4. Amelia
4
AMELIA
“ I s that bacon I smell?” Adrian asks, his voice scratchy from sleep.
I woke up about twenty minutes ago and wanted to get breakfast going before Adrian woke up. It’s the least I can do since he stayed here all night on the too-small couch. He must have carried me to bed, too, because the last thing I remember is curling up against his chest and closing my eyes.
“Yes! Bacon, eggs, and waffles. I also have strawberry simple syrup on the stove, I just need to strain it into a jar for us.”
I watch Adrian rise to his full height from where I’m standing in the kitchen. I can’t help but stare at his bare chest. A girl could get used to seeing such a sexy god first thing in the morning. He smirks at me and I blush, knowing I’ve been caught gawking.
“My button-up shirt wasn’t exactly comfortable to sleep in,” he explains.
“I don’t mind,” I reply with a wink. His smirk spreads out into a smile, a real one this time, as he remembers my words from yesterday in his workshop.
Adrian stalks toward me, taking the spatula out of my hands and spinning me around to face him. “You’re spoiling me,” he murmurs before stealing a kiss.
He pulls away, but I’m not done yet.
I circle my arms around his neck, wanting more but not sure how to ask for it. Adrian senses my need and bends down, ghosting his lips up my neck, pausing to nip at the sensitive spot below my ear.
“Does my greedy girl want another kiss?” he whispers against the shell of my ear. I nod eagerly and Adrian chuckles. “All you have to do is ask.”
“Please,” I say instantly, not even caring how desperate I sound.
“Anything for you, Amelia,” he murmurs before covering my lips with his.
His tongue tickles the roof of my mouth and then tangles with mine, each stroke winding me up higher and higher until I can't breathe. Adrian's hands slide down my body and he groans when he realizes I'm just wearing an oversized pajama shirt. It hits about mid-thigh, and yeah, maybe I was hoping to show off a little for him. I whimper when his fingers slip past the hem of my shirt, his rough, calloused fingers gliding along my soft flesh and sending sparks of pleasure coursing through my veins.
We finally break apart, but only because the stupid timer on the waffle iron starts beeping.
“To be continued,” Adrian says, giving me one last kiss on the cheek.
We sit at the table and share our second meal together. It feels comfortable like we've spent a lifetime of waking up like this - heated kisses, sweet words, and a hearty breakfast served at the table.
My phone buzzes with a text when I’m on my last bite of scrambled eggs. My friend from back home, Florence, probably has an update for me. I check the message, my stomach twisting into knots at its contents.
Florence: Hey girl, I've driven by your old house a few times this week like you asked. I never saw your mom or stepdad inside or even a car parked in the driveway. I was going to keep checking before reaching out to you, but today I saw a For Sale sign in the yard.
Shit. Are they moving? Where? Why? Are they here? Did they find me? Did they send Michael after me?
I don’t realize Adrian is kneeling right next to me until his hand covers both of mine. I’m trembling from head to toe as fear lances my heart.
“Talk to me, Amelia,” Adrian says softly. He’s being so gentle with me. “I can’t help if I don’t know what’s going on.”
Fear wrestles with the need to be seen, to be freed from my captors once and for all. One look in those deep blue eyes, and I know I’m going to let him in and tell him my truth.
I nod and let Adrian pull me out of my seat and guide me over to the couch. Taking a deep breath, I let it all out in a forceful sigh, then melt against Adrian’s chest. He tucks me further into his side, brushing a kiss to the top of my head.
"My mom and stepdad were, and still are, distrustful of pretty much everything and everyone. Authority figures, police, anyone associated with the government, and even my teachers were all perceived threats. It got so much worse when they started doing meth. They took me out of school in fifth grade and homeschooled me, their paranoia at an all-time high." I have to pause to gather my thoughts.
“Sweetheart,” Adrian coos, tightening his hold on me. “I can’t imagine what it was like growing up like that.”
I shrug, not sure how to respond. “It was my reality. I didn’t know anything different. My mother cut me off from my friends and monitored everything from the books I read to the clothes I wore. I begged her for months to get a phone, but that ended with her locking me in my room for three days, only letting me out for three bathroom breaks a day. I stopped asking for things after that.”
“Jesus,” Adrian grits out. “I’m so sorry, sweet girl. You didn’t deserve that. I’m so damn proud of you for getting away from that life. How did you manage to escape?”
