57. Sina
I can’t live without you.
Who said swoon worthy shit like that? Rafe, apparently. He keeps surprising me.
Standing in Rafe’s art studio, being held so tenderly like this, I swear I could melt into a puddle of goo at this man’s feet.
He kissed me gently, like those words hit him just as hard as they hit me.
I moaned softly, letting myself sink into it.
I needed this. Needed the tenderness from my gentle giant to wash away the crap-storm of a morning I’d had.
When he pulled back, I swayed slightly on my feet. I didn’t think I would ever get enough of that magical zing his kisses gave me. I should’ve been mad that he used his ability just now—but I wasn’t.
I glanced up at him shyly. His cheeks were flushed, his eyes a little distant, but he looked happy. And I couldn’t find it in myself to reprimand him when he made my heart sing like this.
God . When the hell did I become so damn sappy?
Rafe took my hand and led me farther into the studio.
I nearly tripped over my own feet when I saw the back wall. It spanned the entire width of the building.
He slowed as we reached it. Paintings of me covered the brick from floor to ceiling.
My breath left me all at once. Each canvas held an emotion I’d buried or shoved down so hard I’d almost forgotten it existed.
In some, my anger was visceral. In others, mischief glinted in my green eyes. All of them were beautiful.
All of them were me. And somehow… they weren’t either.
Is this how Rafe saw me?
I bit back the rush of emotion I wasn’t ready to name. One painting stopped me cold.
“Oh,” I whispered. In it, I was looking up. Tears streaked down my cheeks, mascara dark against my skin. This wasn't a memory. This was something else. Was this how he felt my pain? My chest tightened. Too tight. “Are these my emotions?”
Rafe stepped up behind me, close enough that I could feel the solid heat of him at my back. I leaned into his chest without thinking, letting his presence steady me.
“I told you. When I don’t know how to expel other people’s emotions, I paint them.”
My breath hitched. “But you painted me so many times, Rafe.”
He hummed low in his chest, the sound vibrating through me. His arms came around my waist, slow and certain, like he was anchoring us both.
“That’s because you embedded yourself into my soul. There’s no escaping the bond between us. No matter how many times I paint you, you’ll always be a part of me.”
Something inside me cracked open. The honesty of it stole my breath. I turned in his arms. His hands slid up my back, warm and steady, like they’d been waiting for this moment all along.
“I need you, Rafe.”
His eyes darkened until they were pure black. Lust and love tangled together. “Sina. You haven’t eaten today. And you have work soon.”
I rose onto my toes and kissed him, cutting him off. I didn’t rush it. I let the kiss say what I couldn’t. That I needed him. That I wasn’t going to pull away.
Something in him broke.
He scooped me up without hesitation, my legs wrapping around his waist as he deepened the kiss and walked us backward until my spine hit the brick wall. Rafe’s body was solid heat and strength, pinning me there. The contrast sent a shiver through me.
His kiss turned rough and claiming. Deep. Hungry. My fingers tangled in the hair at the nape of his neck, holding him closer. His hands were firm and sure, one braced at my lower back, the other gripping my thigh, holding me up like it took no effort at all.
Every place he touched burned.
I could feel the shift in him. The way his body went tight.
The way his breath changed. The way his mouth moved like he was losing patience with anything that wasn’t skin on skin.
His hips pressed forward in a hard grind that tore a gasp from my mouth.
Pleasure shot through me and I arched into him, silently asking for more.
He broke the kiss, breathing hard, his forehead resting against mine. His eyes were blown wide and dark, pupils swallowing the color.
“Sina, if I fuck you right now, I’m not going to be gentle.” Then he kissed me again, harder, biting my lip until I cried out. “Tell me I can.”
I couldn’t speak, too consumed by the way he held me. I nodded, breath shaking.
His hand slid from my hip, fingers tracing heat across my bare skin where my shirt met my jeans—then higher. Up my stomach. Along my side. Over my ribs. His thumb brushed the underside of my breast, the rough pad grazing my nipple, and I gasped.
Slowly, deliberately, he lifted the hem of my shirt, sliding it up and over my head.
His hands followed, warm and steady as he unclasped my bra and eased it away, like he wanted to feel every inch of me as I was revealed.
Then his hand moved lower, clumsy with need as he worked at the button of my jeans.
My breath hitched as his fingers fumbled, shaking almost as badly as mine.
When they finally gave way, he shoved the denim down my hips, taking my panties with them.
The cool air hit my heated skin and I shivered as he lifted me back into his arms the second my clothes were gone, pinning me right back against the wall like he couldn’t stand the distance .
His mouth left mine and moved down my throat. I tipped my head back, giving him access. He bit at the place where my neck met my shoulder and I moaned at the sting, my fingers digging into his shoulders. He groaned at the taste of me
The pain faded into pleasure as he dragged his tongue back and forth. He sucked and licked, slow and deliberate as he fed from me. Pleasure rolled through me again and I whimpered, pressing myself into his cock, desperate for more.