26. Christian
christian
Iput the truck into park and cut the engine before swinging to face her, my eyes wide. “You went through all that … and you ended up here?”
A surge of emotion welled in my chest. Grief and pain for all Sage went through, this physical need to protect her even when I hadn’t yet met her. I was so grateful and proud of my parents for taking her in, even when she was a stranger to them.
“I think ending up here, when I wasn’t actually supposed to be here, may have saved me.” Her voice was nearly a whisper with her sense of awe. “He couldn’t reach me when I didn’t even know where I was actually supposed to go. That is, until now …”
The heat of anger rose all over again with the reminder that he was here. That he had found her. “I’m not going to let anything happen to you. I promise.”
She gave a slight nod. “I know.”
Her shoulders sagged. She was obviously exhausted from the events of the night and I knew it had to have taken a lot from her to share her story with me.
“Are you okay?” I couldn’t help reaching out to tuck a wayward strand behind her ear. I needed to touch her. She didn’t pull away either, instead leaning her head into my palm as I cupped her cheek.
“I’m okay.” She nodded into my hand, a tender smile on her lips. “Better than you by the look of things.”
“You should see the other guy,” I joked.
Her smile grew. “I did. He didn’t look too good.”
She pulled away then, grabbing her bag and resting her hand on the door handle. “If I don’t move inside now, I may fall asleep sitting here and we should get you some more ice.”
I didn’t need more ice. I needed to take care of her.
To assure myself that she was safe. That I could keep her safe.
I pulled in a deep breath, trying to settle the lingering ache in my chest as we got out of the truck and headed to the house.
Christmas lights lit up the eaves of the white farmhouse and the brightly lit tree stood in the window, beckoning with the warmth of home.
We hung up our jackets and took off our boots. I prepared myself to head to the couch, never assuming she’d want me to follow her upstairs, though I hoped. But when her hand reached out to me, landing on my forearm, hope sprung in my gut.
“Stay with me?” she asked.
I must have looked like an excited puppy at that because I grabbed her hand, leading the way upstairs to my childhood bedroom.
I heard her quiet giggle in the dark as we tiptoed through the sleeping house, the dim echo of my dad’s snores behind their closed door and the electric hum of the old heater were the only sounds as the snow continued to fall outside.
Even though we’d slept beside each other before, we hadn’t shared a bed since Vegas.
I’d missed her and tonight felt different.
She seemed different. Like she was finally allowing me in.
Like she was finally trusting me. Maybe I could prove to her this marriage thing could work out after all.
She’d rejected me many times before but none of those hurt me nearly as much as that open regret the morning we’d realized what we’d done.
We barely said a word as we traded bathroom trips to change and brush teeth.
Even though I wouldn’t have cared less to undress in front of her, I knew she wasn’t ready for that.
Just like in Vegas, I gave her her privacy and she gave me mine, though my mind imagined every beautiful tawny inch of her when only a door or article of clothing had separated us.
I was desperate for her and my cock only hardened more when the distance closed between us.
But I wouldn’t push her and she knew it.
I was so hopelessly obsessed with her, so consumingly in love with her, I would do anything she asked of me.
I’d be as patient as a baby turtle hoping to reach the sea before a seagull devoured me.
I’d let her set the pace, even though I wanted to push every rule and boundary she erected until she was a crumbling mess for me.
And if she knew all of that, I’d be putty in her hands.
As we both lifted the covers and laid down on our respective sides, I waited for her to ask to be held even though my skin felt like it was on fire and my cock throbbed painfully. I could feel the buzz coming off our bodies as tension built.
“Hold me?” she asked, but before she could even hear my affirmative reply she reached for me, her hand wrapping around my wrist and pulling me to her.
As soon as my body was pressed to hers, my arms around her, she released a long sigh, her body immediately relaxing. But all I could do was lay there, almost as rigid as my cock, hoping she wouldn’t brush her ass against it.
It was wishful thinking though as she wiggled to get closer.
I gripped her hip, my fingertips brushing her bare skin where her shirt rode up, holding her there. Her skin was so soft.
“Sage,” I gritted out, my cock throbbing. I had to hold myself back from thrusting my hips, to keep myself from grinding against her like a cat in heat.
She froze then and I could feel her heart beating through her back where it was pressed against my chest — or was it my heart?
