Page 25 of Needing More
Tiredly, she stared back up at him. "But I had so much to do tonight," she moaned. Glancing sleepily at the kitchen she saw Hayden remaking her a plate and grabbing her packet of pills from the drawer. "I needed to cook food for Herman and Blanche and put away and clean all the dishes."
With her plate in one hand, Hayden stopped in front of her and sat a pillow on her lap before setting down the plate on top. "We'll clean up and you can cook for Herman tomorrow. Blanche's surgery is still two days away."
Realizing the futility of arguing she watched as both Joel and Hayden headed back to the kitchen while Vic stood there staring at her on the couch. His dark eyes seemed to be staring past her as if he was remembering something.
"Vic?" she questioned softly.
Blinking Vic pulled himself out of his trance and focused back on her and smiled absently.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Just caught up in my thoughts." Turning, he walked back to the kitchen with the other two.
Sapphire listened as she ate her food and took her pills. Her heart warmed a little at the sight of them talking and joking as they put away the food and cleaned. This must have been what it was like before she came and before Vic left for his dad's. Just the three of them living their bachelor life, running this small town out in the middle of nowhere Texas. She knew Vic missed it and she couldn’t help but wonder what it would have been like if he had been here too when she arrived in town. Would things have gone the same way?
Her heart thudded at the thought and her mouth got a little dry. Reaching for her drink she watched furtively over the rim of her glass at the three men. Would she have fallen in love the same way? Would she have fallen for Vic, too?
The question whispered throughout her mind like a taboo. No. What was she thinking? It wasn't possible. Two was already improbable but three! No. No way!
But as she looked at him standing there in the kitchen laughing with Hayden at something Joel was telling them, she could see how he fit with those two so well. He was the middle piece to the two extreme opposites that made Hayden and Joel. While Hayden was severe and Joel was ever playful, Vic was a perfect mixture of them both. She could feel his unwavering iron will clashing with Hayden's even as he joked and laughed easily alongside Joel. All three of them were made for each other. As if from the very start of their lives they were destined to be friends.
Again, her mind asked the question.Would she have fallen for Vic too?
The answer to that forbidden question floating restlessly in her heart scared her because she knew what it was and she knew it would only ever cause trouble.
Chapter 8
JoelandHaydenleftfor the bar over an hour ago. He had watched them leave.
Standing at the end of the street, he looked down the empty road. Only two street lamps illuminated the lonely street, leaving sections bound to the darkness.
He stood in that darkness, unseen and free to do what he wanted.
Tilting his head, he looked up to the windows above the café and noted their darkness. Satisfaction stirred within him as he pulled out his phone. With three keystrokes the cameras around the café winked off, allowing him to move under the continued cloak of secrecy. The bell above the café door did not ring as he caught it easily with one hand. The door to the stairs did not stop him as the lock turned under his key. One by one, he avoided each stair that creaked or groaned and made his way to the second floor. He stopped in front of the tightly closed bedroom door and listened.
There was no sound, no movement whatsoever.
Turning the handle, he eased the door open and stood in the mouth of the door.
Lying in the middle of the bed was his goal, his sole motivation for every step he took. With the black cap over half of her face, her curling golden-streaked hair fanned out beneath her and on the pillows around her. He watched her chest rise and fall. The slow measured breaths told him the double dose of medicine had her deep in its grip.
He moved like ink through water through the room's darkness. His movements were careful and controlled, he didn't even disturb the air around her as he kneeled gently on the bed. He watched her sleep just as he did that night in his bed. Pleasure rolled through his veins as he noted every detail of her. There was a sense of comfort—a rightness—being in her presence. Like a lost chemical compound that turned his volatile mixture of life into something smooth and serene. He needed her. Just being around her already pointed a glaring spotlight on what was missing in his life. He could feel it now as he sat here and drank in the sight of her. She had to be his too. How was he expected to stay away?
He couldn't.
He wouldn't.
With the compression cap working in his aid, he moved unobserved and peeled back the covers. He closed his eyes and bit back a groan at the sight of the small t-shirt she wore underneath. Crumpled around her waist, the t-shirt left her peach-colored panties exposed to him. A thought surfaced in his mind. Did her bra match?
With nothing to stop him, he reached for the hem of her shirt and carefully pulled it up until he gathered it neatly above her white bra. Drinking in the sight of her he could feel the storm inside of him abate and renew all at once.
There was no inner voice of censure when he reached for her, nothing at all to tell him to stop. Instead, he could feel his blood pounding in his veins, pooling lower and lower until he was half out of his mind.
He pushed the cups up until he was staring at the work of God. Dusky brown nipples ensnared his attention.
"What are you doing to me?" he groaned as he braced one arm on either side of her and leaned down, capturing one of the petal soft buds into his mouth.
He closed his eyes at the soft sound she made. Shifting his hips, he nearly groaned again at the rough friction his jeans caused against his rock-hard dick. He was losing his mind, but he couldn't stop. Suckling the bud, a little harder he glanced up and watched as her mouth opened in a tiny inaudible sigh. He smiled to himself as he pulled back leaving the bud hard and pointed before turning his attention to the next one.
This time she shifted beneath him, her breath coming out labored as he took her nipple between his teeth.
