28 Seconds: A House of Valentine Novella (10 page)

“You’ve no idea.”

“Then you regret it?”

He shuffled me down on the bed, his hands cupping my face. “No, Ariana, not even for a second.”

“You said touching me, being with me, was a one time thing.”

“I did say that,” he admitted. “It was more of a rule for myself, an order issued that I had knew I had no hope of following. I thought by saying it out loud it might make it more achievable. But, as you pointed out, I’ve been unable to keep my hands off you since the moment I found you in the Carolina house.”

“I’m sorry for making you break your own rule.”

“You are a true Catholic. Your guilt plagues you even as you lay naked in my arms.” He smiled, his lips tracing along my collarbone. “But, you should have told me.”

“I was afraid you’d say no.”

“I probably would’ve worked a little harder to keep my urges in check, yes,” he admitted. “But, Ariana, the moment I saw you writhing naked on that bed, when you moaned by name without even realizing it, as you stroked every inch of your skin...I knew I would take you. And then, on the sofa that morning...I had this desperate need to be inside you that, frankly, scared the hell out of me.”

“Cole,” I demanded before I lost my nerve, “teach me what you like.”

He chuckled. “Is that an order, Ms. Valentine?”

I bit his ear and smiled. “Does it need to be?”

“It will be much more fun to teach you what you like,” he murmured. “For example, right now, I know that despite how sore you must be, you still want me.”

“Arrogant, aren’t you?” I breathed but knew he was right. His light touches on my skin, the feathery kisses he placed strategically across my body - they were all making me dizzy.

His hand was heavy on my stomach, pressing hard as he moved it up my curves. “Look at your body flush, the heat rising off your skin.” His hand cupped my breast and I arched around him. His deep chuckle of satisfaction, of having proof of what his touches did to me, caused me to frown but his lips was hot on my skin. His mouth took in my nipple, sucking and flicking until I let out a moan of pleasure. As he moved to the other with a harder bite, his hand slipped to lay on my pubic bone. “You have a fire growing here that’s making you wet. And we both know how drenched you can be. It stings but you can’t make it stop, can you?”

I whimpered but he wouldn’t accept that as a response. “Answer me, Ariana.”

“No, I can’t make it stop,” I whispered. “I feel empty without you inside me.”

He hesitated for the briefest second and I was afraid I’d said something wrong. But after watching me, his movements picked back up where he left off. “You’ve given me a power over you. Whether you realize that or not.”

“People lose their virginity all the time, Cole,” I managed. “It’s not that big of a deal.”

“Really? Then why have you waited so very long to give it away?” I knew it wasn’t a question I was expected to answer and his touch between my thighs confirmed it. He was slow, careful to avoid my sex, but was purposefully spreading my juices to coat everything. He gave a low groan from somewhere deep within. “So fucking wet, Ariana. Christ.”

He flopped onto his back, putting space between us. His cock was hard and tall again and he made no move to cover it. I rolled to my side, my hand tracing down his chest. But he knew where I was heading and snatched my hand, kissing my palm.

“But no lessons today. Or tomorrow most likely. Your body will not thank me for that.”

“There’s no reason for you-”

“You get no release, I get no release. It’s only fair.” He kissed me on the forehead. “Give me a few minutes to recover and I’ll draw you a bath.”

I was drifting off, almost asleep, when he nudged me back awake and led me to the tub. Candles, bubbles, and a soft scent of ocean water filled the entire room. He gave me a sexy, cocky grin as he helped me step into the tub.

“I would’ve let you sleep but I’m damn proud of myself for this.”

I stretched out in the tub, my muscles relaxing as soon as I got under the bubbles. “Not usually the romantic type?”

“Not hardly. I don’t imagine you to be one either. Despite the last name, Valentines aren’t known for their romantic tendencies. Lust, not love, tends to be the motto.”

“The irony of my life,” I grinned.

“Speaking of, your mother used to give you a bath in this very tub.”

“And you watched? Like you are now?” I laughed. “The more I learn about the Valentine clan the kinkier it all becomes.”

“Hey, I was seven and kept asking who broke off your peepee.”

Peals of laughter rolled over me causing the water to ripple and shake in the tub. It took me several minutes to settle. When I did, his kiss was light on my forehead. “Your laugh,” he murmured. “Best. Thing. Ever.”

“Thank you,” I whispered, “for helping me find it again.”

He nodded but didn’t reply and, instead, continued to thread his hands through the water. After several minutes, he finally exhaled.

“The men in this family…” he paused, searching for words to make me understand, “you’ve no idea how possessive we can be, Ariana. Your father has been looking for you for fifteen years. He will be an overbearing shit, afraid of losing you, for probably the next fifteen. And Marco. Whatever that is about-”

“I can’t stand the sight of him, his touch, his smell-”

Cole calmed my shudder with a caress. “Nonetheless, he
is
possessive of you. You may not like it but you damn sure need to be aware of it. I had a gun touching his head and he still refused to let you go. It was foolish, but it also demonstrated an admirably deep commitment.”

“Admirable?” I huffed. “I may never understand the mind of Italian men.”

“You only need understand one thing, Ariana: a man willing to die for something or someone is the most dangerous thing in the world.”

“You fear him?”

“No, but I’m intelligent enough to recognize the danger he presents. I only wish I knew why. And before your temper flares, that wasn’t an indictment of your memories. Your return is only one of many things that give me pause about Marco.”

I nodded, accepting that as the only explanation I would be given. “Are you willing to die for something?”

“Ah, we get back to me,” he chuckled. “I have risked everything for you. For your mother. In careless moments I’ve risked my life for your father before remembering who he is. I would die for the same men that are willing to die for me. So, yes, there are things I’m willing to die for.”

