Page 61 of Velvet Chains
I shrug. “Well, when you put it like that, it sounds kind of insane.”
“Kind of? Lu, this is batshit crazy! What if he’s playing you? What if this is all some elaborate scheme to, I don’t know, harvest your organs or something?”
I stare at her. “Okay, now you sound insane. Victor’s not going to harvest my organs, Ser.”
She throws up her hands. “How do you know? Mafia, Lu! They do shady shit!”
I can’t help but laugh. “I think if Victor wanted my kidney, he’d just take it. He doesn’t seem like the ‘elaborate scheme’ type.”
Ser doesn’t look convinced. “I don’t like this, Lu. I don’t like it one bit. What if you’re in danger?”
My heart warms at the concern in her voice. “I’m okay, Ser. Really. Victor… he’s not what I expected. He’s intense, yeah. And scary as hell sometimes. But he’s also… I don’t know. Different.”
She raises an eyebrow. “Different how? Like, ‘doesn’t leave the toilet seat up’ different, or ‘has a secret torture dungeon in the basement’ different?”
I choke on a laugh. “Jesus, Ser. I meant different, like… he’s not just some heartless criminal. There’s more to him than that. I can feel it.”
Ser studies me for a long moment, her expression unreadable. Then she sighs. “You like him, don’t you?”
I sputter. “What? No! I mean, I don’t dislike him, but… it’s not like that. It’s just business.”
“Uh-huh. Business. Is that what the kids are calling it these days?”
I glare at her. “Shut up. It’s not… we’re not… there’s nothing going on between us, okay?”
Even as I say it, I know it’s a lie. There’s something going on, all right. Something electric and undeniable, no matter how much I try to pretend otherwise.
But I’m not ready to examine that too closely.
Not yet.
She nods, then narrows her eyes at me. “Okay, enough of the heavy shit. I want to know about the good stuff now.”
I frown, confused. “The good stuff?”
Ser rolls her eyes. “Uh, hello? The sex, dummy. I want all the dirty details.”
I feel my face flame. “Ser!”
She grins, unrepentant. “What? Don’t even try to tell me you haven’t hit that. I’ve seen the way he looks at you. Like he wants to eat you alive.”
I sputter, torn between embarrassment and a sudden, visceral flash of heat. Because she’s not wrong. Victor does look at me like that. Like he wants to devour me whole.
And God help me, but I like it.
Ser must see something in my expression because her grin widens. “I knew it! You totally did the deed. So, how was it? Mind-blowing? Life-altering? Did you see God?”
“Oh, my God, stop!” I chuck the pillow at her head, laughing despite myself. “You’re worse than a horny teenager.”
She waggles her eyebrows at me. “You love me, and you know it. But seriously, how was it? I mean, the man is walking sex on a stick. I bet he knows his way around a bedroom.”
I feel my cheeks heat, memories flashing through my mind. Victor’s hands on my body, his mouth hot against my skin, the way he’d moved inside me…
“It was… intense,” I admit, my voice slightly breathless. “Like nothing I’ve ever experienced before.”
Ser leans forward, her eyes glinting with mischief. “I knew it. The quiet ones are always the freakiest. So, is he packing heat in more ways than one? I mean, he’s a big guy. I bet he’s got a big…”
“Ser!” I yelp, scandalized. “I am not discussing Victor’s… anatomy with you.
