Page 29 of Beautiful Trauma

“Elle doesn’t even know, Eli. She is going to be blindsided by this. She wouldn’t have asked me to do any of this. I did it to protect her because I am the guilty one here. I slept with the man she was always supposed to marry, and then I had his kid and kept it a secret.

He was silent for a long moment, taking in the information. “You’re right, she will hate you,” he said, jutting his chin.

“I have to let Mason take Wyatt regularly. We knew this day would come.”

“Maybe you did, but you neglected to share that part with me.” He glared at me.

My heart broke. It felt like I was being pulled apart from the inside out. I knew Eli loved Wyatt as if he were his own, but he knew that wasn’t true. He knew Mason was Wyatt’s father. I told him before we became a couple. So why do I feel like I’ve lied to my best friend this whole time? Why didn’t I specify that someday Mason planned to be more active in Wyatt’s life? Probably because I didn’t believe it was ever going to happen. “I’m sorry.”

He was quiet for a minute before his face softened. “Marry me.”

“Excuse me?” This was not at all where I thought this conversation was going to go.

“I’m dead ass right now. We should get married.” His stare pierced through my eyes and into my brain.

“I don’t understand what’s happening right now, E. How does that fix this?”

“It doesn’t. But maybe it would give me a leg to stand on if anything ever happened to you and I had to fight to see Wyatt.”

Shit. Could he stomp on my heart any more right now? “We can accomplish that without getting married. I’m not saying no, but if that’s the only reason you want to do it, the end result won't change. He will not take him away from you.”

“I hate this.” He ran his hands through his hair and paced the room.

Me too. “It’s going to be fine. Mason and Elle are coming over later to talk. We’ll work it all out. I will do physical harm to anyone who even suggests you aren’t his parent.”

“You are both mine,” he growled, pulling me up into his arms with a rough tug. He grabbed my chin and tilted it up so he could slam his lips to mine in a possessive kiss that had my panties melting.

I moaned my agreement.

The hand on my chin slid to the back of my neck and tugged on my hair. “I’m never letting you go,” he rasped before trailing open-mouthed kisses down my neck.

“Me either,” I whimpered, my legs shaking with anticipation. When our emotions took over like this, it always ended with incredible orgasms.

He backed me up against the wall. “I get so fucking pissed when I think about the fact that he had his hands on you.” He punctuated the statement with a bite to my collarbone. I let out a gasp, and he put a hand over my mouth. “Do not wake him up,” he warned.

It was unlikely Wyatt would wake up. My small child was used to sleeping through us coming home at weird hours of the night, but I nodded anyway. He trailed the hand down my chest, over my belly and into my leggings, cupping my pussy. “Fuck, baby. You need me?”

I wiggled my hips, trying to get some friction where I needed it. “Yes, Eli,” I groaned.

“Mm, so wet for me already. Whose pussy is this?” He slid two fingers inside me and held them there, waiting for my response.

“Yours, Elijah. Always.”

“Good girl,” he said against my ear as he pumped his fingers.

My hand found the bulge in his sweatpants, and I gave a squeeze.

“Fuck, that feels good.” My head tilted back against the wall. He added pressure on my clit with his thumb, and my traitorous legs shook harder. My core burned with the building orgasm, and my hips bucked against his hand.

He pulled his hand from my pants and licked his fingers before kneeling to pull my legs from the pants. Kisses trailed up the inside of my leg until he reached the apex of my thighs and gave my slit a long lick. I shuddered under his tongue.

“Yes, more. Please,” I panted. The stubble of his face created delicious friction against the sensitive skin as he licked and sucked.

Settling into position, he pulled one of my legs over his shoulder. “Come on my tongue, baby,” he demanded, before adding a couple of fingers to my pussy as he lapped at my clit.

My fingers tangled in his hair as pleasure took over. “Oh, fuck yes,” I whispered into the air. He continued his assault as I fell apart on his face.

I stood, panting as he kissed his way up my stomach, over each breast and then, finally, my mouth. His tongue swept inside as I teetered on unsteady legs. His hard body pressed mine into the wall, the only thing keeping me upright.