Page 114 of Love in the Dark
A cavernous hole opens up inside my chest knowing I’ve hurt her. That’s the last thing I ever intended.
I grab her shoulders and momentarily lock her arms at her side. To keep her from leaving, to keep her from pushing me away, physically or otherwise.
“Stop,” I say, the word ripped from my throat, raw and thick with emotion. “I’m sorry. I’msorry. That’s not what I meant, it was a stupid, careless comment,” I repeat, begging her with my tone to stay. I shake my head, repeatedly. “I get it, I do. I just…I— my dad hits my mum,” I admit. Her body relaxes in my hands, her eyes widening at the information. “I’m not handling this well because of it and I’m so fucking sorry. Seeing you hurt… I blacked out. I reverted to seeing my mum hurt. I would havekilled himfor touching you if you hadn’t stopped me,” I vow, ripping in a ragged breath. “I didn’t mean to be insensitive, I just reacted like an asshole because I can’t think straight when it comes to you, especially you being in danger. Forgive me?”
I clasp her face like I’m afraid she’ll run. Her eyes are sad inky, shiny pools of black that pull me into their depths.
I place a soft, imploring kiss on her lips.
“Please, baby,” I rasp.
Her fingers close around my lower back, digging into my flesh. Pulling me closer instead of pushing me away.
She jerks her chin and immense relief washes over me.
“I’m sorry about your mum,” she says, real sorrow echoing in her tone. “I didn’t know.”
“I’m sorry I wasn’t there to help you.” My voice cracks. “I’m sorry I was late.”
“It’s fine,” she says, voice wobbly. “I don’t need you. I don’t need anyone.”
“Everyone needssomeone, Nera. It doesn’t make you weak to need me,” I whisper into her hair. “I’m not afraid to admit that I need you.”
She trembles in my hold, her eyes bleeding and pleading as she stares at me.
“Fuck me,” she begs. “Fuck the pain away. That’s what I need.”
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Chapter 29
Nera
Tristan’s eyes shine with a rare ferocity. He crushes his mouth against mine and steals my breaths and my thoughts in one go. There’s no room for anything else but zeroing in on his hands when he touches me like he does now.
He runs over my curves with greedy fingers, grabbing and fondling as he goes like he can’t get enough. He rips his mouth from mine only long enough to tear his shirt off over his head and then he’s back to kissing me.
He removes my shorts and thong and tugs my sports bra off. His hands are careful, like he’s afraid to touch me. Like I’m a piece of fine china that could break into a million tiny pieces if he touched me a little too hard.
He’s too careful, unsure almost. He’s not grabbing my throat or palming my ass, his fingers digging into my flesh.
He’s not flipping me around and ordering me about so he can do what he wants with me.
I hate careful. I don’t want it.
“Touch me where he touched me,” I breathe against his mouth, grabbing one of his hands and placing it at my throat. “Touch me like you usually touch me, Tristan. Don’t let today change this. Us. Please.” I grab his other hand and place it between my legs. “Don’t treat me like I’m weak.”
His hand clamps down on my pussy, his other fingers closing around my throat and tugging me within inches of his face.
“Weak?” he snarls, sharp teeth front and center as his face twists with anger. “You’re the strongest fucking person I know. Don’t misread my hesitancy as disinterest,” he says, before diving for my throat. He sucks and bites a pathway up the column of my neck to just below my ear. “I don’t want to hurt you.”
“Then don’t.”
He picks me up with one arm and then he impales me on his thick cock. My mouth falls open on a loud scream and he catches the sound with the palm of his hand, muffling it. I groan into his hand as he thrusts inside me.
His mouth replaces his hand but I turn mine away from him, suddenly overwhelmed by the intimacy. He grips my jaw and forces me back towards him. He doesn’t give me a choice. His mouth finds mine again, that same sharp and sweet taste of bourbon on his lips. He holds my jaw and keeps me in place.
“No one is ever touching you again, you hear me? Not ever.” He promises. “Not while I have breath in my lungs.”