Текст книги "Fable of Happiness book three"

Автор книги: Pepper winters

сообщить о нарушении

Текущая страница: 17 (всего у книги 24 страниц)

OceanofPDF.com

OceanofPDF.com

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

IT TOOK A COUPLE OF days for Kas to agree to the YouTube gala.

I didn’t push him or convince him either way.

This was his choice.

He couldn’t have any doubts or regrets—regardless of what decision he made.

I knew how hard it would be to share everything he’d endured. He’d hated me talking about his past with the doctor when we first arrived from the valley. He’d not opened up to Josh, his therapist, or anyone else apart from me, even though Joshua popped round regularly, and his therapist was there for that exact purpose.

Josh and I had always been quite close for siblings, but ever since I’d returned home, he’d been a regular overstayer. Often bringing around takeaways to share, just swinging by to chat, and other lame excuses that involved him hanging out for a bit.

He said it was because he’d missed me so much that he was making up for all the lost visits while I was gone. But I knew the truth. He still wasn’t sure about Kas. I’d catch him watching Kas with narrowed eyes, his thoughts turbulent about his sister shacking up with a wild man.

But anyone who had eyes could see that Kas was a gruff, dangerous-looking package wrapped around a gentle, kind-hearted soul. The man who’d thrown me in the basement, locked a chain around my ankle, and tried to strangle me more times than I wanted to remember was now as dead as the corpses left behind in the valley.

Every day that passed, I saw more and more of the boy who’d offered himself up for a sacrifice to protect his Fable brothers and sisters. He had a quiet, watchful side. A large guardian who could become violent in a second if he believed I was threatened but also be so vigilant and protective.

He lived to make me happy. His vegetable garden flourished. My house had never been so clean and tidy. And even though he preferred to stay inside than venture with me into the large world he still found overwhelming, he was happy.

He kept himself busy.

Most of the time, I found him in the kitchen, using ingredients he’d long since run out of and trying new spices that he’d never heard of. He didn’t sit around in self-pity or nurse a blackened soul full of hatred. He was truly awe-inspiring, reminding me to always be grateful because I had it so incredibly lucky. He taught me to always be present and enjoy the little things. Things I’d taken for granted before I met Kas. Things like a comfy couch to snuggle up on, a fireplace to keep us warm, and the touch of a man who still wore scars and ghosts but could somehow touch me with such reverence and passion.

This morning, as I was getting ready to make my weekly trip to the supermarket, Kas had grabbed me in a hug and squeezed me tight. I’d squeezed him back, inhaling the rich earthiness that always seemed to follow him from the constant tweaking of his vegetable garden, along with the scents of masculine comfort.

My body came alive. My nipples hardened. I grew wet.

He only had to touch me, and I wanted him.

A piece of my heart ached as I stood in his arms.

Just because I’d learned not to push him didn’t mean that sleeping apart had become any easier. It hurt to hear him cry out sometimes in his sleep. To hear the back door click closed and know he’d gone to sleep under the stars from a particularly bad nightmare.

I wanted to help him. To hold him when he dreamed of painful things.

But it wasn’t a simple matter of asking him to join me in bed.

I understood his fear of hurting me again. His meds were helping keep his mind from deep, dark places, and the therapy sessions seemed to assure him that he wasn’t alone in the feelings he still had to work through, but he still didn’t trust himself.

Until the day came that he unequivocally knew he wouldn’t wake up killing me, he would continue sleeping at a distance from me.

I didn’t care if it would take him a year to feel comfortable sharing my bed. I had time. I wasn’t going anywhere.

I loved him.

It was that simple.

Pulling away, he’d smiled and kissed me.

The kiss evolved until our hands were in places that would definitely lead to a delayed supermarket visit, but he’d stopped before we went too far, inhaling hard as if it took courage he didn’t truly have.

“I’ll go to the gala,” he murmured, his fingers sending fire over my cheek as he tucked a strand of hair behind my ear.

“Are you sure? There will be a lot of people there. It will be loud and crowded and—”

“Are you trying to talk me out of it?” He smirked, stress tightening his eyes. “Because it’s been a fucking hard decision to make.”

“No.” I cupped his cheek. “I just want to make sure you know what you’re signing up for. There will be more people there than you’ll be comfortable with. We don’t have to do it now. We can wait—”

“But you said it would help others, right? It will give a voice to those still missing, still hurting?”

