Blackness Within (The Blackness Series Book 5)

by Norma Jeanne Karlsson

  “No.”

  “No?”

  “No,” I repeat and I see that strength I know she has, steeling her spine before her body lifts to its feet.

  “I decide when I talk to people. You don’t dictate when I speak or when I don’t,” she snarls.

  “I stood in a concrete pit and watched Vojtech kiss you, claiming you as his. I took those lips back from that motherfucker in the hospital after your crash. Then he stole you away from me for a second time. I had your mouth again in the bathroom of a nightclub tryin’ to help you escape from that same motherfucker that was plundering your soul.”

  I stand up from the couch and prowl toward her as I continue.

  “I lost you in a burning building and thought I’d never have your mouth again. Never feel your body against mine. Never smell your peachy hair. Never be dazzled by your amazing strength. Never chuckle at your nose crinkling like it is right now. Never have the chance to share a normal life with you. Never have anything because that monster stole you from me again.”

  I stop inches from her and keep speaking.

  “I got you back. You fought your way back to me. You fought your way outta the blackness within you that was torturing you with loss. You fought your way back after losing months of your life and everything you’d worked for. You fought.

  “Then you asked me to be your friend. I owed you my friendship. I owed you anything you asked me for. And I was willing to give you that and everything else. I was willing to stand by your side with hands in my pockets so they weren’t palming your perfect ass. I was willing to talk to you instead of taking your mouth with mine for every breath I missed you take. I was willing to listen to you talk about insurance policies and which car to buy, just so I could absorb the succulent sound of your voice. I was willing to watch my family hover around you, touching you and holding you because you deserve to feel safe at every point in your day.”

  I take the last step separating us and lean all the way down to her face. Her features are perfectly confused and hot.

  “What I’m not willing to do, is sit on a couch with your brother and watch Brent McAllister take what’s mine. What I’m not willing to do is sit on the sidelines while any man tries to claim you. What I’m not willing to do is spend one more moment without the rest of the world knowing you’re mine.”

  I take a breath and lay my heart on the line.

  “I haven’t touched another woman since January. I haven’t had one urge to touch anyone else’s skin because it wouldn’t be yours. I haven’t wanted another woman’s lips tainting the tingle you left on my mouth. I haven’t wanted another woman’s scent masking the fragrance that’s tattooed in my nose. I haven’t wanted anyone but you, Grey.

  “You’re it for me. You have every piece of me tangled up within you. You have my heart by its strings, controlling every beat. You have my mind working and planning how to make your every moment just a little better. You have my soul searching for yours even in my sleep. You have me. The question is…Do I have you?”

  Natasha’s chest is heaving beneath her frilly pale blue tank top while her hands are fisted on the hem of her white shorts. My gaze travels down her shapely legs to find her pink-painted toes curling down into the carpet, struggling to keep her balance.

  I slide my eyes all the way back up and find her face is soft, wanting. Her bottom lip is quivering as she searches for the words she wants to say, her grey eyes swirling storms of activity roaming around my face.

  I wait.

  Her breath catches as her jaw drops open to answer. She squeezes her eyes tight and then springs them open.

  “You’ve had me for almost three years, Sully,” she breathes out the notes of an angel’s speech.

  And I exhale the longest breath I’ve ever held as I pull her to me, engulfing her with my arms. I press my forehead to hers, closing my eyes and relishing this moment in time. The moment where I’m worthy to stand before a woman, this woman. My Grey.

  O’Sullivan

  “I’m gonna kiss you now,” I warn Natasha after a long comforting silence has settled around us.

  The corner of her mouth turns up and I fulfill my promise. I slide my hands up her arms, caressing the sides of her neck before I cradle her face, smiling at her tenderly.

  I meld my lips to hers, gently tasting. Natasha’s small hands fist my shirt at the small of my back, steadying herself as I increase the pressure. I deepen the kiss, working my lips in tandem with hers. I’m hungry for this woman and I’m ready to feast.

  I push my tongue out at the same time her mouth opens for me. A growl reverberates in my chest while a whimper of desire flows into my mouth.

