“I’ll pay it,” I practically growled, hand curling into Fletcher’s hip possessively.
His eyes snapped back to the road, and blissfully, he said nothing else the rest of the drive.
24
Fletcher
* * *
“This is completely unsanitary,” Ethan declared as gentle sprays of water splattered around the kitchen sink and counter.
Warm water flowed out of the faucet, which was a really cool kind because you could pull it out and direct it anywhere you wanted.
Right now, I was directing it at the kitten.
“Aww,” I replied, not even looking up at him because I was too focused on the tiny wet animal sitting pitifully in a puddle. “But look how good she is. She’s not even trying to run away like most cats would!”
“Why would she run away? She probably doesn’t like being dirty.”
I smiled at his logic. He was probably right. As if to argue, the kitten gave a loud yowl that echoed through the entire kitchen. Scooping more water from the spray into my hand, I gently cleaned her neck.
Now that she was clean, her fur was much whiter than I realized. Both ears were gray, and there was a patch of gray fur on her nose as well. Her eyes were blue, and under the very wet fur, her skin was pink.
When I saw her stumbling through the subway terminal, alone and dirty, my stomach clenched. No one paid her any mind as if her tiny size made her unimportant. When the man nearly crushed her underfoot and didn’t even pause, I’d had enough.
Why were some so easily overlooked? So easily discarded?
I felt a sort of affinity to this slight kitten who’d been abandoned by its mother.
Nearing the end of her patience, the kitten tried to dart out of the sink. With a little yell, I let go of the sprayer, grasping her with both hands. My shirt was completely drenched.
Ethan made a sound, and I laughed, looking up as I clutched the soaked, frustrated cat while water sprayed everywhere.
“Are you having fun?” he asked, indulgence in his tone.
My laughter died, but a smile remained. “Yes.”
Laughing beneath his breath, he tugged the beanie off my head, tossing it onto the island. When I frowned, he ran a hand through my hat hair, explaining, “I miss seeing this golden mop.”
My nose was still cold from all the time I’d spent outside, and I reached up with a wet hand to rub at it.
Ethan’s eyes went dark like a storm rolling over an ocean. Snatching my hand, he pulled it between us, staring at the small cuts. “Did that cat do this to you?” he demanded.
“Don’t yell,” I admonished, shrinking back a little before I could tell myself not to. “It wasn’t her.” I hurried to explain, not wanting him to be mad at the cat.
His expression turning soft, his chest moved with a deep inhale and exhale. Rubbing his thumb over my palm, he explained, “I’m not mad. I’m concerned. What happened here?”
Flashbacks to earlier this evening, of the broken glass, splashing vodka, and sharp words Mother hurled, poured over me almost like it was happening all over again.
“Nothing,” I murmured, tugging my hand away. “I just cut myself is all.”
Dropping his hand, Ethan shifted closer. “You know you can tell me anything, right?”
The kitten flexed her claws, sinking them into my wet shirt and pricking my chest. Pulling her up gently, I motioned to the towel nearby. “Can I have that?”
Ethan tugged it close, spreading it wide so I could set her in the middle and dry her with the ends.
She let out a loud complaint, and I promised we were almost done. “Doesn’t it feel better to be clean and warm? Are you hungry? I got you some food.”
Ethan watched me quietly as I fussed over the animal. The weight of his eyes didn’t make me uncomfortable. If anything, I felt comforted by his watchful gaze.
“You’re soaking wet. You need dry clothes,” he observed a short while later.
“I want to feed her first.”
With a sigh, he grabbed a plate, a bowl, and a fork, managing to hold it all with one hand, and settled his other at the base of my spine. “Come on. You can feed her upstairs.”
On the way, he grabbed the bag of things I’d bought, ushering me into his room.
Going over by the window, I dropped onto the floor with the kitten still wrapped up in my lap. She didn’t stay long, leaping onto the floor beside me to lick at her wet paws.
