Valentine (A Standalone Novel) (Bad Boy Romance Book) (18 page)

"We can do that, but it will be up to
you to leave me shivering with need." I moved up to kiss him, my heart racing
in my chest. I moaned against his lips as he rolled me over and pressed himself
on top of me.

"Why do you drive me crazy, Val? No
other girl has had so much control over me. I want to throw caution to the wind
and dive in deep with you. Why?" He pressed his cold mouth to the side of
my neck while his fingers found their way under my sweater.

I let out a short exhale as pleasure
pumped through me in delicious waves. It was attraction like nothing I'd ever
experienced. It was heady, and I wanted more of it.

"Because you thought I was someone
else." I reached out and touched the side of his face, loving so much the
way he felt pressed against me. I wanted to offer up control, to give him
exclusive rights to any part of me that he wanted access to.

He moved back up, balancing himself with
one hand pressed to the ground beside my head. "What do you mean? I know
who you are."

"You do now, but at first you thought
I was just like my family, like my parents. I'm not anything like them." I
ran my thumb over his bottom lip, only to have him suck it deep into his mouth.
His tongue flicked around it as he sucked it in deeper. Every part of me came
alive.

"Take me back to my room. Now."
I pulled my thumb from him mouth and tried to stop myself from panting, but I
couldn’t seem to help it.

"Alright, baby." He kissed me
once again before helping me to my feet. "Pack up the food, and we'll go
back. You can sneak me in, right?"

"Yeah." I stood up with his help
and started to gather everything up. Some part of me wanted to make it through
one damn date without something interrupting it, but nothing was more important
than getting the sexy guy beside me naked and taking full advantage of the heat
between us.

I'd never wanted anyone so badly.

I prayed like hell that he felt the same.

Chapter 20

Val

The drive back to campus felt like it took
damn near forever. I was a nervous wreck by the time we parked the truck and
Tate turned it off.

He glanced over at me and reached for my
hand. "You still alright with me coming up?"

"Yeah, I want you to." I gave
him a cocky smile that I didn't feel at all before getting out of the truck and
pulling my coat closer. "I texted Katelyn on the way back and she's
staying with Martin, so we're good there."

"I feel like a teenager again."
He moved up beside me and reached for my hand again. I was almost too
comfortable being beside him, letting him touch me however he wanted to.

"Well, don't act like one." I
opened the door to the house and poked my head in, listening for voices. A
couple of girls were in the kitchen, but the living room was empty. "We're
good. Just stay close."

"I can do that." He pinched my
butt and caused me to yelp.

I jerked around and narrowed my eyes at
him. "Keep it up, and you'll go home with blue balls."

"No such thing. You're so
naive." He moved past me into the house and took the stairs two at a time.

I rushed to keep up with him as excitement
overtook the worry inside of me. He was so fucking hot – way more my kind of
guy than Paul could ever dream of being.

"Which room?" He glanced back at
me.

"Last one on the left. Hurry
up." I popped his butt and jogged after him as he opened the door and
slipped into my room.

I moved in behind him and turned, closing
the door and locking it. I pressed my forehead against it and let out a shaky
laugh. "We should have gone back to your place."

"Naw, this is better." He moved
up behind me and wrapped his arms around me, pressing himself to my back.
"There's more privacy here."

One strong hand moved up to squeeze my
breast as the other slid down into my pants just over my panties. His fingers
tugged at my sex before tapping lightly. His voice was low and thick with lust.

"Besides, with those laughing girls
downstairs, no one will hear you scream my name, right?" He opened his
mouth and pressed it to the side of my neck just under my ear, pushing his
teeth against me.

I groaned and pressed my hands to the
door, pushing back against him, undulating my hips. My nipples budded tightly
under his teasing, and my skin became incredibly sensitive to his touch.

"I don't care what they hear." I
slid my hand into my jeans and refocused his efforts inside of my panties. A
cry left me as his cold fingers spread me open and played with the sticky wet
entrance of my body.

