Page 88 of Steel Rain

I looked up at him, trying to read his eyes, wondering what he was thinking. In the woods, he had taken me. He had pursued, hunted, and conquered.

“Will you always be this gentle with me?” I asked, wondering if being his wife changed what we had. The passion, the violence. Did I stop being a wolf because I was his bride?

“No,” he said. “But I want you to reconcile who you were, with who you are now. You’re not two different people. Nor am I a man who can only get off one way.”

Why was this so fucking sexy? Why was a man who was self-aware so undeniably masculine? What was it about his mind that made me feel his power just as much as his rigid muscles?

“I can mold and bend to you like the river bends itself around a rock.” There he was, the philosopher again. “I can be gentle, yes. I can be cruel. I can be demanding, and compromising. You will need me in many forms as I will need you in the same way.” He stroked my cheeks with his thumbs. “That is how we build a life together. We have to ebb and flow. Sometimes you will need me to be rigid, and sometimes you will need me to bend.”

He pressed himself into me, his cock throbbing. I needed him rigid, or demanding, kind or gentle … I needed him whatever way he wanted to be.

“What do you want?” I asked, coming to a seat on the bed, feeling it give under my weight.

Even that felt familiar. The way the mattress dipped under my weight, the firmness and softness of it was like putting on an old jacket that you hadn’t seen since the previous winter. Familiar, but somehow different because you had changed.

“I want to give you a choice,” Ajax said with a smirk, as he came down over me, his hands landing at my shoulders. “The girl you called Shiny didn’t get to choose.” He kissed my forehead. “I want to grant the woman I know her choice now.”

I looked around the room. So pink, and young. So flowery, and childish. Back when I believed in fairytales. I used to like Belle. Keith was the Beast. But he never turned into a prince. He was a monster inside and out.

Ajax was a prince through and through. The kind with shiny armor, who slayed dragons and rescued damsels, and respected their virtue. He gave them their choice.

“What do you choose, Sinead?”

I liked the sound of my name on his lips.

“I want you.”

“How do you want me?” he asked, his finger lightly tracing down my forehead, over the bridge of my nose, down my throat. It was feather-soft, but it sent shivers through me.

“In every way.” I shut my eyes, letting the warmth of his body engulf me.

I was safe. I was warm. I was …

“Do you want me to love you?”

My eyes flew open at his question. But he didn’t change. His gentle stroking continued, soft and tender. Not demanding, barely even asking for anything.

“Yes,” I exhaled. Then, with more conviction, “Yes. I do.”

He nodded so slightly, but his fingers continued tracing. Forehead, to nose, to throat.

“Do you think you’d love me?”

“I already do.” The words came out so easily. I blurted it out without thought. Then I wondered if that was the right thing to say. Would it scare him? Did it give away my power?

He unfastened my trousers and lightly pushed them down my hips. Not far. Just far enough to bare my pussy to him. He folded my knees up, hitching both legs over one shoulder, as the waistband of my jeans kept my legs firmly closed together.

His soft, firm tip was warm against my ready entrance. He was sliding it over my folds, testing it.

“I’ll need you to say it,” he coaxed. Still, not demanding. Just requesting. Like he was drawing it from me with a gentle, soothing curl of his finger.

“Say … what?” My head was swimming. I felt foggy. The anticipation was sending heat through my body, from my head down to my fingertips as I waited for his next move. For the relief that he could give me.

“Three words, Sinead. I intend for us to say them to each other often. Every day, in fact, for the rest of our lives.”

I was so confused. I couldn’t think. I wasn’t sure what he wanted, I just knew that I wanted to give it to him, no matter what it was. It dawned on me so slowly that I felt stupid for not knowing before.

“I love you.” It felt so good to say it. “I love you. I love you. I love you.”

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