Page 80 of Crave Me

It should’ve been a win through and through—on many fronts, actually. One of which, beyond the fact of the lead, was that she had her dad back with her after them being apart for way too long. They’d been so close before everything had gone to hell that night at the Benson home and taken him away from her. Having that void in her life since had been awful for her and part of the reason she’d been in such a state when she’d first come back to us.

Now he was here, there was finally the opportunity for that part of her to heal along with the rest she’d been working so hard to.

Unfortunately, having him back was marred by him being wounded and possibly even more than that, the reason for such an injury. The danger he was now immersed in.

Danger that had been triggered by Caspian’s actions.

Yes, me, Caleb and him had wanted Jeremy taken care of. We’d wanted him punished and the threat he posed by still being out there with such a fucked-up fixation with Sky eliminated. But the three of us hadn’t agreed for that to mean actual death.

For one thing, for it to go that far, Sky should’ve been involved in the decision-making.

If Cas had succeeded and she’d found out, even down the road, it would’ve saddled her with a whole lot of guilt knowing he’d done it predominantly for her. She already had enough of that which she was working through as it was after her bloodletting vengeance crusade she’d been on during her mission to track down Jett Bane.

Fuck, Cas.

He’d crossed so many lines lately and it was only getting worse.

I fought to keep my pissed disposition from breaching the surface as I sat beside Sky stroking her hair while she held her dad’s hand in the infirmary room Matteo had only recently left. He was still unconscious but stabilized. Caspian’s doctor had sanitized and sealed his wound which had been caused by a serrated blade, and he was being treated for heavy blood loss, as well as being fed a course of antibiotics via an IV. Fortunately, no permanent damage had been done, nothing vital had been compromised.

“I’m gonna whip up some breakfast. Any requests, beautiful?”

Not taking her eyes off her dad, she murmured, “I’m not hungry.”

“After last night, that can’t possibly be true. You’re always famished after some good fucking.”

She swung her head toward me. “Bastian!” she whisper-yelled, her cheeks heating.

“You’re going to eat, or I’ll keep referencing it. In graphic detail.”

“You’re being a bastard again. Stubborn and relentless.”

“All for you, baby.”

She glared at me for a moment, before releasing a sigh of resignation. “Fine. I’ll eat.”

I rose to my feet and patted her head. “There’s my good girl.”

Her eyes flashed and she reached out with her free hand and snagged my cock through my jeans, the pain making me grunt.

“That’s what you get,” she said, grinning slyly. She released me, then patted my shaft much harder than necessary, eliciting another grunt from me. “Good boy.”

I leaned in and whispered at her ear, “You’ll pay for that later, my savage thing.”

“Promises, promises.”

That sly and challenging look fell away and then she nuzzled against my cheek and told me earnestly, “Thank you.”

“For trying to lighten the mood in the most inappropriate way possible?”

A soft smile spread over her lips. “Actually, in a special way that only you can, sweets.” She kissed my cheek. “One of the many reasons why I love you so hard.”

“So hard, huh?”

“Absolutely.”

“I love you too. So hard.”

She chuckled and I eased away, then headed out to make her some breakfast.

---