28. Rhett
28
Rhett
I inhaled sharply as I watched Everly step into the shower after me. As soon as the hot water hit her, she let out a satisfied moan and tipped her head back, letting it cascade over her hair. Her skin was still covered in a mix of JJ’s blood and grime from our trek through the woods and tunnel, but that didn’t detract from her beauty. Nothing ever could.
Jesus, Ev. I dragged my gaze over her naked body, wondering how I got so lucky. She was so fucking gorgeous, her long hair clinging to wet skin, her body a masterpiece of curves and soft, glistening lines just begging to be traced. Pure fucking art.
Perfect.
The night I met her, I knew my obsession with her would grow, and it had, consuming me until the thought of losing her made me want to fucking die.
It was beyond obsession, really. I’d lost my damn mind over her. Become totally fucking unhinged, willing to kill anyone and everyone if it meant keeping her safe. Even if it meant I had to lose everything in the end.
My money. My sanity. My life. I’d give it all up for her.
I took a step closer, gaze still skating up and down her gorgeous body. Her pink nipples tightened into stiff buds under the stream, and my mouth practically watered at the sight. I wanted to worship them, take my time laving them until she was panting and begging for it.
With a wicked smirk, I grabbed her by the hips and pushed her backward, pinning her against the tiles. The hungry look in her eyes told me to keep going, so I claimed her mouth with a rough kiss before moving it down to where I wanted it the most right now.
I sucked her nipples into my mouth, one by one, and Ifelt a surge of possessive triumph course through me as she arched against my hold, a soft moan escaping her lips. This was it . This raw connection, the way she surrendered to me, the way my touch made her come undone. She was mine, and I would never, ever let her go.
I pulled away from her perfect tits and knelt all the way down on the tiled floor. Then I brought my face to her pussy, gliding my tongue around her clit.
“Oh, fuck,” she panted, nails digging into my shoulders as she clutched them for stability. At the same time, her lower body rocked forward, urging me onward. “More. Please…”
She really didn’t have to ask for more or say please. Not when she had the sweetest pussy on the face of the planet. If I’d known how good it tasted, I probably would’ve gotten down on my knees the first night I met her at Hollingsworth, ripped her clothes off, and savored every last piece of her for hours.
I swirled my tongue around her clit again, making her moan, and her nails dug in deeper. “Rhett,” she breathed.
“Yes?” I said, looking up at her with a smirk.
Her eyes were filled with naked frustration. “Fuck me. Please. ”
“Patience, princess,” I murmured.
I flattened my tongue, returning it to slide all the way up and down her pussy as I spread her lips with one hand. When I moved slightly upward to lick her clit again, I slipped one finger just past her entrance to tease her, making her legs shake against the wall.
She started rocking her lower body again, silently demanding I slide my finger deeper inside her tight, slick pussy as my mouth licked and sucked at her swollen clit. She was aching with want by now. I could feel it in the way her pussy fluttered and throbbed around my finger, clearly desperate to be replaced with my cock.
“Oh, god,” she murmured. “I’m going to—”
Before she could finish her sentence, I pulled away and rose to my feet. “Not yet,” I growled. “I want you to come on my cock. Turn around.”
Like the good girl she was, she instantly followed my rough command, turning to press her hands against the tiles as she arched her back. I splayed my hands on her ass cheeks, spreading them to admire her ass and pussy before I pressed myself into her, pushing through the warm tightness.
She let out a loud moan, and I brought one hand up and around to her mouth to cover it, just in case someone had randomly decided to wander down to the west wing of Wildercliff. The other hand remained steadily on her right hip as I thrust into her, barely stopping myself from groaning and grunting too. She felt so fucking good. So fucking hot and tight and wet; the perfect place to bury my cock.
“This is all mine,” I muttered through ragged breaths. “All of it belongs to me. All of you. Every moan, every whimper, every breath, every orgasm… mine. ”
“Yes,” she said breathlessly. “Yours.”
“Come, baby,” I whispered into her ear. “Come now.”
My words sent her spiraling into climax, pussy contracting around me in warm, pulsating waves. My own climax followed, exploding together with hers in stunning chaos.
Oh, fuck…
What I wouldn’t give to do this again, and again, and again. And then again. If I died with my cock buried in this tight, decadent pussy, I’d die the happiest man in the world.
I rode out the wave of pleasure before pulling myself free with a grunt, leaning one hand against the wall to support my weight, which suddenly felt ten times heavier. I let my gaze sweep over Ev’s beautiful body again as her chest heaved in an attempt to catch her breath.
Beneath the soft glow of the bathroom light, her pale skin revealed something I’d missed earlier. It had all been hidden by the mix of grime and JJ’s blood; everything that had now been washed down the drain. Bruises shadowed her legs and arms like fading ink stains, and shallow cuts marked her where branches or thorns had caught her during desperate scrambles through the woods.
