Page 69 of Reaper

Then I notice that her eyes are closed and she’s tightly gripping the sash of her robe. She’s let her hair down out of her loose braid and she’s tucked her hair behind her ears, revealing the burns on her temple, left ear, cheek and neck. Cupping her cheek, I lean down and rest my forehead against hers. She leans into my touch, and I feel some of the nervous tension leaving her body.

Taking a deep breath, she unties the sash and lets the robe slide off her shoulders and onto the floor.

I suck in a sharp breath. Fuck, she’s so sexy. I’m going to be having a serious case of blue balls tonight—especially since I didn’t cum earlier, but her pleasure is more important.

The tank top and shorts match the silky blue of her robe and they hug her curves.

I tear my gaze away from her gorgeous curves and back up to her face.

This time, I follow the line of her burns and discolored skin down her face, neck, collarbone, shoulder, chest, and down to her left arm and hand. For the first time, I noticed that there’s also a small area on her right shoulder that was burned but it’s not as bad as her left side.

My gaze lowers even further, and I spot another patch of discolored skin peeking out from under her shorts and goes to about mid-thigh on her left leg. Lower on her calves, there are lighter patches of discoloration on both legs. Judging by how much lighter they are than the others, they must not have been as severe.

Her fingers toy with the hem of her tank top and I raise my gaze back up to her face. She’s chewing on her lip nervously and her eyes are still closed. Exhaling heavily, she raises her tank top and lowers the left side of her shorts.

A small section of burns blooms around her right hip and then tapers down to the one that must run down to mid-thigh. They aren’t as severe as the ones on her left arm and shoulder, but they are more prominent than the ones on her calves and her right shoulder.

Reaching out, I gently wrap my hands around her waist as I lean down, placing a kiss on her temple over her scar. Gently, I start to kiss each scarred area down her face, ear, neck and shoulders. Sinking to my knees, I kiss down her arm, across her stomach, down her hip and thigh. Lifting her right leg, I kiss the side of her calf and then do the same to the left leg.

Looking back up at Lark, she has tears in her eyes as she stares down at me, a mixed look of relief, shock, and disbelief on herface. Standing, I cup her cheeks using my thumbs brush away the tears that fall.

“To mirror your words, your scars don’t bother me in the least. You were beautiful before, and you’re just as beautiful now. To quote my sister, our scars do not define us. Wear them with pride because you are a survivor. It took me a really long time to start accepting what she said, and I’ll admit, I still struggle sometimes as you just saw, but I’m working on it. And if you ever stumble, I’ll be right there by your side to help pull you up and out of the darkness.”

She reaches up, cups my cheeks in turn and knowing what she most likely wants, I lean down, allowing her to kiss each of the scars on my face and neck. Pulling back, she gives me a small smile. “And I’ll be there by your side for when you stumble.”

My chest warms while at the same time, it tightens.

Reaching up, I grasp my shirt, then I close my eyes as I hesitate for a second before pulling it up and over my head. Lark gasps and I feel her fingers shaking slightly as her hands gently move from scar to scar on my chest and then to each arm. Then I feel her hand cupping my cheek again.

“Anthony, look at me, please.”

Opening my eyes, I stare down into her chocolate brown eyes.

“What I told you before? It’s still true. Your scars don’t bother me.”

Like I did for her, she kisses each and every scar on both my arms before moving to my chest. Lastly, she kisses right over the ‘BP’ again before placing a hand on the back of my neck and pulling me down for a kiss. I bite back a moan at the feeling of her soft lips against mine. She immediately opens up for me and my cock throbs as the desire courses through me, but I ignore it even though I’m sure she can feel it against her stomach. My left hand tightens on her waist as I fight the urge while at the same time, I force my right hand tonottighten so I don’t hurt her. Idon’t know how sensitive her skin still is, and I refuse to cause her pain. Fuck. I hope I didn’t hurt her earlier. I tried to keep most of my weight off of her, but I’ll need to ask her about her limits later.

That thought has me easing the kiss and when we separate, we’re both breathing heavily. I damn near groan at seeing her pupils blown with lust.

“You’re sexy as fuck, Darlin’, and I’m fighting to keep from fully losing control, but I don’t want our first time having sex to be when Granny’s downstairs and most likelyhasn’tturned off her hearing aids even though she said she would.”

Lark giggles a little even though her face flames red. “Yeah, I didn’t think she was serious either.”

I lightly tap her on the left side of her waist. “Hop in bed, Darlin’, and I’ll be in in a moment.”

I bite my lip when she turns around, realizing I was right. Her shorts hug her ass perfectly. Turning, I grind the heel of my palm against my cock as I try to get it to go down as I head into her bathroom.

A few moments later, I head back into the bedroom but then I hesitate as my gaze goes to her door.

Shit.

I didn’t do a perimeter check.

I’m at war with myself, but ultimately, I turn back toward Lark to find her watching me as she frowns. Walking over to the bed, I lean over and kiss her forehead before resting mine against hers.

“I’m going to do a quick window and door check. I won’t go in Emma’s room, or Granny’s for that matter, but the others I’m going to check real quick.”

She damn near melts under me and gives a little nod. “Thank you.”