Page 24
Micah
A whimper wakes me in the middle of the night, the sound eerie, like a haunted lullaby. As I blink my eyes open, the cries become more pronounced, grief-stricken.
My arm instantly clamps around Raeann. Her shoulders convulse up and down. The sad cries emanating from the back of her throat, paired with the deepening line between the brows above her closed eyes makes my heart race. She’s dreaming.
Athena moves over to the bed, panting heavily. We share a look. “I’ve got this,” I tell her. She low whines, glancing at Raeann, then back at me. “I promise.”
The poor dog makes an annoyed grunt in the back of her throat, then leaves the room.
Raeann’s pinched face dissolves further. She’s going through hell in her nightmare. So much so that I’m surprised she hasn’t woken herself up yet. I turn to face her, trailing my fingers over her cheek and ears. Her eyes move rapidly underneath her lids, and every once in a while, her limbs jerk.
“Shh, you’re okay,” I tell her. “You’re with me.”
She howls in her sleep, the sound so loud, I’m convinced she’s awake until I spot her eyes still firmly shut.
My heart breaks, and I stare at her with an ache I can’t express. I haven’t been through tragedy like Raeann has. I’ve never lived through tremendous fear and lost nearly everything.
She held back with me a few hours ago. She narrated the story like she was performing a voiceover for someone else’s tragic story. But here it is, right now, coming out.
“Baby?” I stroke along her jaw, then up her cheekbones and into her hair again. “Wake up, beautiful.”
Her arms jerk again, lifting and falling back onto me. With every second that she remains in this nightmare, resolve grows within me. Raeann will never feel like this again. I will spend any amount of money to get her help. Therapy. Doctors. I’ll buy her ten Athenas.
“Raeann?”
My heart beats out of my chest as panic sets in. I squeeze her upper arms. Outside the door, a low bark sounds. My gaze cuts to the open doorway, and I sigh. “Fine. Come do it.”
As if Athena understands, she trots into the room and jumps on the bed. She lays down on Raeann, moving up her body until she’s practically pushed me out. She licks her face. For a tense few moments, Raeann’s whimpers get worse. Athena nudges her under the chin, then licks her some more.
I hold my hand over my mouth, watching her work. This dog might love her more than I do, and that’s highly improbable. When I look at Raeann, I see my life. The only thing I will concede to is that we love her the same excessive amount. Like this dog and I are cut from the same obsessive cloth.
Little by little, Raeann regains consciousness. Soon, her mouth opens in a silent scream. Athena moves up until her paws are on Raeann’s chest, and she licks her more. Raeann gasps, her cheeks wet with tears, and Athena licks them all away.
“Good girl,” Raeann coos, sliding her hands through her fur, her lids fluttering shut.
“Hey,” I say, voice cracking. Athena lays down, so I can stroke the line of her jaw. Raeann tenses for a moment before her eyes fly open. On high alert again, Athena kisses her hand.
As soon as Raeann’s gaze locks onto mine, she bursts out with another sob. It doesn’t gradually build, it comes in with a choked fury.
“It’s okay,” I tell her, pulling her to me. Her body shakes against mine.
“He was right there,” she says, her voice muffled by my shoulder. “I even had my fingers on him, but then it whisked him away. I had him.” Her voice cracks again. This time, I hear everything she didn’t say yesterday. Regret. Anger. Mutilated what-ifs that lie in pieces on the ground.
“It’s not your fault.”
Athena licks her elbow, then jumps off the bed. She walks toward the door, then peers back at me with a gaze that says I better handle this. I give her a quick nod and hold Raeann closer.
“I had him,” she repeats.
“No one is that strong, beautiful.”
“You don’t understand.” Her lips move against my skin wet with her tears. “I saw him get lifted up…” Her frame convulses in my arms.
“You’re right, I don’t understand.” My hands move up and down her back. “If you tell me about it, I’ll try.”
She shakes her head. “I haven’t had a nightmare like that in months. It’s because I told you about it earlier.”
“I’m sorry.”
She pulls away, swiping at her eyes. I take hold of her hand, squeezing it while my other lifts to dry her face.
“I wanted to tell you. But this is what happens.” Her face dissolves again.
“I’m not okay. I can pretend for a little while, but then something like this happens, and it’s like it happened yesterday. ”
“I’m no doctor, but I think that’s normal.”
“I get mad.” Her cheekbones burn with a red fierceness. “I don’t understand why it had to be me.”
“One thing I know,” I tell her, my fingertips feathering through her hair again, “is that you’re so strong, Raeann Gorman.”
“I don’t want to be.”
“You don’t have to be. You have me. And Athena.”
She collapses against me, her body shaking with her cries. Words aren’t enough, so I hold her in my arms until they cramp, and then I hold her more. If I could slay her nightmares, I would. I’d erase all the bad thoughts from her memory and send them into oblivion.
My Raeann doesn’t deserve this.
Eventually, her cries stop. I would guess she went to sleep if it weren’t for the way her fingers still cling to me like an anchor.
“Micah? Make it go away. I don’t want to think anymore.”
