AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Oh, Bryce, I’m so sorry,” I say, stepping closer to him.
Immediately, he wraps his arms around my waist. Muscles turn into a vise that locks me in. His heart is pressed to me; I can feel it beating. The force of his hold lifts me slightly and I use the momentum to get closer, hitching my legs around his hips. His rough clothes rub my soft center. My skin awakens to his touch. The towel is no longer between us.
He groans roughly and turns around to press me against a wall. I nestle my face in the crook of his neck, and he buries his breath under my wild, tangled hair.
Then, he begins shaking. Bryce’s sturdy, muscular frame rattles like a tower of bones. It’s such a shocking thing to witness—a strong, capable man unable to control his own shivers—that I don’t know what to do.
I push him away slightly to cup his face, kiss his mouth, offer something to lessen what feels like the utter breakdown of Bryce’s composure. He doesn’t let me pull away. Bryce shakes off my hands and buries deeper into my neck. Our bodies are crushed so completely, there’s no telling where one ends and the other begins.
They drip from my collarbone to my breast.
Tears.
Bryce’s tears fall in a steady trickle while he is completely, heartbreakingly silent.
My eyes well up, but my shock and sadness are irrelevant. What preoccupies every cell of my body is the all-consuming need to hold, comfort, and love Bryce. To rescue him from whatever is overcoming him, the way he rescued me from my captors.
“I’m here now. I’m here and nothing bad happened to me, OK? Oh, Bryce.”
I hold him as firmly as I can and offer insufficient consolation. Words are inadequate. Instead, I cling and kiss and soothe. I make the gestures and sounds that I hope will pull him from the darkness.
Maybe five minutes or fifty minutes pass. Eventually, his shaking abates and his breathing steadies. Lips still pressed against my neck, he whispers.
“I thought I was going to lose you, Ana. I… I can’t lose you. Do you understand me? I can’t. I won’t survive it a second time, Anastasia. My Ana, I can’t lose you.”
He mumbles his litany of pain, so gut-wrenchingly intense, I don’t know how to alleviate the fear and hurt he’s processing.
When words peter out and his hold slackens, I do what I’ve been wanting to do from the moment we were alone.
I offer myself to my protector. My warrior. My lover. My person.
“I love you. You will never have to be without me. No matter what the future brings, we’re together in body, mind, and heart. I won’t let you go either, my love. Ever. I love you so much, Bryce.”
Her kisses begin on my forehead, travel over my brows and nose, and move along my jaw until finally our lips lock. She clamors higher, finding leverage to press down and crush our mouths. It feels incredible to be wanted, to be on the receiving end of her hunger, to know that my love is accepted and returned by this woman.
Naked and lush, Ana’s is the only body I’ll ever crave. She is my light. My reason to wake up every day. The love of my life. And I’m hers.
“I love you, Ana. More than anyone or anything. It’s always been you. I love you so fucking much.”
I grab her hips, digging hard till I hear her moan. She’s warm and soft. I latch onto her neck, indulging in a swift graze of my teeth.
“Say it again. Say you’re mine,” I order gruffly.
“I love you. God, I love you so much.” She scratches her nails on my shoulders, breaking skin. She’s trying to get under me, the mingling of pleasure and pain a unique reassurance that she’s alive.
She’s here. She’s mine.
Ana roughly sucks my tongue and I taste the distinct copper flavor of blood. I pull away. The wound on her lip has opened.
“Fuck, my girl is bleeding,” I say and brush my lips at the edge of her wound. I lick it, consuming her blood like divine dessert. She stiffens for a second but then moans when I wrap my lips around the gash, tenderly soothing her with my tongue. The taste of her veins affects me like an addict’s hit. I want more, more, more.
Two steps bring us to the edge of the bed. I lower her on her back, lean over, and latch on to her nipple. My legs are halfway hanging off the bed, so I grab her armpits to lift her higher.
“Oh god, I’m ticklish there!” She laughs. Giggles. It does things to me, her laughter. I crave to give her happiness in all forms but also, at some deprived level, I want her to understand how serious I am about not losing her.
Keeping her in my life is essential. That’s no laughing matter.
“Do you remember your safe word, Ana?” I ask.
