Page 14 of Craved By You
“Don’t take my sunshine,” the words faded into a raspy whisper, “away.” I paused once more. A glimmer on the floor caught my eye – the reflection of light on Astrid’s shoe buckle. I approached slowly, my eyes fixated on the spot where she’d been crouched down.
Hovering over the table she had hidden beneath, I squatted down, ready to capture her in my arms. “Gotcha!” I declared, but only her shoes remained. “Fuck.”
She was a devious girl, leaving a piece of herself behind as a decoy. While I was distracted, she’d made a break for it, dodging the chains that hung like a spiderweb from the ceiling, each link grasping at her like a predator lurking in the darkness waiting for its prey.
I couldn’t help but laugh. “Get back here,” I demanded, her instincts triggering something that had been lying dormant in my soul. This beautiful creature was going to be the death of me and I welcomed my personal demise.
“Catch me if you can.” Astrid continued giggling as she dodged obstacles that would get in her way before she tripped over a pipe that she had overlooked on the floor. “Ow,”she whined.
I rushed over to her. “Astrid!” I called out in desperation, hoping she wasn’t hurt too badly. I tossed my mask into the darkness, not caring where it landed while moving everything that was between us to get to her quickly, hoping that she was okay and upset with myself that she had gotten hurt. Without even asking, I scooped her up and carried her across the threshold into my office, sitting her on top of my table so I could get a better look. “Well, nothing looks broken, at least.” My eyes glossed over her arms and legs, only noticing scrapes that needed to be cleaned.
She pouted. "I'm fine." While she continued trying to convince me, I soaked a cotton ball with hydrogen peroxide. "I can do it myself."
“I know you can do it by yourself,” I advised her. “But at some point, you have to be willing to accept help.”
“Colt, I don’t need help from anyone,” she tried to argue. “That’s like accepting that I have a weakness.”
I cupped her chin, pulling her face up so that she could see the seriousness that was building behind my eyes. “If anyone calls you weak because you accepted help, then I will gladly sit back and watch as you kick their ass and prove them otherwise.”
We both laughed, and Astrid seemed to relax, breaking down a fraction of her hard exterior shell so that I could get a glimpse inside her beautiful mind. After a few moments, we just sat in silence while I finished cleansing her wounds, glancing up occasionally to see her eyes intently set on me with a smile plastered on her face.
When I stood up to throw away the trash, I heard Astrid mumble something as I walked away. “What was that?” I asked, hoping that I had heard her correctly.
“I guess you were right.” She shrugged.
My curiosity had piqued. “Right about what?”
“You told me before we started the game that me not being yours by the end of it wasn’t going to be an option.” She paused. “Now that you have me, what are you going to do?”
Her words loitered in the air, their meaning slowly sinking in as I leaned back against the counter, lost in the admiration of her beauty. I’d been right – she did indeed look exquisite on my table. But this time, I wasn’t going to give in to my usual impulses. Her story about her ex from earlier lingered in my mind.
Slowly, I made my way over to her, my fingertip gliding up her arm before my hand rested against the side of her neck and massaged the tension from it. Momentarily, the world moved in slow motion, and I felt myself in a battle with my own body. I wanted this moment to be perfect, but also having the opportunity to take her right then dancing in front of me. “Thereare a few things you need to understand before we take things further, sunshine.”
Astrid tilted her head in question.
“Earlier you mentioned that you had things you were interested in exploring, but your ex ruined that.”
She nodded.
“Is that still something you’d be interested in exploring in a more controlled environment? With someone you might actually trust?”
Astrid looked away for a brief moment before biting her lip and coming back to me. “Someone like you?”
I couldn’t help but smile, never in a million years did I imagine that was how she would react. “I know things will take time. I knowtrustwill take time, but there’s one important thing I need you to understand, regardless of what we are doing.”
Now she seemed hesitant. “Okay.” I watched while a light flickered in her eye as she patiently awaited my response.
“Do you understand the stoplight system?” I asked calmly. She nodded. “Tell me.”
“Green means I give you full consent. Red means everything stops immediately.” She hesitated on yellow.
“And yellow?” I asked while caressing her face, feeling the tension begin to build between us.
“Yellow means to slow down.”
“Good girl,” I growled into her ear. “This is important information for you to keep in your back pocket when we aretogether. Whether we’re holding hands in public, kissing, when we are being intimate… I want you to get used to that.”
As she nodded and leaned in, her lips met mine and a sudden spark ignited, sending chills racing through me. Aggression was building between us and once she bit my lower lip I grasped her hips and pulled her closer to me, eager to dive into her.