I nuzzle into his shoulder, letting his words seep down into my soul. He’s proud of me. No one has ever been proud of me.
“I thought they would let me go once I turned eighteen. I was no longer their burden and I’d be one less mouth to feed, which amounts to more money to fuel their drug addiction. My birthday came and went, but no one said anything. I can’t explain why, but I just… stayed. It’s stupid and goes against all survival instinct, but…” I trail off and shrug, feeling pathetic for not having a better answer.
“Look at me, Amelia,” Adrian says softly. I tilt my head up, my eyes meeting his. I’m shocked to see his blue gaze shimmering with tears. For me? “Getting out of an abusive situation is never simple. Years of mental torture and lies about the world around you had to have made you terrified of everything, even your own freedom.”
I nod, agreeing with everything he’s saying. I could never put it into words, but that’s exactly how it felt. My home life was unbearable, yet somehow preferable to going out into the big bad world. What if everything they said was true? What if everyone was out to get us?
"One day, I overheard my stepdad talking with their dealer, Michael, in the living room. My parents always owed him money, but this time they must have gotten in too deep. Michael was screaming at my stepdad and then pulled a gun on him." I close my eyes against the memory of that day. "I couldn't move or even breathe. Part of me was terrified for my life and for my family. But another part of me… God, I can't even believe I'm going to say this. Part of me wanted him to get shot. Then, maybe something would change."
“That’s totally understandable, Amelia. I want that fucker to be shot, too. It doesn’t make you a bad person to want justice for yourself and for others.”
I give Adrian a weak smile and he kisses the single tear falling down my cheek. "My mom came running out of her room in nothing but a tank top and underwear. She shouted at Michael and said she had something to offer to clear their debts. She should have said she had some one to offer.”
“Wait. You’re not saying…?”
"My own mother gave me to a violent drug lord in exchange for clearing their debt. That's how little they cared. Like I'm nothing. Why did they even want to protect me from everything if they were just going to toss me out?"
“Amelia… fuck,” Adrian grits out. “How could she do that? What the fuck?” He tenses his muscles, ready to rip my mother’s head off for her despicable actions. I can tell Adrian wants to say more, but he’s restraining himself. Having someone upset on my behalf is an entirely new experience.
"Michael agreed to come back later that night to pick me up. He wanted me showered and cleaned up." I shiver at the thought of being dressed up and paraded around for him like a prized pig. "The one lucky break I had was that my mom and stepdad did some combination of drugs to take the edge off, I guess. They passed out an hour later and I got the hell out. I grabbed the keys to the ancient Toyota and drove and drove until I ended up here in Misty Mountain."
“You’ve been through so much,” Adrian murmurs, relaxing slightly now that he knows the ending to the story. Or, at least the end of that chapter. “Is it your mom who has been calling?”
"Sometimes, yes. Sometimes it's Michael. I don't know how they got my phone number. I never had one at home, but it was the first thing I bought when I got a paycheck from Evergreen Books & Trinkets. I had a friend, Florence, from back home in Vegas check my old house to see if my parents were still there. I kept thinking I saw my stepdad around town, but I'm just being paranoid. Or so I thought." I sigh, nearing the end of my tragic saga. "She just texted me to say there is a 'for sale' sign in the yard."
Adrian doesn’t say anything for a few moments, he simply holds me and gently rocks me back and forth. “Thank you for trusting me, sweet girl,” he eventually whispers. “I will protect your secrets. I’ll protect you, too, if you’ll let me.”
I nod and look up at him, seeing the truth and anguish in his eyes. “Why do you care so much? You barely know me.”
“I know you, Amelia. I feel you in here.” He lifts my hand to his heart. I’m instantly reminded that he’s completely shirtless as my fingers press against the hard planes of his chest. “You’re already embedded in my bones, sweetheart. I have no choice but to keep you safe and happy. You’re worthy of taking up space and being free to decide your fate. You’re so precious to me already.”
“Me?” I squeak out, on the verge of tears once more.
“Yes, you, Amelia. I want you in a fierce, all-consuming way, but not just physically. I want your heart and soul. I want your pain and joy. It’s all happening so fast, but I just… I just know. You’re it for me.
“Me?” I repeat. “You want me?”
“Yes,” he replies. His tone leaves no room for doubt. “In more ways than one.”
