by Shandi Boyes
Clara's pained eyes lift to mine when I say, "A broken heart never mends. But it can swell to accommodate more people in it. You don't have to live your life unloved because your heart was once broken. You just have to be willing to increase its size to include the new people in your life. The people who care for you. Guys like me."
Diesel and Ryan are right. I'm gone for this woman. Completely and utterly fucking done.
The hurt in Clara’s eyes softens as she quietly mumbles, “Do you really think that’s true?”
I nod without pause for consideration. My heart swells when she cups the edge of my jaw and smiles a knockout grin. Her eyes bounce between mine. She looks like she wants to say something but not a word spills from her lips.
After twisting a lock of hair behind her ear, I say, “I saw Sophia today.”
Clara stiffens, and her eyes widen, but she tries to keep the expression on her face neutral. She fails. "How is she? Is she okay?"
“She’s good. Daniel said they have had a couple of new developments the past month he looks forward to discussing with you at your next visit.”
Clara's pupils dilate more. "New developments?"
I smile before nodding. “She moved her toes last week.”
Clara sucks in a deep breath as her eyes brim with tears.
"She has also been recorded taking unaided breaths."
Tears stream down Clara’s cheeks as her hand clamps over her mouth.
“These are good signs, Princess.”
“I know,” she replies, her tone weak. “These are happy tears.”
She takes a few moments to settle her composure before locking her red-rimmed eyes with mine. My heart rate kicks into overdrive, but I remain quiet, praying she will open up to me.
"Sophia is Remy's little sister. Remy was my first serious boyfriend. His real name was Victor Remy the Second, but everyone called him Remy. Although I was only a teen, I loved him. Truly I did.”
Her eyes flare as a range of emotions flash through them.
“But my father hated Remy. Remy thought it was because his parents were divorced, but that wasn't the real reason my dad hated him. It was because he didn't have any money and he lived on the wrong side of town. Remy begged me for months to leave my family and go live with him, but I couldn't. He could barely afford to live as it was, let alone take care of me, and since I was under eighteen, I had no way of supporting myself.”
Her eyes gloss over. “Remy gave me my pendant the night of my eighteenth birthday party. The night was going surprisingly well. Although Remy did look slightly out of place in a pair of ripped jeans when all the other male attendees were wearing dress pants, I didn't care. I loved him for who he was, not what he wore."
She takes a breath before continuing. "I don't know exactly how it started, but Remy got into a disagreement with my father. After they flung a string of hateful words at each other, Remy dragged me out of the party. I pleaded for him to wait until my guests had left, but nothing I said made a difference. He was furious I didn't stand up for him. I wanted to—truly I did—I just couldn't get my mouth to cooperate. I was still six days away from officially turning eighteen, so I feared the repercussion of going against the wishes of my father. Remy broke up with me because I refused to leave with him. I was devastated."
She stops talking for a moment and stares out into space. “That devastation was nothing compared to being informed Remy was involved in a motorbike accident three weeks later. He was killed on impact. Sophia has been on life support ever since.”
Fuck! No wonder she was so scared when I threw her on my bike.
“I’m sorry, Princess. If I had known, I wouldn’t have forced you onto my bike—”
My words stop when Clara places her index finger on my lips. “It’s okay. I know you would never hurt me, Brax.”
I strengthen my grip around her waist but remain quiet. Just like there were no words I could say to ease Hank’s pain when Derrick was killed, I have no words to offer Clara to lessen the hurt brewing in her eyes.
After removing a tear tracking down her face, Clara lifts her tear-drenched eyes to me. “Sophia’s parents couldn’t afford Remy’s funeral, let alone Sophia’s extensive medical bills, so I made a deal with the devil to ensure she was taken care off. By becoming the daughter my father wanted—an upstanding member of society who never spoke unless spoken to and did exactly as demanded—Sophia’s medical expenses were paid. As the years went on, I became more and more like my father, a vindictive and callous human being with an ice heart.”
A painful whizz parts her mouth. “I thought once my father died his hold over me would vanish. It didn’t. I was too far gone by then. My heart was beyond repair.”
