other. And that was the last time I remember feeling completely at ease. Safe. Untouchable.”
He brushed the hair away from her eyes and tucked the strands behind her ear. Then he leaned in and gave her a chaste kiss on her forehead. “I want you to feel safe with me, Cassidy. I want to keep you safe.”
She stiffened, unsure what to say or do because she wanted him to keep her safe. She realized she wanted to keep him beyond two weeks, something he said was an impossibility.
“What’s wrong?” he whispered.
“You’ll go if I tell you,” she finally let out.
“No, baby,” he soothed. “I promise I won’t.”
She took in a deep breath.
Please God, don’t let him be lying to me or himself .
“I’m afraid of what’s going to happen if we keep doing this.”
“What are you afraid will happen?” he said, then just looked at her, waiting for her response. When she didn’t say anything, he asked, “Have you been left before?”
She closed her mouth and pressed her lips into a line.
“Who left you, baby? Who left my woman all alone in this world?”
She hadn’t expected these kinds of questions. She shook her head, her eyes widening.
“Tell me,” he whispered. “You’re safe.”
Her bottom lip quivered, and her breath caught in her throat. “I was left before I even knew what it meant,” she choked out. “My dad was gone before I was born, and my mother couldn’t be bothered to really be my mom. I was too busy being hers.”
Then a hot flash of anger coursed through her. She hadn’t anticipated this with anyone—not even him. She hadn’t asked for it, either. But he’d pushed her until she’d let her boundaries down, including the ones that kept her safe. She tore herself away from him and went to the windows.
The moonlight poured through the glass, casting light across the room. It would be beautiful if she didn’t feel so raw. So completely exposed. She should go now, before he had a chance to tell her that her secrets should have remained secrets.
But she felt him come up quickly from behind her and wrap his arms tightly around her waist, like a vice.
“You think that’s enough to drive me away? You think there’s anything about you I don’t find fucking breathtaking?”
His words might have come out of his mouth, but they traveled down her throat and released a cry stuck there for as long as she could remember. The sound was awful and tragic, a version of herself she both did and did not recognize.
He spun her around and, while staring deep into her eyes, he hoisted her up, and she wrapped her legs around his waist. He pressed her back against the cool glass. Goosebumps formed along her skin.
She could feel his erection, his body already prepared for her. Her nakedness, her vulnerability…she didn’t know how to deal with it, but it hinted at the gulf between them, and she wanted—needed—to close that distance in the only way they knew how.
She wrapped her legs around him and urged him forward.
Without taking his eyes off her, he thrust his cock into her awaiting passage. He held her tightly by the waist, buried his face into her neck, and began brutally fucking her.
“I’ve got you,” he groaned into her skin. “I’ve got you.”
She felt it. She actually felt the sensation deep inside her chest. The constant pressure eased, like a steel vice had been loosened. Had fallen to the floor, soundless. A wave of euphoric relief flooded into its place, washing away the corrosion caused by years of neglect and loneliness.
He had her, and with that claim, she was able to let go. Really let go.
It was as if her body no longer belonged to her, even though all of her senses were heightened beyond anything she’d experienced before. And all she could do was take it, because she was immobilized.
Her body was already sore from before, but he kept barreling his dick full force into her. The angle he had her body in was perfect. It not only allowed him to go in deep,
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