Her tongue slides against mine as her taste explodes in my mouth. My fingers tighten against her in my desperation for more, but I can’t forget everything she’s been through tonight. I need to hold back where I would usually go all in.
Her fingers find the bottom of my jersey and slip inside. My muscles twitch as she lightly scratches over my abs.
“Off,” she mutters against my lips as she pushes the fabric up. I’m powerless to do anything but follow her demand, and I reluctantly reach behind my head and pull my jersey up and off. Our lips only part for the few seconds it takes for the fabric to pass.
I step back up to her and pull her to the edge of the counter so she has no choice but to feel just how turned on I am by her. She gasps as I press against her sensitive center, her legs wrapping around my hips and pulling me closer still.
36
Raelynn
I run my hands over the expanse of his muscular back and lose myself in his touch and kiss. It’s the exact distraction I need right now. I hand myself over to him willingly.
When I came to earlier, I found myself curled in the ball in Bill’s office, lying in a puddle of my own blood. I thought I was going to pass straight back out as my heart began to race and I fought to drag in the air I needed. But thankfully, after a few minutes, my panic diminished as my fear took over that he was still there somewhere. I strained to hear any movement outside of the office but everything was in silence.
Breathing a sigh of relief, I pulled my phone from my pocket and called 911. I have no idea what came over me, but the second I hung up the phone I felt so alone and only one person’s face popped into my head. He was the only one I wanted in that moment to support me.
Before I had a chance to put any more thought into it, I found his number and dialed. I was so disorientated that I had no idea what the time was or where he might be, all I knew was that I needed him. Just like I do right now.
A low moan rumbles up from the back of his throat and my core clenches.
“Jesus, Rae.” He moves his lips from mine and kisses across my jaw and down my neck. “Do you have any idea how fucking scary that was? Seeing you covered in blood?” He moves back from my skin slightly, looking at the red-stained shirt.
“Take it off me.”
My words seem to bring him back to himself and he puts a little space between us. His eyes widen in panic as his chest continues to heave.
“Ethan?” I ask, wondering what the hell I just said wrong.
“I’m sorry. I’m supposed to be looking after you.”
“And you call that not looking after me?”
“Oh continuing that could certainly be classified as looking after you, but it’s not what you need right now.”
“I beg to di—”
“Don’t,” he says, stepping away even more. “I need to do the right thing, and taking you like an animal on the counter like I want isn’t doing that.”
“I’m not compl—”
“Rae,” he moans, almost as if he’s in pain. “Just… just let me look after you.”
“Okay,” I whisper, my need to experience this softer side of Ethan that I knew was always there almost bigger than my need for him.
Glancing around the room, his gaze locks on the bathtub. He stalks toward it, leans over, and runs the water before grabbing the little bottle that’s sitting on the side and pouring it in. Bubbles appear almost instantly, but I pay more attention to his muscular, tattooed back as he moves.
Feeling my stare, he looks over his shoulder. A wicked smirk appears on his lips, but unlike all the times I’ve seen it before, I’m confident that nothing vicious is going to come out of his mouth. He turns and walks back over, his eyes trained on mine, but instead of dropping his lips back to mine like I want, he just slips his hands around my waist and lifts me from the counter.
“You do your thing while I go order us food for after. Anything you want?” I bite down on my bottom lip as my eyes drop to his torso and then the deep V lines that drop into his pants. Fuck yeah, there’s something I want. “To eat, Rae. Is there anything you want to eat?”
“N-nothing too heavy,” I say, not even bothering to lift my eyes from his body.
“I’ll just be a few minutes. Call if you need me.”
“I’ll be fine.”
Reluctantly he leaves me standing in the middle of the ginormous room, feeling a little lost. After a second or two, I remember what I’m supposed to be doing and make use of the toilet before risking a look at myself in the mirror.
