Chapter 22 #2
“Don’t,” I whispered brokenly. “Roe, don’t say that. Please. I can’t—I can’t do this. I can’t go there again. You crushed me the first time. I wouldn’t survive a second.”
“You think I survived losing you the first time?” He let out a bark of sardonic laughter that raked across my skin. “Not a fuckin’ chance. Hell, the only reason I didn’t lie down and give up was because of Cassi. She’s the only reason I didn’t fade into nothing.”
I squeezed my eyes shut and lifted my hands like a shield against his words. “Stop it!” I snapped, treading dangerously close to losing complete control.
“Fine. Here.”
Something warm and solid slammed into my palm and Roe physically wrapped my fingers around it. When I opened my eyes, I saw that he’d pulled a switch blade from his pocket and shoved the hilt into my hand.
“What—”
“You can’t do this with me, at least do me the courtesy of carving your name into my skin so I can carry that with me when you leave again.”
“Roe, that doesn’t?—”
He took the hand holding the knife and stepped into me, pressing the tip of the blade against his chest. “You might as well. You’re already carved into my bones and my goddamn soul.
You own every single part of me, Dakota.
Always have and always will, so do me the kindness of giving me one more thing to remember you by before you leave me again. ”
My heart started to race and my breathing picked up as I whispered, “You know, most men would just say I love you.” I was attempting to be flippant but failed miserably.
“Those three words have never been strong enough for us.”
Snatching the knife back, he closed it and shoved it back into the pocket of his jeans before pressing my palm against his chest and doing the same to mine.
“It’s you, baby. It’s you. It’s me. It’s us.
” Closing his eyes, he brought his forehead down to mine and squeezed his eyes closed like he was in agony.
“Please, Honeybee. Please, just put me out of my misery and tell me you still feel it too.
That was the last straw. I couldn’t possibly fight this man for another second. “I feel it too,” I admitted softly. “I never stopped feeling it. That’s why I haven’t been happy a single day since I left here. Because no one else was you.”
He lunged then, hooking me behind my knees and jerking me up so I had no choice but to wrap my legs around his waist and my arms around his shoulders as we devoured each other’s mouths like it was our last meal.
He moved with predatory grace out of the kitchen and down the hall to my bedroom, kicking the door shut loudly behind us.
He took no time at all stripping both of us out of our clothes, and before I knew it, I was being shoved onto the bed, letting out a startled giggle as I bounced before propping up on my elbows and taking in all the beauty that was a naked Roe.
“Please,” I panted. I could already feel the wetness slicking my thighs, and if he didn’t come inside me in the next five seconds, I was going to explode. “Please, Roe. I need you.”
The wave of emotion that washed over his face stole my breath as he bent to grab his discarded jeans, pulling out the condom packet he had stashed in his wallet.
“No,” I said quickly as he brought the foil to his teeth, ready to tear it open. “Not now. I want to feel you. Just you. Nothing between us.” Ever again I thought as he braced a knee on the mattress and climbed over me. I opened my legs instantly to create a cradle for his hips.
“Say it,” he grunted as the head of his cock nudged against my soaked entrance. “You know what I want to hear, baby. Give it to me and I’ll give you anything you want.”
Lifting my hand to cup his cheeks, I said the three sentences that I’d never stopped feeling in my soul. Not for a single moment over the past sixteen years.
“It’s you. It’s me. It’s us. Now come inside me, baby. Please.”
That was all it took. Roe thrust in deep, stretching me so perfectly I couldn’t remember anything ever feeling better.
Despite our avowals to each other, what was happening between us wasn’t making love.
It was too hungry. Too desperate. Too consuming for that.
Roe fucked me so beautifully that my climax was building in no time at all.
“Tell me you’re mine,” he ordered, driving into me at a relentless pace that caused sweat to break out on both our bodies.
“I’m yours, baby. And you’re mine.”
“Forever,” he grunted, the exertion causing his muscles to strain. “It needs to be forever. I can’t take losing you again. It’ll kill me.”
Lifting my head, I pressed my lips against his as I spoke, “Forever, Roe. I’m not going anywhere ever again.”
We came together a minute later, both of us shouting our releases into the air. Roe collapsed on top of me, and I squeezed my arms and legs around him tightly as we caught our breath. A few seconds later, he rolled to his side, taking me with him so we were still connected.
“You have my word, right here and now, Honeybee, that I will spend the rest of my life striving to deserve you, that I will never break your heart again, and I will love you with everything in me until I leave this earth.”
As far as promises went, that was a damn good one. I opened my mouth to give it back to him, but instead of words, a jaw-cracking yawn escaped. Roe chuckled before peppering my face with kisses.
“Take a little nap, baby. I’ll be right here when you wake up.”
“Mmm, promise?” I asked sleepily.
“I promise forever, Honeybee.”