“I don’t believe that,” I reply, speaking for the first time in ten minutes. “If you didn’t have a heart, you wouldn’t have visited Sophia every month for the past eight years. You wouldn’t have used seventy percent of your salary at Inked to put towards her care expenses, and you wouldn’t have tears in your eyes right now. You have a heart, Princess. A very big one. Don’t let a man with wrong values ever let you think any different.”
I run the back of my hand down her cheeks, removing her tears before saying, “Besides, you can always hold onto the piece of my heart you’ve already stolen until yours fully thaws.” I aim to keep my tone cheeky, but my words come out with more sentiment than I anticipated.
When the pain in Clara’s eyes eases from my statement, I’m happy for her to take the meaning any way she sees fit.
“I have a piece of your heart?”
When I nod, a true and genuine smile etches onto her mouth.
“I like the sound of that,” she murmurs before resting her cheek on my chest.
A stretch of silence passes between us. It isn’t awkward; it is comforting and necessary. I could stay like this for hours. I don’t know why, but I’ve had an overwhelming desire to protect Clara from the day I met her. Finding out she has suffered a loss has strengthened my desire to protect her, but it isn’t the only reason I'd happily sit here for hours with her in my arms. In some ways, this type of affection is more intimate than the moment we shared in the shower this morning. Don’t construe my statement the wrong way; our time together this morning was out-of-this-fucking-world, better than I could have ever predicted. But it’s during the quiet times like this that I get to see other sides of Clara, the ones not governed by her libido.
Her outward appearance gives the illusion that she's a woman with a frozen heart, but I realize now that isn’t the case. She's protecting her heart so fiercely because she's afraid one more knock may shatter it completely, permanently disfiguring it. And although she puts on a brave front, even a woman as headstrong as Clara doesn’t want to live her life unloved, no matter how much she pretends she does.
Enough time rolls by in complete silence that the sky changes from a vibrant blue coloring to midnight black. My eyes shift away from the stars scattering in the sky to Clara when she lifts her head off my chest.
The crazy beat of her heart pounds the nape of my neck when she curls her arms around my shoulders. “Kiss me, Brax,” she mutters, fluttering my lips with her warm breath. “I’ve missed your lips on mine.”
My lips tug high, loving that she's becoming so forthright with her desires.
“You wish is my command, Princess.”
Her mouth tastes sweet and spicy. Sweet from the soda she was sharing with Clementine, and spicy from the flavor of the potato chips they were consuming. Unlike our previous kisses, this time, I control the pace. I don’t mind handing over the reins on an odd occasion, but I want to prove to Clara what I said was true. Loss, heartache, and betrayal are not something you simply get over. You just have no choice but to move on and live the best life you can. Although I hate the idea of another man holding a portion of Clara’s heart, she isn’t sitting in his lap, nibbling on his lips. She's here with me. And if I have it my way, that isn’t going to change anytime soon.
>
After I’m happy I’ve sampled every portion of her mouth, I pull my lips away from Clara. I run my thumb over the curve of her top lip before locking my eyes with hers. My chest swells, beyond smug her gaze is hazy and brimmed with lust. I tilt my head to the side and stare deeper when sparks of the unidentifiable glint she was wearing this morning resurfaces.
It brightens before she mutters, “Make love to me, Brax.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
Keeping her entrancing eyes connected with mine, Clara tugs the hem of her shirt out of her skirt and pulls it over her head. My nostrils flare, relishing the rich scent of her floral smell floating in the air. The generous swell of her breasts falls gently to her chest when she slips her hand around her back and unfastens her bra. I'm not a man who usually makes love. I fuck—and I fuck hard—but I’m going to make love to this woman. Not only to prove what I said was true, but also to show her what she means to me.
A husky purr escapes Clara’s parted lips when I cup her breast and take her rosy pink nipple into my mouth. The muscles in my stomach tense when she slips her hand under my shirt and runs her fingernails over the bumps of my abs. My cock throbs against my zipper, dying to be immersed in her silky softness. It’s had an unquenchable desire to claim her as mine from the moment I laid my eyes on her, but his pleas must wait. Clara asked me to make love to her, and I’m a man who keeps my word.
