Avenged

  I brushed my nose over the arch of her cheek and used the tip of my tongue to trace the outside of her earlobe as she leaned backward, her shoulders hitting the mattress while I hovered over her. I ran my fingers down the elegant column of her neck and stopped to stroke the place where I could feel her pulse racing. There wasn’t an ounce of fear coming off of her, which was good because I had enough for both of us.

  I was worried I was going to hurt her, physically and emotionally. I was worried that she was going to hurt me…and I had no idea how I would handle that. My guess was not very well. She wanted this moment to count, wanted to make memories that would last a lifetime and I was terrified I was going to disappoint her and those memories would end up as nightmares she couldn’t escape from.

  “I need to get the condoms that are in the first aid kit and we both need to pray to every single higher power that might exist that they’re not expired.” I dropped a hard kiss on her parted lips and took a step back. “We’re also going to have to get creative with that busted wing of yours. I’ve been living like a monk in this monastery and was locked up for longer than I want to think about before that. I want to be gentle and considerate with you, but when you let a wild animal out of a cage, it can be impossible to control.”

  She tossed her head back and laughed at my graphic analogy and again I was amazed at how effortless everything with her seemed to be. She should be running away but instead, she reached out and traced the underside of my cock with her finger. It jerked at the gentle touch and my stomach tightened.

  Mirth and amusement battled with arousal and excitement in her eyes. “I’m not worried about getting bit. In fact, I’m kind of looking forward to it.” She curled her fingers around my erection and gave the shaft a squeeze that had my eyes rolling back into my head. “If you’re as good with this as you are with your mouth, I won’t be able to feel any pain I might be in over the pleasure. I can’t wait for that kind of painkiller.” She licked her lower lip and I immediately slicked my tongue over the wet trail she left, savoring her flavor and letting my teeth sink into the plump curve, taking my first bite.

  Her fingers tightened around my cock, making me put my hand around her wrist and pulling it off before I got so lost in what she was doing to me and what she was begging me with her eyes to do to her that I forgot protection. I vowed to take care of her, and making sure she made it off this mountain with memories and nothing more than that was part of it. I kissed her again and dashed to the bathroom so I could scavenge through the white box that I’d used to patch her up that first night. Someone had told me the condoms were actually to keep ammunition and firearms dry in an emergency. I didn’t give a shit why they were in the cabin; I was simply grateful that they were. Because all the stars seemed to have aligned the night she tumbled into my arms, the condoms were good and there were plenty of them to get us through the night.

  I walked back to where she was still perched on the edge of the bed and tossed the sleeve on top of the quilt. Now that I knew we were good to go, there was no stopping the rush of blood and shot of adrenaline-laced anticipation that worked through me. She looked better than a way out of jail. She felt better than a promise of a future outside of the Point. She smelled better than wealth and extravagance. She sounded better than all the lies I’d convinced myself were the truth.

  I kissed her and took her back down to the mattress. I ran my hand over her collarbone and across the swell of her breast. I covered the sweet skin with my palm and rubbed steady circles over the crest until her nipple beaded and poked anxiously into my touch. Once both peaks were pebbled and hard, stained ruby red with arousal, I moved my mouth to one pointed tip and sucked it into the warm cavern of my mouth. I trapped the opposite side between my fingers and tugged. The motion brought her shoulders up off the bed, which made her wince and had her good arm curling around my shoulders so she could hold herself still while I sucked on her and nibbled on her delectable flesh.

  I trailed my mouth along the valley between her breasts, stopping to leave biting, stinging kisses along the way and admiring the way my beard left her porcelain skin pink. There would be no missing where I had been. There would be a map of pleasure for her to follow when we were no longer in the same life. She wouldn’t be able to wash me away or wipe me off, and that made my dick throb and my hands harder than they should have been as I held her to my mouth and tortured her other nipple with teeth and tongue.

  She whimpered below me, legs falling open and her hand sliding its way along my back and across my hip until she could reach the erection between my legs that was pointing right at her. I jolted as she circled the tip with her thumb, bending the rigid shaft toward her wet center. She arched more fully into me, pushing more of her full breast into my mouth, moaning my name when I used my teeth with more force than I intended to. She put a heel on the edge of the bed and let her leg fall to the side so she was wide open and exposed. I grunted in response, my breath locking in suddenly seized lungs as she maneuvered the crown of my dick against her slick folds and started to lift her hips and grind against the hardness.

  “Fuck me.”

  I couldn’t stop myself from moving, from rocking into that heat and wetness. I could feel the bud of her clit rubbing eagerly along the underside of my cock and it was enough to make me forget my own name. “You don’t fuck fair.” I was trying to take my time, to make every second we had count and she was pushing me toward the point of no return.

  She used the moisture my dick was spreading around to glide her hand over the topside of my dick as she continued to pull me through her folds and rock her clit against me. She was panting underneath me and her eyes were at half-mast as a small smile played around her mouth.

