Page 9 of V for Vindictive

As if knowing what I internally struggled with, Sloan spoke up again, “It’s not my place to say this, but you’re not obligated to stay committed to someone who won’t do the same for you.”

The other Hunter’s words registered slowly as I watched Sloan’s beautiful mouth form them. Heart thundering for an entirely different reason than fear, I stared at Sloan’s face, which was closer than it was a minute ago.

It was without flaw. Too beautiful, some may argue. But it didn’t compare to the assault of his words. Each sincere statement hit harder than the last, driving the reality home that I’d royally screwed things up with Phillip. It wasn’t Sloan’s intention, I was almost confident, to make me realize that, but it made me wonder if I held onto Phillip out of childish hope.

Maybe things between us were really over. Maybe the only one holding onto everything was me. Maybe that was the entire reason Phillip decided to go off and find Cash without me. Maybe it was time to start accepting we’d only be work partners from now on.

Here was a man who wasn’t like other guys, and he was going out of his way to openly declare himself as an option. I’d seen girls around me fall for much less.

I’d fallen for less.

Honestly, no one ever treated me the way Sloan did. He was beautiful, kind, and not at all full of baseless pride. He treated me the way I’d only seen in movies. He didn’t say things to get something out of me. He didn’t use them to put me down or scorn me. He didn’t treat me like I was incapable of taking care of myself. No, everything Sloan said and did was purely because he respected me, and it was something I could definitely get used to.

Not even Nigel treated me that way when he was pretending to be the goodly guy in my life. Sloan didn’t go out of his way to small talk or chatwithout a reason, but the Brit never seemed to be truly silent around me either. He found reasons to talk to me. He asked questions and listened.

Nothing like Phillip.

It was only in that moment I realized the things the Brit said were what I’d desperately hoped to hear from Phillip. I wanted my stubborn, self-centered partner to declare war over me; to ignore his past and chase after me. And when the Austrian didn’t, I was left with an emptiness I couldn’t adequately describe.

I thought I didn’t want love. I thought I was okay with casual and fun. I thought I didn’t need anyone—and really, I didn’t. But I wanted it. I wanted the love my parents had; the love my Grams and Gramps had. And maybe that was how I’d finally live my own life. But mostly, I wanted the freedom to fall in love.

Sloan’s fingers caressed my jaw, tracing its shape. Glinting light eyes caught rays of moonlight, and I was immediately entranced by them. Our lips met seconds later. Swiftly, his hand curved around the back of my neck and urged me closer. The way he respectfully but powerfully beckoned me to him had me groaning into the other Hunter’s mouth.

I climbed onto his lap, no longer hesitant. In the tight space of the car, it was an awkward crouch I was forced to take. But nothing mattered anymore. Not when the desire to taste Sloan and feel his body overwhelmed rational thought.

Our kiss went from gentle to hurried as soon as I settled onto his thighs with the steering wheel digging painfully into my back. Sloan dragged me closer, saving me from the pain, and drove his tongue into my awaiting mouth with a low, rumbling growl.

Another hard throb hit the place between my legs, and I circled my waist, desperate to relieve the building tension. Sloan’s jaw clenched and his eyes shut, a feral sound echoing inside his chest. His body stiffened against the assault of my ass moving over the hard rise in his pants, but I was so damn horny and ready for it, I didn’t even think about how shameless the continued shift of my hips made me seem.

Or how little I fought the urge to give in.

Light eyes jerking open, Sloan’s chest rumbled again, vibrating between my thighs, and the blue-eyed Hunter met every roll of my hips with his own.

The friction alone was addicting. I wanted more of it. I struggled to say as much, so I continued to shift wildly against him, hoping the message would come across loud and clear—I was ready to make this more. I was ready to shed modesty and duty so I could sink into sin with the gorgeous Brit.

“That’s it, pet,” Sloan whispered, his voice thick with lust and his hair a mess after my fingers were done with it.

Hands gripping my waist, keeping our bodies locked together, the other Hunter’s mouth trailed from mine, then latched onto the throbbing pulse along my neck. A blatantly wanton sound left my throat, and my head dropped back. Teeth scraped a path down the arch until Sloan’s tongue swept across the exposed bone of my collar.

My chest expanded and my stomach retracted. Pleasure overtook the senses, and I chased every morsel, desperate and shameless. I shed my earlier hesitations. Ignored my head and gave into my body. Ridiculous, really, how quickly I was sucked into it all; how none of it seemed wrong anymore.

It felt right.

Sloan’s strong grip on my waist led me into a tantalizing back and forth, rubbing my panty-covered clit over the rough fabric of his pants.

“Oh, fuck,” I groaned, gripping his shoulder and boldly thrusting against him like I’d been fantasizing about doing for over a week.

With our mouths clashing at different angles, I worked quickly through the line of buttons on his shirt. Occupied with the kiss, I nearly tore through the fabric to just be done with it. But before I could, Sloan’s hands enclosed over mine and stalled me.

Laughing into my mouth, Sloan’s tongue flicked out against mine before dragging across my lower lip. “There’s no need to rush, love. I’m not going anywhere.”

Panting, I looked down after nearly hitting my head on the ceiling and then I awkwardly tucked hair behind my ear. “I’m sorry.”

His sneaky grin eased the nervous coil in my stomach, then one of his hands worked the skirt I wore up to my panty line. “But that doesn’t mean stop, V.”

Sloan’s hand sunk between my thighs. He easily navigated around my underwear, rubbing provocative circles over my clit, and then slipped fingers into my slit and the collecting moisture. His normally artic blue eyes were dark and pupil-blown when Sloan sucked one of the fingers he’d rubbed me with into his mouth.

Fuck, that’s so hot.

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