Chapter XXV Dog Years （Lena）
XXV
Dog Years
(Lena)
I’m coming apart.
Threadbare.
Torn at the seams.
Everything I’ve kept inside for so long—since before Brady, since Harry and his filthy videos ruined my life once—comes gushing out in one ugly wail, and there’s nothing I can do to stop it.
The dam has broken, and I’m being swept along the current.
So many emotions. So many feels bombarding my heart like diving birds, but none bigger than his rough, naked confession.
Brady Pruitt loves me.
Holy hell.
The words don’t feel real, but when he says it, when he calls me the love of his life—
Eek!
I’ve never seen the kind of sincerity written on his face. And even though there’s a camera going, still filming this moment for the world to see, he’s talking directly to me.
Woman, how can I ever win you back?
Doesn’t he know?
Doesn’t he realize he already has?
He didn’t need to go out of his way to do it, either, because I forgave him the minute I walked through the door.
I can’t stay mad at a man who went out of his way to save me from a monster. You don’t go off on a knight when there’s a dragon at his feet, thrashing and almost slain.
But it’s too much for words. Too much for anything coherent.
I’m not sure if I jump up first or if Queenie beats me to it.
I just know I’m almost airborne as I launch across the room and throw myself at him.
His arms snap closed around me just in time.
It’s like we were never ripped apart.
His embrace feels warmer and more familiar than coming home.
I don’t care how crazy that sounds.
I also don’t care about a million online strangers watching us, never mind Luis.
The only thing that matters as I pounce on him, clinging to his neck, is the wall of man under me. The handsome beast who tucks me against my chest with such huge, strong hands that aren’t steady.
“You . . . you never lost me,” I whisper before reaching up to kiss him.
Sticky as sin and sweet as longing.
His hands frame my face, fingers wavering until he presses them to my temples, smoothing my hair.
His smile could rival the stars.
But my mouth says everything silently. I don’t have words, and this kiss will have to do.
I’m here, Brady.
I missed you so much.
And yes, I love you.
“Didn’t know if you’d ever forgive me,” he says with a guttural laugh as he pulls back.
“You donut!” I whack him playfully on the shoulder, laughing and crying simultaneously.
Harry Jay hasn’t won a damn thing.
He can’t, not when I’ve got Brady Pruitt on my side.
So, I bury my face in his neck, inhaling his masculine scent and just breathing until Luis clears his throat.
“Live stream ended,” he tells us, breaking new limits in human awkwardness.
“If that doesn’t get you guys some relief, nothing will.
” He coughs and shakes his head, smiling.
I get the distinct impression he’s almost as emotional as we are.
“But I’ll leave you guys to it. I’m sure you have a lot of talking to do. ”
“Yeah and not for your ears. Shut the door on your way out,” Brady orders.
I laugh too hard, reaching across to where Queenie snorts. She’s trying to wedge her wet nose against my face. Her tongue laps at my damp cheeks until I’m in such a fit my belly hurts.
“It’s okay, sweet girl, I’m back. I missed you too,” I murmur, scratching her between the ears.
“It’s really okay.” Brady sounds almost as relieved as I feel. His hand travels up and down my back.
“I’m sorry for running,” I say.
“And I’m sorry as hell for pushing, for lighting him up when I should’ve known better. I should’ve listened.” He kisses the end of my nose. “Are we even, though?”
“Even.” I smile and lean in for another kiss. For a few blissful moments, we’re lost in each other’s arms, kissing like the ship is going down.
“Sass.” He leans back, his sky blue eyes so serious.
“Brady.” I trace the line of his mouth with my fingers, loving how his eyes darken from summer sky to winter storm in seconds.
I thought I was hungry, but I’m nothing against the look in his eyes.
“I have something else.” His eyes brighten even as his mouth stays almost still under my softly moving fingers.
“Talk,” I whisper.
“I love you. Longer and harder than a hundred billion dog years.”
My face screws up.
For a second, I’m sure my heart stops.
I’ve never been great with words unless there’s a lot of swearing involved, but I think I can handle this.
“I love you too. I love you so much.” When I smile, it feels like I’m throwing my whole body into it.
“All I ever needed.” He sucks my finger into my mouth and bites down gently, holding me. From the look on his face, he’d like to do a lot more.
But then he pauses and frowns. Some of the light in his eyes dims.
Oh no.
I know what he’s thinking. The pictures.
The disgusting slop Harry kept waiting all these years. The smut I never should’ve been stupid enough to let him capture on film.
All the ways my naked body has been seen by any creeper in this city willing to take a look.
