Nearly Broken (17 page)

He didn’t bother
rubbing it in that he’d won, that he had called three for
three, proving without a doubt in his mind that I was Claire. His
mouth just went to work pleasuring my newly exposed area, continuing
the mission I’d set him on originally, and the electric shocks
shooting through my veins picked up right where they left off.

My breaths quickened
as his hand worked the swell of one breast and his mouth the other. I
was so caught up in the moment, it barely registered that his hand
was also caressing the part of my left breast that was burned. I
spasmed erratically, tingles exploding down below like popping
firecrackers. I
had
to squirm,
had
to wrap my legs
tightly around his hips in a death grip,
had
to open my eyes
to watch him go after my breast like it was his favorite flavor of
ice cream.

I threw my head back.
This was what I wanted. To be touched in such an arousing,
pleasurable way, filled with such sensations that I’d never
allow their horrible predecessors to haunt me again. To be devoured
eagerly by Nick.

My fingers combed
through his hair, roughly, tugging the ends with each sweep…more
so when he sucked me really hard. I loved it, and the more I moaned
and squirmed beneath him, the harder he nibbled.

My hands went lower
and I pinched the material hiding his shoulders. I wanted the damn
shirt gone so I could feel the warmth of his flesh against mine. I
tugged it towards me, but there was no way in hell it was going
anywhere without his help. He granted my silent request, pulling it
over the back of his neck and tossing it to the floor. Crawling
towards me, his mouth sucked at my jaw line. His hand abandoned my
breasts to the cool air, and very slowly, very lightly, his fingers
tickled their way
down, down, down
. And when he began to rub
me back and forth between my legs, my eyes were ready to roll into
the back of my head. I moaned, long and sing-song. I really,
really
wanted him to go there. I hitched my leg higher around his waist and
his hand slid up the back side of my shorts, then followed the hem
around my thigh until he pressed down between my legs.

Whispering hotly in my
ear, he asked with a deepened voice, “Do you want me to touch
you here?”

I licked my lips and
nodded my answer, the muscles around his hand twitching with
anticipation. At first he rubbed me through my shorts, but when his
finger weaved through the folds and penetrated my insides, he paused
the neck assault to admire his handiwork – my widened eyes, my
dropped jaw, the way I moaned in ecstasy, and the wave I made as a
tingling sensation repetitively rippled the length of my body.
Chuckling, he added a second finger and watched the show all over
again, this time with the addition of my hands flailing back to grab
the headboard for support against the tremors raging where his hand
continued to propel in and out.

He leaned some of his
weight on top of me, his free arm pressing heavily against my wrists
where they connected with the bed, pinning me down easily,
intensifying the assault between my legs. He bit the tip of my
nipple and flicked his tongue a few times, and I actually let out a
tiny scream, which he enjoyed way too much.

“God, I want to
suck on you down there.” It was so hot the way he said that,
his eyes dark and seductive as his lips returned to sucking my
breast, French kissing the nipple held captive within. “Can I?”
he squeezed in between love bites. I wanted that tongue between my
legs so bad.

And at the same time I
wanted to kill him, because what had started off as me just needing
to be touched in the right way by the right guy, had turned into
desperation for that affection. I didn’t care what he wanted.
If he asked me to perform the kinkiest position in the Kama Sutra
right now, I’d do it without hesitation or risk of humility.
Because I wanted Nick that badly.

And he knew it.

It was the hardest
yes
I’d ever said, or moaned in this case, knowing how much power
that one little word just gave him.

I wasn’t quite
sure what he was doing as he slid past my body onto the floor at the
foot of the bed. But once he snagged my feet and pulled me towards
him, I figured it out. My cheeks were flushing as he pulled my shorts
past my ankles. Kneeling on the floor, he pulled on my legs until my
knees draped over his shoulders.

I was utterly
embarrassed. Given my past, I should’ve been completely
horrified over the vulnerability of being in that position, but
something about the way Nick’s hands slid gently across my skin
made all that embarrassment just slip away. And once his tongue went
to work, I couldn’t control the intensity of my moans any
longer. Even though he was going slow and barely licking as of yet,
my body exploded with spine-tingling spasms. His arms had wrapped
around my hips and his hands secured my inner thighs apart, refusing
my body’s attempts to thrust about. His assault intensified, as
did my moaning. Only once I came did he release me, and I lay there
exhilarated, not caring that I remained in the most awkward of
positions, my damaged skin out there for him to see.

He dropped my legs and
climbed over me, bringing that ever-pleasing tongue to mine. He had
my tank pulled off in an instant, and the bare skin of our chests
were suddenly flush. I yearned for that last piece of clothing
between us to go as well, but the moment I slid my hand beneath the
band of his boxers, he murmured, “Uh-uh,” and imprisoned
my hands above my head.

He reduced the
intensity of our kisses until my hormones relented and my legs began
to slacken their grip around him, collapsing to the bed from
exhaustion. I think he continued to kiss on me until I finally fell
asleep, but I was in such a euphoric daze I couldn’t say for
sure.

It was weird how
quickly I had become accustomed to Nick’s body pressed against
mine as I slept, because I always seemed to waken once the heat his
body had supplied mine dissipated. And it was no wonder I was cold,
as I was butt-naked beneath the sheet of silky cotton.

I almost didn’t
care that I was alone. My pillow smelled of Nick’s body wash,
and it was heavenly. But still, having him actually in bed with me
was far better.

My insides were still
humming happily down below when I threw the cover off my skin. For
the first time since my life went to shit, I actually felt sexy in my
damaged skin, and didn’t think twice about ditching the tank
and shorts and just wrapped myself up loosely with the silk robe.

