I didn’t even think to be embarrassed or ashamed until Chloe stopped in the foyer. All I was thinking was that I was done leaving her alone. I don’t have a good feeling about any of this shit and I just want to keep her close. I never considered what she’d think of my place though. Or what she’d think of me.

“Welcome home,” I tell her as I toss my keys onto the skinny kitchen counter next to the pile of unopened mail I got yesterday.

There’s a sofa, a coffee table, and a TV. Nothing else in this room. It’s never looked bare before, until now. It’s never felt like it was lacking in any way until I see Chloe not moving from where she is.

The sofa came with throw pillows I didn’t like, so I tossed them out, but there’s a standard bed pillow and an old blanket in a heap on the far end of the sofa. That’s where Carter sleeps when he needs a place to crash.

This house is small, with only one bedroom and the kitchen is the size of a freaking dime, directly across from the living room. But I paid with cash and I own it. That’s the only thing I was looking for when I knew I needed to leave my ma’s old place. There was too much shit there. Too much of the past cluttering and smothering my every thought.

“Not what you expected?” I ask her dully and keep walking to the sofa to take off my shoes.

I have a nice car and nice threads for when I need them. All my cash is hidden in the floorboard under my cabinet sink. I don’t spend anything I don’t have to. You never know when you may need to run, and I’ll have the cash for that, make no mistake about it.

“You’re such a man. You could at least grab a candle at the corner store or something. Maybe hang a picture?” she suggests, and her lips pull up into a teasing smile.

She finally walks into the room, kicking off her shoes next to mine and slipping into the side of the sofa Carter usually takes. She goes to grab his blanket, but I stop her. It’s weird seeing her gravitate to his things. And to want his things.

“You can have the bed,” I offer her and then add, “That’s Carter’s stuff.”

“Oh.” A shyness spreads through her expression as she gently pushes it away. “Sorry,” she adds and then clears her throat. “Do you have a throw for out here?” she asks.

“You like being under the covers, don’t you?” I ask teasingly, and it makes her smile as she nods. I like that. I like how I can make her smile. I like that even when she’s worked up and upset. When her mind is wandering to disturbing things, I can make her smile and give her something to take away the pain.

“Let me grab you the other blanket,” I say as I stand up. There’s a small linen closet outside of the bathroom, and I have my old blanket in there.

“I don’t know that the Cross boys like me much,” she tells me from the living room even though I can barely hear her in here.

I just washed the blanket the other night and I can still smell the laundry detergent as I bring it out to her. “Why would you think that?” I ask her and play dumb even though I know why she would.

“My mom was kind of into their dad once, and couldn’t take a hint,” she says softly, but cheers up when she sees my blanket. “Ninja Turtles?”

A huff of comforting humor leaves me as I nod.

“You aren’t your mom. They know that,” I say to try to ease her worries.

“Yeah, but…” she starts to say, but I shake my head and she trails off, waiting patiently to hear what I’m going to tell her. She brushes a lock of hair behind her ear and snuggles into the sofa, resting her head on the back cushion.

“I know Carter, and he likes you just fine. More than he likes most people.” I focus on Carter, not his family. It wouldn’t be fair to blame Chloe for her mother’s mistakes. That’d be like her judging Carter for his father’s actions.

“I think he’s all right, too,” she says softly with her eyes closed, nestling deeper into the sofa.

“I said you could sleep in the bed, Chlo,” I remind her and watch as her eyes slowly open, giving me more of that soft blue mix of pale hues that look through me.

“I don’t want to sleep,” she tells me just above a murmur.

A sickness spreads through my chest and down to my gut, settling into a heavy pit there. “You need to sleep.”

Even though my words are hard and non-negotiable, she gives me a sad smile. “No shit. I can’t stay awake forever, but it feels like I’m trying.”

“You don’t like the sweets?” I ask her, remembering what she said about it fucking with her and making her remember shit she didn’t want to. “It’s just supposed to relax you. I think everything that’s going on is messing with your head.”

“I don’t want it to happen again.” Sadness slowly seeps into her eyes, but she doesn’t elaborate.

“Don’t want what exactly?” I ask her, and her expression falls completely as she searches my gaze.

