Page 25 of Forever

“I’m so tired of being scared, Matt. I’m tired of always feeling like I’m running out of time.”

“Hey.” I tugged her arm and pulled her onto my lap. “You’re not running out of time.”

She straddled my waist and I watched the beads of water drip down her tits.

No, James had definitely never seen her like this.

Her forehead fell to mine. For just a few minutes we breathed in each other’s exhales.

My hand finally stopped shaking.

And her tears disappeared.

“I just want everything to stop hurting,” she whispered against my lips.

I didn’t know what exactly she was referring to. She’d been clinging to the rings dangling from her neck. Was she thinking about Miller? Was she thinking about her father? Her uncle? Her mom? She’d known so much pain that I couldn’t possibly know what was plaguing her.

“Please make it stop,” she whispered.

No, I didn’t know what was hurting her in this moment. But I knew how to take away the pain. Because I knew she was the only one that could take away mine.

I slowly lowered my mouth to hers. Her lips were salty from her tears.

“Please,” she whispered. “I just want the pain to stop.” She shifted forward, grinding against me.

Fuck.I buried my fingers in her wet hair. Sometimes Brooklyn just wanted to be held when she cried. Other times she just wanted to forget for a moment. And I was really good at distracting her.

I kissed a path down her chest, tracing the water cascading down her skin.

When she’d first come back to town, fucking her was the only thing that made me feel better. And it would make us both feel better now. I knew exactly how to take away her pain.

My tongue swirled around her nipple.

She tilted her head back in the water.

I lightly bit down, tugging her nipple with my teeth.

Her moan disappeared into the steam as I kissed down her stomach.

“You’re safe,” I whispered. I kissed her hipbone. “We’re safe here.”

“In James’ shower,” she said, her laughter filling my ears.

“Don’t talk about James right now.”

She laughed again. “We really shouldn’t be doing this in here.” She put her hands on my shoulders and stood up.

James shouldn’t have been with her the first time she’d needed help.

And I wanted to erase that memory from her mind. I caught her wrist before she could step out of the shower.

She stared down at me. “Matt.”

I shifted forward onto my knees. She truly did look like an angel standing in the steam. And I was perfectly content worshiping her on my knees.

I placed a long slow stroke against her wetness.

“Matt,” she moaned this time.

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