Chapter Nila #2
You can hide from him, but you can’t hide from your feelings.
“Shut up,” I scolded myself. “Don’t think about him. Not anymore.”
“If it’s me you’re thinking about—I command you to ignore your advice.”
My heart flew into my mouth. I spun around.
Big mistake.
Jethro stood behind me. Scuffs stained his tan jodhpurs and mud splattered his polished high boots.
He’d rolled up the cuffs of his billowy sleeve shirt and removed the velvet waistcoat revealing the shadows of his stomach beneath the translucent fabric.
His five o’clock shadow was rough and ragged while the bones of his face spoke of stark desire and even starker emotion.
My entire body stiffened. My lungs refused to operate, suffocating me inch by inch.
His eyes met mine and everything we’d been avoiding crackled with uncontrolled potency. The unseen force was tangible, powerful—almost visible with ribbons of lust that pebbled my nipples and sent a clench of furious desire through my core.
His breathing escalated as we stood locked in place, bound together by the swirling cloud of need. We didn’t speak—we couldn’t speak.
His tongue licked his bottom lip.
Our eyes refused to unlock. The more we stared, the deeper our connection became.
I couldn’t look away.
His smell of musk and leather shoved me from my dangerous precipice, and I slid down and down into scandal.
I’m not falling for him.
I’ve already fallen.
Jethro sucked in a breath, his fingers opening and closing by his sides.
I couldn’t go on like this. Feeling this way. Hating and loving this way.
I couldn’t lie anymore.
My heartbeat drummed in my ears, behind my eyes, in my every fingertip. My tattoo blazed, the diamond collar tightened, and I knew out of everything that had happened, after everything the Hawks had done, this was the moment where I lost.
Right here.
Right now.
This was why I couldn’t run.
This desire.
This fate.
I fell in love.
I turned my back on everyone but myself.
I gave up any notion of ever leaving.
I moaned low in my chest.
Such a simple, subtle whisper.
But it was the starting gun to the explosion that was imminent between us.
The air went up in flames, gusts of heat erupted as passion singed my very soul.
Jethro moved.
He propelled himself into me, his large hands capturing my cheeks and holding me prisoner as he walked me backward until I stumbled against the scaffolding.
His touch was a bonfire. His hold was freedom and a cage all at once.
His forehead crashed against mine, his nose kissing my nose, his breath replacing my breath.
In that simple fusion of flavour and souls, we gave up. We gave in. We answered the same pounding conclusion—the same unmentionable dilemma.
We can’t do this anymore.
His head tilted and I trembled in his hold as his fingers dug painfully into my cheekbones. I panted for his kiss. I moaned for it. Almost cried for it.
But he paused for an eternity, breathing hard and fast as if he couldn’t believe the preciousness of what was occurring.
This was a gift. A charm. A wish come true.
I’d become enraptured by my capturer. My tormentor. My would-be murderer. I only had eyes for him. My heart only beat for him.
Where does that leave me?
What does this mean?
Jethro groaned, his touch trembling as if he’d heard my silent questions.
I should’ve had more self-control. I should’ve found a way to stop this.
But I shoved away my fears and willingly slid the final slope into madness.
I arched my chin, grazing my lips against his.
He froze.
Then, he melted.
His fingers slinked from my cheeks to the back of my skull. I cried out as his tongue tore into my mouth and his hands fisted in my hair. With fingers full of my black strands, he tugged my head back, forcing me to open wider, kiss deeper—give him everything.
I’d like to say I retained some resemblance of myself. I’d like to admit that, while I’d fallen, I still knew who I was.
But that would’ve been a lie.
There was no me without him.
No Nila without Jethro.
No Threads without Kite.
I knew that now.
And it butchered me in ways no threats or torture ever could.
Tears leaked from my eyes as our lips danced and tongues tangoed.
Our murmurs and moans intertwined until the serenade of our desire overshadowed the music from outside and our racing heartbeats. Every sweep of his taste left a glowing fire around my heart, my skin, my soul.
He demanded everything but gave more in return.
In my arms, I held the real Jethro. The one I’d seen but never believed was true. He was strong and brilliant and kind.
