OCTAVIA
Linc has been treating me like I’m made of glass since our conversation on Monday. This softer side is definitely something I could get used to seeing every now and then, but I almost miss his assholeish ways. I don’t want to be looked at like I’m breakable.
It’s not who I am.
All it’s doing is acting as a reminder of what happened to me, and what could still be waiting.
It could’ve been worse—so much worse—but I got myself free, and he got me out. We’ll find a way around the other stuff. We haven’t been able to get a straight answer about this fucking engagement bullshit either, and it has him on edge.
So when I woke up with him in my bed again this morning, I made a decision. If he won’t take my words as proof that I’m okay, that we’ll be okay, then I’m going to show him with my actions. We haven’t taken that step yet, but I’m more than ready.
I pad back into my bedroom and find him half asleep, looking at me in that dazed, still possibly going to fall back to sleep, yet impossibly alert way he has. His shirt is wrapped around me, and when he notices that, his eyes go a little wider and he looks a little more coherent. “You look good with me on you.”
I grin at the cheesy line. I love that I get this side of him that no one else sees. It’s like we’re in a bubble, and I know I’m safe here.
Sashaying over to the bed, I let the shirt drop from my shoulders, and his eyes narrow as he watches me intently. This might be my show, but I’m very aware that my tenuous control of the situation is likely to pass to him when I make my next moves.
The shirt pools at my feet and I stand bare in front of him before climbing onto the bed, slipping beneath the sheets. I move closer to him and capture his lips with mine, running my hands up his bare chest, tangling my fingers in the small patch of hair there. Moving slowly I push him onto his back and move to straddle him as his hands grip my hips.
There might be his thin pair of boxers between us, but it is more than a little apparent that he is on board for what I have in mind.
Maybe I should be more tentative since we haven’t done this before, because of everything that’s happened between us before now, but I’m tired of denying what he means to me. To him and to myself.
“Octavia,” he murmurs as I pull back for breath, his gray eyes dark and stormy as he holds me in place with one hand, another moving to fist my hair. “If we do this, there is no turning back. We already crossed enough lines that I’m never letting go, but this… this means you’re mine and there is nothing in this world or any other that will keep me from you. The stars may fall, and the sun may never rise, but you will still be mine.”
His words make my heart race, and I nod my head as much as I can in his grasp. His eyes flash and I’m on my back in a heartbeat, his body hovering over me. He leans his forehead against mine, closing his eyes, and takes a breath as my heart pounds against my ribcage. “I’ve got you, always. Never forget that, Octavia.”
He captures my lips again, and I get lost in the feel of him. Every sense heightened by the anticipation of what’s to come.
Our tongues move as if in a dance we’ve been practicing our entire lives and I revel in the feel of his heat. A strong chest hovering above mine—breaths becoming more and more shallow—with arms caging me in while he kisses and licks every inch of me. He tastes like a new morning, like a new beginning, and I can’t seem to get enough of him. With my feet planted firmly on the mattress, I push my hips up to meet his crotch but he’s keeping his dick away from me on purpose.
My groan and whimper tell him everything he needs to know: I want it, now. He chuckles in my mouth and the lightheartedness of that sound is fuel to my burning fire.
“Linc, gimme!”
“Patience. I want you to beg for it.” With that declaration, Linc ends our kiss with a bite of my bottom lip and pulls back, eyes darting all over my face like he’s assessing my state of being.
“I’m fine. I keep telling you but you’re too stubborn to get it.”
“You’re fine when I say you’re fine.” If it weren’t for the glint in his steel gaze, I’d be offended by such a declaration. But he’s kidding, trying to rile me up, and lucky for him, I’m more than just riled up. I’m near losing my mind with wanting him.
I think I’ve always wanted him, from the first time we spoke all those years ago. Linc and me? It’s been a long time coming.
And hopefully, we’ll both be literally coming sooner rather than later.
Wrapping my legs around his waist, I push my heels down on his ass and pull myself up to rub my pussy against his boxer-clad cock. Linc moans and the sound goes straight to my clit, making me shiver with need.
“Linc, please. God, I need you.”
“There it is.” With a dexterity only he could possess, Linc is completely naked in less time than it takes me to realize it. We’re skin to skin—heat to heat—and the feel of him is nothing short of heavenly.
Then he’s gone. Completely untangled from my hold, Linc travels down the length of my body, one leisurely kiss at a time. One bite and one suck at a time. His mouth latches onto my nipple—sucking it in almost to the point of pain—and his fingers search out my folds, finding them wet and ready for him. My back arches, aching for more of his touch, more of his mouth. Always more when it comes to him.
With his tongue flicking my hard nub until he tears a long moan from me, he looks up and winks right before his teeth sink down and my entire body springs off the bed.
“What the—” I’m gasping in air, my pussy desperate for more attention as he only rubs my pussy from the outside, leaving me begging for more of him, more of his touch.
“Shh, be good.”