Page 46 of Stolen Vows

"God, it’s beautiful," I murmur, for a moment forgetting about all the stress that brought me here. He moves in behind me once more, but this time, his grip is a little tighter, pulling me against him hard.

"So are you," he replies, as he brushes his lips along the back of my neck. My heart stutters in my chest, and I reach back to cradle his head close to me. His fingertips dig into my belly, and I can feel his hardness against the small of my back, demanding me, commanding me, leaving me with no choice but to do exactly as I am told.

"This is your home now, Cara," he continues as his hands move to my dress, unzipping it slowly and pushing it from my shoulders so that it pools at my feet.

I draw in a sharp breath. I can see the reflection of myself in the window, the outline of my body still in my underwear, and the sight of his hands moving across me is scorching-hot.

"Mhm," I breathe back, glancing over my shoulder at him. I am still getting used to what it feels like to desire someone as deeply as I desire him, to want someone with the sheer, reckless abandon that consumes me when we are together.

He presses the flat of his hand to my belly, pulling my body flush to his. Sliding his other hand to my hair, he winds it around his fingers and tugs my head backwards so that I am looking at him.

There is something in his eyes that almost scares me, or perhaps it should have, were it not for the burning need coursing through me in that moment. His eyes are overheated with passion, something almost close to anger, but not aimed at me. Aimed at everything that has happened to me, all the ways that I havebeen hurt, as though he can extract them from me with just one kiss.

Our mouths crash together once more, his tongue exploring mine as he lets out a deep growl. He undoes my bra and tosses it aside, and then slips his thumbs around my panties, coaxing them down my legs to strip me naked right there in front of the window.

For a moment, I feel a flush of nerves. Perhaps someone will see us, see me with him like this, on display. But, as he kisses my neck once more, I sink into him, my eyes drifting shut and all inhibition slipping from my body. Maybe I want everyone to see us like this together. Maybe I want the world to know that he wants me as badly as he does. Maybe it’s the only damn thing that matters in this moment.

He moves his hand to my mound, massaging it softly with his knuckles, as he unzips his pants and takes himself into his hand. I whimper as I feel the sudden pressure of him against my entrance. It’s still so new to me, the way it feels to take him so close, but my system already demands it in ways I can hardly make sense of.

I tremble as he eases himself into me, resting back against his body, his arms wrapped around me. But as he grazes his tongue along my neck and finds my ear, it’s clear that he is not going to settle for anything less than my full attention.

"Open your eyes," he orders me, stilling himself within me. I press my lips together and swallow hard, trying to muster what little self-control I have left to do as he says.

"Open your eyes," he repeats, his words a little firmer than before. I respond at once, my eyes flicking open, staring out onto the streets below.

"Good girl," he murmurs, biting down on my lobe as he draws back and then slides deep within me again. "I want you to see yourself. Let them see you. Let the whole damn world see you giving yourself to me..."

I find my reflection in the mirror once more, and the hairs on the back of my neck rise in response to his filthy words. There is something so cathartic about it, just giving myself over to him like this, as though it’s the most natural thing in the world, as though our bodies were made to fit with each other, even when our minds could not.

He starts to pick up the pace inside me, moving into me in long, deep strokes that send shudders through every inch of my body. It’s like the echo of each thrust courses out to every nerve ending in my system, and soon, I find myself rocking back against him, taking him even deeper inside of me, letting him feel every inch of me.

"Fuck, you look so good like this," he growls in my ear, as he brings a hand to my hip to steady me as he continues to drive himself, deep and hard, inside me.

I can only let out a slight whine in response. I can already feel the orgasm growing in me, an overflow of all the tension that has been building within me all this time, and I can’t think of anything but letting it take me over entirely. I have been so focused on all the bad in my life, all the things I need to make amends for, but this moment is about nothing but pure pleasure, and that’s all I want to focus on right now...

He moves himself into me one last time, thrusting deep, our bodies coming flush together as I hear the guttural groan slip past his lips. I reach back to clutch at his head once more, holding him against me. Even when we are this close, more intimate than I’ve been with anyone else in my entire life, there is still a part of me that craves even more of him, craves his closeness in some deep, unspeakable way.

It’s the feel of his release that sends my own pleasure toppling over the edge, and I climax against him. He presses me against the window, the cool glass on my skin, and it strikes me that he is making sure there isn’t a damn person out there who can’t see me, who can’t see that I belong to him.

And, when he finally pulls back, he spins me around and catches my panting face in his hands. He presses his lips to mine again, with a ferocious want that drives everything else from my mind again. All I can think about is him—not anything that lays outside the confines of this moment, just him, him and me, together. On my wedding day, I never could have imagined that I would live out anything else but the life my father had planned for me, but here, now, I can hope for something different.

"I love you, Cara," he murmurs against my lips, but he kisses me before I can respond.

And I know that, while I might not always be able to put into words just how much I adore this man, I will do everything in my power to show it. And I intend to start right here, right now.

21

Max

Cara pauses as she steps out of the car, and as she looks up at the building in front of us, I can tell she is second-guessing her decision to come here.

"Hey," I murmur to her, reaching over to give her hand a squeeze. "It’s alright. You don’t have to do this if you?—"

She steels herself, narrowing her eyes slightly.

"I want to do it," she replies firmly.

And, with that, she makes her way towards the door where Maya is waiting for us.

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