Deeper (The Real Fling) (14 page)

“You brought that back to me.” He kissed her temple. “You did that.”

She shook her head. “How?”

“I opened up with you. I was balled up so tightly, so darkly, I was lost.”

“But…”

Hugging her closely, he snuggled against her cheek. “I was with my father when he… There was an accident. It was my fault.”

She tried to sit back, but he wouldn’t release her. Nuzzling into the crook of his neck, she kissed the edge of his face by his ear.

“We were skiing.” He sighed heavily. “He was training me. I am a downhill speed racer. Was. That’s why we moved here. For me.” He inhaled choppily. “He was my coach. Always my coach.” His voice was cracking with emotion. “Won Olympics. World Cups. Everything. We skied all year round. Northern hemisphere in winter, southern in summer, ever since I could walk.

“It was late spring in the French Alps, off-piste. It had snowed for weeks, unusually. We were heli-skiing. The conditions were quite tricky, treacherous even, just the way he liked it,
we
liked it. There was a whiteout. It happened so fast.

“We had been in whiteouts before, so we were not scared. Well, we were, but we liked it when the conditions were extreme. We liked the rush. The riskier, the better.” He gulped. “We were partway down and I was in the lead. I turned left. Papa followed me and
bam
. The earth fell away from us and we dropped into a gorge. Must have fallen thirty feet down. Papa hit his head on a boulder. The sound.” He sobbed. “It was deafening. And it echoed. I could do nothing. Blood all over. I thought it was his blood, but it was mine.” Val was rocking her in his arms.

“I dug him out with a blown shoulder, a broken femur, and a torn-up knee. Apparently, I had slammed into rocks on my way down but I landed on my father. The medic said I was lucky I was not paralyzed. Lucky. If Papa had lived, he would have been a quadriplegic. His spine was crushed. He would not have wanted to live like that. But still.”

Adriana smoothed his back.

“Thank God…” He laughed ruefully, “…the helicopter pilot saw us go down and got help immediately. They found us fast. We had beacons in our jackets, but Papa was gone. I could not move. Lots of operations. First in France to stabilize me, then my mom and sisters flew me to New York.” He sucked in a weak breath. “Months of rehab then I came out here a couple of months ago, to figure out if I could still ski. If I even wanted to.”

Again she tried to see his face, but he held her close. She buried her head in his chest, breathing him in.

“I have kept to myself. Most of the people around me dashed the minute I got hurt. Some sold stories to the tabloids. Salacious lies. Disgusting back stabbers. The others have kept their distance. I am not that guy the media says I am. I never was,” Val implored. “Some of the skiers on the circuit are, but that’s not me. I was not brought up that way.”

“Shh,” Adriana whispered and straightened her spine. “And you’re not…”

“Not what?”

“In this alone.” Holding his face in her hands, she swiped his tears away with her thumbs, then kissed him softly.

“Adriana.” He knelt in front of her on the rug and then leaned in to kiss her, searing his tongue to hers. He tasted salty and sweet, like a chocolate-covered pretzel. Their tears fused. Running his hands up and down her back, he hugged her into him. His tongue darted in her mouth, sending the sweetest pleasure shocks coiling through her body.

Val shoved the ottoman out of the way so they could lie down in front of the fire. He put a pillow under her head and laid her down, then settled in on his side, next to her. “And neither of us is leaving.”

“I have to go home.”

“We will figure the geography out. I know how crazy that is since we just met, but I have never felt anything like this before. I know you are my home. We are home when we are together, no matter where we are.” Teasing his fingers under her shirt, he cupped her breasts. His thumbs working her nipples into a frenzy while his tongue did the same with her mouth.

“This is real. You and me.” He rose up on his knees, then tucked his head under her shirt, kissing and licking his way up to her breasts. Squeezing them together, he took both nipples in his mouth. His tongue was possessed, flicking over them rapidly sucking and licking them. “Do you know that?”