My body isn’t just his anymore, even when I’m offering my whole heart, and it kills me.
“We’re working like hell on getting them down. Every picture,” he rasps. I don’t know who we means, but I assume he’s got lawyers for days.
“We will. But not now, please.” I press my fingers against his mouth. “Right now, I don’t want to say another word about it.”
“Lena, I just need you to know—”
“I already do. You never give up on me. Even when I totally deserve it.” I replace my finger with my mouth, feeling the fight go out of him. “I don’t want to wait, Brady. This is my body, isn’t it? And I get to choose what I do with it. Today, I’m giving it to you. Harry can’t ever take that away.”
“Fuck no.” His fingers brush my hair back from my face, and his kiss turns greedy.
Until I fell into his arms, I didn’t know if I’d be okay with being touched so soon after feeling so violated.
But Brady makes me feel safe again. He makes me feel loved and sexy in ways I never felt with Harry. Not even once.
And after all this, after it’s said and done, no one else will ever make me feel like I can’t do whatever I want with my body. Right now, I want to offer it to him more than anything.
I’m taking power back, yes.
But I’m also taking back control: my love, my life, my destiny.
“You’re so damn incredible,” Brady mutters against my mouth, and then he’s scooping me up, carrying me through the condo until we’re racing inside his bedroom.
When he drops me down on the bed, I’m still holding on to him.
He grins wickedly as he bends his head to nip at my neck.
My heart pounds, and my skin goes liquid at the feel of his hand sliding under my top.
“I haven’t had a chance to shower since I flew in,” I warn.
“You smell like you, Sass. And it’s driving me fucking insane.” He moves lower, hot tongue descending, drawing a line down my lower belly.
Oh God!
My jitters evaporate with every touch, especially when he hooks his fingers into my leggings and tugs them down my thighs.
Now, we both meet sweet insanity. I’m trembling like I have Brady withdrawals, so close to having the gorgeous man I’ve been denied.
“You okay?” he whispers, his eyes molten.
“Yes,” I whisper back. “Never better.”
Everything he’s doing is a hell of a lot more than okay.
When he goes down lower, lower, and presses his tongue against my folds, hot and wet and torturously slow, I’m instantly torn.
“Fuck, Lena, why do you taste so good?” The way he closes his eyes like he’s in rapture frays my last senses.
My fingers move without thinking, digging at his hair, anchoring myself to his lips for dear life while his tongue demolishes me.
And Brady’s mouth is a masterclass in pleasure.
Every swirling lick.
Every rough suck.
Every hot breath and sugary sting of his teeth.
He grabs my legs and pins me to his face, growling against my center, claiming me like the wild beast he is.
And I just lie there, panting, legs splayed open, his head between them, half naked and wrecked but so relieved that we’ve finally turned a corner.
The worst really might be over.
There’s no uncomfortable ache in my belly anymore. No anxious fear that this is spinning away from us. No more uncertainty.
In this bed with this man, I’m safe and loved.
The thought feels almost as potent as everything his tongue does.
And when he brings me to the brink and stops, teasing me with hot eyes before he sinks a finger into me, my back arches off the bed.
“Holy shit!” I whimper.
“You like that, huh? Sing for me, woman. I’m going to light you up.”
I almost laugh, but it comes out breathless.
“You know I do. And so do you.” I haven’t missed the way his hand disappears, stroking himself.
“Damn right,” he rumbles. “You scared me to hell and back when I thought I’d never taste this tight little pussy again.”
He adds another finger, and his tongue sweeps my clit again.
I’m gasping his name.
“Brady—don’t stop!” Every word scrapes my throat.
“Only if you promise to come for me, Sass. Come fucking wild.” His breath heats my clit again, hot and damp, so teasing it’s almost fatal.
“Brady, please. I just need—” My voice chokes off. I don’t know what I need except for him to bring this home.
The way he smiles and drags his tongue over my swollen pussy says he knows that better than I do.
Then the tip of his tongue flicks my clit, followed by the searing pressure of the flat of his tongue. Sensations merge like black magic.
“You ready to give it up? To remind me what I’ve been missing too many lonely nights?” His voice reverberates, shaking me to my core.
“Yes. Yes!”
“Come for me, Lena.”
I’m a lot of things right now. A messy bundle of too many feels to describe, but I’m not disobedient.
The moment he commands, my body obeys with delight.
I fall down and shatter, split into a thousand sharp pieces, ripped apart by a white-hot tsunami so strong it strips my soul away.
Coming!
It’s never been like this before, this iron grip of velvet that wrings me out.
Blame it on love, sending me into a new zone.