“Maddie,” he responded gruffly, almost painfully. “I don’t know… I can’t… the pain, I need it—”
“You have me,” I interrupted, feeling the strength of that statement resonate in my every cell. Flame stilled, watching me with a profound intensity. Boldly, rolling my hips, I said, “We need to make this our first time. We need to make this the first act of love we have ever known. This is the night we lose our innocence, without the pain.” Another tear fell from my eye, and I added, “We have been lonely too long.”
“I don’t know how to do this without pain,” Flame said in a desperate tone.
Pulling his head down, his forehead met mine. “Focus on me. Make me your one thought. Replace the pain with thoughts of my face. My touch… my love…”
Flame’s lips pressed a whisper of a kiss to the side of my mouth. And desperate to see this through, I moved to run a hand down his arm over the scratches I had made. Guilt engulfed me, and I hushed, “Your pain causes me pain. Your distress causes me distress.”
Flame froze, and glancing down at my hand, he said, “I don’t want to cause you pain. I couldn’t fucking stand causing you pain. Not you.”
Hope filled my heart, and I pushed, “Then try. Try to make love to me without the scratches or the blades… without the hurtful memories of your past. Just… me and you.”
Flame’s eyes closed, his body deathly still, then threading his fingers through mine, he began to move.
And the tears fell.
Flame’s head had tucked into my neck, and at the sound of my gentle sobs, he looked up and, pouring from his eyes, were tears too. My heart broke at the sight of this man becoming so undone.
And then he moved, expelling painful frustrated groans, my name slipping from his lips. Eleven times. “Maddie, Maddie, Maddie, Maddie, Maddie, Maddie, Maddie, Maddie, Maddie, Maddie, Maddie…” A sob followed as he gradually built up speed, his hand gripping mine so impossibly tight.
And the tears did not stop. They did not stop as Flame’s groans of pain gave way to groans of pleasure. They increased in tandem with mine, his fullness within me igniting something in my blood, a build-up, a build-up of whispers under my skin, of a light shining behind my eyes.
Flame’s breathing changed, and as he looked down at me, his face wearing an expression of disbelief, my finger stroked along his bearded cheek.
“Maddie!” he growled, his hips rolling faster as his large arms lifted to cage me on the bed, our fingers still entwined. My pulse increased when the sparks in my blood surged with heat. Unable to keep from closing my eyes, a cry came from my lips as a feeling so intense took hold of my body. My back arched, guiding my breasts to brush against Flame’s hard chest. I panicked at the unfamiliar sensation, but all I could feel was Flame—before me, above me… inside me… within me…
Just as my eyes fluttered open, Flame’s large body tensed, and releasing a deafening roar, he jerked within me. Heat filled my body… Flame’s heat.
Just Flame.
No pain.
Flame’s breathing was erratic, arms unsteady as his head tucked in my nape, then raising his head, his glazed eyes snapped into focus as his tears caught in his beard.
It was like I had seen him for the very first time. This man, my Flame, above me, fixing me back together. A sob came from his mouth and he rasped, “Maddie… my Maddie… mine…”
My heart stilled as I stared up at his disbelieving face. Without restraint, or any falsehood in my heart, I confessed, “I love you…”
Chapter Twenty-Three
Flame
Maddie’s hand was on my face as she spoke those words. And I swallowed, shaking my head.
“No,” I replied, my body freezing with fear.
Maddie’s forehead pulled down, and she whispered, “It is true, Flame. I love you. With all of my heart, I am yours. All that I am, you possess.”