“Yes.” Adriana arched her back and pressed into him more, pawing at him, but his pelvis was out of reach.

“Hmm?” He was teasing her.

Adriana unbuttoned his jeans, releasing him. His smooth flesh was burning. She stroked his thick-veined and stiff-as-steel cock from tip to base. The tip was damp with pre-cum. She rubbed her thumb all around it, imagining she was tasting him. His tongue went wild, filling her and kissing her madly. He slipped her top off, then traced kisses down the side of her waist and kept going. He grinned while watched her, then bit her leggings off with his teeth.

Adriana giggled. “Are you serious?”

“I am.” He wiggled out of his jeans. Then before she could even think, he attacked her pussy, sucking and licking so hard and with such intent Adriana lost her mind. He spread her legs wider and yanked her down by her hips to meet his mouth again.

She squirmed. He lunged his tongue into her, long, sensuous licks and light nibbles with just the right amount of teeth and pressure. As her fervor reached its peak, she stilled, waiting for that exquisite release.

He hummed into her. “I want you to drench me. All that sweet wetness. You taste so good. Please.” His lips and words sent her over the edge as her climax tore through her in searing waves. Each orgasm she had with him was more powerful than the last, and this one didn’t disappoint. Val wouldn’t stop suckling until the very last spasm went through her, then he slowly sat back on his heels.

“Val, you didn’t give me a chance.” Adriana’s voice was husky. “I wasn’t done with you. Come over here.” She crooked her finger at him.

“No,
printsessa,
you come over here.” He patted his legs.

He was as thick and erect as ever, and she was more than ready to take him in, but despite that Adriana pouted. “I’m not going to get my way with you, am I?”

He tilted his head back in laughter. “No, baby, we both are.”

Adriana climbed into his lap. “You like this position.” Her arms around his waist, her legs wrapped around him.

“Uh-oh. Am I getting predictable?” He feigned upset, but all she saw was the mischief in his eye. “Boring, perhaps?”

“Cocksure’s all.” Adriana raised her brow at him.

His laughter rumbled through her. “I like anything that will make you come harder than the last time.”

Adriana snaked her arm around his neck and up to his hair, the other stayed around his waist. She guided his mouth to hers and kissed him.

Clutching her ass, he brought her onto him. Adriana’s body purred in anticipation. She wriggled onto his searing dick, he was so solid, but she was incredibly slick and it only took a moment for her muscles to open for him. Rocking forward and back, she took him in so far her insides quivered with each buck.

Their mouths were still connected. Her breasts pressed against the brutal swell of muscle in his chest, with each plunge he drove into her. Her hardened nipples scraped against him, winding her up even further. Tugging at his hair, she brought his face closer to hers, taking possession of his tongue and every inch of his body.

He laid her down on her back and lifted her legs onto his shoulders. “How’s this?”

She chuckled. “New tricks?”

“Anything you want.”

“I can come just kissing you.”

“I can do better than that.” He pounded into her.

“Oh God. That’s…incredible.”

He cupped her breasts, rolling her nipples between his fingers. “Not alone?”

“Not alone.” She wiggled her hips as much as she could, urging him on. His fluid rhythmic pumps were driving her mad, her demand was insistent, urgent, acute. Adriana howled as he drove into her powerfully, throwing her over the precipice. Her climax exploded through her. “Oh my God.”

Val growled as her core clenched around him. “Oh, baby.” His entire body shook as he came within her. “Look at me.”

Adriana locked eyes with him, sharing the heady rush of pleasure between them. With each move, he massaged that bundle of nerves on her front wall so completely another wave of tremors went through her. “Yes.”

“Yes,” he echoed. Gently he released her legs and curved in next to her. Resting his head on her shoulder, he held her tightly around her waist.

“That was sick.” She wheezed.

Val’s heartbeat was banging against her ribcage. “Insane.”

After a few moments his stomach growled.

“I think you’re hungry.”