  “I see that newfound integrity of yours trying to make an appearance. I’m beating it to the punch.” She lifted her leg and wrapped it around my waist as just the tip, the leaking, aching tip hit her soft spot and sank inside. It was barely anything, but both of us groaned at the contact and went still as the impact of how it felt to be together, the power of being with someone that understood exactly what they were getting from the other with no unrealistic expectation hit us.

  She was right. This was right.

  This was the only moment in my entire life where I knew I was exactly where I was supposed to be, doing precisely what I was supposed to be doing.

  I let her fall back to the mattress with a little thud and pushed deeper into her. I couldn’t bottom out, thrust into her with the wild abandon that I wanted to without a condom on, but I wanted to know how she would feel. I didn’t want to be able to wash her off or wipe her away either. The press of my hips into hers made her body move on the bed and we both went still as she sucked in a sharp breath and let out a cry of pain. It wasn’t the good kind.

  She blinked wide eyes up at me and wiggled where she was impaled on my greedy cock. Her eyebrows lifted and she moved her good hand to the center of my chest, where she raked her fingers through my chest hair. “That’s not going to work.”

  I snorted out a laugh and pulled out of her body. My dick was instantly furious with me and I smiled at her as a frown pulled at her pretty features at the loss of our connection.

  No one ever missed me when I was gone, but she couldn’t even stand the scant few inches that separated us. It made me feel more powerful and more important than anything in my life ever had.

  “I told you, I solve problems and I always figure out a solution.” I lowered my head so I could kiss the tip of each of her breasts, then crawled up and over her, making sure to keep clear of her long hair as I went. I didn’t want to pull on it in case the cut on her scalp was still tender. I put my back to the wall and stretched my legs out in front of me, crooking a finger at her. “Come over here and bring the condoms with you.”

  She twisted around, grabbed the packet like I asked, and then inched on her knees so she was kneeling next to me. I put my hands on her hips as she straddled me and then took the rubbers from her
so I could cover myself since there was no way she could do it with one hand. She curled her arm around my neck and was nuzzling her nose into the side of my throat, her damp tongue darting out to taste my skin. I shivered all over when she traced my scar from where it started behind my ear to where it ended at the hollow of my throat with a long, wet swipe. I wanted to tell her to stop. I was scared she could taste how dirty and vile all the things that had led up to me earning that mark were. It was my fate carved into my skin and I didn’t want her corrupted by what was. I wanted her turned on and dreaming of what could be.

  Once I was sheathed in latex, I wrapped my hands in her hair and pulled her far enough away from my chest that I could look her in the eyes. The blue of her gaze blazed like a torch and the flush in her face made her look like the fairytale princess I’d accused her of being.

  “We need to keep your shoulder still and braced the best we can. You aren’t ready to ride yet, Pop-Tart. And as much as I love the idea of getting to watch those unbelievable tits bouncing while you fuck me, the idea of how uncomfortable that will be for you kills my hard-on. I think what we need to do is flip the script.” I lifted my chin and circled a finger in the air in front of her wide eyes. “Turn around and face away from me.” She lifted a questioning eyebrow but did as I said. I groaned at the vision of her perfectly rounded ass nestled against my groin and couldn’t resist taking a minute to trace the adorable little divots she had at the base of her spine. “Sit on my cock, Echo. Take me all the way in and once I’m as deep as I can go, lean back against my chest so I can hold your upper body still while we tear each other apart.”

  She put her working hand on my thigh and crossed the other one protectively over her chest. She looked at me over her shoulder, watching as I stopped breathing, stopped thinking, stopped functioning when she started to take me slowly into her welcoming body. She was molten hot and silky smooth. She was tight and fitted around me like she was custom made to take my cock. She pulsed in time to my heartbeat and whispered my name like it was the only word she remembered how to say.

  Our bodies instinctively moved together, straining and aching to get closer. The steady stretch of her body as she made room for me had me lifting one of my hands back up to her breast so I could roll her nipple between my fingers. I growled dirty words in her ear the wetter and looser she got around me. The dual stimulation had the grip and pull of her inner walls lightening and with a sudden shift I was seated all the way inside of her and seeing stars. Even with the barrier of the condom, I could feel every pulse, every throb, and every tremor of her pussy. She felt electric and alive. She felt unforgettable.

  Once she had every hard, solid inch of me inside of her, she leaned back like a good girl, her head on my shoulder as I locked one of my arms around where she was holding herself like a vise. Her hair was everywhere and her shoulders were shaking. I kissed the shell of her ear and took her good hand in mine as I started to move underneath her. It took some finesse and some finagling to figure out how I could thrust up into her while keeping her braced against my chest. It was a little bit sloppy and a whole lot of effort, but the way her body clamped down on mine, the way she went liquid and started to mewl her pleasure, meant I found a way to rock up into her over and over again, hitting her sweet spot every time my hips kicked upwards.

  I dragged her trapped hand over her chest and across her abraded and swollen nipples. I tugged the compliant digits over her belly and down below her waist. Once I hit wet, I put our combined hands over her slippery center and pressed down on her exposed clit. I could feel the sharp edge of her nails on my cock as I continued to power my way inside of her.

