Page 19 of Tarnished

“I, um… I had a nightmare,” I whispered, my fingers tightening around the door.

He patted the mattress beside him. “Come to bed,” he rasped. “I’ll do my best to keep the nightmares away, baby.”

Fuck, that name. My insides went all gooey. I mean, they did when Beck called me that, but he’d always called me that. When Tank did it, it felt different. Like he was warming my insides and caressing my heart with those rough, calloused fingertips.

Releasing my tight grip on the door, I stepped further into the room. He pulled back the covers, and I slid into bed beside him, giving him my back. He made a small noise in the back of his throat before he rolled onto his side and his thickly muscled arm banded around me. He tugged me back against him so my body was flush against his, his body curved around me.

In his arms, I felt as safe as I did in Beck’s. How was that possible?

My skin warmed all over when he pressed his lips to the back of my head. “Go back to sleep, little one.”

I decidedly liked that name better than baby. Baby was reserved for Beck. And I liked Tank having that special name for me.

His cock was swelling against my ass, and warmth flooded my core, dampening my panties. My skin flushed, and I attempted to get a little more comfortable… only I ended up brushing my ass right over his hard cock. He grunted, his fingers pressing into my belly as he tightened his arm around me.

“Stop being a tease, little one,” he rasped, pure sex leaking into his voice.

I licked my lips, my heart in my throat. Was I really about to attempt this? Fuck yes, I was. For months now, I’d been raped, my body taken against my will. But I wanted Tank. And he wasn’t making any secrets about wanting me, too. Not right now.

Would he give me what I wanted? Would he trust me enough to know what I could and couldn’t handle?

I curled my fingers into the blanket, imagining my nerves in my grasp. As if I could control them. Drawing in a deep breath, I tentatively asked, “Ash…” I almost called him Tank, “would you have sex with me if I asked?”

He softly growled, the sound still deep despite how quiet it was. “Little one, I’d do just about anything you asked me to. If you want to have sex, I’d agree. But I’d put some stipulations in place first. And we would need to talk about your limits.”

I licked my lips, my panties drenched now. I rubbed my thighs together, which only made my ass rub against him again, and he groaned before nuzzling the back of my neck. A shiver raced down my spine. “My limits?” I croaked.

He nodded, his beard scraping against my skin, creating a delicious burn I was eager to feel more of, except this time, I wanted it on other parts of me. More sensitive parts. “Yeah, little one. Your limits. You’ve been through some shit.”

I frowned then. “I don’t know what those limits are,” I softly confessed.

He gently rolled me to my back before looming over me, his dark hair flopping over his forehead. Reaching up, I tenderly ran my fingers through the strands, loving how soft they were. How they felt sifting through my fingers. “Then we could learn as we go,” he assured me. His eyes locked on mine—steady and sure. “Are you sure you want to have sex, Clarke?”

I nodded. “I do.” My fingers trembled when I pressed them to his cheek. He leaned into my touch, and my heart throbbed in my chest. “I want you, Ash.” Tears glistened in my eyes. “I know you’ll take care of me.”

Turning his head, he pressed a kiss to my palm. Then, he looked back down at me, his dark eyes even darker. “Always, little one,” he roughly promised, his voice thick with some kind of emotion I couldn’t exactly pinpoint. “If something becomes too much or frightens you, or if you even need to stop, I want you to say ‘red’, understand?”

“Red.” I tasted the word on my tongue before nodding at him. “Okay.”

He blew out a soft breath before lowering his head to mine, his lips just brushing mine. “You and Beck… God, little one,” he rasped. My heart squeezed in my chest, warmth flooding my soul.

And then, he was kissing me.

My entire world flipped on its axis.

Softly moaning, I clasped the back of his neck, tugging his body down more toward mine. He released a soft groan before situating his body so his hips were cradled between my thighs. My lips parted beneath his, our tongues dancing together in a slow, erotic rhythm as I parted my thighs a little more, my heels pressing into the mattress. When my hips rolled up, my hot core pressing against his cock, he released the softest, sexiest moan I’d ever heard before rolling his hips, giving me the friction I’d secretly been telling him I was seeking.

I whined, and he pressed his lips to my jaw. “That’s it, little one,” he coaxed when I began moving my body in time with his, my ankles linking behind his back. He gently pushed my head to the side to gain access to my neck, his teeth and tongue working my skin as well as his hard length was working me up higher and higher. “You’re so fucking beautiful like this.”

“Ash,” I panted. He moaned at the use of his real name. I didn’t want foreplay. I didn’t need him to get me wetter. What I needed was him inside of me, his cock filling me. I needed him to show me what it was like when a man properly took care of my body.

“You need me already?” he asked, leaning up a little to look down at me. When I nodded, he softly kissed me again, his hand gripping the hem of my shirt. “Then, I want you naked.”

I nodded, lifting my arms so he could pull my shirt over my head. He blew out a soft breath at the sight of my breasts, my nipples hardened into little points. Moving down my body, he laved his tongue over the left one, and I gasped, my fingers sinking into his hair. I barely even noticed he was shoving my sleep shorts and panties down my thighs.

But I did notice when he slipped two thick, calloused fingers over my slit before rubbing my clit in slow circles. I choked on my next breath, my back arching off the mattress. Fuck, that felt so good. Too damn good. Why were Tank’s fingers so fucking magical?

It took him mere seconds to tip my body over the edge. He covered my mouth with his, swallowing the sounds I made as my mind blitzed out from how fucking good my orgasm felt. Then, his cock was pressing against my hole, and I gasped, my core clenching from the sensitivity.

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