"So fucking hot, Val. I love how
turned on you are." He pressed his finger deep inside of me as his cock
wedged between the curves of my ass.

"Get these clothes off. Now." I
pulled his hand from me and turned as he lifted his fingers to his lips and
slipped them into his mouth.

He groaned as he licked at them, and I
thought I might come just watching him. So confident. Cocky. Blistering hot.

"Take off your jeans and go lay on
the bed," he said as he tugged off his shirt, and I reached out and brushed
my fingers over the tight flesh of his defined abs. "Now."

I nodded, not caring too much about who
was in control. I'd have been lying if I said that I hadn't entertained the
thought of this moment since the night I was stranded on the side of the road.
It was half the reason I took the car to his shop.

After pulling off my jeans, I worked my
panties down my legs, trying to be sexy about it. If I didn't fall forward, I'd
be alright.

A yelp left me as he grabbed the front of
my thighs while I was bent over at the waist.

"Stay there or put your hands on the
bed. Whichever." His voice was commanding, deep.

His fingers dug into me as he ran his nose
up the back of my leg, so close to my center that my muscles locked.

"You smell so good, Val. Like vanilla
and lust." He licked at my swollen flesh, and I let out another cry, half
jerking up and gripping the edge of the bed. His hand slid over my ass and up
to the center of my lower back as he pressed down a little. "Arch so I can
see all of you."

I tried to hold back the whimper that
leaked from my lips as he pressed his mouth against me fully and flicked his
tongue back and forth slowly. My legs began to shake due to the intensity of
his attack combined with how vulnerable I felt in the position I was in.

He grunted softly and ran his hands up
under my sweater, pushing my bra up as he continued to suck and lick at my
flesh. His fingers tugged at my nipples before palming my breasts and massaging
softly. I thought I'd taken all I could handle when he moved up, licking an
intimate line to the top of my ass.

"I want every part of you." He
pressed kisses along my flesh as he made his descent back to lap at my wetness.

"Take it," I whispered through
my panting.

"Come for me. Let me taste it."
He slid his hands down to my thighs again and started to work me faster,
deeper.

It didn't take more than a few minutes of
him putting everything into it before I screamed, my eyes closing and my breath
rushing from my lungs. The delicious sensation of a deep hard pulse filled me,
and Tate didn't relent until I moved up on the bed and rolled onto my back.

"Oh my God. That was so far beyond
good." I wrapped my arms around myself and crossed my legs tightly as the
sensation continued to tease with me.

"Yeah, it was." He moved up the
bed and slid his hands over my knees and down my thighs, parting them. "I
want more."

"No." I lifted my foot and
pressed it against the sexy muscles of his chest. His tats were beautiful and
extensive. "I want you on top of me."

He smiled before licking his lips and
crawling back off the bed. "What the lady wants, the lady gets."

I rolled on my side and watched him pull a
condom from his jeans before letting them drop to the ground. He wasn't wearing
underwear, and I was a little surprised, seeing how cold it was outside.

His cock was thick and standing proud as
he rolled the condom on. He glanced up at me while he stroked himself a few
times.

"You sure you-"

"Shut up and don't ask me
again." I moved to my knees and pulled my sweater and tank top off.

He was on the bed when I started to work
on my bra, and he reached around me to take care of it for me.

I traced the outline of the tribal pattern
that moved from the base of his neck to his thick shoulders, loving how
dangerous it made him look. "Beautiful."

"Yeah, you are, and bossy as hell,
too." He ran his hands up my sides and pulled me up to my knees before
cradling me in the tight hold of his arms and kissing my breasts one at a time.

I ran my fingers through his hair and
leaned down to kiss his ear and the side of his face. "You like dominant
women."

"You think?" He flicked his
tongue over my nipple before settling back on his knees. "Get up here and
show me how dominant you are."

