Chapter 24
Chapter Twenty-Four
Shay
Prime didn’t leave my side all night.
Maybe I should’ve slept more, but lying there in the early morning light, all I felt was him.
Warm.
Solid.
Here.
And after everything I remembered, Prime’s body was the only thing in the world that quieted my nerves.
I turned toward him.
He was already looking at me, his eyes dark in the soft glow.
“You’re supposed to be sleeping,” he murmured, voice low and rough.
“I can’t.”
His hand slid up my back, and his fingers trailed slow enough to make my breath catch. “What do you need, babe?”
“You,” I whispered.
Something in his eyes changed. There was heat, hunger, something deeper. A slow smile curved his mouth. “Come here,” he whispered.
I didn’t hesitate.
I climbed on top of him, straddled him with my knees sinking into the mattress on either side of his hips. His hands gripped my waist immediately, and his thumbs dragged under the hem of my shirt.
“You sure?” he asked softly, searching my face. “After the night you had—”
“I’m sure,” I breathed. “I want you. I just… I want to feel something good.”
Prime exhaled like he’d been holding the air in his lungs for hours. “Yeah,” he rasped. “I can do that.”
He tugged my shirt up and over my head and tossed it somewhere behind us. His palms slid up my sides, possessively, and smoothed along my ribs until I shivered.
“Fuck,” he whispered as his eyes roamed over me like he could memorize my skin by sight alone. “You’re the prettiest thing that’s ever been in this room.”
Heat flooded my cheeks. “Prime…”
“Not Prime,” he murmured, leaning in so our lips brushed. “Marshal.”
My breath hitched. Hearing that name here, in this moment, sent something sweet and sharp through my chest.
“Marshal,” I whispered back.
He groaned, low and deep, and pulled me into a kiss that knocked every thought out of my head.
His mouth moved against mine slow at first, then deeper, hungrier, like he’d been holding back for days. My fingers threaded into his hair as he rolled his hips up into me, and I gasped into his mouth.
“Easy, babe,” he whispered, nipping my bottom lip. “One thing at a time.”
But I wasn’t interested in taking my time.
I wanted him like a pulse.
Like a heartbeat.
Like air.
I tugged at his shirt, and he lifted his arms so I could pull it off. His chest, every tattoo, every ridge, every inch of him, made my stomach flip.
“God,” I breathed.
His smile turned wicked. “You look like you wanna devour me.”
“Maybe I do.”
His hands gripped my thighs. “Then do it.”
I kissed him again, deeper, rawer. His hands roamed everywhere. Over my back, my hips, and up my spine. When his fingers slid under the band of my panties, I melted into him.
He groaned into my mouth. “Tell me you need me.”
I pressed my forehead to his. “I need you.”
That broke whatever restraint he had left.
His hands hooked under my thighs and flipped me gently onto my back. He kissed down my neck, slow and teasing while his breath warmed against my skin.
“Marshal,” I whispered, my voice shaking with want.
He growled softly and kissed lower. Across my collarbone, and over the curve of my breast until I arched up into him.
“You’re shaking,” he murmured.
“Because of you.”
His mouth curved against my skin. “Good.”
He kissed down my stomach, each brush of his lips sending sparks through my body. When he reached the waistband of my panties, he paused just long enough to meet my eyes.
“You okay?”
“Yes.”
“You sure?” His fingers traced the edge of the fabric and made my breath stutter. “Once I start, I’m not stopping.”
I nodded. “Please don’t.”
He slid them off slowly, eyes locked on mine the whole time, like he wanted me to feel completely seen and safe.
Then he lowered himself between my thighs.
My breath caught. “Marshal—”
He kissed the inside of my knee first. Then the sensitive skin of my thigh. Then higher. And higher.
“Tell me if you want me to stop,” he murmured, voice low enough that it vibrated against my skin.
“I won’t,” I whispered.
And then his mouth was on me.
Soft at first, gentle, teasing. My fingers curled into the sheets as my hips lifted involuntarily. He groaned like he loved the way I reacted and like he needed it.
He held my hips down with both hands as his tongue moved slowly and deeply, drawing sounds out of me I didn’t even know I could make.
“Marshal,” I gasped as my back arched off the bed.
He didn’t stop. Didn’t rush.
Just kept going until my legs trembled around him.
When I finally broke apart, shaking and breathless, he kissed his way back up my body with slow, warm kisses everywhere until he was hovering over me again.
“I love watching you fall apart,” he whispered.
I pulled him down into a kiss that tasted like heat and passion.
His body pressed against mine, solid and perfect. I wrapped my legs around his waist and pulled him closer.
“You want me?” he murmured, his forehead resting against mine.
“Yes,” I breathed. “I want you.”
He sank into me slowly and watched my face like I was the only thing that mattered in the world. I gasped, gripped his shoulders as I felt him, all of him, filling me completely.
“Fuck,” he growled, his voice shaking. “You feel… unbelievable.”
He started moving, slow at first, as his hips ground into mine with a rhythm that made my whole body shiver. I clung to him, with my nails digging into his back, and my breath came in soft, desperate sounds I couldn’t hold back.
“Look at me,” he whispered.
I opened my eyes.
The way he looked at me, like I was something precious, made my heart stutter.
He kissed me between every thrust. Held me like it mattered. Moved like he was memorizing my body.
I wrapped my arms around his shoulders, pressing my forehead to his. “Marshal—oh god,”
“I know,” he whispered. “I’ve got you. I’ve got you.”
Everything built at once. Heat. Need. Emotion. Until it all shattered, washing over me in perfect, overwhelming waves.
He followed me seconds later, his mouth finding mine, and a groan ripped from his lips.
For a long moment, neither of us moved.
Just breathed. Held each other.
He finally dropped his forehead to my shoulder and exhaled like the weight of the world had just slid off his back.
I brushed my fingers through his hair. “Marshal?”
“Yeah, babe?”
“That was…”
“A lot? Everything,” he said, smiling against my skin.
“Everything,” I agreed and laughed softly.
He kissed my shoulder. “Good.”
He rolled us gently onto our sides so he didn’t crush me, and kept me pressed against his chest. My leg tangled with his. His arm draped over my waist, and his hand splayed across my stomach like he was staking a claim he didn’t have to voice.
“You okay?” he whispered.
I nodded against him. “More than okay.”
He kissed the top of my head. “Go to sleep, Shay.”
“Will you stay?” I asked quietly.
He tightened his hold. “I’m not going anywhere.”
I fell asleep in his arms.
Safe. Warm. Wanted.