into him like a kitten, hoping he wouldn’t shove me off his lap.
If he was anyone else, I’d have soothingly rubbed his chest. But my instincts told me that Dane wouldn’t respond well to any show of sympathy or comfort right now.
I badly wanted to know what was eating at him, but I didn’t dare ask. The question could wait until tomorrow, when he was back to himself. And he would be—the swift transformation happened every year like magic.
He let out a long breath and placed his hand on my lower back. Such a small thing, but it made me want to smile.
We stayed there like that for a while, saying nothing. Gradually and slowly, the rigidity seeped out of him, muscle by muscle. I wouldn’t go as far as to say he relaxed, but it was no longer like cuddling a rock.
He smoothed his hand up my back and curved it around my nape. “It’s late. You need to go inside.”
I wasn’t about to leave him out here in the cold and the dark. “Only if you’re coming with me.” I could swear I heard his teeth grind.
The hand on my nape delved into my hair, fisted it tight, and snatched my head back. I winced, and his pupils dilated. What’s more, his cock twitched and began to swell.
He snarled, his eyes cold and flinty. “If I go upstairs with you now, I’ll fuck you. Hard. But it wouldn’t be for you, it would be for me. I wouldn’t care whether or not you liked it, whether or not you came, whether or not it hurt you. All I’d care about is making my head go quiet for a while. I don’t want to use you like that. So no, Vienna, I’m not going with you.” He roughly released my hair. “Now go to fucking bed.”
My heart just about broke. He’d avoided me all night because he didn’t want to use or hurt me. And now here he sat, alone in the dark, lost in thoughts that were obviously wrecking him.
It was sad that his instinct when feeling so desolate was to turn to something sexual. Had he ever been hugged? Cuddled? Consoled? I didn’t think so.
If something sexual was the only form of comfort that he’d allow me to give him, I’d go with it. Not by letting him fuck me—he’d be too rough and then he’d regret it tomorrow; he’d be pissed at us both for it. But I could show him comfort in a form he’d accept.
I shuffled off his lap, but I didn’t stand upright. I sank to my knees between his legs.
He stiffened, and his thigh muscles bunched tight. “Vienna.”
I lowered his zipper, fished his cock out of his boxers, and curled my hand around it. Even semi-hard, it was impressive.
I’d licked and sucked it on occasion, but he’d always stopped me at some point, wanting to fuck me.
“Vienna.” It was a warning.
I slanted my head and licked the side of his shaft from base to tip. “You don’t want me to suck you off?”
His eyes flared. He put his hand on my head, as if to push me away, but then he snarled again. “Don’t start this unless you’re prepared to finish it.” In other words, he’d want to come in my mouth.
I lathed the silky head with my tongue. “Why else would I have started it?” I closed my mouth around the tip and sucked hard.
He drew in a sharp breath through his nose and whispered what could have been a curse, I wasn’t sure. I also didn’t care. I had him; he wasn’t going to push me away. That was all that mattered, because I couldn’t leave him alone like this.
Humming, I slid my mouth lower down his shaft and sucked as I retreated. I did it again. And again. And again. His cock hardened, lengthened, and thickened, stretching my lips. I fisted his shaft a little tighter, liking how it pulsed in my grip.
“Other hand, Vienna. I want to see your rings while your fingers are curled around my dick.”
My nipples beaded. Um … okay. I switched hands and then closed my lips around the broad tip again.
Dane gathered my hair and bunched it on top of my head. “That’s it, baby girl, keep sucking my cock.”
I expected him to take over; to guide my movements. But he seemed content to just watch my head bob up and down his long, thick shaft.