I’m safe but wounded.
He studies me carefully before finding my slick entrance, and like stars exploding, he pushes himself inside. We both let out a thrilling yell, pleasure, pure bliss, but then he stops and my gaze flicks to him.
“What’s the matter? Are you okay?” His sudden stopping has my stomach in knots. I stroke his face, and he kisses my palm. “We can go slow, it’s okay. We can take our time with one another.”
He swallows. “Everything is right. It’s perfect.” He places his lips on my hand before starting to move. His powerful arms working to keep him up beside me, the veins in them protrude with power.
He works his way in and out with measured thrusts and we’re both becoming one. I don’t think about anything or anyone else. It’s a piece of the puzzle finding its way together and my body is completely losing itself.
“Fuck, Danika. You feel like everything my body was craving and missing.”
I cry out again as he goes deeper, the climb almost at the top, taking the plunge. My fingertips dig lightly into his solid, strong back as he continues to make love to me. Not fucking. Not screwing without any emotion.
Love.
“Liem… I—”
“Me too, butterfly. Me too.”
At the same time, we both let go. Both our bodies taken over by our climax and there’s nothing greater in this world than our moment together right here, right now.
THIRTY-TWO
Danika
“I don’t mean to sound like a total lame ass or anything but… can I tell you something?
“Anything.” The raspiness of his voice sends goosebumps down my arms.
Here it goes.“You heal me. You heal every single part of me.” I observe our interlocked fingers as we lay naked in bed, my head resting on Liem’s shoulder. I chuckle, a steady heat rising from my ears to my face but when I glance up, he’s not laughing.
“You heal me too, butterfly. More than you’ll ever know.”
I smile, the warmth seeping into my chest. “Is that okay? To think of someone as healing?” I wait, while Liem reaches up and brushes his lips to my fingers.
“There’s a lot wrong in this world but leaning on someone to guide them through it, is not one of them.”
I nestle closer smelling the musk of sex on his skin. “Can I tell you something else?”
This time he does chuckle. “Yes.”
I prop myself up on my elbow, studying the way his messy strands lay gently on his forehead. “I’ve never talked about that night. The night they took me.”
His full attention is on me, moving from the ceiling and never leaving my eyes. “You’ve never told anyone?”
I shake my head. “No.” I take a deep breath then let it out. “I’d like to talk about it, if that’s all right?”
Liem nods, his brows squeezing together.
And then I begin, “I worked at a corner store like ten blocks from my apartment. It was always a little sketchy but my ex-boyfriend at the time knew the owner.” Liem’s jaw moves, andhe swallows harshly. I give his hand a reassuring squeeze before continuing, “The owner was always good about not letting me work the night shifts alone. But that night, my coworker got sick, and he went home early…” I pause, trying to find the rest of my words.
“Leaving you there by yourself.”
“Mhm. I had this feeling someone was following me home. I could hear the leaves crunching behind me. A sound I’d hear in my nightmares.” I take a breath. “One guy grabbed me from behind and the other, put a towel over my face with some kind of chemical that made me pass out.”
“Chloroform,” Liem grinds out, a tone filled with raw anger. I’d be afraid if I didn’t know him.
“The next thing I remember was waking up in the warehouse. In a damn cage like a fucking dog. I fought so hard, Liem. I did. I really, really did. But there came a point where I was too tired to fight anymore.”
