Tearing Down Walls (Love Under Construction Series Book 2) (52 page)

Before anyone else could answer, little Anthony called out, “You look like a princess, ma’am!” And that was the end of the questions; everyone howled with laughter, and Laura couldn’t help but smile. Tony had never seen Vic look so proud. Laura was radiant, and Vic felt lucky to be there with her.

“I’m so glad to see you, sister!” Nikki hugged her, then whispered to her, “You look
fabulous!
” When she pulled back, Laura was grinning from ear to ear. “Let’s eat, folks. Food’s ready!” Nikki announced, and Brittany ran into the kitchen to fix the kids plates and get them seated so she and Clayton could enjoy their meal.

Laura noticed Vic talking to Raffaella, Tony’s mother. Laura had met her on New Year’s Day, and she was kind of afraid of the little Italian woman. Raffaella could be intimidating, and Laura couldn’t tell if the aunt who’d become Vic’s surrogate mother liked her. As she watched them, it almost looked like Raffaella handed him something. When Vic joined her in the kitchen, she whispered, “What were you and Raffaella talking about?”

“Tell you on the way home. I can’t really talk now,” he told her, and she nodded.
Must’ve been serious
, Laura thought.

After lunch, Vic asked Tony, “Can we go somewhere and talk? It’s kind of important.”

“Sure. Let’s go down to the barn.” After they’d told Nikki and Laura where they were going, they set out, careful that the little ones didn’t follow them.

“I just want you to know that Laura came to a decision of sorts.” Vic’s words didn’t give Tony a hint, and his face was unreadable.

“Yeah?”

Vic took a deep breath, sighed it out, and gave Tony a weak smile. “We’re moving forward with whatever this is.”

Tony looked at Vic out of the corner of his eye. “And you? You said Laura. What about you? Is this your decision too?”

Vic nodded. “My decision was already made. I’m in love with her, have been for some time. We’ve just got to find a way to get past, well, you know . . .”

“Yeah, I know.” Tony decided it was time to confront his cousin. “Does Nikki know about this?”

“Of course.” Vic’s heart started hammering; that wasn’t a road he wanted to go down. “Why? Why would you ask that?”

Tony stared straight into the bigger man’s eyes. “I wish the two of you would quit acting like I’m clueless. What’s worse, everybody else sees it too.” Tony looked away. “I haven’t been nearly as afraid of losing her to you as I have been that the two of you would do something incredibly stupid and everything would fall apart.” There – it had been said. The cloud he’d been under seemed to dissipate when the words were out.

Vic didn’t say a word. He walked across the barn corridor and sat down on a bale of straw, and Tony joined him there. After what seemed like an eternity, Vic screwed up the courage to speak. “I couldn’t help how I felt. But I would never have acted on it, you have to know that.” He looked up at Tony. “You have to know that, right?”

“There were times I wasn’t so sure; I wasn’t so sure about
both
of you.” In that moment it was a toss-up as to which of the men was most hurt. “I love you both and I hoped you wouldn’t hurt me . . .”

“That would’ve never happened.” Vic’s voice was strong and clear. “I won’t lie; I thought about it a lot. I don’t know if she did or not, but I did. But I would never,
never,
hurt you like that; Nikki wouldn’t either. It’s bad enough that I hurt for her every day, but it
really
hurts me to know that you thought I might do that.” When he’d finished, he just sat and stared at his hands.

Tony’s voice was soft and low. “The only time I’ve been as scared as I was the day Nikki was shot was when they told me what happened in that warehouse. I was terrified of losing you. You and my wife are the two best things in my life. The idea that the two of you might, well, you know, it just tore me apart, ate at me. You just can’t know . . .”

“I
do
know. Every time I saw her, I died a little. Until Laura came along. The night the two of you came to the club that first time?” Vic choked back a shuddering sob. “My heart got broken that night. After everything else, well, I just wasn’t sure what would happen to me. But that day, in the street, when I knelt over that beautiful woman in there and knew I might never hear her voice again, everything made sense. And that was it for me. She tore me up and tore me down over and over, but I just knew there was something between us. And I’m thankful every day that I kept at it, kept at her. I didn’t know I could love a woman this much; I never have before. I figured out that it wasn’t Nikki I wanted; it was someone like Nikki. Laura is just like her and nothing like her all rolled into one.” Vic sniffed. “I love that about her.”

Tony put a hand on top of Vic’s. “I just want you to be happy. Are you?”

Vic chuckled. “I’m getting there!”

“Good enough!” When Vic looked at his older cousin, Tony was smiling at him – a genuine smile. “And I want Laura to be happy too.”

“We’re working on it, brother. We’re working on it.”

“Can I talk to you? Privately? I need to ask you something.” Laura hoped she didn’t look as anxious as she felt.

“What’s this about?” Nikki was curious about the serious look on Laura’s face.

“It’s about something, uh, about sex.”

Before Laura could blink, Nikki, Brittany, Molly, and Kathy pulled her into the bedroom she and Vic had used when Vic got out of the hospital, the one off the kitchen, and closed the door behind them. “Okay, what do you want to know?” Brittany asked her, an evil grin on her face.