  I used my control of her hand to guide her into touching herself. I ordered her to stroke her clit, to circle it and fondle it until she couldn’t take it anymore. She did everything I told her to do, including making sure she rubbed her knuckles along my shaft every time I hammered my way home. She was so ridiculously perfect. So outrageously ideal I couldn’t take much more.

  I lifted my free hand that wasn’t holding her prisoner to her neck and carefully wrapped my fingers around her throat. In her ear, I whispered that I wanted to feel the way I made her heart beat. I told her I wanted to catch every moan, every scream, every whisper I ripped out of her body. They were all mine and I was keeping them so I could relive them once it was just me and the mountain once again. I tightened my hold, squeezing as her body quickened around mine with each new declaration.

  “I’m so close.” She whimpered the warning and tilted her head to the side so I could catch the corner of her gaze.

  I chuckled and used my teeth on her ear as I threw my hips up over and over again. “I will follow you wherever you lead, Echo.” Because of her, I finally knew where I was going.

  My grasp on her neck tightened a little more, making her fingers move furiously between her legs. My pulse pounded, my cock stretched and pulsed. Her heart thundered erratically and her breathing went shallow and choppy. I felt pleasure unfurl low in my spine as my balls drew up tight and close to my body. She pressed her shoulders back into my chest like she was trying to force her way inside my skin. A second later, I felt her break. A warm rush of liquid covered my cock and her quivering thighs tensed and shifted where they were braced on the outside of mine.

  That flood of pleasure and the fluttering of her body as she moved around me was all it took for me to find my own release. I growled her name into her uncontrollable mane of hair, moved my hand to her jaw so I could lift her face up to mine so that we were cheek to cheek, and unleashed everything I had built up inside into her greedy center. She milked me dry. She took everything I had and then caressed me slow and sweet until I came back down from the stratosphere she had launched me into.

  I might have turned over a new leaf the day I found her, but right here, right now, I knew I was a new man because of her. It only took a look and I wanted to be someone different, someone that did, in fact, deserve a second chance and a shot at some kind of redemption.

  I kissed her cheek and smoothed a hand over her torso. She didn’t seem like she was in any hurry to move and I was happy with her exactly where she was.

  “Everything feel okay? We didn’t jam the shoulder back up, did we?” She’d done a lot of moaning and groaning but none of it sounded like it came from pain.

  She was quiet for a long time. So long that I was starting to worry and was going to pull out of her and roll her over so I could demand to know what was wrong when she finally cocked her good arm up around my head and muttered so low that I almost didn’t hear her, “Everything feels more than okay. It feels better than it has since…well, forever. I was savoring the moment.”

  This girl.

  She was going to end me. Others had tried…but only this broken woman could do it.

  My life had been spent making sure people couldn’t wait to get rid of me. I’d made it a point to make sure they didn’t want to be in my company for any longer than they had to and here she was savoring me…savoring our moment.

  How was I supposed to let her go when she was the only one that wanted me?

  Chapter 9

  Echo

  All the things in life that were bad for you, that you were supposed to stay away from, and protect yourself from sure felt really good and were a lot more fun than the things that were healthy and good for you.

  Drugs.

  Junk food.

  Endless hours of television.

  A day spent doing nothing but having mind-blowing sex with a dangerous man I would never see again.

  All of those things were addicting, but I knew instinctively the one I was going to have the hardest time quitting was the last one. Getting clean sucked. It left me wrung out and hollow on the inside. It left me feeling itchy and restless, always pushing back the urge to fade away and forget. It left me weak and lost. I’d always had a crutch to fall back on, an easy excuse to hand over whenever I messed up or made a mistake that hurt someone, a justification for wh
y I was always hurting myself. It took a long time and lots of help to find my footing after I kicked the habit and there was a cold knot of fear in my chest that it was going to take a shitload more than that to get over my newest addiction.

  We spent the rest of the day and all of the evening after Ben went and found my stuff wrapped up in each other. I learned that sex, when you had to get creative because of limitations, could be the most fun two people had together. I learned he was arrogant and bossy in bed just like he was out of it, and I was surprised to find that I didn’t mind taking orders and doing what I was told if it meant I got him inside of me faster. I’d taken control of my life in an iron fist when I decided to get clean. I held onto my sobriety with a grip that was unbreakable and, frankly, exhausting. It was refreshing to let my hold loosen and let someone else be in charge of making sure things happened the way they were supposed to, that nothing went off course.

  I also learned that he could be gentle, but I preferred it when he was rough. Ben was a big man, with hard hands and sharp eyes. When he was soft and sweet, it melted something inside of me, something I didn’t know was frozen until he touched it. When he was impatient and hungry, when he was demanding and forceful, I didn’t melt…I burned. I lit up from the inside and I was pretty sure that made me glow on the outside. I’d never been the type of woman that glowed. I never felt bright enough, shiny enough, happy enough to glow. But Ben and his ragged voice and dirty words rasped harshly in my ear got me there and I didn’t want to ever go back to being dull and lifeless.