The tension thickens, my muscles thrumming with new life. Maybe this is it? My actual reason for breathing. It’s not football. Or some cosmic accident. It’s this right here, grounding me to the earth.
My purpose.
I place a soft peck on her shoulder, then find the hem of my shirt she tugged on earlier and lift. She flexes her body as I pull it over her head. I toss the shirt behind me, staring at the waif of a woman beside me. It’s as if the same tornado ripped through her tonight.
“I’ll make it all better,” I promise.
She nods like she believes me, and I kiss her damp cheeks, trailing my hands across her belly until I find her breasts. She sucks in a breath, releasing it between us. Her eyes flutter closed in pleasure, and relief zings through me, urging me on.
I kiss down her throat. Her tears left behind salt and sadness, but I get every inch, making sure all that remains is me.
Her chest heaves when I pass my thumb across her hardened nipple. My lips trail her collarbone next, inching lower. She’s wrapped her legs around mine, using my thigh to grind her pussy into. She stutters when I close my mouth over her breast, worshipping the tight bud with my tongue.
“Micah.” My name is like a prayer on her lips.
Forget girlfriend, wife, or even everything, I’m consumed by her. I want to crawl inside her skin and live there.
“Here,” I say gruffly. I work my hand between her legs and meet willing, wet flesh. I stroke her with two fingers before she takes me in deep.
A different cry falls from her lips. This one is much better, signifying that I’ve done my job.
“Use me, beautiful.”
I use my thigh for support as she fucks my hand, moving her hips into me again and again while I return to her delectable tits.
So perfect. So mesmerizing. For a moment, I think she’s going to ride it out like this, using my fingers until her climax hits, but then she surprises me by grabbing my hard dick and stroking it aggressively.
“Fuck, Raeann,” I groan.
She angles her hips away, freeing her pussy, then forces my back to the bed and straddles me.
There she is.
She pounces on me like a proud lioness. Gripping my cock, she angles it toward her entrance and sits slowly, taking me in inch by excruciating inch until she starts to fuck me.
Her tits bounce in time with the short cries of pleasure that fly from her mouth. She’s gorgeous. Beautiful. A warrior.
I will never deserve her, but I will fucking try.
I fuck her back, lifting my hips as she slams down. Her cries hit a fever pitch when I feel her pussy squeeze my dick over and over. Collapsing against me, I embrace her body and turn us over, slowly fucking her while her orgasm subsides.
She peers up at me with glassy eyes. “I needed that.”
“Now I’m going to make love to you, Raeann Gorman.”
I peck her on the lips before using my arms to create distance so I can watch her emotions cross her face. It’s like reading a newspaper. Shock. Curiosity. All the while feeling the way my body loves her. Holds her like she’s precious.
“Do you love me, Micah?”
“It’s not a strong enough word,” I tell her, pumping my length inside her tight cunt.
“It’s the strongest word.”
“Only to those who haven’t felt what I do.”
“Describe it.”
I smile down at her. “I’m showing you with my body, sweetness.”
She stares down, watching as I stroke in and out of her. My balls tighten the longer her focus lingers. Her breaths become heady again. Needy. But she keeps her hips where they are and keeps watching. The only thing that changes is the pleasure sounds from her mouth intensifying.
“Ohh,” I groan. I’m so close, there’s no way I’m going to finish before she has another. I touch her face, and she peers up at me, her gaze widening.
“I can feel it,” she says. “How much you care for me.”
A little bit of my restraint gives. She frowns when she sees my pained face. Winding her arms around my neck, she slides her tongue inside my mouth, stealing my breath, kissing me without restraint, without inhibition or worry.
“Come inside me, Micah.”
I groan long and hard into her mouth when she resumes the frenzied way our lips come together.
Not without you , I promise.
I sneak my hand between us, finding her clit and making short, tight circles over it. She gasps into my mouth, and I keep going because it’s situation critical over here.
She moans, her body tightening underneath me.
“Come inside me,” she mewls against my lips.
Fuck me. I want to. I’m going to. My hips jerk. I press my lips together, trying to find restraint from somewhere that I don’t possess, but my cock explodes. I grunt, the sound shocking at first until it’s overpowered by Raeann’s second orgasm.
Thank fuck.
I let myself go completely, thrusting into her in hurried pumps that drive us both higher and higher. She clasps my back, riding out her pleasure while my strokes lengthen and slow before coming to a complete stop.
“I made you lose control.”
Pulling away, I notice the smug smile on her face. “Is that what you wanted?”
Her lids half close. “So much.”
I thrust inside her one last time, and her body shakes against mine.
“Mmm. If you think that’s punishing me, you’re wrong.”
I kiss her lips, and she deepens it, tangling her tongue with mine while I shift us to our sides.
She grips her heels against my ass. “Stay where you are.”
I’m not going anywhere if she doesn’t want me to.
I have a feeling it will always be this way with Raeann.
If I started thrusting again, I could probably go for round two, but her hold on me loosens.
I pull away to find her chest rising and lowering evenly, a peaceful expression softening her face.
Such a far cry from thirty minutes ago that I stay where I am, leaving my cock and cum inside her, just like she wanted.
The trust. How safe she feels with me. I know I will never let her down.