by V. Theia
He took the stairs two at a time, eager like a puppy to lay eyes on her. With a game plan in mind once his hangover dissipated, he’d intended to go back to his old ways of being a creeper sitting in the corner of Paige’s diner, intending to wear her down that way until she was ready to talk to him.
He’d forgotten how stubborn his girl was and how she came to things in her own way because he hadn’t even shrugged on his club cut that morning when her text came asking to see him tonight.
Fucks sake, he could have pussy cried like a girl right there in his own living room. The same living room that felt too big now without Paige in it. Wherever he looked he saw some of her stuff, making him chick the fuck out even more.
He hadn’t come this far to lose her now.
Finding her in the bathroom, there was a distinct rattling in his chest as he peered through the door slightly ajar giving him her side view and his heart and dick both woke the fuck up at the same time.
He didn’t wait, he pushed the door open, catching her gasp, color rushed into her face, as he closed the door behind him and approached her slowly while she watched him in the mirror.
She smelled of strawberries was his first thought, quickly followed by how much he wanted to lean in with a kiss to taste her lips. He would guess she’d been eating ice cream by the pint. It was his girl’s go-to comfort food when she was upset. She’d curl up under a blanket, spoon in one hand, Breyers in the other and she’d scoop until the carton was empty, only then would she crawl into his lap and tell him what was wrong.
She was throwing him an olive branch, he recognized, so he didn’t think she’d want to crawl on him, though he would have fucking loved it.
Between that first step into the bathroom and closing the door behind him, Reaper’s brain checked the hell out.
He knew she needed words from him more than anything.
She needed to hear their entire history.
But the moment he was around Paige he became a dirty pig scenting its mate. All he wanted to do was maul her. Love her. Every other thought and good intention fell by the wayside because he wanted her, needed her and his fingers had minds of their own.
Stepping up behind her, he watched her hands clutch tightly on the lip of the sink, her pupils blown to pure black and her chest running wild pushing her tits against flowy summer dress.
Ah, his girl had no clue how unstable he was when he was around her.
How fucking peaceful he felt at the same time.
His dick ached behind the zipper and he inched in closer, let her feel what she did to him at the same time his hands crawled along her hips and began methodically dragging up her skirt.
There was plenty of time for her to stop him, he gave her that time and she did nothing, only panted and watched him in the mirror.
He loved the lengthening of her stiff spine and the consequent loosening the higher he lifted her skirt up her golden thighs until he had two good handfuls bunched at either side of her hips, exposing a little pair of black panties.
Words were not needed.
Sensation took over.
And when Reaper slid a hand around the front and down into those panties, Paige was right there with him, bending her spine, panting little wispy gasps of air.
The air thick around them.
His tongue dry.
Her naughty little gaze ate him up, making his cock swell.
He wanted to attack the side of her exposed throat, so he did, without a second thought he started sucking and rubbing at the same time.
She moaned, curling her body back into his, pushing his fingers even deeper and when she clung to the sink edge he heard the strain of her tight grip squeaking against the marble.
His free hand flattened on her stomach while his other plied pressure to her inner walls, curling two fingers back to make her knees buckle.
Her hot pants sent him crazy, grunting, he laved kisses all along one side of her neck.
This woman was his all.
He could never walk away from his first love.
He didn’t finger-fuck Paige madly, he took it real nice and slow, pumping his fingers until they reached the promised land and made her jerk against his chest. Sliding a hand up the front of her body, through the valley of her perfect tits, he cupped around her throat, holding her steady, keeping their eyes intimately locked in the mirror.
She shallow-exhaled in quick excited succession, he loved seeing the flush cover her face, how brightly lit her eyes became in her arousal. Reaper grunted every time she moaned and when she came it happened with his hand covering her lips to smother the noise. He experienced her pleasure in his groin, hardening him to painful measures and he’d never felt so good watching her melt.
To know he was the one giving his Paige pleasure. On top of the fucking world.
He gathered her skirt up, let her watch his hand crawl out of her panties and then those fingers disappeared into his mouth to lick her sweetness clean. Her eyes widened, darkened and it was his pleasure this time to see her thighs saw together. He could easily … so damn easily … give her more by letting her yank his belt buckle open and bend her over, leave handprints on the mirror. But tonight was about more than a fast screw they’d both enjoy.
Dropping her dress back around her knees, he kept both hands lightly on her waist, he turned Paige to face him. Arousal was still there staining her cheeks, but so was wariness and it was that look he intended to crush tonight.
On eggshells he pressed a kiss to the corner of her mouth.
Yep, fucking strawberries sugared his lips.
“You look so pretty, Paige.”
Her lashes fluttered down, and she smiled. “Thank you. You look like a tough biker.”
“Nah, I’m docile as a puppy, ask anyone.” he half smiled at her giggle, some of his tension melted away and he slipped her hand into his, leading her down the stairs to the truck outside and he lifted her into the cage.
