I gazed into space, trying to see myself from the outside rather than what I’d always seen – a young woman cowed by her own sister. A person told over and over again that she’s stupid, that she’d never amount to anything, that no one could possibly ever love her.
I saw what Roxanne refused to see.
I am worthy of being loved.
***
I woke up the next morning with the bright sunlight streaming past the curtains. Muzzy from a sincere lack of sleep, and perhaps a bit too much scotch, I stretched. Alaric’s arm slipped off of me when I moved, and he made a grumbling noise from deep within his throat.
Looking around blearily, I remembered we’d fallen asleep together on his wide and plush sofa. Glancing at his still sleeping face, I recalled his dragon might, his grandeur, and absently wondered why he had chosen me.
Sitting up, I yawned, stretched again, then ambled into the kitchen for coffee. I sat at the table while it brewed, and my curiosity grew. Did he really heal fast? Maybe I could sneak a quick peek while Alaric still slept. Feeling like a thief, I tiptoed into the front room until I stood over him.
Carefully, I pulled the taped gauze from his shoulder wound.
I sucked in my breath. Stumbling backward, I tripped and fell on my butt. My teeth clicked together both painfully and sharply.
Alaric woke up instantly. “What? What’s going on?”
I merely stared in utter astonishment.
“Hayley?”
Unable to speak, I crawled over the carpet to the sofa. My hand shook as I pulled the bandage off his facial cuts.
All that remained of the gashes from the previous night were red lines. And I suspected they would vanish entirely before too much longer. His shoulder wounds were deeper, and yet had knitted together as though weeks of healing had passed rather than a single night.
“This is impossible,” I muttered thickly.
Alaric yawned. “What have we discussed about what’s impossible? I’m starving. Let’s get some breakfast.”
Gathering my legs under me, I shut my opened mouth. Standing over him, I ran my fingers lightly over his formerly damaged shoulder, then peered around him at the healed gashes on his back.
“Incredible,” I murmured.
His arms around my waist, Alaric pulled me in closer to him. He kissed my belly, nuzzling my flesh like a puppy seeking its mother’s teat. Unhooking my bra, then dropping it to the floor, he cupped my breasts, stroking his palms over them. Naturally, his touch sent electric shocks through my skin, through all my nerve endings.
I spread my legs and straddled his lap, his bristled cheeks in my hands. When I kissed him, his mouth opened under my slight pressure, his tongue searching for mine. My arousal thrummed with heat across my loins, centered deep within my core. I moaned into his mouth when his hand brushed across my opened crotch.
His raw strength left me breathless. He slid his hands under my thighs and stood up without breaking our kiss. Turning, he bent, lowering me to the sofa with my legs locked around his hips. Rising just enough, his warm gray eyes on mine, he took my legs from him and opened my jeans.
Slowly, with his nails scratching lightly and erotically down my legs, Alaric pulled my jeans off. Now I lay naked under his scrutiny, his hands caressing, stroking from my hips up to my waist and then my breasts. His groin bulged under his zipper, a massive lump that made me groan in anticipation.
I let my eyes roam over his bare chest, his impressive muscles, his flat belly with his sculpted six pack abs. Bare of hair, Alaric almost gleamed in the morning sunlight, his skin as smooth and refined as golden silk. I drew in a deep breath, desperately needing to touch him, to feel him, to possess him.
The wordsI love youhovered over my lips. I dared not speak them. Not yet. Not now. Alaric and I are husband and wife, but the specter of his return to his home loomed like a thundercloud. If I fell in love with him, I would surely lose him.
In slow motion, he unzipped his jeans and pulled his shaft free. It sprang forth, dripping precum from its tip, the iron hard length of it ready to impale me, to take me.
I wanted it so badly.
Chapter Fourteen
Alaric
Sinking my shaft into Hayley’s pussy felt like coming home. Her tunnel all but sucked me in as I eased my huge prick into her. I watched her jade eyes, her pupils huge in her lust, her desire, while I withdrew slowly, erotically, and delved in deeply once again. With gentle care, I gave her my all, gliding in and out on her oily honey.
I longed to lunge in, fast, hard. To fuck her with hard, fierce intensity. I didn’t. I prolonged both of our pleasure with slow strokes, with sweet, languid intercourse. By the way Hayley’s breath quickened, how her hands clenched around my wrists, I knew my tenderness brought her quickly to her first orgasm.