Ethan handed me the bag, and I dug out a can of wet food and popped the top. The second the food was exposed, the kitten stopped licking herself and came close like she would eat it right out of the can.
“Wait a minute.” I giggled as she climbed into my lap to get to the food.
Placing the plate on the floor, Ethan took the can of food to scoop some out onto the plate. The kitten followed, gobbling it down like she hadn’t eaten in weeks.
I frowned. “She must be really hungry.” Looking up to Ethan, I said, “Give her more.”
“If we give her too much too fast, she’ll get sick.”
While the kitten ate, I pulled out a small litter box and a small bag of litter. “You probably don’t want this in here, right?” I said, glancing around the super nice bedroom.
He sighed. “Put it wherever you want, puppy.”
“It’s better to put it in here, because if we put it somewhere else, she’ll be lonely when we’re sleeping. She might think we left her.” I reasoned.
Without another word, Ethan took the pan, setting it on the other side of the nightstand in front of the spectacular view, and filled it with the litter.
When he was done, he grasped my hand to tug me toward the bathroom. “Come on. You need to shower, and then I’ll bandage those cuts.”
Digging my heels in, I glanced at the cat. “But, but—”
“She’s eating.”
“She’s gonna be cold.”
“I’ll get her a blanket.”
“Why are you doing this?” I said abruptly.
He stopped and turned, surprise on his face. “Doing what?”
“Coming to find me. Letting me bring her here.” In a smaller voice, I finished. “Taking care of me.”
His palms were wide and warm when they settled on my cheeks, angling my face up. “Because you’re mine. Did you forget?”
I tried to lower my face, but he wouldn’t allow it. Instead, I closed my eyes. “You’re going to change your mind,” I whispered.
The hands on my face jolted before settling once more. “Is that what you think?”
I didn’t say anything. I didn’t open my eyes.
“Fletcher.”
It didn’t seem to matter how vulnerable I felt with him, how badly I wanted to hide myself away. The minute he commanded anything at all, I did it without delay.
Lashes fluttering open, I met his resolved stare.
“I won’t ever change my mind.”
I wanted to believe him so badly it hurt. My chest actually constricted in pain with the force of how much I wanted him, of how much I wished I could not be afraid.
“I’m scared,” I confessed in a shaky whisper. “I’m so scared, but I still want to be here with you.”
Bending down, he brought his lips to hover seductively close to mine. “Don’t be scared, puppy, not of me.”
Eyes drifting, my chin tilted up, quietly asking for a wordless reply.
His breath tickled my lips, his presence invaded mine, and the tips of our noses bumped softly. Heart hammering, I felt my lips reach for his, but he shifted angles, enticing me to follow. We hovered so close it was like being kissed without actually meeting lips. But then he was on me, and I was tumbling deep. Long, graceful kisses that melted my bones, mouths rubbing insatiably, and gentle sucking against my upper lip.
Knees like Jell-O, I filled my hands with his shirt, anchoring myself against his body and into his kiss. Strong arms wound around my waist, pulling me firmly into his solid frame. Stretching up, I sought more,
and my feet left the ground, Ethan lifting me as if I weighed nothing at all, not once breaking the kiss.
As our tongues rubbed together, his scent and strength surrounded me while I molded into him, goose bumps rising along my skin. Kissing him was my favorite thing, something I never knew I couldn’t live without. My whole life had been a fight, and survival meant never giving in. But, oh, just one touch of his velvet lips and submission was all I knew.
How heady it was to give up that struggle, to surrender my never-ending guard. Letting him consume me was relief in the best possible way.
The blood in my veins turned to desire. The cold I’d been plagued with burned away. Lifting my legs, I wrapped them around his waist. Grunting into the kiss, Ethan palmed my ass, grasping me tight in the new position.
Boldly, my arms wound around his neck, and my tongue dug deeper into him. Dizziness made me lightheaded. Instinct made me thrust into his muscular midsection.
