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BLYTHE

P ain radiates through my body as I stare up into the eyes of the man who is going to kill me. His blue eyes look dead and cold. His grin as he squeezes my neck is almost too much. He spits on me, and I feel the saliva slide down my cheek. He releases my neck as I start to feel myself letting go. I take a deep breath, pulling in the air I need, and scream. My voice is scratchy, and it comes as gurgles. He laughs as he squeezes and twists my nipple. I pull in more oxygen, and this time, I scream long and loud.

Light bursts around me, and I come up in the bed, looking at the shadow of someone standing in the doorway.

“Bumblebee, it’s me.” I hear Reed’s voice.

I’m still caught in the nightmare. “No, you can’t be here. I failed, and you can’t see how bad.”

“Blythe, you didn’t fail.”

“I did. Look.” I reach down, feeling the sand and blood in my fingers, and hold it up. “I couldn’t protect our baby.” I cry, the sobs wracking my body as I show him my failure. “You have to hate me now.”

“Oh my God, Bumblebee.” He walks toward me, and I push away from him, feeling something against my back. He touches my leg, and my breath whooshes from my body. The trembling stops, and I’m no longer there in that place that still haunts me.

“Oh God.” My head falls back as I realize it was all a nightmare.

“Blythe.” His voice cracks, and I see the horror on his face.

The dream comes back to me. What I said. What I thought.

“A baby.” He chokes, and I see the tears in his eyes. He drops his head, and his shoulders shake. My horror is known.

“It’s why I was on the beach that night. I was trying to figure out how I was going to tell you. They attacked me, and I lost the baby. I’m no good.” I cry harder. “I—” My voice cracks, and I press a hand to my throat. “I tr-tried. I fought.”

Reed slides next to me and pulls me into his arms. “You did fight. I believe you. I don’t blame you. I blame them.”

A shadow appears in the hall, and I jump into Reed’s arms, screaming.

“It’s just me,” a soft, gravelly voice says from the doorway.

“Butcher, we are okay,” Reed says as he holds me tightly to his body.

“I’ll be back. I’m securing the house.” And he’s gone.

I realize, minutes later, as I watch where Butcher was just standing, that this is the first time I’ve heard him speak. And then I realize I’m in Reed’s arms, his chest bare and hot against my skin. I start to push away, but he holds me tighter.

“Don’t,” he says before he leans against the headboard and adjusts me into his side.

I start to drift off again, but when I shift into a more comfortable position, I groan from the pain.

“Do you want a pain med?” Reed whispers into the top of my head, his breath brushing against my forehead. His musky scent and warmth surround me, and it’s like coming home after so long.

I know he’s different, and I’m definitely different, but I don’t know if I have the strength to pull away from him again. It almost killed me the last time.

“Blythe, did you hear me?” Reed’s fingers dance along my chin and lift my face up to look at him.

In the dim light, I see they are still shiny from his loss. I can’t help myself. I’ve always comforted him. I’ve always been there for him.

I slide up in the bed and throw my leg over his lap, straddling his hips. Taking his face between my hands, I feel the tickle of his beard against my palms. The sensation makes me tremble. His hands grip my waist, and I know he’s going to be a gentleman and push me away. He thinks I’m too lost for this. I might have been, but I’m not that woman any longer. I’m tired of waiting for what I want and denying myself.

I take in his chest, covered in tattoos and muscles. He didn’t have those when we were together.

“You don’t have to do this, bumblebee.”

I cut him off as I lean forward and kiss his lips. I’ve missed them for the last nine years. His arms wrap around my body as he groans and pulls me closer to him. I moan into his mouth when I feel his hard cock through his jeans against my core. His tongue slides along mine, and we get to know each other again. It’s a heady mix of bliss and aching need all at once. My hands are in his long hair, and I pull on it before scraping my nails along his scalp.

He rips his mouth from mine.

“I want you. Fuck, I want you so much, Blythe, but I also just want to hold you and comfort you.” His voice is thick with emotion.

I moan and grind myself down on him. He throws his head back and slams it into the headboard.

“Blythe, I can’t.”

I shake my head, refusing his words. “Please, Reed, it’s been so long since I felt you inside me,” I beg. “I swear, other than that night, I’ve never been with another man. Please.” I lean forward and kiss his nipple, slowly sucking it between my lips.

He moans and buries his hands in my hair.

Hemingway

S he’s fucking undoing me. Her words about only ever being with me hit hard. She’s still mine. She never stopped being mine. I drag her up my body, bringing her face to face with me.

“Blythe, if we do this, it’s a second chance. I’m not going to sleep with you if you’re thinking about heading back to wherever it is you were. You also got hurt earlier tonight. You are still raw from that.” I cup her face, and I see the tears in her eyes. She thinks I’m going to turn her down. I know her actions are partially from the adrenaline pumping through her, the need to prove she’s alive after the attack and nightmare. “But, bumblebee, you’re going to be on top, because if I roll you under me, I’m going to pound the fuck out of you.” I pull her lips to mine and kiss her softly, wanting to cherish her in this moment. She needs to know I don’t see her any differently after what she went through.

