Chapter 43
Chapter Forty-Three
It’s impossible not to flinch when Aria’s gaze hits my legs. I shove away the reaction and focus on her. Which I should have been doing, instead of leaving her unattended with her wrists bound.
That was an asshole move. Irresponsible. She could have been hurt. You never leave your partner bound.
It takes work to keep the anger at myself out of my voice. “What can I get you, babe?”
“Nothing.” She bites at her lip and looks down at the blanket. “I think I just need to sleep.”
I carefully move toward the bed. “Do you want me to?—”
“I want you to hold me.”
Letting out a held breath, I reach for her. Wrapping my hand around the nape of her neck, resting my thumb below her chin. “Let me see those beautiful eyes. ”
She blinks slowly, then looks up at me. Those big luminous browns are going to be the end of me.
“Talk to me.”
“I thought I was ready to have sex. I guess I’m not.”
Dropping to my knee in front of her, I reach for her wrists and turn them both over.
“Are these related to what just happened?”
“Yes.”
Protectiveness thrums through my body. “Someone hurt you while having sex?”
Her bottom lip turns in and she pinches it with her teeth hard enough to chase the color out. “I’m not sure I’m ready to talk about this.”
When I lift one of her wrists to my lips and kiss the pulsepoint she shivers.
“Tell me who.”
She shakes her head tightly. “It doesn’t matter.”
Fuck if it doesn’t.
“Does your brother know?”
She freezes, her throat works as she loudly swallows. “God no, he would commit murder.”
He’s not the only one.
I try to breathe through the need for vengeance that’s swirling inside of me. “Did you tell the police?”
Closing her eyes, she sits frozen.
“Sweetheart, did you tell the cops someone hurt you?”
“No.”
Christ.
I stroke my thumbs over her wrists. “Did you get counseling?”
“Yeah.”
Thank fuck.
“What did he do? ”
She quickly pulls her wrists away from me.
Fucking hell. I bound her. I tied her wrists when someone clearly hurt her.
“Did some motherfucker cut you?”
In my heart, I know the scars aren’t from cutting, but somehow that seems less terrible than what I suspect.
Aria rocks back and presses her delicate hands over her face.
Sighing roughly, I drop my head. “You don’t have to tell me. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you. I promise, I will never get rough with you or tie you up again.”
She stops me by putting a hand on my shoulder. “This is my fault. I got carried away. I was so… just really caught up in the moment.”
“We were both carried away.”
When she looks at me this time, there’s a hint of the woman I saw earlier in her eyes. “I can’t explain this pull between us.”
So I’m not the only one. Huffing, I look at the ceiling. “Well, you’re not alone in that.”
I put my hand on her bare thigh, circling my thumb. “I’ve never wanted a woman like I want you.”
She pulls her hand back and squeezes her fist closed. “I’m so sorry. I can’t stop myself from touching you.”
“I don’t mind it so much.”
Her lashes flutter as she blinks. “It’s hard to remember not to touch you because I just want to… I want to feel all of you.”
I swallow my growl. “I haven’t wanted a woman to touch me in forever. But…”
She nods. “I get it. We’re both a lot broken.”
When I stand her eyes follow me. “I want to show you something. ”
I reach for the towel around my waist. “First, I need you to know that it’s not pretty.”
“You were burned,” she says in the softest, most crushing voice ever.
“I was. My thighs are the worst.”
“You don’t have to…”
“I want to. I need you to know why I am the way I am.”
When I open the towel, I let it fall to the floor and hang my head.
I’m a SEAL. I’ve been to war. I’ve done crazy, unthinkable things. But I have never felt more exposed in my life.
The sound of shifting fabric pierces the painful fog inside my head.
Then a warm breath dances over my chest. “Permission to touch you?”
A groan rattles in my chest. “Yeah.”
Aria’s warm fingers, as gentle as butterfly wings touch my collarbone, then slide along my neck, up higher, until the edges of her small nails brush against my scalp.
Keeping her body away from mine, she gently pulls me down until my mouth is in reach. Then she kisses me so softly that something inside of me collapses.
I growl into her mouth. When I reach for her, she leaps up, wrapping her legs around my bare waist. God, she feels good. The weight of her in my arms is perfect. The heat of her wrapping around me feels better than anything I’ve ever felt.
She kisses and kisses me until I take over and devour her.
“Bed…” she whispers against my lips.
I carry her forward and take us down to the cool sheet.
Our kiss deepens, her hands tangling in my hair, my hands gripping her thighs .
Every breath she takes, rubs her tight little nipples against my pecs. The heat of her skin against me turns my body into an amplifier. The air around us pulses with heat.
My cock throbs between us as her legs tighten around my waist.
Neither of us speak as the kiss turns to nips and licks. Hungry exploration, and the exchange of breath.
My hand somehow lands on my discarded wallet. Thank god.
Making room between us, but not breaking the wild tangle of our tongues, I cover myself.
She shivers below me as her fingers tighten in my hair. I break the kiss, to find her ear. My voice is all gravel, my throat tight with emotion. “Are you ready for me?”
“Always.”
Always.
Always.
I close my eyes and push against her tight slit. We both groan as I breach the narrow entrance.
But this time there’s no driving frenzy inside me to pound her. I want to take her slowly. I want to feel her. Fucking feel her skin on mine. To look in her eyes and…
Fear squeezes my heart, making my eyes slam closed.
I want her to see me.
All of me.
Every broken, dangerous, unloveable part of me.