me instead.
Bliss breaking us together.
Sending us over that edge.
Spilling us over the side.
She gasped and writhed, and I came and came, this girl’s body hugging me tight as she pulled the greatest pleasure out of me.
Our bodies shivered and twitched, and we relished in the afterglow. She hugged me for what felt like forever, her face up high on my neck, girl wrapped around me where we sat on the floor.
My arms refused to let her go.
Because I knew I would never get to experience a moment greater than this.
Knew I could never feel anything bigger than this.
And I was sure, right then, that I would give her my all.
Willingly.
Wholly.
All the while praying that I wouldn’t fuck it up all over again. That for once, maybe…just maybe I could be right.
Finally, I stood with her still in my arms, and she held on tighter as I took her into the bathroom to clean us up.
Then I carried her into my room and helped her into her panties, and then I grabbed a clean tee of mine and pulled it over her head.
A blush filled her cheeks, and she let her gaze wander down my shirt. “It’s different, isn’t it?”
I moved into her space, my hand on her cheek. “Yeah, Maggie, it’s different. It’s everything.”
Then I scooped her up and tucked her into my bed. I nestled in at her side.
Maggie sighed.
I kissed her forehead. “Happy birthday, baby.”
“Best birthday ever,” she whispered.
“I’m so glad I got to share it with you.”
She nodded, and I heard her silent prayer. That we’d get the chance to spend a hundred more together. And I guessed I was the fool to pray for it, too.
Twenty-Eight
Rhys
Shock slammed me into consciousness when I was ripped from the most blissful-sort of sleep by two hands that grabbed me by the shoulders and tore me from bed. Still half asleep, I flew across the room.
An explosion of rage blasted the space.
The force of it bashed the walls and rumbled across the floor like an earthquake that was picking up speed.
I hit the carpet with a tumble, trying to orient myself, to get a hold on the threat, while Maggie screeched.
My attention darted for the girl considerin’ she was the only thing that mattered. She’d scrambled to her knees on my bed with the sheets we’d been tangled in bunched at her chest.
Charcoal eyes were wide and terrified.
First instinct was to rush for her. Throw myself over her and promise her I’d take any harm coming her way.
Only thing that managed to keep me from doin’ it was the tablet that was tossed to the bed like a barrier between us. Maggie’s attention was instantly drawn there, too.
Took me a second to process the bullshit I was seeing. To let the bleariness clear so I could make out what was on the screen.
Shouldn’t have been a shocker that it was that motherfuckin’ site that sought to ruin my already ruined life.
My heart seized in my chest, alarm squeezing my ribs so tight I thought they were gonna collapse.
This mornin’s story told a very raunchy tale of Maggie and me. There were a bunch of pictures of us out on that darkened street like what we’d been engaged in was some sort of lewd act.
Maggie pressed to the building, skirt bunched up around her thighs with my hips wedged between hers. Another of her straddling me as we’d slipped into the backseat of the car.
My mouth and hands all over her sweet body.
Shit.
Fuck.
Hell.
Not smart on my part.
Gettin’ distracted like that.
Not last night or right then.
Because a fist landed at the side of my face without me even preparing myself for the blow. A burst of pain splintered through my brain, so extreme I was a second from losin’ coherency.
Lights out.
Rocking to the side on my hands and knees, I blinked hard, trying to keep it together while I shook off the shock.
All while the dread I’d been feeling for weeks careened through my bloodstream, recognizing the fury that stormed the room like an army.
Only this was a one-man battalion.
A ragin’, furious man who came for me again. “You piece of shit. I knew it. Knew it.”
Another fist landed on the other side of my face. This time I was almost prepared for the knuckles that cracked against my jaw and sent a string of bright lights flashing behind my eyes.
Maggie screamed. “Royce. No. Stop.”
Her voice hittin’ the air only fueled his anger, and Royce was unlocking and jerking open my door.