Page 128 of As the World Falls

Her breaths come quicker, and I feel her squeeze my fingers tighter. Her noises are muffled beneath my hand, and the next thing I know, she’s lifting her chin, biting my fingers hard as she comes, nearly drawing blood as she fights to keep quiet. I watch, enraptured at the sight of her, trying to keep as much control as she slowly loses all of it.

So. Fucking. Beautiful.

I move my hand from her mouth as she calms down, her head dropping onto the pillow in exhaustion. Her body is covered in a light dew of sweat, and I would lick her up right now if it weren’t for her brother, whom I can still hear downstairs yelling about.

“Holy shit,” she breathes out as she fights to catch her breath.

“Are we satiated now?”

She scowls at me. “You…are so wrong…but yes.”

I chuckled and slowly pulled her from the bed. I led her to the bathroom and began running the water in the tub. Her eyes lit up at the sight of the claw-foot tub in front of the giant half-round window overlooking the garden maze.

“This is amazing,” she coos as I take her hand and gently help her into the tub. She sits in the bubble-filled water, sighing as she gets comfortable. I kneel on the floor outside the tub, watching her, loving how she looks in my home—the way she fits here like the final missing puzzle piece.

“I’ve always wanted to sit in a bathtub like this,” she says, smiling so femininely.

I smile back at her. “You can sit in my bathtub as much as you want to.” She grins and sinks her smile under the water, her glittering eyes peering up at me and making me laugh. “I’m going to go downstairs and meet your brother. You stay up here and relax until you’re ready.”

She nods, making the water ripple around her. I laugh again and lean in, kissing her forehead before standing and heading downstairs to Tobias. I was still only in my sweatpants, but I didn’t care. It was his fault for showing up at the crack ass of dawn.

I walk down the stairs, seeing him stand from the couch and turn to face me. “What the hell were you doing? I’ve been down here waiting forever.”

“Well, I?—”

“Actually, no. Don’t answer that. I don’t want to know what you were doing, especially if it’s regarding my sister.”

I move around the staircase, walking into the living room toward him as I fight to keep the smirk off my face. “Oh, it was very much regarding your sister.”

He chuckles lowly, looking down at the floor as he clears his throat. Then his hand shoots out, punching me straight in my injured shoulder.

“Son of a bitch,” I breathe out, falling to my knees as pain wracks through my shoulder and down my arm.

“You deserved that, you fucking tool.”

“I suppose I did,” I groan. He helps lift me from the floor as I chuckle breathlessly. I stand straight now, dusting myself off. “Is there a reason you’re here this early?”

“Are you saying I can’t check in on my baby sister? Because you have another thing coming if you think you’re going to just shut me out and control h?—”

“Relax, will you?” I cut him off as I walk past him and head into my kitchen. He scoffs, following behind me. “You can check on her anytime, preferably at a more reasonable hour.” I pull a bottle of water out of my fridge and open it, chugging nearly the entire thing. I felt a little dehydrated after last night's activities.

“What is she doing anyway? Sleeping?”

I smirk from behind my bottle. “She’s uh… cleaning up.”

I feel another swift blow to my other shoulder, and I shut my eyes, blowing out a sharp breath as more pain radiates down my arm. If he were anyone else, he’d be lifeless on the floor right now. He’s lucky I enjoy his existence and, quite frankly, enjoy fucking with him even if I got sucker punched for it.

“Are either of you going to tell me how the fuck this happened? I mean… what is it going on between you guys?”

I set my bottle on the counter and lean my hands onto it, leveling him with my gaze. “I’m not exactly sure what I’d call it.”

The vein in his forehead seems to grow by the second. “What the hell is that supposed to mean? You better not just be fucking around with her because if you’re just using her for?—”

“I am not using her,” I raise my voice, interrupting him. “I love her…Deeply. This is not a game to me.”

He stares back at me, dumbfounded. “You love her?”

“I love her.”

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