And he cared for me. So much.
Never untangling our lips, Jethro bent a little and gathered the material of my dress. Shoving it upward, he groaned as I wriggled and helped, forcing the fabric to bunch around my waist.
He froze as he found the lace garter and wickedly sharp dirk. His eyebrow raised; very slowly, he slid the blade from against my flesh and held it in his fingertips.
I tensed, daring him to berate me for such precautions.
His mouth opened to speak then his eyes darkened with approval. “Use this wisely—if you need to.” Throwing the blade to jab upright in the dirt, he murmured, “But I’ll never give you a reason to use it on me.”
We fell together again. Our lips melded into one slippery seal. I conquered his body—running my fingers over every inch of him. His nipples peaked as I stroked them beneath his shirt and his back bowed as I reached down and cupped his hot erection.
Sweat slicked our skin as our finesse perished, turning into fumbling urgency.
With swift hands, Jethro shoved my knickers to my ankles and waited as I kicked them away.
His eyes incinerated me as he grabbed my arse and hoisted me, pinning me in his arms against the scaffolding.
His lips claimed mine again, eating my every moan. I pressed my fingers into his rock hard biceps, relishing in his strength. Then I lowered my touch to undo the button and zipper of his jodhpurs.
His forehead furrowed as my fingers slid inside the dark heat of his boxer-briefs and captured his scalding cock.
“I’m going to fill you,” he murmured, thrusting into my hand. “I’m going to give you what I’ve been told all my life I couldn’t give.”
I bit my lip as I fumbled with pushing the tight material over his hips. I didn’t need to ask what he couldn’t give me.
It was obvious.
It wasn’t physical or even emotional.
It was more than that.
The catalyst of what made us human.
The ability to adore.
“I want to spill inside you, Nila.”
My eyes snapped shut. My body sung with dark music, twisting me, moulding me into some wanton creature. I opened my eyes and kissed him. “What are you waiting for?”
He positioned me so he could hold me with one arm. With his free hand, Jethro cupped my cheek, running a calloused finger across my lips. “Nothing...not anymore.”
My blood turned into a river of molten hunger.
With fumbling hands, I freed his cock, running my thumb over his slippery crown.
Jethro threw his head back, rocking into my palm.
My mouth watered to lick at the glistening sweat at the base of his throat.
I stroked him, harder and faster as pleasure hijacked my body.
Jethro shook his head, his eyes squeezed closed. “Stop. I’m too close...too fucking close.” His hands clutched at my arse again, spreading me shamelessly, presenting my wet pussy that was so close to his cock.
“Guide me inside you.” His eyes flashed. “Please, Nila. Let me fuck you.”
Unashamedly, I opened my legs wider.
Jethro breathed in my ear. “Today, you’re all mine.”
I bit his lobe, clamping my teeth harder than I intended. He flinched as I whispered, “Not just for today.”
His body shuddered. His movements became jilted and eager.
Without a sound, I positioned his cock between my legs and lowered a fraction, angling him inside.
Oh, God.
My eyes rolled back as Jethro growled, “Fuck, you feel so right.”
The words wrenched me from my stupor, granting me another clue.
I didn’t feel good or wet or warm—or any manner of things a man might say to a woman as he entered her.
I felt right.
Right to him.
Home to him.
Sucking in a breath, he thrust, sliding inside me.
The friction of the scaffold behind me bruised my spine as Jethro held me firmer in his arms. Instinct made me wrap my legs around his hips as he buried himself deeper and deeper.
He groaned as I rocked on him. My desire stole the pain of his size, twisting it into a heady aphrodisiac that made me cry out with longing.
Every inch of him invaded me—stretching me, claiming me.
Jethro bit my neck, trailing teeth down oversensitive skin. “I belong in you.”
I shuddered as his hips pulsed. I couldn’t agree more.
His arms tightened as he secured me in his grip; his legs spread further to balance. I knew he was preparing himself for an unrelenting pace, and my unrequited orgasm bloomed into being, eager, aching.
He thrust particularly hard, his muscled stomach kissing mine with every stroke.
My heart twisted deliciously. I hooked my arms around his neck, holding on and presenting myself completely to this man who held my soul.
