WILLOW
We’d showered together, his touch reverent but not sexual. It was caring and gentle, soothing and comforting.
His aim in that moment hadn’t been to seduce me with his body, but with the heart he wanted me to believe in.
He’d left shortly after, leaving me to my thoughts for the day until he returned with a dress bag in hand. The promise of leaving the room had lightened something in me, drawing a smile from me that I hated the moment it left. I shouldn’t have had to feel grateful for a semblance of freedom.
“I’m doing what I must to keep you safe. You know that, right?” he asked, forcing me to recognize just how much of my thought process he understood.
“I don’t need to be protected,” I snapped, crossing my arms over my chest. He dropped the dress bag, draping it over the bench at the foot of the bed and raising his hands to unbutton his suit jacket. He shrugged it off his shoulders in silence, draping it with the dress bag and moving on to the buttons of his shirt.
“You can say that all you want, but do you want to know what I think?” he asked, stepping closer as he shrugged off his shirt. He stepped into my space, grasping my top by the hem and lifting it gently enough that I had to cooperate by raising my arms to help him. I hadn’t bothered with a bra, not wanting to suffer through the discomfort just to hang out in a minimal space with one other occupant. He leaned in, putting his mouth by my ear as his chest pressed against mine.
“Not particularly, but I’m sure you’re going to grace me with your opinion anyway,” I mumbled, earning a deep chuckle of amusement from him.
“There’s my cruel little witchling,” he said, his voice warm as he settled his hand at the base of my spine. His fingers spread over me, pulling me tighter into his body. “I think you like knowing someone cares about you enough to protect you from harm. I think you want to hate me for it, because you know there is nobody else who would do what I have for you.”
I swallowed, hating the way those words tore through my wall. I’d said as much myself that night in the shower after the witches had attacked me. Who would care that I was gone aside from the brother I could never see again if I wanted to protect him?
As much as it pained me to admit, Gray would care. On some level, in some way, he would notice my absence.
It was more than I could say about anyone else.
“You’re a bastard. You aren’t supposed to take joy in reminding me I’m alone in the world,” I said, pulling back as I fought the tightening in my chest.
He refused to release me, holding me firm as he raised a hand to my face and touched my cheek. “You’ve been alone, but you aren’t anymore. When are you going to understand that?” he asked, holding my gaze. His golden eyes were so intense as he watched me. It felt like he was looking through my eyes and seeing every thought in my brain—felt every emotion in my heart.
When the urge to run spread through my limbs, I ignored it. Pressing up onto my toes, I touched my mouth to his gently. His lips moved against mine tenderly, guiding me through the careful kiss. He held me like I might shatter, as if I was made of glass, until I lowered my hands to his belt, tearing it open and yanking it out of his slacks.
He smiled against me, deepening the kiss as I made quick work of his button and fly, shoving his pants down his thighs with quick, careful movements as he did the same to mine. He kicked off his shoes and pants, stripping off his socks before making his way to the bed.
He settled against the pillows, crooking a finger at me to summon me to his side. I knelt on the end, crawling up his body the same way I had earlier that morning. Straddling his waist, I let his length brush against my center and groaned when I found him hard and ready for me. “For the record,
Witchling,” he said as I leaned over him, reaching up to tuck a stray hair behind my ear. “You cannot fuck me whenever you don’t want to confront your feelings for me.”
“Can’t I?” I asked, tilting my head to the side as I reached between us to grasp him. He laughed, his lips spreading with a blinding smile when I didn’t bother to deny his insinuation.
There was no point. Even if it hadn’t served my purpose, we both would have known it for the lie it was.
He reached down, putting his arms parallel to his body. His hands wrapped around my legs, pulling me further up his body and setting me down when I straddled his chest. He adjusted his hold, doing it all over again until I straddled his face. “What are you doing?”
“Grab the headboard and hold on tight, my love,” he ordered, wrapping an arm around each of my thighs. His fingers pressed into the skin, causing dimples to appear where he touched the soft flesh. He used his hold to force me to lower myself, gripping tighter when I tried to resist. “Now, sit,” he growled, jerking me lower. His mouth touched my pussy, his tongue immediately moving against me. I gasped, throwing my head back as my hands grabbed onto the headboard to steady myself as he ordered.
Gray devoured me, drawing out a steady stream of moans from my throat I couldn’t have held in if I tried. Curving my body forward with deep breaths, I glanced down at his face between my thighs. Golden eyes shone from beneath me, looking up at me and taking in the entirety of my body. From the swell of my thighs where they wrapped around his head to the curve of my stomach and the valley between my breasts, there was nothing he couldn’t see.
There was nothing he didn’t like.
I’d always been comfortable in my skin and in my body, even as there was something about having a man who appreciated every inch that made me love it more. I felt beautiful with his eyes on me, raking in every part of me he could see. My hips moved of their own accord as he circled my clit with his tongue, applying just enough pressure to drive me closer to my orgasm without ever shoving me over that edge.
“Gray,” I begged, my hips moving shamelessly and grinding against his face. He didn’t speak as he let me take what I needed, using his mouth for my own pleasure. I leaned forward, pressing the top of my head against the
headboard and dropping a hand between my legs to bury it in his hair. I held him still, pinning him where I wanted him as my need coiled tighter.
His fingers tightened on my thighs, yanking me back so suddenly that I felt airborne until my back bounced off the bed. He was on top of me in an instant, placing a hand behind my knee and lifting it high as he drove inside me.
“Oh fuck,” I groaned, spasming around him as he fully laid his weight over mine and plundered my mouth with his. I tasted myself on his lips, on his tongue as he ground deep between my thighs.
“Want to feel it when you come,” he murmured, his mouth moving against mine as he pulled back and thrust forward with unhurried, hard strokes. My orgasm came on the third, forcing me to scream against his mouth as he swallowed the sound.
He fucked me through it, touching his mouth to mine when my breathing steadied. His thrusts slowed, something shifting as he shared my breath. I opened my eyes to find him staring down at me intently, his arms leaning into the bed beside my head until there was nothing but him and the warmth of his golden stare.
“Gray…” I trailed off, closing my eyes when it became too much.
“Let me love you,” he said, his words softly spoken against my mouth. He took my hand in his, guiding it to the mark on the center of his chest and splaying my fingers over where his heart beat in tune with mine.
“I can’t,” I said, a broken sob escaping.
“Oh, Witchling,” he said, smiling sadly as he stared down at me. “You already are.”
He hiked my leg higher, burrowing closer to my body as he kissed me. He didn’t speak another word as he sought his own release, building me up to another orgasm before he finally went over the edge. He lingered after he’d finished, his weight on me giving me comfort rather than claustrophobia.
I was so fucked.