I straddled him as he pressed himself
inside of me with three strong thrusts. His grip on my ass was delicious and
the tension from him forcing himself inside of me almost threw me over the edge
again. I kept my hold on his shoulders and moaned unabashedly as he used my
body to work his.

"So damn tight." He glanced up
at me before gripping the back of my neck and pulling me down for a long kiss.
The taste of my own arousal ran across my tongue, and I groaned just thinking
about how good it would have been to watch him fuck me moments before.

His hands squeezed as he grunted and moved
back. His gaze dropped down to where our bodies met, and he pulled one hand to
his mouth, licking at his thumb before positioning it to press against my clit.
He stole my breath when he looked up at me. The intensity of his stare mixed
with the dark lust on his face was enough. "Fuck me, Valentine. Fuck me
hard."

I dug my nails into his shoulder and
arched my back, rolling my hips to work the full length of him as he closed his
eyes and used one hand to hold himself up on the bed behind him.

"Like this?" I continued to work
him as he nodded.

His teeth sunk into his bottom lip and the
image of him laid back, thrusting into me, enjoying himself would forever be
etched into my memories.

Fire burst from the center of my stomach,
and I closed my eyes and bounced on him, pressing against his thumb and taking
pure advantage of how open he was with our intimacy.

"I'm gonna come, baby." He moved
so fast that I didn't realize I was on my back until he shifted up, hovering
over me and pulling one of my legs up with him. "Take another turn with
me. Come again, Val."

"I did. I already did. Twice." I
panted as the pressure intensified and my body started to purr with delight.
"I want it again."

He reached down and brushed my hair out of
my face as he continued to fuck me slow and deep.

"Trust me." It wasn't a
question, but a command.

"Yes." I nodded and reached up
to cup the side of his neck. "Anything."

"Good." He pressed his hand to
the center of my chest, sliding it up and gripping the front of my throat
tightly. "Breathe through your nose and open your legs wider, baby."

A moment of terror ran through me as my
airway became slightly pinched, but I focused on him and opened my legs wider,
letting him sink in the final inch or so.

"There you go." He licked his
lips and locked his eyes on mine. "Hold on."

I gripped him tightly as he started to
pound into me harder and harder. The sensation was like nothing I'd ever felt
in my whole life. His hand never got any tighter around my throat, but the hold
was controlling. He owned me in that moment, and I relented and screamed his
name as the bed shook with our love making. My orgasm caused bright flashes of
color to dance around my vision.

He dropped down on top of me, sliding his
hand between me and the bed as he cupped my slick flesh and pressed his mouth
to mine in a long, hot kiss as he finished thrusting.

"Where have you been all my
life?" He moved his hands back up to smooth my hair down as he rested
against me. We were both breathing loudly and the light sweat that stretched
across our skin only made the moment more delicious.

"Right here." I brushed my
fingers down the sides of his face. "Stay with me tonight."

"I'm not going anywhere." He
leaned down and kissed me, leaving off the one word I wanted to hear tagged on
to his promise.

Ever.

Chapter 21

Tate

I lay in the bed awake next to her after
we fucked a few more times wishing I could give her the world. I had no choice
but to run from her, but my heart broke at the thought of it.

She snuggled against me and let out a
content sigh as I lay on my side and held her. Her long brown hair was a tangled
mess, her lipstick smeared, and her eye makeup not at all where she'd carefully
put it the night before.

It wouldn't have been hard to tell her
that I was falling for her. I'd been looking for a woman like her for so damn
long, and yet...this was it. I laid there beside her until the alarm clock read
five. After kissing her damn near ten times,
I
crawled
out of the bed as carefully as I could and got dressed.

I found a scrap of paper on her desk and
left her a note letting her know that I had to get out to the house and then to
work. I told her that I'd call her later, but I knew I wouldn't.

I couldn't.

Her father was going to make sure of that.

