He gives me this look as if to sayyou’re kidding, right?“So he’s all in?”
Creed is so fucking cute when he’s in need of reassurance.
I lift my chin, and he meets me halfway to press my lips against his. “Did kissing him on drop-off day not clue you in?”
“Well, yeah, kinda.” He looks so uncharacteristically sheepish as he shrugs and looks away, his cheeks flushing for the first time like…ever. “But he’s so used to my affections that it could’ve been perceived as a level up in our…bromance or something.”
I can’t help the quiet burst of laughter that bubbles up at his words. “Bromance?” I mock playfully. “Creed, that boy would not be kissing you on the lips if he wasn’t wholly committed to you, too.”
“I know, but these words,” he murmurs as he tucks the letter into the pocket of his joggers before adjusting his grip on me. “Theymeansomething, Stardust. Something like—apromiseof more.”
Creed keeps one hand firmly planted beneath me, holding me up by the back of my thighs while the other trails up my spine, then over my arms until his hand snakes around, and his tattooed fingers intertwine with mine above my head.
“You want more?” I ask, my voice nothing more than a whisper as I tilt my chin up, my nose brushing against his.
He lifts a brow in question, but his eyes flare as lust fills the icy blue of his gaze to the brim. “Yes.” He dips his head, his tongue trailing up the column of my neck and pauses at the shell of my ear. “I want everything, baby.”
“But right now,” he growls, nipping at my lips when his eyes meet mine again, “Ineedyou.”
I look at him. Really look at the man who has had my heart longer than he could ever imagine. Creed has been the glue that kept me together every time I thought I would shatter.
“Then have me.” I bite my lower lip to stifle the moan building in my chest when he squeezes and rocks his hips up into me. Allowing me to feel just how badly he wants this. Wantsme.
“Don’t say shit you’re not ready for, Stardust,” he nearly chokes the words out against the flesh of my neck, nipping the skin there just hard enough to make me gasp. “I’m barely hanging onto my sanity around you.”
I pull back and look up at him from beneath my lashes. “You don’t have to handle me as if I’m fragile, Creed. I’ll tell you my limits if we reach one.”
“And if you drift away and can’t speak, can’t tell me no?”
“Then, I know you’ll catch on and pull me back.” I kiss his chin, loving the faint stubble that’s grown there. “I won’t break.I’m not ready to run every base just yet, but what I do know is that I will combust if you don’t touch me right now, Creed.”
His lips descending upon mine is the answer to my plea. Everything else fades away as I am wholly consumed by Creed. He doesn’t live life in halves. I can feel it down in the marrow of my bones that he’s pouring all of himself into me. Lust and love, longing and a want-all battle for dominance in his kiss.
My head spins, and I get lost in his touch, the way his lips caress, the way his tongue wars with mine, his teeth biting my lower lip.
He shifts, grabbing at the slack of fabric that surrounds us. “How are your arms?”
I give them a tug, not feeling as if they’re being pushed to their limits yet. “Good.”
He creates a loop, securing my wrists together above my head so that I can’t lower them even if I wanted to. Panic starts to clog my mind with being restrained, but Creed is right here in front of me, his beautiful eyes seeking mine.
“It’s just me, baby,” he murmurs, running his nails gently down my arms, the tender flesh of my scars, forcing a shiver to run down my spine and settle low in my core. “I will never hurt you. But if you feel like any of this is too much, say your nickname and this all stops.”
Licking my lips, I give him a nod and take a deep breath. This is a small step in reclaiming my body for my own. I want Creed more than I want my next breath, and I know that he’ll take care of me along the way, never letting me slip off the ledge I fear I’m too close to falling from sometimes.
I’m enraptured as I watch Creed slowly sink to his knees before me. His hands leave goosebumps in their wake as the tips of his fingers trace down the map of my body. This position really puts our height difference into perspective because hisface is still level with my breasts—which is exactly where all of his attention is focused right now.
The playlist I had going during therapy is still playing quietly in the background as the song changes toProviderby Sleep Token.
I savor the feel of warm hands slipping beneath the elastic band of my sports bra as Creed’s eyes slide to mine, watching me closely as he cups each breast and kneads. The scars from the tear around my nipple, where Guy had nearly ripped it off, have healed, but I hadn’t dared to touch them myself. For the longest time, I had no feeling there; I’ve been scared that the nerve damage would be permanent. His touch feels so fucking good that it sends a wave of relief washing over me. I wiggle in Creed’s grip, needing him to touch me.Everywhere.
“You okay?” Creed asks, but the question is pure gravel. His eyes are dilated and he’s breathing like he’s just run a marathon.
“Yes,” I squeak out, wiggling again, “m-more, please.”
Thank the powers that be that Creed is a giver because he doesn’t make me wait. Pushing my bra up to expose my breasts, he leans in closely. I feel the warm caress of his breaths before I feel the velvet drag of his tongue connecting with my skin.
I watch Creed, enraptured by the way his tongue flicks out, lapping at the tightened bud of my nipple, before he closes his mouth around it and sucks. A gasp bursts from my lips at the same time my head drops back on a rough moan because holy hell does he feel so good.
