Page 37 of In The Darkness

The touch of his lips sent a rush through her, but she needed something else. Something more. Finding his hand, she guided it to her neck and closed her eyes as his fingers instinctively closed around her tender skin.

She didn’t know if he realized this simple act of his hand on her neck was the only remnant of their previous time together she yearned for. She just understood somewhere deep inside that his hand there had been the only thing that had made it all bearable, allowing her to drown out the noise around them and feel his strong hand powerfully holding her and refusing to let go.

Tilting her head back, she reveled in his control and felt her desire and need overwhelm her. She came hard, her hand holding him there around her neck as her release tore through every inch of her body.

Seconds later, he stilled inside her, and she felt the rush of warmth fill her. Looking down at her, he lay there silently staring at her neck where his hand remained covered by hers.

“I didn’t hurt you, did I?” he asked in a low voice that sounded like he dreaded the answer to his question.

Persephone smiled and tilted her head to kiss him softly on the lips. “No. I wouldn’t call that hurting me.”

He gave her a smile and pushed her hair off her face in a gesture of sweetness she loved. For all that they’d been through, none of it could hurt her as much as not having him right there next to her now.

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Chapter Thirteen

Nick slid hishand down between her breasts as Persephone’s hand fell away from its hold on him. He stared at the pale skin and saw marks where his fingers had squeezed her tender neck again. He’d wanted this first real time they were together to be sweet, but his body had taken over and before he knew it, he was on top of her thrusting like a savage animal.

Like he had before.

“Please talk to me,” she said softly, clearly picking up on how he felt about what he’d just done.

“I didn’t mean for it to be like that,” he said, avoiding meeting her gaze.

“I couldn’t imagine it being any better,” Persephone said with a tiny chuckle that made him look up at her.

Her smile seemed genuine, even though their sex had been rougher than he ever wanted it to be. He didn’t know how to feel about that. For him, being with a woman always ran along the edge of rough, but he didn’t intend for it to be like that with her.

Especially after what happened before.

“Nick, listen to me. I’m not going to break. I told you that, and I meant it. Being with you like that was exactly what I hoped it would be.”

“But I didn’t mean to be so rough with you,” he said, trying to explain but not finding the right words.

She simply smiled and touched his cheek. “You weren’t rough. You were exactly what I wanted. And from the point on, you should know I love the feel of your hand around my neck like that.”

He couldn’t hide his surprise at what she said. He’d intentionally tried to stay away from anything he’d done before, and now she lay there smiling and telling him she loved such a simple but violent action from that horrible time.

“I thought that would…I thought it would remind you of…”

His words trailed off into nothingness when she kissed him, cutting off his train of thought. Pulling away, she smiled up at him.

“The feel of your hand on me and not just you thrusting into me made that bearable then. It’s not that I like being choked or anything like that. It’s just that feeling your hand touching me helped me push away everything else. I can’t explain it any better than that, but I knew the moment you kissed me tonight that all I wanted to feel was your hand touching me there.”

Persephone snuggled up against his side and lay her head on his shoulder. Never before with any woman had he felt so at home. No one had ever made him want more until her.

Now that she was in his bed, he never wanted to let her go. He didn’t know what that meant to either of them, but whatever he had to do to keep her with him, he’d do it.

He’d gone long enough in this life without feeling what she offered. He didn’t want to go another minute without her or how she made him feel like he’d finally come home.

Pressing a kiss to the top of her head, he remembered she’d said she wanted his help with something. “You mentioned you wanted my help with some plan. What is it?”

Whatever it was, he wanted to be a part of it because he’d be with her.

She looked up at him and propped her head up on her hand. “I want to start up a group to help women. I want to find men like you and get them to help women who need it like I did. And I want you by my side when I do this.”

Nick loved that out of the horrible experience she’d had, what she wanted to do was help others in similar experiences. He’d never met anyone like Persephone before, and her kindness made him want to be a part of this new project.

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