My ears buzzed as I waited through the long, awkward pause.
“Now, honey, you listen to me. Very carefully. I know you mean well and I'm sure you believe this man is on your side. But you're in no condition to see anyone until you get your head straight. Come home. We'll sort all this out, and maybe someday you can visit this...gentleman after you're healed.”
Gentleman was the last thing Daddy believed about my love. And he wasn't completely wrong. But the contempt in his voice hurt.
I definitely couldn't go back. He'd drag me off to the clinic kicking and screaming, anything to spare the family more embarrassment.
“I can't do that yet,” I said softly. “I'm telling you the truth, but I think we both need time to process. You don't understand, Daddy. I wish you did. I'm happy when I'm with Skin. I'm me again.”
Crap. I let his name slip before I could catch myself. If only I'd used Parker, something normal, maybe I wouldn't have had another pause twice as long, before he exploded.
“Skin? Skin!? Jesus Christ, Megan, you've got to be kidding me. Where's the punchline? What kind of disgusting low life are you spending your time with? What kind of drugs is he giving you to tear you away from your own family, your mother and father who love and support you?”
“I told you, I'm not on any fucking drugs!” I broke, hot tears falling down my face.
How could he think I was lying now? Sure, I'd done it once or twice, but now I was telling him the stark, cold truth. I'd tell him everything else, even if he disowned me and cut me out of the family fortune, if only he'd shut up and listen for a change.
“I'm only going to say it one more time, honey.” Rage sizzled in Dad's voice. “Come home. Let us get you some help. Forget all about this Skin, and everything that happened to you before. I've turned away reports and gotten the cops off your back for more than a week, and you'd better hope to high heaven they never find out about these lies. You owe us, Megan. ”
My heart stopped cold, along with my tears. Hot anger hissed through my blood, slowing the heartbreak, an indignation I hadn't felt since watching the pimp die on Skin's phone.
“I don't owe you anything, Daddy. Don't call me again. I'll call you.” I killed the connection and angrily stuffed it into my purse.
Skin's strong arms curled around me before I could take another breath. “You okay, babe? Heard it didn't go so well.”
“It's going to take time.” I rubbed his arm, clutched it desperately. I couldn't fit in with my own family anymore, but I could as his woman, his old lady. “I don't care what he says anymore, Skin. Everything I need today is right here.”
“You're damned right. Now, dry those eyes and kiss me again.”
His lips took away the pain, just like they always did.
I had to be patient. I had to keep my wits.
We'd survived so much in such a short time, and this was just one more fiery hoop to climb through. But we'd do it, together, no matter how hot it burned.
I hadn't met anything that would keep me away from this man, and God willing, I never would.
The night passed like a dream. Skin kept me on his lap around the fire pit outside his cabin. We slow roasted steaks we'd picked up in town, shared a couple beers, and just enjoyed each other's warmth underneath the sprawling starlight.
It was a simple, but filling dinner with a complicated man I knew I'd remember for the rest of my life.
His hands were all over me before the moon peaked in the sky. I knew he was serious about the porch thing when he dragged a thick blanket outside. He wrapped it around us near the fire when my clothes came off.
Skin's mouth moved across my body, slowly at first, taking my heat from a glowing spark to a scalding roar. His muscles covered me, bare, inked, and beautiful.
Please fuck me, Skin. Please. Please!
Begging wasn't even a question when his mouth sucked my hard nipples, and he lodged his cock between my folds, holding it against my wetness, teasing me until I thrashed against him.
I needed him inside me. No matter how many times he gave it to me, it would never be enough.
Every tease, every kiss, every lick reminded me who owned me now. As the fire inside me crackled hotter than the blaze in the pit next to us, hotter than the bright white stars above us, I never wanted him to stop.
Never.
I just wanted to fuck him. So badly. Tonight, tomorrow, and forever.
We rolled together, wrestling in the blanket. His cock brushed my clit, forcing my arms and legs around him. My nails raked down the stripes tattooed on his back, digging into his power, pleading for what I needed most.
Just before he pushed inside me with a savage grunt, he looked me in the eyes like a wolf on the hunt. “I fucking love you, babe. Whatever ends up happening, however rough it gets, just remember that. I'll love you, keep you, and fuck you like you're mine 'til the day I die.”
“Skin...”