Page 33

Alexa Play: Chew On My Heart - Piano & Voice by James Bay

I woke up to find Riddick still lying next to me, gently stroking my hair. My eyelids were swollen and puffy from all the crying, and my limbs felt like they were made of lead.

“Hey, sweet boy,” Riddick whispered as my eyes fluttered open. It was dark now, and I was so relieved he’d stayed with me. “How are you feeling?”

I swallowed thickly and sighed.

“Really sad,” I answered honestly, and the look he was giving me wasn’t one of pity but of understanding. I realized that he’d suffered a loss recently too, and he was clearly just as fucked up over the death of his friend as I was over losing my mom.

The realization came as a surprise. I’d never met anyone who’d had a death in their family like I had.

Turtle even still had all his grandparents.

To have someone to talk to about my grief that didn’t just listen but understood was a gift. One I didn’t even realize had been sitting right in front of me.

“Does it ever stop hurting?” I asked, my voice so quiet it was almost a whisper.

He reached out and brushed his thumb over my cheek, and I closed my eyes, leaning into his comforting touch.

“No, baby. It’ll always hurt. But it will hurt less as time goes on.” He answered honestly.

If I asked that question to anyone else, they probably would have lied to me. This was what I loved about Riddick. I could always trust him to be real with me. He never lied, even if I didn’t want to hear the truth.

“As you get older, you’ll find things that make you happy, and they’ll be beacons of light that you can cling to when the times of sadness get too hard.”

“What do you cling to?” I asked him, and he laced his fingers in my hair while continuing to stroke my temple with his thumb.

He gave me a sad smile and pressed a gentle kiss against my lips.

“Lately, it’s been you.”

I frowned, and he leaned forward to kiss away the crease in my brow.

“Me?” I whispered.

“Yeah, Finn. You.”

“What do you mean?”

For a second, he hesitated, and I could see the conflict in his eyes.

Whatever secret he was keeping… whatever had kept him from admitting his feelings for me for so long was holding him back again.

I pressed myself flush against his chest and left delicate kisses up his throat, enjoying the rough feeling of his stubble rubbing against my lips.

“Please, tell me,” I begged, my voice cracking .

“After the accident… I… I was lost, Finn. I was floating alone in a sea of darkness. There was no one… no one who saw me. No one who…”

It was his turn for his voice to crack, and I pulled back to look at him and found that he had tears in his eyes, too.

“Until you.” He let out a strangled chuckle, and the sight of his smile made me feel lighter.

“You barreled right up to me and gave me shit for trying to surf on your beach, and you were just so… so full of life and fire. You made me feel when I thought I would never feel again. You saw me when I thought no one would ever see me again, and I just… I’m so grateful for you, Finn.

You’ve given me something that’s worth looking forward to when, for a long time, all that stood before me were endless, empty days filled with nothing but bad memories and regrets. ”

“Riddick…” I whispered, reaching out and brushing one of his tears away as he did the same for me.

He was staring at me like I was this precious thing that he couldn’t live without, and suddenly, I couldn’t breathe.

I was always so excited to see him. Every time I opened my eyes in the morning to find him lying there, next to me… my heart would flutter, and my pulse would quicken.

He was always thinking of me, doing things for me, and he was always worried about me. Even now, he’d spent the entire day in bed with me because he knew I needed him.

Tears gathered in the corners of my eyes, and I suddenly needed to feel him. I leaned in and kissed his lips, shuddering as his warm mouth moved against mine, gently coaxing the tension out of my body.

He made me feel safe.

He made me feel like I wasn’t alone. My feelings for Riddick were so strong. Too strong. They had the potential to sweep me away and absolutely ruin me… but they also felt so good.

He felt so good.

I wanted to tell him.

My mouth was moving before I could stop myself, and before I knew what was happening, I was saying three words that I’d never said to anyone before… except maybe my mom.

“Riddick, I love you,” I whispered, and he froze.

I watched his face crumble in slow motion. It was like I could literally see his heart, and it was breaking before my eyes.

I didn’t understand why, but what I’d just said devastated him so badly, and I wished I could take it back.

“I’m sorry…” I choked as my stomach bottomed out. “You don’t have to say it back.”

He pressed a finger against my lips, and another tear slid down his cheek, disappearing into the pillows.

“Don’t be sorry for that, baby. I just wish…

” his voice broke, and he cleared his throat.