There wasn't anyone awake in the house as
I snuck out the front door and jogged to the truck. I owed Sam big time for
letting me take his vehicle overnight when we'd just agreed on a few hours.
Though his parents were great, he hated being stranded at home. I told him that
he should have learned to drive a bike and he could have taken mine out for the
evening.

He scoffed and rolled his eyes. Typical
Sam. Scared of everything that might leave him breathless, women included.
Maybe he had things right and I was in the wrong.

Risks had consequences.

I drove out to his place and swapped out
the vehicles without going up to the house. It was dark, which left me to
assume that everyone was still asleep – and they should be. It was the
ass-crack of dawn. I should have been asleep somewhere, too, but I couldn't
have stayed with Val and not told her the truth, not after the night we had.
She had been so willing to give me ownership of her beautiful body, and more
so, of her heart. She didn't fuck, she made love. A tendril of pain ripped
through me, stealing the air from my lungs as I got on my bike and pulled on my
helmet.

I'd never been the type of guy to let
anyone push me around, yet my hands were tied and my head was in a fucking noose.
David Scott had far more power than any man I'd ever met.

"Figures." I started the bike
and headed home, driving fast in hopes of bleeding out some of my angst before
I made it there. My mother didn't need any of my attitude, and I sure as hell
didn't want to unload any of my mess onto her. She had plenty of her own
problems.

The ride home didn't last nearly long
enough, and I was still a little antsy by the time I got there.

My mother's beat-up car was sitting on the
side of the house when I drove up, which at least offered a little bit of
comfort. Maybe I had the wrong idea in keeping everything from her. She was
reasonable and had more sense than I could ever hope to. Talking everything
through might help me find a way to get out from under Val's dad and yet still
get to keep her in my life.

I chained the bike up and walked into the
darkness of the house, feeling my way around for a light, but the lamp wasn't
where it should have been.

"What the fuck?" I kicked
something and moved down to find the lamp on the ground in pieces. My heart
leapt into my throat, and I jumped up, running down the hall blindly.
"Mom? Mom? Where are you?"

I flipped on the hall light and went room
to room, screaming for my mother. My heart was beating a million miles an hour
as I jogged back into the living room with no answers, and not finding her
anywhere.

I pulled my phone from my pocket and
called her number, but the damn thing was in the kitchen. Something had
happened. I was sure of it.

"Ms. Crumms." I opened the back
door and jogged down the stairs as I headed over to our next door neighbor’s
house. The little old lady never missed a thing. If something happened to my
mother, she'd know it.

I banged on the door, trying to calm
myself a little so I didn't scare her.

She opened the door and lifted her
eyebrow. "Well, dang, Tate. You trying to raise the dead, boy?"

"No, ma'am. I'm looking for my
mother. I was out last night and her car is here, but it-"

"That crazy bastard she was dating
came back." Ms. Crumms shook her head in disgust.

Sickness washed over me. Not again. Not
while I was out.

"And, the cops showed up, too. I
guess they had a tracker on him, and he didn't understand what that meant. He
beat your poor momma up pretty good, but she's going to be okay now, I
think." She reached out and touched my arm. "Come inside and warm up.
You're trembling."

"No, thank you, though." Rage
pumped through me at not only over my own indiscretions to spend the night away
from home, but more so because of Val's father staying true to his word. I turned
as Ms. Crumms said something, but I didn't catch it. I lifted my hand and waved
as I jogged back toward the house, mumbling my thank you.

David Scott knew that I was with Val, and
he wanted to make his point. And, he had.

"This is all my goddamn fault."
I jogged up to the house and locked all the doors. I assumed my mother was back
at St. Mark's hospital. There was no reason to call when I could be there in
fifteen minutes.

The torrent of emotions that raced through
me was numbing by the time I reached the hospital. I felt murderous toward Mr.
Scott, and yet he had warned me. I had made the decision to disobey him and in
that one selfish moment thought that I could dance with the devil and win. That
I was something special.