I nodded, my heart breaking all over again at his selflessness. His need to protect others like him. “Yes. This platform is the perfect opportunity to reach a massive audience. It’s not news that children are trafficked, but hearing it from someone like you might make more people take notice.”

He bit his bottom lip, sucked in a heavy breath, and wedged his forehead to mine. “In that case, how I feel or what I’ll go through in such a big crowd is irrelevant. At the end of the night, I get to come back here with you. I get to lock a door and be in a safe space where no one can touch me against my will. No one can starve me or beat me.” His voice thickened with rage and grief. “So...this gala isn’t about me at all. It’s about them. It’s about those kids who don’t get to lock a door, or don’t get to have a hot meal, who don’t get to sleep safely without bastards breaking them apart.”

Tears stung my eyes. “You’re incredible, you know that.”

He cleared his throat and kissed me. “No. I’m not.” His lips moved over mine before he murmured into my mouth. “I’m only able to share a piece of myself because I have you. And because I have you, I will do whatever it takes to help others like me. Because you taught me how.”

I leaped into his arms.

And my supermarket trip had been delayed because I couldn’t stop myself.

He was so damn brave. So selfless to share his pain in order to help others. We’d ended up naked on the couch, me spread over his legs, riding his lap while his hands latched around my hips.

The way he’d filled me so deep.

The heat of his skin and the shudder of his body as he came—

“Watch where you’re going, will you?” a snooty woman snipped as I accidentally bumped her cart with mine. My daydream of what’d happened this morning rudely vanished, dropping me back into the brightly lit, grocery-laden shelves of my local store.

“Sorry,” I mumbled, darting away and heading toward the checkouts.

While waiting my turn, I logged into my emails and brought up the details about the gala. With trepidation in my heart and hope in my fingers, I typed that Kas had agreed and that we would be attending this weekend.

Pocketing my phone, I placed the food items on the conveyor belt, cursing the small bubble of fear in my belly. Kas was doing this for others like him. I knew he still felt guilty that the family he’d done his best to save had ended up right back in hell. He wasn’t the type of guy to let Jareth hunt everyone down without offering support.

But...is he mentally stable enough to do this?

To be in a large group of people?

To speak in front of cameras and be confident enough to endure the inevitable ridicule?

I honestly didn’t know.

And that fear kept me company all the way home.

* * * * *

“Kas?” I carried groceries through the front door, glancing around the empty living room and kitchen. “Are you here?” Dumping the bags by the sink, I made another trip out to the secondhand car I’d purchased a couple of weeks ago.

I missed my Jeep.

Eventually, I’d have to arrange to get it towed out of the national park. And if that wasn’t possible—because let’s face it, I’d left it in a rather tricky spot—I would get another key cut and make a trip up there with a new battery to collect it myself.

Kas could come with me.

How would he feel about returning?

Would he regress after seeing the shell of what was left of Fables? We’d seen pictures of the fire-ravaged mansion thanks to a local news crew that’d flown over the ruins and done a piece on the firefighting team that’d successfully prevented a massive forest fire. Their reporters had researched and linked Fables to the recent news reports on Kas’s reappearance and the current investigation as police tried to track any family and the Fable syndicate who stole young kids.

Kas’s tale wasn’t often on the news after the first few days of interest, but it still circulated online among my fans. They still hounded me for Kas to do a survival video or even a simple Q&A so they could hear his story.

People were interested.

The buzz was still huge.

The gala would only add to it.

Stepping back inside, I kicked the front door closed with my foot and carried the last armful of food to the kitchen. “Kas?” I peered outside, checking to see if he was tending to his garden.

Nothing.

Huh, that’s odd.

He wasn’t exactly at the stage of going off on his own. He didn’t even carry his own key to come and go even though I’d cut one for him. He’d left it on the side table, stating he wasn’t ready to join the chaos just yet.

I’d wanted to ask him why he wasn’t ready. Was it the masses of people? The loud sounds, big stores, and overwhelming insanity of everyday life that society had become immune to? Or was his mind not as stable as he made me believe?

His whiteout moments were getting less and less. He’d stopped taking as many pain meds for his headaches. And the times when I did catch him staring into space, only to shake his head and blink at me blankly, were rare.

His memory stayed intact.

His overall demeanor remained levelheaded and calm.

But maybe there was something he wasn’t telling me.

Where the hell is he?

“Kas? Everything okay?”

