CHAPTER ONE #2
I kiss her back just as hard. Her hands cling to my neck, and I trail my fingers up her face until I find her soft curls and feed them through my fingers. I wrap my hand in her hair with a firm grip and pull her into me. Our kiss grows intense, and she pulls back to catch a breath.
“I want you, Dima,” she pants.
“You’re so beautiful, Natalia,” I whisper and stare into her pretty eyes.
I push her backward and her body is warm beneath mine.
The dim glow of Christmas lights that grandpa decorated the house with dangle low from the edge of the roof, like sharp icicles spilling across the room from the window.
They paint her skin red and gold. Natalia lies back on the bed, her lips parted, her eyes tender as she looks up at me.
She smiles when I pull the silk blindfold from the open nightstand drawer.
I hold the delicate straps between my fingers, it hangs alluringly. Her breath quickens, but she doesn’t shift.
“You trust me?” I ask, my voice low, roughened by everything I feel for her.
Her chin lifts, steady. “I trust you.”
Fuck. Her saying that rips something inside me wide open. I slide the blindfold over her head and cover her eyes, tying it behind her head. She gasps softly when the world goes dark for her, and my cock hardens at the sound and the feel of her breath hitting my face.
“You have no idea how much you saying that means to me,” I whisper, brushing my lips against her ear.
My hands roam her body, slow at first. Tickling her throat. Running my fingers gently across and down her breasts, teasing her nipples, her stomach. Her body twists as she reacts to my touch. She’s blind and aching, every shift of her hips tells me she’s begging for me to take her.
“Dima,” she breathes, her hands clutching at the sheets. “Your hands are my comfort.”
I grab her wrists and pin them above her head, my mouth crashing against hers. The kiss is deep, hungry, and claiming. She moans into me, and I swallow every sound, every plea, until she’s panting beneath me.
“You’re mine,” I growl against her lips. “All of you. Every inch. Mine.”
I trail my mouth down her body, biting and kissing, marking her skin as I go.
She can’t see me, but she feels me—my tongue, my teeth, my hands feeling every curve of my girl.
I remove her skirt, tights and underwear then grip her thighs and spread her legs open.
I waste no time tasting her, devouring her.
She cries out, arching her back off the bed. I look up to see the blindfold remains tight around her head and I drag my tongue up and down her pussy, stopping and sucking her clit until she’s trembling, gasping my name.
“Dmitry—oh my god—I can’t—”
“You can, just let go,” I growl, sliding two fingers inside her, working them deeper and curling them until she’s a writhing mess. “Come for me. Give me everything. I want all of you.”
Her climax rips through her, her cries send goosebumps across my skin, and she glistens in the light like a goddess. I don’t ease up and continue with increased pace until her back collapses against the bed, her legs shaking and thighs soaked from her pleasure. My girl’s spent.
I move over her again, lining myself up and rub the material of my pants against her slick pussy.
She whimpers, blindfolded, and helplessly under me. “I want you.” She gasps.
I work to unzip myself and push my pants and boxers off.
Taking hold of my already stiff and throbbing cock I waste no time slamming into her.
The bed frame rattles and hits against the wall.
Her wetness soaks my cock. I thrust into her a second time, so brutally that she grips my arms, her nails digging into me, marking my skin.
We both groan, the sound raw and primal.
She whimpers as she takes every inch of me, her body clenches around me.
Her arms now cling to my body, and her nails drag down my back.
I’m like a man possessed as I take in the feel of her body and her skin.
Her scent hits, sending my senses into overdrive.
She proves she trusts me as she begs for more, and I fucking give her what she wants. I give her all of me.
“I’ll never let anyone hurt you again,” I rasp, my hand sliding to her throat, gripping just enough for her to feel the power I hold over her. “Never.”
She moans, her words broken, needy. “I know. I trust you... I trust you.”
Those words undo me. My forehead drops to hers, sweat dripping, my thrusts deep and relentless. “You make me whole, Natalia. You make me human.”
Her body convulses around me, another orgasm tearing through her, and I follow—burying myself inside her, emptying everything I am into the only woman I’ll ever love.
I gently undo the blindfold and slide it off my girl, I need to see her beautiful eyes. She blinks up at me with her long lashes, her lips still full and her face flushed a pretty pink.
I kiss her fiercely, then slow my pace and whisper against her mouth, “this is the best Christmas of my life. Having you. Loving you. Knowing you’re mine, Little Sparrow. I’ve dreamed of what Christmas with you would be like and now I’m living it.”
Her arms wrap around me, holding me tight as if she’ll never let go. And I know she won’t.
Because she’s mine. And I’ll never let the world take her from me.
The morning light filters through the curtains, pale winter sun cuts across the room. The candle has burned out, but the faint smell of wax and vanilla fills the space. Natalia is still asleep, her cheek pressed against my chest and her breath warm on my skin as I hold her.
I don’t want to move. I want to stay here forever, just feeling her flesh melt into mine. I memorize the weight of her body against mine. Last night plays over in my head—the blindfold, the way she gave me her trust, the way she held me like I was her whole world.
And maybe I am. But she’s mine too.
Carefully, I slip out from under her and reach for the small box I hid beneath my coat last night. My heart pounds as I open it, the bracelet glinting softly in the light. Silver chain, delicate but strong. Three charms adorn it, sparrow with its wings spread, a shotgun, and a little panda bear.
I remember the day I gave her a panda bear plushie. We were just kids, trapped in a world of shadows and violence, and I wanted her to have something soft, something innocent. I wondered if she’d still remember it.
The bed shifts as Natalia stirs, her lashes fluttering open. She blinks up at me, her voice still husky from sleep. “What are you doing, Dima?”
I sit on the edge of the bed, box in hand, and smile down at her. “Giving you something that belongs only to you.”
She pushes up on her elbows, curiosity lighting her face. I open the box, and her lips part as she sees it.
“It’s beautiful,” she whispers, reaching out like she’s afraid to touch it.
I remove the bracelet I let my from the box, take hold of her wrist gently and clasp the bracelet around it, the charms catching the light. thumb brush over each one of them.
“The sparrow—for freedom. Because no cage, no man, no past can hold you anymore. You’re free, Natalia. Always.”
Her throat works as she swallows; her eyes are already wet.
I touch the second charm, the tiny panda.
“And this... because I want you to remember that even in our darkest time, I’ve always wanted you to have light.
I want to remind you of the giggles and the innocent moments we shared as children.
You still have me; you’ll always have me.
And the shotgun—the shotgun is a symbol that you’ve overcome your past, you’ve taken your power back.
You can do, and be anything you want, you’re courageous, Natalia. ”
She lets out a broken laugh, tears sliding down her cheeks as she clutches the bracelet to her chest. “Dmitry... I don’t deserve this. I don’t deserve you.”
I tilt her chin up, so she has no choice but to look at me.
My voice is steady and firm. “You deserve everything. And you’ll have it. From me. Always.”
She launches into my arms, kissing me through her tears, whispering against my lips, “I remember ... I remember the panda bear; you gave it to me in the treehouse. It made the sadness in my heart go away. I love you, Dima. More than anything.”
I hold her tight, my chest aching with the weight of everything we’ve been through together, everything we’ve been through in this life. “I love you too. You’re my life, Natalia. You always have been.”
The bracelet glints between us as I kiss her again, and I know—it’s only the beginning of the promises I’m going to make to her. It’s only the beginning of our beautiful life together and a future I’ll do anything to protect.