I needed to let Val go. It was the only
choice I really had. Time to own up to it.

*

The nurse that showed me to my mother's
room was nicer than she had to be, but I was grateful. I was close to losing
it, and it wasn't just about all the shit that had happened with Val and her
dad, but my worrying over my mother's mental state. I'd finally gotten her past
being afraid of her own shadow and now this...three times in the last few
weeks.

"Mom?" I walked into the room to
find her in a reclined position in the bed, watching the snow fall outside of
her window.

"Tate. Hey." She looked over at
me and extended her hand. Her lips were busted up pretty bad, as was her eye.
She had a few stitches, which was nothing new, and yet my stomach sickened over
it. Tears burned my eyes as I moved toward her and pulled her into a careful
hug.

"I'm so sorry," I mumbled
against her shoulder. "Please forgive me."

"Baby, you're being silly. This was
Daniel's fault. He's a bastard, and it's my fault for loving him as much as I
did. I shouldn't have ever let him in the house. Not back then, and not
today." She tightened her frail arms around me. "The cops said that
there will be no more bail for him. He's not getting out again, no matter
what."

I nodded, unsure that I trusted myself to
speak without bursting into tears, which wouldn't help anyone. I held her
against me for a second longer before moving back and wiping at my eyes.

"This is my fault. I should have been
there." I glanced behind me and grabbed a chair to pull up beside her bed.

"No it's not. You need to live your
life." She gave me a crooked smile and winced. "Damn stitches."

"It is my fault, Mom. If I was
there-"

"Then, the idiot would have probably
killed you. It's all good. He's gone, and I'm done being anyone's punching bag.
When I get out of here, we're going to start looking for a new place to
live." She reached up and touched the side of her eye.

I dropped down into my seat and gave her a
look. "With what money, Mom?"

"My raise." She tried to smile,
but didn't pull it off too well. "I got a raise at the hospital, and Dr.
Barnes said that if I fill out a few forms, he'll look into putting me into a
sponsorship program for battered women. They do all sorts of stuff for you,
including help pay for your degree."

"Really?" This was the best news
I'd heard in forever.

"Yep. I'll be in college right beside
you." She laid her hand beside her, palm up.

I reached up and took it, clasping my
fingers around hers softly. "So, there's no way for you to lose your
job?"

"What? Heavens, no. Dr. Barnes thinks
I'm the one who tugs the moon into the sky every night. There's no way anything
can happen to my position. I work too hard, and there is already too much
stacked against me, which they're aware of." She patted my hand with her
free hand. "Now...tell me where you were last night. With that pretty girl?
Val?"

"Yes, ma'am, but we're not going to
see each other anymore." Sadness like I'd never experienced filled up the
cavity of my chest, and I took a shaky breath.

"Well, I think that's the dumbest thing
you could do. It's a mistake. She's the one. I just know it." She laid
back and narrowed her eyes at me. "What's really going on? Tell me."

"Nothing. I'm just a little butt-hurt
over her not wanting anything to do with me." I pulled my hand back and slumped
down in my chair. "She's a Scott, Mom. Those people are takers and
abusers. She's no different. I'm not interested in being her puppet."

"
You
a puppet?" She snorted. "I think you're full of it, but you'll
talk to me about it when you want to. Until then, suffer in stony silence like
you always do."

"I don't suffer in silence." I
rolled my eyes and leaned back farther, letting my eyes close. "I'm glad
you're okay. I almost had a heart attack when I got home and you weren't
there."

"I know. I'm sorry for all I've put
you through." Her voice was soft, but I had a hard time hearing what else
she was mumbling. Now that I knew she was okay and the rest of our lives were
relatively intact, sleep was taking me under.

"I love you, Mom," I grumbled
and clasped my hands over my stomach as the darkness took me far away from my
concerns. I had lots of them, but the top concern followed me deep into my
dreams and plagued me without reprieve.

How am I going to let go of Val without
hurting her?

You're
not.