“You’re trying to get my mind off the scars and what I have to do today.” I kneel on the bed, and he doesn’t hesitate to reach out and rub his palms over my hips. He leans in and presses a kiss to either side.
“Is it working? If not, I’ll gladly dive under these covers and eat my breakfast.”
“Sebastian.” I mean to scald him a bit, but his name comes out too breathy. I like the sound of being his breakfast.
His lunch, dinner, and dessert too.
If he keeps sidetracking me like this, his hunger will be satisfied.
“I’m losing my nerve,” I say on a sharp intake of breath as his hand finds the sensitive skin of my inner thigh, and his thumb grazes so close to the heat between my legs, I think I might burn him.
He lifts the sheet and groans when he sees me, then lowers it. “Okay, I’m sorry. You’re so distracting.” I try to pull away from him, but he tugs me by the hand and stops me. “I love you anyway. No matter, no matter in which way, no matter the marks on your skin. I love you.” He kisses my knuckles and releases me.
I turn around and grab the sheet tucked under my arm. I unravel it with jerky movements, and the sheet falls the ground, pooling around my feet as I expose myself to Sebastian for the first time.
Well, exposing the ugly side of me.
I expect something, a curse, uncontrollable anger, something, but all I hear is silence, and that scares me more. I shuffle my weight on my feet and almost turn around to see what he is doing, but I stop.
Something dark cloaks over me, and it is fear. I am so vulnerable right now, giving a man my back when the last one terrorized it. I start to shake, and I place my palms on the wall to stabilize me. I know what he sees. Long pink scars, some newer, some old and faded, lashing crisscross all over my back.
The bed dips and the heat radiating off him soaks into my back as he stands behind me, another shadow falling over me, but this one is different. It isn’t fear. It us Sebastian, wrapping me in the safety I want so much.
I gasp when his hand falls to the lower curve of my ass and his fingers are timid as he brushes them over one scar. My eyes water as he explores the devastation Kendrick caused. He brings up his other hand and traces a line going down my shoulder blade, tracing the whip mark that stained me.
His touch is light, hesitant, but gentle. Sebastian’s breath comes out in harsh pants with every scar he can find. “What did he do to you?” he chokes on a half sob, his voice gyrating with a hint of anger. He leans down and presses kisses all over my back, and then he falls to his knees, laying his forehead on the curve of my ass, wrapping his arms around me from the back. “What did he do?” he repeats.
“He’d lock me in the dark. I couldn’t see anything. He’d whip me. Over and over until I passed out. Then he’d wake me up by throwing cold water on me and do it all over again.”
Sebastian’s hands are phantoms along my sides as he is gentler than a fallen leaf drifting off a tree. His kisses are next and just as languid. It isn’t the time to get turned on, but with how careful he is touching me, his acceptance of what I look like, I can’t help it. His love is an aphrodisiac, and I want to drown in it.
“Sebastian.” I arch my back when his mouth finds the space between my legs, and he starts to plunge his tongue inside me. I grind against his face, seeking more, wanting it rougher. His hands squeeze my thighs and he licks from the front, circling my clit, before licking all the way to the back, between the crease of my ass cheeks, and up my spine. He stops at the base of my neck and blows cold air against my wet flesh.
“I need you, Gabriella,” he says, swirling that sinful tongue on the side of my neck. He lines up his cock from the back and inches into me, filling and stretching me to the max. He bites my shoulder as we groan at the
same time. “Oh, just like that. You feel so goddamn good.” Sebastian slides out, then back in. His heavy sack slaps against my clit, adding a zing to the pleasure. He presses his hand in the middle of my shoulder blades and shoves me against the wall.
Oh, he didn’t just want me.
He wanted to claim me.
Seeing what Kendrick did must have ignited his protective instincts.
I am moaning, thrusting my ass against him with every stroke he gives.
“You’re mine, Gabby.” He fucks me harder, and the sound of his thighs slapping against my ass bounces off the walls. “You’re fucking mine. I’ll never do what he did to you. I’ll make sure he never touches you again.” He's plastered his front to my back, keeping the brutal, hard pace that has a murderous noise escaping my throat. “Come, Gabriella. Come all over my cock.” His hand snakes between my legs and pinches the button of nerve endings, and I break into pieces, coming harder than I ever have.
My arms can no longer lift me up, and I sag against him as my channel clenches his cock, sucking him deeper inside me. “God, Sebastian, yes! Your cock is so good,” I whimper, grinding down on him to prolong my orgasm.
He falls back onto the bed and lays down. My back is to his front. His feet are on the floor, and he uses the support as leverage to power stroke my pussy. I cry out and he moves faster, harder, slamming himself so hard inside me I feel him hit my cervix.
“You’re mine,” he hisses, planting his cock as far as he can as he comes. He pulls out and shoves himself inside me again until he is wrung out. He drapes me in kisses, and his hands rub over my breasts and down my body. It is like he is desperate to touch every part of me and erase everything Kendrick did to me.
He won’t ever be able to erase it, but Sebastian makes it better with love. He is quickly turning all my darkness into light.
Maybe one day, I won’t be afraid of the dark if he keeps that up.
Chapter Twenty-One