Chapter 27 #4
My toes curl and my breath catches as my skin grows hotter and pleasure grows more intense.
“Loud how?” I gasp out as he sinks another inch into me.
“Like someone slamming their hands down on a church organ. It didn’t like that you were in pain, I think.
” Braum lets out a low groan. He pumps his hips again, and again, and then again.
“Now? The Universe is weeping in relief as It blesses this, as It blesses us. I’ve never heard It so clearly, Everly. You somehow are amplifying Its voice.”
I bite my bottom lip as Braum bends down and takes my nipple into his mouth.
As he sucks, his hips thrust deeper. I squeeze my eyes shut as pleasure wells up.
It battles shame as I realize I’m not going to be able to fight off the impending orgasm.
It’s gathering slowly but the way it’s coiling tight, I can tell it’s going to be different from any of the others I’ve ever had, and there’s no pushing it off.
Slowly his eyes open. “The next part is going to hurt, Everly. There’s no avoiding it, but it’ll be brief.”
Before I can ask what he means, Braum thrusts his hips forward.
The shearing pain that accompanies the unholy, never-ending feeling of being stretched and filled is unlike anything I’ve experienced before.
I tilt my head back to scream, but Braum’s there—pressing his lips against mine.
The kiss startles me. Or rather, the sweetness of it does.
The kiss distracts me from the pain.
His tongue dives into my mouth with purpose. I’m surprised when his tongue caresses across mine before gently coaxing me to kiss him back.
There’s a burning deep inside of me but it's beginning to fade. With every rock of Braum’s hips, which are growing incrementally faster, a deliciously hot friction starts up—adding to the pleasure coiling tight between my legs.
When Braum’s hand returns to toying with my clit, my blood begins to boil.
Oh god… I groan. Deep inside me, I can feel Braum reaching places no one else has ever been.
He’s carving a place for himself inside me.
And my body is loving it.
I whimper into Braum’s mouth as an inexplicable need grows inside me. With every roll of his hips, Braum’s bringing me closer to the edge he’d chased me off just moments ago with his mouth. My breath quickens as I find myself tentatively kissing him back.
He moans as I respond to his kiss. And then, he applies pressure to my clit.
All the tension that’s gathered explodes. I throw my head back and I cry out as my orgasm consumes me. My pussy convulses around Braum while the rest of me trembles and shakes.
Braum buries his head in the crook of my neck as he stills as he finds his release.
I can feel the heat of his cum as it coats my insides.
Part of me is grossed out, the other feels strangely pleased with myself.
Braum might have claimed me, but now I have a part of him inside me.
I own him too. A tired smile splays across my lips.
I blame the contentment on the daze I’m trapped in.
The comfortable haze has me feeling buoyant and at peace.
“It didn’t work,” Braum whispers against my flesh.
The bliss I’m drifting in shatters. The rising panic in my chest halts, however, when Braum lifts his head to peer down at me.
At once I can tell he’s seeing me and not whatever he’s been searching for.
“This was always Its plan. The Universe is supposed to reside in you.” There’s awe in his expression and reverence in his voice. “That’s why I couldn't lure It back.”
My eyes trace the planes and valleys of his face, searching for clues as to why he’s suddenly so at ease with the idea when just moments ago he was freaking out.
“You’re okay with this? That It’s still with me?”
The relief on Braum’s face softens his harder features.
Without the hard press of his mouth or the contemptuous glare that he normally wears, he looks like a different man.
Since laying eyes on Braum, I’ve always found him deeply attractive but right now, he’s absolutely breathtaking as he basks in whatever inner peace he’s found.
Before answering, he swoops down and kisses me. It’s swift and light, but when he pulls away, he’s laughing joyfully.
“Everly, The Universe brought us together for this very purpose—so that you would come to possess It and Its secrets. Who am I to question it? I should’ve understood right from the get-go.”
I let go of the tension I’m holding onto with a soft sigh. “I’m glad you’re not upset anymore.”
“Upset?” Braum snorts as he bends down and playfully skims his nose down the bridge of mine.
“That’s an understatement. But everything is good now, thanks to you.
I just needed to take a beat and listen, and you forced me to do that.
” He kisses me lightly again before flashing a grin.
“With you by my side, I’m not without the universe.
It simply needs you for something. This—,” he runs a hand down my arm gently, watching the motion with a gentle, reverent smile.
“—gives me access to It. It has told me so much in just these few moments that it’s hard to process, but once I do, I’ll share it all.
You deserve to know these secrets just as I do.
” He laughs breathlessly before adding. “You, Everly Woodrow, are a blessed vessel now. How does it feel?”
It takes a second for his words to process. When they do, bitter laughter bursts from my lips as my chest caves in. I think it’s an adrenaline crash because suddenly I’m alternating between laughter, sobs, and heavy gasps.
“Blessed? I’m blessed ?” I spit out bitterly between the hysterics.
Braum’s smile drops away. His brows creep together in confusion as he watches me. Tears well up and spill down my cheeks. It hurts to laugh and sob, my throat raw from being used and then strangled, but I can’t seem to stop my reaction to his ridiculous claim.
“What’s so funny?” he demands.
