Her hand comes up from the bed and extends out for me again, her palm caressing my cheek as she takes the last few scoots on her knees to reach me.  My eyes never leave hers as I reach out and finally meet her in the middle.  I can see the relief in her eyes when, for the first time in years, I take what she’s been offering me.  My arm goes behind her back, my hand lightly digging in when I curl it around her ribs and pull her into my chest.

She cries softly, and at this point, I’m not sure if it’s because I’ve given her this moment or because she’s still scared from my nightmare.  Her small hands dig into the skin on my chest and it feels like she is trying to fuse our bodies together.  I lean back against the pillows and let her have this time to calm down.  After a few minutes of silence, she lifts up, her hands still firmly pressed against my chest, her eyes imploring.

“Em,” I whisper, not sure where to even begin.

She doesn’t even hesitate before reaching up and framing my head between her hands.  Her thumbs take a sweep against my cheek before her lips press against mine.  Hesitantly at first, unsure if I’m going to push her away, before allowing herself to take what she wants.

I reach out and pull her by her slim hips to straddle my waist, not even caring that there is nothing but my thin boxer briefs separating us.  She moans when my erection presses against her core.  The heat of her pussy settled against my lap is almost enough for me to come on the spot.

With a growl, I deepen the kiss, taking it to a level of predatory ownership.  Our tongues swirl together, her breath mixing with my own and our mouths doing all the talking for us.

In this moment, she owns me.  Everything I’ve been denying us both comes to a screeching halt.

I allow myself this moment.  I allow her this moment and pray that, when the sun comes up in the morning, she doesn’t hate me for pushing her away again.

Chapter 8—Emmy

When I wake up to Maddox’s screaming and shaking in the bed, my first thought is that I have to be dreaming.  Then the events that led up to us being in the same bed come rushing back.  It’s been weeks since I’ve allowed myself just a second of rest, so it’s not a shock that, the second I got around the one person who I know deep down would never let harm come to me, I crashed.

The noises that are coming from his throat are tearing me to pieces.  I forget the hell that will be waiting for me when I return to Syn and focus on the broken man who needs me now.  I just pray that he will let himself take what I so desperately offer him.

The second he lets his walls down and our lips meet, I know that every feeling I thought I would feel when he finally let me in isn’t even a fraction of the reality.   I feel alive for the first time in months.  Hell, maybe for the first time in my life.  When I decided to let him go, I never thought that this moment would come to fruition.  I never let myself believe that it would happen.

His fingers curl into my hips, and I jump when he hits my sore spots—crying out when the pain rips through my middle.

And just like that, the moment is gone.

He pulls his mouth from mine and searches my eyes for the cause of my whimper.  One clearly pain-derived and not because I can feel him hot against my core.

“Did I hurt you?”

I should lie.  I know even before the words leave my lips that the moment is gone.

“It’s nothing,” I say in the hopes that he will drop it.

“You don’t have a reaction like that over nothing, Emmy.”

He snaps the light beside the bed on and gently pushes me back some from his chest.  He lifts my shirt up at the hem, and I close my eyes when I feel his fingers trace the bruising around my sides.  He is silent for the longest time, but I don’t open my eyes.

“Who fucking did this to you?”  His voice breaks through the silence, and just the sound of his rage makes me flinch.

“Maddox, please…  It’s nothing.”

He leans in, his nose just inches from mine, and looks me in the eyes.  “It isn’t nothing, Emmy.  There are goddamn handprints all over your hips.  This is as far from nothing as it gets.  I won’t ask you again, Emmy.  Who did this to you?”

I squirm in his lap, trying to get some distance from him, but his arms wrap around my middle and hold me hostage.

“It was an accident?”

His nostrils flare, and I watch as his eyes darken even more.

“I fell?”

His jaw ticks.

“I—”