Chapter 27
Feelings in his line of work were – expensive.
They put a target on his back. Being soft lowered his judgment, made him weak.
Being soft or having feelings was warring with his status quo.
Reign in his arms, head on his chest, was igniting the flame he thought he’d smothered years ago.
Like they’d been suspended in this space forever, he caressed her shoulder before letting his head rest atop hers.
A soft kiss to the top of her head caused her to wiggle out of his hold.
“I’m hot,” she huffed, sitting up and taking the sweatshirt off, exposing the tank top she wore underneath. She tossed it on the other end of the couch and looked over at him.
Markus looked down at her with a smirk on his face. “Might as well take off the leggings while you’re at it. The heat radiating off you don’t make sense.”
“I would, but I can’t,” Reign huffed, moving away from him.
Markus looked over her, an amused smirk crossing his lips. “No shorts tonight?”
Reign bit her lip and shook her head, and then rolled her eyes at the look on his face. “Cut it out.”
“Nah, you cut it out,” Markus stated, expression not changing. “You know what you doin’. You tryin’ to put it on me, Reign?”
She burst out in laughter and dropped her head back. “Boy, please.”
“You laughin’. The truth is the truth. If you want a nigga, say that and stop playin’ scared. I ain’t gon’ hurt you.”
“Emilliano, please,” Reign huffed, settling her laughter. “Did I thank you for today?”
“I’m Emilliano now?” Markus gave her a lopsided grin, his eyes attempted to take in her, but were tempted by her nipples pressing against the light fabric. “I counted sixteen times. Seventeen won’t hurt.”
Reign grabbed a throw pillow and teasingly tossed it at him. “Anyway. You want to know the best part?” she asked, looking down at him.
“I’m all ears.”
“The fact that you were present for the whole thing. I’m proud of you. Sobriety looks really good on you.”
Those four words stirred something in him. The movie be damned, he picked her up and placed her on top of him. His brows fused like she cursed him out and called his mother an obscenity.
“What you say?” he asked, as she looked down at him oddly.
“Can you stop yanking me around?” she huffed, fixing her tank top before placing her hands on his chest and letting a smile spread a little. “I said I’m proud of you. For not using. I know how hard that shit is.”
He slightly sat up and placed his hands on her thighs. “You do?”
Reign shrugged slightly. “You get hit enough. You get berated enough. You get tired of feeling tired, tired of not sleeping, so you dive into the darkness. One to sleep turns into three. Then pills just don’t do anymore.
And for me, when I got to that point, I stopped.
I didn’t have a family to live for, but I had myself.
I wanted to prove to myself that I could survive it. I survived it. So, I’m proud of you.”
“Five days. It’s you,” Markus shared. “You’re an anchor.”
Her smile grew. “I should move.”
Markus’ hands slid from her thighs to her waist. “Don’t.”
“All day I’ve been trying to settle this tug of war inside of me. I’m going to forget it if I don’t move. I also told you not to do it for me.”
“Forget what?” Markus glared at her in wonder. How did he have someone as layered with such strong will in his hands? “I heard what you said. It’s for me, but it’s because of you. When you talk to me, every fiber of my being is at attention.”
“Mm.” Reign leaned down, mere inches from his face. “Forget the lessons the darkness should have taught me. If I stay here, I’m going to let my feelings override the lessons.”
“Let that shit override, then,” he groaned, his body coming alive again, and he’d just gotten himself to calm down before she took her sweatshirt off. “What do you want, Speechless?”
His question was loaded.
She tucked her lips. A swipe of his thumb over her chin told her to release them along with her words.
“I want to feel again. I want to be safe to feel again. I want to know I won’t be mishandled or mistreated.
I want to feel like I’m precious and not just a thing.
I’ve never had that, and I want it. And dare I say, I want it with you. ”
Markus hooked her chin and pressed his lips against hers. A slow, passionate, longing kiss. Slow and intentional. Each swipe and nip of her lip with his teeth took her breath away. He twisted her body around, laying her on her back.
He stopped for a moment to take her in.
“I like the way you look at me,” she hummed, her hands free to rub his shoulders. “You make me feel like…I’m enough.”
“You are enough,” he replied boldly, dipping his head down to kiss her. “Been enough.”
“If I…” she stopped herself.
“Nah, don’t do this to me. Don’t give me your voice and take it away from me. Say it,” he urged, kissing her chin and then her shoulder. “If what?”
“If I do this…act on what I want, don’t hurt me. I’ve survived a lot, but I don’t know if I’ll be able to handle that,” Reign offered her truth while her mind was dizzy and her body flooded with heat.
“I won’t hurt you. I’ll never hurt you,” he assured, kissing his way back up to her lips and then standing. He reached down, pulling her to her feet and then hoisting her legs around his waist.
Reign draped her arms around his neck, kissing him while her heart drummed against him. Up the stairs and into the bedroom filled with her scent, Markus lay her on the bed and on top of her without the walls blocking his access.
He watched him, watch her. He tugged at the waist of her leggings and pulled them down, finding her naked underneath. There were a few scars over her stomach, pelvis, and knees, and he kissed every one.
“The last time a nigga put they hands on you was the last time,” Markus promised. “You hear me?”
Reign hummed underneath his touch. “I do.”
The tank top was next. Whatever scar or mark he found, he kissed. Each kiss drenched with assurance that she was safe with him now and forever, however long he’d be granted to hold her space.
There were no words spoken. They weren’t needed. The kisses, the touches, the soft moans flowing for Reign’s lips, serving as music to his ears. Markus sucked each breast, kissed down her body past her shaven center down her thighs, and to her toes.
“Pretty ass feet,” he hummed.
Reign laughed softly. “You owe me a pedicure.”
