CHERISH (21 page)

We’d talked a bit about the information he’d gotten out of Jeremy earlier, but all in all, he hadn’t seemed too upset when he arrived at Bruce’s to pick me up. Now, I’m scared he’s been holding something back. Something big.

He shakes his head and rests his forehead on my chin.

“I wanted this to be the happiest time in your life. I want to see you smile all the time. I hate that I missed something. That I’m putting you through this. It’s my job to take care of you. To give you everything you’ve ever wanted. How was I so deceived by Louis?”

Beck raises his head and I see a sorrow in his eyes that overwhelms me with grief.

“You aren’t putting me through this. How could you think that?”

“It’s my job to protect you. That’s my fucking number one job.” His hands tighten on my cheeks. He shifts his head back and his eyes scan my face. I can see the fear there and it physically hurts me.

His lips are open just enough for me to see the glint of his teeth. That chip that makes him even sexier. For a split second, I think of the quirky smile he gave me when he told me how it happened. How he slipped in the bathroom of a strip club years ago and chipped his left front tooth.

He wasn’t at the club to watch. That's not really Beckett's scene. He was just the cleaner. His hours were from three to six in the morning, back when he was still in high school. He would get up at two-thirty, go to work, then to school. They didn’t care that he was only sixteen. He worked cheap, he worked fast, and he didn’t bother the girls.

He was in the bathroom one night, mopping up God-knows-what off the floor, when he felt something on his arm. He turned and saw a spider the size of a quarter crawling on him. Making its way up from his wrist toward his elbow.

As far as I can tell, Beckett is not afraid of anything. Except spiders.

He dropped the mop handle, reached over to swat the spider off his arm, lost his balance on the soapy, wet floor, spun and ended up going down face first. Before he hit the floor, his mouth smacked into the edge of the urinal bolted to the wall.

The force of the fall chipped the front of his tooth. It also pulled the porcelain urinal off the wall and snapped the water pipe, spraying water into the air and flooding the men’s bathroom at Ruby’s Penthouse.

The next day, he looked for a new job.

Now, staring down into his face, I realize he is afraid of something besides spiders.

He’s afraid of disappointing me.

Failing me.

“You are my world, Beck. You make me feel safe. And loved. And cherished. And those are things I didn’t understand until I met you. You
do
protect me. You’re protecting me right now. I belong to you.”

I turn my head to the side, take his wrists in my hands and gently pull them from my cheeks, meeting his lips with mine until I feel him soften underneath my touch.

He lets out a noise like a tiger’s chuff, deep and rolling in his chest. His skin feels hot. Suddenly his arms latch around my waist, driving my open crotch down onto the steel length that hasn’t given up a centimeter since he first pulled me onto him.

It’s all arms and mouths and tearing. Buttons be damned. Beckett turns into an animal, biting into my shoulder and ripping off my bra.

He looks up as I watch him and my breath comes fast. I've only seen the expression he wears, the intensity of it, a few times before.

“I didn’t understand what forever meant before you,” he whispers into my ear, as one hand traces up my spine. The rough texture of his fingers leaves a trail of goosebumps in its wake.

He settles his massive hand, solid and heavy, at the back of my neck, and his fingers close around. The angle of my head is held in place as he continues to whisper soft tones next to my ear. “Nothing and no one will ever take you from me.
Ever
.”

The last word sends a chill over my heated skin, tightening the muscles in my back as his other hand closes around my waist. His hips rise up to grind his erection into the now drenched crotch of my panties.

He shakes. I’m not sure what to say. I’m frozen on top of him as he takes a deliberate breath, his face buried in my neck. His lips tickling over my jugular.

I yelp as his lips give way to sharp teeth, a solid quick bite that races through my body like delicious poison.

His fingers pull at my hair, twisting my head back and exposing my neck, forcing my back to arch and pushing me off balance. I would fall if not for his arm around my body, holding me safe. I trust him and I feel how he craves the power he has.

My voice catches in my throat as his mouth leaves my neck. He kisses down then sucks deep on my breast. His hot, urgent mouth works me until I’m a whimpering mess. Then he looks me in the eye and winks.

My heart flutters and I whimper, “Take care of me, Daddy.”