Heavy breathing filled the room when the kiss broke, punctuated by my helpless little whine.
“You have no idea the kind of restraint you require.” His voice was hoarse and deep.
“I never asked for your restraint.”
“You didn’t have to.”
The throbbing length between me and his waist was making it hard to think, and I pushed into him again, wondering what it would take to get his restraint to snap.
The hands still holding my ass flexed, and then he started walking to the bathroom. “You shower. I’ll get you some dry clothes.”
“Ethan,” I whined, dropping my forehead to his shoulder, wondering how he managed to stay so in control.
“I know,” he murmured, stepping into the shower to turn on the spray before retreating.
The slow slide of my body against his as he lowered me, coupled with the feel of his not-so-soft shaft, made me gasp.
“I’m not as unaffected as you might think, puppy,” he murmured, grasping my fingers and pressing them fully against his clothed steely rod.
“Shower with me.”
His hot stare split between me and the running shower before he slowly shook his head.
“Please,” I whispered. “I missed you.”
A stricken look rolled over his face, which was quickly replaced with stark need.
“All right.” He relented. “You go first. Let me get the cat a blanket like I promised.”
I shed all my clothes into a heap where I stood and then walked into the massive white marble shower already steamy and warm from the multiple sprays.
A low groan rolled out of me as the heated water blasted my tired muscles. I didn’t realize how tense I was until my body began to unclench with the liquid massage.
Above me, the rainfall showerhead sent steady but gentle drops cascading down, making me feel like I was standing in a summer rainstorm in the middle of a peaceful day. Sighing, I turned to the controls, edging up the temperature just a little, amazed when the water warmed instantly. Water drenched my hair, making it heavy, and dripped over my cheeks. Every drop seemed to make me tingle, my body already so sensitive and hyperaware from Ethan’s touch.
Just when I started to wonder where he was, bare skin slid along mine as capable arms drew me back into his chest.
Pressing a kiss to my temple, he rubbed and stroked my bare belly, making my eyes droop.
Soap that smelled like him lathered over me, thick white suds clinging everywhere he washed. His hands were thorough as we rinsed, my chest finally coming around to meet his.
The wet strands of his hair were darker than usual, and drops of water clung to his eyelashes. Slight stubble shadowed his chin and upper lip, and tendrils of water raced over his chest, teasing erect nipples.
Fascinated, I reached up, brushing the pad of my finger over one of the tight buds, loving the way his body contracted with the simple touch. Braver, I did it again, this time giving it a light pinch.
Glancing up, my eyes asked for the permission I was too shy to voice, and he pushed farther into me, offering himself for whatever I wanted to do.
The second my tongue lapped at the wet nipple, he moaned, hand pushing into my wet hair to encourage me. This time, I drew the pebble into my mouth, working it with my lips.
He’d done this to me before, and I thought it felt amazing. Judging from the sounds he was making now, I would assume he did too. Wanting to make him happy, I sucked and lapped at him again and again before moving to his other nipple to do the same.
Just having him against my lips made my lower stomach knot with need and a hunger I didn’t understand gnaw at everything inside me.
I want more.
Reaching for the shampoo, Ethan began washing my hair, but I wanted to taste more of him. I started to kneel, trying to slip free of his hold, but he caught me, making a sound.
Eyes wide, I glanced up, biting into my lower lip. “You don’t want me to?”
He moaned. “Oh yes, yes, I want you to. But if you do that now, I won’t last.”
Before I could say anything, his lips were on mine, kissing me senseless as his fingers massaged the shampoo into my hair.
I don’t know how long we kissed, but eventually, his hands fell from my head, dragging down my spine and over the curve of my hips.
Our dicks bumped together, both of them slick and throbbing. Moving against him in search of more friction, I noticed the way his fingers practically crawled over my rounded ass, moving to the spilt down the middle.
The second fingertips parted my cheeks, the kiss broke, and my forehead fell against his chest.
“Fletch?”
