Grounded (Up in the Air #3)(37)

I kept my hands to myself, but I let him touch me.

“Vance is still that person. He’s still obsessed with me, obsessed with what we had, even though it ended more than three years ago. He pulls stunts, wanting nothing more than a reaction from me. I learned a long time ago that the best thing to do was not to give him one. Not to give him anything at all. Not even so much as a twitch…”

He moved closer slowly, giving me every opportunity to tell him no. He moved until he could nuzzle his face into my chest. My breathing grew ragged.

“He kissed me to get a reaction. He wanted me to fight him, slap him, chew him out, anything at all. So I gave him nothing at all. I waited passively for him to finish, for him to realize that I don’t care enough anymore to give him that reaction.”

I gripped a hand into that thick black hair. I pulled his face back until he was looking directly into my eyes again. “Are you saying that he assaulted you? That he’s done it before? He put his hands on you, knowing that you didn’t want him to touch you?”

Those dark mysterious eyes opened wide, their depths turning a little panicked. He moved close against me, running soothing hands over my shoulders.

“Yes,” he finally answered.

I grew stiff as a board, my mind going a bit hazy and red with temper.

“Don’t do anything rash, Stephan,” he pleaded. “He’s not worth it.”

A picture of Vance came into my head, a very clear picture of me pounding his face in. I would destroy him in a physical altercation. It wasn’t even a question. He was a little short, a little thin, with a handsome face that I’d have no problems messing up.

“Why do you still hang out with him? Why did we meet up with him tonight, if he’s like that?”

“I’m good friends with all of his friends. I’m close with everyone on that crew, and he swore he wouldn’t push me around anymore. And with you there, I didn’t think he’d even be able to. I didn’t imagine he’d try something the second you left my sight. And I figured if he did, you’d defend me. I’m not a fighter.”

My eyes widened in horror. “Are you saying that he assaulted you, I saw it, and then I walked away? Is that what happened back there?”

I tried to stand but he clung to me tightly. “It’s not a big deal,” he said very softly. “Just don’t break up with me because of a misunderstanding. Please. I’m begging you, Stephan.”

“You don’t think it’s a big deal that someone pushes you around in front of me, and I just walk away?”

He rubbed his cheek across my chest, and I swallowed hard. “Vance doesn’t bother me. This was his last chance to be civil, and he blew it. I’ll stay far, far away from him. The only thing that he could do to hurt me now is cost me you. I love you. I know I said I needed time, but that was a big fat lie. I fell in love with you more than a year ago, and those feelings never went away, not for me. I was just trying to protect my heart when I told you that I needed more time to fall for you. I’ve been here all along.”

I wasn’t one to analyze a good thing to death. I studied his earnest face and let myself fall all over again. I believed him, and loved him, and that was enough for me.

I ran my hands through his pitch-black hair, gripping it into my fists to pull his face close. I kissed him hard and he melted against me. He pushed his chest against mine, rubbing.

I pulled back. “No more drama. I can’t stand this stuff. And if I see Vance again, I’m kicking his ass. You can warn him, if you want, but that’s what’s going to happen.”

He just nodded, giving me a little smile. That smile was trouble. The good kind. I kept my hands gripped in his velvety hair as he began to kiss my chest. My head fell back as he moved that wicked mouth lower with a purpose. The things Javier could do with his mouth boggled my mind. He had a rare and exquisite talent. He tugged my shorts off, and I let him work his magic.

A good blowjob often involved as much hands as mouth, but not with Javier. He sucked me so hard and so deep that I forgot where I even was: coming so fast that I would have been embarrassing myself if it had been anything but fellatio. He kept me deep in his throat as I came, stroking his hands over any part of me they could reach.

I pulled him up to my mouth for a long kiss. I stood, leading him to the bed with a firm grip in his hair. I pinned him onto his stomach, lying on his back. I kissed his neck and felt him tremble.

I wasn’t done with him, far from it, but I just held him for a long time, letting his anticipation build and giving him comfort. Javier loved to be held, and I loved to hold him. I nuzzled my face into his neck, grinding my lower half into from behind.

“Did you tell Bianca what happened with Vance?” he finally asked.

I was a little surprised that that was what he’d been thinking about just then, but I answered. “Yes. I tell her everything.”

He made a little sound of distress. “She’ll hate me now. Even if you tell her the full story, she’ll never trust me now, and if she hates me, we don’t have a chance. I know how it is. She’s the most important person in your life, and if she’s working against us, we’re as good as done.”

I sighed. “You don’t understand Bianca at all. She would never do that. She’d never work against us. That would be too much like working against me, and she doesn’t have that in her. She is on my side without reserve, and she respects my judgement. If I tell her that I’m with you, that will just be it. She has my back, no exceptions. We’ve been partners through too much bad stuff for it to work any other way.”