Burying his face in the side of her neck he inhaled the scent that was all his Paige. He could so easily get drunk on her skin. His hands held her waist, pulled her nearer. “I kept my distance for so long just to keep my girl safe. I need more now. Let me be closer, close the gap so I can do that, baby.” Their bodies couldn’t get any closer, he was talking about the emotional distance she still held in place.
He’d never been so fucking nervous in his whole life.
* * *
She was dating her boyfriend … husband … whatever. She was on a date with Reaper and for the first time in days, Paige felt the knots in her belly subside. She couldn’t stop taking glances at him as he drove them through town. Minutes into their journey he’d reached over and brought her hand to the top of his thigh, every now and then his fingers would drop and stroke over hers before going back to the wheel. She lived for those few seconds.
She’d been with him for weeks, goodness sake, she officially lived with him, though it had only been one night and still tonight felt so new she had to swallow through her nerves.
When his voice filled the cab in a low, deep roll, her stomach bottomed out. “I can wait, bug, for you to decide if you still want me between your legs. I know tonight is about us communicating. But I want in your heart.” The way the words came out of his plump lips caused an unholy riot of pulses between said legs and she stifled her moan as she crossed one knee over the other in hopes it would stop the fluttering of pleasure and wetness. God, had he turned up the heating? Her cheeks were boiling.
His hand covered her leg and prized it off her knee. “No, keep them unlocked, baby. Let her feel the hurt, your head might be mad at me, but my pussy always loves me. She knows how much I want to fuck you, it’s why she’s soaking your little panties, isn’t that right?”
The smoke in his voice almost melted Paige on the soft leather seat. This time she didn’t stop her moan and Reaper answered with a grunt; his fingers squeezed her thigh.
“God.” She breathed.
“I was always yo
ur king, ladybug, but I can be your God too, if you want.”
His tentative smile was all the conversation needed thereafter. She was too breathless, too nervous to speak, though her body would always want him, no matter what. Getting answers was priority.
Their date was something she’d never expect. He took them to a town fifty minutes away from Armado and the bright flashing lights in the distance alerted Paige to their destination. “A carnival?” She fidgeted excitedly in the leather bucket seat, turning towards him. “I love carnivals!”
“I know, baby.” His smirk changed his face into a sex god. She supposed he did know everything about her.
She’d tried for two days to remember something, anything, causing a raging headache. But by the end of day two Paige still only had flickers of memories and feelings. She wondered now, those times she’d woken crying her heart out from missing something …someone. Was that Reaper?
In any case, she shelved the inner detective work in order to have some fun. When he lifted her down from the cab they laced fingers automatically and stayed that way for three hours while they worked their way through the carnival, trying foods until she felt sick with pleasure overload, playing games, winning prizes, going on rides.
Her eyes widened when he stopped the truck on the side of the road on the way home. The loot he’d won for her cuddled on her lap. It was nearing midnight and still miles from home. Her confusion grew when he sent her a half-smirk before hopping down. She watched Reaper round the front of the truck and come to her door. “What on earth are you doing?”
“Ladybug always did want adventures. I’m being adventurous.” he used both hands on her waist and plucked her down, keeping her snug against his ribs before walking her to the back of the truck and he helped her into the bed by lifting her into the air and depositing her gently. With his hands gripped onto the side, he vaulted himself in too and it was the sexiest damn manly move ever, she swooned a little.
“Reaper, what are we doing?” It was only when she was on her knees did she realize she was on a fluffy blanket. He’d prepared for this.
Her heart free-fell and tumbled all the way down to her ballet flats.
Next came a cooler he pulled out from under the tarp covering. Inside sat four cartons of ice cream packed in bags of ice. She instantly perked looking over his wide shoulder. “What flavors are there?”
“Our favorite.”
Our.
She loved that.
“I only brought one spoon.” He told her slyly, scooping out a hunking piece of her absolute favorite ice cream, strawberry cheesecake, and held it to her mouth.
She opened and he slid the spoon inside and then her insides flamed when the spoon disappeared into his mouth to lick it clean. “Looks like we’ll have to share.”
He was flirting with her.
And she loved it.
Swallowing nerves, Paige licked the corner of her mouth. “I’ve gave you how many blowjobs? I’m guessing a lot over the years. I think we can share cutlery.”
He started coughing and Paige burst out laughing.
Getting through a quarter of each pint of ice cream, Paige called time out, she was absolutely stuffed. She watched Reaper roll to his knees and pack the things into the cooler, set it aside then he sat with his back to the wall of the cab bed, legs stretched out in front of him. “Are you cold?” He asked.
He was wearing a long sleeve Henley and jeans. About thirty minutes ago he went inside the truck to fetch her a hoodie to put on over her dress.
A cool summer’s night, she shook her head. It was nice to sit under the Colorado stars. “I’m fine.” She told him and then after thirty seconds of his gaze eating her alive she added. “I’m ready for you to tell me.”
He straight up froze. She braced ready for him to avoid.
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah, I need to know.”
“The last time I told you, ladybug, you woke in the hospital and became hysterical, the doctors were afraid you’d drift into a catatonic state unable to cope. I lost you for years.”
