Page 36 of In The Darkness

Pain covered his face, and he finally said in a strangled voice that told her just how tortured he’d been over what he did, “I held you down on that bed and raped you while those fucks cheered me on.”

Persephone wrapped her arms around him as she pressed her cheek to the spot over his heart. “And you protected me by doing that. Never forget that, Nick. You protected me from them. And then you got me out of that place. You saved me.”

He stood stiffly, refusing to embrace her in return as she spoke, but when she finished, he hugged her to him and pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “I’m so sorry, Persephone. I’m so sorry.”

She reveled in the feel of his arms around her, protecting her as he had from the minute he met her. What they were wasn’t normal or ordinary or what most women would want, but it’s what she wanted.

Tilting her head back, she looked up into his dark brown eyes and said what they both needed to hear. “I forgive you. I promise I will never hold that against you. I just need to know that you can forgive yourself.”

Nick nodded, and for the first time, he kissed her. Softly and tenderly, his lips pressed against hers, sending waves of sweetness rolling through her. She’d never been kissed so reverently before, like he wanted to worship her with his mouth.

His hands cradled her face, gently keeping her just where she needed to be so they didn’t break this first kiss she would remember for the rest of her life. Just as she wondered if all he wanted was an innocent kiss, he pulled her into his body and slid his tongue into her mouth, sending a rush of need to the very center of her being.

Now waves of desire replaced the sweetness from just a minute before as his tongue teased hers with a promise of what he could do with it on other parts of her body. She wanted to feel him on every inch of her, teasing her need into a fever pitch only he could satisfy.

Gently, he stuffed his hand into her hair and tugged her head back so his lips left hers. Desperate for the feel of his mouth kissing her, she made a noise that let him know how much she missed him already.

“Don’t stop,” she said, not ashamed in the least to beg for another taste of him.

“If you stay now, I’m going to want you in my bed tonight and every night after that, Persephone.”

Breathlessly, she whispered the only word that came to her mind when she thought of being his. “Yes.”

“There’s no turning back,” he said in a whisper against her lips.

Once again, she spoke the only word she could. “Yes.”

With that, the final barrier he’d kept between them faded into nothingness, and he kissed her long and deep like her lips held the only salvation this world offered someone like him. His hands closed into fists in her hair, tugging harder than before so tiny licks of pain danced across her scalp.

She didn’t cry out, wanting to feel every sensation he created in her, and moaned with each time he pulled her hair, silently praying to God he wouldn’t suddenly worry about hurting her because of what happened between them at that house weeks before.

He said her name roughly against her lips before lifting her into his arms and walking toward the bedroom, never tearing his gaze from hers as they moved. She searched his eyes for safety while at the same time craving every inch of his body to be on hers.

Nick was her protector, her savior, and now the one man she’d give everything to have inside her.

Gently, he placed her on the bed and stood perfectly still for a moment at the foot of the bed staring down at her. Persephone worried the past haunted him as he said nothing but didn’t move toward her.

Extending her hand, she reached out to show him this time wasn’t like the last. His gaze slid down her arm to where her fingers stretched to touch him, and then he took her hand and slowly lowered his body down onto hers.

He took care not to let all his weight fall on her and gently kissed her as his hand slid down over her hip. She sensed his worry that he needed to atone for their first sexual experience, but that’s not what she wanted.

She wanted the man she knew he was to take her for his own.

Placing her palms on either side of his face, she looked into his eyes and saw that worry in them. “You don’t have to treat me like I’ll break if we do this. I’m not going to break, Nick.”

His expression hardened for a moment, and then he kissed her long and deep again like before. It made her head swim from desire and need, and she arched her back to feel the hardness of him against her.

Their hands tugged and pulled at the clothes that separated them until they lay skin to skin, bare to one another. Persephone ran her hand down over his chest to his ribs and abs, letting her palm linger on the muscles that led down to a sensual V near his hips. Hard and firm, they made her want to feel more of him.

Nick pushed her legs open with his knee and settled in between them. Looking down at her through half-lidded eyes hazy with need, he pushed his hips forward and filled her slowly until all of him nested inside her. She’d felt him before like this, but now he filled her completely, making her gasp.

She lifted her legs and wrapped them around his waist. Pressing her heels to the small of his back, she urged him to keep going. He took the hint and moved his hips back and forth, easing in and out of her so slowly it nearly made her lose her mind.

His right hand cupped her breast, and he pinched her excited nipple between his thumb and forefinger, sending a jolt of electricity straight to her core. He began thrusting faster and harder, inching her toward a climax she not only wanted but needed from him.

He kissed her, his tongue snaking over her lips to tease her tongue, and with each thrust into her body, he brought her closer to satisfying her in a way she’d never felt before. Faster and faster he pumped into her, making her body race toward that one moment when she completely surrendered to him.

“Persephone,” he groaned as his mouth slid from hers down over her jaw to her neck.

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