Page 283 of Eternal
He nodded once, then kissed the inside of my thigh with so much care it almost made me cry “Not a thing,” he said against my skin. “Justyou.”
I let out a shaky breath, and for the first time in my life,my whole life,I didn’t feel like I had to disappear to survive a touch like this.
I didn’t brace for pain, I didn’t flinch, I wanted more.
I sucked in a breath, spine arching into him.
His mouth moved back up my thigh, his hands tightening again, back to hunger, but now it was mixed with another feeling.Worship.
“You still want rough?” he asked against my hip. “Still want to be ruined?”
“You promised,” I whispered.
Maybe if it’s rough, I’m in control, it hurts, but it’s my pain this time.Mine.
Soft always felt like what I lost. Brutal feels like power.
I want to feel real, not numb. To know I’m still here, still fighting.
He pulled me back down to the bed, this time rolling with me, dragging his mouth across my jaw and back to my lips. “Then let go,partner.”
“Make me,” I said again, and this time, he did.
He leaned in and kissed me, his hand cradled the side of my face like I might vanish if he held me wrong.
Andfuck. He kissed like someone who didn’t just want me, he kissed like someone who knew me. Like someone who had watched me fall more times than I could count and had waited until I was ready to let go on purpose.
My fingers tangled in his hair before I realized I was doing it. My whole body moved without permission, legs curling around his waist like my skin had been waiting for his all along.
He chuckled against my mouth, low and warm. A sound I’d never heard from him before but wanted to hear again.And again, and again.
It was happy, soft, and satisfying.
“What?” I asked, smiling because I couldn’t not.
He pulled back to look at me, his pupils were blown wide, “Just thinking how confident you sound for someone who’s shaking.”
“You’re the one trembling,” I shot back, though it came out breathier than I meant.
“I’ve been trying not to touch you for months,” he said. “You think I’m not going to lose it a little?”
“Makes me want to make you wait some more,” I said, chuckling.
He laughs against my skin. And fuck, it’s sohim. That cocky, quiet rasp of amusement he always gives me when I talk shit. Except now, it’s paired with his hand tugging my shirt up over my ribs, teeth grazing my collarbone.
“You’re not going to be so mouthy when I’m done with you,” he says.
“Try me.”
His hands roamed up my sides, slow, thumbs stroking the curve of my ribs as he simply lifted my shirt up with so much curiosity, not taking it off completely.
“Don’t you dare flirt again,” I muttered, heat rising in my face.
“Too late,” he murmured, dragging his mouth up the center of my chest. “I wish you could see in my head the things I want to do to you when you’re laid naked like that for me.”
I laughed, I actually laughed. It burst out of me like something I didn’t know I’d been holding in. “You’re such a flirt.”
“And you like it,” he said, nipping at my collarbone.
