . .

“No loads around here, except the one in the washing machine that’s almost done.”

“Ah, my man doing laundry for me.” I could get used to this sort of treatment. Frankly, the thought of doing household chores made me break out in hives. I commended every stay-at-home wife and mother out there. I wasn’t much for it. Okay, that was an understatement—I detested anything housekeeping-related.

Cooking.

Baking.

Cleaning.

Dusting.

Vacuuming.

Mopping.

And laundry.

Knox tapped my nose, chuckling. “Someone had to. All those nasty towels and sheets with your germs all over them.” He visibly cringed.

“Not a fan of my germs?”

“Sweetness, I love your germs, just not your sick ones.”

“Fair. So what are we going to do today now that you have the day off and I’m all better?”

“Hmm. . . well, you could put on some clothes.”

When I’d been sick, I was so hot that I’d stuck to a bra and boy shorts. To be honest, I hadn’t really given it any thought when I’d pulled out the same thing to wear around the house today. I frowned, slightly disappointed that he wanted me to add more layers. Usually men wanted me to take layers off, not put more on. “You want me to put clothes on ? All right that does it. What’s the deal?” I was getting mixed signals.

He raked a hand through his hair, looking frustrated as he heaved a sigh. “There’s only so much self-control you can expect me to have, and I want things to be special when we finally get there.”

Was he serious? Who cared about special? I wasn’t some virgin who needed rose petals spread out on the floor leading to the bedroom where more rose petals adorned the bed in the shape of a heart. I didn’t need warm vanilla sugar candles. And I certainly didn’t care about ambiance—low classical music or R&B was so not needed. I was a very sexual person. All I needed was Knox, and that panty-dropping smile of his and I was practically soaked.

“Special?” I looked at him dumbfounded. “I’ve had sex on a motorcycle, in the backseat of a car, played around in a taxi without the driver noticing”—I grinned, pretty proud of myself for that one—“major props for that one, thank you very much. And I even did it once in the owner and head chef’s office at a five-star restaurant without getting caught. Yeah, I don’t need special. Trust me. We can do it right now on the floor and I’d be perfectly happy.”

He raised not one but both of his brows.

What? What was the big deal? I didn’t get it. We’d both had sex before, so what was I missing?

“Let me treat you right. Like you deserve to be treated.”

“I think we have different opinions on what that is.”

The corners of his lips turned upward in a naughty smile. “You win.” He brought his lips to mine and kissed me. It started slow, but quickly became passionate and it was a good thing my fever broke otherwise I might combust.

My fingers played with the hair on the base of his neck as I snaked my arms around him, pulling him close to me. But Knox was steadfast in his determination to lavish my skin with attention. He moved his lips down my throat carefully trailing a finger over the skin that still tingled from his kisses, drawing a line down my throat to my cleavage. The material of my sports bra did nothing to keep the heat I felt from his touch at bay.

Continuing his descent, he brought his finger to my belly button, circling the exposed skin before leaning down to press a kiss right below it in the space above the elastic on my boy shorts.

I cradled his head in my hands and moaned in delight as he flicked his tongue out and slid it under the elastic band on my waist. Eager for him, I spread wide, not caring how desperate it made me seem for his touch.

His hands on my thighs were tormenting me. My body was obsessed with him and I was already wet with desire. Taking his hand, I placed his palm over my center so he could feel what he was doing to me.

With tantalizing focus, he bent down again and kissed just below the line on my boy shorts on one thigh and grazed the delicate skin with his teeth. “Tell me what you need.”

“You,” I cried out and bit my lip anticipating his next move.

Wild with matched desire, Knox slid a finger inside me. I didn’t want to take my eyes off him, but the sensation was too good. I shut my eyes and let the feeling wash over me as he moved a finger to rub slow circles on my clit. “Oh, God!”

“No, Bianca, not God. It may feel like you’re in heaven, but you’re not.”

My heart began racing as another finger entered me. Gliding in and out, I felt tortured. I needed. . . I needed. . . “More,” I commanded, hoping that he would listen and do as I wanted.

“You like this, don’t you?” With a hungry look in his eyes he brought his lips to mine and greedily captured my mouth with his. I sucked his tongue, not ashamed to take more in every way—in any way I could get him. My senses were on overdrive because he added a third finger, this time masterfully brushing against my G-spot. No one had ever done that before, and it made me feel crazy with desire.

“You like feeling full of my fingers, don’t you?” he rasped. I’d bet an orgasm with him on the fact that he was so hard right now. It’d probably be a miracle he didn’t come in his pants like a teenage boy.

I pursed my lips and cried, “I’d much rather be filled with your cock.”

“Filthy girl.”

“No, Knox, just a girl who knows what she wants.” Then I looked down at his pants and quirked a brow. “And what you need.”

Sliding his fingers out, I immediately felt the loss. I needed him in me, filling me, whether it was his fingers or his cock. I needed something. I needed Knox.

“What do you—” I sucked in a desperate breath. I stared up at him as he brought his fingers to his mouth and sucked me off him.

“Hmm,” he groaned. “Maybe I’m the one that’s in heaven. I need to be buried deep inside you now,” he said, tugging my shorts down and over my knees.

“What are you waiting for then? I’m on the pill,” I said, my hands finding the button on his jeans. My hands worked fast and furious in getting his pants down and taking in the full weight of him, the full length of him.

He smirked and removed my hands. “Patience, Bianca.”

“I thought we already established that’s not a virtue I have.” And thankfully, neither did he because I felt the tip of him at my entrance. Yet I wanted nothing more than to shout, fill me already .

“Don’t I know it. You want me to be bare inside you?”

I nodded. “Mmhmm.” And with that, he slid in with one powerful thrust.

I wrapped my legs around his hips, trying to maneuver us so he could go deeper. He hitched my leg even farther, and tears filled my vision. “Fuck, Bianca. You were made for me. You take my cock so well.”

The way he stretched me was like nothing I’d ever felt before. He was thick and long, and with each thrust, I could feel myself teetering on the edge as he hit that magical spot.

“Knox, ” I was practically breathless.

He moved harder, faster, and I was blinded with pleasure as he rocked his hips and fucked me with such wild abandon. I felt like I’d been hit by a wrecking ball in every way imaginable. And the otherwise monochromatic kitchen became clouded in a rainbow as illusive smoke bombs exploded around me.