“They’re just nightmares,” she whispers, and I don’t know if it’s more to convince herself or me.

“They come and go; you can’t stop them by running yourself into the ground like this,” I tell her and run my hand over the back of my head. As I do, I feel the weight of my own exhaustion taking over.

“I have Benadryl. I could go get Nyquil?” I give her some options, just hoping she’ll take something. The person who gave me the sweets made it sound like it was the best thing to take to relax and sleep easy. That’s the only reason I gave it to her. It worked for me and I thought it might help her. “You gotta sleep, Chlo.”

“I know I do,” she tells me and then readjusts her head on the cushion until she’s more comfortable, but still looking at me. The look of exhaustion drives a primal need inside me to help her sleep however I can. Even if that means fucking her into my bed. The thought is only a flash in my vision of her legs wrapped around my hips, her heels digging into my ass as I pound into her. A split second of that thought has me rock hard instantly.

I want to kiss her again, but that would just complicate everything. It feels good to have someone needing you like this though. Wanting you and letting you get close.

Word is already going around. As long as I do what I’m supposed to, maybe I can have her…

“Let’s go to bed,” I suggest, readjusting and trying to ignore the aching need that’s pressing against the zipper of my jeans. I’ve wanted her for so fucking long. With a quick glance at her curves hidden beneath the covers, I start wondering if she’d let me. If she needs me like I need her.

“Sebastian, tell me you didn’t bring me here just so you could fuck me.” Her voice is breathy, but there’s a tinge of fear there. She hasn’t moved from where she’s sitting, but she’s still as she waits for my answer.

“Why do I keep finding myself telling you that you should know better?” I expect her to flinch at my tone, or to drop the subject altogether. I don’t expect her to press me, which is exactly what she does.

“So, you don’t want to sleep with me?” she asks, and I don’t hesitate to tell her, “I want to fuck you more than I want to breathe right now.”

Chloe Rose’s eyes widen and her breath hitches as my blood heats.

“But it’s not why I brought you here, and you know it,” I add.

I can hear her swallow as she glances at my throbbing cock. “We can just go to sleep. I’m tired too,” I offer her.

I hadn’t realized I was holding my breath until she nods her head. “Okay,” she says, already pushing off the sofa and standing up with a yawn. “Should I bring this one too?” she asks, holding up the corner of my blanket.

“Leave it there,” I answer her and start walking down the hall. I walk slowly so she knows to follow, and she does. Her footsteps are soft and hesitant.

Pulling back the sheets for her, I look over my shoulder and then nod to the left side of the bed, the farthest from the doorway where she’s still standing.

She has one hand on each side of it, and in her sleep shirt, her legs are on full display. Smooth and lush. She rubs one calf against the other as she nervously waits in the doorway. “No funny business?” she asks.

“Not unless you want,” I tell her, feeling the disappointment overwhelm me. I’ve thought about having her here for years. Literally, years. I have to stare at my nightstand as I strip out of my shirt. When I unzip my pants, I see her walk around the bed, but more importantly, I feel her eyes on me. Her lust-filled gaze doesn’t see mine on hers as she nearly walks into the bed in her rush to get under the sheets. She doesn’t notice how I watch her lick the seam of her lips as her gaze travels down my body.

And I’ll never forget how her eyes widen and her bottom lip drops slightly for her to take a deep inhale when I kick off my pants and she sees what I have for her.

Every fucking inch of it will slide into that tight cunt of hers.

Maybe not tonight, but knowing how much she wants me, how much she’s desperate for what she sees, brings a cocky smirk to my face that I can’t hide.

When the sheets stop rustling and Chloe’s nestled under the comforter, I ask her, “You want to be the big spoon or little spoon?”

And I’m rewarded with the sweet, sarcastic laugh I knew she’d give me.

“No spooning,” she answers with the smile still firmly on her face.

“You sure?” I ask as I slip into bed beside her. “It can get a little cold, you may find yourself wanting some warmth.” I cock a brow, but she’s not having it. “I’m practically a heater myself. My body temperature is just a little hotter than normal.”

