Beautifully Destroyed (Beautifully Broken)

I don’t think Ethan will ever be able to do anything wrong in my father’s eyes. Not after what he did for me.

ETHAN

After showering, I lie down on Finlay’s bed, a groan rippling from my chest. Every muscle in my body aches.

I take the side closest to the door, so Finlay’s between me and the wall. When she lies down, I pull her against my side, and pressing my hand to the back of her head, I nudge her face into the crook of my neck.

I just want to hold her and keep reassuring myself she’s okay.

He can’t hurt her anymore. It’s the only thing that matters.

Finlay throws her leg over mine, burrowing closer. “Want to talk about it?” Her voice is nothing more than a whisper in the darkness.

“How do you feel?” I ask, thinking she must still be reeling with shock from seeing me kill a man.

“Relieved. Free.”

Her words soak into my heart. “Not scared of me?”

Finlay’s head pops up, and she frowns down at me. “Why would I be scared of you? Because you killed him?”

I nod, not wanting her to think differently of me.

She pulls herself up until her face hovers above mine. “I could never be scared of you, Ethan. There’s no one I feel safer with.”

“Yeah?”

She nods, the corner of her mouth lifting.

God, she’s so strong.

Then she asks, “How do you feel?”

I sift through my emotions. “Relieved, but mostly glad you’re okay.”

She cuddles me, pressing her face back into the crook of my neck. “I don’t want you to feel guilty. You protected us.”

“Okay,” I murmur as I start to trail my fingers up and down her back. Then I admit, “He looked so normal.”

She nods. “I imagined him differently. The mask, the clothes, that was all the same, but seeing his face… it made him human and not… a monster.”

“Still creepy as fuck,” I mutter.

Finlay breathes against my skin then asks, “Did he send any other photos?”

She can never know. I’ll take it to my grave. “No. Just the one.” I hope with time, the images will fade until I can’t recall them anymore.

There’s a moment’s silence between us, then Finlay whispers, “You’re really an angel, right? You can tell me. I’ll keep your secret.”

I let out a chuckle. “If that’s what you need me to be, then I’ll be an angel for you.”

Finlay lifts her head again and captures my eyes. “No, I don’t need you to be anyone but yourself. My Ethan.”

A smile shoots to my mouth. “Say that again.”

“My Ethan.”

I yank her closer and crush my mouth to hers. My tongue sweeps over hers, wanting to taste the words. The fucked-up night spills over into the kiss, and it becomes wild and claiming, my need to prove she’s mine, and mine alone, stripping me of my control.

I pull Finlay on top of me, her legs straddling my waist, her touch gentle on the sides of my jaw. My teeth tug at her bottom lip, drawing a soft moan from her. I desperately swallow the sound as if I’ve been dying of thirst.

I harden at the speed of light, my cock throbbing and feverishly swollen for her. Finlay doesn’t move off of me but instead presses her pelvis down on me. I groan against her tongue as she licks the inside of my mouth as if I’m her favorite thing to taste.

Mindful to not wake David or draw his attention if he’s not asleep, I deepen the kiss. My tongue strokes Finlay’s, my lips kneading hers, my teeth nipping her bottom lip until it’s plump and juicy.

Finlay rocks against my erection, ripping the air from my lungs. We break the kiss, staring at each other, heat and desire thick in the air. I move my hands to her hips, and gripping them, I thrust up into her.

She gasps, her hands dropping to my shoulders. She pushes up until she’s sitting on my cock. I want to rip our clothes off so I can feel her slick heat against my skin, but this is not how our first time together will be.

When I make love to Finlay, it will be in my bed where I can take my time, savoring every inch of her body.

The thought makes me thrust against her again, the pleasure already intense and making my cock weep for her.

Finlay flattens her palms on my chest and starts to swivel her hips, rubbing herself against me.

“Fuck, baby,” I hiss through clenched teeth, my fingers digging into the leggings she’s wearing and almost ripping them off.

Burning up from needing to feel her skin, I pry my fingers away from her hips and push her shirt up. Finlay tugs the fabric off, dropping it on the bed next to us, her hips still working my cock into a frenzy.

My eyes feast on her breasts, her hard nipples making her skin shimmer like silk in the moonlight shining through the window.