Page 54 of Torgash

When he's fully seated inside me, we both go still. Every piece of me locks into place around him.

"How does it feel?" he asks, thumb brushing across my cheek. "Perfect," I whisper, and watch his eyes go molten.

When he starts to move, I meet each thrust. Each withdrawal drags those ridges against my inner walls, each thrust sends them pressing into places that make me arch beneath him. I'm trembling, but not from fear.

"More," I gasp, wrapping my legs around his waist. "Harder."

"Careful what you ask for," he warns, but his rhythm increases, thrusts becoming deeper, more urgent.

Pressure builds inside me with each drive, my body coiling tighter. His broad hand finds the place where we're joined, thumb circling with perfect pressure.

"Come for me," he commands, voice turning hypnotic. "Let go and come on my cock."

The orgasm hits me hard and fast. I scream his name as my body clenching around him with enough force to make him groan. Every ridge along his length drags against me as I spasm around him.

"Fuck, Nova, you're—" His words cut off as his own control snaps. He drives into me, chasing his release while I'm still shaking.

When he finally spills inside me, he buries his face in my neck, growling my name. The rawness of it vibrates through my bones.

For long moments, we stay locked together, breathing hard, hearts hammering against each other. The ridges along his length continue to provide sensation as he slowly softens inside me, aftershocks rippling through my oversensitive body.

"Jesus," I gasp when I can finally speak.

"Not Jesus," he says, lifting his head to look at me, lips curving in that wicked smile. "Just me."

"Just you," I agree. My fingers drift up to trace the jagged scar that bisects his eyebrow. He goes very still under my touch, watching my face with careful intensity. I remember the first time I saw this scar, how it made him look dangerous. Now it just makes him look like Ash - complex, real, mine. "Perfect, complicated, impossible you."

He rolls us so I'm sprawled across his chest, one broad hand stroking down my spine and along the rise of my ass. The movement causes him to slip from my body, and I feel the wet evidence of what we've done trickling down my thighs.

"You okay?" he asks without the usual edge to his voice.

"Better than okay." I press my face into his neck, breathing him in. "I feel... quiet. For the first time in months, my head is quiet."

His arms tighten around me.

"Good," he murmurs, pressing a kiss to the top of my head. "That's what I wanted. For you to have peace, even if it's just for tonight. You carry too much weight alone."

"My sister carried too much weight alone, too." The words come out barely above a whisper. "Carman. She was... she was everything I'm not. Trusting. Hopeful. Believed people could change if you just loved them enough."

Ash goes very still beneath me, but his hand never stops its gentle stroking. "Tell me about her."

"She was dating this guy—Derek. Real piece of work. Controlling, manipulative, the kind who convinces you that you need him." I taste copper in my mouth. "I tried to warn her, tried to get her to see what he was doing. But she was stubborn."

"Sounds familiar," he says quietly, and I can hear warmth in his voice.

"She was twenty-four. A college senior studying accounting. Had this idea that numbers never lied, that truth always surfaced if you knew where to look." I trace the tattooed patterns on his chest, following the lines with my fingertip. "She called me one night, scared. Said Derek was involved in something illegal, that she'd seen some documents that didn't add up."

Ash's breathing changes slightly, becoming more controlled. "What kind of documents?"

"Bank records. Cash deposits that didn't match any legitimate income. She thought Derek was laundering money through fake businesses, but she wasn't sure." My throat tightens. "I told her to stay out of it. To focus on school and let the authorities handle it."

"Nova—"

"Three days later, she was dead." The words come out flat. "Found in an alley, apparent drug overdose. Except Carman never touched drugs. She barely drank wine with dinner."

His hand stops stroking, settling heavy and warm between my shoulder blades. "What did the investigation find?"

"Nothing. Derek had an alibi. No witnesses. The detective in charge said sometimes good girls make bad choices." I bite out each word. "Case closed in under a month."

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