Chapter 9
BEAST
This woman is going to be the end of me.
I move to the edge of the bed, every muscle tight and straining with the need to be careful, to be right for her.
I strip off my sweats and then my shirt.
The cotton slides over skin that still feels too rough, too marked for a woman as soft and delicate as my Layla.
Her eyes follow my every move with a softness in them that undoes me.
I kneel beside her, hands braced on either side of her body, and press a kiss to her collarbone, tasting the sweetness of her skin and the wild, stubborn note that’s all Layla. How else could she have survived the last five months if not stubborn to the core?
“If you ever want me to stop, you say the word. I mean it, Layla. You’re in charge here.”
She doesn’t answer with words. Instead, she curls her fingers in my hair and pulls me down for a kiss that’s pure hunger and need.
Her mouth is sweet and desperate beneath mine. She tastes of coffee and courage, her lips parting to welcome me in. I kiss her slow, learning every line, every sound she makes, letting her set the pace. My hands slide over her waist, up her ribs, memorizing her softness.
She is both strong and fragile and in my eyes she will forever be steel wrapped in silk.
I worship her with my hands and my mouth, trailing kisses from her throat down the center of her chest, pausing to suck and nip at the peak of one breast until she’s arching into me, her hands twisted in the sheets.
“I’ve got you,” I murmur, pressing a kiss to the fluttering pulse in her wrist. “No one will ever hurt you again. Not while I’m breathing.”
Her hips rise, seeking friction, and I groan, barely holding on. I slide my palm between her thighs, finding her slick and hot, her body ready for me. I circle her clit with my thumb, drawing slow, lazy patterns until she’s writhing, begging, her nails scoring my shoulders.
She turns me inside out, strips me down to nothing but pure want and animal need. Every savage instinct in me is screaming to mark her, to claim her, to fill her so deep and full she never forgets who she belongs to.
And she is mine. She’s not leaving this loft or my bed until the memory of my love covers every bruise.
I push to my knees between her thighs and drop my head back, staring up at the beams of the ceiling. “God, please never let me fail this woman,” I plead.
I let out a ragged breath. After everything I’ve done, every life I’ve taken and sin I’ve committed, I have no business holding something this pure. But I’m a greedy bastard, and Layla is my miracle. My second chance. I’ll burn for her, fight for her, die for her if that’s what it takes.
My cock is heavy and aching, so hard I can feel the throb in my palm as I fist myself, working the tension out while she trails the tips of her fingers over her body, pausing to tease her nipples for me.
Freckles are scattered across her cheeks and nose and I make a promise right now to kiss every single one of them, even if it takes me the rest of my life.
The sight of her—glasses off, lips parted, skin flushed—breaks open my chest and forces my heart to realize I wasn’t meant to simply love this woman. I was meant to be her protector for life.
I move to the head of the bed and use the pillows to prop myself up. “Come to me, baby.”
She crawls up the bed, her wild dark hair falling around her bare shoulders.
She moves to straddle me, sliding her slick heat over my length. My hips jerk up, helpless to resist her, needing her like I need air. She’s velvet and fire, every inch of her body a study in sweet agony.
“Beast,” she whimpers, arching into me as my thumb circles her swollen clit with teasing strokes.
“Stop teasing me.”
I let out a rough laugh, biting down the urge to just take. “Easy, baby.” I lean up, kissing the freckles along her shoulders, tasting the delicate sweetness of her.
She sits up and reaches between us, lining the head of my cock up with her slick entrance. She sinks her weight down over my length. Slow at first and it is the sweetest fucking torture I’ve lived through.
With every soft kiss to her shoulder, neck and anywhere I can reach, I ease another inch of my cock inside her, stretching her tight opening. I let her feel every ridge and vein of my cock.
She tries to sink down faster, needy and greedy, but I grip her hips and force her to take it slow.
I take my time, letting her feel every inch as I ease inside. She cries out, and it’s a sound of surrender and salvation to my ears. I nearly come undone right there.
