Chapter Fifteen #2
Night fell, and I found him out on the small balcony off our bedroom, the compound stretching dark and silent below us as stars winked into existence. He pulled me against him, holding me against his chest like I’d dreamed about for so long.
“We’re really here,” I whispered, leaning my cheek against his chest. “We’re all really together.”
He pressed a kiss to my temple, and I breathed in the familiar scent of his skin. “We are,” he murmured. “Never thought I’d get this lucky twice in one lifetime.”
My heart tightened. I turned so I could look up at him, searching his eyes. “I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop,” I admitted. “For something to go wrong.”
“Nothing’s going wrong,” he promised, though I saw the weight behind his words. “We’ve paid our dues, Lavender. All of us.”
I lifted my hand to his cheek, fingertips ghosting over the dark ink that trailed from his temple down his jaw. I still saw the boy I’d fallen in love with, reckless and playful, behind every line of experience life had carved there.
“He’s still in there,” he said, catching my hand and pressing a soft kiss to my palm. “Just with better ink and worse attitude.”
I laughed, the sound muffled by his chest, and then he was kissing me. Warm and insistent, as if he’d been starving for this touch. Heat sparked in my belly, a familiar fire fanned by years of separation and relief.
“Bed.” Knight’s voice grated rough and demanding. The wonderful sound sent chills through my body, flooding my pussy with heated need.
“Yes. Bed.”
Knight swept me into his arms before I could take a single step, my surprised gasp swallowed by his mouth as he kissed me with both intensity and gentleness. He carried me to our bedroom, kicking the door shut behind us.
“If you wake Brynn up, this is not happening.” I couldn’t help teasing Knight as I found his neck with my mouth and sucked.
“Christ,” he breathed out, leaning his head back. “Sorry.” He fumbled with the lock on the door.
I giggled as he moved to the bed. “Knight, don’t strain yourself. You just lost an organ,” I protested weakly even as I let out a small laugh. He laid me on our bed, his tattooed body looming over mine.
“Don’t care,” he growled, his voice rough with need. “Been waiting too fuckin’ long to get you alone.”
He slid his hands beneath my shirt, calloused palms skimming over my ribs. I arched into his touch, my body responding to him with a desperate hunger that didn’t even surprise me. We’d been so careful these past weeks, mindful of his healing incision and focused entirely on Brynn.
“Need you,” I whispered, tugging at his shirt. “Now.”
Knight stripped it off in one fluid motion, revealing the tapestry of ink across his torso and the angry red incision at his navel where they’d taken his kidney.
I traced it gently with my fingertips, this physical proof of his willing sacrifice for our daughter.
The man had fought to give her everything. And he’d won.
Leaning down, I pressed my lips against the scar. “Thank you.”
Knight’s breath hitched, his hands fisting at his side. “Lavender,” he groaned, my name a prayer before urging me back up for a kiss.
I shed my clothes under his hungry gaze, feeling none of the self-consciousness that plagued me before. This man had seen me at my worst and my best, who knew every inch of me and loved it all.
When we were both naked, he covered my body with his. The feel of his skin against mine sent electricity through my veins, my body remembering this dance even after all our years apart.
“Fuck, I missed this,” Knight murmured, his mouth trailing hot kisses down my neck. “Missed your touch. Your kisses. Just fuckin’ missed you.”
“Knight. You’re going to hurt yourself. Your incision --”
“Yeah. Hurts a little. But I’m not movin’ unless I’m hurtin’ you.
Need this.” His beard scraped deliciously against my sensitive skin as he moved lower, taking my nipple into his mouth.
I gasped, arching up as he sucked and teased, his hand sliding between my thighs to find me already wet for him.
“So fuckin’ perfect,” he groaned against my breast, his fingers circling my clit with just the right pressure.
“Your sweet pussy is always so wet and ready for me.”
I writhed beneath him, desperate for more. “I need you, Knight. Please, fuck me.” I begged, not caring how needy I sounded. “I want you inside me.”
He positioned himself between my legs, the head of his cock pressing against my entrance. Our gazes locked as he pushed forward, filling me with one slow, deliberate thrust that had us both moaning.
“Christ, Lavender,” he panted, staying perfectly still as I adjusted to his size. “You feel like coming home.”
Tears pricked my eyes at his words, the emotion of everything we’d been through washing over me. I wrapped my legs around his waist, pulling him deeper.
“Move,” I whispered, digging my nails into his shoulders. “Please, Knight.”
He began to thrust, setting a rhythm that had me gasping with each stroke. This was my final homecoming. I felt like we’d never been apart. Knight -- Rhys -- was the man I was supposed to be with. He was my one.
He stretched me deliciously. The exquisite fullness of him inside me hit places that made stars explode behind my eyes. I cried out more than once and had to bite down on his neck. Every time I did, he rode me harder.
“Fuck, baby,” He gasped, his pace increasing. “You take my fuckin’ cock so fuckin’ good.”
I arched beneath him, meeting each thrust, desperate for more. “Harder,” I begged again. “Please, fuck me harder!”
Knight growled low in this throat, a primal sound that sent shivers down my spine. He gripped my thigh, hooking it higher around his waist to change the angle. The new position had his cock dragging perfectly against my clit, giving me just enough friction to send me off like a bottle rocket.
“Ahh! Yes!”
His hand covered my mouth as he rode me harder and faster, muffling my cries. “That’s it, baby. I know you need my cock. Need to fuckin’ come. Don’t you?”
I nodded frantically.
“Wanna feel you come around my cock,” Knight demanded, his voice rough and harsh. “Do it, little flower. Let that little pussy squeeze me dry.”
His words, with the relentless pressure on my clit, sent me flying over the edge.
I came hard, my back arching off the bed as pleasure crashed through me in waves.
Knight kept his hand over my mouth, and too late I remembered I was supposed to be quiet.
I’d have laughed if I’d been in a different position.
Despite forgetting my surroundings, my body decided it simply did not give a fuck. I came with tremendous force. My whole body seized and I couldn’t even breathe. When I finally sucked in a breath, it was to let loose a scream behind Knight’s hand.
“Holy fuck!” He groaned long and loud as he emptied himself inside me. Neither of us moved for a long while, both struggling to catch our breath. Sweat cooled my skin as a soft breeze from an open window wafted over us.
Afterward, we lay tangled in the sheets. I rested my head on his chest, reveling in the ability to let him hold me. And to hold him. Moonlight filtered through the blinds, painting silver stripes across our bare skin.
“Feels like a lifetime, and yet I can’t remember a time when you weren’t constantly in my thoughts.”
He tightened his arm around me and pressed a kiss to my hair. “Thoughts of you kept me sane. Have a feeling you’ll always be the one grounding me.”
I nestled back against him, feeling sleep tugging at me. Knight pulled the blanket up over us both, cocooning us in warmth.
“Sleep, little flower,” he whispered, pressing a kiss to my forehead. “I’ve got you. You’re both mine and I’m not letting you go.”
“Love you, Knight.”
“I love you too, Lavender.”
As I drifted off, I realized the fear that had been my constant companion for so long, the terror of losing Brynn, of facing life’s battles alone, had finally begun to recede. In its place, peace filled the depths of my soul.
I closed my eyes and let myself believe that maybe some stories really do get happy endings.