“Well, then, we need to establish new ones.” I crossed my arms and popped out a hip. “Until then, we shouldn’t be doing anything. I don’t want to ruin—”
He stalked toward me and started to unbuckle my jeans before I could complete the sentence.
“I… You… I don’t want to ruin our friendship,” I stuttered out. He nodded but slid his hands down my lace panties and pressed a thumb to my clit as his fingers worked out how wet I was for him. “I’m listening, Meek. Set all the boundaries you want.”
His middle finger slid so far into me, I grabbed his shoulders to keep from falling. “Oh, God.”
He dipped his head to suck on my neck.
“Jay, wait.” I tried to form a thought about boundaries, to find some semblance of logic, but everything was melting away.
He dragged his nose up my neck and murmured, “I’ll wait forever if that’s what you need.”
I shook my head. “Don’t. I need you.” My hesitation had rolled away. The light kisses on my skin were like whispers that my body leaned in to hear more of. His touch against me was like a fire lighting my coldest night. He was bringing me back to life.
His hands slid up under my sweater to lift it over my head. I stared at him as I slid my jeans off, leaving me standing there in lingerie.
The smile he normally had was gone, the charm, the laid-back side of him nowhere to be found. He took a step back and drank me in.
His jaw tensed. “You’re perfect, Meek.”
“I’m just me,” I whispered back.
“And that’s all I want you to be. Always.”
He reached out to grip my ribs where the bruises had faded but where he knew they’d been. He rubbed his thumbs over each bone. “I’m going to show you how you should be cherished, Little Pebble.”
My breath quivered as he knelt down and kissed each rib with a feather light touch. “Jay, you don’t have to—”
“I do.”
He picked me up by my hips, and they automatically wrapped around him like they knew this was my home, this was safety, this was where we were supposed to be.
I stared down at him, my arms atop his shoulders and my hands in his hair. “This is going to ruin us.”
He shook his head as he leaned his forehead into my neck. “Nothing can ruin us, little one. This is where we’re supposed to be. New ground rules?”
I waited for him to tell me.
“No boundaries. You’re mine. I’m sure of it now.”
His words shined a light on a dark part of my heart I didn’t know existed. My hands drifted to his cheeks and I crashed my mouth to his, not sure where we were going from here but sure I was going wherever it was with him. I kissed him and felt the light dim on every other love I’d felt before.
Everything he did felt new, like smelling a flower for the first time, like silk across your skin when all you’d known was sand. He laid me on the bed and threaded his fingers through my hair. Over and over he combed the strands as he ran a finger up and down my stomach.
“Jay,” I whispered, not sure I could hold back the buildup of emotion.
The only time I had ever been cherished like this was when Dougie beat me so badly he felt the need to make up for it.
Jay did it without being prompted, like I was worth it always, like I deserved it for just being me.
The first tear slipped as I realized he was right.
I lifted up on one elbow to grab his neck and pull him down to kiss me. I wanted to taste the man who did this to me, to memorize his lips, the way his tongue curled around mine, how he held me close as I moved under him.
I pulled his shirt over his head and undid his jeans. He kissed down my neck and across my chest, his hands finding their way to the back of my bra and undoing it with ease. Just as my hand dipped into his boxers, he lowered his mouth to one of my breasts.
I hissed when he grazed his teeth over one nipple. I gripped him tighter, feeling how thick he was in my hand as he brought me to the edge of ecstasy.