This is Love, Baby(32)

“I’ll just be brushing my teeth.”

Once inside the bathroom, I quickly brush my teeth in hopes that we can at least kiss while we cuddle before bed. I drop my jeans and leave on my black boxers. When I finally emerge from the bathroom, she’s bent over the bed tugging the sheets into place and baring the backs of her smooth thighs to me.

The idea of sleeping in this bed still fucks with my head, but having her curled up next to me will outweigh the fact that Gabe fucked her on it. “Tomorrow, we’re leaving. With or without his compliance. I’m ready to take care of you and staying here is a constant reminder of what that asshole did to you. A reminder of what he did to us.”

She whirls around and glares at me. Her bare tits are visible through the thin pink gown and her hardened small nipples poke through. What I wouldn’t give to put my teeth on one of them and—

“Us?” she snaps. “He did nothing to you here in this cabin, Brandon. But me? He did everything to me. Don’t say shit like that.”

I growl and storm over to her. She flinches again and it pisses me right the fuck off. “Stop acting like you’re afraid of me, goddammit!” I say with a low rumble in my voice. “I’m not going to hurt you. You’re my everything. And just because you’re upset doesn’t mean I should be the recipient of every outburst you have. He’s the one who raped you, not me. Gabe fucked what was mine, not me. So he did do something to me in this cabin. He robbed me of what was supposed to be mine. Ours. Next time you want to have a bitch fit, remember that I was the one to rescue you from that, because it seems like you are easily forgetting. I’m the one who fucking loves you. I’m the only one who wants to keep you safe. So cut the shit, Baylee.”

Tears well in her eyes and her body quakes with sobs. She throws her arms around my waist and buries her face against my chest, heating the flesh where her name is surrounded in tattooed flames. It seems fitting and right.

“I’m sorry, Brandon. I’m just so upset. Everything hurts. Losing my mom and War,” she sobs. I try not to flinch at the mention of that asshole. “And not knowing where Dad is. Being around Gabe, knowing he’s the blame for all of this. But being around you is the hardest. You want things from me that I simply can’t give to you right now.”

Right now.

But she didn’t say not ever.

My heart soars and I stroke my fingertips up and down her spine causing her to shiver. “It’s okay. Let me hold you while you sleep.”

She tenses in my arms but I don’t let it affect me. I peel myself from her and motion toward the bed. Then, I walk over to the bag and retrieve a picture for her, as well as her mother’s sweater. When she sees them, her cries turn louder as she releases the grief she’s been holding on to. I help her into the sweater before she crawls under the covers, clutching the picture. It only takes me a few minutes to turn off the lights and then join her beneath the sheets. She lets me pull her back against my front.

I want to roll her onto her back and push into her tight body. But I don’t. I refrain and settle with simply holding her. My fingers stroke her skin everywhere in an attempt to calm her. When her hiccups eventually turn into soft breathing, I know she’s fallen asleep.

We lay there for hours, her sleeping and me awake holding her. When she rolls onto her back, I stare down at her pretty face, the moonlight from the window casting an ethereal glow on her pale flesh. Her lips are parted open as she takes even breaths. Dark lashes flutter as she dreams. Leaning forward, I press a kiss to her pouty lips. So soft and perfect like I remember.

My dick thickens against the side of her thigh and I am fucking desperate to make love to her. She may no longer be a virgin but I am, and she’s the one I want to lose mine to. The way it was always supposed to be. For the both of us. I’m about to come simply from the idea of it. I drag my fingers over her stomach gently and then up to her breasts. With one finger, I tease the hardened peaks of her nipples through her gown. Then, I slide my finger up her throat, over her chin, and stop at her lips.

Pushing my finger into her mouth, I revel in the heat that she breathes over my flesh. I run the pad of my fingertip over her pink tongue and over the grooves of her teeth. Once my finger is damp, I pull it from her mouth. Rolling to my back as well, I push down my boxers enough to allow my stiff and eager cock to spring free. With my wet finger, I circle the tip of my cock. Knowing her juices are on me is enough to almost have me come right there.

I groan when a bead of pre-cum rolls down the head of my soft tip.

I want her to taste it.