I gasp when I first see my reflection. Why the hell he felt the need to kiss me, fuck only knows. I look like a mess. The right side of my face is tinged pink with my blood, my hair is a mess, and I don’t even need to mention the patch they had to shave to stitch me back together. I guess it could be seen as intentional, although it’s certainly not a look I’d go for. I might hate my hair, but I’ve still refrained from cutting it all off after all these years, so clearly I’m more attached than I want to admit. My shirt is no longer white, although my skin is paler than I think I’ve ever seen it in comparison.
Lifting my fingers, I gently touch my new wound. I suck in a sharp breath when it hurts like a bitch.
“Don’t,” Ethan says, stepping inside the room. “Just leave it alone to heal.”
“It’s fucking ugly.”
“Scars are cool, baby. I thought of anyone you would understand that.”
I shrug, allowing what he’s really saying seep into me. “All of mine are on the inside. I’m not sure about this one.”
“Your hair will cover it,” he says, stepping up to me. His arms wrap around my waist and his chin rests on my left shoulder as he stares at me in the mirror. “You’re still beautiful. It just makes you even edgier, some might say scary.”
I laugh, grateful he steered away from the awkward beautiful comment so quickly. “You think I’m scary?”
“Fucking terrifying, baby. You have no idea.”
My chin drops as a million questions run around my head, but I don’t get the chance to ask any of them.
“Your bath is ready.” He releases my waist, and we both watch his hands as his fingers wrap around the bottom of my shirt and lift. He’s very careful when it gets to my head and ensures he removes it without causing me any more pain.
His eyes hold mine for a beat before dropping to my bra covered breasts.
“I never told you before.” He drops his lips to the curve of my shoulder. “I was too busy being a dick, but you’re so fucking sexy. Your curves. Fuck, Rae.”
I gasp at the honesty in his words. I have to avert my eyes. I can’t look into his intense stare as he says these things. They make me want to believe him, and that’s dangerous.
“Look at me.” Without instruction from my brain, my eyes fly back to meet his darkening blue ones. “I wanted you from the moment you arrived. I wanted my hands on you. To know just how soft your skin would be. How you’d taste.” He licks up the column of my neck, and I shudder.
I bite down on my bottom lip to stop myself saying anything, and a moan rumbles up instead.
“Then I dared you to get naked. Fuck, baby. You brought me to my fucking knees with your confidence and your defiance. Like fucking kryptonite.”
His hands tickle around my back before he releases my bra and lets the straps fall from my shoulders. But his eyes don’t drop. They stay firmly on mine.
“Then I tasted you. And fuck if I didn’t become addicted.”
“But—”
“No buts. Not right now.” His hands skim down my stomach and come to a stop on the button of my skirt. He pops it open and pushes the fabric from my hips. His lips tickle against the shell of my ear and goosebumps cover my entire body. “And then… then I slid inside you and that was it. You ruined me, Rae. Fucking ruined me.”
His words have my heart thundering against my ribs. I’m waiting for the other shoe to drop. For him to tell me he’s currently streaming this to the entire sch
ool or some other douchebag move that I’m sure he’s capable of, but he never does. Instead, he rips his eyes from mine and kisses a line down my spine as he peels my pantyhose and panties from my body.
I’m left staring at my naked, broken body in the mirror as every touch of his lips sends a bolt of lust straight through my body until my core is aching. It should be the last thing I want after what I’ve been through tonight, but fuck, Ethan is a law unto himself, and right now I want him. I want him more than my next breath.
I lift each foot when I’m instructed to do so before a squeal leaves my lips when a pain radiates from my ass cheek. “You did not just bite me?” I ask in shock.
Turning, I find him sitting on his haunches, looking at me. His lips are parted and his chest heaves with his increased breathing, and when I drop lower, I find the unmistakable bulge of his erection beneath his jeans.
He swallows, making his neck ripple and his Adam’s apple bob. “Th—” He clears his throat before continuing. “The food will be here in an hour. Let’s get you cleaned up.”