Then everything else faded.
Hawks, Weavers, and all things twisted between us.
It was just me and Jethro. Heat and need.
He drove into me with powerful strokes, pressing me relentlessly against the scaffolding. My shoulder blades screamed for mercy, but my pussy begged for more.
I wanted punishment for falling for him.
I needed chastising for going against everything I’d believed.
Jethro seemed to understand. Our eyes locked and we drove each other on. Riding each other’s body, hard and brutal.
I lost myself in the rhythm, sinking my fingers into his thick hair.
Tugging his mouth to mine, I kissed him deep.
Our breaths became one; the ache inside my womb increased until I flamed with urgency to shatter. The pain of riding on the knife-edge of an orgasm layered the pleasure, turning it into a sharp almost unbearable delight.
Jethro dug his fingers into my arse, driving harder. His voice betrayed where his thoughts were. “Only once.” He grunted as he increased his rhythm. “Only once can I be this free.”
I couldn’t think straight. I was entranced, mesmerised.
What does he mean?
A loud groan wrenched from Jethro’s chest as his cock thickened inside me. His shoulders bunched as he bounced me faster in his arms.
My muscles tightened as bands of bliss prepared to release.
Jethro growled, capturing my mouth. His tongue pulsed savagely in time with his hips. He stole my thoughts. I lavished in the rushing hotness of my blood. Gushing, pushing into my core.
My heart bucked in my chest; I couldn’t get enough oxygen. I moaned, tearing myself from his lips to bite his shoulder. His arms trembled holding my weight. He sucked in a breath. “Fuck, Nila. I can’t—I’m gonna...”
I knew where he was. He was in the dark abyss—the depth of pain where he normally lived. Only in the darkness existed stars and comets and lightning bolts just waiting to shatter and shower us with light.
“Give me everything...” My legs curled around his hips, driving him up the final cliff. I impaled myself as hard and as deep as I could.
“Christ.” His face tensed. He gave up.
I followed him.
Our rhythm turned frenzied, fucking and rutting and taking everything we could.
“I’m with you,” I murmured just as my orgasm stole my voice and hurled me into the cacophony of explosions.
Jethro’s eyes opened; we drowned in each other. His golden irises glimmered with everything he couldn’t say. The truth was a blazing thing, sharpening the bands of release, twisting my orgasm into something catastrophic.
I screamed.
It was the only thing I could do to expel the pleasure inside.
I was swept away on a galaxy of popping stars. Starburst after starburst, comet after comet. I shattered utterly and completely.
Jethro cried out, pressing his forehead against mine as hotness spilled inside. His body quaked as wave after wave of cum filled me. The tender ache in my womb both calmed and strengthened, welcoming him into my body.
He’d come inside me.
For the first time.
On some basic level, I owned him. He’d mixed himself with me. He could never take that back.
He was mine as much as I was his.
Now and for always.
Something else could be yours for being so stupid.
I could get pregnant.
My heart thudded with panic, but it was overshadowed by lingering waves of pleasure. I would have to deal with that—but not yet.
Not now.
It seemed as if our release went on forever, but it was only a few moments. A few scrumptious moments that healed and broke us.
After the ebbs of orgasm faded, I uncramped my toes and sighed.
Jethro unlocked his arms and withdrew. Wetness slid down my inner thigh as I puddled down his heated body. I could barely stand.
Jethro shivered, tucking his glistening cock back into his boxer-briefs and zipping up his trousers. He was pulling away already. There was no chance I would let him. He couldn’t give me what he did and then shut down.
Straightening my dress and scooping my knickers and dirk from the floor, I said, “You know, don’t you?”
He stilled. “Know what?”
“What I was thinking about as you found me.”
I wasn’t prepared for the way his face softened or how his eyes turned into a warm sunrise of caring. “Yes. I know.”
My heart pitter-pattered with fear. Would he use it as a tool to hurt me further or would he honour that my feelings were sacred and not to be toyed with?
He ran a hand through his hair before cupping my cheek and smiling sadly. “Thank you, Nila. Thank you for what you’ve just given me.”
With a single kiss and a heavy sigh, he disappeared.