Chapter 6 #3
He climbs off the bed and brings me with him, making me giggle at his haste to feed me again. We make a quick stop in the adjacent bathroom to clean up and then go downstairs into the kitchen.
Erik prepares a delicious meal of salmon and steamed vegetables for me to enjoy. I appreciate the care and attention I receive. The afternoon is surprisingly relaxed again; we watch a movie together until it’s time for one more feed.
I feel boneless, warm, and trembly in the most grounded way.
A soft sound escapes me before I can catch it. He gathers me into his lap, one hand cupping the back of my head, the other steady on my thigh.
“Easy,” he murmurs. “Breathe.”
I do. Because I trust him. My body reacts to his voice with the same certitude as it does to physical contact. The heat pools again beneath my skin, which is different this time.
Wanting, sharp, and dizzying. I lift my head. “Erik…”
He reads the shift instantly. His thumb brushes my lower lip. “I’ve got you.”
He tugs me into our bathroom, where he strips me, turns on the shower, and personally bathes me, paying attention to my breasts and staying out of the line of spray.
When he rubs a soaped-up hand between my legs, I groan. I have needed to come all day. A smile tugs on the side of his lips when he hears that moan escape my mouth as he runs his palm up and down across my clit.
“Needy little thing, aren’t you?" he exclaims, realizing my predicament.
"Please, Erik,” I say, but he removes his hands, making me stick out my bottom lip in protest.
“Tuck that lip away, little one. There is not enough time for me to do what I want to do to your body and claim you. So, you are going to need to get your lovely little ass out of the shower now so I can dry you, and get ready for dinner.”
“So bossy,” I say petulantly, which earns me a slap on the bottom. I don’t know where it comes from, but I say, “I’ll be obedient; if you touch me, I promise,” in a singsong voice.
Heat flashes in Erik’s eyes, and before I realize it, he turns off the tap and backs me up against the shower wall.
“What did you say?” he growls down in my ear.
“I said you’re bossy,” I tell him, pushing him further to the edge of his restraint.
It’s the right answer because he picks me up, so I’m forced to wrap my legs around him as he lines himself up and pushes into my open wetness.
My back hits the shower wall with a slap, and my breath is knocked out of me as I feel myself stretch around him and his tongue invades my mouth.
I am overwhelmed by the sensation of him, the taste of him, the contact of him against the interior of my walls, and my damp skin adhering to his clothing as Erik begins to thrust into me, fulfilling the desire I have yearned for all day.
He thrusts into me a few times before I am overwhelmed and surrender to him. My body tightens and spasms around him as I pull away from his mouth to scream his name and tip over the edge of oblivion.
My pleasure pulses around him, pushing him to his quick release, and he comes deep inside of me, heaving and pressing into my wet body. We pant and cling to each other, our passion hot and simmering.
We stay like this as we catch our breath, until Erik hikes me up a bit higher in his arms, still inside of me, to look into my eyes. “I needed that,” I sigh cheekily as I grin at him. “I thought you liked being called Bossy,” I say playfully.
His lips pull into a quirky half smile as my face looks bemused, and he replies, “I didn’t know that either until the words were out of your mouth.”
“It was hot.”
“You made me break my plans; I was going to save you for this evening.”
“You can have me this evening too. I was desperate, Erik; I needed you.”
“Come on, let’s get us both dry and dressed to prepare dinner." Erik edges out of me and lowers my feet back to the floor.
He strokes my spine in slow, grounding sweeps. “Talk to me.”
I blink up at him, raw and full in ways I don’t have words for. “I… don’t know how to do this.”
“Do what?”
“Be wanted like this. Be… cared for.” My breath shakes. “I keep waiting to mess it up.”
His hand cups the back of my neck, warm and firm. “Claire. You don’t earn this. You receive it.”
A tear slips before I can stop it. He wipes it with his thumb.
“Tell me the part that scares you,” he says softly.
I swallow. “That if I rely on you… I’ll lose myself.”
His brow furrows gently, not offended. “You won’t lose yourself. You’ll grow into this like anything else in life.” He nudges his forehead to mine. “You’re still Claire. This, what we have together, is a partnership.”
My breathing hitches. “You make it sound simple.”
“It is,” he says quietly. He presses a kiss to my temple, slow and deliberate.
“I’m not letting you go,” he murmurs. “You’re mine; we fit together, and you’re safer in my world than outside it.”
I grip his shirt. “I believe you.”
“Good.” His lips brush my hair. “Then rest. I’ll run the security scan again in an hour.”
My eyes widen. “Another alert?”
“Don’t worry about it.” His voice softens to something lethal. “That’s my job.”
I exhale, sinking into him, warmth spreading through my chest emotionally.
I close my eyes. And for the first time in years… I feel at home.