Aftershock

Alaric

My eyes flutter open to a faint blue-gray light seeping through the curtains, the kind that comes just before sunrise.

I must’ve slept for three hours tops, then.

Don’t care.

Nothing bothers me when I get to wake up to this. To my body curled around Lilith’s smaller one. To keeping her safe, close, and mine.

I’m growing addicted to her warmth, to stroking her soft belly under my shirt, the one she slept in.

Her presence. Her essence.

She turns my apartment into a home.

I’m so caught up in her, I don’t think about how I dumped Harold in the Hudson River a few hours ago. Steven’s dad barely crosses my mind, though he should. His turn is coming later today.

That’s how thoroughly being with Lilith has altered my brain chemistry.

I’m fully present, in this bed, tethered to her. But hugging her isn’t enough, so I press my lips to the crook of her neck, just above the collar of her shirt.

My mouth parts, and I drag my tongue in a slow, heated path to the spot behind her ear she likes.

Imagining her moaning like she does whenever I lick and kiss her like this makes my cock strain painfully in my boxers.

Since she gave me her consent, I could ease her onto her back, wake her up with either my mouth or cock between her thighs.

I want it, just…later.

For a little while longer, I let myself enjoy this moment. This feeling of belonging.

My childhood was ugly. My parents made sure of that. They’re the reason I stayed away from the other kids at school, so no one would get comfortable enough to ask about the welts on my backside after PE. I didn’t want their pity, or worse, for them to perceive me as weak.

As the years passed, I got used to being alone.

Until her.

I can’t imagine a life without Lilith. Refuse to.

That possessive train of thought turns darker with each passing minute. The word mine brings images of Lilith impaled on my cock. Of her carrying my child. Of my name rolling off her tongue as I drive into her over and over and fucking over.

My hand trails higher up her stomach and palms her full, round breast. I mold the hot flesh in my palm, barely holding back.

All I want is to twist her nipple between my fingers. Pull. Feel it harden for me.

But then she’d wake up.

Too soon. I need to play with her some more, then get her ready to have my cock shoved in her tight pussy.

It’s wrong. It’s messed up.

It’s what she wants too. My filthy girl.

These boxers, though, are in the way.

My movements are steady as I remove my hand from her chest for long enough to push them down my thighs and fist myself.

That first stroke—fuck—the friction sends a jolt of electricity up my spine. My teeth grind. A drop of arousal wets the tip of my dick as I jerk myself slowly, planting another kiss on Lilith’s neck.

“Hmm.”

My hand, my thoughts, and my twisted desires come to a halt at that one hmm.

I count one, two, three. She doesn’t stir or hum a second time.

Curious, as I am about everything when it comes to her, I rise onto one elbow and stare down at her profile. I don’t think there’ll ever be a day when I won’t lose a heartbeat or ten when I look at her.

Thick eyelashes rest on rosy cheeks. Full lips, still swollen from the night, are slightly parted. She has both hands under her cheek instead of balled into fists like they were that first night after she’d told me about her mom.

A picture of innocence. Of trust.

She knows I’ll keep her safe.

I know that too. I’ll die before I let anything happen to her.

Good thing I don’t have to worry about that. No, this morning is about us and fuck. I need her.

Not her mouth, though it’s hot, perfect, and a fucking dream.

What I’m throbbing for is burrowing so deep she feels me in her womb. So deep that I put a baby inside her.

I kick my boxers off completely and rise to my knees, my cock so hard it’s almost brushing against my stomach. That ache between my legs is what has me throwing the covers aside, helping Lilith to her back, and kneeling between her parted legs.

Slowly, I lean in, pushing her shirt up over her breasts, teasing one nipple with my tongue.

One barely-there touch, and it hardens for me while Lilith doesn’t stir.

The way my body reacts is far less subtle.

Teeth grinding. Pulse roaring in my ears. My hands brace on either side of Lilith’s body, fighting to hold me in place when my hips are already drifting forward.

Not.

Yet.

Instead of filling her up, I crawl down her body, my fingers soft on her thighs. They’re just as gentle when I spread her wider.

Fuck. Me.

This shade of pink doesn’t exist anywhere in the world.