I release her breast from my mouth with a little pop, the bud of her nipple hardening when I blow hot air onto it. My plans to take it slow go to shit when she rubs herself along the hardness in my jeans. "Oh God, Brax, please touch me. I need you to touch me."
Her soft pleas strengthen when I slip my hand between our bodies. I groan when I feel how wet she is. She's saturated. My rough moans are captured by Clara's mouth when she covers her lips over mine and kisses me.
She kisses me with so much heat and passion that before I know it, she's lying beneath me on the two-seater couch, and I'm grinding up against her.
Slow, Brax. Slow.
Ignoring the protest of my cock, I pull back and rest my backside on the balls of my feet. Clara’s skirt is bunched around her waist, and her chest is thrusting up and down as she stares up at me with wild, crazy eyes. Smiling a grin I’ve never seen, she slides down the zipper on her skirt and glides it down her thighs. It joins her shirt on the concrete floor not even two seconds later. My eyes drink in every inch of her glorious skin as I unbutton my jeans and discard them onto the floor next to her clothes.
The full moon bounces off her smooth white skin, illuminating her in a silvery glow. If I didn't already know she was a princess, I would have sworn an angel had fallen from the sky. My angel. I drop to my knees and drag her ass to the edge of the couch. Her giggles trail off to a moan when I spread her open with my thumbs and run my tongue along the seam of her glistening pussy, absorbing the wetness shimmering on her pretty pink lips.
“Ohhh,” Clara garbles when I wrap my lips around the swollen bud of her clit and suck softly.
Her thighs loosen as I devour her sweet pussy in slow and tantalizing licks and nibs. I work her into a frenzy at a leisured pace, making love to her with my tongue, instead of my cock. My slow speed is drawing out her race to climax, but I want her to feel every stroke of my tongue, every nib of my teeth, and every suck I inflict. I don’t want her to ever forget the first time we made love, so if it takes me four hours to get there, it takes me four hours.
“Brax, yes. It feels so good. Oh, so, so good.”
Clara’s throaty moans have me dying to slide my fingers inside her and pump her until she comes screaming my name. The only thing stopping me is her writhing against me. She's rocking her hips in a similar rhythm as my tongue, proving she wants to go at a slow and controlled pace.
I delve my tongue in and out of her before sliding it up to her clit and sucking down. Any concerns about my moderate tempo lessening Clara's pleasure shifts to the background of my mind when a long, quivering orgasm shimmers through her body. Her back arches and a cock-twitching moan spills from her O-formed lips as every fine hair on her body bristles. Pre-cum seeps into the material of my briefs when her juices gush onto my tongue. God, she tastes good. So fucking good.
I'm so hard, I swear my cock is about to burst out of my briefs. He’d even go at a leisured pace if it guarantees him the opportunity to be wrapped in her warmth.
After guiding Clara down from her prolonged climax, I stand from my kneeled position. I scrape my hand over my mouth, removing the residual of her arousal before shoving my briefs down my thighs. My cock thickens as Clara inhales a sharp breath when it springs free from its tight restraints. I love the shocked reaction she gets every time she sees my cock.
While running my hand up and down my shaft, I lock my eyes with Clara. Even though her eyes are beaming with lust, I can't miss the glint they were wearing earlier. Except now, I can recognize that gleam. It isn't lust, feistiness, or a woman being ruled by her libido. It is the glint of a woman who wants to be loved—to be cherished. I know just the man for the job.
The gleam in her eyes brightens when I nestle the crown on my cock between her wet heat. After lubing myself with her wetness, I slowly inch inside her. Fuck! She feels so good. Tight. Wet. Mine. If I wasn’t set on ensuring the glint in her eyes never leaves, I could come right now. That is how good she feels. Instead, I grit my teeth and sink in deeper.
A curse word seeps from my lips when Clara scrambles backwards, withdrawing my throbbing cock from her slicked pussy.
