Chapter 16 Savi
SIXTEEN
SAVI
I wasn’t lying when I said he had magic hands. After washing my hair, he moves to my body. A spicy, woodsy aroma fills the air as he applies body wash to a sponge. It smells just like him, and I love having his scent all over me.
His hands are gentle as he washes every inch of me before rinsing us both off and wrapping me in a towel. He’s been silent and deep in thought for a while now, and I want so badly to be let in, but I remain quiet.
Knox has always been the silent type, only letting people see what he wants them to see. He’s very hard to read most of the time, but I can tell he’s still thinking about whatever upset him earlier.
Once we are back in his bedroom, I start searching for my clothes, wanting to give him some space to sort out his feelings and come to me on his own terms.
“I should probably go back to the house,” I say, finally breaking the silence. “I left it unlocked, and I need to check on Freya.” I find my clothes buried under the sheets and fist them in my hands.
“Freya?” His eyebrows scrunch in confusion.
“My cat.”
“Since when do you have a cat?”
“Since a few days ago. Now that I think about it, you haven’t met her,” I laugh softly. “She likes to hang out in my closet and sleep on one of my old sweatshirts. Be careful, though, when you see her, I’ve heard she doesn’t like people.”
“You brought a cat home that doesn’t like people? Sounds about right,” he muses. “You always were bringing home the strays nobody wanted.”
“Because they were the ones who needed me the most.” Our eyes meet, and something flashes in those blues that has me believing he’s not talking about the animals anymore. I clutch the towel tighter to my chest as I feel his gaze penetrate my soul.
My eyes take him in one last time as he stands there, too sinful for the human eye. An achingly tormented blend of chaos and mayhem, but with a soul more beautiful than he believes.
“Night, Knox,” I say softly, breaking the spell, and walking out the door before all of me gets lost in him.
“Night sunshine,” I hear quietly just as I’m shutting the door.
I quickly walk across the deck and back into the house before I succumb to the pull I feel behind me.
Making sure the door is locked, I head to my bedroom and dump my clothes in the hamper before running a comb through my damp hair and brushing my teeth.
Finding a comfortable tee, I slip it on before going in search of Freya. I find her in her usual spot in my closet as I scoop her up and rub her soft fur. Her loud purring fills the silence as I give her a treat and make sure she has plenty of water.
Turning off the lights, I climb into bed and curl on my side to look out the windows, which has become the norm for me lately as my eyes go to the little blue guesthouse until I see Knox’s light go out. I lie here for what seems like hours, replaying the evening in my head over and over again.
He will never know how much tonight meant to me. I feel…whole again. It’s as if the piece of me that was taken was gifted back to me. I no longer feel the hands of a ghost on my body.
I feel…him.
The door opening to my bedroom should startle me, but I immediately feel his presence as I hear him cross the room before the bed dips and his warm body is pressed up against mine. His arm wraps around me, and I burrow deeper against him, wanting to get as close as I possibly can.
“Thought I could try this cuddle thing again,” he says quietly into my hair. I smile into the darkness and feel a little hope inside spring loose that he’s slowly letting me in.
“I’m glad you did,” I whisper.
The warm cocoon he has me in instantly makes me feel safe and protected as sleep begins to pull me under, and I finally give in.
I awake to sunlight streaming in and my body wrapped around him. Lifting my head off his chest, I gaze upward and see Knox still sleeping beside me. He looks so peaceful right now, and I soak in this rare moment when I can fully study every detail on his beautiful face.
His lips are slightly parted, and memories of them on my body quickly send a rush of heat to my cheeks. The scruff on his face is more pronounced this morning, and I resist the urge to rub my palm over it and feel the roughness against my skin.
The sun touches his hair, and the dark and golden contrast is something women would pay a fortune for.
It’s darker underneath, but sunlight has kissed streaks, causing a blend of beautifully woven-together colors.
It’s long enough on top to fall in his eyes every so often and the perfect length in back to slightly curl against the nape of his neck.
Long dark eyelashes lie against his cheek, holding the ocean blues that I’ve never been able to resist.
My eyes scan the rest of him, and I wish I had the time to really study all the ink and black swirls.
There’s a darkness to them that makes my heart ache for the man beside me.
My brothers did an amazing job with the details and conveying the emotions that pull you in with their sadness and destruction.
Feeling brave, my hand on his stomach slips beneath the covers to explore what I really want to study. As soon as I make contact, a soft growl fills the air as he swells against my palm, awakening the beast inside.
His eyes flutter open, and my heart thuds against my chest as a fierce need to please him takes over. Wrapping my hand around him, I slowly go down the length of him and watch his blues turn to a storm.
Wanting more, I quickly move so I’m over him as I kiss his stomach and follow his rigid abs to the spot I really want to taste.
“Savi…” My name borders between a plea and a warning, instantly dying on his tongue as I taste the saltiness seeping out on his tip.
I don’t give him time to recover as I take him deep on my next breath.
“Fuck,” he moans, grabbing fistfuls of my hair before wrapping the strands around one hand and giving him a clear view of me as he disappears inside my mouth again.
