Chapter 20

“Wait.”

The request was so sudden and unexpected that I was afraid I had already done something wrong.

“Take them out, Maisie. I want you to be completely comfortable,” he said softly as I looked into his eyes.

I smiled stoically.

In a way, I understood why he suggested it.

He had stripped off the fake piece of himself, the one I hated the most, and he wanted me to do the same.

With a nod, I gestured toward the small, square box of tissues on the nightstand next to him, then took one out as he held it out to me.

Taking a deep breath, I turned my body away slightly, reached up into my mouth and pulled my partial bridge out.

I couldn’t bear to look at how many teeth I no longer had.

Even though he didn’t care, I hated myself for it.

Wrapping it securely in the tissue, I leaned across Elijah and placed it carefully on the nightstand before I moved to hover over him.

Reaching down, I grabbed his hard cock, then rested my forehead against his as I began to slowly lower myself onto it.

The burning sensation from being penetrated was something I should have been used to and prepared for, but it was the stinging feeling of having to force it past the fresh cuts that made it hurt more than it should have.

“Ow,” I whined quietly as I forced myself to take his length.

“We don’t have to do this,” he whispered as he held me against him. “I don’t want you to be in pain, Mais.”

“I’ll be fine,” I assured him as I pushed my hair out of my face. I only hoped he wouldn’t be able to see the tears of pain rolling down my cheeks.

Elijah nodded as he leaned back against the headboard, hands firmly gripping my hips.

“Then go for it, Maisie Girl,” he said with a smile.

I returned it, and when he chuckled, I knew it came out as more of a grimace than anything else.

But it wouldn’t stop me.

I had known pain before in my life.

Unimaginable things had been done to me as a child by the people who were supposed to love and protect me.

He was nothing like them.

He loved me with every fiber of his being, and I kept the knowledge of that close to heart as I began to slowly roll my hips.

His fingernails dug into my flesh as I continued to rock on top of him. It felt so different when it was with someone I loved and not someone who forced it on me.

His dick felt so glorious inside of me, even as it moved against the cuts and bruising. It hurt more than I thought it would, but I wanted Elijah so desperately to be happy that I couldn’t stop.

I moved my hips faster, wrapped my arms around his shoulders, and pulled him toward me.

His lips found their way to one of my nipples. His teeth clamped down on it and as he gave it a tug, I let out a yelp of pain.

Elijah quickly sucked and licked the ache away before he repeated the action, eliciting another squeal.

“You’re so beautiful when you hurt, Mais,” he breathed after he released my nipple and kissed my neck. “I can’t help how you make me feel when you cry out like that.”

I grunted as I pushed him back against the headboard. He studied me with a shocked, amused look in his eyes as I leaned back and rested the palms of my hands on the mattress.

Taking a deep breath and willing the pain away, I began to move my shredded pussy up and down his cock.

“Oh fuck, Mais,” he breathed as he watched. I could see the look in his eyes, he was becoming ravenous at the exquisite agony I was feeling while forcing myself to continue.

I balanced myself on one palm as I brought the other hand around and began to rub my clit. I liked that he enjoyed watching while I fucked him, and wanted to give him something new to look at.

I let out a bated breath as my head tilted back and I arched my body. But I didn’t stop fucking him. Instead, I began to slam my pussy down on his cock, hoping to God that I wouldn’t pass out from the pain.

My body began to lurch to the side and Elijah took advantage of it. He moved quickly, sliding out of me, and pushing me onto my back.

A modicum of mercy before he took over.

He leaned down and kissed me gently, as he slid his cock back into me. I closed my eyes tightly and gripped his forearms.

“Are you okay?” he asked uncertainly.

I nodded quickly.

“Promise?” he pressed.

I opened my eyes and smiled at him.

Elijah grinned as he lowered his body against mine, looking soulfully into my eyes as he began to slowly move his body.

I felt his cock as he slid it in and out of me. I felt the bruises, the cuts, the pain even more prominently now.

But when he began to move his hips faster, fucking me harder, burying his dick deeper into me, I felt alive.

And I didn’t want the feeling to stop.

Elijah’s forehead pressed roughly against mine as he grit his teeth and held me in place with his body.

His breathing became ever more erratic and uneven with each thrust.

The wet slapping sounds were so goddamn euphoric that I almost forgot the hurt I was feeling.

I couldn’t discern if the damp feeling was because of our juices or because I had started to bleed again.

The sloppier our love became, the more aware of the cuts I was, but I held it in.

I lost myself in the arms of the only man who ever truly loved me, and when he grunted again and slammed into me one more time, I felt whole.

Especially when I felt the warm rush of his seed shooting deep into the garden I had dug for him earlier in the night.

Elijah let out his breath in a shaky whoosh as he lowered his body against mine. I ruffled the top of his hair, then wrapped my arms around my sin, keeping him buried deep inside of me.

If I could have stayed like this forever, I would have, but it wasn’t lost on me that while our love was perfect, it was wrong.

Only because he didn’t know who I truly was.

Only because he loved a lie.

___

“Can I ask you something, Mais?”

We were lying in our bed on our sin-stained sheets, with Elijah’s body pressed tightly to mine as we watched the wind gently move the leaves outside.

“Hm?”

“Why do you want it so bad? The hug, I mean.”

I chuckled as I reached for his hand, interlacing my fingers in his, letting silence be my response.

“There’s no way I can talk you out of it?” he asked glumly.

Again, I said nothing because there was nothing to say. Elijah promised that he would give this to me when the time was right, and I refused to let it play out any other way.

“Okay,” he finally relented in a soft tone. “Good night, Mais.”

“’Night,” I whispered in response.

I closed my eyes and forced myself to fall asleep.

For the rest of the night, we would be happy. Something Elijah honestly deserved to be in his life.

Tomorrow, I’d convince him that we’d need to go find Mr. Mike, and then Mama and Papa soon after.