Redemption (Red Dragon Book 1) (7 page)

BOOK: Redemption (Red Dragon Book 1)
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Valto had forgotten how truly gorgeous this place was, and he found himself gravitating towards the window to look out over the Tenby coast and out into oblivion. He could get used to this that was for sure, and part of him was sad that after their wedding he and Cat couldn’t move somewhere like this. Their lives would be pretty much set out for them in Caerdydd, and though he had been brought up Royalty there was difference in being eleventh in line for the throne and the Prince Consort of Wales. The sun was starting to sink on the horizon, and he quickly hurried to where his suitcase had been placed on the bed. Undoing the latch and zip, he threw it open, feeling beyond thankful that he had thought to place his clothes for dinner on the top.

Quickly he stripped out of his jeans and polo shirt, and pulled on his smart black pants and button up shirt, before walking into the ensuite to splash some water on his face. Gazing at his reflection in the mirror he had to admit that he looked happier and better rested than he had been in weeks, maybe even years. Not only that but his lips were swollen, and there was spark in his grey eyes that he had never seen before.

Maybe things were going to work out after all.

***

Tea was served at 7pm on the dot, with he and Cat being joined by both Beth and her rather quiet husband Robert at the large dining table. It was a delicious spread of various breads, cheeses, sandwiches, cakes, and scones; a surprisingly British meal for such a Welsh household. Not that Cat seemed to take offense, or even notice if he was honest, with the way she was happily nibbling on a corned beef sandwich and chatting happily with her cousins. He found himself staring at her, probably looking like some kind of lovesick fool, yet he couldn’t find it in himself to care what anyone might think of that. She was his fiancé, was his rationale to himself, and if he couldn’t look at her then who on Earth could he look at?

“Are you not hungry Valto?” asked Beth, drawing his attention to her. “You’ve hardly touched anything.”

He glanced down at his plate then, taking in the half eaten sandwich that he had tried but nothing else had been touched. That wasn’t like him, he had always had a healthy appetite and when Cat had first made her interest clear he had liked his food a little bit too much. Many that looked upon him now would never believe that he had once been quite chubby, and that he had been void of interest until at the sweet age of thirteen when he had somehow attracted this beautiful woman.

“I’m feeling quite tired actually.” He picked up his cheese sandwich and took another bite. “I think I might go for a short walk and enjoy the fresh air after tea.”

“I’ll join you,” said Cat, and he looked back over at her. “It’s been a while since I’ve been in Tenby and it’ll be nice to have an evening stroll.”

A blind man wouldn’t have been able to miss the sideways glance and smirk that Beth shared with her husband, and Cat rolled her eyes at him in response to it. That made him chuckle, and she was soon smiling along with him, her foot nudging gently against his shin in a move that was filled with shared amusement and mirth.

“Go on then.” Robert made a shooing motion with his hand. “Before it gets too late.”

 

 

Chapter Nine.

 

As with most small towns in Southern Wales, Tenby was filled with quaint streets with rows of houses along them of varying ages and states. However it had always been the tiny lanes, covered in fallen leaves and shaded by overgrown hedges and trees, which had attracted Cat from the very first. As one got further and further from the seaside and towards the rolling hills and farmland beyond Trefloyne Lane, the rambling paths became more intimate and abandoned.

It had been a very long time since she had traversed these paths with Valto at her side, and she had to admit that she had missed his quiet strength and company.

“Now you’re the one lost in thought.” Valto’s voice jarred her from her thoughts, and she looked over at where he was strolling beside her with a smile on his face. “Hopefully nothing bad?”

She shook her head, reaching for his hand and taking in his shocked expression as she did so. “Just thinking that I’ve missed being here with you like this.” His grey eyes softened then, and the next thing she knew she had been tugged towards him so that he could tuck her under his arm and press a kiss to her temple.

“What I did was unacceptable,” he said, lips feather light against her skin. “And I’m so grateful that I’ve got a second chance at being next to you.”

“Valto …” She didn’t know how to finish her sentence, after all she had already told him that her ability to love was destroyed in the hope that he would never pry for the truth beneath that hurt.

“No please let me say this.” He came to a stop beneath a huge oak tree whose branches were growing over the lane, and Cat had to stop along with him. “I should have tracked you down after Kai’s engagement party and tried to fix things then, but Johann had caught me by surprise.”

She ran her fingers through her hair and ducked out from beneath his arm so as to stand on her own in the middle of the lane.

“You shouldn’t have believed what people were saying in the first place,” she said. “We were together for seven years and you chose to believe Heikki without even talking to me first.” The hurt was like a raw nerve, like the pain that she had felt when she had stood there and endured his ranting all those years ago. Her whole world had crashed down around her then, all of her hope and dreams with this man by her side splintering into a million pieces. She had changed then, changed into a woman who enjoyed the bottle a bit too much and who had purposely gone out and seduced a man twice her age.