  I release her face and slant my head. I lick, massage, tangle and drink from her as my hands glide through her silky hair, holding her head where I need it. She arches her back and her rock hard nipples meet with my chest. That’s all it takes.

  My hands move from her hair and latch onto her heavenly ass. Blake, the guys and I have all made it our mission to get her to gain weight back. She’s not where she was, but it’s greatly improved as I palm her cheeks.

  Natasha rises to her tiptoes and plunges her hands in my hair, yanking and digging into my scalp. Our tongues are dancing, moving in fluid motions that mirror the other. She’s meeting me at every forward and retreat, sucking and nibbling when the opportunity presents.

  My dick is straining against the zipper of my shorts and my hands are desperate to feel her skin. When she pulls my bottom lip between her teeth and then licks away the sting, I move. I hoist her up and her legs wrap around my waist, never ending our kiss.

  I devour her mouth as I stalk toward her bedroom. I kick the door open and Natasha giggles in my mouth causing me to smile against her lips.

  I don’t lay her down when I reach the edge of her bed. I drop both of us on top of her covers, keeping our mouths sealed and drag her body up the bed under her armpits. When we’re in the middle of the bed, I reach down and grasp the hem of her shirt.

  Slowly, I slide the wispy material over her ribs, beyond her tits and over her head, only stopping the kiss for the second it takes the tank to pass her lips. I attack her mouth again as though I’d lost it for a year and chuck the balled up shirt across the room.

  Her hands move up my back below my polo, exploring and enjoying based on the moans and rocking of her hips against my cock. I reach behind my head and yank the shirt over my head, hating to leave her mouth again.

  I pause to look down at her after flinging my shirt in the direction of hers. We’re both panting, her chest and cheeks flaming only noticeable by the glow the moon is casting through the windows.

  I thread my hand behind her back and expertly unclasp her bra. Taking great care, I slide both straps down her arms until the bra begins to unveil large plump tits with delicate pink hard peaked nipples. I hiss through my teeth at the stunning beauty before me. Never has another woman looked so good to me.

  A nervous twitch brings my gaze back to her eyes as I discard her bra.

  “You’re the most breathtaking woman I’ve ever seen, Grey,” I purr and the nerves leave her face, replaced with a satisfied smile.

  I lower my body to hers and take that smile with my wanting mouth. I can’t get enough of her. After kissing her breathless to the point she rips her lips away from mine, I begin to explore.

  I drag my teeth down her jaw then nibble my way back up to her ear, tugging her lobe. Darting my tongue out, I savor the peaches of her neck. Natasha continues to grind into my dick as I lave her skin. I want to touch, relish and enjoy every morsel of the woman that has changed my world for the better.

  I’m kissing my way across her chest and collarbone as she arches into me clawing at my back for more.

  “Please, Sully. Stop teasing me,” she whines in my ear.

  “I’m not teasing you, Grey. But I won’t let one inch of you go untouched by me. I want to be the only man you remember on your skin,” I mutter before nipping at flesh of her
tit.

  “Sully,” she says shakily and I stop.

  She sounds scared and unsure. Not the sound you want to hear from the half-naked woman below you. Never the sound I want to hear from Natasha.

  I push up on my forearms beside her shoulders and look into her moonlit eyes.

  She holds my gaze for a few breaths, her hands still on my tattooed shoulders. Her throat bobs with emotion as I wait for her to ask me to stop. To tell me this is too much for her. To tell me she can’t do this.

  I wait.

  “He did things to me, Sully. Made me his. Made me want him. I need to forget. Please wash him off me. Please,” she whimpers, tears pooling.

  Rage boils in my stomach and I fight off the urge to punch holes in the mattress. I shake and quake with fury until one delicate hand palms my cheek.

  “You saved me, Sully. Keep saving me,” she whispers, leaning up to press a light kiss to my lips.

  I release a shaky breath before I rest my forehead against hers, intimately gazing into her calming storms.