I strolled down the hallway, peering into my office and climbing room. Nothing. Picking up speed and heading to my bedroom at the end of the hall, I glanced into the main bathroom and slammed to a stop.

“Oh, my God.” My hands flew to my mouth. Shock almost made my knees give out as I drank Kas in. “What...what are you doing?”

He didn’t look at me, glowering at himself in the mirror and hacking away at his long, ruffian hair. His hands operated the kitchen scissors as if they were a hack blade, chopping off sections of uneven strands and scattering them all over the bathroom floor.

I flinched at all the clumps already discarded on the floor by his bare feet. My stomach panged in worry as I inched into the bathroom and dared to reach up, stilling his hand with mine and trying to take the scissors from him, just in case he was sleepwalking.

“Kas?” I studied his dark eyes, trying to see if he was in a nightmare or awake. “Are you...okay?”

Slowly, the manic self-disgust faded from his stare, and his shoulders slouched. Tearing his eyes from the mirror, he ran both hands over his face and gave me a wobbly smile. “Sorry. I had meant to be done by the time you got back.”

“Done with what?” I looked at the scissors in my hand, a rush of sickness filling me. “You weren’t...going to hurt yourself, were you?”

“Christ no.” He shook his head and planted his hands on either side of the sink, staring at himself in the mirror.

“Then what were you doing?”

He sighed heavily, taking his time to reply. Finally, he murmured, “I looked up what a gala is online.”

“Okay...”

“I scanned images of richly decorated ballrooms, champagne towers, and crazy flower arrangements on overly stocked tables.”

“You lived in a mansion. That surely doesn’t scare you. You’re used to decadence. My little house is a downgrade in that area.”

He cleared his throat. “It’s not the setting that made me panic.”

“Is it the thought of so many people? Of being open about what you endured?” I leaned against the vanity and faced him. “If it is, I get it. I was wondering if it would be too much for you. As lovely as the offer is and the potential donations you could earn would undeniably cause positive change, it’s not worth it if it makes your past haunt you or your concussion to have a relapse.”

His hand came up as he cupped my cheek. His eyes swirled with emotions I couldn’t decipher as he bent and kissed me. “It’s not that, Gem.”

I kissed him back. Tasting his tongue with mine, wishing I could erase all the horror from his soul.

Slowly, he pulled away and took the scissors from me. I tried to hold on to them, but he just added pressure and showed me just how powerful he was, how strong he was beneath the kindness he showed.

“It’s me they’ll be afraid of.” He shook his head, his hand fisting around the scissors, waving them at his reflection. “Those pictures online showed women in sparkly gowns and men in black tuxedos. Each one was clean-shaven, groomed, and polished.”

My heart squeezed as I understood instantly. “Just because you don’t look that way doesn’t mean you have to change.”

“I know.” He scowled at his reflection, studying his beard and tangled long hair. The way it cascaded over his shoulders and hung in sheets around his face looked like armor. A shield that’d been hacked and damaged, a barrier that kept him removed from the world, kept him part animal, granting him the strength of the bears he used to live with and the predators who stalked his valley.

“No one expects you to look like a guy who works in a boring office all day, Kas.” I touched his arm. “They’re going to the gala knowing that you have a tale to tell. Your appearance only corroborates that tale.”

He sighed again, his eyes dancing over his face. “But what if I don’t want to be that tale anymore?”

“Then you do whatever it is that you want to do.” I wedged myself between him and the vanity, making his chin drop to look at me. Cupping his cheeks, I whispered, “Long hair, short hair, beard or no beard, I will love you. The question is...what will make you love yourself?”

His head tipped down, his lips pressing to mine.

He inhaled as his tongue licked the seam of my mouth, slipping into me, enticing me into a deep, sensual kiss.

I sighed and puddled against him, looping my arms around his neck, willing to go wherever he led. Pulling away a little, he murmured, “I think...a part of me let my hair get this long and never shaved—even though there were scissors and razors at Fables—because I wanted to be as repulsive as I could.”

My heart broke all over again. “So no one would find you sexually attractive?”

He nodded and pressed the lightest kiss to my lips. “As slaves, we were forced to shower after every guest, to shave everywhere, to wear perfume and aftershave and present ourselves in whatever outfit the guests requested. By the end, we all despised hygiene because it meant we were desirable. We often joked in the dorm that we’d find a way to smear ourselves in animal shit so the guests wouldn’t want to touch us.”

