“I’ll stay here. Take Max home, you two shouldn’t be staying somewhere like this.”
“Ryan knows where we live and is here Blake. There is no way I’m going back there. It’s never going to be over is it?”
“He won’t hurt you, baby.”
Her hand comes down hard against my cheek, causing my tooth to pierce it and the copper twang of blood to ignite on my tongue. The anger in her eye has almost swallowed all of the green circling the pupil. Her brows are crashed together. “Don’t you ever say those words to me again. All that man knows is hurt Blake. All he has ever brought me is pain. You let him go free with our daughter and turn her into him.”
I stand and grab her cheeks swiping the tears from under her eyes. “She was a killer Mel, she fucking killed a girl at her college. Ryan left so she could have a normal life but normal was never in her. She’s sick, Mel. Our baby girl is a murderer and I couldn’t face her being where he was, so he took her away to protect her from that.”
Her gasp and step back from my grasp makes the hole growing in my stomach expand. I’ve never felt more hopeless in my life. “What?” Her strangled whisper causes tears to build in my own eyes.
“I’m sorry, baby. Fuck, I’m so damn sorry. I felt so fucking powerless to help her, I didn’t know what to do and acted on impulse.”
A tear falls free, dropping to my cheek. I feel broken, lost and deserted and betrayed by life. How much more were we supposed to deal with? How much more could it take from me? I can’t lose her.
“I have to live with this now, how it ended up. I can’t lose you too, we need each other. I need you Mel.” I break like I’m that eighteen year old boy again and instead of hardening and becoming what I thought I needed to, I weakened and I cried. I cried for my younger self, for not having a mother and father who I could rely on. I cried for my damaged, soulless brother who didn’t stand a chance at normal. I should have taken notice of the signs and got him help when he was a kid. I cried for the lives I stole, and the lives that were left behind to mourn them. I cried for the lives of Mel’s parents that Ryan brutally robbed from her, from Cereus before she was even here and from Max. I cried for not being able to stop Cereus from becoming like him. I cried for my wife who was the strongest person I knew and had been tested further than anyone should be. She survived some of life’s darkest trials and came out the other side, and yet she still managed to love, still managed to see the good in the world - and in me. She made me a father, a husband, she made me human again.
I manage to bring my breathing under control and swipe at the tears dampening my cheeks. That’s when I notice that warm arms encompass me and Mel’s scent fused with fresh rain soaks into me, wrapping me in a blanket of security.
“I love you so much, you can’t leave me Mel. You can’t… you can’t.”
“I won’t … I won’t.”
My arms tightened on hers anchoring myself to her. We stay like that for a while, just holding each other, just breathing each other.
“Let’s take these clothes off and shut the door, the carpet is soaked.” Her soft croaky voice penetrated the silence.
We moved together, pushing the door closed and peeling each other’s clothes free from our bodies. Max was sleeping on the bed. I hate that she came to a crappy motel.
“Let’s get you in the shower, you’re freezing,” she murmurs, pulling me towards the bathroom. Turning the shower on hot, she pulls me under the spray. I feel so drained. I’ve never felt like this before. Her warm embrace offers me the comfort I need but I seek more, pushing my body into her, exhaling a relieved breath when every inch of her skin touches mine. Her legs wind around me, her body reacting to mine, knowing we need to be connected. I aid her, lifting her and holding her body against mine as I push straight inside her, swallowing her gasp with my mouth.
The water cascades over us, creating a cocoon, a small piece of solace. Just for a short while we are just Blake and Mel, a man and woman beaten down by life, frayed and battered souls clinging to each other for comfort.
I push deep and savor the heat of her walls contracting over my shaft, squeezing and demanding more. Her heavy tits push into my chest, her nipples peaking from the friction of our bodies gliding over each other’s. My lips devour hers, our tongues dancing together. I would never get my fill of her, she was still the girl who captivated and captured the man in me with just a look. Those green eyes, heavy lidded and staring at me ignites a fire so wild inside me only she can tame it.