26 #2
We both freeze. Both gasp. The sensation overwhelming—the tight heat of her wrapped around me, the way her body yields and clenches simultaneously, the absolute perfection of being connected like this.
"Fuck—" She throws her head back. The impact against the door makes a dull thud. "God, Evander—you're so—"
"So what?" I pull out slowly. Watching her face. Watching the way her eyes flutter closed, the way her mouth falls open. "Tell me."
"Big." The word comes out broken. "You're so big and I—I can feel everything—"
I thrust back in. Harder this time. Setting a brutal pace immediately. No gentleness. No careful buildup. Just desperate, claiming possession.
The door rattles with each thrust. Her nails rake down my back—probably drawing blood, definitely leaving marks. I don't care. Just fuck her harder. Deeper. Trying to get as close as physically possible.
Trying to erase the memory of her empty eyes in that courtyard. Trying to replace it with this—her gasping my name, her body arching into mine, her complete and total surrender.
"Say it," I growl against her throat. My teeth scraping over her pulse point. "Say you're mine."
"I'm yours." The words come out broken. Gasping. Punctuated by each thrust. "Always yours, Evander. Only yours."
It's not enough. I need more. Need to hear it again and again until I believe it. Until the terror of almost losing her fades into background noise.
I bite down on her neck. Right over the faded mark from weeks ago. Hard enough to bruise. Hard enough to hurt. Hard enough that she'll wear my claim for days.
She cries out. Her thighs tightening around my waist, her whole body trembling. "Yes—god yes—mark me—"
"Mine," I growl against her skin. Tasting salt and sweat and Aurora. "You're mine, Aurora. Say it again."
"Yours—" She's panting now. Close. I can feel it in the way she's clenching around me, in the way her breathing has gone shallow and rapid. "I'm yours. Mind, body, and soul. Just like you said."
The reminder of that moment—when I made her kneel on my marble floor and submit completely—makes something primal surge through me. Makes the need to possess her, to claim her, to make sure she never forgets who she belongs to absolutely overwhelming.
I carry her away from the door. My hands gripping her ass, holding her up while I'm still buried inside her. Down the short hallway. My legs unsteady but driven by pure need.
I kick open the first bedroom door I find.
Small room. Double bed with a floral comforter. White furniture that looks secondhand. Posters on the walls—some indie band I don't recognize. A bookshelf overflowing with worn paperbacks.
Aurora's room from before Ardencrest. Before I trapped her. Before I destroyed her life to remake it according to my design.
I stop at the edge of the mattress. Reluctantly pull out of her, a groan tearing from my throat at the loss of her warmth. I lift her higher, anchoring my grip. Throw her onto the bed.
She bounces once on the soft mattress. Looks up at me with those wide brown eyes that are dark with lust and something else—something that looks like love and trust and everything I don't deserve but am taking anyway.
I crawl over her. Cage her in with my body. Pin her wrists above her head with one hand while the other goes to her denim at her thighs, yanking her jeans and the rest of the way down her legs along with her underwear. Simple white cotton that I throw somewhere across the room.
And then she's completely naked beneath me. Flushed and panting and perfect.
"I almost lost you," I say quietly. The words come out rough. Strained. Everything I've been holding back since that courtyard spilling out now. "My mother made you choose between me and Liam and I almost fucking lost you."
"You didn't lose me." She arches up. Tries to kiss me. I pull back just enough to keep her from reaching. Making her work for it. "Evander, you didn't lose me—"
"I could have." My grip on her wrists tightens. Not painful but firm. Controlling. "If she'd threatened something I couldn't fix. If she'd given you an ultimatum I couldn't counter. I could have lost you."
"But you didn't." Her voice is firm now. Certain despite the breathlessness. "You came for me. You faced your mother. You chose me over everything she spent your whole life conditioning you to prioritize."
She pauses. Meets my eyes with an intensity that steals my breath.
"So no, Evander. You didn't lose me. You proved you'd never let me go."
The words break something in my chest. Some final piece of control I've been clinging to since I watched Landon drive a fountain pen through a man's throat. Since I threatened to let him murder my mother. Since I walked away from Laurent Global and everything I was raised to become.
I release her wrists. Slide my hands down her body. Over her raised arms, across her shoulders, cupping her breasts and feeling the rapid beat of her heart beneath my palms.
Worshiping. Memorizing. Proving to myself that she's here and real and choosing me.
"I love you," I say against her skin. Kissing down her throat, between her breasts, across her stomach. Tasting salt and something uniquely Aurora. "I love you so fucking much it terrifies me."
