Thor (Recherché #1) (12 page)

I wake up to the sound of an alarm going off. The bed shifts and then it stops.

“What time is it?” I mumble.

“Six.”

“What the fuck?” I reach for Poppy and wrap an arm around her waist, pulling her against me. My morning wood is pressing against her thighs and I’m tempted to just push her underwear to the side and slip it on in. It’s way too early for fucking, but I feel like my dick would appreciate the resting place.

“I have to get up.” She groans.

“No.” I trace my nose up the side of her throat, inhaling her scent. My arm snakes up her body, pinning her tightly against me.

Falling asleep with Poppy has become a guilty pleasure. I know I shouldn’t do it because it’s not making anything about this situation any easier. Every time I crawl out of her bed in the morning I tell myself it’s the last time, that I’ll keep my distance and stop seeing her, but I never do. I feel like such a pussy saying it, but in a life full of sex, the simple act of holding her is what I crave.

“My dad is coming to see my work.” She mumbles. “I have to go meet him.”

I groan and slowly release her, trailing my fingers over her sides. She gets out of the bed and walks across the room completely naked. The soft morning light hits her, illuminating her skin. The red of her hair glistens as it cascades down her back. She opens the door to the ensuite and I hear the shower start.

Something needs to give. That guy was here last night because I made her feel like she’s just a fuck. Because every time I see her I feel like I did something wrong, and then I punish myself by not calling her or seeing her. But I’m also punishing her, and in all of this fucked up shit, Poppy has done nothing wrong. It’s the opposite, she’s perfect, too perfect for me. This situation is just one massive lie waiting to blow up in my face because I haven’t told her the truth about me. The longer this goes on the harder it becomes because I’m pretty sure she’ll be horrified at the prospect and she’ll never want to see me again. But I need her. I need the way she looks at me, as if I mean something to her as if I’m more than a fucking transaction…more than just an object that she’s entitled to. She makes everything else in my life seem so pointless and shallow, and there’s no coming back from that. I don’t want that to change. I don’t want to taint the way she sees me, but I know it’s inevitable. Not telling her is fucked up and selfish, but then this entire thing between us is probably the most selfish thing I’ve ever done. Either way, I’m fucked.

I should go, but then isn’t that what I always do? I listen to the water from the shower hitting the tile and I picture Poppy’s dripping wet body. That’s pretty much all it takes for me to become a slave to my dick.

I get up and open the door to the bathroom. A wall of steam hits me, clinging to my skin in a dew. I can make out Poppy’s form, her head tilted back under the flow of water and her tits pushed out. My dick twitches at the sight of her silhouette. When I open the shower stall and step inside, she has her back to me. Water runs off her hair and over the curve of her arse, making a path down her body. I step up behind her and grip her hip, forcing her to turn and face me. She keeps her eyes closed but a small smile works over her lips. I drop my lips to her chest and lap at the water peaking off her nipple.

“You made it out of bed.”

“Hmm.” I wrap my lips around the erect flesh and suck. Her hands clasp my face, holding me to her. I feel her lips press against my forehead and my heart lets out a heavy thud. I don’t know how she does it, but the way she touches me, her reverence…she makes me feel worthy.

I pull my face away from her chest and wrap my hand around the back of her neck, kissing her. The water rains down on us, streaming between our close bodies. Her hands remain on my face as her tongue tentatively brushes against mine, making me groan. I’ve had some dirty sex over the years, and I’ve always appreciated a woman with a filthy mind, but with Poppy, it’s her hesitance that makes her so fucking alluring. The way she teases me then takes everything I give her when I snap. I press my thigh between her legs and she steps into it, pressing her pussy against me. I push her backwards until she’s against the tile. Her chest rises and falls unevenly, her full tits moving with every breath. I drop my lips to her neck before working my way down her body and dropping into a crouch. When I brush over her lower stomach she trembles and braces her hands against the wall behind her as though clinging to it for support.

I bite the top of her thigh and she squeezes her legs together. Watching her reaction, I glide my fingers up the back of her calf, to her knee. She throws her head back against the wall, her lips parting on a gasp.

“I can’t remember the last time I tasted you.” I say, yanking her leg up onto my shoulder. Her hands fly to the back of my neck and I grip her arse in one hand, hitching her other leg onto my shoulder with the other. She looks down the length of her body at me and I wink before pushing to my feet. She lets go of a shriek and her fingers grab at my hair.

“Thor.” Her voice is lost on a breathy moan when I swipe my tongue over her pussy. I thrust inside her and her thighs clench around my face. Damn, she’s so fucking hot. With every stroke of my tongue, her grip on my hair tightens until she’s pulling me closer, demanding more. I eat her pussy like a man fucking starved and when it comes to her I am. Every needy roll of her hips, every breathy moan and whispered plea, it’s like salvation. Wanting her, tasting her, fucking her, it’s like some kind of atonement I didn’t even know I fucking wanted.