“More,” I answered, wiggling a little in invitation.
“That’s my good boy,” he murmured, fingers dipping into the crack, slipping along my most private area.
Totally turned on that I pleased him, I latched my lips onto his pec, sucking lightly, drinking in some of the water that slipped between him and me.
When his finger met the tight ring of muscle of my hole, I automatically tensed. He didn’t shove in or even back away. Instead, he circled the muscle again and again, creating a rhythm I found insanely soothing. Water trailed between my open cheeks, the warm cascade plus the gentle ministrations of his finger relaxing me.
When the finger slid away, I made a disappointed sound, honestly surprising myself. Just minutes ago, I was tense with worry, and now I wanted more.
“Patience, puppy,” he whispered, the promise in his tone making me shudder.
The finger trailed lower, down my perineum, to tease the underside of my sack. Lips latched back onto his chest, my fist clenching against his side.
Slowly, he dragged back up, my tight hole jerking with surprise when he met it once more. When he peeled my cheeks farther apart, a rush of water coated me. Then the tip of his finger breached my entrance.
My breath caught, body going tense. I was tight, the intrusion shocking. My fist unclenched only to clench again, but this time around a handful of his muscle.
“So tight,” he murmured, just holding his finger in place.
I whimpered, not sure if I liked this or if I wanted him to stop.
His lips brushed the top of my head. “Relax around me, sweetheart.”
I tried, but the sensation was so new I wasn’t sure I succeeded. He murmured praise anyway, moving just slightly as he spoke, pushing just a little deeper as my body began to loosen.
Water poured over us as I clung to him, ass jutting out under his attention. My dick was still hard and wanting, which convinced me that what Ethan was doing, I clearly liked.
Carefully, he slid out, making me gasp and look up.
His eyes were dark, pupils dilated, when he gazed down, water trailing over his lips.
“Why’d you stop?” I asked.
“You didn’t want me to?”
I shook my head.
“Let’s finish and go to bed,” he said, the words like a delicious promise.
Stomach buzzing, heart pounding, I scarcely paid atten
tion as we finished up in the shower. My hole still tingled from the little he’d played, and I was both anxious and apprehensive about what it would feel like when all of him breeched me.
“What are you thinking?” he asked, clearly noting my silence.
Dropping my eyes to his impressive girth, I swallowed. “Is that going to fit?”
He laughed, hand automatically going to his erection to stroke. “It will.”
With my teeth sinking into my lower lip, heat pooled in my stomach, watching him touch himself. “It’s going to hurt.”
Releasing his shaft and taking my chin in his hand, he stared levelly into my eyes. Even with the clear passion swirling in their depths, there was sincerity as well. “All you have to say is stop. I’ll stop no matter what.”
“Really?”
“I promise. And I won’t be mad. I won’t yell. I’ll stop immediately and hold you.”
A wave of emotion pummeled me, knocking down all the butterflies in my stomach, making me feel overwhelmed and heavy. Breathing ragged, I would have dropped against the shower wall, but he caught me instead.
This.
This was why I submitted to him so readily. Why I felt so safe letting him have all the control. Because I wasn’t really giving up anything… just letting him take over for a while, and having that made me feel free in a way I never had before.
Heart still shaking, body overwhelmed, and lashes heavy with water, I stared. “No one’s ever been like this to me.”
“And no one else will,” he said, ferocity breaking into his tone. “No one will ever love you like me.”
My breath caught.
Love.
Did he know what he said? Was it just a slip of the tongue?
Reaching around, he shut off all the sprays. Moments later, a heated towel wrapped around me, and his wide palms rubbed along my covered arms.
We dried in silence, my limbs still shaky and nerves still raw. Occasionally, I would sneak long glances at his sculpted, naked frame.
“We’re gonna get you some clothes to keep here,” he said, holding out some of his for me to use. “So they fit you better.”
I took them, immediately setting them aside. “I don’t want clothes.”
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