Chapter 16 #2
Mirielle felt shame bloom across her face and push on her chest. She covered her eyes with her wrist. He caught her hand and gently pulled it down to her side. Then a wet tongue trailed her cheek.
"Don't hide from me," he warned her before he began kissing away her tears.
For a while, he simply held her, grounding her against the steady warmth of his chest. His hands moved slowly over her bare body in comfort, tender enough to soothe every lingering tremble from her skin.
Eventually she surrendered to his care and her body relaxed into him.
He pressed soft kisses against her damp cheeks, against the tears that escaped her as though he could love the confusion out of her piece by piece.
Each kiss reminding her that she was safe.
That he would care for her. That he would help her through it.
When her trembles ceased he cupped her again between her legs and began moving. She moaned in protest and he swallowed it with a kiss. His kisses were eager now, hungrier. His body was tense, as if he was holding back a leashed animal.
"We will do this one more time before we start," he murmured into her ear, tension laced his voice.
Confusion flickered across her face again, but it was quickly overcome by foggy sensations that dulled her mind and seemed to banish all thought. She whimpered into his shirt as he pushed her closer to her tipping point again.
"You are beautiful," he murmured looking down at her naked body bathed in candlelight.
She responded with a soft whine.
She met her climax again. The fire radiated from every inch of her body, wave after wave of euphoria until she finally slumped into him, panting and sweating.
Reis rewarded her again with kisses pressed into her stomach before he rose from the bed and began to undress.
The warm firelight illuminated the sharp edges of his body.
Mirielle hid a gasp behind her hand when she saw the scars that seemed to paint his entire torso and back.
There were dozens. Some were thin silver lines, others jagged and uneven.
All of them seemed different, old battles he fought that had been permanently etched into his skin.
He was beautiful in the way lightning was beautiful, magnificent and terrible and clearly made from violence.
Her vision blurred as another tear slipped free.
Reis looked at her apologetically before climbing over her. "Don't cry for me, Mirielle," he murmured low into her ear.
He kissed her neck and pushed her gently onto her back, his massive frame dwarfing her much smaller one. Somehow he was even bigger without clothes.
Reis squared his hips with hers and grabbed her chin, bringing her gaze to his.
"Hold on to me," he murmured. "This might hurt a little."
Mirielle tensed and Reis held himself back, kissing the inner part of her neck again.
"Relax," he reminded her.
She tried to remind her body to calm, but as he brushed himself against her entrance, Mirielle tensed again and looked down. Shock painted her features as she realized what he was going to do. Reis grabbed her chin again and brought her eyes to his.
"Look at me," he said softly. His eyes watched her carefully. "Relax."
When fear crossed her shaking silver eyes, Reis put his hand over her entrance, burrowing into her, forcing her body to soften for him. Her weak little whimpers were swallowed by his chest.
Then he maneuvered himself and, pinning her with his body, slowly pushed into her.
"Ahh!"
Reis snarled in reflex to her cry as he held himself still, allowing her to adjust to his size. A dull pain radiated from her core as something fragile broke inside her.
"Reis!" she sobbed underneath him. "It hurts!"
He breathed a rough breath as he looked down at her with visible conflict on his face. Her body was tense and trembling from the pain and confusion. He weighed his body down on hers, holding her still beneath him, stifling her trembles.
"Just a little more, Mirielle. Just breathe for me."
His breaths came in heaves as the muscles along his back tensed against his urge. Sweat trickled down his neck and onto her face from the heat that seemed to radiate off his body. It pressed burning warmth into her skin, locking her in a pressured heat.
She tried to flee from him. He grimaced as he grabbed her waist and held her still. Then he pressed soothing kisses on her forehead and temple, comforting her through the pain.
"I know Mirielle," he said low and hoarse between them. "It will feel better soon."
Then, with incredible restraint, he began to move, entering her slowly as her tightness adjusted to his size.
She curled underneath him as she tried to escape the overwhelming pressure.
When she finally took all of him, her hands clawed into his back as she moaned weakly into him.
He swallowed her tiny moans with ravenous kisses as if to claim them as his own.
The pain began to ebb and Mirielle felt something warm pool between her legs.
"We are each other's now," he murmured low into her ear.
She only responded with a weakened cry.
He restrained himself fiercely as he continued his slow pace. When her body finally eased, Reis couldn't hold back any longer. He began to move faster, his pace building. Her mind drifted beyond her reach, tossed by forces she could neither name nor resist.
She cried out as her pressure released in turbulent, painful waves.
Reis growled at the sensation as his body shuddered and he met her release, pushing into her deeply and finishing the last of her orgasm.
Then he collapsed next to her heaving deep breaths as heat radiated off his body like a furnace.
She lay there on her back as her mind tried to catch up with reality. She felt something viscous leaking inside her and recoiled. Her hand darted to her center, checking herself.
"Reis..." Her voice was cracked and full of fear. "...There's blood."
Reis sat up the instant he realized she was frightened.
She looked at him with trembling silver eyes.
His large hands cradled her face carefully as though she might shatter if he held her too tightly.
He kissed her. Her forehead. Her cheeks.
The corners of her trembling mouth. Soft frantic kisses meant only to soothe.
“You're alright,” he said low and gentle between kisses. “There is supposed to be blood… only because it is your first time.”
His thumb brushed away the tears streaking down her face. “You are not hurt.” Another kiss. "You are safe with me."
Relief and guilt warred across his features as he looked at her, as if her fear wounded him deeply.
She looked up at him with wide silver eyes, looking for a lie. He kissed her with the quiet reverence of a man who believed even a lifetime of devotion could never make him worthy of her.
"Stay still, I will clean you."
Reis went to the washbasin and wrung out a warm towel. Then he returned and cleaned her carefully, as if with every wipe he could erase her fear. She tensed at each pass, still uncomfortable with him touching her there.
Then he lay down next to her and pulled her close against his chest, sheltering her tiny body with his.
His thumbs moved in slow circles over her skin, soothing and absentminded, tracing comfort into her trembling body.
He stroked her hair back from her face, fingers threading gently through the dark strands before pressing soft kisses to her temple, her cheek, the corner of her mouth.
Reis held her like something precious rescued from ruin and when she finally relaxed against him, he released a quiet breath into her hair as if her trust alone had saved him.