Page 89 of Oathbreaker

“I’ll never forgive myself, Winter!” he says with just as much energy. He grips my hips, and I let him this time.

“Give me your hate. Give me your anger. Hit me, Winter.”

I slow down slightly as his words stun me. “What?”

“Hit me. Hurt me.” I stare at him, shaking my head. “Fucking make me bleed, goddamnit!” He reaches behind his head, grabbing a shard of glass. “Make it hurt, Winter. Carve me up so I can be scarred—so that I don’t carry this fucked up shit only inside my body. Make it ugly. Make it hurt. Give me some of your pain, baby.” His hand covers mine, and he’s already cut his palm. He bleeds, the dark crimson stark against his tanned hand and my darker skin.

He jerks up, pulling my head down to his lips, and kisses me as if he could pour all of his love, all of his devotion, all that he is inside me through our mouths.

It’s a mindless action when I take the glass and slash across his chest. I wouldn’t have realized I’d done it if he hadn’t pulled in a slight inhale.

“More, Sunbeam. Take it out on me,” he whispers against my mouth. He shifts his body, pressing against the makeshift blade. I cut him again and again. Together, we mark his flesh. When I look at it, I feel a deep, quaking start when I realize I’ve made a crude W in his skin.

He exhales, sighs. “If you need more, take it. I’ll bleed for you, Sunbeam. My heart will bleed for you forever. Whether you walk out that door or you work with me and fight for us. Work for us.”

We’re still connected but barely moving, just a slight rock back and forth of our most intimate parts. I hold the edge of the glass over his chest again. Our gazes clash, and in his eyes...I see everything. I see the truth. I see his love. I see that he’s just as much a pawn in his father’s fucked-up games as I am. I see his hope.

I drop the glass to the side.

“Forgive me, Winter. It doesn’t have to be today. But please, for the sake of how much love we have for each other, let your heart be open to me. Because you have mine. Completely. Transcendentally.”

I can’t say anything. So I nod my head, the surety of the action settling in my soul.

He sits up fully, pushing a hand in the tight curls at the base of my neck. “Can I make love to you now, Sunbeam?”

I kiss him in reply.

He moves so that my back is flat on the soft rug. Then he’s back inside me. He whispers words of love and commitment as his rock-hard dick drags in and out of my sensitive slit.

He rocks into me with such assurance that everything will be okay, that I come.

I come apart. Fractured. Splintered. His name on my lips is a prayer as I sob and ride the wave of pleasure.

And when Hunter whispers, “It’s okay. We’re home,” as he comes so deeply inside me, I know for the first time that I’m safe to come back together—and we are safe to come back together.

NINETEEN

HUNTER

Idon’t open my eyes as I absorb the feeling of Winter’s skin against mine.

It’s early, the sun having barely crested the tree line. But Winter rests in my arms. When she finally fell asleep, she wore an expression of peace and contentment.

I’m afraid that opening my eyes will make it all go away.

The truce we called in the sitting room last week is tentative. Fragile.

We fell asleep wrapped around each other, naked, for hours on the hard floor. When our bodies protested our position, I ushered her upstairs to my room after sending a quick message to Rio to delete any surveillance in the sitting room.

When we got to my suite, we made love again. I rocked into her as we both lay on our sides, her leg swung over mine.

This time when she came, the shuddering of her body was so wild it seemed like the tips of her hair orgasmed along with the rest of her.

I pressed in as deep as I could when I came inside her.

Reveling in the feeling of her soft hair brushing against my face, I crack my eyes open and put my hand over her stomach, sliding over the skin of her lower belly. Beneath my hand is her c-section scar.

In those silent moments before the sunrise all those days ago, I tracked each of her breaths as they made their peaceful journey in and out of her body. I wanted to absorb her into me—keep her tethered to me. She wanted to run away and honestly? I should have let her. I told myself I would let her leave if she wanted to go. But when I faced her in the foyer and saw the resolve in her gaze, I just…couldn’t.

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