  “You were never his, Grey. You’ve always been mine. I just wasn’t strong enough to grab hold of you. I am now. You don’t need to forget him. He never was,” I say softly. “I’ll always save you. Always.”

  I move my hands to cup her cheeks before I tell her with emotion bubbling in my throat, “I love you.”

  Her eyes widen in shock before they close and one tear flows from each, wetting my thumbs as I swipe them away.

  I’ve known I love her for months. Ever since that day in the hospital. I knew it. I knew it in my gut like I know my heart will never let her go.

  She pulls a long breath through her crinkled nose and opens her gleaming eyes, grey seas brewing with a hurricane of want and adoration.

  “I love you too, Sully,” she says strongly as a smile crests her luscious lips.

  My resolve breaks as tears brim my eyes. I refuse to let them fall, but it’s a struggle to hold them at bay. She loves me. This amazing, gorgeous, good woman loves me. It’s the best feeling as my heart hammers and my chest aches. I feel alive.

  O’Sullivan

  “I’m gonna kiss you now,” I warn her again.

  “Okay,” she replies with a moan as I grind into her pelvis and drop my mouth to hers.

  I devour, consume her mouth with mine. I wrap my hands behind her and hold her head as I press my mouth almost painfully against hers. Her fingernails dig into my scalp as I plunder with my tongue. I touch every surface of her mouth erasing anything that was there before me.

  I swallow every mewl, every groan of pleasure I cause, knowing she’ll only ever make those sounds for me.

  When I can tell I’m stealing her breath again, I release her mouth and start over in my exploration of her skin. My tongue and lips leave no space untouched. I reach the valley of her cleavage a long while later and move my mouth around the flesh of her tit.

  My tongue flicks and licks the entire mound as my hand plumps and palms the other. Just as I’m about to pull her pale pink nipple between my lips I switch my mouth with my hand. I give this tit the same attention I offered the other.

  Natasha complains when I don’t take her with the speed she needs, but she doesn’t voice it. She groans and thrusts her chest in my face. I feel a devious smile ghost across my face as I refuse to relent to her desires. She asked me to wash that fucker from her and I’m doing just that.

  I finish ravaging her soft flesh and hover for a moment over her stiffly peaked nipple as she cries out a tortured squeal only to be followed by the longest “Yes” known to man.

  I pull her entire nipple in my mouth as my finger and thumb pinch and roll the other. Natasha’s back comes off the mattress and her legs fly around my waist, her fingers urging me at the back of my head.

  I tease her with my teeth, my tongue and then I suckle deep. I taste every ripple and ridge before switching to explore the other peaked point craving my mouth’s attention.

  Once I’m satisfied her tits are good and clean of anything other than me, I move down the soft plane of her torso.

  I lave each rib.

  I suck at every goosebumped mouthful of skin.

  I trace my nose over every rise and fall of her honey-hued skin.

  Natasha’s hands push and pull at my hair, unsure how to urge me on while enjoying my detailed attention. Her breath catches as my tongue darts into her bellybutton and then continues down to the waist of her shorts. I want to rip them off her, bury my face in her pussy and feast on her until the sun comes up. But I’m not going to. I’m going to save her instead.

  I grab her hand and kiss each fingertip, followed by her palm, then the back of her hand until I reach her wrist. I press my mouth to the bone there and lick my way around, locking eyes with her as I go. She’s pleading with me to hurry, give her everything.

  I keep my chest pressed to hers and ravage her arm nibbling, suckling, dancing my tongue over her stunning skin all the way to her shoulder. I kiss and nip my way across her collarbone that’s still moist from my earlier assault. I pay attention to the hollow of her neck for a moment. Then I continue my way to her other shoulder and proceed to give this arm all of the consideration the other received, finishing with her fingertips. Her other hand is fisting the comforter next to her hip fiercely when I stop.

  I sit up and find Natasha’s eyes clouded with sex becoming confused. I gift her a broad smile before requesting, “Roll over for me, Grey.”

  Confusion gives way to nervousness. I lean into her face, caressing her cheek as I speak.

