Page 100 of Wicked & Wildflower

“Yours is,” I continue. “When you moan into my mouth, it tastes pretty. When you breathe against my neck, it feels pretty. When you whimper as I push inside you…” I groan. “Most beautiful fucking sound I’ve ever heard.” She turns her head, nuzzling into my neck, and it’s as if I can feel her smile against my skin. “Everything about you is pretty, Wildflower.”

“Not everything,” she whispers. “Everyone has some ugly in them too.”

“Then show me yours.” I tuck a piece of hair behind her ear. “I want to see it. I want to see all of you.” I know there’s nothing about her I’d ever find ugly, even her darkest parts. But as long as she’s convinced there are pieces of her that need to be hidden, I’m going to work to convince her to let me see them anyway.

Maybe someday, I’ll help her find a way to see beauty in every aspect of who she is.

Dahlia pulls away from my neck and looks up at me. Every conceivable emotion shines in her eyes—fear and sorrow and insecurity, but also gratitude and vulnerability and something that looks a hell of a lot like love.

“Why would you want to see my ugly sides?” she asks.

I smile, running my thumb along the soft skin of her cheek. “Because showing me your ugly and watching me stay is the only way I’m gonna prove to you how real this is.”

I watch her search my face the way she always does, looking for the lie. I know it’s her defense mechanism, what she trained herself to do because of how much of her life has been spent being lied to and manipulated.

So, I don’t just tell her the truth in those words—I let her feel it too. Snaking my fingers around the back of her head, I pull her into me. Her lips land on mine with a soft and delicate caress. She moans, opening for me as my tongue sweeps in to meet hers. I let out a groan at the taste of her, and she matches my sounds as she inches closer to me, hand knotting in my t-shirt.

“Everett,” she whimpers, pulling away. It’s a smile I see on her face now. “We’ve got to be quiet, and I can’t be quiet when you’re doing that to me.”

I chuckle, moving down the bed and tugging her against me so we’re both laying on our sides, facing each other.

She stares at me for a while, running a finger down my nose and over my lips, studying my face. I wonder if she catalogs me the same way I do her, wanting to engrain every detail of the other until it’s tattooed in our minds, almost like we’re afraid we’ll lose it.

“You’re sure you still want real now that you’ve seen what it looks like?”

“What do you mean?”

“Waking up at four in the morning when my daughter needs something.” She laughs sarcastically. “Sex once every three weeks.” Swallowing hard, she adds, “Knowing that I’m always going to put her first.”

“First of all, Dahlia, I wouldn’t want you so much if you didn’t put her first. That’s one of the things I lo–like most about you. I want what’s best for Lou every bit as much as you do, and I hope you know she’s my priority too.” I watch her eyes gloss over as she nods. “Secondly, I waited six months to have sex with you again. Three weeks is nothing. I’m not in this because I want to fuck you. I’m in this because I wantyou. Period. Plus, after you walked in on Leo and Darby today, they’re definitely going to be owing you one, and I plan on using that to my full advantage.” She stifles a giggle, rolling her eyes. “Lastly,” I continue, “I let you put a dildo in my mouth tonight. It’s going to take a lot more than your daughter needing you to scare me away.”

Her jaw drops open, face flooding with heat even in the dark. “Did you not like that? I thought…” She drops her gaze. “I thought you would’ve been into it.”

I give her an easy smile. “Because I’m bi?”

“Yeah,” she says quietly. “I thought you’d probably…”

“Sucked a dick before?”

“Yeah.” She’s so fucking bashful, it’s cute.

“I have.” I grab her chin and tilt her head upward. “And I was into it.” I place my thumb on her full bottom lip, pulling itdown as she watches me with wide, sparkling eyes. “But I also like to be in control. It takes a lot of vulnerability for me to be submissive like that. I’ve never allowed myself to be that way with someone before.”

“Oh.” Her pretty little mouth pops open, and suddenly, my cock is hard. “So…why did you let me?”

“Because it makes me feel good to see you feel good.” My tone is turning rough, and I know we can’t fuck again with the house this goddamn full of people. “Because I know that you don’t take much for yourself,” I continue, reveling in the way the soft skin of her thigh slides between my legs. “Peace. Rest. Pleasure. You do a lot of shit for a lot of other people, and I want you to feel comfortable taking what you need from me. I think you need that power and control sometimes, and I want to give you that. I want you to feel safe taking it.”

“I’ve never thought of it that way before,” she breathes. I watch her pupils dilate, and I wonder if she’s replaying the night in her head the way I am. If the brush of my thumb against her lips reminds her how it felt in her ass. If she’s remembering the way she wrapped her mouth around my cock in the shower, or the way she took it as I pounded into her from behind.

The memories are delicious and enticing, but I summon the will to remain on topic, knowing there are more conversations to be had about how far we’d gone.

“If you decide you didn’t like what we did tonight, we don’t ever have to do it again. If you decide you want to do more, then we’ll try it.” I slip my thumb into her mouth, and she wraps her lips around it, licking the pad of my finger.Fuck.“I want to explore with you, Dahlia.” My words come out a near growl. “I want you to feel comfortable exploring with me. I want you to show me everything…” I pull my hand away from her mouth and replace it with my lips. “Not just in the bedroom, but in all aspects of your life. I’ll be your safe place to land.”

“I know,” she says quietly, a radiant smile stretching across her face.

I return it, feathering my lips against hers again, kissing her softly. “Go to sleep, Wildflower.”

“What about in the morning? Are you going to sneak out before she wakes up?”

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