Standing, he holds out his hand for mine. I slip it in, loving the way he squeezes it tight. He continues holding while I climb into the bathtub and sink down into the bubbles.
He loiters awkwardly beside me, deep in thought.
“What are you doing?”
He takes a few seconds to answer. Trepidation fills me, because I can’t get a read on him.
“I’m just… I’m just wondering why me? Why did you call me tonight when you could have called others?”
“I didn’t want anyone else,” I admit. If we’re being honest, then I’m going all in.
“But why? I’ve been nothing but an asshole to you. Why?”
I shrug, because really, I don’t have the answer he’s after. “I don’t know. All I do know is that I came to, terrified that he was going to come back, and the only person I wanted was you. It’s fucked-up, I know. But…” I blow out a breath. “Something told me that you’d protect me. That although you’ve hurt me, that actually, you wouldn’t accept anyone else doing it.”
He hangs his head in shame. “No one will hurt you again. Me included.” His voice is so broken it has a lump forming in my throat. “I know I don’t deserve your forgiveness, but I swear to fucking god, I’ll do anything to prove to you that I’m not that person. I was angry. I was hurt. I was lashing out because of things I had no control over, and then you appeared: the perfect target. I didn’t expect you to fight back. I didn’t expect you to push me, to dare me. To make me want you. But fuck, Rae. I want you so fucking bad. And I don’t mean to prove a point or to take my hate out on you. I mean, I want to protect you. I want to make you smile, because when you do, it’s fucking breathtaking. I want to be the kind of guy you deserve. I want to show you how you should be treated. I want you to be my motherfucking queen.”
“Ethan,” I whisper, tears streaming down my cheeks at his raw honesty.
When he eventually looks up, his own eyes are full of water threatening to tip over the edge. His breath catches at the look on my face, but I don’t miss a little hope seeping into his eyes.
“What the fuck are you waiting for?” His brow quirks in confusion. “Get the fuck in.”
Faster than I thought possible, Ethan has his jeans and boxers on the floor and is stepping into the soothing water with me. The bubbles swallow up most of his body, which is a damn fucking shame, but I soon find myself turned so that I can lean back into him and it totally makes up for it.
His legs cage me in while his hands rest teasingly on my stomach. I gently settle my head on his shoulder and tip my chin so I can look up at him. His eyes are closed, his lips pressed into a thin line. He looks like he’s in pain.
“Are you okay?”
“Couldn’t be better.” He opens his eyes, and his dark blue irises find mine. They’re so full of need and hunger it makes my stomach clench.
He presses a sweet kiss to my forehead and rests his lips there. I relax, allowing his warmth to soothe me, and I close my eyes.
I’ve no idea how long I stay there, but sooner than I’d like Ethan speaks behind me. “Baby, you can’t fall asleep.”
“I’m not,” I whisper back.
He laughs. “I’m pretty sure you were just snoring.”
“I really doubt that.”
“Really?”
Leaning forward, he grabs a washcloth and a bar of soap. “Tell me if it hurts, okay?”
I nod, too busy watching his hands lather up the cloth to pay much attention to what he’s saying. He starts on my face before dropping down to my neck and to my shoulder, washing away the evidence tonight has left on my skin. He’s so gentle and I feel myself starting to drift off once again as he rubs the cloth over me. That is, until it brushes one of my nipples. My breath catches, and I tense.
“Fuck,” he mutters behind me.
“Sorry.”
“Never. Never be sorry for that.”
“O-okay.”
He does it again to the other side, but I’m pretty sure it’s not by accident this time.
“Ethan,” I moan, wiggling against him as need flows through me. With him wrapped around me like this, his hands on my body, his length quite obviously pressing into my back, all I can think about is him and the way he’s able to play my body.
“What do you need?” he whispers in my ear, the deep rasp of his voice not making the situation any better.
“You.”
He stills for a second. “Are you sure? Your head…”
“Is perfectly okay, like I keep saying. Please, Ethan. Make me forget.”