I snuggled into him, pressing my cheek against his chest. His heart pounded beneath my ear. There was nothing I could say, so I just held him while he shared another piece of himself.

“When I lost my memory for those five years, I still shaved and trimmed my hair. I’d smashed the mirrors by that point, but I did it by feel, some part of me doing its best not to become completely wild. But when my memory came back...that was when a lot of my coping mechanisms came back to haunt me. I didn’t bathe for a full month. I was proud of my stench. Each month, as my hair grew longer and my cheeks itched with a thicker beard, I was fucking grateful because it was an armor against ever being used again.” He sucked in a breath and squeezed me tight. “Eventually, I returned to washing myself—mostly because I took to swimming in the river a lot. I found I wasn’t successful in hunting if I didn’t wash regularly. My prey could smell me coming.” He chuckled. “So, you’re lucky you found me with just long hair and not a body odor that could clear out the entire valley.”

I looked up and smiled. “You’ve always smelled delectable to me.”

His nose wrinkled. “I’ve always wondered about that.”

“About what?”

“I went out of my way to be unappealing. Yet you...you saw past all that. How...eh, why did you find me attractive when we first met?” He shrugged. “Not only was I your enemy but I wasn’t exactly the type of man you were used to—judging by the preppy guys on TV.” His voice thickened. “I know I forced you to pleasure me those first few days, but I...” He licked his lips as shyness filled his tone. “I wanted you so much, Gem, and I...I knew you wanted me back. I knew you were...interested.”

With my eyes locked with his, I reached around and squeezed his hard ass.

He jerked, his hips pressing against mine, pinning me against the vanity as desire darkened his gaze.

“You could’ve looked like bigfoot, Kas, and I would’ve still been attracted to you. I’ve never been more attracted to anyone in my life.”

“Yeah, but why? Why did you want me when I did my best to be anything but wantable.”

I pulled him into me again, rocking my belly against this thickening cock. “Because our connection isn’t skin deep. I’m a firm believer that when you meet the one, it’s not the cells that make up our body that sit up and notice, but our soul. I felt you inside me—not just inside my heart but bigger than that. You were familiar and new, scary and safe, mine the moment I met you.”

“Fuck.” His head came down, and his hands landed on either side of my hips, holding the vanity as he pulsed his erection against my stomach. “I feel you inside me too.”

We kissed chastely to start, soft and sweet, breath and heat, but then his mouth opened wide, pouring every emotion out of him into me.

He kissed me the entire time he unzipped my hoodie, yanked it off my arms, and pulled my T-shirt and sports bra over my head. I kissed him back as I shoved his T-shirt up his carved, scarred chest and waited impatiently as he pulled it over his head.

We fell on each other again as we fumbled out of our pants. I tore my leggings and panties down while he unbuckled his belt and unzipped the jeans I’d bought him on my last shopping trip.

Kicking the last of our clothing away, he grabbed me around the waist and lifted me onto the vanity. Spreading my legs with his hands on my thighs, he looked down at my nakedness.

His jaw clenched. “Fucking hell, you’re stunning.”

I dropped my stare to his stiff cock, proud and heavy between his legs. “Likewise.”

He tracked my stare, looking at himself and the faint silvery lines on a part of his body that should never have known such abuse. His shoulders stiffened, and he sucked in a harsh breath. Reluctantly, his right hand moved until it curled around his erection.

He trembled as he fisted himself. A slight sheen of sweat glittered on his chest. Trauma and pain demanded he stop.

My heart hurt just imagining the conditioning inside his head, all the brainwashing he’d undergone since he was just a kid, having a part of his body taken away from him by monsters.

“Kas...” I wrapped my hand around his on his cock, jolting a little at how hot and hard his flesh was. “You don’t have to—”

“I know...” His eyes met mine. “But I want to.” He swallowed a black chuckle. “Jareth was right that my cock is one of my biggest triggers. Don’t exactly want to bring him into this moment, but he does have a valid point.”

Ever so slowly, I removed my hand from his, leaving his fingers wrapped tight around his erection. For a long moment, we didn’t move. But then a groan built in his chest as he pumped his hand, just once.

His shoulders rolled as more sweat broke out.

I wanted to intervene. To help. To get on my knees and bring him pleasure instead of watching him quake in pain. But...if this was him healing, then I would do whatever he needed. I would do whatever he asked if it gave him peace.

I licked my lips as he pumped his erection again, his face strained and eyes black with ghosts. “You’re with me. Only me,” I murmured, spreading my legs wider, giving his mind something to focus on.

