Page 9 of Mine to Keep

Chapter Six

Wind and rainpounded against the wide windows of her bedroom. Normally the sound would comfort and lull her into sleep, but for some reason Veronica jolted awake. Her eyes flew open and she pushed herself up against the soft pillows with a gasp. She frowned toward the window, squinting in the darkness, but didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. Rain lashed and streaked across the glass while wind howled angrily beyond. She was safe from the elements though.

She shoved her fingers through the fine strands of her hair, shoving them away from her face and tugging at the knots. She sat up a little straighter and checked her clock. It was only 11:30pm. She’d been asleep for just over an hour. The container of ice cream sat next to her clock, the small amount that was left would be a melted mess by now. She grimaced in distaste. There was nothing she could do about it now. No way was she going to put it away while Robert was still hanging out in her living area, a mass of seething resentment and anger.

She shifted her hips to get more comfortable. The blanket slid down her front revealing a lace nightie lined with a satin bra that cupped and lifted her breasts. She was pretty sure it was an absurd indulgence to wear pretty nighties and underwear when she practiced abstinence to the extreme. She actually started doing it about eight years earlier as a self-esteem exercise. Olivia, her counsellor had suggested she buy something that would make herself feel attractive. So, she’d bought a pink knee-length silk nightgown. It had been so gorgeous and felt so good, that it had been only the first of many indulgences over the years.

She heard a sharp intake of breath as the dim light coming from the bedroom window revealed her curves and she realized what had woken her. Her eyes flew toward the end of her bed. Robert stood, bare-chested, wearing only the jeans he’d been wearing earlier. Suddenly she felt the tension in the room, like a living, breathing monster. It reached out to her, enveloped her, wrapped it’s claws around her and held her captive.

She barely breathed as he stalked toward her, each quiet step measured, his eyes burning with lust and anger. His gaze dropped down her body, caressing her bare shoulders and the swell of her exposed cleavage. She jerked her hands down to clutch the blanket and yank it up her chest, but his voice whipped out of the darkness, stopping her.

“Don’t move,” he snarled, moving swiftly to lean on the bed. He wrapped his fingers around her wrist, holding her still. She tried to speak, but he cut her off. “You thought you could scare me off? You thought that pathetic story would make me turn tail and run?”

Her eyes widened at the fire in his voice. The waves of heat rolling off him were both terrifying and sexy at the same time. He was barely able to contain whatever was going on inside him and it was all directed at her. Her pussy clenched in response, surprising her. Was she enjoying this show of barbaric behaviour? He shook her wrist, reminding her that he expected a response.

“I-I… yes. I guess that’s what I thought,” she whispered, dropping her eyes from his searing intensity. She could feel him towering over her, threateningly, his size and strength a reminder of his barely restrained passion.

He grabbed her arms, his hold firm but gentle, and hauled her out of the blankets until she was kneeling in front of him. She clutched his arms, worried about where this was going. Anger and lust crashed together within him, sweeping her up in the intense storm of his emotions. He tilted her chin until she was forced to look up at him, her dark eyes filled with uncertainty.

“You made a mistake, sweetheart,” he growled down at her.

She licked her lips. “I don’t understand,” she said, her voice pleading.

“I wanted you from the moment I saw you. Wanted you even more once I got to know you. I was willing to wait you out. For weeks or even months if that’s how long it took. I’m old enough that I know how to wait for the good things in life. But you fucked up tonight, you tried to push me away, to disgust me.”

Her eyes flared wide. “I d-don’t?” she whispered, “Disgust you, I mean.”

His eyes flashed fire down at her. “Far from it, gorgeous. You made me want you so much I can’t wait any longer. You showed me more resilience and strength than I see in most people. You’re so small and beautiful. You probably should’ve died countless times out there on the streets. Either at the hands of a pimp, or with a needle in your arm. But you didn’t. You’ve been fucked over by life and you keep getting up and fighting back. I can’t resist that. Even if it pisses me off that you tried to push me away. And that you’ve been going down to fucking Victory Square by yourself.”

He said the last part through gritted teeth. She didn’t care. It was the words before that she focused on. He knew all about her. Knew that she’d had sex with men for money. Knew that she’d used drugs. The worst kind of drug. Heroin. He was right, so many times she should have died. She would have died, if Jay hadn’t found her overdosing on her doorstep one night when Allison was five and tucked away in bed. He carried her to the hospital and made her promise to clean up. And she did clean up, with the help of Jay, Serena and counselling. Now this man, Robert Senator, was saying that he knew all about her and it didn’t matter to him. That he still wanted her.

