Chapter 11
ELEVEN
Colt gently withdraws his fingers, leaving me trembling and utterly spent. I feel simultaneously hollow and too full, as if Colt shattered and reassembled me in the most exquisite way possible. I can barely keep my eyes open as I feel him leave the bed.
"Stay right there," he murmurs, his voice warm and soothing now that he's wrung every last drop of pleasure from me.
I hear water running in the bathroom, and soon he returns with a warm washcloth. With unexpected tenderness, he cleans between my thighs, the cloth gentle against my oversensitive skin. Each touch is careful, deliberate, so different from the man who just used me so thoroughly.
"There," he says softly, setting the cloth aside. "Come here."
He helps me up, guiding my boneless body until I'm lying properly on the bed. The sheets feel cool against my heated skin as he slides in beside me, pulling me against his chest. I curl into him instinctively, my head finding the perfect spot in the crook of his neck.
"You're incredible," he whispers against my hair, one hand tracing lazy patterns on my back. "So perfect for me."
"That was..." I struggle to find words, my mind still floating somewhere above my body. "I've never felt anything like that."
His chest rumbles with quiet laughter. "I know. I could feel it." His fingers trail down my spine, making me shiver. "The way you surrendered completely—it was beautiful."
"I didn't know I could come so many times."
"Oh, pretty thing," he says, and I can hear the smile in his voice, "I'm going to have so much fun with you."
The promise in his words sends a flutter through me despite my exhaustion. "Is that so?"
"Mmm." His hand cups my ass, careful of the tender spots where the paddle left its mark. "We're just getting started, you and I."
I tilt my head up to look at him, finding his eyes softer than I've ever seen them, though that intensity still simmers beneath the surface. "I'd like that," I whisper.
His expression shifts, something almost vulnerable flickering across his features before he controls it. "Good. Because I'm not letting you go anytime soon."
He pulls me closer, arranging us so my head rests on his chest, his heartbeat steady beneath my ear. One of his hands tangles in my hair, gently massaging my scalp in a way that makes me practically purr.
"How do you feel?" he asks after a comfortable silence.
"Mmm," I mumble against his skin. "Like I'm floating. Like I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be."
His arms tighten around me. "You are."
We lie together in the soft glow of my bedside lamp, our breathing gradually synchronizing. There's something profoundly intimate about this moment—more intimate, somehow, than when he was inside me or calling me filthy names that made me come undone.
"I never thought I'd find someone who would understand," I admit quietly. “Someone who wouldn’t consider me broken for wanting this.”
His fingers pause in my hair. "You're not broken, Tess." His voice is firm, brooking no argument. "What you want, what we both want, it's just a different kind of connection. More honest than most people ever experience."
I nod against his chest, feeling tears prick unexpectedly at my eyes. "Thank you," I whisper. "For seeing me."
He tilts my chin up, making me look at him. "Always," he promises, and then his lips are on mine in a kiss so tender it makes my heart ache.
When we break apart, I settle back against him, feeling more content than I can ever remember being. My body is pleasantly sore, marked by him inside and out. I know I'll feel him tomorrow in every movement, every step, a constant reminder that I'm his.
"I can't wait to do this again," I murmur, already half-asleep.
His chest rumbles with quiet laughter. "Good. Because I have so many plans for you, pretty thing. So many ways to break you apart and put you back together."
I smile against his skin, letting my eyes drift closed. "Promise?"
His arms tighten around me, secure and possessive. "Promise."
As sleep claims me, I feel utterly safe in his embrace. Claimed, owned, and paradoxically, more free than I've ever been. I found what I was looking for that night when I downloaded Desire: someone who sees all of me, even the messy parts, and wants me not despite them, but because of them.
In Colt's arms, I'm finally free.