“I know.” He looked sad as though the weight of the world had fallen on him. “Cat at least let me try and make it up to you.” Part of her wanted to, was desperate to have the kind of relationship that her sister was enjoying. However the difference between them was that Myf hadn’t had her heart cruelly crushed.

“I don’t know Valto.” She shrugged her shoulders. “Why do I have to love you for this to work?”

“You don’t,” he said. “But I love you.”

That seemed highly unlikely, thought Cat, seeing as they had only been back in each other’s presence again for two weeks after five years separation.  People didn’t just fall in and out of love like that, especially when there was burnt bridges behind them. “You don’t.” She turned back the way that they had come, shaking her hair behind her shoulders as she did so. “You fell out of love with me half a decade ago.”

He shook his head. “I never stopped loving you.”

“Don’t be silly,” she said. “Now come on it’s getting late and I don’t know about you but I’m getting a bit weary.”

His shoulders slumped at her words, though he took her hand when she offered it to him.  It was nice to have his warm skin against hers, even though it was the palms of their hands. Then slowly together they walked back to Belltree.

***

Though her body was exhausted after both the emotional and physical exertions of the day. Cat found it almost impossible to settle her mind enough to sleep, which is how she found herself watching mindless television at three o’clock on the morning.

“What are you doing up?” She put another piece of popcorn in her mouth and started chewing as she looked up at where Valto was standing beside the sofa where she was sitting.

“Top Gear.” She pointed at the TV, and then patting the sofa next to her. “Sit down.”

He looked confused but he sat down anyway, grabbing a handful of popcorn and smirking when she threw her most disgusted expression at him. She had always hated people stealing her food, in fact hated anyone touching her food at all, which was something that Valto had always known and used to rile her up as much as possible.

“What’s Top Gear?” He asked the question around a mouthful or popcorn, and she reached behind herself for a cushion which she used to hit him in the back of the head.

“Your manners haven’t improved at all I see,” she said, hitting him again. “And I refuse to believe that you don’t know what Top Gear is.”

He rolled his eyes at her then. “Something to do with cars obviously.”

At that he tried to grab another handful of popcorn, but she moved the bowl out of the way just in time which had him flailing about on the couch after he had fallen over sideways.

“Serves you right.” She put the cushion over his head then, laughing when he ripped it off and hit her with it. “You should know better than to touch a woman’s food.”

He chuckled darkly then and moved up the sofa so that he could rest his head on her lap. “I can’t believe you’re up at this time of night to watch these old men drive cars.” He waved absently in the direction of the TV. “Oh god you’ve got some sort of fetish for old men don’t you.”

Her fingers weaved through his hair at that, and she gave the short strands a quick tug which made him look up at her with heavy lidded grey eyes. “I do not have a thing for old men.”

“Could have fooled me,” he said, one hand curling around her hip as he nuzzled his head into her thigh.

It was then that her body rebelled against her, reminding her that it had been two weeks since she had been touched by this man. There was also the fact that Valto had haunted her dreams since she had gone through puberty, and she had pleasured herself to the fantasy of having him between her thighs at least once a night since his return. Their one night together hadn’t done anything to sate her fire.

Her breathing had become shallow, and there was a familiar tightness in her lower belly and a tingling in her groin. For a moment her hand tightened in his hair, and she was beyond tempted to pull his mouth up the one or two inches to where she was aching. To pull up the hem of her knee length nighty and ease his head between her legs and to guide him to her pleasure. He must have sensed something in her then, for when he looked up at her again his nostrils were flared and his pupils dilated.

“Cat,” he said, voice barely a whisper.

She didn’t even bother to answer him, instead dragged him up to her mouth and drew him into the most heated kiss that she could manage and the noise that he made into her mouth was completely indecent. Together they slid down the sofa so that she was laying on her back beneath him, their tongues tangling slowly as he settled his body between her splayed legs. Her nighty had risen up so high that when he placed his hands on her hips she felt his palms on her bare skin. Valto’s body trembled at that, and his mouth seemed to become even more desperate on hers. His cock was heavy weight pressing into her lower stomach through his sleep pants.

“Off.” She dragged her mouth away from his as she started tugging eagerly at the hem of his shirt.

His eyes wild with lust, Valto pulled away from her so as to kneel between her spread thighs, gaze fastened on where her silky black panties were on display beneath where her nighty was rucked up around her waist.

“Fuck,” he said softly, ripping his shirt over his head and throwing it to the floor.

