Page 16 of Craved By You (Dark Desires Duet #1)

Colt

I couldn’t believe she was here, standing before me, in my home. I never brought anyone here. Astrid wasn’t just anyone though. She was the reason my heart skipped beats and my soul no longer felt to be the darkest shade of black. I have fallen for her.

Once I finished playing Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata for her I turned around and she was staring at me like she had just seen a ghost. The moment I mentioned my mom’s passing she returned to me and I could tell that she had questions that I wasn’t quite ready to answer.

“ Tonight, I just want to focus on you.” I tried to distract her, but I could tell that wasn’t going to work. “I promise, soon, I will tell you all about my mom…”

“ But let me guess,” Astrid paused and grinned, “it’s getting late.”

I stood up and whisked her away in my arms back to the master bedroom. Aside from the living room, this was another major selling point for me. The room itself was huge and I recently had some work done to make it feel more like a space for Astrid and I.

The walls were painted the darkest black that existed.

Being in the music industry I had several connections and one of them was able to hook me up with the guy who had created this fantastic shade.

I knew Astrid would love it. The baseboards were lined with matte black tubing that had LED lights inside them and they could glow in any color that we could possibly want and at any brightness to help control the atmosphere and vibe.

I also had a custom-made Saint Andrews cross done in black and red to match the rest of the house and a matching kneeling bench.

Throughout the room there were discreet chests and drawers that held a wide selection of toys that I had picked out for Astrid.

I wasn’t sure what all she would enjoy, but I wanted to be sure that she had the opportunity to learn about all of them.

The options were endless when it came to her.

My bed was another custom piece that I was quite proud of.

It was tall, but not too tall. The four post frames sat on top of a cage that could be easily hidden away with the bed skirt.

Each of the posts were strong and had been made to hold up to seven hundred pounds.

I smirked at the thought of what she and I would be able to accomplish with that, especially with the o-rings that I also had installed.

It was a masterpiece.

“ Wow, you really have done this before.” I could hear the disappointment in the tone of her voice and I found myself desperate to reassure her that she was the only one in this moment that I wanted to do any of this with.

???? Had I explored various lifestyles with other people previously?

Of course I had, but this was different.

She was different. and she deserved a place of her own that had never been shared with anyone else.

“I’ve recently remodeled,” I said coyly.

The expression on her face was not reassuring.

“ I did this for you.” I paused and waited for her reaction, but still… nothing. “I’m serious.”

Then there was a slight glimmer in her eye. “Why though?”

Damn, there was no making this woman happy was there? “You are special to me, you are the only one in the entire universe that I want to live this life with. I love you, Astrid.”

The look on Astrid’s face softened. She had gone from hesitation and mistrust to all smiles as she wrapped her arms around me in the tightest hug.

“ Pinch me,” she said excitedly. A strange response to my professing my love to her, but I obliged. “Ow!”

“ You said-” She cut me off.

“ It isn’t a dream!” Astrid continued to celebrate. “Colt, I’ve longed to hear you say those words.”

I stood there, unsure of what to do with my hands in this quickly growing awkward moment, for me… Clearly not her. Does she love me, too? “ Nope, not a dream, sunshine.” Or was I the one who had been sucked away into dreamland while all of this was going on?

Her not saying those three little words in return shouldn’t have bothered me. In fact, pre-Astrid me wouldn’t have given two fucks about any of this so I was struggling to figure out why I was having a hard time wrapping my head around any of this until I realized…

“ Colt? What’s going on?” I walked quietly over to the bed and sat down on the edge, trying to keep up my tough exterior while I worked through what was happening in my mind.

I tried to brush it off. “I’m fine.”

Astrid rushed over in front of me and grasped my face in her hands. “It is clearly not fine, Colt. I love you, talk to me, please.”

She loves me. Just like that, the world started to spin on its axis once more and everything was going to be okay. “I’m really okay, I just had a moment.”

“ One day you’re going to have to open up to me.” She looked me dead in the eyes and I could tell that she was being serious.

I nodded. “One day, sunshine. I’ll tell you everything.”

???

Astrid

There was so much mystery behind Colt and who he was, and it continued to drive me absolutely bonkers.

What dark secret was he hiding that he was so scared that it would push me away?

I was starting to feel as if he was waiting for me to fall madly in love with him before he told me because then it would be too late. I’d be destroyed.

Soon.

Soon, I would push him to share everything with me. That’s what you do for the person you love, and he clearly had some skeletons in his closet that needed to be cleaned out. Hopefully he didn’t actually have any of those in his closet, that would be awkward… And probably a deal breaker… Maybe.

Snapping back to reality, my eyes washed over him, and I couldn’t help but be filled with compassion.

He had been through so much, and he clearly never had anyone to share those moments with.

It would take time. Together we would face our demons and battle them head on. We’d come out stronger in the end.

Colt wrapped his strong arms around me and pulled me in closer than I thought possible. “Thank you for being patient with me, sunshine,” he said in a hushed manner. I leaned into him and tilted my head downward to kiss him when he leaned back onto the bed, pulling me with him.

“ Colt, I don’t want to hurt you.” I squealed, surprised by his unexpected movement. “Ope.” I covered my mouth quickly. Colt didn’t like it when I talked down about myself.

It was too late. The words I had hoped that he would gloss over - though, who was I kidding? He would never - had made their way to his ears and the look in his eyes told me he was deciding my fate.

He gently rolled me off of him onto the king-sized bed beneath us and oh, was it comfy. I was never going to want to leave this bed.

“ Stay,” he commanded.

I smiled and snuggled into the bedspread. “Not a problem.”

A few moments later I heard the garage door slam shut and Colt came sauntering back into the room holding the claws tight in his grasp.

“ What have I told you about being mean to yourself?” he askedsternly.

“ It seems to have slipped my mind,” I couldn’t help but sass back at him. “Why don’t you remind me?”