Page 36 of Jordan

After I finished cleaning my body, face, and hair, I shut off the water and grabbed a towel from the wall where it hung. I only had it loosely covering my body when I emerged from the bathroom amid a cloud of steam. What I didn’t expect was Vail sitting on my bed. I didn’t even allow Malik to sit on anything in here, and I loved him. But as I looked at Vail, at the pain in his eyes, I couldn’t yell. I couldn’t make him leave.

“Vail?”

He stood and walked toward me. A pair of gray sweatpants hung low on his hips and a long-sleeved white thermal shirt hugged his chest and arms. God, he looked so fucking warm. A warmth I wanted to bury myself in, yet I held back. No good would come from it.

His dark brown hair was longer on top and swept to the side, partially falling over one of his beautiful eyes. I resisted the urge to brush it off his face. “I’m sorry.”

“What could you need to apologize for?”

“When I saw the blood on you, it brought me back to when it was me on the receiving end of my ex’s violence. When the blood was on my skin because of the pain he’d inflicted. I knew coming here the first time who you were and what you did. I’m not naïve. Seeing it is different. While I don’t want to witness what you do, the reminder was there when you returned. The bit of blood on you...”

“I won’t apologize for who I am, but I will for you seeing it.” To anyone else, it was a little blood. To Vail, it was a reminder of the abuse he’d endured. “I don’t want to be the cause of your pain.”

“Jordan,” he whispered as his fingers danced across my cheek where the blood no longer remained. “I don’t know what I’m doing. I shouldn’t get closer to you, but I can’t move away.”

I fought not to lean into his touch. It was a dangerous road we traveled. “The only two people I’ve ever loved died at my hand.”

“You did what you had to, so JJ was safe.”

I nodded. Apologizing for what I’d done wouldn’t happen. The guilt I’d lived with stayed inside me. Even though my son knew the truth, the weight on me hadn’t lifted. It never would. I took away his mother, just like I took away Romeo’s father. If I asked Romeo, he’d say Malik was never a dad to him in the true sense. Malik was nothing more than a bank to Romeo, paying for him and his mother to live. He didn’t see Romeo or care for him in any other way. That didn’t erase what I felt. It was why I’d do anything in my power, so Romeo was taken care of and wanted for nothing. Vail didn’t know that though. He didn’t know my connection to Romeo.

“Why can’t I move away?” Vail asked with a sniffle, reminding me he was still recovering from the flu. “I shouldn’t seek you out.”

“No, you shouldn’t. There’s nothing good about me.”

“I’ve already told you there is. You don’t see it.” I never would. When I looked in the mirror, I didn’t find a man who was to be loved. I found someone to be hated, and I was fine with that. Or I was until Vail and Hartley entered my life. Now, I didn’t know what the fuck to think.

Vail pressed closer, so his chest touched mine. Only a couple of inches separated us in height. Not enough for me to have to look up at him.

The water still clinging to my skin seeped into his shirt. “Can I kiss you?” he asked.

“You shouldn’t want to.” No wasn’t a word I could speak. With the way my breath came faster, and my heart picked up speed, it felt like I was about to leap from a plane. Would my parachute open or would I plummet to my death?

“Yet I do.” He dipped his head but didn’t kiss me. Hot, sweet breath coasted over my mouth. “You didn’t answer me.”

“I can’t deny you.” Flu or not, right or wrong, I couldn’t turn away.

His lips pressed to mine as his hands settled on my hips. Every part of my body lit with a fire that built the longer we were close. Vail moaned against my mouth, causing me to open so I could taste the sound on his lips. God, he was so fucking sweet. Whatever he baked downstairs was decadent. To taste it on his lips, the sweet berries, the hint of mint, and the slight bitterness of chocolate, I wanted to swallow him whole.

I growled into the kiss and held him tight so he couldn’t back away. Vail’s blunt nails dug into the flesh on my hips as he tilted his head to get better access to my mouth. I grew hard and began rubbing myself on him, the towel and his clothes a barrier I wished were gone. It had been too long since I was with someone like this. Someone I could kiss, and taste and fucking overpower. Who I wanted to be near for longer than a quick fuck.

Vail was big, muscular, no doubt strong, but he didn’t want to control me. He readily gave in and sank against me, content to let me lead. It fed my desire to be everything he wanted.

He dropped his head back to suck in breaths of air while I went to work on his neck, kissing and licking over his skin, needing to taste every inch of him. He pushed his hips forward, his cock hard beside mine. “Jordan,” he panted. “Please.”

“Sweet words will get you everywhere.”

I was ready to drop to my knees and wring an orgasm out of him. Some men thought doing so would give up control to the man fucking their mouth. Not once had I gotten on my knees for anyone. With Vail, he would let me continue to own him down there. It wouldn’t matter how I was positioned. He’d be mine for the taking. On my knees, on my back, or against the wall, I would be in control where Vail was concerned. And I wouldn’t dare hurt a single fucking hair on him. He trusted me.

A sound drew my attention away from where my lips pressed to the base of Vail’s throat. Hartley’s eyes were wide as he stood frozen in the doorway. We held each other’s gazes for a moment before he took off down the hall. The sound of his bedroom door shutting was like ice pouring over me.

“Shit,” I bit out and released Vail.

He palmed his cock and dropped his chin to his chest. “I knew you wanted him.”

Before I could go to Hartley, I had to make sure Vail understood what I had trouble expressing. “Do you think what just happened between us meant nothing to me?” I asked. “Vail, look at me.”

His head slowly lifted. “I was stupid.”

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