Chapter 28 #3
“I haven’t ruled him out, but no. I don’t think it was.” In truth, I don’t think Markus would be clever enough or have the patience for sabotage, and he didn’t have a vendetta against Lone Pine.
But there’s one person who did—a problem I need to deal with soon, but not tonight. Tonight is about Sadie. Everything else would have to wait.
My eyes linger on the deep bruising around her neck, trailing to a bruised cheek and an open cut on her bottom lip.
I can’t stand seeing her this way, knowing that the extra rasp in her voice is from that dirtbag putting his filthy hands on her.
That she has another scar on her back that she doesn’t deserve.
She brings a hand to her face. “I probably look terrible.”
“You’re stunning.” Heart-breakingly so. “Did Annie tend to your back?”
She nods. “She applied antibiotics and patched me up. I can’t really feel it.”
Probably from the shock still consuming her body.
“Let me take care of you.” I reach for her hand.
With slow precision, I tend to the cuts on her cheek and bottom lip, wiping away traces of dried blood. Nothing is deep enough to need stitches, but I’m worried about the bruising around her neck from strangulation and her swollen cheekbone. How hard did that bastard hit her?
“I know that look,” she murmurs.
“What look?”
“You want me to get another X-ray.”
I chuckle with a smile. “I wouldn’t be opposed to it.” I would sleep much better at night knowing she was properly checked over.
She sighs, pursing her lips into a smile.
While I prepare dinner, Sadie sits on the couch with an ice pack and a bag of marshmallows, comfort food after the worst day imaginable. Foxie and Bandit cuddle up beside her, giving her extra love and attention.
Afterwards, we lie in bed with blankets wrapped around us. Just quiet breaths and quiet gazes as I softly run my hands along her curves, tracing the line of her as she stares into my eyes.
A view I’ll never get tired of.
The fireplace crackling and the sound of her sweet, shallow breaths are all I hear.
There’s a glint in her eyes, an unsteady breath, and then her lips collide with mine. A kiss filled with more passion than I was expecting. Blood rushes to my dick, making my heart rate flutter. She drapes a leg around me, and I pull her in, aligning her hips with mine.
Her tongue enters my mouth, and she moans when she feels how hard I am for her, grinding against me once before pushing me on my back. Rocking herself on top of me.
She tugs me up so she’s sitting in my lap, noses touching.
My ragged breaths pulsate between us. I stare at her for a moment, unsure of her next move.
And after today’s events, I had no expectations for anything but holding her all night long.
Comforting her and addressing her fears until she was ready to sleep.
But the fire swirling in her eyes and her labored breaths tell me otherwise.
She wants me.
She lifts off my shirt, running her hand along my chest before pulling off her vintage baggy T-shirt, leaving her bare. My hands run from her thighs to her breasts, squeezing the fullness of them. They fit perfectly in the palm of my hands, as if they were made for me to hold.
I press a kiss to the center, right in between them, and I’d be happy to die right here. “I love these,” I murmur.
“Really? I always felt like they were too small.”
Absolutely insane that she thinks that. “They’re perfect.” After placing a soft kiss on each nipple to confirm my words, I meet her eyes. “You’re perfect.”
Something in her face changes. Heated desire quickly transforms into sadness. “Markus always wanted me to be perfect… and when I wasn’t or when I couldn’t live up to his expectations…” Her doe eyes fall to my chest, words stalling on her tongue.
I now understand where her thoughts are going, but that is not how I meant those words.
My finger traces the line of her jaw, softly, delicately reminding her of how much I love her. “For me, all you need to do is breathe, Sadie.”
She smiles at that. The warm tones in her irises flare like molten chocolate. “Even if I try to make you food and burn it to a crisp?”
“I’ll happily eat it. No complaints. I like burnt food.”
“No, you don’t,” she laughs.
“I do.”
She quirks a dark brow, testing me. “What if I’m messy and want to laze around in my pajamas all day?”
A laugh rumbles in my chest. “That’s my favorite look. Besides your cowgirl outfit.” And her naked form next to me, but I feel she already knows that.
“Or if I eat a thousand marshmallows?”
“I’ll keep them in stock. Along with plenty of vegetables to counteract your sugar intake,” I tease.
A stubborn look crosses her face, and I know she’s up to something. But when she grips my wrists, sliding my hands to her back, I freeze.
“Sadie, don’t—” I try to stop her when I know this makes her uncomfortable, but she continues.
When my hands reach her upper back, touching the burn marks, she flinches. “Even if you can never touch me here without me reacting this way?” Her voice shakes.
I bring my hands to her face, angling her towards me, admiring the cute freckle near her bottom lip. “No matter what. You will always be perfect to me, Sadie.”
She shakes her head, trying to deny my feelings, but I hold her tighter. Placing a gentle hand on her jawline to pull her back to me.
“And if you never let me touch you there, I’ll worship the rest of you ardently. And that will always be enough for me. You, just as you are, will always be enough for me.”
A smile lights up her face, finally giving in. “There’s only one problem, Cowboy.” I quirk a brow as she draws circular patterns on my bare chest, making my dick throb. “I’m technically still married.”
A fact I’d forgotten about until now.
“This…” she draws a line from my chest to my belly button, “Is a crime in roughly 16 states.”
I move her hair over her shoulder, drifting my fingers along her collarbone.
Goosebumps form on her skin at my touch.
“Well, it’s a crime we’ve become extremely good at.
” She laughs, and my hand slides down to her heart.
“Right now, all that matters is this. I don’t want to think about anything else. ”