Page 51 of Deserving Lara
Closing her eyes, Lara forced herself to take a deep breath. Owl wasn’t Carter. And she could do this.Wantedto do this.
She changed into the oversized T-shirt she’d been wearing to bed and left her underwear on. This was what she’d worn to bed every night since she’d arrived here at the cabin, minus the leggings she usually had on. It felt weird to be walking around with her legs bare, but she refused to show up to Owl’s bed with almost every inch of her body covered.
She stopped in the doorway of Owl’s room and stared.
The light from his bathroom was on, as was a lamp next to the bed. Owl was lying on the mattress, surprisingly wearing almost the same thing she was. A T-shirt and a pair of boxers. The light in the room wasn’t extremely bright, but it wasn’t dim either. It was actually perfect.
He’dliked all the lights on, so he could see the bruises he left on her skin. But he also liked to leave her in the dark when he was done, and sometimes he’d sneak into her room and scare her even more when he appeared out of nowhere.
Owl seemed to instinctively know exactly what she needed.
Taking a deep breath, Lara started for the bed.
She reached the side and without thought, immediately lay down next to Owl. She snuggled into his chest as he shifted to put his arm around her back, holding her against him.
Neither spoke for a long moment. Then Lara said, “You didn’t have to keep your shirt on for me.”
“I didn’t,” Owl said.
That made Lara lift her head. There was an odd note to his voice that she didn’t understand.
“I usually sleep in my shirt and sweatpants,” he said with a shrug. “Being nude…it reminds me of…The first thing our captors did was strip us. They wanted to humiliate us. Our cells were cold, really damn cold, and being naked, it was…it sucked.”
It was almost scary how alike their experiences were. “He took my clothes too,” Lara said quietly. “And while he didn’t leave me naked, he put me in this scratchy nightie thing. He’d push it all the way up when he was there, and even though it was loose, I felt like it was strangling me. Sometimes he’d pull it over my face. Then, before he left, he’d tug it down over his release. So it was always damp. Uncomfortable. Ihatedthat damn thing.”
She came up on an elbow and looked down at Owl. “So…we leave our shirts on then?”
He smiled at her and nodded. “That sounds perfect.”
Lara relaxed. She should’ve known Owl would make this easy. “What now?” she whispered.
“Now you do whatever you want.”
Lara frowned. “But I want you to enjoy this too.”
Owl chuckled. “Sweetheart, there’s nothing I can think of that I’ll enjoy more than having you in my arms. It doesn’t matter if we do nothing more than this. Promise.”
“But do youwantmore?” she couldn’t stop herself from asking.
“I want it all,” Owl admitted. His gaze bored into hers. The sincerity in his words burrowing down to her heart. “I want your mouth. Your body. Your heart. Your soul. I want to fall asleep with you in my arms, and wake up the same way. I want you to be happy, safe, and to live your life exactly how you want. There’s so much more I want, but if I told you right now, you’d probably leap out of this bed and run screaming from this house.”
She doubted that. Anything this man wanted, she’d do whatever she had to do in order to make it happen. “Right now, I want a kiss,” she whispered.
“Then take what you want,” he ordered.
Leaning down slowly, Lara did just that. She brushed her lips over his and lifted her head when he didn’t move.
“Owl?”
“Yeah, sweetheart?”
“I want you to kiss me back.”
He grinned. “Then come back down here and give me those lips again and I will.”
So she did. And this time, Owl didn’t hesitate to take what she was offering. The hand that had rested on her back moved up and once more shoved into her hair, holding her head where he wanted it. His head tilted and he took her long, hard, and deep. Her lips felt bruised and swollen when she pulled back to catch her breath and stare at him.
Suddenly, it wasn’t enough.
