Licking my lobe, he bites down softly and with his every grunt…his every breath, I can smell myself mixed with his warm scent and our sweat. And it’s like walking through the front door of your home when you’ve been away for too long.
It’s comfort and peace and joy. I can breathe without the world crushing me. I can just be. I’m safe.
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
The words echo inside me on repeat, and I can’t contain all of this within me. Not when I’ve been empty for so long…
“Hey, baby…don’t cry,” Christopher murmurs breathily as he licks and kisses the tears. “It’s going to be okay.”
For the first time since I opened my eyes after the attack, I believe that.
“I love you so much, Belles.” Letting go of one of my hands, he caresses up my arm.
He traces my profile with the tip of his finger before following down my side to my hip. His lips pucker on the side of my face, pressing hot kisses as his hand rounds my thigh and pushes it up, spreading me wider to his relentless thrusts.
Groans and grunts fill the air with the slapping of our flesh, and I’m trying so hard to hold myself together a little longer. I’m not ready for this to end. I want more. But the more I try to hold it off, the harder he fucks me. Deeper and faster, until our breaths are as loud as our flesh and our moans.
And I can’t hold on anymore as his hot cum coats my cunt, spurting with every clench and tremble of my body. Fire courses in my veins as my body pulses, my mind off balance, lights flashing in my clouded vision.
Everything buzzes around us in the silence as Christopher holds me tight. Pressing a chaste kiss behind my ear, he inhales deeply.
“Forever will never be enough, Arabella.”
Rolling us onto our sides, he slips out of me before turning me to face him. His arms wrap tightly around me so that I have to fight his hold to get a good look at his face.
Christopher is so fucking handsome with his pouty lips and sharp, stubbled jaw. His eyes always suck me in with their intensity and warmth. There’s always so much love and affection in them that it’s staggering for a man as hard and imposing as he is. And the most miraculous part of it all is that every single ounce of it is mine.
All that love. All that affection. They’re all mine. For me. And that is the most incredible thing of all.
“Never enough, beautiful.” He smiles softly, and it’s the lopsided smile I love so much. The one that shows just how hard he’s having to work not to let all the feelings out at once.
Silly man—it’s always been so obvious. From the moment he spoke to me. Always so sure of us.
“I love you.”
It’s never felt so good to say those words. My entire being is lit up by it. I’m so full that I might actually burst, and even so, everything inside is still and calm once more. Although I’m still sad and tired, I feel something other than our loss.
I feel a love so deep that it’s woven into the fabric of the universe. A perfect love for a couple of broken people.
Isn’t that a beautiful thing?
“I love you more.” Caressing my face with the backs of his fingers and the pad of his thumb, he kisses the top of my head.
“Always more.”
“Always the most, morena.”
Chapter 23
Arabella
Darkness greets me as I open my eyes. My body is sore, and all I can smell is our sweat and Christopher’s cologne. God, my head is so tender, and my eyes feel like I’ve gone a couple of rounds with Anthony Joshua.
My chest squeezes as I stretch, and the ache shoots through my body. It’s proof that last night happened. Proof that it wasn’t a dream, but as I search the bed, my heart winces and panic has me sitting up far quicker than my body can handle.
“Christopher?” I have no idea why I whisper his name, but it’s dark and cold. It feels like the middle of the night, even though the crack of light from beneath the bathroom door says otherwise. “Christopher!”
Shuffling off the bed, I wrap the duvet around me. I’m about to go find him when the knock on the bedroom door startles me. And it takes me a moment to calm and logic to filter through my thoughts in order for me to realise that if it was someone wanting to hurt me, they wouldn’t have knocked.