Chapter 35 Donovan
THIRTY-FIVE
Donovan
We get home, and I take Astra upstairs right away.
It’s been a long few days. Hell, it’s been a long fucking week.
But we made it. We’re alive. We’re together.
As sappy as that sounds, I can’t hate it. I can’t hate the way Astra makes me feel.
“My brain is mush,” she says as she shuffles into the bedroom. She’s pulling at her clothing, dropping pieces as she heads for the bathroom. “I need a shower and a bed.”
I chuckle as I follow behind her, picking up the dirty, ruined clothing. I toss it in the hamper, but I need to remember to throw it out tomorrow. For now, I just want all the horrible memories of that night hidden away.
She’s completely naked when she steps into the shower and reaches to turn the water on.
My eyes are glued to her ass, and I don’t even care to hide it.
I strip out of my clothing, tossing it on top of hers before closing the lid of the hamper.
My knife and phone get a place on the vanity next to the sink.
She turns around right as I enter the shower. Steam has already started to fog up the place, but it doesn’t hide the mark on her chest. My blood boils as I look at it.
“What?” she asks, but she must realize what I’m looking at. She gasps, then I feel her fingers on my chest, lightly touching the spot over my heart.
“Shit,” I mutter.
“No,” she says, and there’s a calm in her tone that has me relaxing. “I don’t think it means we’re still cursed.”
“Then what?” I wrap my arms around her, hoping this is a good thing rather than some kind of other shit we’ve got to go through.
“I think…” She traces the lines on my chest again. “I think it connects us.”
“But it’s still that fucking death symbol, or whatever Fabien called it.”
“Right,” she agrees, but there’s still a lightness in her tone. “It’s more like a… magical ’til death do us part kind of thing.”
I snort, then sober when I realize she’s being serious.
“You can’t always take symbols at face value. And I know Fabien knows that, so when he first told you that, he was seeing it as part of a curse. Part of why you were feeling bad, then it probably just stuck since we kept feeling crappy when we were apart for too long.”
“There’s a lot to it, huh?” His brows pull together. “Magic, I mean.”
“Yeah,” she says as she smiles up at me. “I can teach you, if you want.”
I send her a flat look, which only makes her laugh.
“I don’t mean teach you how to do it,” she goes on with a roll of her eyes. “I mean, I can give you enough so you have an understanding about it… about me.”
That doesn’t sound too bad.
“I’d like that,” I tell her as I pull her closer and lean in to kiss her.
We wash as if we have all the time in the world, cleaning ourselves of the shit we went through and kissing to make things better.
It sounds stupid, but having her close heals me in a way I didn’t know I was broken.
Eventually, we’re clean, and her desperate breaths in my ear become too much.
She needs me.
It’s something I can give her right now. To let her know she has parts of me that I’ll never ask to have back.
“Please, Donovan,” she pleads, her doe eyes blinking up at me.
“Anything you need, My Beauty.”
I lift her up and press her back against the marble wall of the shower. Water rains down while steam surrounds us. She rocks her hips, her slick pussy sliding up and down my hard cock. She drags it out, rolling her hips slowly, torturing me.
I kiss her. And kiss her again. I can’t get enough of her.
I pull back just enough for my cock to notch right inside her pussy. I take my time filling her, stretching her to fit me, and savoring every little moan and gasp she sets free.
“Donovan,” she says on a breathy whisper, her nails digging into my back.
I want to consume every part of her and have her consume every part of me. I don’t give a shit if it sounds fucked up, it’s how I feel. It’s what she’s done to me, and I don’t even hate it.
I fuck her slowly, bringing her to the edge just to keep her dangling there. She’s clawing at me and kissing me hard. I know what she needs, but I’m not ready for it to be over.
I kiss every inch of her skin I can reach. She shakes in my hold, and I suck hard on her shoulder. Telling myself that she’s mine barely holds me together right now. I need to see it. I need her to know it. I can’t seem to stop myself.
“Come with me, Donovan,” she says.
For a second, I’m stunned at the authority in her tone. I honestly don’t know what to do with it. But when I pull back to look at her, and I catch sight of her doe eyes blinking innocently at me, I fucking lose it.
If I ever wondered how Astra could handle my world, I don’t have to worry. She can roll with whatever life throws at her and come back swinging when she’s trying to protect people she cares about. She pushes me just enough to let me know she’s not someone who will be walked on.
And, fuck, if I don’t find it so incredibly sexy.
I love her, I know I do. I don’t doubt that for a second. But the thing that does surprise me is how I keep finding myself falling deeper for her.
“Now, Astra,” I say, digging my fingers into her ass as I fuck her hard.
She comes, holding onto me for dear life. I fuck her through her orgasm, and right before her body goes lax, I plant myself deep inside her and fill her with my cum.
Her eyes are closed, but the dreamy smile on her face is telling.
“Take me to bed,” she mumbles sleepily.
I set her on the bench seat in the shower and cut off the water. She hums happily as I dry her off. It’s funny how her lids no longer seem heavy when I take the time to dry myself off. She even smirks as I toss the towel in the direction of the hamper.
I grab my phone and knife, and then scoop her up in my arms. Her head falls to my shoulder as I carry her to bed.
I can’t stop thinking that I’m actually happy for the first time in a long time. She curls up into my side, and I hold her tightly.
This is the first night of the rest of our lives. I want to spend every night this way, crawling into bed with her.
And waking up like I will tomorrow, with her still by my side.
I was stupid to think love doesn’t have a place in my world. That caring for someone means I’m weak.
Astra has quickly become my strength, my reason to fight.
I love her. And I have no regrets.
My phone lights up on the bedside table.
I check to make sure Astra is still sound asleep in my arms. Her chest rises and falls steadily.
Reaching over with my free arm, I grab my phone and unlock the screen.
Seeing the text there brings a smile to my face.
Recovered.
It’s only one word, but it tells me so much.
Rove has found Astra’s mother’s remains. I really do owe him a raise.
I put my phone back down, then place a kiss on the top of Astra’s head.
She’ll be able to lay her mother to rest properly now. I’m glad that worry will be taken off her shoulders.
Now I know for sure that any promise I make to her, I’ll be able to keep.