Heat advisory. Children cover your eyes. You have been warned.
Chapter 43
Bard kept me held to him, my legs securely wrapped around his waist, his lips locked with mine. Everything about it, about him. It was so much more than I'd thought it would be. More than I'd ever imagined.
I couldn't fight it, couldn't fight these feelings, couldn't fight him, not anymore.
Long silken strands felt like heaven between my fingers as I gripped his hair, held him to me, accepted him and everything that he'd offered.
All my life.
I'd never had anything good.
All the years of loneliness, all the suffering, all the pain.
Enough.
For once in my life, I wanted something real and meaningful and honest.
Bard was all of those things.
Bard was so much more.
My mind cleared, my spirit freed, the battle to keep away ceased to exist.
Bard was mine, and I was going to let myself have him.
I kissed him back with urgency, gripped him tighter, pulled and demanded. "Bedroom," I murmured, ready, more than ready, so fucking ready.
Bard groaned, and his fingers curled tighter against my legs as he shifted course away from the couch and headed towards the back.
When he broke the kiss to open the door, I gave into temptations that had been swirling through my head since the day I met him.
My mouth explored, his jaw, his neck, biting, kissing, tasting. He was like a fucking drug, and each inch I allowed myself to go, only made me want to go further.
"Dammit, Tequila," Bard groaned. He stumbled through the door, barely caught his balance, then quickened his pace towards the bed.
He flopped us to the mattress without releasing his hold, then recaptured my mouth with his. Rough hands moved with purpose. They wandered over every inch of me, shoulders to arms, the curve of my waist. They gripped and pulled at the material of my shirt, then slid under to run across smooth skin.
"Tell me you're sure," he said, voice tight, mouth breaking away to run opened mouth kisses across my jaw line.
"This is the first time I've ever been sure," I whispered, and it was. Bard would never hurt me. The realization shocked and freed at the same time. Bard wasn't dangerous.
Bard was safest place I'd ever been.
His chest rumbled, a deep vibration that almost sounded grateful, and his mouth found mine again and hovered just above. His tongue ran along my bottom lip as his hand pushed deeper under my shirt and cupped my breast. He sucked in a breath.
I couldn't breathe. It was as if I was in a cyclone, surrounded by nothing but whipping sensations and need, held centered by the weight of the man above me.
I ran my hands down his back and lightly bit down onto his bottom lip. Each of us taking, each of us giving, two people joining as one.
I pulled at his shirt, and Bard lifted far enough to allow it be pulled away then dropped back down and kissed me gently.
When he started to do the same to mine, I stiffened.
The scars, my scars.
He'd seen them before, but that didn't make it any better. I didn't want to be... damaged. I didn't want to be broken.
They'd tarnish everything.
Bard paused and met my gaze, and his eyes once again sharpened. He read me like the lines of a poem, and with a painfully slow speed, he finished lifting the material away. He didn't look down. His eyes stayed locked with mine. "You're beautiful, Jessie."
My throat constricted. My heart clenched. It was too much.
He dropped the shirt to the side of him. "You're beautiful."
Tears pricked at the corners of my eyes, but I held them back.
He pulled back, eyes still soft and glued to mine, movements slow and careful, warm and reassuring.
My muscles tensed, and I held my breath.
He kissed me again, soft and fleeting, then leaned back and clutched my shoulder. I let him turn me, squeezed my eyes shut, buried my face into the quilt. I didn't want to see it, his reaction, the disgust. It would break me.
Bard was quiet for a long moment, and I could imagine it. I'd been an idiot. He was amazing, the most gorgeous man I'd ever laid eyes on. He could have anyone, beautiful women, women like Amber.
This was a mistake.
I started to move, to run, to cover myself and go lick my wounds, but Bard laid a hand against my back and gently pushed me back down.
"You're beautiful." He leaned over me and pressed his lips to my shoulder blade, then my spine. No hesitation. No pause. He kissed each inch of ravaged skin as if he could heal the damage done there.