His gaze locked between my legs as his left hand found my wetness. Biting his bottom lip, he slipped a powerful finger inside me. I gasped, arching my hips to give him better access, letting him touch me however he wanted.

His right hand slowly found a rhythm. Up, down, squeeze. He visibly trembled, and his breath was harsh and irregular, but he didn’t stop. His thumb found my clit, sending pinwheels of need through my blood.

I arched backward, knocking the scissors off the vanity.

The crash of its blades hitting the floor ruined all our progress.

Kas leaped away, his finger withdrawing from my body, his fist letting his cock go. He gulped air as panic rippled over his back.

“It’s okay.” I wriggled toward the edge of the vanity, wanting to drop to the floor and go to him. “It’s all good. Stay with me.”

Holding up his hand, he pressed his palm against my breasts, holding me in place. Pinching the bridge of his nose with his other hand, he bowed his head, long hair curtaining his face. “Stay. Give me...give me a sec.” Breathing hard, he battled whatever phantoms and nightmares crowded his head.

I did what he asked. I stayed where I was, pressing a kiss to his forearm where his bone had fractured all those weeks ago when he fell off the cliff.

He looked up as my lips caressed his skin.

He tried to smile.

His face had gone a grayish pallor, but his eyes were clear once again. “Sorry.”

“Don’t apologize.” I kissed his forearm again.

Pulling away, he ducked and grabbed the scissors from the floor. His forehead furrowed as he stroked the blades, then deliberately placed them into my hand. “Here.”

My fingers closed over them. “Um, thanks?”

He laughed once. “I’m not a hairdresser.”

“Neither am I.”

“But you’ll do a damn better job than I will.” He fanned his long, semi-sliced hair with his fingers. “I’m not cutting it off to fit better into society. I’m not cutting it so people won’t judge me. I’m cutting it because...” He swallowed hard. “I’m cutting it because I don’t need it anymore. I don’t need to hide behind something that was never any protection to begin with. Every time I look in the mirror, I’m reminded of the kid back in the valley. The kid who never got to grow into a normal man. I think...I think it’s time I became that man. I’m ready to become that man.” Tipping my chin up with his finger, he murmured, “I want to become that man for you, Gem.”

My heart fluttered with overwhelming love and pride. “You sure you’re not doing this for me, for the gala, or for the strangers who don’t matter?”

“No.” He shook his head. “I’m doing this for me.”

“And that’s the only answer I need to hear.” I held up the scissors, snapping the blades together. “Come here, sexy caveman, and let me give you a trim.”

He smirked. “There is a catch, woman.”

My eyebrows rose as he walked into me, spread my legs wide on the vanity, and once again grabbed his cock. This time, he didn’t flinch as bad, didn’t tremble as much. Hopefully, each time he touched himself and took ownership of his body, the more his past would fade.

“What are you doing?” I moaned as he angled his cock to my wet entrance and pushed.

I leaned back a little as he mounted and filled me. Slowly, determinedly, slipping inch by inch inside me until we were joined all the way.

Kissing me, he rocked into me. Not an erotic thrust or possessive taking...this was a soft languishing pulse, a barely-there motion that reminded me of waves lapping at the sand. It felt so freaking good. Too good. His body stretching mine, ensuring I was his in every way.

“Kas...” My voice turned breathy as I wriggled for more.

His arm came around me, stopping me from lying back against the mirror and giving up everything to him. “Cut.”

“Excuse me?” My sex haze struggled to understand.

“That’s the catch, Gem.”

I laughed. “You want me to give you a haircut while you fuck me?”

“I want you to slice away my past while I make love to you.” He kissed me, his fingers slinking through my nape to fist a handful of hair. “Do it. Otherwise, I won’t give you a reward.”

I pouted against his mouth. “I guess I won’t be getting that reward then because I’m not going anywhere near you with scissors while you’re inside me.”

“I won’t stop until you do.”

“Then I’ll be a puddle of desire on this vanity forever.”

He chuckled. “Go on...hack away.”

“I’ll hack off an ear if you continue to rock like that.”

A sexy glint appeared in his stare. “You like that?” His hips did a circle, driving his hard length deeper into me.

“Uh-huh.” My eyelids threatened to close as heavy heat and delicious desire filled me. “So, so much.”

His hips stopped, his cock twitching deep in my pussy. He smirked.

