Chapter 7
CHAPTER SEVEN
It’s been several weeks since the incident with Landon, though I feel entirely different about it now. It sounds utterly fucked, but I never realized how unhappy I had been before Zay took me. Had never known how many pieces had been chipped away by staying with a man who didn’t respect me. Now that I know what it’s like to truly be cared for, to be loved, I can’t believe I stayed with Landon for so long.
It’s been three whole weeks, and Landon never made good on his promise to come back for me—a fact I am all too fine with accepting. In truth, I don’t want to leave. Being with Zay is like nothing I’ve ever experienced. He’s so good to me, so caring, so wonderful in every way. I never expected it, but I can’t say I regret anything that happened for us to get here.
With a big stretch, I roll over in bed and come face to face with Zay’s big green eyes, glinting lovingly in the morning light seeping through the curtains.
“Have you been watching me while I sleep?” I giggle, nuzzling my head into the crook of his arm as he pulls me closer.
“Hmm. Always,” he murmurs, running his calloused hands tenderly through my hair. “You look so beautiful when you sleep. Face at peace, nose twitching, lips slightly parted. It makes me want to stick my cock in you.”
My face flushes. “You always want to do that.”
“Hmm. True,” he grumbles, rolling on top of me and pinning me between two strong arms. He dips low, nipping the tip of my nose before crashing his mouth to mine. I let out a moan as Zay reaches up and flicks my nipple, my back arching into him on its own accord as pleasure thrums between my thighs. “Do you want my cock inside you, little rose?”
I nod, a breathy whimper falling from my lips as he slides his hand low over my sex. Taunting. Promising.
“Well, too bad. I need to feed you first.” He smirks, pushing off me and standing from the bed. My lips work into a pout a half second before Zay pulls me into my arms, pressing a gentle kiss to my forehead as he walks us into the kitchen.
Positioning me so he can hold me with one arm, he pulls ingredients from the fridge. I watch his profile as he works, unable to keep the cheesy smile from my face as he refuses to put me down.
“Sorry. I can’t seem to keep my hands from you for even a moment,” he murmurs, cracking an egg into the pan with one hand and squeezing my ass with the other. When breakfast is ready, he places me gently onto a stool before scooping a heaping portion of cheesy eggs in front of me.
Like always, anxiety bubbles in my chest as I look at the portion in front of me. I’ve gotten so used to restricting my food over the years—so determined to keep my figure the way my ex liked it even though I was starving. I know there’s no reason for it anymore, but it’s hard to shake the habit.
Zay places a fork into my hand, placing his hand on my back and rubbing soothing circles there. “Food fuels the machine, rose. It’s not your body I’m infatuated with—though, you make me salivate just from looking at you—it’s your mind. Your soul is what I want. What I want to possess for as long as possible. So you will eat what you want, and you will eat well. Because I plan to have you for a long, long fucking time.” He places a kiss on top of my head before taking a seat next to me, digging into his own heaping plate.
My mouth sings as I take the first bite, and before I know it, I’ve eaten half the plate.
“Good girl,” Zay coos, getting up to wash the dishes when he realizes I’ve eaten my fill. “I’ll clean up. You go get ready for your run.”
A smile spreads across my face, and I quickly run over to give Zay a hug before skipping off to the bedroom to pull on my running gear. My morning run through the woods is still one of my favorite pleasures in life, and Zay is more than happy to encourage it. Especially considering the recent perks that come with the daily exercise.
By the time I’m changed, Zay has already cleared the kitchen, though the man in question is nowhere to be found. A devious smile works across my mouth as I plug my headphones in and make for the exit, my pulse thrumming with anticipation.
I squint against the morning light as I take off down the worn path, the sharp zest of cypress filling me with energy as legs take me deep into the heart of the forest.
I’ve been running for several minutes when I finally hear it—a crack, like someone stepped on a fallen branch. My heart picks up pace with my legs, and I take a sharp right into the brush as a laugh bubbles from my lips. Stray branches whip at my face and arms, but I barely feel the pain as I race through the thick underbrush. All I can think about is what will happen when he inevitably catches me.
My feet skid to a halt as a shadowy form materializes on the path, a familiar blood red mask concealing the menacing features beneath. A squeal tears from my mouth as I twist my body, attempting to redirect my course when two strong arms wrap around my middle, holding me in place.
“I caught you, little rose,” he breathes, his voice choking as he bucks his hips against my ass, the strain of his cock telling me just what the thrill of the chase does to him. “You’re mine, now. All mine.”
There’s a violent ripping as my spandex shorts are torn from my body. The chill morning air bites at my exposed flesh, covering my skin with goose bumps that are only multiplied as Zay slides his hand between my sex. He swirls his thumb gently around my clit, the pleasure his touch elicits shooting fire through my veins and warming me from the inside out.
“Zay, I need you inside me,” I beg, rubbing my ass against his hard cock as my mind is lost to desire. “Please, Zay. Please.”
He chuckles low in his throat as he reaches between us, releasing his monster of a cock and causing the head to slap against my asshole. He fists his cock, positioning it lower and I gasp as that ring presses against my entrance, eyes watering as the head of his cock pushes and swirls around my opening.
“You love getting fucked in the woods like a dirty little animal, don’t you?” he groans, pushing the first half inside. “You love being a dirty girl, but only for me. Only ever for me.” He thrusts forward, slamming his hips flush against my ass, and my back arches as a moan tears from my parted lips.
“Oh fuck!” I scream, fighting to keep upright as Zay pounds into me forcefully. He hooks an arm around my middle, the other sliding to my swollen clit, pinching and toying with the bundle of nerves as his cock drives into me from behind.
With each thrust of his hips, each swirl of his talented fingers, I’m brought closer and closer to the edge. Zay adjusts the angle of his hips, pushing into me so his ring presses just so against my walls, and I’m gone. My vision fractures, my muscles turn to Jello as my orgasm racks through me, and I have to hold on to Zay just to keep two feet on the ground.
I’m weightless, flying, and I don’t ever want to come down. Violent spasms work through my body as Zay finishes a moment later, a deep moan filling the air as his cock throbs gently inside me.
Breathing hard, he slips his cock from me, turning me to face him and pulling me hard against his chest. He clutches me like I’m something precious, something to be protected, and when I gaze into his eyes, I know that to be true.
“You are perfect, little rose,” he whispers, leaning down and capturing my mouth in his. “So beautiful. So ineffable. How could I not love you?”
I jerk, my eyes wide as I try to process the words he just spoke. “You… you love me?”
He nods, his eyes deadly serious. “I do, my rose. I have since the moment I placed eyes on you. I knew it then, I know it now, and I will know it every day that comes until my death. You are mine, just as I am yours.”
As I gaze into the most beautiful jade eyes, my heart swelling with an emotion I can’t place, I realize that I… that I love him, too.
I’m opening my mouth to say this when Zay reaches up, placing a finger to my lips. “I know, rose. I know. And I will never stop being thankful for your love.”
My eyes well with tears as he scoops me into his arms, placing his lips lovingly against my forehead as he walks us back to the lair. And as we’re walking, nothing but the birds and the bugs and the trees to witness out love, I realize what that emotion was.
Happiness. I think… I think I may finally be happy.
And as I look at Zay, at my captor, protector, and lover, something tells me I will be for a long time to come.