“And are you possessive?”

He exhaled. “Unfortunately for you, yes. I can have quite the temper and I’m already known as the reckless one.”

“Are you possessive of everyone you’ve had sex with, then?”

“To some degree, yes, I suppose I am. But, I’ll admit I was possessive of you and your mother long before tonight occurred.”

“And now?” When he didn’t answer right away, I turned to face him. “Cole?”

“I’m afraid the truth will scare you,” he said with a broken smile. He leaned toward me, his hand dipping into the water and sliding along my outer thigh, tracing the outline of my body. “The truth? The truth is, that knowing I am the only man who knows how impossibly wet you get, how fucking tight you are, that I am the only one you have ever begged to be inside you - it’s the most erotic and powerful feeling I’ve ever experienced. And, yes, I’m possessive of that. Right now, strangling anyone who comes near you seems quite justified.”

I felt myself twitch at the implication. “So, you’re saying I’m stuck with you? That because you took my virginity I have no choice in the deal?”

“That infamous Valentine temper,” he nuzzled my neck to get me to calm. “No, Ariana. It was your choice to give me that, it’s your choice to let me have you again, or your choice to find someone else. I’m just saying it’s now my job to make sure you always choose me.”

“Good answer,” I grinned and stretched up to kiss him, splashing water over the tub.

He laughed and pushed me back into the water. “Come on, your water’s getting cold.” He grabbed the shampoo bottle and squirted some onto my head. “I’ll grab you another towel.”

I sunk under the water, trying to rinse out the shampoo, when it hit me full force with no warning: fingers tight around my throat; heavy hands holding me underwater; my body thrashing; my lungs burning as the air was replaced with water; my mind slowly fading to black.

I was wrenched from the tub, water splashing everywhere. Strong hands bent me over, holding me steady as my body coughed and convulsed to get the water out of my lungs. A towel was pressed against me and I skittered away, slipping on the wet floor. “Ariana, it’s me. Look at me.”

Cole. I nodded, and moved back to his side. He dried me off fast then scooped me up and took me back to bed, tucking the covers around me as I continued to shiver. It took several minutes before I could even feel the calming strokes on my head.

“Better?”

I nodded, coughing again but able to manage a partial smile.

“That,” he guessed, “is the half you keep for yourself.”

“It’s not-” I tried but started coughing again.

“I’m not going anywhere, Ariana. It can wait a few minutes,” he said, kissing my forehead. “I’ll call for some hot tea.”

“Sweats,” I murmured. “I asked Bridge-”

“I’ll find them.”

Even after I was snuggled into my sweats and tank top, Cole was still fussing over me. The tea had helped settle my mind but my silence seemed to only agitate him more. When he finally sank down on the bed in front of me and touched my leg to get my attention, he seemed to have reached some decision.

“I’m man enough to admit that scared the shit of me, Ariana.”

“Me too,” I agreed.

“I know you believe I will judge you and I don’t know how to fix that. But if you won’t talk to me, we have to find another solution because these things are killing you inside, baby girl. It’s like a little piece of you disappears every time.”

“My mom taught me to tell no one anything.”

“And she was right. It kept you safe for a very long time but, Ariana, you are in a different world now and we
will
keep you safe. It kills me that you trust me enough to share my bed but not enough to-”

“Please,” I squeezed his arm to stop him. “I’m not that clever, I swear. Or even emotionally stable enough to think that clearly. The memories don’t come complete. It’s flashes. And you may know every single person who appears in them but I don’t, Cole. They are strangers on the street to me. I can’t tell you anything more than a man did this or a man did that. Which is useless to both of us. It’ll make you furious and make me a basket case all over again.”

“That’s it?” he tipped my head up to look at me. “Promise me, Ariana.”

“Yes. This one...I could feel the water, smell and taste it, feel the fingers tightening around my throat and how my lungs burned. It was horribly graphic but, I saw no faces at all.”

“How do you even face the fucking day, baby girl? I’ve faced hell before but I can’t imagine having to relive it like it’s brand new over and over again without even a second of warning.”

Knowing it would upset him, I lowered my voice. “Before now, it wasn’t-”

“This bad,” he said, and I could feel him take in a shuddering breath to calm himself. He put my teacup aside and pulled me to lay against his chest. “They’re coming even more often, aren’t they?”

I nodded but otherwise didn’t respond as I tried to let his caresses calm my raging emotions.

He was quiet and I knew he was trying to remember each one since he’d found me. “They come when you’re relaxed, I’ve noticed. Like you mentioned - never when your mind's focused or intent on something. Twice when Valentine was in your system, drinking with me at the beach, and now this. Any others?”

“Please stop analyzing me.”

“I’m trying to help, Ariana. To see if there’s a common trigger we can avoid. Nothing more.”

“Yes, there have been others,” I admitted. “And yes, they were while I was alone or things were quiet.”

His head dropped to my shoulder. “That’s why you were so desperate about not being left alone or with strangers. I am such a fucking jackass to have not seen that.”

“If you say I was childish-”

“No, it was responsible. This one almost drowned you.” He hugged me tighter into his chest. “You told me before that they are always violent, but this was more than that. This was lethal, Ariana. Have you had others like that?”

I shiver rolled up my spine and he brushed it back down. “That’s a yes, then. Ariana,” he murmured, “exactly how bad do these memories get?”

“The one earlier-”

“You mean in the tub, just now.”

“No, before that. When the house emptied after dinner.”

He checked his watch, his brows furrowing together. “You’ve had two? That close together?”

I nodded and tightened my fingers in his to try and stay focused on the present.