When she laughs this time, I smile wider and set my head down on the other pillow in the bed. She rubs her eyes and then rolls over to lie on her side, facing me with both of her hands tucked under her pillow.

“You’re the different one,” she whispers, reminding me of the night I dropped her off at her house when she said I was different and I said it right back to her. “This wouldn’t be so easy if you were still the way you were before.”

I have to lick my lower lip to keep from saying anything. She has no idea. “I guess we’re both a little different, but can I tell you a secret?”

She only nods, her hair ruffling against the pillow as she does. “I’ve always wanted you.”

With her teeth sinking into her bottom lip, she tries to stifle her smile, but she can’t.

“Aw, aren’t you cute when you blush?” I tease her, and I’m rewarded with a little more of a smile.

“What if we did do something?” she asks after a moment. Her breathing picks up and I can feel her nervousness.

I nearly groan from my cock leaking precum at the thought of doing something with her.

“What kind of something?” I ask her, doing my best to tread lightly. I get the feeling that she’d run from me and put those walls back up if I made a single misstep. I’m so eager to be inside of her, I could stumble and fall my way down a flight of stairs into fucking this up.

She shrugs and waits for me to say something.

“Is there anything you wouldn’t do?” I ask her out of pure curiosity. With her hips, the image of her face down on my bed with her ass up is everything I want right now. My cock stiffens again at the thought and this time I let out a small groan.

Her eyes travel away from my gaze and downward.

“I’m sure there’s a lot I wouldn’t do… or maybe not,” she says absently. “My friend said she liked being choked.” The mention of choking catches me off guard. Of all the things for my innocent Chloe Rose to say, that wasn’t one I couldn’t have guessed.

“You want me to choke you?” I ask her, not hiding my surprise.

“No!” Pushing her hand against my chest, she backpedals real quick. “You were just asking what I wouldn’t want to do but I don’t know what that list would be.” She nestles back down as I try to think of what she needs to hear next.

I know what I want to say. I want to go through my list of all the dirty shit I want to do to her and then have her tell me where her limits are. But I’m pretty sure that’ll have her jumping out of bed faster than I can finish my laundry list of how to make Chloe Rose cum harder than she ever has before.

Confusion mars my face; I can feel it in the deep crease on my forehead. “I’m getting some mixed signals here, and I don’t want to fuck this up.” It’s such a simple thing to admit that, but as I swallow, I feel more vulnerable than I have in a long time. Probably since the day she ran from me in school, when she ran out the door and I followed her.

“I don’t want to fuck it up either,” she whispers and then leans in closer, pressing a small, quick kiss to my lips. Before I can deepen it, she’s already pulling away. My hand was already half up, ready to spear through her hair and keep her pressed to me, but I’m too slow, too shocked that she’d make the first move.

“If we did do something, it would only be because I think I would sleep really well after,” she tells me softly, watching my expression and judging my reaction.

“You love lying to me, don’t you?” I ask her with a cocked brow as I stretch out, putting one arm behind her head. She lets out a small laugh but also inches closer and rests her cheek on my arm.

With her thumbnail between her teeth, she keeps her arm up between us and I don’t miss how the bottom half of her body is still farther away from me.

I glance at the clock and see how late it is before taking a look back at her, nestled in my arm with her eyes closed.

“What if tonight you take from me, whatever you want?” I offer her and then say the second half of my suggestion when her eyes flutter open. “And tomorrow night, I take from you. Whatever I want.” My blood pressure rises instantly at the thought of her agreeing. I’m hot and wound up and ready to make a deal with her. “Whatever you want,” I add.

Her lips part and there’s a sudden movement of the bed along with the comforter. “You have to squeeze your thighs together like that?” I tease her even though the very thought of her scissoring her legs right now is killing me.

“We can do that,” she agrees in a single breath. Again, she inches closer, so close, but her ass is still pointed the wrong way.

“How do you want me?” I ask her and then add, “Tomorrow night when you’re ready, that’s how I want you to ask me too.” I’m so damn hard at the thought of her asking me that I nearly lose it when she nods her head in agreement.

“So, how do I want you?” she asks, her wide doe eyes shining with a desire that must reflect my own.