I narrowed my eyes, my temper rising a little. “So that’s how it’s going to be, is it?”

He nodded. “You trim, I thrust.”

“You’re determined to go to the gala looking like a wolf mauled you?”

He pressed his cheek to mine, whispering in my ear. “I want to go to that gala knowing that you’re the reason I’m human, I’m healing, I’m happy.”

God, how could I refuse?

It’d been an unattainable goal back in the valley to make this man happy. Having him say I was succeeding? To know I’d be on his arm in a few days, walking through crowds of people who would never know the nightmares he’d overcome....It made everlasting love burst through me.

Without a word, I reached up, grabbed a thick handful of hair, and cut.

I brought the strands to my face as Kas pulsed inside me, his jaw clenched and eyes tight. I kissed the dark mess I’d cut off him, imagining each strand was a nightmare, snipped free, thrown away, never to be wanted again.

“Jesus,” he groaned, thrusting as deep as he could. “Why does that turn me on so much?”

I shuddered as my pussy rippled around his intrusion, tipping the handful of his hair to the floor. “Because I love you.”

He kissed me.

Hungrily.

Messily.

Reverently.

“Fuck, I love you, Gem. More than I can stand.” He filled me again, his hands landing on my hips, holding me still as I reached up and grabbed another handful.

I lost myself to the dance.

A carnal, arousing dance where his long hair slowly rained onto the floor and our bodies clawed to get closer. Chunks of longer hair dangled by his jawline while shorter areas stuck out the side of his head. If I didn’t know him, I’d say he was a patient who’d run from some insane asylum.

But I did know him.

I knew every dark, demented, dangerous part of him.

Funny how love could turn ugly into beautiful and pain into utmost pleasure.

My chest filled with soul-deep affection as I snipped the last handful of long hair, watching the strands float to the floor.

Kas’s hips thrust deeper, pinning me against the vanity, ensuring the tip of him reached the top of me.

We shuddered.

His eyes looked past me to his reflection, studying the mess I’d made of his hair, tilting his head at the new look. “You’re not finished yet.”

I nodded. “I’ll tidy it up when my brain isn’t malfunctioning.”

“I make you malfunction?”

I groaned, dropping the scissors to the floor as my hands latched onto his powerful shoulders. “You steal every thought in my head, Kas, especially when you’re inside me.”

“Then I better replace every thought with me then.” Bending his head, he nuzzled into my neck.

I shivered.

He sank his teeth into my skin.

I jerked in his arms as he wrapped me tight, held me close, and thrust.

His body pounded into mine, switching from sensual to savage in one breath.

I couldn’t breathe as he took me.

The pressure, the speed, the pummelling.

He bit my throat again, sending pain lashing through my blood, activating the pleasure already burning through me. “Come for me, Gem. Come all over me.”

“Oh, God.” I bounced in his arms, my breasts swaying, my skin going slippery with sweat.

He grunted with every thrust, trying to crawl inside me. His face remained buried in my neck, his breath hot, his teeth sharp, his entire body enveloping mine.

And I didn’t have a choice.

He inserted himself into my every thought, feeling, and awareness.

All I heard was him.

Felt was him.

Wanted was him.

An orgasm spindled inside me, gathering speed and strength, spiraling tighter with each and every thrust. His hand wedged between our two writhing bodies, his fingers finding my clit.

“No, don’t—”

Too late.

I’d wanted to surf up the wave.

I’d wanted to hover on the blissful edge before crashing.

But Kas’s masterful touch didn’t just push me off the cliff—it shoved me into the sky, past the stars, and granted me wings as I came harder than I ever had before.

My eyesight went black as my entire body broke apart.

I cried out, most likely screamed, as my pussy milked his cock, and I exploded.

His roar hurt my ears as he followed me.

Slamming into me.

Again and again.

Rough and territorial.

Raw and vulgar.

His release splashed inside me, rhythmical and wet.

It felt like we came for days.

Like we died and were reborn as one.

Our eyes met as we jerked with aftershocks.

Tension throbbed between us.

His hair was a mess.

His lips swollen.

His face as wild as the day I met him.

But then as our bodies slowly calmed and our hearts stopped jackhammering, he smiled.

A rare, stunning smile that held no ghosts, no shadows, or the many, many horrors of his past.

It was a smile full of belonging, of healing, of love.

And I saw our future.

A future that would be hard-won but full of triumph.

A future where he was more than just happy.

He was free.

OceanofPDF.com