“Hmmm.” He shifted his weight. “That’s new too. I have eaten more in the past twenty-four hours than I have in months. I am not usually this thin.” He tried to grab around his middle and couldn’t pinch anything. “Another thing you brought back.”

She giggled. “Good thing, I was worried I was going to have to triple my workout routine.”

“Do not dare. You are gorgeous.” He cupped her ass and his stomach growled louder. “Are you hungry?”

“I could eat.” She ran the back of her hand on his face.

They got up. Val ran upstairs naked and came down in shorts, carrying a shirt. Delight flickered in his dark blue eyes when he saw that Adriana had on the shirt he wore to the club. “But I got you a fresh one.”

“I want the one that smells like you.” Wrapping her arms around his waist, she buried her nose in his chest and the scent of him.

She rested her chin on his chest and gazed up at him. His mouth covered hers possessively, branding her to him. She matched him breath for breath, adrift in their own world time stood still.

When they finally parted, he wrapped his arm around her and they went into the kitchen. Val warmed up a pizza and some poppers.

Adriana laughed. “Poppers?”

He kissed her. “I left the cleaning lady a note. Told her you liked cheese.”

“Thank you.”

Adriana filled their water and wine glasses and sat at the island. Val joined her with the microwaved poppers and a dish of sour cream.

“You’ve been here since January. Have you figured out what you want to do?”

“No,” he confessed. “I have to decide whether to stay on the team or leave.”

“If you left, what would you do?” She ate a popper. Wasn’t as good as the one at the restaurant, but she didn’t care.

“Do not know.” He looked lost. “He was my coach, my agent, my everything.” Val’s voice cracked. He drained his water and drank down another. “My sponsors are all over me. My marketability is the only thing that was important to them.” His lips were pressed into a tight seam. “When I was winning, I had nothing but best friends smothering me and now…they’re gone.”

Adriana touched his forearm. “I’m sorry.”

“I should have known better,” he said through clenched teeth.

“Some people when faced with tragedy are at a loss as to what to do or say, so they run. Others are like pilot fish…just there for the spoils and when that wanes, they find bigger fish.”

He leaned in and kissed her.

“What feels right to you? Racing or qu—leaving it behind?”

Val shrugged. “Nothing has felt right but you.”

Adriana took his hand. “We’ll figure it out. One turn at a time.”

‡

The sun’s stippled rays shone
through the shears, dancing on the duvet. Time had suddenly sped up. Saturday morning, her last full day. How was she going to leave him tomorrow? To go home to what? She buried her face in his chest, and Val stirred. They hadn’t slept a moment out of each other’s arms since they met. It was going to be excruciating. She blocked it out. Had to. Wasn’t time yet.

“Morning.” His voice was low and husky. “You okay?” Lifting her face, he studied her.

Her emotions were getting the better of her.

“What is going on?”

She hooded her eyes.

He rolled her onto her back and lay alongside of her. “What is it?” He smoothed her cheek, keeping it turned toward him.

“I’m leaving tomorrow,” she croaked.

“Stay with me.”

“I can’t. What about my family? My apartment? I’ve gotta get a job.”

He closed his eyes briefly. “We’ll figure it out. I promise. Right now, let’s hit the slopes. I have some very beautiful ass to kick.”

She raised her brows. “Wrong.” She got out of bed and began dressing. “You’re going down.”

He chuckled. “My favorite place to be.” He licked his lips.

Heat burned her cheeks. “Cut it out, or we won’t make it outside.”

He massaged some of the balm on her. Her shoulder was better, but she loved his attention. They were dressed and on the top of the mountain in record time.

“Which trail today?”

Adriana grinned. “I want to go back to where we met.” Being careful and safe were grossly overrated.

“You sure?”

She nodded.

“Okay but this time we stay in bounds.” His focus lingered hungrily on her mouth. “Scared?”

She crinkled her nose. “Nope.” But she was terrified.

Val arched a brow. He didn’t seem to believe her. Smart man.