I kiss down her neck, dragging my tongue along her skin. She still tastes the same. Honeysuckle bursts on my tongue, and memories of before flash through my mind. My hands slide down her body, and I drag the T-shirt over her head and toss it aside. Her beautiful ivory skin glows in the backlight from the hall. Her nipples are pierced, and I lean forward, taking one in my mouth and sucking it deep. Her hips rock against me, and my cock is so hard, I feel like I’m going to burst in my jeans.

Blythe’s hands and nails drag down my chest as her head drops back, and she moans. When she reaches the waist of my jeans, she moves to my buckle, pulling away from me and taking her nipple with her. She shifts back to unbuckle my belt. Pulling it free, she tosses it to the side before unfastening the button. I lift her off me and roll to the side of the bed, where I strip off my jeans but leave on my boxers. Blythe is kneeling on the bed in her panties. She has tattoos on her arms, her belly button is pierced, and her body is lined with lean muscles and curves. It’s the tattoo under her right breast that stops my heart. Before we continue, I need to ask her a question.

“Bee, I need to know something.”

“I need you in this bed right now without those boxers.” Her eyes move up and down my body, stopping at my erect cock pressing against my boxers, the head weeping and leaving a wet spot. As she stares, the more it weeps.

Her fearless, sexual aggression turns me on. My old Blythe could barely ask for what she wanted, but this woman knows and isn’t afraid to demand it.

“Fuck, baby, I want you too, but answer my question first.”

Her eyes flash to mine, and for a moment, I see the worry in their ice blue depths before she blinks and covers it up. I step closer and lift her chin so she’s looking at me. She’s unable to lie if she’s looking me in the eye.

“Why did you leave me? Was it the rape? Were you embarrassed? Or were you trying to protect me?”

She tries to pull away, but I won’t let her go. She looks over my shoulder for a moment, but I squeeze my thumb and finger to get her attention back on me.

“Tell me,” I say, and she pulls her lip between her teeth. I pull it out with a touch of force on her chin. “Please.”

“I can’t.” She takes a deep breath.

“I will always hurt for the baby, but you are the most important person in my world.” I give her some truth. “I did everything I could to end my life after you left.” I take her hand and drag it to my hip. Shifting my boxers aside, I trace her fingers along the scars from the bullet, surgery, and fall.

“I know.” She drops her eyes to look. “Wayne helped me keep up on your progress. I also have a hacker friend who helped me. I cried so hard when I found out you were hurt.” Her delicate fingers trace the scars, and for the first time in years, it’s as if she’s healing me. Acceptance washes over me, knowing that my scars don’t turn her off. “I left because I knew I couldn’t stay, not after Sam was killed and they threatened to kill you too.” Her voice is so soft and quiet, I can barely hear her. I lift her face back up to me and take her lips in a soft kiss.

She wraps her hand around my cock and starts pumping. My knees almost buckle. I push her onto the bed and slide a hand into her panties, where I find her wet and ready for me. My mouth waters for a taste, and I slide down her body, making her release my cock that was about to burst.

I rip her panties from her body and drag my tongue up her core. She bucks her hips when I reach her clit. Her hands bury in my hair, and she pulls me in tighter. Opening her lips up so I can see her pink pussy, I groan with how sweet her taste is on my tongue. I can’t control myself any longer and dive into her, eating her as if she’s my last meal, and she will be my last. I’ll kill every man who hurt her, and I’ll be the only man she’ll ever have between her legs again.

I fuck my tongue into her, over and over, feeling how tight she still is. Moving up to her clit, I suck it deep as I insert two fingers in her. She screams, and I know the intrusion was almost too much, but I can’t stop myself. I need her to feel me there afterward for a while. Her words that I’ve been the only man to make love to her roll through my mind, and I know I have to make this special for her. I get her off, then roll us so she’s over me as I slide my boxers off.

“Take me in, baby,” I order her, and she rises up over me.

Her skin is flushed from her orgasm, and my beard and mustache smell like her. It calms me for a moment. She grips my cock and pumps it a couple of times. When precum glistens at the top, she bends down and sucks me deep.

“Blythe, I’m going to come inside that pussy. Ride me, Bee,” I command and watch as her eyes flair. She likes when I tell her what to do.

She positions herself over my cock and slowly slides down it. It takes some time. Fuck, she feels virgin tight. By the time her ass is flush with my groin, we are both breathing hard. I’m doing everything I can to not come, but she’s perfect. She arches her back, and my grip on her hips tightens as she starts to move over me. My fingers dig into her flesh, and something inside me snaps. I’m marking her. I rise up and take the edge of her nipple between my lips and suck. I move to the other and do the same. Everyone is going to know she’s mine, and I’ll kill for her.

I’m no longer afraid of what the future holds for us because I’m never letting her go again. I’ll chase her ass down.

My goddess moves, circling her hips as she rides me. I slam up into her every so often, giving her a bit more. When I feel my spine tingling, I slide a hand to clit and thumb it. She screams as she comes, and I slam into her, over and over, until I come deep inside her. Something primal inside me howls when I realize I didn’t wear a condom.

She falls to my chest, and I wrap her in my arms, letting her rest for a moment before I slide out of her body to clean us both. She falls asleep in my arms, and for the first time in years, I sleep through the night.