“I’m sorry. According to the doctor, he’ll be all right. Physically, anyway.”
Yeah. Mentally was a different story. Especially after something as traumatic and horrific as being taken against your will.
“I can call and check with the hospital if you’d like,” he said softly, his eyes narrowed on me.
I shook my head, hating that he misunderstood almost as much as I hated myself for not thinking about Heaven’s ex-boyfriend at that moment.
“Do you think he … did that to Dante, too?”
Isaac’s eyes cooled and I could tell he’d thought about that, too. “Yeah. I do.”
He leaned over, kissed my cheek. “I’m going to shower. You better be naked when I get back.”
I nodded, watched him disappear into the bathroom.
Slightly numb, I managed to strip off my pajamas before sliding under the covers. A few minutes later, the lights went off and Isaac climbed into the bed beside me.
“Come here, fairy princess,” he growled softly.
I started to turn, thinking he meant so he could spoon behind me.
“Beneath me.” His voice was rough, gravel and sand laced with need.
I reached for him, cupping his face as his lips covered mine.
Without fanfare, Isaac settled between my thighs, his body warm and heavy above me, his cock thick and hard as he pushed inside without preamble. Granted, nothing else was necessary because I was wet and aching for him already. I kicked off the blankets, wrapped my legs around his lean hips, my arms around his neck, and fused myself to him.
I gasped, rocking with him as he took me straight over the edge within seconds. It was unexpected and a serious rush for his ego, apparently.
“Ah, love,” he mumbled against my neck. “Let’s see how many times I can make you come.”
I held on to him, falling just a little harder as he plunged in deep, retreated. Slow, easy. The man made love to me in a way I’d never experienced before. He drove me to the edge, gave me false hope that he’d let it build, then pushed me right over again and again.
When he slid one arm beneath my head, his other hand gripping the headboard, impaling me over and over, I was pretty sure I’d died and gone to heaven.
“Isaac,” I whimpered. “I … oh, God … need … my Liege.”
A roar escaped him as soon as those last words were out of my mouth. It was like they were a trigger, unleashing the beast. His muscles flexed beneath my hands as he strained to get closer, deeper.
“Take all of me, Everly,” he growled low in his throat.
“All of you,” I whispered. “Everything.”
With that, he launched us both right over the cliff into oblivion.
TWELVE
Dante
Thursday, May 30, 2019
Sitting in my bed, I listened to the silence.
Unlike some, I didn’t mind it. In fact, I found I needed it to calm the chaos in my head. Being around too many people was like being in a room with strobe lights and loud music. It overwhelmed my senses, made me anxious.
The shrinks I’d visited told me it was due to the fact that my father had kept me locked up for eight years of my life. Truth was, I didn’t even remember most of it, certainly didn’t remember him. They’d also said that was selective memory, a way for my brain to protect me from the trauma.
I’d long ago stopped paying attention to how other people wanted to diagnose me. I survived, which was the most important thing. In fact, it was the one thing I’d clung to all these years. I was a survivor. I’d been born into hell and somehow—with no help from those who’d created me—I had survived.
Oddly enough, these past few days had helped significantly. Being here, in this house, I’d never felt safer in my life. The chaos was manageable.
Having the opportunity to spend time with Everly had helped tremendously. I felt safe with her and I still wasn’t sure why that was. She gave me purpose, perhaps.
My thoughts drifted back to the other night, Everly laid out on the dining room table like a feast. In that single moment, nothing had intruded. I’d been there with them. With Ian and Isaac. The way Ian had given me directives … I needed more of that.
However, I wasn’t stupid. Something had changed in the past few days, and I figured Ian and Isaac had dug up the news stories on me, figured out what had happened, why I sought solitude as a refuge. They didn’t quite treat me with kid gloves, but it was damn close. I needed to knock down that wall, to let them in. They were the only ones who’d come close to giving me what I needed. And honestly, aside from Everly, they were the only ones who’d proven with their actions that they cared about my well-being and were willing to help me move forward instead of back.