“When I let you up, you can have whatever you want,” he chuckled, pushing her legs open. “Mm, shit.”
Reign’s brows dipped. He spotted that fear and zapped it where it was.
“Reign,” he spoke her name like it was created just for him to say. “You’re beautiful. You hear me?”
“I hear you,” she hummed.
“Good, let me show you how fuckin’ beautiful you are.” He kissed back down her body, finding her center and inhaling her scent. “How you smell so damn good all over?”
Reign watched him part her lips with his long fingers.
He caressed her bud, then pushed one finger inside.
Her tightness and heat wrapping around it.
Markus was focused on her breathing, whether or not her body tensed, and if her moans and humming stopped.
He rocked his finger in and out of her, sucking and licking her bud; her moans growing louder and her hands finding the back of his head.
“M-markus,” she whined, making him stop and look up at her. She breathed, “w-what?”
“What’s my name, baby?” he groaned into her center. “Say my name.”
Her brows dipped with confusion before a half smile traipsed over her lips. “Emilliano.”
A cocky smile formed over his nectar-covered lips.
“Yeah, that’s that shit I like.” He returned to tasting her. Her flavor earning a moan. “Taste so damn good.”
“Feel so. It feels so good,” Reign slurred as her head pushed into the mattress, her mouth open and pleasure flowing through her. The bonnet be damned, sliding off her head with every suction and lick and thrust. Markus pushed another finger inside, trying to prepare her for his size.
Reign panted. “Ohh, Milli.”
He could feel her walls tightening and throbbing to his rhythm.
The first flood was coming. And he wanted to be drenched in her.
Reign’s hands moved from the back of his head to the comforter, gripping his low curls.
Her back arched, legs locked around his shoulders, and she tried to muffle the sounds of her pleasure.
"Baby," he groaned. “Let me hear it. Let me hear you come apart so I can put you back together.”
“Ahh shit. What you doin’ to me?” she asked, feeling like she was floating above herself.
Reign looked down at him and nodded. Markus kept his consistency, earning him a sweet eruption.
She quivered in his hold, her gaze low cast. She was still suspended.
His mouth found hers, and her hands found him.
“You sweet as fuck,” he hummed. “You taste that? That’s good shit.”
“Yes,” she crooned, swiping her tongue over his lips. “My legs are still shaking.”
“I’m not even done. That was your first one. You deserve more. To fall apart in my arms,” he grunted with a shudder, feeling her touch.
Her tiny hands reached inside his pants, finding his erection begging to be set free.
“Shit,” she huffed and blinked rapidly. “I thought I was just making that up. You’re really like that.”
“If you want it, take it,” Markus encouraged. “You safe here. It’s me and you, baby.”
His words were subtle boosts to her confidence. That and the way he beamed down at her. How he touched her, and he was gentle only for her. He knew it.
Reign bit her lip. “Take it off. All of it.”
Markus moved off the bed, sure to stay in her sight as he pulled his clothes off and dropped them where he tossed hers. Reign sat up on her knees and studied every inch of his body.
“You wanted to know how I view you,” she posed. “Like a giant. My giant.”
His lips quirked in a smirk. “You know you mine, right? You think I’m on you now.”
“You dropped bodies for me. I’ve been yours,” Reign responded, the comment making Markus pull her to the edge of the bed.
A yelp and a giggle filled the room. Then she kissed a tattoo-covered scar.
And then another. She stood and kissed his shoulder, hoisted herself to her tiptoes to kiss his neck. “What you want, Emilliano?”
“You,” he groaned. “All of you. Them secrets you hold close. That laugh, that smile. That joy. I want all that shit. I want your body wrapped around mine and your trust.”
“Say please.”
“Speechless, can I please have you?”
Reign bit a smile. “Yes. Don’t hurt me.”
“You’ll have to kill me,” he said, picking her up.
Back in the middle of the bed, Markus hooked her thighs and slowly inched inside of her. Reign gasped and pressed her hand against his waist. His movement was swift but assuring. He laced his fingers in hers and pinned her hands over her head. Then he kissed her.
“I got you. Breathe,” he coached.
Reign pulled in a deep breath. “Okay.”
“That’s my girl,” he groaned. Her body sucking him in as he pushed deeper, and deeper and deeper until he filled her to the hilt. “Keep your eyes on me.”
Reign could barely keep her eyes open. They fluttered as she moaned. “You feel…you feel so good. Shhiittt.”
Kissing her, he stroked and grinded in and out of her. “You do too, baby. You feel like you mine.”
Reign held onto his chains, allowing her body to react and follow his motion.
Her hands rubbing, her nails digging into his skin, her moans flowing into his ears.
Everything she did commanded Markus to discover another part of himself.
A gentler side because she deserved that.
They kissed, touched, and muttered praises until they were spent.
Markus was sprawled over her body, listening to her breathing, her fingers massaging his scalp. “You good?”
“I’m trying to find the words,” she softly spoke. “No one has ever handled me like that. Like…”
Markus sat up, sure to look into her eyes when he spoke life into her. “Speechless.”
“Hmm,” she buzzed, her eyes big and her ears waiting to take in whatever he was preparing to say.
“Anyone who mishandled you before me doesn’t fuckin’ exist anymore.
Literally and figuratively. ‘Cause if I see them niggas on the streets, they’re done.
Reign, you’re special, and I’m sorry no one has ever handled you like that.
On everything I am, I will make sure you know that shit.
And I will protect you with my life. You hear me? ”
“I hear you,” she hummed, tucking her lip between her teeth. “One request.”
“Anything you want.”
“Hold me, please.”
Markus pulled her into position. Her head on his chest, arm draped over him, her leg over his. He wasn’t letting her go. He needed this. Her, he needed her.