Chapter 32

THIRTY-TWO

Phoenix

L aura's face was a picture of concentration as she threaded the needle through the scrappy skin. I fought the grimace brought on by the painful tugging.

‘You should have gone to a hospital,' she admonished, those big eyes fixing on me. I couldn't talk without disturbing her mending, so I let her tell me off. Not caring as long as she was still pressed up against me, her legs in my lap while she stitched me up.

‘I'm not exactly someone who excels in needlepoint.'

With gentle touches, she cradled my face as she worked. Mint mingled on her breath where we'd cleaned up after our messy morning.

It was all worth it.

Worth the pain. Worth the blood. Worth the fear.

Making her come against my tongue had been the pinnacle of anything I'd ever known. Power had surged through me at the demented sounds my mouth had wrangled from her pleasure engulfed body. I was completely, and utterly, addicted.

I'd been so unsure on whether the words would come, whether my vocal cords would even still work. The years of humming along with my music must have kept them in working order. Communicating my thoughts with Laura, without the delays or the difficulties, had been thrilling. So much so, it pained me to have to sit still while she sewed my torn skin into some sort of lips.

The softness of her thighs was the perfect distraction from the odd sensation of the medical string pulling through my would-be lips. Grazing my fingers over them, working my way ever higher, watching as her pupils dilated.

‘Behave,' she murmured.

‘Never,' I said, letting my thumb glide over the crotch of her shorts.

She snipped off the end of the string, finally finishing her task. The fact she'd sat me down and looked after me left me feeling warm and fuzzy. Not since my initial hospital stay had I had someone caring about me.

Passing me a washcloth she'd had steeped in warm water, she instructed me to wash away the fresh blood the needle had drawn.

‘It's not perfect,' she said, her voice breathy.

‘I don't care.' I leaned forward and kissed her softly, not wanting to burst the stitches. Admittedly, I'd happily burst them if it meant pouring myself into kissing Laura, but I had a feeling she'd be less than amused.

Some ten minutes later, we sat on one of the wooden benches, watching the seals poking their heads out of the water below us. Laura had cut up various fruits, cheeses and meats into tiny cubes, and for the first time in years, I actually had textured food.

It was a lot to handle at first.

Slowly, I tried a few pieces, enjoying the sweet burst of the fruit against my tongue. Fuck, had grapes always been so damn tasty?

‘My mum always had high expectations for me, I guess. I just didn't live up to them. Not smart enough. Not skinny enough. Not pretty enough. It's why Massimo made me fall so hard so fast. I never believed a guy like him would ever want to marry a woman like me.' Laura and I had been discussing our pasts as we ate, and it was a good job her mother was already dead. I'd have been tempted to find her and do it myself if she hadn't been.

‘She was crazy. You're perfect.'

Laura looked down at the strawberry piece between her fingers. ‘I'm not.'

‘I don't just say that as a loser with no mouth. I mean it. The moment I laid eyes on you I was a goner. And then you came at me with all the blaze of a fire and you had me obsessed.'

‘You're not a loser. Mouth or otherwise. It just took me a while to see past how we met. Stealing women isn't exactly an honourable pastime.' She grinned before popping the strawberry into her mouth.

‘Not women. Just you.'

I pushed the plate of food aside and pulled Laura into my lap, trailing my fingers up and down her spine.

‘So what now?' She asked.

‘More sex?' I lifted a brow.

‘No, you rampant fiend. You need to let your mouth heal for a bit. I mean what's next? Do we just stay on the boat forever?'

Bar filling her with my babies, I hadn't seriously thought about what came next. Especially with Massimo now looking for her.

‘We'll rebuild the cottage, no, build a better one, with whatever you need. I'll build you a stable for that pony of yours, and enough bedrooms to spend years filling them with a family.'

She blinked up at me. ‘You want to make a family with me? I thought you were just dirty talking.'

‘One day. After I've had you to myself for a good while. My family is nothing but a distant and painful memory, and yours were shit. We deserve a real family. With all the eye-rolling stuff other families do. Board games, long walks, stupid Christmas jumpers. I want it all.' It was something I thought would always be out of my reach.

‘Whoa, one thing at a time,' she laughed, ‘I've only just come around to the idea that I'm staying willingly.'

‘I'm going to marry you, Laura. I want to worship you every single day for the rest of my life.'

Her face softened and she wrapped her arms around my neck, pulling me tight.

‘Okay, but you'll need a better proposal than that.'

‘Noted,' I said, inhaling the fruity scent of shampoo lingering in her hair.