Page 68 of Redeemed in Crimson
“I’ll always help you.” With a kiss to my forehead, my fighter, who went five hard rounds not even an hour ago, puts his hands under my thighs, lifts me, and slams me down on his dick. My scream only encourages him, and he continues the motion, thrusting up to meet me each time.
When I don’t think I can take anymore, and I’m about to say crimson…I look into Ledger’s eyes. His thumb finds my clit, and I explode into black.
Waking up, I put my forehead against his and open my eyes to find tears streaming down his face. “I'm yours. I promise I'myours. Everything I have is yours. You have to know that now, baby. Please tell me you know.”
“I know,” I say, realizing that I do. I fully, irrevocably, believe deeply within myself that this man is mine. I’m done fucking around and questioning it, and I’msodone not living life how I want.
Chapter thirty-one
I could count on one hand the number of times I’ve cried as a grown man, but Sloane provokes deeper emotions than I realized I was capable of. Deeperlovethan I thought I was capable of.
When I feel her shivering, I find a blanket and wrap her up like a burrito, keeping her in my lap with her head tucked into my neck.
Both of us seem to be cried out for now, with a pregnant silence between us. It's less tense than earlier but still so different from how things usually are, and I can't take another second of it.
“Sloane…”
“Ledger…”
I smile as we speak at the same time. Shifting, I bring Sloane up to straddle my lap, keeping my soft cock from rubbing her swollen, abused pussy. I just want her close. Once she settles back, the soft blanket protecting her ass from the rough hairson my thighs, I gently kiss the top of her nose and look into her eyes.
She's wrecked, but she looks sated, and her eyes are clearer than I've seen since before her parents arrived and shattered our perfect bubble of bliss. This is how she deserves to feel all the time, and I’m done allowing anyone, even herself, to stand in the way of that. Today was our line in the sand.
As I look at her marked with blood from both of us, I realize she’s covered in the very thing she chose as her safe word.Crimson.She never said the word. Instead, she let me cover her body in it.
The trust she placed in me tonight, to see exactly who I am at my most unhinged, was…fuck.Sublime. Transcendent. Impossible. She makes me feel seen and worthy in ways I never knew I needed or dared to hope for. And she's mine. It's high time she had every single piece of me and the reassurance she needs to know exactly where she stands.
Giving her one more forehead kiss, I pick her up and carry her to the shower, standing with her body glued to mine, just letting the scalding water rinse us. I watch as the stream of water changes from deep red to clear, and I can’t help but think about the symbolism of how Sloane has cleansed every part of me. How she’s erased my past and given me a bright and shining future. And how I intend to do the same for her, making sure she wakes up every day knowing how cherished she is.
Setting Sloane on her feet, I soap up my hands and wash her body, cleaning it like the temple it is. When I’m finished, she does the same to me, neither of us saying a word throughout the process.
Once we’re clean, I dry us both off, bandaging where I’ve carved my initials into her, and place her gently on the counter. “Stay here, Angel.”
Moving to the locker where I left my hopes and dreams earlier tonight, I take a deep breath and enter the code. First, I reach for my phone and send Jack a quick text letting him know I’m activating plan A. At this point, I think he’s due for his fifth raise in three months.Maybe I should just sign the club over to him. Then I could stay home and be Sloane’s full-time house husband.Tabling that thought for later, I grab the box that hopefully represents my future and palm it, my hand large enough to hide it as I come back to stand between Sloane’s knees.
My hands are shaking, so I cage her in with my arms and set the velvet box on the counter behind her, out of sight. I try to open my gaze and allow her to see every ounce of what I'm feeling, but the enormity of it is impossible to share with a look.
“Angel…I've had too long to think about our last interaction. Our fight has been on a nonstop loop, and I need you to know that I've come to realize I was wrong. I understand your hesitancy, and as much as we both know that we’re it for each other, it has been fast. Your parents are important figures in your life, and I should never have insinuated otherwise. I promise to try my best in the future to think more carefully of your perspective before I bulldoze all over your feelings. You don't deserve that.”
Her eyes glisten with tears, but if I don’t get this all out now, I’m afraid I never will.
“I forget sometimes that you’re so much younger than me because I’ve been an immature piece of shit for so long, only caring about myself and not being considerate of how my actions affected other people.”
She gives me a watery chuckle at that, and I kiss her nose, unable to keep my lips off her for very long.
“I’m learning to be better about that, and you’ve been patient with me, which I appreciate more than you know.”
I take a deep breath, grab the box from behind her, and drop down to one knee.
She lets out a half sob, half gasp and covers her mouth with one hand while reaching for my cheek with the other. I nuzzle into the inside of her knee and give her a quick kiss before pulling back.
“Sloane. My angel. You have come into my life like a whirlwind of happiness and contentment and turned my idea of joy upside down. Any inkling of pleasure or love I ever thought I felt before I met you was a sad imitation of what you’ve given me, and all I want for the rest of my life is to try to make you happy. I can’t stand being parted from you, and I need you to know that I would do anything to make your days perfect. We can live anywhere in the world that you want, have no kids or a ton, travel in an RV, live on a sailboat, open a bookstore—whatever you want, baby. Anything for you. Please just let me be by your side for it. I want to respect you and your family and make all of your fears about whether or not I’m yours disappear. So please. Please, Sloane. Will you do me the honor of being my wife?”
Tears stream down her face, and I really fucking hope I haven’t misread this. A piece of my soul broke off and gifteditself to my angel tonight, and I hope she’ll give me a piece of hers in exchange.
She gently strokes my cheek, and when she lowers her hand from her mouth, there’s a sweet smile on her beautiful face.
“Yes,” she says, breaking into a fit of giggles. “Yes, you ridiculous, perfect man. Of course, I’ll marry you.”
