23. Jaded and Twitterpated - Alex
We were a long way from civilization.
It was times like these, when Rafe had me naked and bound to a tree, my ass facing outward, that I missed the allure of a normal life. But even if we hadn’t been living off the grid, I wasn’t sure we’d recognize normalcy if it smacked us in the face.
I shifted my weight to my left foot. My limbs were growing tired. I was beyond antsy. And I was nervous as fuck because Rafe hadn’t spoken a word to me since he’d brought me to this spot on the riverbank. He hadn’t punished me yet either. But I was certain it was coming. Why else would he have me strapped to a fucking tree? I shifted again, and the rough bark of the huge trunk chafed my nipples. This was torture, and not in a purely bad way.
Footsteps sounded, followed by the snap of a twig. I jumped, my breath catching in my lungs as he wrapped his hand around my throat, fingers flexing before releasing me. The trapped breath swooshed out in relief.
Twigs, belts, sticks…they were all dangerous in Rafe’s hands. His hands though…they were the most lethal of all, especially when he held my vulnerable neck captive in his grip. And that’s why it was a risk not to tell him I was late. If I was pregnant, then his fetish of erotic asphyxiation could be dangerous.
But my entire being railed at the thought of telling him. It would only cause stress between us for something that might be a false alarm. I needed us to get back to where we were before I’d taken off in the middle of the night and sent Rafe spiraling toward the darkness that shadowed him. God, I missed him in so many ways.
His body next to mine at night, arms sheltering me.
The simple things, like preparing meals together or playing cards to pass the time.
The gravelly sound of his voice in my ear, telling me to come for him.
I inched my thighs together at the thought, despising myself for the warmth flooding my sex. He stepped back, and the switch hissed through the air an instant before it connected with my backside in a way that caressed more than hurt.
“Legs open, sweetheart.”
With a nervous gulp, I opened my thighs and planted my feet firmly on the ground. “I’m sorry,” I said, ignoring a pebble that bit into my heel.
“What are you sorry for?”
I wondered if the term pissing him off would suffice as an answer. Probably not. “For taking off on you the way I did.”
He teased my needy slit with the switch. “You’re not in trouble anymore, but I think you want to be tied to this tree. You’re getting wetter the longer you stand here.”
He was right, and I hated myself for it.
“Are you hoping for my cock?”
I moaned, practically foaming at the mouth from withdrawal. “God, yes.”
“Fucking hell, I love that answer.” He grabbed me by the hips and brought my ass against his groin.
No buildup.
No foreplay.
We were both too on-edge and desperate.
He entered me with the speed and force of a man on the brink of madness. It had been mere days since he’d been inside of me, but he took me against that tree as if a lifetime had passed, without mercy, his movements as rough as the bark scraping my skin. With every pillaging plunge, he let out hoarse grunts.
Pressing into my back, he planted a hand against the tree and reached around to rub light circles my clit.
“More,” I breathed.
“Like this?” He increased the pressure of his touch.
“Oooh, fuck!” I shrilled. “If you stop, I’ll fucking kill you.”
“No need for death threats. My hand isn’t going anywhere.”
Closing my eyes, I lost myself to his groans, to the way he claimed me, to the expert circles of his thumb on my clit. Bodies slapping together, he pounded me from behind, and we both lost our minds in the midst of our primal coupling.
We rutted like fucking animals against that tree.
My chest heaved, and I gritted my teeth as the pressure built between my thighs. “Rafe?”
He answered with a grunt, teeth latching onto my earlobe, breath hot against my neck.
God, it had been so long. I was about to burst. “Let me come,” I pleaded.
“Let you? Fuck, if you don’t, I might lose my fucking mind.”
That was all I needed. Permission. The green light to take that dive into ecstasy without consequence. I plummeted then soared in spectacular abandon. A powerful shudder ripped through me as I cried out his name.
He came seconds later, his teeth sinking into my shoulder and smothering a series of grunts and cries.
“Damn,” he rasped. “I’ve missed that sound.”
We stood like that for a while, me against the tree, his body plastered to my back as we caught our breaths. In the back of my mind, I acknowledged the sight we’d be if anyone came upon us. With our bodies still joined, his skin hot on mine, his breaths slowly leveling out to match my shallow ones, I couldn’t bring myself to care about getting caught.
This moment was too euphoric, but beyond that, it signaled a return to our fucked up normal.
After a while, he disentangled his body from mine and began untying the elaborate knots that restrained me. The rope dropped to the ground, and I held up my hands so he could free my wrists.
His eyes caught and held mine as he rubbed my sore, rope-chafed skin. Taking hold of my left hand, he kneeled and pressed his lips to my belly, gracing each inked letter of his name with a kiss.
“You’re everything to me, Alex. I hope you know that.”
Something about the way he gazed at me, with a seriousness darkening his irises, sent my heart into a somersault.
“I know that.”
“I put you through hell.”
I had nothing to say to that. It was true, but I was still exactly where I wanted to be.
“And the worst part, babe? I’d do it again. You know I would.”
“I know,” I whispered.
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a white ring box, and I failed to breathe.
“I want you to think long and hard about your answer.” He swallowed, his Adam’s apple bobbing as he lifted the lid to reveal a gorgeous jade stone ring. “Though I already know what it is, and fuck, Alex, I’m dying to hear you say it. But be sure. Once we do this, there’s no going back.”
I sank my fingers into his thick hair, a smile of irony forming on my lips. “We passed the roundabout a long time ago, Rafe.”
“That’s true, but you know I’d move Heaven and Earth to pave a new one…if it’s what you really wanted.”
“It’s not. You’re what I want. What I’ve always wanted.” I glanced at the ring he held between two fingers. “I want to marry you.”
He rose and backed me into the tree, issuing a gruff order to raise my hands above my head.
I did as told, and his mouth collided with mine, annihilating me with the insistent darts of his tongue. As he gripped me by the nape, he trailed his fingers up my left arm, never breaking our kiss, and slid his token of forever on my ring finger.
Oh my God.
I was delirious, my mind floating on a plane of existence I hadn’t thought possible to reach. But Rafe sent me there with his unspoken promise of unconditional love, with the reality of his commitment circling my finger.
“I love you,” I said, inching my head back and gripping his hard biceps.
He engulfed me in his arms and buried his head in the crook of my shoulder, breaths shuddering against my skin. “You make me believe in miracles.”
Loving him wasn’t a miracle. It was as certain as death, as darkly beautiful as life. It was a predestined absolution.
I gripped him by the hair, and we stood like that as if time didn’t exist. Clutched each other as if our lives depended on it. In the middle of the woods, naked and vulnerable, the babbling sound of my biggest phobia just yards away, I found peace.
Discovered a rarity.
Sometimes love was enough.
He picked me up, fingers digging into my ass, and strode toward the shallow, calm part of the creek.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m taking you home to get married, but first, I want to get you wet.” With a wicked grin, he carried me into the water, feet splashing.