A Sinner’s Saint (De Bellis Crime Family #4)

Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

I should have gone to his place. What was I thinking inviting Vin here? He shouldn’t be driving if he’s been smoking, but then again, when is he not smoking? I want to call him, tell him to wait for me to come to him. But it’s already been twenty minutes since he hung up. He’s probably already on the road, and if I call him now, I’d just be adding to the danger of him driving. I think.

This is insane. I don’t know why I asked him to come over. I do know that I want to see him. He left school early. Without a word. Not that he owes me an explanation for his coming and goings. I just… thought I’d see him at the end of the day.

I pace up and down the foyer, waiting for him. When I spot a pair of headlights out on the street, I pull the front door open and run outside. I meet Vin halfway across the yard, throwing my arms around his neck.

“I’m sorry,” I tell him.

His body stiffens and then he relaxes and tugs me closer. “What’s wrong? What happened?” he asks.

“I made you drive here and I shouldn’t have. You shouldn’t be driving if you’re high, Vin. Do you have any idea how dangerous that is?” I step back slightly, keeping my arms around him.

“I’m not high, and you didn’t make me do anything. I wanted to come here.” He smirks. “Were you worried about me, babe?”

“Not at all. I just don’t want to be responsible for your untimely demise.” This time, when I step back and drop my arms, Vin lets go. “Come on, let’s go inside before the neighbours call my parents and tell them you’re here.”

“You know, sneaking around like teenagers is kind of fun.” He laughs.

“We are teenagers.” I turn back and frown at him. I can’t pretend to know what kind of life Vin has led. I know that it’s not all cookies and warm milk after school. People say the eyes are the windows to the soul. And Vin’s? Well, there is a lot of darkness in them.

“Right. Lead the way.” He laughs, but does little to hide the pain I recognise behind his facade.

I take Vin up to my bedroom. When I look around the space, trying to imagine it from his point of view, all I see is a mess. My bed is unmade, my pink-and-white polka dot comforter half off the mattress. The drawers on my white dresser are slightly ajar. I rush over to shut them.

“I’m sorry. I should have tidied up.”

“It’s… not that bad?” Vin says, but it sounds more like a question.

There’s a pile of clothes covering the bedroom chair in the corner of the room and makeup scattered all over the top of my dresser. “It is. But thanks for pretending like it’s not.”

“So, this is you, huh? It’s cute.” Vin spins around, taking in my whole bedroom.

“Where did you go today?” I ask while plopping down onto my bed.

Vin looks away from me, his face closed off. “My brother needed help with something.”

“Vin?”

“Yeah?”

“Come here.” I pat the empty space next to me.

Vin looks from the bed to my face. “I shouldn’t,” he says.

I don’t know what’s going on in his head right now, but I can feel him distancing himself from me with each second that passes. So I push up and walk over to him. “Vin?”

“Yeah?”

“Kiss me as if it’s the first and last time you ever will,” I tell him.

“I thought I already told you there’s never going to be a last time,” he says. His hands cup my face before he brings his lips down onto mine. Gently. He’s always so gentle with me. I don’t hate it.

My arms wrap around his neck, pulling him closer. I already know that he won’t do anything unless I ask him to. I learned that during our first night together. Which means I can’t be shy when it comes to asking him to give me what we both want. “Vin?”

“Mhmm?” he mumbles as his mouth travels across my cheek.

I tilt my head as his lips travel along my neck. “I want you to kiss me…”

“I am kissing you,” he says.

“Not there.”

Vin lifts his face so his eyes connect with mine. “Where? Where do you want me to kiss you, Cammi?”

I walk backwards until I hit the bed. Then I lie across it and lift my knees so that my feet are flat on the mattress. My skirt creeps up my thighs and I know he can see my bare pussy. “Here.” I point between my legs.

“Fuck,” Vin hisses before stepping towards the bed. He drops to his knees, hooks his hands under my ass, and drags my body to the edge. “You sure you want this?”

“I want this,” I tell him. “I want you.”

His shoulders quiver before his tongue licks its way down the inside of my thigh. When he reaches my core, he flicks right up the centre, from bottom to top.

“You’re the best fucking thing I’ve ever touched. I’ve ever tasted,” he says before his tongue pushes into my opening. Circling around.

My head tips back. “Oh god,” I moan as pleasure starts to build in the pit of my stomach. Little sparks igniting all over my body.

Vin moves his tongue, flattening it out over my clit. He licks, sucks, and licks again. His fingers dig into the flesh of my thighs as he holds my legs down.

“Oh shit. I’m going to come,” I tell him. “Don’t stop.” My hands land on the back of his head and he freezes.

He gently grabs my wrists before pinning them against the mattress as he continues to wring every bit of pleasure from my body. I come apart, screaming at the top of my lungs. And Vin… He continues to lick me until I stop shaking.

Then I feel the mattress dip as he climbs on next to me. “You good?” he asks.

