Chapter Twenty-Eight
SHE LOOKED AT me like I was the last choice she’d ever make — and fuck, I wanted to be. Wren had said the words. Full sentences. Soft and sure. I want you. All of you.
I should’ve told her no. She’d been through too much. Carried scars that weren’t hers to bear. But the way she stared at me, shaking and sure at once, told me she knew exactly what she was asking.
“Wren.” My voice came out rough with trying to hold back and be gentle. I cupped her face, forcing her to meet me. “You tell me to stop, I will. But if you want this…” My thumb ghosted over the curve of her cheek. “…then I’ll make it perfect. You understand?”
Her lips parted, trembling, but her eyes didn’t break away. “I’m sure.”
Two words. They snapped every restraint I had left.
I kissed her slow at first, tasting nerves and trust on her mouth.
She clutched at my shirt like she was hanging on, and I let her.
Let her feel the strength I was holding back.
She pressed closer and I rolled her beneath me, careful, steady, while everything burning inside me screamed to take.
This wasn’t about me. It was about giving her back what had been stolen.
Her breath hitched when my hands slid under her shirt, skin to skin. She shook but didn’t pull away.
“You stop me if it’s too much,” I murmured, my forehead pressed to hers. “Right in the middle, doesn’t matter. You say stop, I stop. Got me?”
Her chest rose fast, her whisper catching. “Got you.”
Trust like that doesn’t come twice.
I stripped her shirt slow, baring pale skin inch by inch.
When her bra came free, I muttered, “Fuck,” and cupped her, thumb brushing until her nipple hardened under my touch.
She gasped, arching into me. I took her into my mouth, sucking until her back bowed off the mattress, her fingers fisting in my hair.
The taste of her, the broken sounds spilling from her lips, it wrecked me.
I kissed down her body, peeling shorts and panties away until she was bare beneath me. I paused, kneeling between her thighs, just to take her in. Spread out on my bed, hair messy on my pillow, trembling but watching me.
“Look at you,” I rasped, dragging two fingers through her slick folds. She jolted, already wet for me. “So fucking sweet.”
I leaned in and licked her, one long stroke that made her cry out. I groaned into her, holding her thighs wide, devouring her like a starving man. Licking, sucking, teasing until she was rocking against my mouth, begging without words.
“Don’t stop, Ashen,” she gasped, her nails biting into my scalp.
I didn’t. I slid two fingers inside, curling until I found the spot that made her fall apart. She came hard, trembling, crying my name, and I swallowed every sound like it belonged to me.
When she stilled, panting, I kissed my way back up, my cock straining against my shorts, I ripped them off, kicking them aside.
Her eyes widened when she saw me, lips parting, nerves flickering across her face.
I kissed her before they could take root, guiding her hand to my chest so she could feel the hammer of my heartbeat.
I tore a condom from the drawer, my hands shaking. “Gotta protect you, baby. I’m not taking chances.”
She watched me roll it on, never looking away. That alone damn near undid me.
I lined up, the tip sliding against her slick heat. My forehead pressed to hers. “This is it. You tell me stop, I stop.”
“I won’t.” Her voice was soft but certain. “I want you, Ashen. All of you.”
I groaned and pushed inside, slow, sure. Inch by inch until I was buried deep. She was so tight, her nails biting my shoulders, her breath catching on every thrust of my hips.
“Jesus, Wren,” I growled, body shaking. “You feel so damn good.”
Her legs wrapped around me, pulling me closer, and I lost the battle with my control.
I started slow, letting her adjust, but her moans spurred me on.
I drove deeper, harder, filling her completely, kissing her between every thrust. Hard, then softer, my mouth claiming her lips, her throat, the hollow beneath her ear.
“I’ll always want you,” I whispered against her mouth. “Always need you.”
Her hips rose to meet mine, her body clenching tight. She gasped my name, the sound breaking something inside me. I tangled a hand in her hair, my other braced at her hip, driving her higher until she shattered a second time, body writhing beneath me.
The way she clenched around me, the sound of her release, dragged me under. I thrust harder, faster, chasing my own end until I spilled into the condom with a groan that tore from deep in my chest.
I stayed inside her, buried to the hilt, my body shaking with more than release. My forehead pressed to hers, our breaths ragged and shared.
