Page 83 of Give Me Perfect Love

Soft cotton rubs against the sensitive flesh between my legs as our kiss deepens. My body turns warm, my tears dry up, and all I want now is to have him.

He carefully lays me on the bed, but caution isn’t what I need. I want him to own me.

Take me fast without attentiveness.

Claim me as his.

Make me forget.

I pull him down with me, reaching for the bottom of his T-shirt. It falls to the floor after going over his head, and his hands sink into the mattress beside mine, landing on threads of my hair. Loose strands tug from my scalp, but they don’t rip. My hands go to his face, and I take his pouty lip between my teeth.

He doesn’t touch me, and it drives me crazy. I want him naked like I am.

I want him exposed like I feel, inside and out.

I need us to be on the same page.

“Touch me,” I urge.

He stiffens, looking unsure.

“Bryce, I’m not glass. I won’t break.”

His eyes blink over my bruises and lacerated wrists. The soft glow of the bedside lamp makes them look nicer than they are. In tomorrow’s light, they will be an ugly reminder of what we went through.

“I don’t want to hurt you… I don’t know where he…”

“Fuck him,” I say. “Look at me.” His eyes bounce up to mine. “He only hurt the outside.”

He releases air I didn’t know he was holding. Jesus, he’s been thinking this the whole time.

“He came out with his pants undone,” he says. “I thought… I didn’t know if…”

I shake my head. “Claire.”

His mouth forms an O.

“While you were there?” he asks.

“Yes,” I confirm. We don’t say anything for a moment. I let the information I just told him sink in. He thought Cain raped me. God, the agony he must have been going through.

I’m in awe of the careful way he pays attention to every detail of my face. He scans me over before reaching his hand up and running a finger over my sore cheek. “You’re okay?” he asks softly.

“I’m okay.” I nod.

He grips my hair and pulls me to his lips. We collide like fallen stars, shattering, sending fragments of dust and solid rock into the atmosphere.

The moon gets jealous and the sun burns brighter.

We’re Heaven and Earth, heart on heart.

Bryce erases bad memories, replacing them with new profound ones.

His kiss heals old wounds, and his touch scabs over broken skin.

Passion and love mingle with every move between us. I reach down and grab the waist of his gray sweats, pulling them down just enough. Panting, desperate to feel him.

I don’t need any warm-up. I don’t need anything but him inside of me, skin on damaged skin, and with one easy move, he slides in effortlessly. I arch up and he dives deep. We kiss and bite, touch and grip. My hands go to his lower back, and I dig my fingernails into his skin.

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