The pain was evident in his voice and she reached over to clasp his hand. His fingers immediately locked around hers. “I’m not in hospital now. Trust me to handle it. I won’t freak out.” She could fill in the gaps and the real truth between her father’s sneered accusations against Reaper. She just needed to hear it all from the only one who would give her the truth without censor.
“Sony was always a fucking freak, Paige. You know that much.”
She did.
She’d tried to treat him as a brother, but he never made her life easy.
A thumb worked over her knuckles and she concentrated on that motion.
“I came home to take you out to eat and I walked in on Sony beating hell out of you. You were unrecognizable. It still gives me nightmares about being two minutes too late.” The way Reaper closed his eyes she could sense he was reliving that moment and her heart pinched.
Did she think Sony was capable of such violence? Sadly yeah. Was she glad she didn’t remember? Also yeah. Her stomach scrunched in sick grabs having the information of why her life changed so drastically.
“I just saw red.” He husked. “I wanted to fucking kill him, Paige. Even now I don’t know what happened before I got there. I don’t know if he was trying to force you back to your hometown, if you argued with him, if he broke in. All I know is the fucking nightmare I walked into.”
“Did you—did you?” She hesitated to put more words to that serious question, remembering her father’s accusation and when Reaper’s head lifted, their eyes clashed, she had the answer.
“He battered you beyond recognition. Yeah, bug, I did.”
“Oh…”
Reaper’s jaw clenched; his fingers grew tighter around hers. “I’d do it again. Not a fucking doubt, Paige. I’d do it again. He hurt what was mine. He took from me. He took from us.”
“What…. what did he take?” That tightness in her belly turned to slick bile sloshing from side to side. She’d always felt the weirdness from Sony. The way he tried to hold her even when she told him to stop and his eyes following her, the times he walked into the bathroom when she was changing when he knew she was in there.
Her mind was taking her to the worst possible scenarios.
“Did he… did he do..?”
“No, baby. You were fully clothed. We’d texted each other only half hour before so I can only surmise he arrived sometime after that.”
Her heart began beating again.
“Then what?”
Reaper dropped his head and inhaled.
There wasn’t another soul around and she felt like they were the only two people left in the world. His sadness reached out and curled its limbs around her, leaving her no choice but to crawl closer, she cupped the side of his face, his skin was hot and his breaths harsh and halting, she waited for his eyes to raise. “I won’t freak out. You can tell me, Reaper.”
He kissed her palm.
“You were pregnant.”
“Oh.”
It was strange to hear those words and not feel the appropriate emotion to go along with knowing they’d made a baby together and then lost it. Her heart pinched, and then hurt some more when she realized he’d dealt with not only her amnesia but his own grief too.
“Did…did dad know what you did?”
“Unless Sony told him where he was going that day, he’s only taking shots in the dark about Sony’s disappearance. The amount of times I had to warn Sony to keep away from you, it wouldn’t take much for your father to put two and two together. He knew what that freak was doing and did nothing to stop him.”
“Why didn’t the doctors ever tell me I was pregnant? They gave me pain meds and a follow up appointment I never went to, they only said about being in a car accident.”
“That’s what I told them when I brought you in. I didn’t want cops sniffing around when I had a body in our apartment. As for telling you, after your episode w
hen you woke up with no memories, they said it was better for your mental state to remember in your own time.”
Her stomach flipped again.
And the strange thing was, she wasn’t disgusted in what he’d done. She might not remember being loved by him back then, but she knew what it was like to be loved by Reaper now, and the man would do anything for her.
“Every second of every waking moment we were apart, every thought, my every tortured breath, each pained beat of my heart knowing I felt dead inside, it was for you, because of you.” Two beats of silence, then he added. “I was so sure you’d take one look at me that day we met in here town and know who I was. I was both equally terrified and hopeful at the same time. I knew I had to protect you against all my own heartache, your brain injury was so delicate, I couldn’t risk you losing it again. All I could do was stay close and wait. I wanted to tell you so many times, but I was afraid. You were my only priority, Paige. No matter the things I had to do to ensure your safety from remembering what happened to you … our baby. What I’d done.”
The chasm of inches between them was too much and she crawled the last inches to close the gap and wrap herself around him. Instantly his arms came around her, holding tight enough her bones complained, but Paige didn’t.
“Thank you, Reaper. Thank you for looking out for me.”
There was so much to process that she felt like her head might split open down the middle. He went on to tell her he’d been the one to put the bus ticket in her purse, along with the thousands of dollars and he’d helped with her job and apartment too. Their meeting that day on the street was no coincidence either.
Protecting her again. Getting her out of her father’s clutches once and for all in case any backlash came out of Sony’s death.
In his arms she let the tears fall.
Tears for a baby she’d never had the chance to meet or love while he was in her belly.
Tears for the years she’d lost with her husband.
Tears because throughout it all he’d never stopped loving her, hoping she’d come back to him.
“What…what would you have done had I fallen in love with someone?”
