Rolling her onto her back, Steel shifted so his body was on top of hers, his weight balanced on his hands so he didn't hurt her. Lining himself up, he held back from sliding inside her.
Tracing his fingertips over the pulse point in her neck, he pressed a little harder, to nudge her awake.
“Mmm,” Rose moaned, her lashes fluttering on her cheeks before her eyes blinked open. “Steel?”
“Need you, little ladybug. Tell me I can be inside you.”
“Always,” she murmured, a small smile curling up the corners of her mouth.
With a single thrust he was buried deep, and that lingering knot of unsettledness disappeared.
“You feel so good inside me,” Rose murmured as he began to rock his hips.
“If I could find a way to live like this, I would.” That wasn't a joke, it wasn't an exaggeration. If it was possible to live his life buried deep in Rose’s body, with her permanently in his arms where he knew she was safe and he could protect her,he absolutely would. “You're mine, little ladybug. I gave you a chance to be free of me, and you chose to stay. I won't give you a second chance to leave.”
“I don’t want to leave.” Even though he knew it cost her, she pushed her shoulders off the bed so she could press a kiss to his lips.
“I’m not a good man. Not one who deserves you. I might have learned there is more humanity left in me than I'd realized, but I also know that part of me will always be a monster.”
“My monster.” Rose hummed, touching another kiss to his lips.
“Yours,” he readily agreed. “Always yours. I will burn the world to the ground to keep you safe. I will walk through hell, I will fight the devil himself, anything I have to do to protect you, I’ll do. I’m going to be better at protecting your body, but I’ll do my best to protect your heart as well.”
“You already proved you can do that when you gave me a choice. My life hasn’t had many, and even the ones I've had, I've made the choices that were the opposite of what I knew my brother would want me to make. I've never had the freedom that you gave me. I've never even had a chance to figure out who Rose Gardner really is.”
“Mine,” he told her, as he picked up the pace, thrusting into her faster, harder. Steel knew he should back off a little, knew he had to be hurting her battered body, but he could already feel her internal walls fluttering, and her cheeks were flushed with arousal as desire danced in her eyes.
“Yours,” Rose agreed as she twisted her fingers into his short hair and brought his face down so she could claim his mouth in a searing kiss.
Balancing his weight on one hand, Steel moved his other to where their bodies joined and worked her bundle of nerves,circling it, rolling it between his thumb and forefinger, and when he tweaked it roughly, Rose fell apart.
Capturing her cries of release, her internal muscles clamped around him, setting off his own release. It sparked along his spine, firing out to touch every molecule of his body, and setting it alight. Pleasure consumed him, and he kept his fingers working her bud throughout their joint release to prolong it for Rose as long as he could.
When all that was left were aftershocks of pleasure, Steel rolled them so he was on his back and Rose was draped across him, his softening length still snug inside her. Since he was so much taller than her, her head tucked perfectly beneath his chin, and she nuzzled her cheek against his chest, above his heart.
“I’m glad I chose to stay with you,” Rose whispered sleepily as her body grew heavy against his as she drifted off.
“So am I, little ladybug, so am I,” he whispered back, but he doubted she heard his words as sleep had already claimed her.
January 3rd
9:19 A.M.
I will burn the world to the ground to keep you safe.
Why was that the best foreplay? Even now, hours later, when she thought of Steel’s vow, she felt her body tingle, her blood heat.
She’d slept most of the day before away, and for the first time in well over twenty-four hours, she was starting to feel vaguely human. When they’d finally arrived back at the mansion yesterday, Steel had taken her up to his room, put her in thebath, and washed every inch of her with a tenderness that had made her eyes sting.
Then he’d dressed her in one of his shirts and tucked her into his bed. Falling asleep encased in his scent had been exactly what she needed, and she’d slept deeply and dreamlessly.
Waking with him buried deep inside her wasn't what she had expected, but it wasn't unwelcome in the least. His promises that he would protect her body and her heart had pushed her into the best orgasm of her life.
“If you keep thinking that loudly, I'm going to have you tied to the bed screaming my name until it’s the only word you know,” Steel’s voice rumbled from beneath her, and Rose lifted her head from his chest and arched a brow at him.
“Is that supposed to be a threat?” she asked. It sounded like a wonderful way to spend the day, and she didn't even care that her body would be the one screaming when they were done, only it wouldn't be screams of pleasure it would be ones of pain. Her head still throbbed, and her broken arm had been reset and a new cast put on it. There were new bruises on top of old ones, the gash on her cheekbone that Steel had given her had been cleaned and closed as best as you could with a wound that was over a day old before it got treated.
She hurt, but she burned for this man.