There’s something so erotic about him watching me while I pleasure him that I can’t help the moan that escapes me as I begin to pulse between my legs.
“This turning you on, sunshine?” He guides me to take him deeper as he hits the back of my throat, causing me to whimper against the pleasure building inside me.
Reaching his hand down, he finds me bare under my t-shirt and swipes his fingers through my arousal.
“Jesus…you’re soaking wet,” he moans. “Change of plans,” he says, pulling me up.
“Turn around and straddle me,” he growls out, and I quickly obey, eager to see what he has planned.
He yanks off my t-shirt before his hand is pushing me down on him as he positions my ass in the air, baring myself to him. His hands grip my waist as he pulls me back to where his breath fans my center.
“Fuck, that’s a beautiful sight,” he says with a deep rumble vibrating from his chest. “I’m going to taste this sweet pussy now, sunshine, while I fuck that beautiful mouth of yours.”
“O…okay,” I stammer, feeling too worked up to even form a thought.
Suddenly, he’s everywhere all at once, and for a moment, it’s too intense as I get hit with a tsunami of sensations.
Wanting to make him feel the way I do right now, I take him deep again, finding a rhythm to match his own. Every moan he makes vibrates against my skin, sending even more pleasure as my muffled cries wrap around him.
His scruff feels like heaven against my sensitive skin as I rock against him, so close to the edge that I’m hanging on by a mere thread.
When I feel his thumb swipe upward toward my ass, I lose all sense of reality as he swirls it against my puckered opening before adding pressure just as two fingers enter me deeply between my legs and his mouth sucks my swollen bud.
It’s like the perfect trifecta of a beautiful storm as I splinter into a million pieces. My cry is desperate and raw as I suck him deep and hard.
His groan is muffled and long as he works me from all angles as his hips buck up, leaving a warm release in the back of my throat. I greedily take it all as my body trembles to the core.
When I’m finally coherent, I slowly release him, breathing heavily as his mouth takes one more taste before letting me go.
“Fuck,” he pants. “We may not make it out of this alive.”
“The chances are very slim,” I giggle breathlessly as I turn back around and curve to his side.
His hand plays with my hair as I listen to his heart slowly return to a normal, steady beat.
“I leave today,” he says quietly.
“I know,” I whisper, remembering he has two back-to-back away games this week. “Are you excited to see New York again? I’m sure your teammates have missed you.” I try not to think about all the women he left up there, probably counting down the hours until he returns.
“It will be nice to kick their ass.” I hear the smile in his voice, and lift up, placing my hand on his chest and settling my chin there as I gaze up at him.
“The Devils won their first game, too. I heard they’re pretty good this year.” I bite back a smile at his scowl.
“That’s because I trained them to be that way. Our team is better, though. We’ll get the win,” he says with no hesitation. “Boston, too.”
“Watch out for Morris. He’s going to want revenge for embarrassing him last year in the fight you two shared.” Morris is known for stirring up emotions and won’t think twice about playing dirty to get the win. Last year, Knox put him in his place fairly quickly when the gloves were dropped.
“Don’t worry about Morris,” he chuckles, dismissing him right away. “I’m more interested in knowing how you even knew about that fight? You watched my games?” His eyebrow raises, and I realize I just let him in on my secret.
“My brothers always had your game on. It was hard to ignore when they were shouting at the TV all the time. I must have heard them talking about it.” I play it off like it’s nothing, but he can see right through me.
“You are such a bad liar,” he chuckles.
“Fine,” I huff, knowing it’s no use to lie at this point. “I’ve watched every single one of your games that’s been on the air. My family loves hockey, so it’s not that big of a deal.”
“It’s a big deal to me,” he says quietly. “Are you watching the next two?”
“I was planning on it.” I really wish I could read his mind as I struggle to see past his walls.
“Hmmm. Maybe you really are my lucky charm.”
“Be careful, Stone. It’s sounding an awful lot like you might actually like me.” I lay my cheek back down on his chest as his fingers weave through my hair again, putting me in a deep, sated state.
“Liking you has never been the problem,” I hear him finally say. “It’s the keeping you part that terrifies me.”
“Would keeping me be such a bad thing?” I ask, holding my breath as I wait to see if he will give me more.
“It would be the wrong thing for me to do, and that’s all that matters.”
“How can it be so wrong when it feels so right?” I whisper, wishing I could understand why he refuses to let himself be happy.
“You just have to trust me on this, Savi,” he sighs. “Let’s just enjoy the time we have now. One day, you’ll find someone who deserves you, and it will all make sense why I had to walk away.”
Not wanting to argue right before he leaves for the week, I decide to let him think my silence is agreement when nothing could be further from the truth.
I won’t stop fighting for how I feel in this moment, wrapped in his arms. He belongs here with me, and I know he feels it too.
I’m going to continue proving to him just how much he deserves to be loved and truly happy. I know he feels he can’t give me what I need, but he’s wrong. He’s exactly what I need and want.
All his scars…
All his wounds that haven’t healed…
His darkness and his light.
I want all of him.
And I will keep showing him I’m not going anywhere until he has no choice but to face the fact that we are stronger together than we are apart.