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“I don't know. Maybe I'll go start a security company or something.” I chuckled and smiled. Poppy didn't smile back. “Too soon for a joke?”

“Vega, I'm having a really hard time with this. My father killed my mother. He hired people to kill me. What the hell am I supposed to do with that?”

I ran my fingers around the curve of her face, pushing loose hair behind her ear. “You'll find your way through it. You're strong. You'll come out the other side even stronger.”

Her lips twitched with a soft smile. She gripped my wrist and pressed her face into my palm. “I don't know how.” Poppy closed her eyes as she took a deep breath. “My life is ruined.”

“Look at me.” I cupped her face with both hands, forcing her to look into my eyes. “Your life is just beginning. You've been living someone else's up to now. This is where you take yours back.”

“I wish I could believe that.” Poppy's eyes flicked between mine, teary and red. “How do I do that?”

“You start right now,” I said as I leaned in and kissed her forehead. I pulled away and whispered. “Let me help you. I can give you your life back.” I lowered my lips slowly towards hers, wanting to kiss her so badly.

I needed this woman like I needed air. I wanted to breathe her in. I wanted to touch her and taste and devour her. I wanted to fill her body with mine. I wanted her to scream my name as she dug her nails into the muscles of my back. But what did she want?

Poppy was quiet. Our eyes searched each other for words that neither of us would speak. And then she spoke with action. She pushed up on the tips of her toes and wrapped her arms around my neck. Poppy accepted my kiss. Her head angled to the side, mouth softly opening. She exhaled as I kissed her deeper. Herskin was chilled. The tips of her fingers were like ice against my neck.

“You're so cold,” I said against her lips.

“Then warm me up,” Poppy spoke low, her voice as delicate as the thin blades of grass reaching up between dead leaves for a taste of sunlight. “I want you to make me sweat.”

“Are you sure about that?” I asked. “I don't want you doing something you might regret.”

“I won't regret it.” Poppy's words came off a lucid tongue.

I cupped her jaw softly. “Your head isn't in the right space right now. There's no telling how you'll feel tomorrow or the next day. I want you whole.”

“And I want to feel whole. Help me feel whole, Vega.”

That was all I needed to hear. I needed to hear Poppy say my name. I needed her to want me. I growled and lifted her off the ground in one swoop. She curled her legs around my waist as I walked her to the nearest tree. I pushed her back against the rough surface to help hold her up.

Poppy let out a coo as my hard cock pressed her clit. She clenched her thighs tight and rocked her hips as her tongue slid into my mouth. She tasted like pure ecstasy. Sweet and innocent but with a hint of danger. Maybe she tasted so good because wanting her was wrong. Maybe she tasted so good because having her could get us killed. It was always a thrill to do something you knew you shouldn't.

My cock hurt to be inside her. I was so hard it felt like my dick was going to bust through my pants. I lowered her to the ground slowly. She fought me slightly, but the second I started unbuttoning my jeans, she began to rip her clothes off. Poppy threw her shirt to the ground and kicked her pants off.

My pants fell around my ankles, my cock bouncing to attention at the sight of her naked form. Poppy had sleek legs and a small waist. Her tits were perfect raindrops. The dustypink of her nipples exploded with tiny bumps as a breeze blew between us. She leaned back against the tree with pure desire in her eyes.

She was calling to me. The way her legs rubbed back and forth over each other and her hands wrapped around the trunk of the tree was all I needed to bring the animal to life inside of me.

I gripped her thighs and pulled them around my waist. The tip of my cock hit her entrance, and she moaned before it even went inside. Poppy closed her eyes as she dug her nails into the meat of my shoulders. My cock slipped up between her lips, getting covered in her juice.

I ran my shaft over her clit, drawing out a second moan. It was galvanizing to see the response. Her body shivered as I teased her, making her even wetter. She thrust her hips forward in a way that was pleading for me to be inside. I couldn't resist the temptation of making her wait. Sex was always better when there was play first. The tension would build and build until it finally exploded.

Goosebumps jetted over her skin as my cock massaged her needy button. The longer I rubbed, the more she seeped her supple juice. She was so wet. So hot. So fucking ready.

I pressed my swollen tip to her warm center and slipped inside. Poppy arched her back hard and bit her bottom lip, tugging it into her mouth. Her pussy clenched around my shaft, squeezing firmly. I gyrated my hips, fucking her fast and vigorously.

It was strange to feel so free. To be so careless, broken, and alive. At that moment, there was no danger or fear. There was no running. There was just us and the raw nature entombing her muffled screams of pleasure.

Poppy ground her hips down, matching my pace. She was ruthless in wanting her release. Her heels dug into my thighsas her breathing became erratically wild, like a lioness hunting down food for her starving cubs. Everything about her was feral. The way her nails raked down my back, and her pupils as they expanded into vast, dark pools. How her nipples beaded hard as diamonds, begging to be nibbled.

I ran my tongue over her rosy flesh and sucked her tit into my mouth. Poppy let out the sexiest moan as she closed her eyes. Her body tensed up. Her pussy bore down on my cock, keeping me inside, and then she came. She came so hard her body shook from head to toe. She squeezed tightly around my waist as I thrust one final time. My cock exploded its lifeblood inside her.

I gently set her on the ground and held her hips until I knew she had her footing. Poppy looked up at me and smiled—a real smile. And I smiled back. It came natural. I didn't have to pretend that I was happy at that moment.

Poppy shivered from the wind. “It's chilly,” she said as she turned and bent over to pick up her shirt off the ground. There was a long, raw scrape running the length of her spine. It was a little oozy and bloody, with bits of bark peppering the surface.

“That must sting.”