Soft and sweet.
I’d just violated her body in more ways than I could count, but she clung to me like she still trusted me. Using my fingers, I continued raking her hair away from her eyes, tucking it behind her ears. I finally had a clear view of her face, and she batted her lashes, looking even more vulnerable than she had earlier, when I had her pinned down on the carpet in her living room.
“I need to know you’re okay,” I whispered.
She licked her lips. “I’m okay, Knox.”
“Good. And,” I started, wrapping my arms around her nude body, my hands drifting down her back. Her face pressed into my chest, and her breathing began to slow. “We’re still inside the two-week window you gave me. Which means this is not over, correct?”
She shifted against me, her fingers curling into the fabric of my shirt. “C-correct,” she stuttered.
I brushed my mouth over the top of her head, inhaling the scent of her shampoo. Garnier Fructis–which she’d switched to after moving back here because it was cheaper than the salon-grade shampoo she used when she still had that job in Milwaukee. Before her secret food delivery gig.
Would she like that I knew these things about her?
Or would it scare her away?
I swallowed, adjusting her body against me. “Because there’s more I want to do. That is, if you think you can take it. Again.”
Hallie drew in a slow, shaky breath, her grip tightening on me like I was the only thing keeping her upright. “Please.”
“Please what? I need you to be clear.”
She gave me a little nod. “Please come back. You–you gave me exactly what I wanted. You gave me what I didn’t even realize I wanted. And I want more.”
I held her by the arms, my gaze dropping to the space between us like it could hide what I was feeling.
Because that night, I’d denied myself the one thing I wanted from her the most. I’d held back from crossing that final line, not because she hadn’t offered it, but because I didn’t think I’d earned it yet. And maybe, in some quiet way, I was punishing myself for wanting her so badly in the first place.
Fucking Hallie might undo me completely. I was afraid it could shatter the illusion that I had any control at all. I risked becoming the vulnerable one, and she’d be able to see everything I felt for her.
I cleared my throat. “Anyway, let’s get you cleaned up.”
Nine
Hallie
The morning light filteredthrough the blinds in soft, dusty stripes, and for a few seconds I didn’t know why everything felt… different.
Then it hit me all at once.
My body remembered before my brain did. There was a deep, satisfying ache between my thighs. Raw skin on my wrists where the rope rubbed me. A faint soreness in my jaw. And my throat felt scratchy, like I’d screamed for hours—which I pretty much had.
I rolled onto my back and stared at the ceiling, bringing one hand to my forehead in disbelief.
It happened. It really happened.
I pressed my thighs together and felt the slick reminder of how thoroughly he’d wrecked me. My face burned. I’d cried. Begged. Come so many times I lost count. Let him use my mouth like I was just his little fuckdoll.
He’d used my body in every way except the one I stupidly and desperately wanted the most.
I lay there for ten minutes trying to process the experience while daydreaming about the next one. I wanted to feel him stretch me, claim me, and fuck me until the only word I remembered was his name. I closed my eyes and pictured his face, clenching my thighs together at the thought of him–
My phone buzzed on the nightstand, jolting me out of my daydream. I rolled over and reached for it, furrowing my brows at the Venmo notification.
Venmo
Knox Ballard sent you $100.00
