Page 110 of Saving Grace
After I told him how Elliot got killed, I stopped, not knowing how to tell Matt about what happened next.
He sensed my hesitation and carefully took my hand. “Hey… you okay?”
“I was covered in Elliot’s blood,” I said in monotone, my eyes were unseeing, my mind lost in a scene like a movie reel. “I felt detached after that.”
“You were in shock,” Matt reminded me.
“Ric brought me into the shower.” I ignored my husband’s strangled growl. It was now or never. If he looked at me differently after this, then so be it. “He stripped me.” My chest was splintering and my eyes burned. “His hands were all over my skin and I …” Matt’s grip tightened around my hand. “I didn’t fight him. I let him do as he pleased.” I looked at my husband then, and his eyes were ablaze with cold fury, his mouth flat. “Say something, Matt.”
He visibly swallowed. “He touched you?”
“Yes,” I admitted. I wasn’t prepared for Matt suddenly jumping to his feet.
“Matt?” I started, pushing up from the couch.
He walked right up to the wall by the bedroom, hauled back, and punched a hole through the drywall.
“Matt!” I shouted just as he let loose and hit the wall again. I grabbed him around his waist, but he spun around. He gripped my shoulders and backed me against the wall. Trapping me with his body, he buried his face between my neck and shoulder, breathing heavily.
“I failed you,” he whispered hoarsely.
“Please don’t blame yourself,” I begged. “As long as you won’t look at me differently, we can get through this.”
He stared at me in confusion. “Look at you differently? What are you talking about?”
I glanced away, but he cupped my cheek gently and tipped my chin so I was looking up at him.
“Gypsy, I love you so much, it hurts,” he said huskily. “Did you think some sick bastard is going to change the way I feel for you?”
“There was no penetration,” I rushed on, needing to make that clear. “He touched me between my legs, but that’s it, I swear,” I started to ramble.
Matt held a finger to my lips. “Hush, babe,” he murmured soothingly. “You, back in my arms, are all that matters now.”
“I felt like he’d tainted me.”
Matt crushed me to him again. “Never think that,” he growled. “How could you think my feelings for you are that shallow?”
A twinge of guilt pricked my chest for having doubted my husband. It might have taken Matt a while to figure out his feelings for me, but once he said he was all in, he meant it. I inhaled the essence of his skin. He smelled faintly of sweat, expensive scotch, and gun powder. All man. I felt safe again, but more than that, I needed to find out if my experience had damaged me in some way.
“I want you to fuck me,” I whispered.
Matt froze, raising his head and narrowing his eyes at me. “It’s too soon, Grace. Don’t force this. I was an asshole earlier. Let’s take this one day …”
“Don’t let him take this from us, baby,” I said softly. “I want to know only your touch. Take his away. Please.”
I knew my plea struck a deep chord inside him when resolve hardened his eyes. He nodded, reaching past me to open the bedroom door. Matt swept me up in his arms and carried me into the en suite bathroom. He lowered me on the counter space between the two sinks, his arms caging me on either side.
There was burning possession in his gaze as he locked eyes with me. “I’m hanging on by a thread here, Grace. I may not be gentle.”
“I don’t want you to be gentle,” I replied.
“If you change your mind just say no. I’ll stop.”
“I need you to reclaim me, Matt,” I begged. “Mark me as yours …”
I gasped when he slammed his lips on mine. I clung to his shirt as his body pushed me back while his hands continued to grip the counter. Our teeth clashed viciously, and his tongue ruthlessly demanded every response from me. My shoes fell to the floor while he pulled my sweats off as well as my shirt.
“What is this?” He growled, staring at the mirror. “He marked your skin?”