Guilt ate away at my insides as I took in every last cut, scrape, and bruise. She didn’t deserve any of this. Didn’t deserve an ounce of pain, apart from the sort of pain she enjoyed. But that was another issue; one that had nothing to do with her unwilling time in the Hunt.
Without a word, I reached past her and shut the water off, the sudden silence amplifying the sound of her harsh breathing. I grabbed a towel and gently wrapped it around her shoulders before rifling through my bag for a small first aid kit.
“Sit,” I murmured, nudging her toward the closed toilet lid.
She didn’t argue. Just watched me as I knelt in front of her and started cleaning the small wounds. My hands worked carefully, gently dabbing antiseptic over each scrape, my touch reverent in a way I hadn’t known I was capable of. She didn’t flinch, but every wince—no matter how slight—tightened something painful in my chest.
“I hate seeing you like this. Fucking hate it,” I muttered as I pressed a bandage to a deeper scratch on her knee. “I’d honestly bleed out every last drop from my body if it meant no one could ever hurt you again.”
Everly’s breath hitched. “I know,” she said, voice barely above a murmur. “But I’ll be okay. They’re just cuts and bruises.”
I grabbed another bandage and pressed it over a scratch below her knee. “You’re stronger than anyone I’ve ever met, you know that?” I said, looking up at her. “Bravest girl I’ve ever met too.”
Her eyes softened in a way that unraveled me completely. “You really think that?”
“Of course I do. Don’t ever let anyone tell you otherwise.”
“I don’t know,” she said reluctantly. “Remember the night we met in the tunnel? You said I was just a scared little girl with a Taser. And I think you were right. I am scared. All the time.”
I smiled thinly. “In case you haven’t figured this out yet, I can be a real asshole sometimes. And I was definitely a raging asshole to you that night,” I said. “But listen… part of being strong and brave means feeling fear. There’s no way around that. It’s what you do with the fear that counts.”
Her breath hitched again, her eyes searching my face. “Do you ever feel scared, Rhett?” she finally asked.
“Yeah. I’m scared of losing you,” I admitted, voice going husky. “The thought of it keeps me up all night, every night.”
“I’m sorry,” she whispered.
I rose to my feet, holding out one hand. “You don’t have to be sorry for that,” I said. “You don’t have to be sorry for anything.”
She accepted my hand and stood, her pretty eyes flickering past me to the doorway. “Should we go to bed?”
I lifted a brow. “To sleep, or…”
“You’re seriously ready to go again?” she asked, eyes widening. “Now?”
I chuckled and shook my head. “I’d love to fuck you again, and I definitely could. But I was just kidding. I think you need some rest.”
She nodded. “A full eight hours of sleep sounds like heaven right about now,” she said, stepping over to the bed.
Guilt gnawed at my insides all over again as I watched her settle beneath the blankets. I was such an asshole for how I’d treated her in the past. All I ever had to do was listen to her, but I didn’t. I was arrogant, presumptuous, and careless, and as a result, she’d ended up on this fucking island with her life at stake.
I knew I wasn’t the one who actually brought her here—that was JJ and his father—but still, I could’ve done something to stop it if I’d known the truth about the situation sooner. And the only reason I didn’t know the truth sooner was because… yup. I was a fucking asshole who refused to listen.
I settled into bed next to Ev, one arm sliding under her to pull her closer. She let out a contented sigh and stretched her legs out next to me. “I never thought a plain old bed could feel like heaven to me, but it totally does,” she murmured. “It sure beats a cabin floor. Or the ground.”
“Enjoy it,” I said, stroking her hair. “We can worry about everything else tomorrow. For now… just rest.”
“That won’t be a problem. I’m so exhausted I could probably fall asleep even if I was standing up right now,” she said, smothering a yawn. “I definitely won’t need your little sleep trick tonight.”
I smiled faintly at the memory of our first night in bed together. Before I could respond, Ev spoke up again. “I don’t think you ever answered my question that night,” she murmured.
“Which question?”
“I asked you why you had nightmares as a kid,” she said. She sounded slightly more awake now, and her eyes were flickering with interest. “I don’t think you told me. Or maybe you did, and I missed it because I fell asleep.”
Shit.
I knew this issue would come up again sooner or later. I had to tell her, too. I couldn’t spend my life with her—which I fully intended to do—while hiding such a massive piece of myself.
“I had nightmares because of something that was going on in my life when I was a kid,” I said. “But it’s over now.”
Ev’s eyes flicked to one of the tattoos on my chest—a skull overlaid with crossed blades, the dark ink barely concealing a scar beneath.
“Was it something to do with this?” she asked, gently tracing a finger over the scar. “Or any of the others?”
“Yes.”
She bit her bottom lip and pulled her hand back, suddenly looking chagrined. “Sorry. You don’t have to talk about this if you don’t want to. I shouldn’t—”
I cut her off, bringing her hand back to rest on one of the bigger scars. “It’s fine. I want to tell you, Ev.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah.” I dipped my chin in a nod and sat up straighter, leaning my back against the velvet headboard. “I want to tell you everything.”