Page 20 of Taming the Lion
As we walk through the circus grounds later, the energy is different. The chaos has settled, and there’s a calm in the air that wasn’t there before. The performers are tending to their tasks, the animals resting in their enclosures, and the atmosphere feels lighter. The immediate danger is gone, and for the first time, the circus feels like the home it’s always been. But it’s more than that.
I glance over at Alex walking beside me, his hand brushing mine as we move together through the tented pathways. There’s a peace in my chest that I haven’t felt in years. The fear that’s always gnawed at me is still there, but it’s quieter now, moredistant. I’ve taken that leap. I’ve let him in. And even though the future is still uncertain, it doesn’t feel as terrifying as it once did.
The circus is rebuilding. We’re rebuilding. And as I look ahead, walking through the place I’ve called home for so long, I realize something. The circus was always a symbol of survival for me. A place to hide, to stay safe. But now, with Alex by my side, it feels like something more. It feels like a place where I can finally start living. Where I can finally be free.
The future stretches out ahead of us, uncertain and bright, but for the first time, I’m not scared. Not anymore.
When we reach my caravan, he leans in, close enough that I can smell his warm, masculine scent. A vixen awakens inside me with just that one note of Alex in the air. I suck in a soft breath, willing my brain to put one foot in front of the other and get me anywhere but here. "I'm good at reading people, Sophia," he trails off, his finger tracing up the crook of my inner elbow as we lean against the doorway. "The good ones, the bad ones. When they lie, when they're scared, when they're happy, when they're frustrated." His nose brushes along the shell of my ear as he finishes, "When they're turned on."
"You sound like a talented man." I shift against him, my body always so drawn to his. His broad shoulders filling up the space, his thick voice strumming every single one of my nerves and leaving me in a constant heightened state of awareness around him.
It's exhausting, being so turned on for Alex all the time.
"Let me show you." Before I can reply, his hands are at my waist, guiding me through the door and into the small kitchen in my caravan. He spins me onto the counter, seating me, ass first, on the counter and slipping his hips between my thighs.
My breathing hitches, my breasts suddenly tingling with the desire for him to touch me. The peaks of nipples painful and visibly cutting through my top.
I clamp down on my lips, crossing my arms awkwardly before he catches my wrists and yanks them away.
"Don't ever hide from me."
I gasp as his fingers dance under my waistband, the pads of his fingertips resting above the curve of my ass as he pulls me closer to him. He growls when our bodies connect, the length of his thickness pressing against my hot core. I groan as he slowly rocks into me, his other hand slipping under my shirt and up to my bra.
My hands clutch at his biceps, my lips open and gasping for air as he kneads me. His teeth cut into his bottom lip as he drives me closer to the edge.
"Tell me how many men have touched you before me," he demands, gripping my chin and forcing me to meet his gaze. "I'll want to kill every one of them for laying their hands on what's mine."
I can't help but look away in shame. "Baby," he says, catching my chin again and making me face him. "Whatever words come out of your mouth next won't change anything. I know you better than you think, it's my job to read people. And you're the most honest and true person I've ever known. I wouldn't have believed anyone could love me until I found you. And now, I'm with you no matter what."
"Alex..." I look up at him with wide eyes, completely enamored by him. "I...I don't want to disappoint you." I stammer, feeling insecure about my lack of experience. He's probably very experienced and here I am, someone who has never even been kissed. "I'm a virgin," I confess. "I've never been with anyone and I thought you would hate that--being with someone so inexperienced."
"Sophia, my sweet girl," he says tenderly, brushing his thumb over my lips before kissing me deeply. "Beautiful, gorgeousgirl...it took me too damn long to find you and you can bet I'll never let go."
"Me?" I ask in disbelief.
"I've been dreaming of the taste of you on my tongue."
"Really?" I stammer, feeling a surge of primal energy course through me from the intensity of his gaze.
"And I've been wondering if your sweet pussy is the same delicate shade of strawberry red as your delicious lips," he continues, his hands lifting my shirt over my head.
"Oh..." I barely manage to reply as he pushes me against the wall.
"I can't wait to fuck that pretty look off your face," he grins, sweeping his thumb across my lips before kissing me again.
"Okay," I barely manage to say, still in shock at how quickly things are progressing.
"I won't stop until you're screaming and dripping off my chin," he promises, making my core pulse with desire. "I'll tease and please every inch of your body until you're moaning for me. And then...I'm going to sink inside of you, slow and sweet, letting you adjust to my cock filling your body. And then I won't let you forget whose girl you are."
"But–" I blurt out before thinking.
"I need to taste you."
With determination in his eyes, Alex carries me to my bed. And just like that, I find myself in my bedroom with a man. But not just any man.
Alex.
The words huskily escape from his sculpted lips as he leans in to press them against the fabric covering my most delicate core. My body burns with desire as I sink into his touch.