It takes a few seconds to tamp down my body’s reaction to what just transpired. Once I’m sure I can talk, I meet Braum’s bewildered gaze and wonder out loud, “I don’t feel blessed, Braum. I feel like I’ve fallen from a fifty-foot drop and smacked into concrete.”
He blinks rapidly, shaking his head a bit as if to clear it, then tears his gaze away from my face to study the rest of me.
The softness of his facial features vanishes almost instantly.
I can see his eyes latch onto my throat before tearing away to look at the rest of my body.
He jerks backward, sitting upright between my legs, his mouth opening in alarm.
“Fuck!” He gasps, leaping to his feet as he stares wide-eyed at my body, seeing it clearly for the first time.
My bitterness dissolves as concern returns.
“Braum?”
“I didn’t realize…” His voice trails off as he continues to stare.
He stumbles back, hand going to his stomach. The color leeches from his face, causing it to go ashen.
Afraid whatever peace he found is about to shatter, I reach out to him. “Hey, look, you just needed a little guidance. It was rough at first but then?—”
Braum doesn’t let me finish, he turns and rushes into Rowan’s room.
Well, so much for keeping him calm. Whatever he saw, it must’ve been really bad.
Judging by how I feel, I have a good idea what I’ll find once I take a look at the damage.
Bracing myself, I sit up slowly—wincing through the aches—and look down.
Scratches and red fingerprints litter my skin, and when I reach up to touch my throat, it’s angry and raw.
Smeared along the inside of my thighs is bright red blood and traces of Braum’s cum.
Crap. I’m a mess.
But you’re alive , a small voice in my head says.
Gingerly, I push myself off the couch and get to my feet. I need to shower and change. I don’t get but a few feet away from the couch when Braum returns, his expression hard and something white in his hand.
I make a move to step around him as he approaches, but he grabs my arm, forcing me to stop.
“Hold still, let me help you.”
“Help me how— Oh !” I gasp as Braum drops to his knees.
“Spread them.”
Heat rushes up to my face, but I do as I’m told. The moment my legs part, Braum’s there wiping a hot, wet washcloth over my skin and between my legs.
“Braum!” I yelp. “What are you doing?!”
I shiver as the cloth slides over my clit and between my folds. There’s an ache, but the warmth is soothing. The gesture is so wildly intimate—maybe even more so than what transpired on the couch—that instinctively I try to step back.
“Don’t move,” Braum orders. “I’m cleaning you up. I can’t believe I was so careless.”
Braum Milligan is cleaning me up ? The idea seems so absurd given how crazed he was when he first burst in here.
But he’s not off his rocker now. There’s a calmness to him that wasn’t here a few minutes ago.
It’s like he really did find some sort of peace while he took me.
His expression is pinched with concentration and concern as he works.
He must feel me looking at him because he glances up.
“I’m sorry, Everly,” he says. “It never should’ve come to this. I should always be in control of myself, no matter what.”
The apology comes out stilted, as if he’s never actually said the words before. But he holds my gaze as he says it, and there’s solemnity in his words. With a nod, he goes back to gently wiping the warm towel between my legs.
It's weird. Just a few minutes ago, I was terrified of Braum. He was in the process of strangling me, after all. Before that—while sitting in that stupid cage for hours—I was resentful toward him and Rowan. Since I’ve arrived, the kings of Serenity Falls have been the catalyst for some messed up shit.
But right now? My heart is softening toward the man on his knees currently wiping up the mess he created.
His touch is soft, his regret genuine. I’ve seen Braum in charge and cocky, and I’ve witnessed him full of contempt.
But I’ve also seen Braum Milligan scared out of his mind, vulnerable and broken.
It was me that put him back together. And now… I’m seeing a softer side of him.
A side I actually kind of like.
“I forgive you,” I whisper.
Braum pauses to look up at me. There’s a moment where we simply stare at one another. My heart flutters as something deep and smoldering climbs into those dark brown eyes of his.
“There’s this saying, ‘it was written in the stars’,” he replies. “But you and me? Our fates were intertwined before the stars were even created. We are inevitable, Everly. I cannot treat you like this again if we’re to last. Thank you, for your forgiveness.”
The sincere, nearly tender way Braum says this is disarming in ways I can’t explain.
His words are intense yet lack emotion. Braum is stating a fact , not an opinion.
An inexplicable warmth blossoms in my chest. I’ve never been wanted so wholly before.
Or even cared for in this capacity. Knowing someone feels so drawn to me… it’s dreadfully beautiful.
Just as Braum reaches forward to continue to clean me up, the door to the suite swings open.
“Oh, princess , I’m ba?—”
I yelp, whirling around in surprise while awkwardly trying to cover up my naked body. Rowan freezes when he sees us. His eyes slide from me to Braum to the bloody cloth in his friend’s hand.
“What the fuck happened here?” Rowan stomps forward, slamming the door behind him.
“Why do you look like you’ve been through a fucking boxing match?
” Before I can respond, a murderous rage darkens his perfect features.
His gaze shifts from me to Braum, and he points at his friend.
“If this was Vick, I’ll make sure he’s a dead man. ”
I blink, surprised by the strange deduction.
Braum grimaces. “Ah, no, this was my fault. But?—”
Braum’s confession might as well have been a lit match falling onto gunpowder. Rowan’s reaction is explosive as he swiftly clears the distance between us.
“I’m going to fucking kill you, Braum!”