With trembling fingers, she touched his chest, running her fingers over his hair roughened muscles. She had to make sure the man was real. She couldn’t quite believe a man as attractive, wealthy and kind existed all in one body. She wasn’t naïve. He’d done bad things. She could see it in the way he moved, see it in the set to his mouth and eyes. She knew there was blackness in him. A dark heart that maybe matched hers… just a little.

She could feel his heart beating beneath the palm of her hand as she explored the exquisite musculature that had been teasing her for days, calling to the primitive side of her. That part of herself she thought had gone dormant forever. She could feel his need, intense and barely leashed, but he held himself rigidly in check, allowing her delicate exploration. Giving her time to feel him, to know him. But as each second ticked by, she felt as though her time was running out in tandem with the rising tension in his body. It reached out and enveloped her like a tidal wave of carnal heat.

He groaned as her fingers passed over his nipple, pebbling it, while exploring the massive slab of a pectoral muscle unlike anything she’d ever felt before. Her mouth watered to taste him, but she wasn’t quite brave enough. He was just so big and male. He knew exactly what he wanted in life and he just reached out and took it. And she, well she was timid and shy, sitting in her little apartment, watching the world go by. She rarely left except to go for a run or an NA meeting. She never socialized, except with Jay and Allison. She didn’t understand what this gorgeous, fascinating man saw in her, but for some reason he seemed to want her. Who was she to question her good fortune? She was going to take what he was offering and go for the ride while it lasted.

She let her fingers drift down toward his abdomen. A place she’d been dying to explore since she’d first seen him without a shirt. Such a beautiful man. The hair on his body was soft to touch, still masculine, but not overly abundant. She liked it. She remembered it from the last time they shared this bed, yesterday, (or was it still today?); it was dark with a little grey mixed in. Which was about right for his age, he’d told her he was forty-five.

She felt each ridge of his muscled abdomen. She knew it wasn’t from vanity that he spent time honing his body into such hard perfection, but from a lifetime of hard labour and a job that could mean his life, and possibly the lives of others, if he wasn’t in peak physical condition. Still… this body… just did things to her. It flooded her with anticipation. Her breath sped up as she explored. She caught her lip between her teeth so he wouldn’t hear the sharp exhalation, but his eyes traced the movement.

Though his skin was soft and warm, the steel beneath his flesh was undeniable. It should frighten her, but it didn’t. It made her feel both safe and needy. Like she wanted to climb on top of him and demand he make love to her right this instant. She felt his muscles jump under the touch of her fingertips as they glided across his skin. She squirmed a little closer so she could press her the palms of her hands firmly against him.

He groaned deeply going rigid beneath her touch. His breathing was jagged now, filling the air around them. He sounded like he was running a marathon up the side of a mountain, yet their run that same morning hadn’t even winded him. Still he didn’t move. She felt the storm brewing around them, so much more intense than the one raging just outside her bedroom window. She stared up into his face, awed by the power he was placing in her hands.

“Robert,” she whispered, running her hands down his biceps and then reaching around to touch his back, soft skin over steely muscles there as well.

“Tell me you’re almost done, sweetheart,” he said on a groan, “because I’m falling apart here. Not good for my reputation.”

She laughed softly. “I love touching you. You’re so soft.”

“Fuck, baby!” he growled. “You can’t say shit like that, my men would laugh their asses off.”

“I’m sorry,” she said, laughing out loud now. “I didn’t mean to say it that way. Your body is very hard. I-I’ve never felt muscles like this before. They’re beautiful.”

He sighed deeply and shoved her lightly until she tumbled backwards on the bed. She gasped as he crawled over top of her, pinning her to the mattress. She pressed her hands into the bedding, her heart beating wildly as loomed over her. He didn’t press his weight into her though. Not yet. He held himself above her, looking down at her.

“I’ve been shot and knifed. I’ve worked in war zones and alongside some bad individuals,” he announced, his eyes gleaming as he looked her over, lingering on the swell of her breasts where they pushed against the satin cups of her nightie. “But I can tell you’re going to be one of the most dangerous things that’s ever happened to me. If it gets out to my contacts that I’m a beautiful naked man with soft skin, they’ll fucking kill me.”

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