“Uh-huh. You?” I turn my head, my eyes connecting with his.

“Eating you out is literally the highlight of my day, babe. No complaints here.” He smiles.

“That’s the highlight of your day?” I repeat.

“You are the highlight of my day.”

I don’t know what to say to that. I can tell that he’s not just saying the words. He means them. “What happened today?” I ask him.

“What do you mean?”

“Something happened. I can tell. You’re… withdrawn.” I roll over, leaning my elbow on the bed to prop my head up on a hand.

“Nothing happened. It’s just family shit,” he says.

“Okay. Vin?”

“Yeah?”

“Why don’t you touch me unless I ask you?”

He looks away, his gaze focused on the blankness of the ceiling. “I should go,” he says.

“You don’t have to.”

“I do.” He glances at me again, and I can see the indecisiveness on his face.

“Vin, kiss me. Please,” I ask him.

He shifts forward and fuses his lips with mine. We lie on the bed, next to each other, kissing. I don’t know how much time passes, but when he pulls back, he looks so fucking sad. “Kissing you is the best high I’ve ever had,” he says.

“Then don’t stop kissing me.” I smile up at him.

He closes his eyes. “I think you might be my personal saint.”

“I’m no saint, Vin. I can’t work miracles,” I tell him.

“But you already have. You just don’t know it.” He opens his eyes to look at me again. “You make it all go away.”

“Make what go away?” I want to reach up and touch him. I want to pull him into me. I don’t. Something tells me not to, so I lie here instead. Still. Unmoving. As my heart beats wildly in my chest.

“The nightmares.” His words are whispered, almost as if he doesn’t intend for me to hear them. Then Vin leans down, kisses my forehead, and climbs off the bed. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Cammi,” he says and walks out the door.

I don’t try to stop him this time. My mind whirls with all the possibilities. Although, when it comes to Vin’s nightmares, I have a feeling my imagination couldn’t possibly conjure up the sort of demons that live in his head.

I get up, grab the towel from the back of my door, and make my way into the bathroom. Where I stand and stare at the shower for five minutes. I know I need to get in, but I’m hesitant to wash his touch from my skin. Eventually I realise just how insane I’m being and step into the stall. By the time I turn off the water, my fingers are wrinkly and the room is filled with steam. I wrap the towel around myself and walk back into my room, pausing when I find Vin sitting on my bed.

“I thought you left,” I tell him.

“What time are your parents coming home?” he asks.

“I don’t know. They just said they’d be back late. Why?”

“I need to sleep. For just an hour or two. Can you lie down with me?” He looks so vulnerable right now.

“Give me your shirt.” I hold out my hand. Am I literally asking for the shirt off his back? Yes, I am.

Without a second thought, Vin reaches behind his neck, tugs the material over his head, and passes the shirt to me. After I slide my arms through the sleeves and let the fabric fall over my body, I allow my towel to drop to the floor.

I climb onto the bed and get comfortable, waiting for Vin to do the same. Then I slide over and rest my head on his shoulder. “Vin?”

“Yeah?”

“If you ever need to just… sleep, I’ll always be available,” I tell him.

“Thank you.” He sighs, and I swear he’s inhaling the top of my head. Is he sniffing me? Thank god I opted for that shower.

When I wake up, I’m alone and still wearing his shirt. I take a deep breath, check the time, and curse out loud. I’m going to be late. How did I sleep for so long?

I tug a clean uniform down from my closet and quickly get dressed before sliding my feet into my ballet flats. Grabbing a hair scrunchie from my dresser, I throw my hair into a messy bun. I don’t have time to apply my makeup. I’ll do it in the bathrooms at school during break.

As I’m running down the stairs, I hear my mum call out to me. “Camile, you need to eat.”

“I’ll get something on the way. I gotta run. Sorry, Mum, I’m late!” I yell back as I open the front door and step out onto the porch. Only to stop dead in my tracks.

Vin is there. In his car. Right out front of my house. I look back at the door. My dad would have already left for work, but my mum is home. I jog over to Vin and lean down into the open window. “What are you doing here?”

“Driving my girlfriend to school. Get in,” he says.

“Girlfriend?” I look up and down the street. “Does this girlfriend know you spent last night in my bed?”

“Funny. Get in,” he tells me again. Then he reaches across the centre console and pushes open the passenger side door.

I climb into the car, plug in my seat belt, and close the door. “You didn’t have to pick me up. But thank you.” I smile at Vin. He stares at me, just stares to the point I feel uncomfortable. “What?” I ask him.

“You are fucking gorgeous. You should lose the makeup more often,” he says and pulls away from the kerb.

“Thank you.” I can feel my cheeks heat up at his compliment.

“Cammi?”

“Yeah?”

“Ask me to hold your hand,” Vin says.

“Vin, hold my hand like you don’t ever want to let go.” I reach across the console, and he entwines our fingers together.

“That’s easy, because I’m never going to let go.”