“Like… you maybe want to kiss me again?” I know it’s a silly thing to ask after just spilling my deepest fears to this man, but right now, a physical connection feels like the only thing that would calm my racing thoughts.
Adrian chuckles and leans down, his lips hovering an inch above mine. “I always want to kiss you, but you don’t seem to believe my words. Can I show you how much I want you?”
I barely get the chance to agree before his lips are on mine again. The kiss is slower than the one we shared before breakfast, more deliberate and focused. Adrian slips his hands under the hem of the large pajama shirt I'm wearing and teases me with light, barely-there touches as he sips from my mouth, drawing out a soft moan from somewhere deep inside of me.
“Will you let me see all of you, angel? Can I kiss you everywhere?”
He continues trailing his massive hands up my body, inching my shirt up as he goes. Adrian brushes his thumbs across the underside of my breasts, causing an unexpected shiver to run through me.
“Yes,” I breathe out, my eyes closed as I surrender to his capable touch.
Adrian leans forward, our lips meeting halfway. He groans into our kiss, the vibrations running through me and settling in my lower belly, creating an intense pressure. His tongue slowly drags across the roof of my mouth, making me whimper as he pulls away. I automatically follow him, wanting more of this slow burn.
He smirks at me, his blue eyes growing dark and heavy with desire. “Patience, beautiful. I’ll give you everything, but I’m going to do it my way. Do you trust me, Amelia?”
I look up at him, the fog of lust clearing just enough to consider his question. I’ve been controlled my whole life. From what I eat to where I go, and who I hang out with. Freedom has been my goal for so long, so why is my first instinct to fall into Adrian’s arms and tell him he can do whatever he wants to me?
Adrian nuzzles my neck, scraping his stubble against my skin and heightening the pressure in my belly into a sweet, sharp ache. “Giving up control is its own kind of freedom if you trust the person you’re giving it to. Do you trust me?” he asks, not for the first time.
“I trust you, Adrian,” I whisper. He breathes me in before placing a sweet kiss on the side of my neck.
Adrian continues to inch my shirt higher and higher until he finally lifts it over my head. His lips immediately latch onto my breast, sucking at my nipple and rubbing his tongue on the sensitive peak.
“So fucking beautiful, Amelia. So beautiful when you give in to me. So beautiful when you let me love you like this.”
Love? Did he say love?
Before I can even process his words, Adrian pulls away from me. Did he mean to say that? Is he freaking out? Does he…
My world turns upside down – literally – as Adrian lifts me from the couch and tosses me over his shoulder like I weigh nothing. I shriek and then laugh, kicking out my legs. Apparently, he's unfazed by what he just said. I'll have time to worry about it later. Right now, I need his touch more than I need his answers.
Adrian steps into my bedroom and tosses me down on the bed, making my extra weight jiggle. I cover up my belly as every stinging remark my mother made about my weight floats to the surface. How could I possibly measure up to the shredded god of a man standing before me?
He growls and then kneels over me with one knee on the bed. Adrian grabs my wrists and pins them above my head with one of his massive hands, while the other hand slides down my body, tracing the contours of my chest, my torso, and my rounded belly.
“You’re fucking perfect. I guess I’ll have to show you that, too, sweet Amelia,” he whispers against my lips.
I think he’s going to kiss me, but instead, Adrian rubs his nose against mine before trailing his lips and nose down my neck, over my collarbone, between my breasts, and lower, lower, lower…
He nips at the soft flesh of my belly, sending a jolt of electricity to my throbbing clit, followed by a warm rush of wetness dripping out of my pussy. Adrian takes a deep breath and lets go of my wrists, sliding the rest of the way down my body so he can focus on my pussy.
“I fucking smell how much you want me,” he growls, spreading my thighs apart and running his nose up and down my slit. I close my eyes, not sure what to do with his attention. Some animalistic sound rumbles out of him. I can feel his need as it vibrates through me, making my nipples and clit ache. I feel my channel clench as more of my arousal leaks out.
Adrian growls hungrily as he slides his tongue up and down my pussy, parting my folds. I force my eyes open and look down at his muscular back, rippling and flexing as he devours me. I swear his tongue is everywhere at once – in my entrance, traveling through my folds, swirling around my clit. It’s everywhere, and it’s consuming me completely. It’s all I can focus on. The intense feeling. The wet, smacking sounds. The pressure and heat.
