Page 101 of Roses and Skulls

“This is…” He rubs his hand over his jaw, his eyes narrowing on me. “Take your clothes off.”

What?

The surprise must show on my face because he’s on me in a second, pushing me back with a hand to the center of my chest.

“Who do you belong to?”

“You,” I say, my eyes widening.

His nostrils flare and his eyes almost roll in the back of his head. When he drops his gaze back to me, I see a man who’s on the verge of consuming me. And it’s the hottest thing I’ve ever seen.

“You are perfect for me, Billie Rose. God made you just for me.”

Then he is stripping me of my pants at the same time unbuckling his own. As he pulls himself out, he warns me, “This isn’t going to be gentle.”

“Good, I don’t want it to be.”

And with that, he thrusts into me. And just like last night, the world around us could be burning to the ground and neither of us would notice.

“Fuck,” Elijah grits as he explodes right after me.

This time, he immediately pulls me onto his lap and wraps me up. “I’m never going to get enough of you, baby,” he says, kissing my temple. He’s prepared for my trembling this time and I recover much quicker than I did last night.

“You said you had one more thing to show me,” I say quietly, rubbing my hand over his.

Without hesitation, he pulls the last item out of his bag. He cradles it in his hands in front of us, letting me run my finger over it.

“I bought this for you, for your sixteenth birthday. I saw it in a gift store and immediately thought of you. I was going to give it to your mother when she came that summer but then you got in the accident and when I saw the pictures…” he pauses. “God, Rosie, I was so angry that you were hurt. I went back to my apartment and furiously swiped everything off my dresser. The rose fell to the ground and broke in a hundred pieces.”

He kisses the back of my head before continuing.

“I sat on my floor and cried, Rosie. A grown-ass, twenty-three-year-old man, crying on his bedroom floor. I knew right then I wasn’t going to let anything stop me from getting to you. Not your dad, the club, nothing was going to stop me.” He twirls the long-stemmed glass rose in front of our faces, holding it up so the sunlight catches it. “It took me months to put it back together, but it was worth it. It taught me patience. And I needed that. I knew I had to wait a few more years to be near you.”

I run my finger over the tiny gold cracks.

“It’s called Kintsugi, it’s the Japanese art of fixing broken pottery with gold. It can also be used on glass. It’s based on the idea of embracing one’s imperfections, the gold making it stronger and more beautiful.”

He places it in my hands, leaving me speechless.

I turn around in his arms and wrap myself around him like a little spider monkey. My fingers twirl the glass rose as I stare at it over his shoulder. “It’s the prettiest thing I’ve ever seen.” I lean back and meet his eyes. “I love you, Elijah. Thank you for this,” I say, pulling my arms from around him and holding it between us.

“Now, are you ready for your next surprise,” he asks mischievously.

“Yes,” I say excitedly, bouncing on his lap.

“Okay, please stop bobbing on my dick or it’s not going to happen. I’ll keep you here with me all day.”

I ignore his sexual inuendo and squeal, “Where are we going?”

“Do you want to jump out of a plane?”

“Ab-so-fuck-ing-lutely,” I say without hesitation, the adrenaline already kicking in.

He flashes me a brilliant smile. “We never tell your dad about this.”

I draw a cross over my chest before linking my pinky around his. Elijah is helping me find that spark that grandpa made me promise never to lose.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

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