“He can’t have me.”
“No.” Violent possessiveness is a bolt tightening in my chest. “He can’t.No one can.”
“Only you.” The elevator doors open, and my loft spreads out in front of us, sprawling and expensive, but she continues to gaze up at my face, as if the luxury of my place means nothing in comparison to me. And all I can think is,Jesus, I’ll be in love with her before the sun comes up tomorrow.There’s a damn good chance I already am. Love at first sight. “Pierre…” Claire begins, trailing off.
“Yes?” I ask, stepping off the elevator and walking slowly into my kitchen, content to keep her cradled in my arms forever. “What about him?”
Her blonde brows furrow as she searches for the right words. “He seems to be…holding something over your head. About your mother.”
Instantly, the guilt wells up inside of me.
It’s a fountain that can never be turned off, no matter how hard I try.
And I’ve never shared the burden with anyone in my life. Instead, I channel all that pain into my cooking, trying to turn the ugliness into something of worth. But with Claire looking up at me with so much trust and mercy, I find myself wanting to let her in. All the way. Especially after she went through the discomfort of telling me about her difficult upbringing.
I carry Claire into the kitchen and settle her down on the white marble island, easing the coat from her shoulders. Stepping back to breathe in the view of her, topless and outlined by the glittering coastline that lays on the other side of the windows, her blonde hair tumbling around her shoulders.
“Dear God, you are breathtaking,” I rasp, my heart trapped in my mouth.
“So are you,” she whispers, blushing slightly. “But I would love to see more of you, too.”
Heat crawls through my abdomen.
She came after one concise drive of my hips earlier, clawing and moaning between my body and the locker, even though she’s a virgin. Now she’s asking me to strip? Somehow, I know she’s going to fucking slay me in bed. My only fear is that she won’t be able to walk when I’m done with her tonight.
In one fell swoop, I drag my T-shirt over my head and toss it away, noting the way her lips pop open on a swift intake of air, her tight ass squirming around on the counter.
“Better?” I ask her.
“M-much.” She blinks several times, a flutter of long lashes. Those nipples stiffen and beg for a suck. Yeah, she likes what she sees. “When d-did you get all those tattoos?”
“Went through a dark period,” I mutter, taking her knees in my hands and sliding her to the edge of the counter, slowly inserting myself between her sexy legs, still encasing in the fishnets. In easing her thighs open, that black thong sneaks into the valley of her cunt, and all I can think about is roping her hands to my headboard and licking that little slit until she creams herself. “I think maybe I was still going through that dark period until I saw you tonight.”
She settles her hand on my shoulders and waits.
Waits for my honesty. And I want to give it to her.
“My mother was a chef, like me. Taught me everything I know. She was an incredible culinary mind. She founded Tartine, actually. Put it on the map, but she…died in a kitchen fire about a decade ago. Smoke inhalation.” Emotion rises in my throat like a hot tide, but Claire immediately pulls me closer, her arms wrapping tightly around my torso, giving me the strength I need to continue. “She had a habit of falling asleep in the rear office after her shift,” I say gruffly into my girlfriend’s sweet neck. I don’t worry she’ll think I’m a monster, despite what I’m about to tell her. I know she won’t. “I never leave the gas on, but…I must have. I was the only one there. Some flammable cleaning products caught fire and…she didn’t make it out.”
“Oh, Draven. I’m so sorry,” she whispers in my ear, a tremor in her voice. “That must have been a terrible time for you.”
I crowd into the sanctuary of her, groaning at the perfect correspondence of her gentle curves to my muscle. How fuckingsmoothshe is. “That’s where all the tattoos came in. I just wanted the pain. The marks to make my misery last as long as possible. Like I deserve.”
She strokes her fingers through my hair, her fingernails scraping my scalp lightly. It’s the most comforted I’ve ever felt in my entire life. “I’ll never get the chance to meet your mother, but if she raised someone as protective and driven and creative as you, I know she wouldn’t want you to let guilt hold you back. Shame on your brother for putting that on you.”
My heart flips over. “My tiny defender.”
“I told you, I’m tougher than I look.”
Unable to sustain my willpower any longer, I fit my mouth over hers, inhaling the heavenly taste so powerful it can alter my brain chemistry, along with the structure of a sauce. Her mouth is a miracle. A drug. An elixir. “Areyou tougher than you look, little girl?” I ask, dropping my hands to the waistband of her stockings, hooking my thumbs there and dragging the fishnets down, along with the tiny thong. “What I need to do to you isn’t for the faint of heart.”
“What do you need to do to me, Daddy?” she asks, her innocent tone of voice making my balls swell to the size of apples.
God, who knew I’d end this day someone’s father figure, lover and guardian, all rolled into one? Certainly not me, but I couldn’t live without the responsibility ever again.
“I need to drive this lust from my body into yours,” I say against her mouth, praising her with a hot kiss when she lifts her tight ass without a command, allowing me to get the tights off.Allthe way off. Leaving her beautifully naked on the island. “Show me where I’m going to put my lust.”
Claire hesitates for a moment, breathing hard, then taps an index finger right there on the wet seam of her cunt. “Here?”