Welcoming the Bad Boy: A Hero's Welcome Novel (18 page)

Griffin smoothed the hair along her face. “I wanted to make sure you were okay. Are you?”

She smiled softly, catching his hand and holding it in her own. “I am now that you’re here.”

The hole-in-the-wall sushi bar was a place that Griffin had discovered a few months back. It was small and dimly lit, a place you could go and not be noticed. When Heroes seemed too loud and he didn’t want to see anyone, this was where Griffin came. The food was good and it was a place where you could escape the usual crowd and just relax. Perfect for tonight because he wanted Val all to himself.

“I love it,” Val said, seated beside him at a small table in the back corner. “How did I not know about this place?”

Griffin pointed a finger at her. “You have to keep this a secret. This restaurant will lose its appeal if people discover it.”

Val sipped from her beer. “Hmm. But if no one knows about it, it’ll eventually go out of business. Catch-22.”

He grimaced. “You make a good point.”

“Uh-huh. I am your voice of reason,” she said, laughing softly. “Which is crazy because I’m no one’s voice of reason. Ever.”

“Good reason for me to keep you around.”

Her smile faded just a little.

“I was only joking. I have other reasons to keep you around, too.” He winked at her, loving how she shifted nervously. He really wished he knew what she was thinking sometimes. Her eyes seldom gave anything away.

“What other reasons?” She tilted her head, inviting him to continue.

The lighting of the room settled around her, making her look like a dream in front of him. “The list seems to grow every time I see you, so…” He trailed off.

“Smooth talker,” she accused, but she was leaning forward on the table, drawing closer to him, giving him a peek at what was under her low-hanging blouse. Nothing he hadn’t seen before but,
damn,
seeing her body never got old. “And you’re looking down my shirt.” She laughed as she sat back in her chair and shook her head. “You’re such a guy.”

“Did you think I was something different?” he asked, bringing his beer to his mouth and taking a long pull.

“Nope. I knew what I was getting into when I found you this summer.”

The waitress laid a plate of sushi down in front of them. “Enjoy,” she said. Then she turned and left them to their quiet corner. Alone again.

“Well, I had no idea what I was getting into,” he said, picking up a piece of sushi with his chopsticks. “You’re sweeter than I thought. And you’re pretty badass, too. You’re like one of those teaser games that takes forever to figure out.”

She popped a piece of sushi into her own mouth and chewed. “I’m really very simple,” she said when she’d finally swallowed.

“Tell me then. What’s the secret of Val Hunt?” He suddenly wanted to know all of her secrets, everything that made her who she was.

She shook her head. “I don’t have any secrets, really.”

He leaned forward. “You’re lying. We all have secrets. And I already know one big one about you.” He picked up another piece of sushi, wondering at the way she suddenly squirmed in the seat across from him.

“Big secret?” Val’s throat was suddenly cotton. She reached for her beer and took a huge gulp. Griffin couldn’t possibly know she wrote those Sophie Evans books he’d been reading lately. No one in her life knew. Not yet. She was warming up to the idea of telling a few trusted people, but right now her secret was still safe.
Wasn’t it?

“Uh-huh.” Griffin pointed at her, his muscles bulging and rippling as he moved. “Your cover is blown.” He pretended to make an explosion with his hands.

Her heart stalled and she forgot to breathe. “Tell me what you think you know.”

“Oh, I know what I know.” He grinned. “And what I know is that you can’t wait to get me back to your place,” he said, lowering his voice.

Her mouth fell open and out came a whoosh of air that she’d sucked in a moment earlier. “What makes you think that?”

“I’m as good at reading people’s behavior as I am dogs’.”

This made her laugh. “Now you’re comparing me to a dog?”

He waggled his brow. “You do have some pretty nice tricks.”

“You’re right. I can’t wait to get you back to my place. My secret is out.”

He picked up a piece of sushi and held it out to her. “Eat up then, my dear. We have somewhere to be, and I have things to do.
To you.
”

A fire lit underneath her. She felt like raising her hand and signaling the waitress—
check please!

“All right,” he said a moment later. “Since we’ve agreed that you want me.”

Val shook her head, laughing softly under her breath. “You’re so bad.”

