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With that bit of information, he got up and rummaged through the top drawer of his dresser, then came back to me.

“Here,” he said softly, pressing something into my hand.

I stared down at the small green ball in confusion, giving it a tentative squeeze. It had little beads or something inside of it, was hard and soft at the same time, and I squeezed it again. When I looked up at Court, he was blurry in my vision because…

He cupped my face in his hands and kissed my tears away. “It wasn’t supposed to make you cry. I can return it.”

I shook my head, clutching the present against my chest. “No.”

“Then why are you crying?” He used his hands to gently tilt my face up, to look him in the eyes.

“Because,” I blubbered. “No one’s ever gotten me a p-present.”

“Well, I got you this for all the times you feel overwhelmed or anxious. I also got you a punching bag, but it’s in the basement. I just want you to put your pain somewhere other than here.”

He traced a path down my arm, the touch light enough to raise goosebumps along my skin. When he reached my forearm, he grasped it in his hand and rubbed his thumb over my scars.

“Tell me why you hurt yourself like this.” His voice was so soft, but his lips were pressed close to my ear, and it rang out like a thunderclap.

I wanted to withdraw, to tell him I just liked a little pain every now and then. But this man had done nothing but take blow after blow from me, catching every single one in easy hands that held on tight.

“I…” Would this change his opinion of me, though? God but why did that thought scare me so much? Why did I even care about what he thought of me? I was used to being judged and misjudged, so…what was one more person doing that?

Because that person was Court, and it mattered. I couldn’t pretend it didn’t.

“Because I let down the only person that ever mattered to me. I failed him, and…the only thing that could make me forget that was hurting myself.”

Court climbed onto the bed, positioned himself against the headboard, and dragged me between his legs. He wrapped is arms around me, and I let myself lean back into his warmth. To sink into his strength, to take the comfort he offered so easily.

“Your brother?” he asked softly.

I froze. “What? How did you know that?”

“Because you told me. When you were drunk.”

Fuck. What else had I told him back then?

He knew practically everything about me now. All the worst parts of me were his. And still, he held me like this.

I reached up and threaded my fingers through his, and he immediately gripped me hard and pressed a kiss to my head. So I told him the rest of it. About George and my brother and my mom, and Court just held me and whispered the sweetest words to me.

And everything suddenly felt like it would forever be okay, as long as I had Court by my side. At my back. He’d peeled away every layer of armor I’d put on and replaced it with himself.

An overwhelming wave of affection crashed through me. I turned around and straddled him, devouring his surprised eyes as he set his hands on my waist. I cupped his cheeks, staring into his eyes, and the love and hope shining in them filled me completely.

“Court,” I whispered. He covered one of my hands with his, pressing his cheek into my hand. “I’m sorry I left like that. I was just scared, and I thought I was protecting you, but I couldn’t do it, I was coming back. I swear I was.”

I wasn’t sure I’d ever get the anguish in his voice out of my mind.

Leaning in, I took his lips in mine, and he shuddered beneath me. The small sound he made in the back of his throat was so deliciously endearing, and when I felt his cock press against my pussy, the only barrier his thin boxers, I started grinding on him.

I bit his bottom lip and he bucked, then grabbed my waist and pushed me down onto his hard length, holding me still. “Fuck. Hold on, I’m gonna come.”

Arousal flooded through me, and all I wanted was for him to be inside me. I wanted to keep him there. I wanted to be skin to skin with him, so I yanked my shirt over my head and tossed it to the floor. Court’s hungry gaze fell to my breasts, and in an instant he was leaning forward, sucking one into his mouth with a groan.

While he was distracted, I started grinding on him again, every brush of my clit on his length sending the most heady waves of ecstasy through me. “Put it in,” I panted, needing him buried inside me. “Court. Put it in me. Now.”

His low laugh almost made me come. “Say please.” He bit down on my nipple, then swirled his tongue around the hard bud, looking up at me with a devilish gleam in his eyes. He ran his tongue up the center of my chest, nipped at my jaw, rubbed his cheek against mine. “Tell me you’ll never leave me again and beg me for my cock.”