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  He stopped playing with her hip, wrapped his arm around her waist and stroked her lower belly. She moaned when he slipped his fingers over her clit and caressed her there. Her vaginal muscles twitched and Smiley groaned.

  “I’m going to fuck you again.”

  His words surprised her. He still felt hard inside her. He rolled his hips, almost withdrew from her pussy but then drove his dick back in deep. Two fingers captured her clit between them, lightly tugging. She moaned.

  “So soon?”

  “I’m not like your males.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  Their short nap had been interrupted by a phone call. Smiley had kissed Vanni’s cheek and told her to go back to sleep. He’d been notified of a meeting he had to attend. She’d gotten out of bed the second the front door closed and stood on unsteady feet. Every muscle from the waist down seemed to hurt. She groaned and made it to the bathroom to soak in a hot tub.

  “What do you expect? You’re doing Mr. Fitness,” she muttered when her legs trembled after she climbed out. Her inner thigh muscles burned a bit and her lower ass wanted to go on strike with each step. The bath alleviated her discomfort.

  She bent at the waist to dry her hair and groaned. Her girl parts were fine but she might have strained the muscles in her ass. She finished rubbing her hair and used the counter to help her straighten.

  The image in the mirror made her cringe. Her hair hung in wet, stringy strands and her lips appeared swollen from Smiley’s kisses. She turned away from her reflection and wrapped the towel around her middle.

  “Must work out more,” she muttered, limping to the bedroom. She made it to the bed and just fell over, happy to be off her feet. She stared at the phone on the bedside table and wanted to call Beth. Her friend would laugh at her dilemma. Beth would find it funny but all it did was make Vanni wonder how she was going to hide her discomfort from Smiley.

  The phone rang and she groaned, stretching out to get it in case it was Smiley calling to check on her. “Hello?”

  “Were you date-raped and drugged?”

  She winced, identifying her brother’s stern voice. “Hi, Count. No. It’s not true if you heard that story.”

  “What the hell have you gotten us into then?”

  She tried to think of what to say.

  “Answer the damn question,” he demanded. “Mom and Dad are AWOL and we’re sequestered in a hotel. Of all the guys you had to fuck around with, you picked a New Species? Couldn’t you have had a last fling with a stripper at your bachelorette party like any normal person?”

  She rolled onto her back, gripping the phone to her ear and stared at the ceiling. “Mom and Dad went to the cabin but I’m sure you already guessed that. It’s where they always go.”

  “That’s all you have to say? You wrecked our lives this week. I want answers. What the hell is going on? You’re lucky I didn’t shoot the security team that arrived. We heard something about you holding a press conference and that you’d been victimized by the NSO and then they showed up here, saying we were in danger. You should have warned us what kind of hell was about to rain down on our family.”

  She hated the tears that filled her eyes. She was the baby of the family and had always tried really hard to fly under the radar. Count had every right to be angry. “I’m sorry.”

  “Sorry doesn’t change the fact that you embarrassed this entire family and we’re all paying for it. I don’t even know what to think. What kind of idiot goes to a bar and picks up a stranger? Then you had to do it with cameras rolling so it was fodder for everyone to see. We raised you better!” He cursed. “Knock that off, Mia. I’m talking to her.”

  “You’re being a prick,” her sister insisted from somewhere close to the phone. “Let me talk to her.”

  “I’m not done,” Count insisted. “Couldn’t she have made cooking videos or something if she wanted to be an internet sensation? Fuck no. Our sister has to become an interspecies porn star.”

  “Goddamn it!” Mia yelled. “Give me the phone, barf breath. Did you brush your teeth? Your poor wife. Go find a toothbrush. Do I need to remind you of the shit you pulled in high school? Do your cop buddies know you used to smoke weed? Don’t jump her ass.”

  “She’s not in high school. She’s an adult.”

  Vanni winced. Her siblings were fighting because of her. They were close in age and it could get ugly once they started. The usually mature pair turned into a set of five-year-olds occasionally when they argued. Mia must have won the wrestling match over the phone since Count howled in pain and Mia’s voice came over the receiver.

  “Are you okay, Vanni? Ignore our idiot brother. He didn’t mean any of that. We’ve just been really worried. We’ve heard a lot of conflicting things.”

  Vanni blinked back the tears. “Count meant it. He’s angry.”

  “Okay, so he did.” Mia paused and a smacking sound could be heard. Count cursed. “Stop that. Try to take it again and I’ll scratch the shit out of you,” Mia threatened. “I wasn’t kidding about your breath. You smell like ass. Go brush your teeth.”

  “I’m getting your husband,” Count taunted.

  “Go do that. He’s afraid of my fingernails too when I’m pissed. Try to grab the phone one more time and you’re going to bleed,” Mia warned. “And don’t breathe on my husband. What the hell did you eat?”

  “Please don’t fight,” Vanni urged.

  “Hang on.” Mia slammed a door. “Ha! It’s locked, jerk!” Her voice lowered. “I’m in the bathroom. He wouldn’t dare kick it down. You should see this place they have us staying in. It’s ritzy as hell. The door probably costs more than his beloved rusted piece-of-junk car he calls a classic.”

  “I’m so sorry,” Vanni whispered.

  “It’s done. I just hate that we couldn’t talk to you before. Why were you avoiding our calls over the weekend? What is really going on, Vanni?”

  “I didn’t mean for any of this to happen.”

  “It’s okay. Are you okay? That’s the most important thing.”

  “I am.”

  “How are you holding up? I can’t imagine what you’re going through.”

  “I’m fine.” She wasn’t about to share her sex injuries, which were making her ass and thighs ache. “It’s just been kind of a nightmare with the press and with the Woods Church.”

  “The security team said the Woods Church was a threat to us and that’s why we’re here. I knew that family was shit once I found out who the father was. They are a bunch of lunatics. What did Carl do to you? Did he hit you? I didn’t like that asshole. He was too smooth and controlling.”

  That astonished Vanni. “I thought you liked him as much as the rest of the family did.”

  “I was being nice. I’ve racked my brain thinking why you’d end up getting tanked in a bar and picking up some guy you didn’t know from Adam. I know you too well. Carl either cheated on you or hit you. Which one was it?”

  She couldn’t tell her sister the entire story so she hedged over the main parts but shared how he’d tricked her into going to the convention and the way he’d treated her. “I was done. I didn’t mean for that to happen in the bar but I don’t regret it.” That was the truth. “Smiley is here with me. He’s wonderful.”

  The silence at the other end of the phone connection became uncomfortable. Her sister finally spoke. “Can he hear what I’m saying?”

  “No. I’m alone right now.”

  “Are you being held there against your will?”

  “No.” Vanni sat up and winced, forgetting her soreness. “Smiley is amazing. The NSO is protecting me from Carl’s dad and his crazy worshipers. They are saying I was drugged and forced to, um, you know.”

  “I know. We heard. That’s what I told Count after we watched the news earlier today. You looked happy but scared. I like the way that guy you’re with was so protective of you.”

  “Today?”

  “When the NSO took you shopping. It was all over the news.”