“I want to hear one of your fantasies.” He lowered his voice and leaned in closer. “I’ve read some of those larger-than-life sex scenes in those romance novels you like. Tell me, what fantasy have you been dying to try?”

Val hummed on the idea. The truth was that being with
him
was a fantasy. She’d always loved a guy on a motorcycle. Tattooed, muscled arms. Dark hair, dark eyes. He was her fantasy guy in the looks category. And in the personality area, too. He was sweet, sensitive, all those things she longed for in a man, but doubted were realistic to expect in full.

“Come on. Everyone has fantasies. Tell me one.” His gaze was steady on hers; it’d been gradually heating all night as they’d bantered and flirted across the sushi on their table.

She lifted a shoulder as she thought. “I guess sex outdoors,” she threw out, saying the first thing that came to mind. “Kind of generic, I know.” But all of her books had an outdoor sex scene. The bedroom got old and, in fiction, you could do whatever you wanted, anywhere you wanted.

“Interesting. Where outdoors?” he asked.

“You are one for details, aren’t you?” Her skin was burning now. She moved her chopsticks around her plate, needling the leftover pieces. “I don’t know. On the back of a motorcycle,” she teased.

He tapped a finger to his chin as he considered this. “I’m not sure that’s possible.”

“Which is why they call it a fantasy.” She laughed, pushing her plate aside and crossing her arms in front of her. “Your turn. I told you mine. Now you tell me one of your fantasies.”

“You,” he said, mischief sparking in those hot chocolate eyes of his.

“Good answer. But I’m serious. I told you something, now you have to reciprocate.”

“I am all about reciprocation.” He winked at her. Then he exhaled as he thought. “I’m not into the bondage stuff. I guess my fantasy is taking my time, putting a woman first, and doing whatever she likes, again and again.”

Val swallowed. She liked the again and again part. She was practically melting in front of him. “You’re playing with me.”

“It’s true…I also like a woman who talks dirty to me,” he added. “The dirtier the better.”

Now she was a puddle. She had no bones. “Dirty talk?” she asked.

The waitress walked up as Val said it. She hesitated, looking between them, and then laid the check down.

Griffin immediately handed her cash. “Keep the change,” he told the waitress, pushing his chair back and standing. “We’re in a hurry.”

He met Val’s gaze, and
yeah,
she was suddenly in a hurry, too. She tried to stand but her legs felt numb; all of her blood had flowed to other places. She allowed Griffin to place his hand on the small of her back and usher her out to his Explorer. Instead of opening the front passenger door for her, however, he opened his back door.

“What are you doing?” she asked impatiently. They needed to get back to her place. As soon as possible.

“I’m inviting you to participate in another one of my fantasies.” He stepped in closer, wrapping his arms around her waist, pressing his body against hers, and making her want him as much as he obviously wanted her. The cool summer night’s air encircled them as they held each other.

“You want me to ride in the backseat?” she asked, not quite following. She was too consumed with thoughts of melting underneath him right now.

“I want you to ride in the backseat,” he agreed, nodding slowly, grinning devilishly.

“Oh.
Ohhh.
” She glanced between him and the open door to the leather backseat. “Your fantasy is having sex in the backseat?” she asked.

“I like parking lots,” he said, kissing her neck, following it up to her ear and whispering things to her that made her legs go weak. Dirty-talking her.

This was inspiration. A fling to satisfy all of her wildest dreams, she reminded herself. She glanced around the parking lot, which only held a few cars several parking spaces away. Then she turned and climbed into the backseat, glad that they’d picked a hole-in-the-wall restaurant to eat at and that there were few customers that might walk by and see them. A customer
could
walk by, though, and that was part of the appeal.

“I like your fantasy,” she whispered as he got in beside her and closed the door to the Explorer. The locks clicked loudly behind him. Then the only sound was that of their shallow breaths.

Griffin had been turned on since the moment Val opened her front door for him tonight. Whether it was intentional or not, Val Hunt did those little things that drove him crazy. Like chewing on her bottom lip. Or crossing her legs from the left to the right and back again.
Crazy.
He also liked how she’d leaned forward in that blouse that dipped too low tonight, and how her pink lace bra strap had been playing peekaboo with him for the last hour. He wanted to see more. A lot more.