I kissed her softer this time, reverent. “I’m not just keeping nightmares away anymore. You gave me all of you tonight. And I swear to God, no one’s ever taking you from me.”
Her fingers traced my jaw, her eyes heavy but sure. For the first time since I’d known her, she looked at peace.
I eased out of her carefully, stripped the condom, and tossed it. She shifted like she might curl away, but I stopped her, pulling the blanket over both of us, drawing her against my chest.
“Stay close to me,” I murmured.
Her cheek pressed to my heart. “Always.”
Her eyes fluttered shut, lashes fanning against her cheeks.
She drifted, breath even, warm against my chest. I let my eyes close too, holding her tight, the hum of the desert night seeping through the walls, cicadas singing in the pines, the faint rumble of a bike in the distance, then nothing but dry, endless silence.
Sleep took me.
***
HOURS LATER, I woke to the heat of her body still wrapped against mine. The desert air had cooled but the room was stifling, heavy with the scent of sex, sweat, her skin on mine. My cock was already hard, pressed against the curve of her ass, throbbing like it had never known release.
Fuck, I needed her again.
I buried my face against her hair, breathing her in, fighting the urge to just take. But then she shifted in her sleep, her body curling closer, a soft sound leaving her throat that wasn’t nightmare-born. It was a whimper, needy and unconscious.
“Wren,” I whispered against her ear, my hand sliding up her stomach, finding the curve of her breast. Her nipple peaked instantly beneath my thumb, and she gasped awake, eyes fluttering open.
Her hand found mine, holding it against her chest. She turned her face toward me, lips parted, eyes hazy but certain. “Ashen…”
“You good?” I rasped, already grinding against her, fighting to hold on. “Because I need you again, baby. Been needing you since the second I closed my eyes.”
She nodded, breathless, and pressed her hips back against me. “Yes.”
That was all it took. I rolled her onto her back, kissing her hard, hungry. No nerves now. Just want. My tongue tangled with hers, my stubble scraping her soft skin as my hands roamed, relearning every inch of her body.
“Couldn’t stay asleep,” I muttered against her throat, sucking at the hollow until she moaned. “You’re in my head, my blood. I’ll never get enough.”
I shoved the blanket down, her legs falling open beneath me. She was wet already, slick and ready, and the sight of her in the moonlight nearly dropped me to my knees.
“So fucking perfect,” I groaned, sliding two fingers inside her, stroking until she was panting, clutching at my arms.
I fumbled for another condom in the nightstand, tore it open with my teeth, and rolled it on with shaking hands. My cock ached, heavy and hard, and I lined up fast, pushing inside her in one steady stroke.
Her cry split the quiet night, echoing against the walls. She clung to me, nails raking down my back, her legs locking tight around my waist.
“Fuck, Wren,” I groaned, already thrusting, harder this time, driven by raw hunger. “You feel too good. Can’t stop. Don’t ever wanna stop.”
The room filled with the sound of our bodies colliding, her gasps, my groans, the creak of the bed under every relentless drive of my hips.
I took her mouth, swallowing her cries, then pulled back to watch her face.
She was wrecked and beautiful, hair wild against my pillow, sweat beading her chest.
Her voice broke on my name, begging, and I shifted, braced my hand on the headboard and fucked her deeper, hitting a spot that made her scream.
“That’s it,” I growled. “Give it to me, baby. Let me hear you.”
She shattered, body clenching around me, her cry loud and raw. The way she squeezed me, the heat of her release, dragged me under. I pounded harder, faster, until I spilled into the condom with a groan that shook the air.
I collapsed on top of her, both of us drenched, breathing like we’d run through the desert. My heart slammed against hers, sweat slick between us. I kissed her slow, softer now, tasting her sigh against my mouth.
“Couldn’t stay asleep without you,” I whispered. “Don’t think I ever will.”
She smiled faintly, worn out but sure. “Good. Because I don’t want you to.”
I pulled the blanket back over us, keeping her close. Outside, the desert stretched endless and silent, the world waiting to burn. But in here, she was mine, fragile and fierce, soft and unbreakable, and I knew I’d tear down every wall, every enemy, before I let her go.