“Fuck, you feel like heaven,” I whisper, voice broken and raw. “Let me take you slow, Layla. Feel me. All of me,” I rasp, voice barely more than a growl. Her nails bite into my chest and she shudders as I finally bottom out, our bodies flush and locked together.
I let her rise above me a fraction and then take all of me in a single thrust.
“That’s it, baby. Take what you need from me.”
She sets the rhythm, and I follow her lead. She takes us into the place where pain turns to pleasure and where broken souls can be remade.
She’s so wet, so hot. My balls pull tight, leaking a few drops inside her before I force myself to pull out, savoring every second, refusing to let this end too soon.
She clings to me, arms and legs wrapped around my body, drawing me deeper with every pulse, every breath. Our bodies move together, a dance of sweat and heat and something dangerously close to love.
No, it is love. At least it is for me.
I guide her higher, her knees planted on the bed with my hands splayed over the curve of her ass.
Above me, she arches, pressing her breasts forward.
I take a hard tip between my teeth and lightly bite, causing her pussy to clamp down on my cock.
Beautiful black hair sways over her shoulders as she quivers and jerks over the top of me.
“Beast, yes. Oh… that’s so good.”
I lift her until the head of my cock is barely touching the opening of her pussy. I reach between us and smear the beads of cum over her folds, coating her, before pushing back in with a claiming thrust.
Her gasps feed my need to make her scream my name.
Her wild, desperate keening all drive me to the fucking edge.
I pound up into her and love the bite of pain from her nails over my chest. The slap of skin on skin echoes off the brick walls.
A light sheen of sweat covers our bodies and I swear every thrust feels like a claim. Her to me. And me to her.
She tightens around me, impossibly tight, her body milking me as I fuck her through wave after wave of pleasure. I’m so deep she’ll feel me for days, every muscle in her quivering around my cock.
She rocks her hips to match my rhythm, greedy for every inch I give her. “More, Beast. Don’t stop. Please… give me all of it.”
“You’re such a greedy good girl,” I rumble, sinking my fingers into the flesh of her ass, guiding her to take me harder.
She cries out, trembling, and I give her everything with hard, deliberate strokes that have her ass slapping against my thighs, the bed creaking beneath us.
Her core tightens the harder I take her. I push inside again and again, and damn she’s so tight I can’t hold out much longer.
I can feel her lips sucking down my arousal and pulling me deeper still. When I come inside her, she’ll take every last drop in her hot little pussy.
“Oh, God, Beast,” she gasps and rocks her hips to follow my fast rhythm. Her hips move like she’s trying to take all I have to give.
“More, Beast! I’m… oh, I’m so close. Yes!” she begs and I sink into her like the beast she wants. But I feel more like a savage bastard. She cries out and I give her trembling body more.
Her core tightens and I feel the heat of her release cover my cock.
Her walls flutter around me, tight and trembling, and I feel her fall apart. Her mouth opens in a silent cry, her body arching in my hold. I press my forehead to hers, drinking in her every sound and sweet shudder.
“Let go, baby,” I whisper. “I’ve got you. Always.”
“Beast,” she begs, voice husky and desperate.
She comes with a shattering cry, her nails digging into my chest, and I follow, emptying myself into her, heart and soul and everything I am.
“Fuck, Layla. You are an angel. Take me. All of me, baby.” I lose myself in the feeling, the way her core clamps down, drawing out every drop of my release.
White-hot ropes of seed spill into her, filling her up, my body shaking with the force of it.
She takes it all, not wasting a drop, her body shaking as she comes with me, eyes wild and dazed.
I gather her into my arms. Her head finds my shoulder, her breath warm against my chest.
I stroke her hair, feeling a protective fierceness take root in my soul for this woman. I never thought love would be a part of my life. But lying here, holding this woman who survived hell and still shines, I know I’ll burn the world before I let her go.
She looks up, eyes heavy and shining, and smiles a small, secret smile that’s just for me.
“Thank you,” she whispers.
And I know, deep down and forever, that this is where I belong. I don’t know how I got this lucky, but I’ll fight the world to keep her. Every day. For the rest of my life.