  “I will never hurt you. Not in a bed and not outside of one. I will spend this night and every one to follow making you come until you can’t take another orgasm. I swear to you, I’ll give you everything I’m promising with my mouth, my tongue, my lips, my hands, my body and my dick. But you asked me to save you. So, I need you to roll over. Let me save you tonight, Grey,” I urge her and then I take her mouth again because I can’t resist it.

  I palm her tit as I massage her tongue in a slow, seductive kiss while my hips grind into hers. I may come in my shorts before we get to this and I don’t give a shit. This isn’t about my pleasure. It’s about hers, the woman I love. It’s about Natasha feeling safe in my arms. It’s about her feeling clean and whole. It’s about her.

  She stops the kiss a few minutes later and drags her teeth across my stubbled jaw. Her hands roam down my chest as she explores the flats and ridges of my muscles while she nips at my neck. When her tongue dances across my collarbone, I groan loudly, thrusting forward powerfully.

  She places a chaste kiss at the base of my throat and mutters against my heated skin, “I love you. I’ve never told another man that before. I’ve never felt this before. Thank you for waiting for me to come back to you. It was the hardest fight of my life and it was worth it because I got my brother back. And now I have the only man I’ve ever loved.”

  I slide her body back up so I can look into the eyes that have captured my soul.

  “Thank you for givin’ me the chance to be the man that gets to love you. You’re it for me, Grey. I love you so fuckin’ much and the fact that you battled your way through a shit storm within a clusterfuck to make your way back to the people that love you makes me love you even more. Thank you.”

  I’m the only man she’s ever loved. She really is mine. All mine.

  Natasha smiles at me and then untangles her legs from my waist before rolling to the side. I scoot away a little to allow her to finish settling on her stomach.

  Then I cover her naked back with my body and shift her silky hair off her shoulders. I kiss her cheek, her ear and then I begin to wash away everything from the back of her neck. I follow the curve of her shoulder blades with my tongue and then back up with my teeth. I move to the other in the same motion.

  I pepper the entirety of her back with kisses and nips until I’ve worked my way up to the base of her neck again. Then I run the flat of my tongue down the length of her spine. She shivers more i
ntensely with each inch of my descent, fisting the duvet near her ears as she moans deeply, muffled by the covers she’s burying her face in.

  When I reach her waistband, I need more. I push my hand beneath her, pop the snap and lower the zipper. I push up on my knees and hook my fingers around the cotton at her hips. I lower her shorts, savoring the glimpse of lace that greets me as I go. As the material slides over the globes of her ass, my breath hitches.

  She’s wearing white lace panties that only cover half her cheeks. When I catch sight of her bare flesh, I can’t move. I simply stare and commit her perfection to memory. Then I snap myself out of it.

  I move my body to the outside of her legs and push the fabric all the way down her stems. While I’m over here, I decide to remove my own shorts and my underwear. As my dick springs free, Natasha gasps. I was so focused on her ass that I didn’t notice she was watching me.

  The look in her eyes is predatory as her tongue darts out and licks her bottom plump lip. My dick jumps at the action and a growl roars from my chest. I want to move to her face and let her devour my dick with her mouth. She wants it too. But that’s not on the agenda for the night. It’ll have to wait.

  Just as I think it, her hand wraps around my cock and pumps slowly. My head tips back as I hiss through my teeth. I hear her moving around and look down to see the head of my cock disappear between her lips.

  My spine tingles instantly and I know I’m not going to last. One of her hands cups my balls and the other strokes the base of my dick as she works her mouth up and down my length. I want to make her stop, but there’s an intensity about her that tells me she needs this. The power.

  I thread my fingers through her hair and let her have her way.

  She bobs and sucks harder as I relinquish to her desire. Her hand at the base of my dick drops away and she hollows her cheeks. Then I’m at the back of her throat.

  “Fuck, Grey!” I shout as she continues to take me deep.

  My legs shake and my hands fist her hair tightly. I’m going to come.

  Her hand on my balls massages faster as her pace around my dick speeds up. The warmth of her mouth encapsulates me once more and I warn her, “Grey.”