The trickle of arousal down her slit, the way she responds to me in her sleep, I—

“Fuck,” I hiss, edging closer.

My lips hover inches over her clit. I lean in, stifling a groan when the tip of my cock brushes the bed.

I’m dying to be inside Lilith, but—not yet. This filthy foreplay is almost as good as the real thing, as shoving every inch into her tight channel. Which is another reason why I hold back. She needs to be wetter than this before taking my cock.

I gather saliva in my mouth and spit on her twice.

The sight of my spit on her clit, how it drips down her pussy, it awakens the depraved desires in me.

But it’s not enough.

So I lower myself and flatten my tongue over her clit. A glance up at her face confirms she’s sound asleep.

She doesn’t so much as flinch the moment I start licking her. Up and down. Slow, slow, slow. Having her swell beneath me is such a turn-on. My hips grind, my precum dripping onto the sheets.

Being gentle becomes a challenge as I watch her nipples pull into tight peaks. When goosebumps prickle the smooth skin of her stomach.

Patience.

Once she’s wet enough, when I’m at the end of my rope, I sit up and line myself up with her pussy. The head of my cock pushes inside, forcing a low curse out of me.

Even wet with my spit, her pussy is tight.

My jaw clenches, teeth gnashing as I lean over her, clutching the sheets, crumpling them beneath my fingers.

She’s hot and soaking. She’s so beautiful it hurts.

Carefully, with a tilt of my hips, I slide deeper. Watching her stretch around my girth has me throbbing, thickening, leaking.

Another one of Lilith’s sleepy hums snaps my attention to her face.

Her eyes are pinched shut now. Breath quickening.

She’s waking up.

Without pulling out, I move up her body, planting my hands beside her head and leaning closer.

Her lips press together. Eyes shifting beneath her eyelids.

I cup one of her cheeks, using my thumb to caress her cheekbone.

My face is right there so she knows it’s me.

“Lilith.”

Her blue eyes fly open, her stunned gaze capturing mine. There’s fear in it, but it dies out as soon as recognition lights her face.

“I’m going to fuck you.” I’m hanging by a thread, one that’s about to snap from the sound of my name on her lips. “I’m already buried halfway in after licking your cunt and—”

“Oh, God.” She flutters around me, her hands going to my hair. “Yes.”

“—spitting on her while you slept.”

“Do it again. In my mouth this time.”

My fucking pleasure.

I hook my thumb into her bottom lip, pull it down, and spit on her tongue, watching her swallow it. Her pussy squeezes me tighter, the delicious grip killing the last of my restraint.

A rough roll of my hips is all it takes to bury my cock inside her. Heat surges up my spine, the pleasure building as Lilith’s moans weave through the space.

But hearing her is nowhere near enough either. I ache to taste each rasp, each needy sound, to claim it with my mouth. While I pound her with everything I’m worth, I kiss her, being rough with my teeth, sucking on her plump bottom lip.

My hand wraps around her throat, grounding and controlling her while my hips work to bind us together.

Still. Not. Enough.

Her thighs feel so fucking perfect against me after she lets me manhandle both legs around my waist, her heels digging into my ass.

“More,” she groans, arching her back, her gorgeous tits bouncing while I rail her so hard the bed creaks.

“I’ll give you more.” I change the angle before she can answer, slamming my hips against hers. Possessing the only thing worth having. Lilith. “So much more that you’ll feel me for days.”

“Please.” Her eyes darken, pulling me deeper, physically and emotionally. “Don’t stop.”

“Horny little thing.”

I tighten my hold on her throat without cutting off her air supply, then wrench one of her legs off me, placing her heel over my shoulder.

Like that—just like that—I silence her by being more ruthless the louder she cries out my name.

“Look at you. Soaking me down to my balls.” Each word is a rough thrust. The sounds of our bodies slapping together are obscene and so fucking right. “Making a mess of my cock. Such a good girl.”

Curse after curse slips past her lips as her nails dig into my scalp, the delicious pain driving me to pound her hard, hard, harder.

“Don’t stop,” she whispers.

“Not planning to.”

