Page 51 of Wicked Scorn
I open my mouth to tell him to fuck off, but Graham beats me to it.
“Don’t be a dick, Linc,” he snaps, crossing his arms over his chest. “We all know how you are, but if it’s the same guy, then you two can handle it together. Team effort, yay.”
Lincoln’s jaw tics, but he doesn’t argue. He knows Graham’s right—if the situations were reversed, he’d be ten times as volatile as I am right now.
“Okay, well,” Penn says, his tone indicating he’s about to say something to piss me off. “We’re all on the same team here just like a gang bang. Let’s just take a beat, get our dicks hard and let Rams do his thing, and start round two when we’ve got more intel. For now…” He looks at me, something utterly chaotic flickering in his eyes. “Go be with your girl upstairs and make sure she’s good. I’ll go do what I do best and that’s frolic in the dark, obviously.”
I give him a curt nod, grateful for his understanding despite the situation. My brother is crazy, damn near certifiable if Dad would have gotten him tested, but there’s nothing he won’t do for me or the others. He’d carve out his own heart for one of us, damn near has and there’s no one I trust more to have my back than him.
I turn and head for the stairs, taking them two at a time. My heart is pounding in my ears, drumming so loudly with fear and fury that it’s quickly becoming overwhelming. I need my calm.
By the time I reach my room, I can barely breathe. I shove the door open, my eyes instantly finding Oakley perched on the edge of my bed. She looks so small, so fragile, huddled in on herself like she’s trying to disappear.
The sight of her like that, her bright spirit dimmed by fear and uncertainty, is like a physical blow to my gut. Before I can stop myself, I’m crossing the room in three long strides and dropping to my knees in front of her.
“Hey,” I murmur, reaching up to cup her face in my hands. Her skin is soft and warm against my calloused palms, and I drink in the sensation like a man dying of thirst. “Hey, look at me.”
Slowly, she raises her eyes to meet mine, and my breath catches in my throat. Those baby blues are brimming with unshed tears, the anxiety and confusion swirling in their depths like a storm on the horizon.
“It’s gonna be okay,” I tell her, forcing as much conviction into my voice as I can muster. “I’ve got you, Oak. I’m not gonna let anything happen to you, you hear me?”
She nods, her lower lip trembling, and I feel somethinginside me break. Seeing her like this, so scared and vulnerable…it’s killing me. All I want is to wrap her up in my arms and shield her from the world, keep her safe and happy and smiling that radiant smile that never fails to make light shine in my fucked-up life.
Without thinking, I slide my hands into her hair, cradling the back of her head as I pull her toward me. Our foreheads meet with a soft thunk, and I close my eyes, breathing her in.
“Rem…” she whispers, her breath fanning across my face. I can hear the question in that single syllable, the fear and uncertainty she’s trying so hard to mask.
“Shh.” I press my lips to her forehead, letting them linger for a long moment. “I said I got you, baby. You’re safe with me.”
She makes a soft sound in the back of her throat, something between a whimper and a sigh, and it resonates straight down to my soul. I pull back just enough to look into her eyes again, holding her gaze with everything I have.
“You know that, right?” I rasp, the words tearing themselves from my throat. “You know I’d never let anything happen to you. Not now, not ever.”
Her eyes widen, shimmering with hope and disbelief. “Jeremiah…”
“I mean it, Oakley.” I’m barely aware of the words tumbling from my lips, operating on pure instinct now. “You’re everything to me. Fuck, I…” I trail off, swallowing hard against the lump rising in my throat. “I don’t know what I’d do if anything happened to you again. I fucked up once and I won’t be fucking making that mistake again.”
She’s staring at me now, her eyes wide and luminous, and for a long moment the only sound is our ragged breathing.Then, slowly, she lifts a hand to my cheek, her touch soft and trembling.
“You mean that?” she whispers. “Jeremiah, I…I need to know you mean that.”
The rawness in her voice, the naked vulnerability, is like a knife to the sternum. Without hesitation, I turn my head and press a searing kiss to her palm, holding her gaze the whole time.
“I’ve never meant anything more in my life,” I growl against her skin. “You’re mine, Oakley. Have been since the day we met, even if I was too fucking stupid to see it.”
A soft gasp escapes her lips and her fingers flex against my cheek. I can see the longing in her eyes, the desperate need for reassurance after so long spent apart. Well, I’m about to give her that and then some.
I frame her face with both hands and crush my mouth to hers. She whimpers into the kiss, her hands fisting in the front of my shirt as I pour every ounce of pent-up emotion into the scorching slide of our lips.
These last few days have been a fantasy come to life for me. I’ve imagined her more times than I can count over the years, late at night with my hand wrapped around my aching cock. I’ve fantasized about the way her lips would taste, the little sounds she might make as I mapped every inch of that sweet mouth with my tongue. But reality is so much better than any dream, any forbidden fantasy. Reality is hot and slick and all-consuming, setting me on fire from the inside out.
Oakley kisses me back with a fierceness that steals my breath. Her nails scoring lines of delicious heat down my chest. I groan into her mouth; the sound vibrating between us and lift her up. She opens for me instantly, her thighs parting to cradle my hips as I wrap her legs around my waist.
The hard length of my cock is trapped between our bodies, the heavy ridge straining against the thin cotton of my sweats. I know she can feel me, hard and aching, because she gasps and arches up into me. Her damn dress offering no protection from me. The friction is pure sin, a burst of white-hot pleasure that has me seeing stars.
“Fuck, baby,” I pant against her lips. “You feel so good.”
“Rem…” She whimpers my name like a prayer, her hands sliding up to tangle in my hair. “Please…”
