Page 84 of Better Day

I give him a nod of acknowledgment.

“This place is adorable, Ashton.” Cassie runs her hand along the back of the couch as she looks around at the decor. “I’ve forgotten what the sound of traffic is like, though. It’s been so long, and I never thought I would say this, but I kind of miss it. The hustle and bustle of the people, the noise, the smells of big cities. I would never swap it for our home, but it would be nice to visit every so often.” The longing in her eyes for a life we have both given up worries me. Will she ever get to a point of resentment for our life, or me for that matter?

“Well, you are welcome here whenever you want. One day we will make that happen,” Ashton says, moving to the kitchen to open the fridge and retrieve some bottles of water. Passing them to us both, I wish it was a beer, but there is no way I will be drinking until we are all home safe and in an environment I can control.

“I’m starting to give up on that life.” Her dejected expression hurts me deep down in a place I didn’t know was there. It’s a place of panic that Cassie is changing, and by bringing her out of our home, it is making her longing worse.

“Don’t,” I can’t help growling at her.

“Don’t what?” she snaps back at me, the tension building between us. Both of us are in our own dark places.

“Don’t give up!” There’s anger behind my words. I don’t know if it’s at her for giving up on us or anger at myself, because in all these years, I haven’t been able to fix this for her.

“Easy for you to say.” There is heated frustration in what she’s saying, and I can feel the air in here getting more tense, and this is about to escalate. It’s what we do, how we cope when shit gets real, and it can’t be any more real than it is today.

“On that note, I’ll be next door. You know how to get a hold of me. Badger is around.” And sensing the tension in the air, Ashton doesn’t wait for an answer from either of us and is out of the apartment with a quiet closing of the door.

“Easy for you to do too! The minute you give up, we are fucked.” Rubbing my hands over the top my head, I’m already pacing.

“Why is this all on me? I can’t be the only one with strength.” Cassie can’t sit either; her hands are clenched into fists, and I can see her white knuckles from here.

“Cassie, this is all about you, can’t you see that? But the focus is nothing to do with you being the strong one. I just need you to let me be that for you, but I can’t do it if you aren’t fighting with me. Everything I do, every breath I take, is about you! Fuck, Cassie, I live my life to make sure you still have yours. Let me make this about you!”

“I don’t want to spend this night that could… I just don’t want it to be fighting with you.”

I’m done. Storming across the room to where she is standing, the fight slips from her, and her shoulders are dropping.

“No, you don’t get to say that. I know what words were about to slip out of your mouth, and don’t you ever voice that. See? You are giving up before we even start the fight. Not happening, baby.”

I’m wound so tight nothing is going to be soft and gentle. My lips land on hers as I pull her to me. My hand on the back of her neck guides her mouth exactly where I want it. My other hand secures her on the ass, her body slamming into me with all the force I need.

“Fight, oh yeah, baby, we are going to fight all night long. You will be screaming at me to let you come. To fill you deep until you can’t take it anymore. Fight me to give you what you need. Because you might want to give up, but I’m never going to stop fighting you, Cassie. That’s right, fighting you is what I do, it’s what you need me to do. So, if you are screaming at me, releasing tension, I’m pushing back at you. It’s what you want from me. What makes us work.”

Her breathing is rapid, and the sheen of sweat on her face and the fire in her eyes is all I need to know we are almost there.

“You want me to control you until you finally submit to me and let it all go. The stress, the worry, and the pain you carry every day. Let go, baby, I can take you to our place, but fuck, I beg you never to stop fighting me.”

She’s so close that pushing her is all it takes.

“Say it! Say my name!” Demanding it from her in the way she loves is the final push she’s craving.

All her weight is on me, and her body is mine as the word falls from her lips that she keeps just for me. It’s her way of telling me that she’s mine and needs me to prove it.

“Noah…” The way she says it is all the longing from her body for what she is begging for.

“I’ve got you.”

I slide my hand from her ass, around, and grabbing at her sex, put pressure on it to show her what she’s in for. We are both supercharged full of emotion, and there is no way I can go slow, and that’s not what she wants from me anyway.

“Ooohhhh…” My hand is now rubbing up and down, and I want all those moans just for me. The pleasure, the pain, and the downright begging for the ecstasy that she demands.

My hunger is insatiable.

Our lips seek each other out, but this time, I’m not stopping. The moment we connect, my tongue pushes into her mouth and takes what I want from her. I explore every part of her and give her the preview of what I’m about to do to her with my cock that is screaming to be inside her. The pulsing I can feel is bordering on pain, which only urges me on in our kissing. I want every man who sees her tomorrow to see the rash on her lips and know it’s from me, like a mark of being totally owned in a kiss.

I’ve never felt as territorial as I do tonight. Moving my lips to her neck, I nip my way down on her skin. Every time my teeth make a mark, she cries out a little louder in pleasure. We are both lost in each other, and for the first time since Bessy was born, we don’t have to keep those cries silent. The noise of sex has never sounded more perfect.

“Don’t move!” She’s already in the head space she was craving, and my order just brings the smile I love.

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