My words detonate whatever monster simmered just below the surface. Before I take my next breath, he flips me over, landing me softly on the stark, white duvet. His face hovers over mine.

“Lift your ass, baby.”

I dig my heels into the mattress, pushing my hips toward the ceiling.

Beckett’s eyes narrow into slits as his hands make quick work of the button and zipper of my skirt. As it slides off I hear the sound of fabric tearing. The pressure from the elastic in my panties digs into the tops of my thighs.

He wins.

In one more breath, he has them in his mouth as he bridges himself over me. Every muscle stands out beneath his skin. The late afternoon sun shines into the loft from the middle of the expanse of windows, lighting him up like a Greek god. His textured scars only make him more stunning to me. More
him
. The power it must have required for a child to get through that kind of pain, that's what has turned him into the man I see now. Fearless, invincible, steadfast. Scarred and imperfect in the eyes of the world but perfect in mine.

My knees spread. I know now never to hide myself from him. I belong to him, and in every way I trust him to give me what I need.

He lets the panties fall from his teeth. They drop to the floor in a sopping mass of cotton.

“Every drop of juice that flows from your pussy is mine. No one will ever taste you but me.”

His name is on my lips as his fingers dig deep into the insides of my thighs, pressing me apart with such force, pain shooting down each leg.

“Ahhh—” I moan. My body is at his mercy. His grip on me is so tight I couldn’t move my hips even if I wanted to.

His face comes down like a tsunami, swirling pleasure through my pelvis. All at once, it’s tongue and lips and teeth. The wet lapping and growling has me fisting the sheets, my arms spread wide like I’m being crucified by his mouth.

I cum with a scream as his tongue moves inside me. It's like a living thing, bringing me to the edge and tossing me over until I’m in free fall and I can’t stop shaking.

The dance of white lights in my eyes sends me to that magical place. I don’t know how long the orgasm lasts, but it feels like forever. My body quivers. My sounds of release flood the loft all the way up to the tall ceiling.

My body goes limp as the sensation of my climax begins to soften. I’m panting and whimpering as Beckett’s teeth scrape over my sensitive folds, nipping at the hard button, making me yelp. His teeth disappear, replaced with soft lips for a quick kiss, then up over my mons until he's nipping and biting the plushest part of my belly.

I’m spinning, lost in euphoria when his mouth leaves my skin. I feel abandoned without him there. Empty. I open my eyes to see him cast off his clothes an article at a time. The sun trickles through the windows, gleaming over his sweat-soaked scars. The tendons in his chest move under sleek skin as his arms shimmy out of the fabric.

Before I can shift and stop my legs from shaking, his cock is out. He’s on me like the most magnificent human blanket. His belt is clutched in his hands as he holds himself up on his elbows next to my head.

“Hands,” he growls.

I answer by holding my wrists together above my head.

The clink of the brass buckle rings in my ears, before the smooth softness of the worn leather touches my flushed skin. He wraps it twice around my wrists, then again, until he buckles the restraint in place.

“Don’t fucking move.” He glares at me but I know he isn’t angry. It’s him. This part of him that takes over. That devours me. The beast inside him that loves me as only a beast can. Completely. Urgently. Without fail. “Don’t forget who you are.”

He shifts his hips down, holding himself for a long moment between my legs, his eyes locked with mine. He holds us together like that until the first brush of his cock sends shivers over my skin. Without any hesitation, he slams his thick length into my soaked opening. One huge thrust and he seats himself into me until it burns and I wince with the burst of pleasure and pain.

His cock still hurts, even after all the times he’s been inside me. He's bigger than I ever thought my body could take.

I shudder, accepting it all. He takes a breath, draws his cock out in inches, then drives forward again, pushing my body up toward the headboard with the force of the fuck.

“
Owwww,
” I whimper.

He thrusts hard again. Again. Again. Each churn of his hips expels a grunt from him and a breath from me.

His eyes never leave my face.

“No other man will ever be here.” He slowly presses his cock into me until I’ve taken every inch, then holds himself there. Solid. Unflinching. “This is all mine. Your pussy was created for my cock. Don’t you ever forget that, baby.” He shifts his hips between my legs until I feel him reach my belly.