Laura turned dark red. “I need to know, uh, I don’t know how to, um . . .” She stammered and couldn’t make herself say the words.

“Honey, whatever it is, we’ll try to help you,” Nikki said. “Just spit it out.”

“Um, I don’t know how to . . .” Laura stopped. She didn’t know how to say it. “You know, like, with my mouth . . .”

Nikki and Brittany looked at each other, then Kathy blurted out, “You mean give a blow job?”

Laura turned blood red. “Yeah. That.”

“You’ve never done it?” Nikki asked.

“No. I don’t know how. What do I do?”

At first they thought she was kidding, but then they realized she was serious. “Oh, honey, it’s easy as pie. Let’s see, first, make sure you watch your teeth,” Nikki told her.

“Yeah, no teeth. That’s really important,” Brittany said. “Use your lips to kind of sheath them.”

“Okay,” Laura said. “Anything else?”

“Yeah. Lots of tongue action. They love that,” Molly said. “Especially trailing up and down the shaft and around and around the head with your tongue. Love, love, love that.”

Laura nodded.

“Start out slow, then pick up speed. And when it sounds like he’s about to come, slow down again. Do that over and over. Builds things up before they blow,” Brittany said. “But if he’s going to come too fast, you can squeeze just below the head, front to back, for a little bit and it’ll slow things down.”

“And if you fondle his balls, do it very gently. They like that, but not too hard,” Kathy told her.

“The first time you do it, if you don’t want to swallow, it’ll be okay. But remember, after a while, it’s disrespectful to keep that up,” Nikki said.

“So what’s that like?” Laura asked. “Because I’ve heard all kinds of things . . .”

“Very salty. Kind of bitter. And really, really hot. After a while, you’ll look forward to it. Think about it: It’s his essence, the most intimate thing he can give you. I always feel kind of honored,” Nikki said with a measure of reverence. Brittany nodded.

Now Laura was feeling overwhelmed. “Wow. I don’t know if I can do this. Sounds complicated.”

“Not at all. Just think of it as an art form. And there’s something else to work toward. Eventually he’ll want to fuck your throat. So you need to practice – a lot,” Molly told her.

“How do I do that?”

“You have to practice opening your throat and letting him go past your gag point. You can practice with a cucumber or a carrot, or we can go to the adult store and buy a dildo. Have you ever been to the adult store?” Nikki asked. Laura shook her head. “We’ll have to go sometime soon. They have a spray for your throat that will help, and . . . oh, I’ll help you,” Nikki told her. “It’ll be fine. Just go with your instincts.” Brittany smiled and nodded.

“Maybe this was a bad idea,” Laura said, her voice trailing off.

“No, honey, if you do this for him, he’ll love you forever. Not kidding,” Brittany said.

Huh,
Laura thought.
Maybe I’ll give it a shot after all.

“Baby, we need to talk,” Tony told Nikki as soon as everyone was out the door.

“Yeah?”

Tony sat down on a sofa in the great room and pulled her onto his lap. “Vic and I had a talk today out in the barn.”

“Oh?” She started to feel a little panicky.

“I just want you to know . . . that you and Vic . . . well, I know this has been hard for both of you.” Tony hesitated. He wasn’t having any luck figuring out how to express himself. “I’m fully aware of how the two of you feel, felt, about each other, and I’ve been pretty damn angry about it.”

Nikki looked horrified. “Oh, baby, don’t think for a minute that . . .”

Tony stopped her with a peck on her lips, then started again. “I know. And I know it’s been painful for both of you. And I was mostly to blame, throwing you together like that last fall, but I was desperate. I hope you’re okay with the relationship he’s building with Laura.”

Nikki’s eyebrows shot into her hairline. “Oh, honey, I’m more than okay with it. I’m thrilled. I just want him to be happy, that’s all. And I think he’s finally on his way.”

“I hope so. He deserves to be happy with someone the way I’m happy with you. I just hope I’m enough for you, that my love is . . .”

Nikki stopped him with an open-mouthed, tongue-filled kiss that went on for a full two minutes before she pulled back. “Baby, you’re more than enough for me. I love Vic, but I could never love anybody else more than I love you.” She kissed him again, and he could feel it. That bond between them, that connection, was stronger than ever, and every doubt or fear he’d had was obliterated. “Let’s go upstairs and I’ll show you that your love for me is more than enough.”

“Sounds good to me. I think I want to take this on into the evening, if you’re up to it.”

“Oh, yeah, I’m up to it. Totally. Can you keep up with me?” Nikki smirked.

“I think I’ve done a pretty good job so far,” Tony laughed.

“Yes, you have! I’m looking forward to seeing you keep up with me this time!” she laughed and ran up the stairs, then turned and grinned. “And by the way, guess what Laura asked all of us girls tonight?” Tony shrugged. “How to give head.”

“No shit!” Tony laughed. “And what did you tell her? I hope you shared your incredible, considerable expertise!”

“You know it! Your cousin is about to be a very happy man!”

“Not as happy as I am.” He stopped on the bottom stair and looked at the woman in front of him. “He could never be as happy as I am with you.”

“Sweetie, I want you to know how proud I was of you today. You looked beautiful, and you seemed to enjoy yourself,” Vic told Laura on the way home.