Page 54 of The Devil's Playground

I watch her curiously. I sure as hell don’t stop her, and I’m rewarded when she unzips my pants next. Reaching for my cock, she takes a firm grip of it, then eases down to her knees.

I love pussy, but Nicolette? She’s got a thing about cocksucking. Once we became intimate—once I proved to her that nothing will stop me from pleasuring her with my mouth—she showed me that she’s just as eager to give me oral.

I don’t expect it. That would be a dick move, and I’d rather have her come on my face than force her to her knees. But when she’s offering…

Only one problem. Considering the conversation we just had, I’m not so sure why she’s offering.

Because she thinks she’s my property now?

Because I’m hers?

Maybe it’s not that… and I decide to just let her show me affection this way as she swirls her practiced tongue around the head of my cock, strangling any answer from me the moment I feel the heat of her mouth on my skin. I shudder, taking a deep breath as Nic sucks me in a little deeper, taking the first two inches while gently grazing my dick with her teeth.

I was limp when she grabbed me; sorry, an asshole I might be, but reminiscing about a woman dying in my arms just doesn’t get me going. Nicolette taking over? Nicolette grabbing me like she has every right to—and she does?

Nicolette nibbling on the underside of my cock, fisting it, stroking it, doing anything she can to make me feel good?

I’m hard in no time, and grateful for the distraction.

That’s what she’s doing, isn’t it? Took me a second, but I got there eventually. Ripping me out of the past, thrusting me right into the present with her, she swoops her hair over her shoulder, cocks her head slightly, and takes me as deep as she can before hollowing her cheeks.

My sac tightens. I lean back into the couch, clutching the cushions as she worms her way closer. Nic is bobbing her head now, doing all of the work while I sit there and let her.

This is for me. She doesn’t have the words to tell me—and since that means she’d stop blowing me in order to do so, I’m fine with that—but the message is clear. Heather might be gone, but it wasn’t my fault. I was the poor guy who got stuck in the middle of it, all because I wanted to help my cousin and the woman he was convinced he loved.

It was obsession, plain and simple. What he has with this Simone woman now? That’s probably obsession, too, but… fuck. That’s not my problem anymore. Jake got himself into this mess. He can get himself out of it, too. I’ll help him if he really does need me. But if he doesn’t? I’m not worried about him.

I was obsessed with Nic. No denying that. I was obsessed, but the more I’ve gotten to know this woman, the more I’m convinced it is love. I love her, this magnificent creature who went to her knees for no other reason because she knows I needed this connection.

Heather died, and I couldn’t save her. I spent six years dealing with the guilt—and I barely fucking knew her.

But Nicolette… if anything ever happened to her? I don’t know what I would do.

I’m not so sure I want to find out, either.

Grunting under my breath, I force myself to focus on the now instead of the future or the past. I try to hold out as long as I can, but it’s been a stressful twenty-four hours and I’m wrung out over thinking about my past, plus everything I learned about Nicolette’s.

She’s certain that Alfieri won’t bother her. She’s also certain that he doesn’t buy the fact that I’m just her boss for a second.

Good. Because I’m not. I’m hers, just like she’s mine, and I prove that by shooting my load into her mouth with an anguished cry of her name.

Nicolette takes every last drop, swallowing it completely before wiping her mouth the edge of her thumb. There’s something in her soft brown eyes I can’t quite understand when she glances up at me, but there’s also lust and affection and, unless I’m completely making it up, love.

“You’re such a good girl,” I murmur, even more satisfied when she preens at my praise. “Now come on up here, baby.” I pat the cushion next to me, making a mental note that—for Nic’s sake—I’m going to have to replace this couch before her mother returns home from her trip to Florida. “It’s my turn. Let me make you feel good.”

Let me make you remember that you’re here with me, that monster is your past, and I won’t let him hurt you ever again…

I need this. I need her surrender, and maybe I should have realized my mistake before I did, but I don’t as I reach the bottom hem of her t-shirt and start to push it off.

When the shirt goes up halfway, she circles my wrists with her fingers. “Royce,” she murmurs. “You know I don’t like that.”

I do know. But it’s been weeks since the first time we fucked, I’ve sucked and licked and played with every other part of her, she’s done the same to me, and she still won’t let me remove her shirt?

I don’t get it. It doesn’t make sense. Maybe before she came clean about her past with Alfieri, I’d understand being uncomfortable, but I’ve made it clear: I’m not Alfieri. I won’t hurt her. I want her to trust me.

Why can’t she trust me with this?

“You know you don’t have to hide anything from me, right? There’s nothing about you that I don’t like.”

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