I lash my tongue against her clit and she falls apart, screaming and pleading, begging me for something, though I’m not sure even she knows what. When she’s finished I kiss her and she flinches. Her chest is heaving and her hands are now buried in her own hair. My dick is rock hard and begging to buried in her sweet pussy. I manoeuvre her down my body, trapping her between me and the wall. Her thighs clamp around my waist as she drapes her arms around my neck.

“You’re really good at that.” She murmurs against my mouth. Her lips brush over mine, light, teasing. I grip her thighs and lower her onto my cock.

“I’m good at a lot of things.” I push into her and she inhales sharply.

Her eyes flutter shut and her forehead touches mine. “A man of many talents.”

“Mmm-hmm.” I thrust upward and her head falls back, those perfect lips parting on a silent moan. I suck her lip into my mouth and bury myself inside her. “Fuck, you feel so good.” I press my forehead against hers and that’s where I stay, fucking her long and slow. She clenches around me on every thrust, staggered little breaths leaving her lips. She tries to grip my neck, but her fingers slip over wet skin. I wind my fingers through hers and pin her hand to the wall, holding her while I fuck her.

“What is it about you?” I groan against her mouth.

She shakes her head and strokes her fingers over my jaw, placing the softest kiss against my lips. Fuck, her pussy is so goddamn tight. I thrust into her harder and her lips part on a silent moan. I lick a stream of water off her throat, tracing my tongue over her skin. Every touch, every breath, it’s as though I don’t even know where I end and she begins. I didn’t even know it was possible to feel so close to another person.

When I come, I cling to her like she’s my fucking reason…for everything. And maybe she is, or at least she’s becoming it.

I lay sprawled on Poppy’s bed, listening to her open and shut drawers as she finds clothes. She goes to pull a tank top on and I reach out, stretching across the bed and hooking my hand into the back of her underwear.

“Thor.” She whines. I pull her towards me and force her to straddle me. She cocks a brow at me, a small smile on her lips.

“You should sack your dad off. We’ll do breakfast.”

The smile slowly slips from her face and she focuses her gaze on my chest. Her finger trace circles over my left pec absentmindedly. “What are we doing, Thor?”

I frown. “What do you mean?”

She rolls her eyes to the ceiling and keeps her gaze fixed there as she blows out a long breath. “You confuse me. Sometimes you fuck me, and it feels like it’s just raw lust and two people just getting each other off. And that’s fine, but then there are other times—like just now when this feels…” She brings her gaze back to mine. “This feels like it means something.” She pauses and drags a hand through her hair on a sigh. “But then the second I start to think that you disappear and I don’t hear from you for a week.”

I push up until bringing us face to face. “I’m sorry.”

She shakes her head and once again tears her eyes away from me. “Don’t be.”

I grip her chin and force her to look at me. “I’m not…good with this.” She waits. “I do sex, Poppy. That’s it. That’s all I’m good for.”

She shakes her head. “You’re wrong.”

“I’ve never wanted more, but with you, it’s different. I’m just trying to figure this all out.”

She nods once. “Okay.”

I smile. “Okay?”

“I don’t expect the world, Thor. I just need to know that I’m not just an easy fuck to you.”

I cup her jaw. “Never. You’re mine.”

Her lips quirk. “Yeah, I think I got that.” I don’t know what I’m doing, I just know that she means something to me, even if I don’t know what that something is.

It’s been two weeks. Two weeks of tearing myself up. Two weeks of being around Poppy. Two weeks where I haven’t been an escort. Two weeks where I was supposed to figure this shit out, but I haven’t. Two weeks where I should have told her what I do, but I haven’t. I guess I just can’t bring myself to say it. That morning after the guy in the apartment, cards were laid on the table. She asked me what it was and I could have told her she was just a fuck, but I didn’t. Since then all I’ve been able to think about is this, the figurative axe hanging over our heads. It’s come down to the fact that I need to make a choice between being an escort or being with her. And even then, I still might lose her.

I walk into the kitchen and find Xavier sitting there with his paper, the same as every morning. I make a cup of coffee and take a seat across from him. I blow out a long breath, trying to man the fuck up and just say it. “I’m giving up.”

He slowly lifts his eyes to mine, pausing there for a second. “What?”

“I’m stepping out of the agency.”

His eyes narrow. “Seriously? For her?”

I shake my head. “No. Not for her. I just..I don’t need to do this. The agency is going great. Honestly, even if Poppy fucked me off tomorrow, I don’t see this the same way I did.” I’ve lost the love for it, and the second that happens is the moment you go from being an upmarket escort to a whore, selling their body for cash.