Page 81 of The Casualty of Us (Philosophies of the Heart Duet #1)
“That hurt,” I pout, some of the nerves giving way to more anticipation as his fingers continue to press into the muscle of my ass. “And not that long.”
“How.” He smacks my ass again twice in quick succession—hard—and it has me gulping for air as he adds, “Long.”
The burn that comes before he starts to immediately massage the area, making the story start to tumble out unevenly.
“I dropped a c–copy of Hamlet at the park with a key to a PO box inside on that last run we took before going back to school.” Everything low in me clenches at the hardness I feel when he presses himself into my ass for a second.
“P–put a note in it telling him to insert his shitty poetry here.”
“Of course you did,” he mutters darkly, the hand on my hip moving around to slide down into my pajama shorts as I press back against him. “What next?”
“Uh—” I have to force myself to keep talking as his fingers find my clit with an unerring accuracy. “There was a note waiting when I came back for Thanksgiving with that picture.”
“And,” he drags out quietly, pressing down hard.
“You didn’t think that might be the time to mention what was going on to me?
” His fingers roll back and forth, and I toss my head back against his shoulder with a sharp cry.
“When a fucking psychopath was inviting you to play a game with him?” He drops them down and pumps once inside of me before quickly pulling out to growl, “Asking you to choose between him and me?”
And despite how fast he’s pulling me under, I still fight to point out for his sake, “He could have been talking about Ol—”
“ Don’t .” He smacks my ass harder than all the other times, and another cry bursts from me right before he pulls his hand from my pants.
Quickly moving both of them to my hips and spinning me around to drop his forehead to mine.
His eyes immediately take up my view with water rushing down behind him and some part of me notes that even now he’s still shielding me from most of the downpour.
“You are mine .” His voice drops low, and I hold perfectly still.
“Not his, mine.” One hand leaves my hip to slide back into my bottoms and cup me intimately.
“I fucking told you that you do not get to play God when it comes to your life, Ophelia.” He gasps, dipping his fingers inside of me and making me do the same.
“No more of this.” His gaze stays on mine as he starts to pump them in and out with small movements.
“I swear I will not leave your side until you fucking understand that I would die if something happened to you.”
And the panic and frustration playing out across his face loosen the top of all the things I like to keep inside.
His hazel eyes so completely full of the thing I’m about to give, even if the darkness in them is caused by it too.
The cause and the cure. Just like he’s always been for me.
I feel it though, the finality of him wrapping around all those little particles of my makeup as the words leave me on a soft breath. “I love you too.”
Not sure if it’s a curse or a promise in the end, really, but knowing there’s no more running from it. No getting him out from under my skin.
Everything leaves his face in an instant. “What?”
“I love you.”
“Freckles.” He pulls back just a bit, brows shooting down sharply. “Don’t say it just because I’m pissed.”
“I’m not.” I reach up to wrap my arms around his shoulders, a sudden breath leaving me at the way it shifts his fingers inside of me, but I hold his gaze to whisper, “I love you.” Confessing it all shakily as I lift a hand up to wind my fingers through his hair.
“I knew it as soon as I woke up to you on my bed over the summer—I just needed a minute.” I blink up at him, seeing the spark of joy there and lifting a leg to hook over his hip with my voice coming out breathlessly.
“I love you so much it still terrifies me half the time because I can’t picture my world without you anymore either. ”
“Baby.” His face cracks open, love that he’s been keeping in there starting to pour out as his fingers pull—
“Don’t stop.” I roll my hips, pushing back down and feeling his body go tense against mine.
“Ophelia,” he exhales harshly, pupils blowing wide. “We don’t have to—”
“I want to.” I pull on his hair, brushing my lips against his and tasting the water there from the droplets we both have everywhere. “There is not a second of my life that I would ever regret it being you, and that’s before I even fell in love with you.”
“Fuck,” he groans, kissing me deeply before pulling back enough to look down at me. “Are you sure?”
His gaze rolls over every inch of my face for a long moment before coming back to mine. Everything about him from his eyes to the way he blocks the shower and even to the spanking speaks to a care there in his own way.
That I really am precious to him.
“I’m sure,” I whisper, my bottom lip giving a little tremble at the way all of it is washing through me with free rein now. “I love you, there’s no one else I ever want it to be.”
He holds completely still for a second more before squeezing my hip. “I love you too, Ophelia Sage.” The gravelly words have his face softening right before he drops his head, lips lifting against mine as he continues in between soft passes. “Every single part of you.”
I kiss him back without hesitation, hating when he pulls his fingers out and a sound of protest escaping me before his hands come to the bottom of my sweatshirt.
He gathers both it and my shirt in his grip, pulling them up until they pass over my chest and forcing us to break apart as he pulls the wet clothes over my head.
My bare chest rises sharply as they hit the floor of the shower with a smack, and he starts to shrug out of his jacket.
Fully putting on a show as he continues to undress, if the flash of dimples is anything to go by.
The jacket drops quickly to the floor off his shoulders and he reaches back to pull the sweater up before yanking it over his head.
His messy black locks fall everywhere as all that deep olive skin is put on display with his pants riding low on his hips, giving me a perfect view of that cut and the little trail hair going down from his belly button to—
I yank my eyes back up at the amused breath of laughter, immediately scowling. “Stop it.”
“Come here.” He reaches out, hooking a finger in my shorts with a tug while staring down at me with those flecks of gold all lit up happily and making me soften with the step I take to him.
My stomach flips with anticipation as his thumb trails across my skin, and he drops his lips to mine with a gentle kiss before pushing my shorts down.
His other hand moves to make sure my underwear goes with them, leaving me completely bare as they fall to the shower floor and some nerves finally hit me at the sound.
Not out of any concern that I’m making the wrong choice but just the general unknown.
He drops to his knees before they have a chance to take hold, though, pulling my socks off quickly before reaching around to grab my ass with both hands.
His shoulders bump at my legs demandingly until I drape one over him, and he barely gives me a second to take a breath before licking his way up through me.
Any lingering nerves rapidly being replaced by raw desire as he latches onto my clit and swirls his tongue before dropping a hand from my ass.
Bringing his fingers to my entrance a second later and making my head drop back against the tile with a gasp as he starts to push two inside.
Tightening his grip on my ass at the same time and sucking down hard on my clit.
He starts to pump them inside of me, going deeper than he has in the past, and my breath hitches with every little pass until all I know is that this isn’t nearly enough.
That even being so close right now, I need him closer. That the wait has been too long with me trying to be so careful, and now I just need him…everywhere.
“Now,” I gasp, pulling hard on his hair when he keeps sucking on my clit. “Now, now—” He spreads his fingers wide, pumping them up. “Now.” Damn near making me sob as a desperate kind of cry leaves me. “ Please .”
He pulls back suddenly, and I gasp for a breath as his fingers leave me, barely having time to blink before eyes that are drowning in their own stark need stare down at me. “Are you sure?”
His voice comes out so tight it sounds like he’s one push away from breaking, and I look down in time to see him pop the button on his pants. My pussy clenches with an empty sense as he pulls the zipper down and my own voice goes all kinds of choppy as I breathe out. “Promise.”
He pushes his pants down then, working the fabric over his hips before toeing his boots and socks off.
The items join our assortment of clothes that are everywhere in the shower and are definitely going to have to be dealt with later, but I couldn’t care less as he pushes his boxers down as well.
Cock springing free and making me swallow hard at the sight of it again, his size still surprising me but not completely deterring me like it did the first time. Now it’s more of a curiosity.
A need to feel him inside of me has me reaching out even as he lifts his hands to my cheeks, nipping at my bottom lip once before my hand closes around him.