I couldn't hold it back anymore. I fell. A sob broke free, and the moment it did, Bard gathered me up and turned me back to face him.
He held me tight and peppered his lips across my cheeks, removing each tear that managed to escape. "You make me want to rewrite it," he said, reminding me of the conversation we'd had so long before. "Let me make you forget."
Another sob lodged into my throat, but I swallowed it, buried it deep with the others.
"I want to forget."
Bard studied me a moment, his eyes trailing my face, memorizing. When his lips met mine again, it was different. Sweeter. Full of emotion. He possessed me. Took me away from my own thoughts and dominated my focus.
In that moment, I knew. He was it, and even if I crashed and burned, even if I lived to regret it, it didn't matter. I didn't care. He was worth the risk. Slowly, I reached back, unclipped my bra and threw it to the side.
Bard sucked in a breath and kissed me harder. His hand lifted up and cupped the newly exposed flesh, and the muscles in his shoulders coiled. He hummed low in his throat, and it sounded so soulful, like a song that made me want to sigh.
I fumbled with the button on my jeans until Bard reached down between us and did it for me. He broke away, eyes trailing my body as he maneuvered them down my hips. He swallowed hard. "I've never felt as blessed as I do right now."
I didn't shy away. I waited, letting him see me, pushing aside every self conscious thought that tried to enter my mind.
He sat back and palmed my ribs, then ran his hands slowly down, all the way to my ankles and up again. He cupped my calves, gripped my hips.
My blood pressure rose, heart thundered. Each touch stole my breath, awakened my senses, so intense, so much more.
He drove me to insanity. Took his time, too much of it. I reached up and gripped his waistband, fumbled with the button, and his body jerked as he watched me struggle. When I finally got it undone, Bard kicked the denim the rest of the way off and leaned forward.
My chest heaved in time with his. Smooth skin and toned muscle stretched against mine like the world's most perfect blanket. It wrapped me in security and warmed the cold that'd soaked my bones for too long.
"I've never wanted anything more than I want this." He settled himself between my legs and caressed my cheek, then pressed his lips to mine with an impossible tenderness.
It moved me, this man, his kiss, all of it.
I was found.
The kiss deepened, taking with it any doubt. There was no room for it. It was just me and him. Without breaking the contact, Bard slid his hand between us and caressed the most sensitive part of me.
A soft moan escaped my throat and earned a rough sound in return from him.
"That sound you make..." He exhaled a breath and moved his hand to make me moan again.
"I'm never gonna let you go, Tequila." He dipped lower, and a fire built inside of me. Each move of his hand stoked the flames until they threatened to burn me alive. "You're it for me." He kissed me hard, then broke away to my jaw, my neck. "I know how to take care of what's mine."
Another moan. The pressure mounted . So soon, so quick, just like that. Like everything else when it came to Bard, this was so much more.
He moved to my breast, wrapped that perfect mouth around my nipple, then his teeth as he bit down gently. My whole body arched.
"Bard." It was a breath, barely intelligible. I couldn't think. He'd taken my brain and focused it solely on him. I was putty. A trembling mess, squirming to get closer to him, begging to be molded.
Bard rumbled and repositioned himself. I could feel him, right there, so close, and my body was screaming for him to continue.
His lips met mine as his arm wrapped behind my lower back and lifted.
Everything, my life, the club, Drake, prison, the bar, meeting Zeke, the job, it was all leading up to this. To meeting this man. To Bard.
This is where I'm meant to be.
Karma wasn't a bitch.
Karma just had a fucked up way of guiding me.
And in that moment, when Bard's hips moved forward and joined me to him in a way that touched that part of me that'd long died...
I forgave her.
The love was truly real! ❤️😂🤗🤗😂Early upload!! 🤗🤗❤️❤️ Hope you enjoyed! Next upload Sunday, unless... 😉 ❤️❤️