His thickness tugs at my tight opening, making my body flush with a thin sheen of sweat. His eyes are aqua fire. His body is carved granite over me.

He begins to move, shifting his entire frame up and down. Just that magical inch. It pushes his muscled lower body against my open folds. He starts, then stops. Again, faster, harder until my toes curl and the ache of pleasure inside me turns to pain.

“Oww, please.” I need to cum. He holds my orgasm hostage.

Beck shifts again, not enough to push me over the edge, but enough to drive me crazy. I’m whining. Reaching. Pleading with my eyes. I see him lick his teeth and draw a shaking breath through his nose. His chest expands.

“Please what?” Another slow grinding movement. Up and down, back and forth. The friction sends shivers through my body, inside and outside.

“I want to cum,” I choke out.

His mouth comes down to my chest and the sharp, wicked pain from his bite shoots from my breast straight down into my pussy.

“Ahh, please. Daddy, please, make me cum. God, I need to cum.” Without my hands, I’m his to do with as he wishes. His massive body pins me as my arms lay helpless above my head.

Another deep bite sends my back muscles into a knot, an intoxicating mixture of pain and anticipation. It takes me to a space where my mind blurs and only he knows how to reach me.

“That’s my girl.” He turns from beast to lover again as he moves into me, his face in front of mine.

I feel the thump of his heartbeat in my own chest. The rhythm of us together, matching our movements as he pulls back, stroking his massive cock into me, deep and full. Until I can’t hold on.

“Show me who you are.” His rumbling words send me into the beautiful abyss. My body belongs to him and seems to collapse into the magnificence of the pleasure of him. Every cell in my body responds to him, to the ways he pushes into me, against me, over me, drawing orgasm after exquisite orgasm from every atom.

I’m still quaking and convulsing when I feel him tense. I struggle to open my eyes and see his face draw tight. His strokes turn into forceful hammer strikes. His hips slap into me, riding the last of my orgasm as I feel him thicken inside my body until it burns inside me and I’m sure I can take no more.

The bed shakes. The sound of flesh moving against flesh; other noises I cannot seem to stop, they fly around and around, hovering over us in the expansive space like seductive doves.

He cums with a burst. I feel it spray inside me, thick jets streaming into my body and then coursing out from my throbbing opening to pool below my ass.

I take all of him with a cry. Tears squeeze from my eyes and drip into my ears as he comes down and kisses me with such force I taste blood from where teeth cut into lips.

The last of his cum fills me and his lips fall to kiss away the tears. We stay locked together like that until our breathing slows.

When we finally come up for air, he has that smile that courses through me like a drug. He pecks my nose with his lips, then says, “I want to hear you make those noises when we’re a hundred.”

I smile. I hear my heart throb in my ears but I also feel each beat wherever our bodies touch.

Beckett’s hands move above me to loosen the belt as he keeps himself buried in my pussy. He's still just as hard as he was before he filled me with his cum.

“Yeah? A hundred? We may need spotters.”

He chuckles as he works the buckle over my head.

“Or bubble wrap,” he says.

He releases me from the leather, gently guiding my arms down until my hands trace up the smooth skin of his shoulders and come to rest around his neck.

How he becomes more amazing to me every day I do not understand, but he does. Before Beck, I was sure I would forever be alone. No man even caught my eye, let alone my heart.

He peppers my face with kisses, then his thumbs softly move across my forehead. I’m utterly lost in the pools of his eyes. The dark lashes rim irises that defy a definition of color.

“Everything is going to be okay, babe. I promise. You. Me. Jordan. Our baby. No one deserves happiness more than you, and no one is more determined than me to make sure you get it. I will not give up. I’m a determined fuck.”

I see the glow in his eyes. His protective, possessive nature seems to grow by the hour. My belly flutters at the sound of the words, ‘our baby.’

“I belong to you. I trust you.”

“You honor me more than you could ever know.”

A warm, comforting sense of peace washes over me. I hug him tight, closing my eyes and dreaming of us somewhere far away. A country house. Kids crawling all over us. The smell of fresh bread baking. The breeze carrying the sweet smell of lilacs to tickle my nostrils.