“Fuck. I don’t stand a fucking chance with you, do I?”
I smile but don’t reply. I can’t, because he abandons the cloth in favor of running his fingers down my stomach. I open my legs when he gets to the apex of my thighs and lean back into him a little more.
His fingers tease over my lips before zeroing in on my clit.
“Jesus, Rae.”
“I told you,” I moan as he starts pressing harder exactly where I need. “I need you.”
“Christ. I don’t deserve this.”
“Stop thinking. Right here, right now. That’s all that exists.”
He nods against me before reaching lower to find my entrance.
“Fuck, you’re so ready for me.”
“Mmm…” I moan, pressing my lips to the thundering pulse in his neck as he works me to a frenzy.
His other hand cups one of my breasts, and he pinches my nipple hard at the same time he thrusts up into me and bends his fingers just so.
“Ethan, fuck, shit,” I chant as he pushes me higher.
“I fucking love it when you moan my name,” he groans, his entire body locked up tight behind me. “You’re so close, I can feel it.”
“Oh god,” I whimper before crying out his name as I fall over the edge into mind-numbing pleasure. In those few seconds, nothing else exists. There’re no gun-wielding robbers, no stitches, no dickhead I’m forced to live with, just the two of us. Me taking what I need and him willingly giving it.
“Fucking hell, Rae.” He continues stroking me as I come down from my high.
I lie a limp, exhausted mess on top of him as I try to regain control of both my breathing and my limbs.
“We should probably get out. The water’s getting cold and our food will be here soon.” The thought of eating makes my stomach growl loudly. “Yeah, see. Your stomach agrees.”
I’ve no idea how long ago it was since I last ate. I’ve no idea what the time is now, but he’s right. Suddenly I’m starving.
After gently pouring some water over my hair in an attempt to get some of the blood out, he releases the drain.
“Sit forward.”
I do as I’m told, and in seconds I’m alone in the huge tub as Ethan climbs out. With his back to me, I get a great shot at his ass and that damn teddy bear tattoo that I’m so intrigued about. He reaches for a towel and sadly wraps it around his waist
before turning around, although when he does, I smirk, noticing that the fabric does nothing to hide what’s happening below his waist.
“What?” he asks innocently when he spots where my eyes are focused. “I just had this hot as shit girl wet and laid out on top of me as she rode my fingers. What else do you expect?”
I hate that his words have color tinting my cheeks, but I can’t help it. There’s something about him and his dirty words that bring out the innocent little girl within me.
“Check you out, getting all shy. I’ve already seen it all, baby. It’s a little late for that, don’t you think?”
“It’s different,” I admit and then slam my lips shut.
“Oh, how’s that?”
You’re looking at me different. It’s like you see me now, not just your anger. “I don’t know. It just is.” I lift my hand to his outstretched one so he can pull me from the bath.
“You’re lying, but you’re also buck naked so at this very second so I’m going to let you get away with it.” He watches as some bubbles slide down my body before he reaches out to grab me a towel. He wraps it around my body and tucks it into place before passing me a second for my hair.
A knock sounding out from the main part of our suite stops him asking me the questions that are right on the tip of his tongue. He looks at me for a second longer before turning and leaving me alone.
I gently wring my hair out before drying my body off. Spotting his jersey on the floor where it fell earlier, I carefully pull it over my head and hang the towels back up.
I know we’re alone once more because the door to the suite closed a few seconds ago, but Ethan must appreciate that I need a little space because he has not come back yet.
I stare at myself in the mirror, thankfully looking a little more normal now the blood’s been washed away, but still nowhere near what I’m used to. But I think that’s got more to do with Ethan than it does what happened tonight. My eyes are lighter, my walls are down. It’s a weird feeling after being so closed off for so long. I’ve yet to figure out if it’s a good or bad thing, mind you.
SAVAGE: Rosewood High #3 Page 28
