Page 26 of Danger Close (Mourningkill #3)
Fix You
Cobra
I only had a second of warning. Her eyes went from pleasure to shame in an instant. I had just enough time to crawl up her body and draw her to my chest.
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry.” She kept repeating her apologies, even as I rolled us so that my back was on the backrest, and she was safe in my embrace.
“Don’t be sorry, Princess. You’ve done nothing wrong.” I lightly grazed my fingers over her back, lifting up her shirt so that my nails delicately traced an infinity symbol on her spine. I held her, rocked her, and waited it out.
“I’m so fucking broken.” She sounded so miserable that it broke my heart.
She tried to push away from me, but I refused to let her go. The more she pushed, the tighter I hung on, because that was what she needed. She needed aftercare. She needed love.
“Then I’ll fix you,” I whispered. “I’ll hold you together.”
I cupped her cheek so that her watery, tear-soaked eyes lifted to mine.
“Someone hurt you, Princess, but they did not break you.” I kissed her forehead. “I’m here now. If you think you’ll shatter, I will hold you together.”
“We didn’t even have sex and I’ve already fallen apart!” She shook her head, denying my words. But every denial was an opportunity to fix her misconceptions. “How could you want this?”
“I don’t want this .” Whatever the hell this was. “I want you. ”
I took her mouth with all the passion I felt for her. My tongue pressed and tangled with hers, and I swallowed her whimpers, her sighs. I took the sobs from her lips and absorbed them as my own. I pressed further and further, until she lay against the pillows.
I broke the kiss when I stopped tasting her tears and sorrow. When she kissed me back with tenderness, I let her breathe again.
I traced my fingertips over her forehead, her cheeks, her chin, to her throat. I massaged her arms, her hands, her fingers. I caressed her, worshipping every inch of her body.
She slowly relaxed into my touch, and the tears stopped. I slid my arm under the nape of her neck, letting my bicep be her pillow.
“What about you?” she asked, her voice a tired whisper.
“What about me?”
“You’re still… you’re still hard.”
“So?” I said, with a chuckle.
“Joe…” My eyes fluttered with pleasure as the old nickname left her lips. “You should… I should… help you…”
“That wasn’t what this was about, Princess.” I kissed her forehead, pulling the blanket over us, wrapping her body around mine so she could take my warmth. “Go to sleep.”
The fact she called me Joe, instead of Cobra, was more than enough.