Page 133 of Conform
And if the world weren’t so cruel, my only.
Hal kissed me as he reached down, dragging himself up my core. Once. Twice. I moaned, gripping his taut forearms. He lined himself up, and I felt him nudge against my entrance. He slowly pushed in before he paused, giving me time to adjust to the new sensation, then he retreated.
His starburst eyes stayed on mine as he eased in again, a bit farther this time, then retreated. He did it again and again. Easing himself in inch by inch. Slowly working himself into me, his eyes never leaving mine. Until I felt he could go no farther.
He pulled back, hesitating for the span of my frantic heartbeat before he thrust again, seating himself fully as burning pain ripped through me.
I couldn’t get a breath in as I dug my nails into his shoulders. I closed my eyes, panting against it. Hal froze, buried inside me, letting me adjust until the fullness outweighed any discomfort.
“Look at me,” Hal whispered above me, planting a tender kiss on my forehead. “Are you okay?”
I took a steadying breath, finding his gaze. “Yes.”
He sighed as his lips found mine and he began to move again, the pain less demanding with each thrust. Pleasure slowly took its place as he undulated against me, grinding against the bundle of nerves at my apex.
He flexed his hips again, eliciting a moan from me as well as that need formore. On his next thrust, my hips rose to meet his. My hands wove into his waves, pulling his mouth back to mine.
Hal groaned into me as his thrust became deeper, quicker. I met his thrusts, and we fell into a rhythm until my body began to tighten, a pressure building deep within, burning me from the inside out. My legs wrapped around his hips, wanting him closer, deeper.
“Moonlight,” Hal groaned, his lips crashing down on mine as he drove back into me.
The pressure deep in my core built higher, consuming me. I trembled against his next thrust. Hal moved deeper, harder, like he sensed it, his mouth finding mine like he could consume my pleasure.
There was no prompting this time. There was no need for it as he thrust again, his mouth on my neck and release crashing through me.
He drove into me again—drawing out wave after wave of pleasure until I was shattering around us, dragging my nails down his back. He groaned against my climax until he shuddered and withdrew completely. I breathed him in, holding him to me. My chest swelled—heavy, an ache taking root at the thing I couldn’t deny any longer.
Hal placed a kiss on my forehead. “Are you okay? Did I hurt you?”
I shook my head, too afraid of what words might come out. At the emotion pulsing through me.
I took in the man before me. I felt it—this sweeping thing that had awoken in me, expanding wide, eating up all the space in my chest. Something foreign, the depths terrifying and unknown. The thing that had evaded me my entire life waited for me. All I had to do was fall into it.
“Are you sure?” he asked, grabbing one of the blankets and wiping away his mess before placing another kiss into my tangle of curls.
“I’m sure,” I whispered as he tossed the blanket to the ground.
He reached over, grabbing the remaining blanket, pulling it over us before tugging me into him. We lay there for several moments, my head on his chest, listening to the sound of his heartbeat.
“I don’t think we have much time left,” Hal said, breaking the silence as he reached over to check a clock that sat on a rickety table. He turned back toward me, the scar on his left wrist visible. I reached my hand out, dragging it along the scar. The life he’d left.
I glanced down at my own wrist. It would glow again. I would be bound to Collin. Hal seemed to follow my train of thought. He captured my wrist in his hand and brought it up to his mouth, placing a kiss right above the chip that was hidden within.
“Hal, what if I just stayed?” I whispered. “What if I cut it out like you?”What if I fell into that expansive thing. Chose it.
“It’s too dangerous.”
“You survived.”
“I shouldn’t have. I survived because Barrett found me bleeding out,” Hal told me. “I didn’t do it right. If it hadn’t been for his quick thinking and Thea’s help, I wouldn’t have made it. We can’t risk it,” Hal said, running a hand down my back.
“But, Hal—” I began, the weight of the world above crushing me already.
“I don’t want to risk your safety. Thea won’t cut them out anymore. Too many casualties. And she is the only person I would trust to do it.”
“Do your friends all have chips?” I asked. I was curious how many had freedom.
“That’s not information I can share. Those who are free don’t discuss it. Everyone fears being found out and having a chip reinserted.”