He turned to her in the backseat of his Explorer, letting his hands ride up underneath her shirt, pushing her bra up over her breasts so that he could have full access.

“What if someone walks by?” she breathed, as he trailed kisses up from her navel, laying her back.

“People don’t look inside other people’s cars, Val. It’s rude. Also it’s dark outside.” He talked as he kissed, loving how she squirmed restlessly in his hold. “I also have tinted windows.” He lifted his head to look at her. “But talking about this takes the fun out of the fantasy.” He pulled himself on top of her and pressed his hips down in the soft spot between her legs, watching as her eyes closed. It was reminiscent of the way she’d responded to that first piece of sushi at dinner.
So good.
“Did you ever make out in the backseat of a car when you were in high school?” he asked, wanting to hear her voice as he touched her.

Her eyes opened and a soft smile lit her face as she shook her head. “Guys like you stayed far away from girls like me.”

“Like me?” His face was hovering over hers. “What kind of guy am I exactly?”

“You have hard edges. There’s danger in your eyes. Guys like you went for the girls whose skirts were too short. My father made sure my skirts always fell below my knees.”

“Not tonight.”

She shook her head. “Not tonight. So no, I never made out in the backseat of a car. It’s kind of cramped back here.” She looked at her leg, hanging down off the edge of the seat.

“That’s because we’re not doing this right. I’m supposed to be sitting. And you’re supposed to be straddling me.” A grin spread on his face.

“Oh…Your windows are tinted, you say?” she asked, looking up at the window above her.

“Yep. We can see them, but they can’t see anything but a shadow, if that. Passersby can still hear, though, so best to keep those squeals between us.”

Her lips parted. “I don’t squeal.”

He sat up and pulled her onto his lap, straddling her legs around him. He pressed his cock against her, eager to feel himself inside her. “You do. But I like those sounds you make when you’re turned on. They turn me on.” Before she could refute, he pulled her mouth to his, kissing her until she made a little moan that had him loosening the button of his jeans. Good thing he’d packed a condom in his pocket, just in case.

She shifted, watching as he unzipped and slid the rubber on. “This is more than making out, I’d say.”

“And I’d agree.” He cupped her ass and pulled her back to him. “Same rules apply as back then. Yes means yes and no means no. Please say yes to me, Val,” he growled, nipping at her neck.

She shuddered as one of his hands moved up to cup her breast under her shirt. Then he lifted her shirt and pulled her nipple between his teeth, pressing down gently, just enough to be rewarded with one of those squeals of hers. “Yes.”

That’s all he needed to hear. He grabbed ahold of her body and moved her skirt out of his way. With one finger, he pulled back the thin fabric of her underwear, giving him access to thrust inside her.

High school had never felt like this. Nothing in his life had ever felt this good. “Talk dirty to me,” he said a moment later.

Her eyes cracked open. “I…I don’t know…”

“Tell me how it feels.” His fingers traced along her spine as he kissed her bare shoulder, rocking her rhythmically against him.

“So good. You feel so good,” she said, uncomfortable at first. He could hear it in the way she hesitated with her words.

He laughed as he continued to make love to her. “I think you can do better than that.” Lifting her up, he leveled his mouth with her breasts again. “How about this?” His tongue swirled over her sensitive skin as she moaned softly in response. “How does this feel?”

“You make me so…” She paused, sucking in a shallow breath.

He waited, wanting to hear more, needing to hear more as much as he needed to feel more of her skin on his. “Do I turn you on?” he asked.

“Mmm. Yes.” It wasn’t exactly dirty talk, but he’d let her slide.

“Backseats are for quickies,” he said then. “I’ll take my time when we get back to your house.”

“I can wait,” she said, starting to pull off him. “It could take me a while so…”

He pulled her flush against him again. “Have a little faith in me,” he said. Then he proceeded to deliver on his quickie, leaving her fully and completely satisfied by the time he was done.

“What about you?” she asked, laying her head against his chest as they held each other in the backseat.

“I can wait for part two, back at your place.”

She lifted her head. “No way.” She lowered to her knees in the floor of the car and pushed between his legs, taking his length in her mouth. Griffin tipped his head back and cursed under his breath.