“Ada.”
She sighs, setting the laptop down and turning to face me. She tucks her legs under her and scoots a little closer. “If we’re going to do this…be together like this…we can’t worry about making sure every aspect of our relationship is even. You’re a literal dream, Seth. It’s going to take time for you to adjust to being here permanently. You let me worry about the money, and you can help around the house. I…” She looks away for a moment, her voice growing more hesitant. “It’ll just be nice to have company. To have someone here with me who cares about how I’m doing and who doesn’t judge me because I don’t go anywhere.”
“I don’t care where I am as long as I’m with you,” I say, reaching out to place a hand on her thigh.
Her eyelashes flutter at the touch, her gaze vulnerable. “Don’t say that yet. You’ve only been here a day. I bet in a week or two you’ll be going stir crazy stuck here with boring old me.”
The way she says it so flippantly makes me wonder if other friends did that to her. If herfamilydid that. My chest aches at the thought of this beautiful, brilliant, terrified woman being abandoned because of her trauma. What would’ve happened if she’d had people that stayed by her side even when she was at her darkest moment? If someone had cared enough to come here and sit with her until she found the strength to go out into the world again?
“I meant what I said, Princess.” I stroke her knee with my thumb, hoping to soothe some of her worry. “You think after I’ve stuck with you all these years that I’m going to walk away right when I finally get to be with you for real?”
“I know, but…I’m not fun to be around sometimes,” she murmurs. “I’m worried the reality won’t be what you expected.”
I gently nudge Henry off of the couch so I can close the space between me and the lovely woman on the verge of tears. He gives a frustrated huff, but obeys, and I tug Ada closer until I can drape her legs across my lap and wrap an arm around her waist.
“It isn’t what I expected, Ada,” I say softly.
She stiffens, but I continue.
“You far surpass any hopes I could’ve ever had. Being with you…touching you like this…finding out that you want me here, too? That’s better than any dream in the universe.”
“God, why are you so nice to me?” she asks, tears spilling down her cheek as she gives me a watery smile.
I reach up and stroke her cheek then cup her chin. “Because you deserve happiness. So do I. And it just so happens that what makes me the happiest is giving you what you need.”
“You truly are a dream,” Ada says with a weak chuckle. “Unconditional care like that is reserved for pets and romance novels.”
I know from what Rhys has babbled at me about love and romance in the mortal realm that isn’t true. Anger coils inside my chest at the knowledge that even Ada’s family never made her feel loved unconditionally.
“Being your dream man is a nice change of pace from being your worst nightmare,” I tease, opting to be lighthearted instead of delving into her past pain. That’s something more suited for her future therapist, not a clueless creature like me.
She rolls her eyes at me, and I pull her closer, pressing a kiss to her lips. She sighs, the tension in her melting, and when our mouths part, she seems less worried.
“You know… I thought of something you could do to repay me for the clothes after all.”
I cock my head at her, taking in the flush on her cheeks and the way her breasts are rising and falling with her shallow breaths. She’s aroused, and as soon as I realize that, my cock stiffens.
“Oh really? Do you want my mouth on you again, Princess?”
Her eyes widen in surprise.
“Shit, sorry, I misread that,” I say, grimacing.
“No! It’s okay. I was thinking that you could help me go chop down a tree, but that would also be good.” She bites her lower lip. “Really good.”
My pulse pounds as arousal heightens my senses, and I want nothing more than to bury my face between her thighs and hear her cries of pleasure. Then bury myself inside her tight heat, stretching her until she can take me and filling her with everything I have to give.
The sudden desperation that I feel for her frightens me, too familiar to the violentcravings of her nightmares. I grit my teeth and shake away the fog of lust as best I can, attempting to even out my breathing.
“I can get you a tree. Should probably do that now since Christmas is almost here, right?”
I don’t understand the significance of the tree, but Rhys mentioned it to me multiple times, so it must be crucial to the holiday.
“Oh.” Ada blinks at me a few times, and nods. “Yeah. Right.” She chuckles and pulls her legs off my lap, running a hand through her hair in a nervous habit I’ve caught her doing before.
Of course she’s nervous. I doubt she forgets how I ravaged her before and is afraid for her poor sore pussy if I try to take her again.
She helps me bundle up as best she can with a sweater that’s oversized for her but more of a skintight crop top on me. I grab the axe from where I’ve used it to chop firewood, and follow her lead into the forest, trying not to let the sight of her rounded, luscious ass remind me too much of the last thing we did together out here. Of the way that perfect ass felt in my grip when I held her against a tree and she cried out over and over.