With my body coursing with adrenaline at the thought of fucking her tonight, I nod my head and say, “Tell me what you want.”

She turns away from me, and for a split second I think she’s going to say she doesn’t want to do anything, but then she brings her ass closer to mine and all that desire rises inside of me again.

She peeks over her shoulder and grabs my hand, kissing the tip of my fingers one by one as my heart beats faster and faster. “I want your hand here,” she whispers and pulls down her panties while telling me, “I’ve never been fingered; I want you to get me off with your hand.”

I don’t believe her for one second, but I don’t argue. I don’t even consider arguing.

All I can focus on is that she’s in my bed, taking off her panties and telling me she wants me to finger fuck her. I’m content getting to third base from Chloe tonight because tomorrow night I’m getting everything I want.

Planting a small kiss on her jawline, I let her move my fingers between her legs. She’s hot and already slick with arousal. Fuck, I don’t know how I don’t immediately cum just from grazing my fingers across her clit.

“You’re so fucking wet,” I tell her the second my fingertips touch her hot entrance. I force back a groan as I push my fingers inside of her. “And so tight,” I comment out loud, but the next thought is whether or not I can even fit my cock inside of her. I have to work my fingers in slowly, pressing against her front wall and holding her body down as she bucks out of instinct.

Her hips tilt up and I press my thumb against her clit. Slowly she adjusts, letting me push my fingers in deeper and deeper and stroking her front wall to get those sweet sounds to spill from her lips in a strangled moan.

Her cry of pleasure is accompanied with her pushing her head back into my shoulder as her neck arches and her body begs to do the same.

I’m barely inside of her and she’s already so responsive. So easy to pleasure. As her hand moves to the back of my head, her fingernails scratching as they go down my scalp, I lean forward to kiss her neck. I’m teasing and slow with each calculated kiss, nipping and biting from the sensitive part just below her ear down to the crook of her neck.

My eyes stay open the entire time as I push my fingers deeper and deeper inside of her, working her and desperate to warm her up so she can take me.

“Fuck,” she moans a muted sigh of the word. My fingers press against her front wall, rubbing hard and forcing her pleasure from her, all while keeping my thumb pressed to her clit.

Her body writhes against me as she tries to turn over, to move away, but I wrap one leg around hers and move my arm around her chest, pinning her body to mine and holding her in place. Strangled moans are all she gives me as I pump my fingers in and out of her cunt.

My touch turns ruthless as her heels slam into the bed and she frantically grabs at the sheets. She’s so fucking close. “Give it to me,” I command her through clenched teeth. I can’t even breathe, knowing how close she is.

“Bastian,” she’s moaning my name as her body trembles with my relentless touch.

I’ve never heard anything sound so fucking perfect as Chloe Rose moaning my name.

“Say it again,” I command her, and she gasps while yelling it at the same time, “Bastian, Bastian!”

I can’t help rocking my hips against her, loving how she does the same, grinding her ass against me.

“I want you,” I beg her, pressing my cock against her, the only shield being the thin fabric of my boxers.

I’ve never wanted a girl this much. I’ve never felt the need to be inside of a woman like this before. I need her. I need to feel her pussy wrapped this tight around my dick. My heart races with hers as she gets closer.

“I want you,” I moan again against the shell of her ear as I press my dick against her ass, searching for relief. Instantly her pussy clamps down on my fingers, tightening and spasming as she cums.

I cum violently with her. If she wasn’t so preoccupied with her own climax, I’d be embarrassed that I just came in my boxers, dry humping her.

I take my hand away from her slowly, letting her sag on her side as she tries to catch her breath. I have to hide that I’m doing the same as I flip my fingers in my mouth and make sure she’s watching as I suck.

“You taste sweet too,” I tell her and smile wide when she blushes that much harder.

“How did that feel, Chloe Rose?” I breathe against the shell of her ear before nipping her lobe. Pride and the heat of my own orgasm roll through my chest.

“Bastian,” she whispers my name as sleep finally claims her. Her body’s still trembling next to mine.

“Answer the question,” I say before getting up to wash my hands and get her a washcloth, but she shakes her head slightly before I leave the room, ignoring my question as she passes out in my bed.