Page 44 of The Ruthless Guardian

“You’re taking all of me so well.” Throwing my legs over his shoulders, he reaches down to rub my clit with his thumb. “Come for me so I can get you cleaned up and feeling better.”

“You have to come too,” I complain. ”This isn’t finished unless both of us get off.”

Josiah grins and circles his thumb faster. “Then come for me. I’ll come with you.”

My back arches from the floor and I close my eyes, letting the pleasure consume me- setting my body ablaze in a slow fire that burns all the way through my body. Mewling and moaning, I feel Josiah’s fingers clench around my leg as he powers through my orgasm before letting his own take him with a groan.

Chapter Thirty-four

Skids

Lifting Phoebe from the floor into my arms, I carry her up the stairs and strip the rest of our clothes off before stepping into the shower with her still glued to my chest. “Are you okay?”

She’s been quiet and it’s worrying me. I knew I was taking a risk doing this with her, but I thought she could handle it. When she brought it up, she had research behind her and she knew exactly what she wanted. She knew what she was asking for, but maybe I shouldn’t have done it anyway.

I need her to tell me she’s alright so I can relax, but until she finds her voice, I’m going to take care of her. I flip the handle so the shower starts and check over her body for marks. I was rougher on her than normal. A lot rougher. Her tits are red from my squeezing, and I massage them gently, trying to smooth away the bruising that’s starting to form.

I coax her head back and scrub shampoo into her scalp, watching as the water turns slightly blue as it rinses away. I need to remember to find blue hair dye for her, if that’s what she wants. I like the blue, but maybe she’d rather have something different, another color.

I’ve spent the past week giving her everything I can think of. I haven’t asked her to run for me or work out with me anymore, not that there would be much of a point. There’s no one for her to run from anymore. But some days she runs with me anyway. It’s different now, though. I don’t chase her like I did. We run side by side.

She never seemed to judge me for what happened with my parents. She understood well enough. I imagine she probably had at least a few sets of foster parents she contemplated murdering, but then again, maybe not with how she reacted to Reaper’s treatment of Tony.

“I’m okay,” she finally answers, tilting her head back to look up at me. “Are you okay?”

“I am.” I lean her back and rinse the conditioner out of her barely-blue hair, that used to be so vibrant and bright but now I’m not sure if there’s even any of the hue left or if I’m imagining it there. “Did I hurt you too badly?”

“No.” Her fingers slide under my palm and she inspects it closely. “Did I hurt you?”

“No, baby. You didn’t hurt me.” We’ll probably be sore tomorrow from the floor and the fight, but I think we’re both okay.

“I bit you really hard.” She presses her plump lips to the inside of my palm. “I didn’t want to hurt you, but it felt real. It was scary.”

“I know. It did feel real.” There were a few times where I had to check in with her because it felt too real to me, like maybe I wasn’t paying attention to her body the way I was supposed to and might have hurt her more. “Do you think it helped?”

She looks better than normal, and I feel lighter than I expected. In a weird way, this little experiment of hers convinced me that I couldn’t actually hurt her.

I don’t want to cause her pain, and any concern I may have had before that I could potentially harm her in my paranoia or my need for her to stay is gone. Even playing the role of an evil bastard, her safety never left my mind.

“I think so. It was so scary and also, kind of amazing. There was a moment where I thought it really was real, and I was scared, and then I heard your voice and I remembered that I was safe, that if I needed to stop you would. It was… wonderful. I’m sorry I asked you to do that. I just-”

“No, baby. I’m glad you asked. It was…” Special and beautiful, terrifying and thrilling, brilliant and ugly.

“I know.” She wraps her hands around the back of my head and pulls me closer, kissing me hard. “I love you. Have you been loving me this whole time?”

“Yeah, baby. I met you with tears in your big beautiful eyes and your lungs fighting for air, and I’d never seen someone like you. At first I told myself I’d let you go if you asked me to, but by the end of the first night I knew you were stuck with me until I decided to let you go. I want to marry you. Or something. I just want you to stay with me.” That’s all that matters, as I kiss over her cheeks. “Stay with me.”

“I’m staying. I can’t believe you ever doubted that.” Phoebe is a brilliant light, and instead of illuminating the shadows living inside me when her light shines on me, she banishes them. She’s so pure, something I never should have touched, but I have now.

“You’re mine,” I tell her, pulling her body against me with my hands on her back. The marks I left in her flesh are fading, but she’s going to stay. I’m not going to lose her.

Her thumbs trace my jaw, scratching at the scruffy beard there. “I’m yours.”

“Will you marry me, or something?” I don’t know what she wants, or what I want, but whatever it is, I want to do it with her. I want everything I do for the rest of my life to be with her.

Smirking, she answers, “It depends.”

“On what?” Whatever she wants, I’ll do it.

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