“I just wish things were different. I wish we’d met under different circumstances.

But it has nothing to do with you, sweet boy.

You’re perfect, Finn. You deserve everything, and I’m so sorry that I’ll never be able to be what you deserve. ”

He cupped my face and pulled me into him, his warm lips connecting with mine, and he kissed me like it was the last time we would ever kiss again.

“I’m so, so sorry…”

I didn’t want his apologies. I just wanted to forget and pretend that everything was okay. I wanted him to take my pain away, even if it was just for a little bit.

“Riddick…” I breathed into him, “Help me forget,” I begged, and he nodded, nipping at my bottom lip hard enough that I whimpered. “Make me feel good. Please? I don’t want to be sad anymore.”

“Are you sure you want this right now, baby?” He hummed against my lips, though he didn’t stop kissing and sucking at them. His hands were wandering now, and I felt his calloused palms slide under my shirt and scrape against my ribs.

“Yes. Please. I need you, Riddick.”

“Alright, baby. Take this off.”

He helped me slide out of my shirt before rolling me on my back and tugging my boxers down. I was already hard and weeping for him as he sat back on his heels to peel off his own shirt.

He kicked off his shorts next, and I groaned as he lay back on top of me, our naked bodies rubbing against each other in a desperate rhythm.

He claimed my mouth again, possessing me with his tongue and showing me with each stroke that I belonged to him and only him.

I whined when he reached between us and wrapped his hand around both our cocks at the same time.

“Fuck,” I gasped, glancing down between us so I could watch him stroke us in unison.

“Look how good we are together,” he murmured, and I moaned as he swiped his thumb over our crowns.

“We belong together,” I said, nipping at his lips again, my need for him to be inside me growing by the second.

“Fuck, Finn... I’m a fucking monster for doing this to you.” He said it so quietly I barely heard him, but before I could argue, he was kissing down my throat and then my chest. He paused briefly to suck and play with each of my nipples, biting and pinching them until they were hard.

“Riddick, just… please, I need you inside me,” I begged, but he ignored me and kissed lower and lower down my body.

He worshiped every inch of flesh with his mouth, running his tongue up each line in my abdomen before finally turning his attention to my dick.

“Fuck, baby… you’re leaking for me already,” he whispered, wrapping his massive hand around my shaft and lining my tip up with his mouth. He licked the cum off of the head of my cock with a flat, wet tongue, and I groaned, thrusting my hips into his hand.

My whole body felt hot, and tiny explosions of pleasure were firing off in my balls, causing them to tighten into a sensitive, plump bundle of need .

He fondled me while he slurped my tip into his scorching hot mouth. The dopamine centers in my brain exploded as he slid me in deeper and sucked.

“F-fuck… Riddick, that feels so fucking good.” I whined as he bobbed on my dick. He forced me down his tight throat like it was nothing, all the while rubbing and massaging my balls until I was wound so tight I was worried I would snap.

“I could suck you all day, baby. You taste like fucking heaven.” He murmured before sliding my cock back down his throat again. My fingers were in his hair, and I was fucking up into his mouth without shame.

For a second, I was worried he was going to make me come like this, but abruptly, he popped off and then crouched even further down between my legs.

“Riddick, what are you…”

He slid his hands under my legs and bent my knees, spreading me open before gently feathering his tongue over my hole.

“Riddick!” I cried out as he lightly flicked his tongue against me again. His soft mouth moved in slow, languid strokes around my rim, and I writhed against him. He gripped my thighs firmly, holding me in place as he licked and kissed and sucked me until I was literally in tears.

“Fuck… ohmygod .” My words were garbled, and my mouth opened and closed as his warm tongue continued to massage me gently and…

So.

Very.

Deliberately.

“You’re so damn beautiful, baby,” he whispered, kissing me again directly on my sensitive hole. “I’ll never get enough of you.”

I was panting now, lost in the cacophony of sensations. His lips, his tongue, even his teeth as he ate my ass like he was a dying man and I was all he needed to come back to life.

“ Riddick…” I whined, and in response, he pressed the tip of his tongue into me.

I began to shake .

His hold on my thighs tightened, and he smoothed his palms up and down the backs of my legs. A low mewl bubbled out of my throat as he slowly pushed his tongue deeper inside me.

“You taste so sweet, baby…” he rasped, sliding his tongue out of me before slowly spearing it back in.