His breath leaves him in a low exhale that sounds like relief and surrender all at once.
He leans his forehead to mine. "Jasmine…You deserve gentle and slow. I can’t be that right now."
The tension between us snaps tight. His darkness folds around me, not as a threat, but as a shield. In this moment, I finally understand something terrifying and beautiful. I don’t just want his protection. I want him. All of him.
The light. The shadow. The violence. The devotion. The peace.
And judging by the way he’s looking at me now, he wants me just as much.
"I don’t need gentle from you. I need you to break me down and rebuild me into something stronger, something more than the sum of my past. Something that’s yours and yours alone."
The last of my fear dissolves with my words. I feel it leave my body like smoke curling out of an open window. All that’s left is heat and certainty and a hunger I’ve never let myself feel before. My palms slide up his chest, over the hard planes of muscle hidden beneath his shirt, until my fingers curl into the dark hair at his nape. I pull him down the final inch and kiss him.
The moment our mouths meet, something explodes between us. It isn’t soft or careful anymore. It’s teeth and tongue and pure, desperate need. He groans into me, the sound vibrating straight to my core, and then his hands are everywhere.
One fists in my hair, angling my head exactly where he wants it, the other grips my hip hard enough to leave bruises I suddenly crave. I arch against him, shameless, grinding myself against the thick length straining behind his trousers. The friction makes me whimper into his mouth.
"Jasmine," he growls, breaking the kiss only long enough to drag the borrowed robe down my shoulders. Cool air hits my skin and then his hot mouth is on my breast, sucking my nipple so hard my back bows.
Pleasure shoots straight between my legs and I cry out, fingers clawing at his shoulders. He doesn’t stop. He licks and bites and worships until I’m writhing, until I’m begging without words, until I’m so wet I can feel it soaking my panties.
I need more. I need all of him. My hands tear open his shirt before dropping to his belt. I fumble with the buckle because I’m shaking too much to be graceful. He helps me, shoving his trousers and boxer briefs down in one impatient move. His cock springs free, heavy and thick and already dripping at the tip.
My mouth goes dry. He’s gorgeous everywhere, and the sight of him like this, hard and aching for me, makes me clench with raw want.
He doesn’t give me time to stare. He bends to wrap his arms around my his, grabbing my ass and lifting me. My legs wrap around him as he carries me toward the smooth plane of the bed.
He pushes my thighs apart with his knees. Then he settles between them, the large plum of his cock nudging my entrance. I’m trembling from anticipation so sharp it hurts. His eyes lock on mine, fierce and tender all at once.
"Tell me you want this," he says, voice rough. "Tell me you want me inside you."
"Yes," I breathe. "God, yes, Adrik, please."
He thrusts in with one slow, relentless push, stretching me, filling me so completely my breath catches on a broken moan.
He’s big, almost too big, but the burn feels perfect, like I was made to take him. When he’s buried to the hilt he stills, letting me adjust, his forehead dropping to mine again.
"You feel fucking incredible," he groans.
I can’t answer with words. I roll my hips instead, urging him to move, and that’s all it takes. He pulls back and slams homeagain, setting a hard, punishing rhythm that has the headboard knocking against the wall.
Every thrust drags across that perfect spot inside me, winding the coil tighter and tighter. My nails rake down his back, and he hisses, driving deeper, faster, like he’s trying to brand himself on every inch of me.
I’m close already, embarrassingly close, but I don’t care. I wrap my legs around his waist and meet him thrust for thrust, chasing the edge. His hand slips between us, fingers finding my clit, circling with firm pressure.
The pleasure crashes over me like a wave. I come with his name tearing from my throat, clenching around him so hard my vision whites out.
He follows seconds later, burying himself deep and spilling inside me with a guttural sound that’s half growl, half prayer. His arms shake as he holds himself above me. For a long moment the only sounds are our ragged breathing and the thunder of my heartbeat in my ears.
Then he lowers himself gently, rolling us so I’m draped across his chest, his cock still throbbing inside me, my body still trembling with aftershocks. His hand strokes down my spine, slow and soothing, and he presses a kiss to my temple.
"You’re mine now," he whispers against my skin, voice hoarse but certain. "Every beautifully brave inch of you."
I smile into the hollow of his throat, boneless and sated and, for the first time in forever, utterly unafraid.
"Yeah," I murmur, pressing my lips to his racing pulse. "I am."
Adrik