Lilith makes these erotic sounds that drive me wild. She gets wetter and tighter for me.

But then her eyes roll back.

Hell no.

“Look at me.” My ass flexes with each stroke. My entire body works to please and own her. “Look at me when I’m fucking babies into you.”

Her eyes land on me, her gorgeous cheeks burning bright red. The idea of feeding her my seed turns her on as much as it does me.

“Good fucking girl.”

I give her more of what she needs, angling my hips so my pubic bone grinds against her clit.

And let go of her throat.

The rush of air, my cock branding her cunt, and the friction send Lilith right over the edge. She comes all over my dick, whispering my name, spasming and writhing so beautifully that I nearly lose my damn mind.

“Going to pump you full of cum.” I curl my hand around her throat again. “You’ll have so much of it that even after you shower, you’re going to have me leaking down your thighs. When you sit today.” Thrust. “When you stand.” Slam. “When you take someone’s order, you’ll remember who you belong to.”

“Alaric,” she cries out before another orgasm rakes over her.

That second climax triggers mine, my cock shooting load after load deep into her cunt.

“God. Fuck,” I murmur, pressing my forehead to hers. “I love you.”

I love you.

I’ve never said that to anyone.

Never felt that.

I don’t even know where that came from.

Don’t give a fuck. This chokehold she has on me isn’t something I can or will ever get over. It isn’t a crush or some hormonal reaction. It’s real.

“It’s okay if you don’t feel the same,” I add when her eyes widen, and she stares up at me. “But I fucking love you.”

She stays silent for a while.

At first, I think it’s shock. So I kiss her lips. Her jaw. Trace a hot path to her neck, then back to her mouth.

When I look at her again, her expression has changed.

It’s almost as if she expects more now that I’ve told her I love her.

Like maybe she knows about the storage unit and wants me to spill everything.

My brow furrows as I realize how crazy that sounds. Of course she doesn’t know.

One day, she will.

Just not now.

“Hey.” Her lips don’t part when I press another kiss to them.

Maybe the position I’ve put her in is uncomfortable. Has to be it. I lower her leg to the bed and watch her closely.

Nothing changes.

“Lilith, I was serious before.” I kiss the corner of her mouth, my wet, softening cock resting over her belly. “If you need more time, if you don’t feel it yet, that’s okay.”

Finally, she blinks, and it’s as if she’s back. Her smile is genuine. A little shy even.

“What’s going on?” My heart gives a strange thump as I search her eyes. “Are you okay? Did I hurt you?”

“I love you too,” she blurts out, her hands yanking on my hair and dragging me to her.

I’ll never say no to that.

Our lips meet, our tongues tangle, and it feels so right. So hot that I get hard again.

No. She needs me, not sex.

Pulling back, I ask, “Then what was that about?”

“I’m okay, promise.”

Lies. I can hear when she’s trying to evade me.

I arch an eyebrow and wait.

“Fine.” She massages my scalp, smirking when I groan and lower my forehead to hers. “You just told me you loved me, and it sucks that we’ll have to spend a day apart. I’m afraid it’ll feel less real. It’s weird. I’m being weird. Sorry.”

I figured my heart froze over a while ago. But every second I’m with Lilith, it melts and melts and Jesus, my chest is so warm.

“Nothing has ever been more real, Lilith,” I say, then add, “But I’ll tell you what.”

“What?” Her eyebrows shoot up.

“After I walk you home, I have to catch up on sleep, then take care of a few things around here. Will probably be up all night working.” My hand settles along her jaw, thumb moving slowly over her skin.

“If you need me, though, if you want me to come over for whatever reason, just text or call. I’ll be there to remind you we’re as real as it gets.

That I’m thoroughly and un-fucking-equivocally committed to you. Okay?”

She nods, but the glimmer in her eyes dims briefly.

“Lilith, I won’t fail you.” Dammit, I just remembered I’ll be pulling my SIM when I take Steven’s dad. “I might be working on my car in B1, where reception’s spotty, but the second I see your text or a missed call, I’ll drop everything and come to you. You have my word.”

“Okay.” That beautiful, genuine smile creeping over her lips makes everything in the world right again. “Okay.”