Page 53 of The Saint

“Perfect,” I whispered, then blinked myself away from that fantasy he’d spun. I cleared my throat, and when I spoke again, my voice contained strength I wasn’t quite sure actually existed. “But I was thinking something else.”

“Really?” He shifted, then leaned forward, and every thought in my brain threatened to leave me as the tip of him pressed between my legs. “I never thought little Jael David would be into kink.”

I gasped at the feel of him nudging at my entrance, but blinked hard and focused on his face. “I meant we should do something for you.” I gritted my teeth, trying to stay present, trying not to give in to my dirty thoughts and whims. “I thought we could go to the park and play ball with your friends.”

Rolly jerked back, and I felt the loss of him immediately. His eyes were a stormy night, dark and violent waves that crashed with brutal force across the shore. Without thought, I grabbed for him, trying to keep him from sinking into the dark abyss that was gathering in his head.

Trying to keep him from leaving me an empty cave with no chance I could live.

My hands climbed the mountain of his back, sliding over his marble skin. Coaxing him out of his head as my palms cupped his stubbled jaw. I pulled his face to mine, pressed a soft kiss to his lips. And though that sudden tension didn’t disappear, the clouds in his eyes started to dissipate.

He stared down at me, his thoughts churning in his head. “You want to hang out with them?”

“I want you to be able to hang out with them, Rolly. I don’t want to monopolize your time. I don’t want to take you away from your friends. It’s important…” My throat tightened and I tried to swallow it down. “It’s important that you spend time with them, too.”

He started it again, his thumb tracing my jaw, his eyes tracking the movement. The stiffness in his shoulders, in his whole body, melted away, and his weight bore down on me, pinning my lower body to the bed. The hard press of him no longer threatened to pierce me, but his rigid length was still there, a warning that he could derail this conversation with one strong thrust. His eyes drifted shut, and it was a struggle to keep mine on his face.

Because it looked like a sheen of pity had covered it.

Rolly was aware that he was my only friend growing up. It shouldn’t have taken much for him to deduce the same was true now. But as much as I needed him in my life, I knew I wasn’t the only one in his. And I wouldn’t be responsible for taking him away from them.

He lowered his face to me, pressing a gentle kiss to my lips before resting his forehead against mine. “Why are you so good to me?”

I blinked up at him. Forced a smile upon my lips before wrapping my arms around his neck and giving him a tight hug.

“Is that a yes?”

His chuckle rumbled through me, from the top of my head to the place where he had me pinned to the bed, then straight down to the tips of my toes. He shifted his body, scooped me up in his arms, and held me like I was the most precious thing in the world.

“Yeah,” he murmured against my skin. “We can figure something out.”

One of his arms released me, his palm drifting down my side. His big hand clamping down on my thigh and hitching it higher around his hip. I could feel the tip of him nudging once more between my legs.

“Can we celebrate here first?” he asked as he pushed against me, sliding little by little into my core.

My head bobbed. His hips pressed forward, and his hand grabbed the meat of my ass, squeezing and pulling until every last inch of him was buried so deep inside me, I knew I’d never, ever be the same.

His lips skated across mine, the man stealing my breath as his tongue slipped into my mouth. I ached, because every cell in my body craved who he was and what he meant to me so severely; I was sure I couldn’t live without him in my life.

And as his body moved against mine, as he stole every piece of me and left me with nothing but a needy shell of a body and a crazed mind, I was terrified.

Because I knew, without a doubt, it was him who was too good for me.

14

ROLLY

The vehicle pulled to a stop outside Lovegood Studios, the storefront located under four stories of workspaces you could rent out for a fee. It was a community set on bringing people together and giving artists a feeling of belonging. The studio had long been on my mind, but the idea of sharing my art with anyone always made me ill.

Yet here I was.

“You okay?” Jael’s fingers wrapped around mine, squeezing gently. I turned away from the window and was once again caught off guard by the knowledge that she was here. At my side. In my life.

The way I’d always dreamed.

“Yeah. Just nervous.” The words caught in my throat, and Jael squeezed my hand once more.

“Don’t worry, he’s going to love it,” she promised, though that wasn’t what was on my mind.