Page 74 of The Vows We Keep
I’m not sure what ignites me, but I jump to my feet and press my chest to his. “Stop pushing me to do this. I don’t want to fight you.”
He touches my cheek gently with one knuckle. “Yes, you do. You’re more alpha than most men I know. Can fight better than a lot of them too. But here’s where you gotta bend. It’s okay to need aggression. It’s okay to want to be soft. You really don’t want to fight me, I’m not gonna make you. But I can tell by the way your tits are heaving, how you’re sucking in air, that you’re excited by the idea. Can tell by the way your pupils are wide, by the way you’re gripping onto my biceps now, like you can’t let go that you want this. Tell me no, Cat, and I’m taking you upstairs to bed, for sleep or sex. But if you want consent from me that you can fight me as foreplay, you’ve got it. It’s a kink I didn’t know I was interested in until right this minute, and I can’t wait to try it with you.”
He’s right about all of it. I drop low, hook my foot behind his knees, and bring him to the floor. “Remember, you asked for this,” I say before trying to grapple him in a bow-and-arrow choke. It’s messy. The hold requires a lapel to hold onto, but he’s shirtless.
Just as I think I’m going to land the choke, Niro takes a rapid inhale and uses the force of his expanding ribs to loosen my grip. We roll on the floor, Niro grunting as he hits the edge of the sofa with his lower back.
The more we grapple, the weaker my hold on the anger inside gets.
“Fuck,” I say as tears sting my eyes. My father’s voice echoes in my ears.
Las lágrimas son debilidad.
I’ve always believed him that tears show weakness. But now, I feel like I can be anything I want, show anything I want in this room. So I don’t stop them. Instead, I throw my fist at Niro’s face. And while he dodges, my fist glances off his cheek. A cheek that has only just lost its bruising from the pistol whip I gave him.
God, what am I doing to this man?
He’s letting me win. I know it. He’s giving me what I need. An outlet for the anger I carry.
He’s not telling me that how I feel my feelings is wrong.
He pushes me onto my back and tries to crawl over me, but I bring my knees up and use the soles of my feet hard on his chest, pushing him off.
When I try to crawl away, he doesn’t let me. He grabs my feet again, tugging me to him. I grab for the edges of the rug, the feet of the chair, anything that will stop my slide to him. But I can’t.
My lungs burn. My limbs ache with exertion.
My thoughts are simply in this moment with this man.
“Let me have her, Catalina.” Niro grunts. And I know exactly what he means.
From somewhere deep inside, I channel all the female warriors who came before me. This time, when we fight, it hurts. My back slams into the floor. I hear Niro curse as his shoulder slams into the coffee table. Something shatters, and I hear the pieces scatter over the floor.
Niro grunts as he lifts me, practically throwing me away from the shards on the floor. There’s the sound of our breath, the hits when our bodies collide. The scent of fresh sweat surrounds us. And I realize the tremendous pressure in my chest is deflating. As if someone is putting out the fire that burns in my heart.
When Niro pins me to the floor, I let him. And even as we try to catch our breaths, I place my hands on his face and tug his lips to mine. It’s messy. We need oxygen almost as much as we need each other.
Every part of my body sings in an awakening I’ve never experienced before. I hear every sound, feel every shift in the vibration between us.
“Catalina,” Niro says before reaching for the hem of my shirt. Feverishly, we strip each other’s clothes. “You’re everything.”
“You can’t mean that.”
He grips my chin for a moment. “I’ve never meant anything more.”
Niro grabs a condom from the wallet in his jeans and slides it on. “One day, I’m gonna fuck you without this between us,” he threatens as he steadies himself at the lips of my pussy and thrusts sharply home.
With so much energy thrumming between us, there was no way we could come together quietly.
“Niro,” I gasp as he hammers into me, hard and fast, a continuation of our fight. All high energy and lust and need.
The speed at which my orgasm commences its arrival shocks me, but this man clearly knows how to play my body. He slides his hands beneath my ass and grips my cheeks, spreading me wide. Unable to resist, I lift my knees to wrap my legs around him, holding him tight.
“You better come soon.” He grunts. “Because you’re gonna make me come so fast. Such a fucking sweet pussy.”
As if he conjured it with his words, I start to fall over the trippy edge. And when it happens, my whole body tenses as I cry out. And it’s no weak orgasm, but one that shakes me to my very foundation. The world starts to spin, and I can barely breathe.
“Yeah,” Niro says. “Just like that.” His strokes become faster until he cries out my name and then lowers his chest and buries his face in my hair. I feel the puffs of breath beneath my ear as he continues to ease into me, slowing his pace until we are both lying there. I stroke his back in wide circles. He removes one of his hands from beneath me and slides it around my neck, his thumb easing back and forth over my cheekbone.
