Page 92 of Blade

Justin might not be the man who would make those things happen. But even if he wasn’t, it was time. Acceptance was the final stage. Giving myself to this man was the step I needed to gain that acceptance.

I heard him groan as he found his own release.

I felt his body tremble as he buried his face in my neck. We laid there still for a few moments. I blinked at the ceiling. He couldn’t see my tears; he wouldn’t understand, and I didn’t think I could explain what I just experienced. It was so much more than sex, more than orgasms.

It was letting go.

Of my grief.

Of my past.

Of my pain.

Lifting his head, he looked down at me.

“Thank you.”

He kissed me, and I felt like he poured everything he felt into that kiss.

Thank you?

Did guys say thank you when you had sex with them?

“You’re welcome,” I replied hesitantly.

Not sure what response he was expecting. He chuckled and rolled away. Climbing off the bed, he crossed into the bathroom and came back, sans condom, with a rag in his hand.

“What are you doing?” I asked when he climbed back on at the foot of the bed.

“Cleaning you up.”

“I can do that,” I clipped, closing my legs, embarrassed at him looking at me outside of the act when I could think clearly again.

He pulled my legs open.

“I want to take care of you. Will you let me?”

Biting my lip, I relented, “Ok.”

When he finished, he tossed the rag into the hamper in the corner, before he climbed back onto the bed and pulled me into his arms, holding me close to his chest.

“We have a lot to talk about, but we can do it in the morning. Go to sleep.”

Go to sleep? After saying we needed to talk? Even someone as inexperienced as me knew that wasn’t good.

Tears filled my eyes.

I wouldn’t let them fall. He may not be my forever, but he pulled me from the past and for that, I should be the one thanking him.

“Blade?” I whispered, using his club name once again.

“Yea, baby?” he asked, kissing the top of my head.

“Thank you,” I said, and I smiled as I snuggled in, ready to end this day and begin my life tomorrow.

Chapter Twenty-One

Blade

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