Stepping softly, I
lightly dragged my fingertips along the wall to guide me down the
hall. Shades of gray and black finally appeared as I neared the
living room. It was hard to see, but I thought I saw Nick’s
head rolled back over the armchair. I quietly made my way over,
thinking he was asleep, but was surprised to find him awake, a tiny
glint of light shining off his eyes.

But even in the
darkness, I could tell by the angles and curves on his face that
something was seriously wrong.

“Nick?” I
whispered, slightly worried. “What’s wrong?”

A puff of air shot
from his nose like a bull. He shook his head and finished the beer in
his hand, the glass
thunking
when it dropped to the floor
afterwards, clanging into at least one more bottle already disposed.
When he sighed and tilted his head in my direction, my heart panicked
over his delay in speech.

Then I wished I had
never asked in the first place.

“Why didn’t
you tell me about the cut marks?”

Fuck
.
Fuck!
My body was so focused on the pleasures that I completely forgot
about the damage to my body. The burns he knew about, the cuts,
however, I had kept to myself. But his lamps were three-way. He
would’ve had to cycle through the brighter settings to turn it
off. And since he didn’t say anything while it was dim, he
must’ve noticed when he cycled through, my naked, sleeping body
lying there right beside him. My cuts would’ve been so obvious.

“Did you really
think you could keep that from me?”

“No,” I
said quickly, dragging the word out longer than necessary. “I
just… I…” I closed my eyes, unable to find the
right words. “Please don’t be mad.”

“Don’t be
mad?” he snapped, arcing towards me. “My girlfriend gets
fucking kidnapped, brainwashed and sold to some shithead who fucking
rapes and cuts her every damn night!”

My eyes cringed shut
when he started yelling at full lung capacity. “I think I have
the right to be fucking mad! Do you think this is easy for me? To
know I wasn’t there to protect you? To know that for every day
I was off learning some stupid new culinary skill, that you were
being drugged and threatened and raped? He had his hands on MY
GIRLFRIEND! And then by some miracle, you not only escape but find
your way back to me. And I’m just supposed to pretend
everything’s alright now? How the hell are either one of us
suppose to do that?”

His voice collapsed on
him next. “How can you not resent me for not finding you? For
not protecting you better?” He practically choked when he added
solemnly, “Why would you even want to be with someone that’s
already failed you?”

My face long smothered
with tears, all I could do was jump on his lap and throw my arms
around him. Whether he felt he deserved me or not, I wasn’t
going to let him fall apart on me. Not now. Not ever. I didn’t
want to move forward without him.

To my relief, his arms
wrapped around me too, and I felt the tug to my roots when he fisted
my hair. Through tears and a raspy voice, he cried, “I am so
sorry, Megan. I should’ve protected you better.”

My throat thick with
mucous, my voice was barely audible. “It’s not your
fault. You wouldn’t have been driving me to school even if you
were still in town. I was the stupid one. It’s my fault I was
taken.”

“No. You were
young. Innocent.”

“So were you,”
I defended. “And I know you did everything you could to find
me. You had to go on with your life. If you hadn’t, you
wouldn’t be able to take care of me right now.”

“But that
shouldn’t have happened to you. And I’m glad you burned
that motherfucker to the ground. I only wish I could’ve been
there to do it with you.”

The grip he had on my
ribs practically suffocated me now, but I didn’t care. It was
secure and somewhat comforting, even with the difficulty breathing.
“It’s over now. I just want to move on. With you.”

He gave me a shaky
nod. We held each other tightly until our unsteady chest heaves
calmed and our tears ran dry. He grabbed my face with both hands and
gave me his most passionate kiss yet.

“I love you,
Megan.”

I felt another tear
drop. “I think I love you, too. No, wait…” I
paused, tipping my head at an angle. Did I really just say
think?

Did I
love him?
I knew it seemed fast, but I had been with him twenty-four-seven for
practically a month now.
Twenty-nine days. Seven hundred and two
hours.
Watching him, getting to know him, aching to bring my body
closer to his, finally getting to kiss him. Was it me on the border
of falling in love, or was it something deep within that was tapping
into it? Something lingering from the days of Claire, maybe
recognizing and reaching for the soul it once connected with?

Because I kind of felt
like I did love him. And I couldn’t deny all the things he’d
done to prove his love for me.

Nick’s chuckle
was as soft as a whisper, and his hands surrounded my face to bring
my eyes back to his. “That’s alright. Given the
circumstances, I’ll happily accept that.”

We smiled in the
darkness and brought our lips together again. The way his hands
slipped down to caress my hips, along with the deep succulent kisses,
made me wet again, and I was suddenly aware of how exposed I was,
sitting in his lap in nothing but a robe with silk ties that had
completely loosened from our embrace. Tingles exploded between my
legs and my body screamed for me to let him take me.

I pulled from the kiss
and buried my forehead in his neck. “Can I ask you something
that’s been weighing on my mind?”

“Anything.”
His hand gently brushed through my tangled hair.

“You said we
started dating when I was a sophomore. Did we ever have sex?”

He chuckled lightly
and I sensed a much-needed smile spreading across his face. “Yeah.
But the first year, we just fooled around with oral sex.”

“Which explains
why you did it so well earlier.”

His amusement growing,
he let loose a real laugh this time, and my insides got chills when I
remembered how his eyes seduced me when they looked up from between
my legs earlier. “Well, I’ve had plenty of experience
finding your sweet spots, you just don’t remember it. Shortly
after your sixteenth birthday, your parents left to visit relatives
one weekend. You asked me to come stay with you and told me you were
ready for more.” He paused to tuck my hair behind my ear. “We
hardly left your bed the entire time.”