"Condom," she mutters breathlessly, "you need a condom."
Placing my hands under her ass, I drag her back to me. “I don’t need a condom.” I push the first inch of my cock back inside her. “I don’t mess with my crew, I don’t bring girls to my apartment, I don’t fuck without a condom, and I don’t make love.”
Clara's massively dilated eyes bounce between mine.
“With anyone but you,” I mutter, inching further inside her.
I fight the urge to thrust into her in one quick motion when her pussy protests the intrusion.
"Open up for me, Princess. You've got to let me in, or I’ll hurt you." And there's no fucking chance of that happening.
Clara nods before doing as asked. Her pussy ripples around me, sucking me in deeper as she swivels her hips to loosen their tight hold.
“That’s it, Princess. Just like that.”
Her teeth gnaw on her bottom lip when I take her to the very root of my cock. I still my movements, waiting for her body to adjust to the intrusion before drawing back out. Clara's eyes pop open and lift to mine when I fully withdraw my cock. Before she has a chance to protest, I thrust back in at the same leisurely speed.
I rock in and out of her over and over again until her husky moans are heard over the mad beat of my heart shrilling in my ears. Although my speed is slow for a guy who is use to fucking, it isn’t slow enough to starve off my desire to come. She feels too good to ever scare off that urge.
Her French-tipped nails dig into the cheeks of my ass as she adjusts the tilt of her hips so I can take her deeper. Her hips rock faster with every stroke I make. I try to hold back, to keep the slow pace she requested, but the fight becomes unwinnable when she mutters, “Please, Brax. More. I need more.”
Banding my arms around her sweat-slicked waist, I roll us over so she's straddled on top of me. "Take what you need, Princess."
And she does.
Her nails dig into my chest as she rises and falls above me in a tempo not fast enough to be classed as fucking, but a few notches faster than my previous speed. I slither my hand down her damp body to find her pulsating clit. Her pussy grows wetter when I roll the pad of my thumb over the throbbing bud.
“Oh god. You feel so good, Brax. I’m going to come,” she purrs moments later.
“Give it to me, Princess. I want it all. Give me everything you have.” I cup one of her bouncing breasts in my hand to tweak her nipple at the same speed I’m flicking her
clit.
Her thighs quiver as her breaths come faster. She does another four rises and falls before she shatters like glass hitting a concrete floor. Her pussy milks my cock, my name spilling from her lips in breathless, erotic scream.
“Brax. Oh. . .”
I wait for the shakes of her body to settle before gripping her hips with my hands and guiding her back up and down my thickened shaft. I jerk my hips to arouse her clit with my pubic bone as my cock consumes her clenching slit. Dropping my eyes from her spent face, I lock them with an image I’ll never forget. Her pussy is red and swollen, but nothing can take away from the sight of my cock pumping into her glistening mound in long, lengthened strokes.
The harsh pants of her pleasurable moans spur on my desire to come. My cock throbs as my race to climax intensifies.
“Give it to me, Brax,” Clara quotes, her words husky. “I want every drop.”
Now I’m even harder. Fuck, she's gorgeous. Her tousled hair falling around her shoulders, her lips puffy and raw from our kisses, and her eyes sparked with so much life, I’m afraid she’ll run out of room for anything else.
I thrust into her again, and again, and again, until the walls of her pussy clench around my cock for a second time. She rides the intensity of her climax by slamming down on me so hard, her ass slapping my balls booms into my ears. Her legs shake, her words come out garbled, and her bucks turn wild.
“Fuck, Princess, you’re strangling my cock with your greedy sucks,” I roar, my words echoing into the quiet night. I jerk my hips up, my desire to come overwhelming me. “I’m going to come so fucking hard.”
And I do.
I take my cock to the very base—giving her my all—before the hot thickness of my seed jets out of my throbbing crown.
“You feel that, Princess? Me inside of you. Marking you. Claiming you with my cum.”
Clara purrs like a little kitten as her pussy ripples around me, milking every drop of my spawn while the wetness of her slit coats my balls. “I want it all. Give me all of it.”