"I know." Her hands are in my hair now. Gentle. Grounding. Not pulling—just touching. "I love you too."
I look up at her from where I'm kissing just below her navel. "Say it again."
"I love you, Evander Laurent." She pulls me up for a kiss. Deep. Consuming. Her tongue sliding against mine, tasting me the way I've been tasting her. "I love you despite everything. Because of everything. I love all of you—the monster and the man and everything in between."
I kiss her like I'm trying to consume her. Like I can pour every emotion I can't articulate into this physical connection. Every fear. Every desperate need. Every ounce of devotion.
She kisses back just as desperately. Her hands roaming my back, my shoulders, tangling in my hair. Touching me like she's trying to memorize me too. Like she's just as afraid this isn't real.
When I finally pull back, we're both breathing hard. Both flushed. Both absolutely wrecked and we've barely started.
I slide down her body. Kissing and biting and licking every inch of exposed skin. Paying special attention to the freckles scattered across her chest, her ribs, her hip bones.
"Evander—" She's squirming now. Her hips lifting off the mattress. "Please—"
"Please what?" I bite down on her hip bone. Hard enough to leave a mark. "Tell me what you want, Aurora."
"You—" The word comes out as a moan. "I want you. Your mouth. Your cock. Everything."
"Greedy." I spread her thighs wider. Settle between them. Look up at her flushed face. "But I'll give you everything anyway. Because you're mine and I take care of what's mine."
I lean in and taste her properly. My tongue sliding through her folds, finding her clit, circling it with deliberate precision.
She cries out. Her back arching off the bed, her hands flying to my hair and gripping hard enough to hurt.
The pain is perfect. Grounding. Makes me groan against her wet heat.
I devour her. Use my tongue, my fingers, my teeth. Everything I have to make her fall apart. To make her forget the courtyard. To make her remember that she's mine and I'm never letting her go.
"Evander—oh god—I'm going to—" Her voice is high. Desperate. Her thighs starting to tremble on either side of my head.
"Come for me," I murmur against her. The vibration of my voice making her gasp. "Let me taste it."
She does. Hard. Her entire body going rigid, her thighs clamping around my head so tight I can barely breathe, her hands pulling my hair so hard tears sting my eyes.
I don't stop. Just work her through it, drawing out every shudder, every aftershock, until she's pushing at my shoulders with weak hands.
"Too much—" she gasps. "I can't—it's too—"
I pull back. Wipe my mouth with the back of my hand. Look up at her flushed, panting form sprawled across her childhood bed.
Fucking perfect.
"Yes, you can," I tell her. Crawling back up her body. "You can take it. You can take all of me."
I position myself at her entrance. Look down at her. "Look at me, Aurora. I want to see you."
She opens her eyes. Meets my gaze. Her pupils are blown wide, her lips swollen, her chest heaving.
And the connection—the absolute intimacy of looking into her eyes while I push inside her—is almost too much.
I slide in slowly this time. Inch by inch. Watching her face as I fill her. Watching the way her mouth falls open, the way her eyes flutter but stay on mine, the way her whole body arches to take me deeper.
"Fuck—" The word escapes me. "You feel—you're so—"
"Yours," she finishes. Her voice breathy but certain. "I'm yours, Evander. All of me."
I bottom out. Fully seated inside her. Both of us breathing hard. Both of us trembling.
And then I start moving. Slow. Deep. Each thrust deliberate. Controlled. Making her feel every inch.
Making sure she knows exactly who's inside her. Who owns her. Who loves her more than anything else in this fucked up world.
"Harder," she gasps after a minute of this slow torture. "Evander, please—stop being gentle. I don't need gentle right now."
"What do you need?" I lean down. Bite her earlobe. "Tell me exactly what you want."
"You." She pulls my hair. Hard. Making my scalp sting. "All of you. The monster. The violence. Everything you showed your mother tonight. I want that. I want you to fuck me like you own me. Because you do. You own every part of me."
The words unlock something feral. Something I've been holding back because I was afraid of hurting her. Afraid of being too rough. Afraid of proving my mother right about what I am.
But Aurora wants the monster. She's asking for it. Begging for it.
Who am I to deny her?
I grab her hips. Flip her over roughly. Pull her up onto her hands and knees.
And then I fuck her exactly how she asked. Hard. Rough. My fingers digging into her hips hard enough to bruise—hard enough that she'll see the marks tomorrow and remember this. Remember me.