It makes me even hotter knowing he’s loving this. The greedy way he’s grabbing my ass, the hungry, desperate moans, the eagerness for more. It’s all showing me how much pleasure he gets from this. His rough palms slide to the back of my knees and he shoves my legs open wider, pinning them to the bed so he can sit back and stare at me. Adrian growls and dives back in, licking me with fury, pushing deeper, harder, faster.
I reach down and tangle my fingers in his hair, pulling and pushing him away in equal measure. I can’t decide if it’s too much or not enough. Not that Adrian gives me a choice in the matter. I gave up control and now I have to trust him to take care of me.
Adrian lifts his head briefly, locking his gaze on mine. God, he looks possessed. Feral, even. Did I really do that to him?
“Yeah, beautiful,” he grunts. “You did this to me.”
My cheeks heat up with embarrassment. I really need to get a better filter. I hadn’t meant to say that out loud, but Adrian seemed to like it. He dips his head back down, this time sinking his teeth into my inner thigh, first one, and then the other, before licking away the sting.
“Oh shit…” I breathe out, spreading my legs wider for him.
“You like that? Like when I mark you, sweet girl?”
I whimper and nod my head, unable to form words at the moment. I want to be his. I want him as my own, my one and only.
Without warning, Adrian throws one of my legs over his shoulder, and then the other, before flattening his tongue and licking every part of me. My back bows off the bed as I shove more of my dripping, needy cunt into his face. I can’t help it. The way his warm, soft tongue laps at my wetness and then circles my clit has me practically fucking his face.
Adrian’s hands slide under my ass and grip me there, his fingers digging in deeper with each rough stroke of his tongue. He’s helping me find my rhythm as I rub my greedy pussy against his mouth.
“Ah-Adrian, please…” I gasp, clawing at the sheets and snapping my thighs around his head.
He grunts and focuses his attention on my clit, rubbing tight circles around my swollen button with his tongue. I can’t stop the breathy moans falling from my lips repeatedly, each one louder than the last as my muscles lock up and my pussy quivers around his tongue.
I teeter on the sharp edge of ecstasy, wanting to savor the aching pressure as it builds. When Adrian scrapes his teeth against my clit, pleasure slices through me, unleashing my pent-up need in one vicious explosion.
I cry out and lift up off the mattress, unable to contain the painful bliss rippling through every cell in my body. Wave after wave crashes into me in such rapid succession I don’t have time to catch my breath before I’m drawn under once again.
Adrian pushes me back down onto the bed with one large hand spread out over my lower belly, making me take all of what he’s offering. My skin burns between my thighs where his stubble is scraping me, but it only serves to heighten the pleasure taking over my body.
Finally, I start to come back down. I’m a shaking, sweating, puddle of satisfaction. My legs fall from Adrian’s shoulders as he stands up and pulls out his dick.
Holy fucking fuck. I mean, just…
“I’m not fucking you today, beautiful. But I need this,” he grunts, stroking his massive cock. God, why is that so hot?
I nod my head and spread my legs open for him, seeing his need and wanting to meet it. Adrian groans and stares at me, jerking himself off to my naked, exposed body. I watch in awe as his massive shaft grows even longer and then swells up. Adrian hisses and throws his head back, pumping his fist furiously.
When he tips his head back down to look at me, his eyes are nearly black. He bares his teeth and clenches his jaw before stepping closer and pressing the tip of his cock against my clit.
I gasp at how incredible it feels having his hot, hard dick rubbing against me. Adrian lets out a roar as he comes on my pussy, releasing his seed in forceful jets against my clit. An unexpected orgasm rips through me. It’s short but so damn intense I see black spots in the corners of my vision.
“That’s it, that’s so fucking it,” Adrian groans as the last of his pleasure fades.
He falls on top of me, catching himself on his forearms so he doesn’t crush me completely. His lips are on mine, giving me a taste of my own release, even as I feel his drip down my pussy.
Adrian rolls his forehead against mine, our breaths mingling as we come down from our high. “You’re incredible,” he whispers before rolling to the side. Adrian drags me over his chest and strokes my back in a calming gesture. “I’m never letting you go.”
I curl up against his chest, letting his sweet touches and whispered promises carry me into a peaceful rest.