Cat had known that he had changed physically; it was difficult not to see the difference to the rather pudgy young man she had once loved and the military vet who had turned up in Wales not three weeks ago. She had already had him naked against her, but it had been dark. Seeing him in the flesh in the soft lighting of Belltree’s living room was a different story. Where he had once been soft and she used to sink into his embrace, there were now firmly defined muscles. There was clear strength in his arms and shoulders, the skin tanned from his time in the Middle East, and she partially sat up so as to touch him.

She ran her hands over his shoulders and down over the hard muscles of his pecs, her fingers lingering over the points of his nipples. “Valto look at you.”

He tore his gaze from her groin, and looked down at where her hands were stroking worshipfully over his abs. “What ..?”

“You’re gorgeous,” she said.

“No.” He shook his head. “Cat you’re incredible, I want to touch you.”

That was only fair since she had been running her hands over him. “Yeah of course.” Grabbing the hem of her nighty she pulled it over her head and let the silky material pool on the sofa behind her. His eyes widened in shock, and she heard his breathing suddenly become ragged.

“Are you alright?” She wound her arms around his neck, pulling his head down so that she could kiss him slowly, coaxing his tongue into a seductive game.

Drawing closer to him, Cat couldn’t help the moan that escaped her as her pebbled nipples connected with the smooth skin of his chest, the sound causing him to smooth the palms of his hands up her sides until his thumbs brushed the side of her breasts. She broke the kiss, head falling back at the sensation of him softly caressing the sensitive skin of her sides. Another moan was drawn from her when he immediately followed her cue and pressed a series of kisses up her throat so as to suck on the edge of her jaw. She was wet between her thighs, the silk of her panties clinging to the bare skin beneath in a way that she had never experienced. Hans had been an incredible sexual being who had aroused her to the point of being mindless, but she had never felt on the verge of orgasm from just his hands on her back.

“I don’t really know …” He whispered the words into the flesh of her throat.

Even though he hadn’t let himself finish the sentence it wasn’t hard to work out where his anxiety was coming from, and Cat gently eased herself away from him.

“Here,” she said, removing her arms from around his neck to push back her hair. “Lie down.”

He was clearly confused despite their previous intimacies, but thankfully seemed to trust her enough to stretch out on the sofa with his arms held stiffly at his sides. His erection was tenting his sleep pants. With a soft noise she reached out and smoothed the palm of hand over the crown, feeling the moisture from its tip seeping through the material.

“Cat!” His voice was strangled, strong body arching beneath her touch as his hands scrabbled desperately at the sofa.

“Poor baby,” she said, her words soft as she leaned over him to run her tongue of the damp spot on the front of his pants, licking her lips at the saltiness she found there.

What she hadn’t been expecting was the way his hips shot off of the sofa, and the strong hands which gripped her shoulders. “What?” He swallowed as he loosened his grip on her, body easing back into the cushions. “What are you doing?”

Cat knew that he hadn’t the same sexual experience that she had previously enjoyed, but she had thought that he would at least be versed in the basics, especially since she had already shown him what she was capable of. She pressed her lips gently against him again, smiling against the soft blue material as he gasped and started panting.

“What does it look like?” She asked, sliding her fingers beneath the elastic and lifting it over his erection and slowly pulling his sleep pants off, leaving him naked on the sofa.

He was even more gorgeous than she had thought, a blush crawling up his tanned skin, his slender hips twitching and his cock standing proud and flushed.

“You don’t have to do this again.” His hand petted the top of her head clumsily. “I know that women don’t enjoy …”

“Who on Earth told you that?” She chuckled lowly and then ran her tongue along the thick vein on the underside of the shaft.

“Eilidh never wanted to …” His voice broke off on a whine. “She said it was only something that some women did because it was required.”

Cat rolled her eyes at that; as if she would do anything for a man because it was required of her. On their first night together Alex had told her that no act between them was necessary but he would like it if she would at least attempt something before she said no. Thankfully she had enjoyed everything they had done, blowjobs being her particular favourite.

“Then clearly she’s never been with anyone who showed her how to make it fun for everyone involved. I really must talk to this girl one day.” With that she gently sucked the head of him into her mouth, savouring the musky smell and slightly bitter aftertaste of his fluids. “Unless of course you didn’t enjoy it last time.”

She would be disappointed if he decided that this was somehow against his strict morals or if it was just something that he found distasteful, but she wasn’t the kind of girl to push someone into something they didn’t want. She would just have to eat a lot of bananas and cucumbers if that was the case.

“I … I please,” he said, one of his hands moving from her shoulder to rest gently on the back of her head. “If you’re sure.”

BOOK: Redemption (Red Dragon Book 1)
4.95Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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