“Christian?” Her voice was breathy.
“Yeah, baby?” It came out a squeak like my voice hadn’t changed in the last thirty-two years. I cleared my throat. “Yeah, baby?” I tried it again, deeper this time.
She chuffed quietly. “Are you okay there?”
“Perfect. What about you?”
“Tired, but my mind won’t slow down.” She wiggled her hips, rubbing her ass against me.
I nearly hissed through my teeth to keep from groaning, my fingers digging into her hipbone to keep her still. “You can’t keep doing that. Otherwise, I’m going to end up dry humping you until I come in my sweats, and I haven’t done that since high school.”
“Oh yeah?” She was turned away from me so I couldn’t see her face, but I could hear a cheeky grin on her face which made sense when she shifted to do it again.
“Shiiiiit.” I couldn’t help the need to rock forward now, wanting her to feel exactly what she was doing to me. The friction of my sweats and her ass felt so damn good. “You little tease. What are you trying to do to me?”
“I need release, Christian, and if you weren’t here, I’d be taking care of myself, but … you are here.”
My heart started to thump in my ears in time with my throbbing dick. “What are you trying to say?”
“If you weren’t here, we’d be texting each other and you’d be helping me through it so I can sleep. But with you here, I can’t … well, text you, now can I?”
“No, I guess you can’t. Though I wouldn’t mind watching if you need to whip out that sucky thing.” I was pushing that boundary now, seeing how far it would bend.
“I still can’t believe you went through my things.”
“It was too tempting not to. Do you need me to get you something?” My breath felt caught in my throat. Was she really about to ask me to watch while she got herself off?
“I have a better idea. How about you help me?”
“Holy shit,” I whispered into her hair, inhaling the delicious scent of her peach shampoo. “Really? You want me to help you?”
I felt her nod against the pillow. “But I still call the shots, just like when we’re texting.”
I was so eager for this, I couldn’t help the thrust of my hips to rub against her ass again. “Anything you want. So, we’re actually going to do this? In my old bed, in my old bedroom, in my parents’ house?”
“Have you ever had a girl in this bed before?”
“Hell no. My parents would’ve had my hide. I wasn’t allowed to have girls over, much less in my room. This was only a teenage boy’s dream.”
“Well, I think I’d like to make that teenage boy’s dream come true. But we’ll have to be quiet. We don’t want to wake your parents.”
“Scout’s honor.”
“Were you in the Boy Scouts?”
“Only for a year. I was only there to make fires and tie knots. Once I perfected that, I was out of there. It wasn’t high energy enough for me. I was bored out of my mind and would rather spend time wrestling and racing horses.”
“Okay, boy scout, are you ready to make a fire?”
“If it’s anything like how I feel right now pressed against you, we’re about to build an inferno. So, tell me what you need? I’ll do anything.”
She stretched her arm over to take the hand that still held onto her hip, bringing it to her waistband and letting my fingertips brush just beneath the band of her panties. “I want you to touch me.”
“Like this?” I inched forward, my fingers running along her lower belly as she opened her legs for me, my middle finger brushing over her clit.
“Yes,” she breathed. “Like that. Feel me, am I wet?”
I ran my finger through her slit, dipping low. My finger glided through her wetness. “You're drenched, baby,” I whispered, dragging my lips across her neck, getting closer.
A sweet shiver ran through her. “Spread it up over my clit until it’s slippery.”
I did as she instructed, plunging the tip of my finger into her pussy.
Her hips rocked to meet me and I spread her wetness up and over her sensitive bud.
Using the lightest touch, I drew little circles over it as she continued to roll her hips.
Each time, her ass brushed against me, and I found myself grinding against her in time with her movements.
“Keep going. Keep dipping your finger in and running it up to my clit,” she whispered into the darkness.
My face was buried in her hair, one arm pinned beneath her as I held her to me, my other hand underneath her pajama bottoms, as I continued to run a single digit through her slit and circling her clit. “You feel so good, star fire. Absolute heaven.”
She hummed, shifting as she sought more friction.
I added another finger, gliding them into her pussy.
The walls fluttered against them at the extra intrusion until I took them out, sliding them through her slit up to her clit, parting my fingers to bracket either side.
She gasped. I pinched her clit, gliding my fingers back and forth in time with her hips and my own thrusts.
“Christian,” she breathed.