Her breath catches on a gasp. Her arms drop, her body sighing. “Alec.” She sobs, throwing herself at me. It hurts my face, but I catch her and I hold onto her for dear life. Fuck, I’d die without her. Her palms cup my face, the pad of her thumbs stroking the bruise forming there.
“Rage’s hits are fucking lethal,” I grunt. She shakes her head, her pretty curls bouncing around her face.
“It was actually Jameson who hit you.”
“What?”
She shrugs. “Rage took everything you had to give. He let you get all that anger out on his face and body.”
Shit. I’m a fucking asshole. Lost in darkness, wading through murky waters that won’t clear, no matter how hard I wish they would.
“My old man?”
“He didn’t see. Doesn’t know.” She frowns. That’s one saving grace, I suppose.
“Alec?” She kisses my lips, gentle and attentive. “Tell me how to help you. I feel so helpless, baby.”
I pull her against me, inhaling her scent. “You are helping me. Just stay with me, yeah? Lay with me for a little while. It’s nearly midnight—a new day. Your birthday.” Eighteen, and she’s stuck here looking after me.
She nods and slips off my lap to turn out the light. I hear her shucking off her boots, and when my eyes adjust to the light, my breath leaves my lungs. She pulls her dress up and over her head—no bra, just a pair of cotton panties. She climbs into the bed, lying down next to me. She’s done this a million times before, but never naked. I’ve touched, kissed, seen every inch of this girl, but we’ve never gone all the way. I hated the thought of her not being ready or regretting it, so we did everything else over and fucking over again. I’m mad about this girl and crave her like a drug. “You going to sit up all night?” she teases. My head is foggy. We’ve been in here many fucking nights and messed around, but this feels like more…
Eight
Drew
Seventeen/Eighteen years old
Thirty minutes later…
Breathing in deep, I wrap myself around Alec, soaking in the moment, memorizing every second of it to revisit when my mind isn’t spinning. I’ve always known I loved him, ever since I was six years old and he called me a badass for cutting my hair off after a kid mocked me for my pigtails.
No one could possibly love him more. His eyes have been reflecting that back to me since our first kiss…maybe even before that.
He’s my soul mate, and it’s a miracle in this twisted, fucked-up world we live in that we found each other so early on. But we did, and here we are, living through the pain and sorrow of him losing his mother. My mother died when I was a baby—a hit and run. My dad doesn’t think I know why he became a member of the Royal Bastards, but I know it involved tracking and dealing with her killer.
I was a sneaky kid and heard a lot of conversations I probably shouldn’t have.
“You’re killing me, baby. Fuck, I love the way you smell.” He inhales my scent, tasting my skin.
His kiss burns through me, lighting every nerve ending. “Drew…” He says my name so pained, I weep a little, feeling all his hurt, his love. “I want to show you how much I love you, Alec,” I tell him, kissing his lips, cheeks, and eyelids.
“I love you so damn much.”
“Then show me,” I tell him, the weight of his body falling on top of mine.
“Are you sure?”
“More sure than anything.” And it’s the truth. He’s never pressured me for more than I’ve been ready for, and if I’m honest, I’ve been ready for this for a long time. “You going to marry me?” Kiss.
“Yeah.”
“Have my babies?” Caress.
“Not babies, baby—one.” I gasp, feeling skin on skin.
He’s gentle, caring, beautiful. Taking his time, he kisses every part of me, reassuring me, loving me.
“I’ll show you the world as you’ve always dreamed of.” Bite. “And then you’ll have my babies.” Tease.
“One…baby, single.”
“Yeah, we’ll see.” A swipe of his tongue.
We stroke, caress, talk each other through it, and when he enters my body, I feel an overwhelming rush of blissful happiness, completeness—I’m whole. Emotions stir inside me so intense, they steal my breath and bring tears to my eyes.
“Did I hurt you?”
“No,” I assure him. It did hurt, but only briefly, and it’s a bearable pain that dissipates with his movements.
“I love you so damn much.” Thrust.
“I love you too…”
I wake up cocooned in Alec, his entire body wrapped around mine.
“Don’t go,” he groans in my ear, making me giggle.
“I need to pee and get a drink.” Releasing my body, he sighs, laying flat on his back, a lazy smile hooking his lips.
“You know we’re never leaving this bed now, right?”