This Is Love, Baby (War & Peace #2) (28 page)

Stark: We got the bastard. An “anonymous” tip of a woman being harmed was enough to get the warrant we needed. Finn is in custody. The other eight women are being treated for minor injuries. Girl number nine is in the hospital but expected to fully recover. You did well, War. Thank you.

I let her words wash over me and I can’t fight the grin that spreads over my face. My initial reaction is to scream it through the house. To tell Baylee we’ve taken down one more monster in this godforsaken world.

But then I remember she’s already gone to sleep. After those horrifying images showed up on the video feed, she disappeared. I could hear her retching in the bathroom but I was too hopped up on adrenaline to let it get to my head. I’d wanted to go to her—to comfort her in her time of distress—but Stark needed to get to those women. I had to make sure I sent them right into the lion’s den before it was too late.

My feet carry me to the doorway where she sleeps and my heart sinks. She’s still curled up into a little ball, making her seem so much smaller. Day by day, the medicine makes me feel stronger. Levelheaded and calm. But I’ve been too focused on Finn. I haven’t stopped obsessing long enough to focus on my poor, sweet girl breaking apart before my very eyes.

Jesus, I’m a fucking idiot.

She whimpers, and I’m striding into the dark bedroom before I even stop to consider what I’m doing. This past month she has pushed me away every chance she gets. I’ve allowed her to—tried to give her the space I thought she needed. But not anymore. I’m going to get through to her. I’ll break through to her. Maybe she doesn’t need space at all. Maybe she needs
me
. My fisted hands clench at my sides as the urge to touch her becomes overwhelming. I want to fix her like she’s fixed me. I need to hold her and kiss away her pain.

So fucking do it!

With a growl of part determination and part desperation, I drop a knee onto the bed. Leaning forward, with shaky hands, I push them beneath her and drag her light frame into my arms.

I expect a shiver of horror to course through her as the nightmares of Gabe plague her.

I expect her mind to take over and play tricks on her—for her to shout and screech and claw at me like she’s done so many nights recently.

What I don’t expect is the way her body reacts to mine. She’s warm and curls up against me. Her fingers thread into my hair and she holds on as if I might vanish at any second. My heart thrums with love at having her in my arms. I hug my beautiful girl against my chest and kiss her cool forehead.

“War?” she questions, the grogginess in her voice revealing disbelief. Almost as if she thinks she’s dreaming me.

“I’m so sorry, Baylee. I’m sorry I’ve never been enough of a man for you,” I apologize and kiss her sweet, pink nose as I carry her down the hallway to our bedroom. “But I swear to God I’ll always try for more. I won’t ever stop trying to be better, healthier, and the man you deserve. And I’ll never stop fighting for you. You once told me the queen always protects the king, even from himself. Well, beautiful, I’m returning the favor. I’m not going to give up on you. Not now, not fucking ever. I love you, Bay.”

She starts to cry but I calm her with soothing hums of songs that always seem to still the raging beast inside my head. I swipe at the light switch, darkening the room, before peeling back the blankets. When I set her down, she lets out a sigh of relief and slides under the covers. I don’t even bother getting undressed and crawl in after her. Our bodies mold together and her cool skin begins to warm from the heat of mine. With every ragged breath she takes, my touch seems to breathe life back into her.

My lips are pressed against her messy hair near her ear. Moments ago, I was worried to touch her for fear of her rejection. But it’s clear to see she needs me now. Desperately. And I can’t seem to get enough of her. I want to fuse my soul to hers. To tether us in a way we’ll never be separated again.

She twists in my arms to face me, and even in the darkness, I can feel her pretty blue eyes on mine. Her hot breath tickles my lips but it doesn’t make me recoil from her like it would have several months ago. Instead, I lick my lips wetting them because I’m hungry for her. Fucking ravenous. My Baylee has changed me for the better.

“Thank you,” she rasps out, emotion thick in her voice.

I hug her closer to me until our lips brush against each other. “Shhh, I’m never letting you go.”

Her fingers lightly feather up my neck and then brush against my cheek. “Kiss me and don’t ever stop for the rest of our lives.”

Capturing her face in my hands, I tilt her head before diving in to kiss her. Her hot mouth is ready and grants my tongue easy access. The touch of hers against mine is enough to send a thousand volts of desire coursing through my body. Suddenly, the kiss becomes inadequate. Unfulfilling. I need more of her. All of her. Our kiss is nothing more than a tease. A small taste. A tiny sample of our love.

I need every single part of her.

Every last drop.

My tongue waters to lick every inch of her flesh. I want to memorize the taste of her and have it fill my mind. The desire to learn every part of her flesh with my mouth is overwhelming.

Breaking from our kiss, I grin at her needy yelp, and yank off her T-shirt. She’s not wearing a bra so in my very next breath, my lips are on her right breast as I push her onto her back. I’m starved for my sweet Baylee. The hunger for her is growing into a formidable force that can’t ever be sated.

“Oh, God, I’ve missed you,” I murmur before sucking her sensitive nipple into my mouth. She lets out a gasp and then her fingers are in my hair. Tugging and clawing, she shoves my face against her tit, needing me every bit as much as I need her.

As I nibble on her flesh, my fingers find the waistband of her yoga pants and panties. She wiggles her ass as I slip them from her body. I pull away from her and sit up on my knees. In the darkness, all I can make out is her shadowy form. Using my fingertips, I touch her swollen lips and then drag them down her throat, between her breasts, and along her still flat belly. When I run them over her pubic bone, she lets out a whimper.

“Baylee,” I plead as I push her knees apart, “can I taste you? I need to taste you.”

She lets out a sexy kitten-like mewl that has my cock straining to get free of my jeans. “Can you? Will you freak out? I don’t want to gross you out.” The shaky way she says her words lights a fire to the madness inside my head. It rages within me, eager to burn away the demons and burn bright with her light.

“You could never in a million years gross me out,” I vow. And I mean it. Never fucking ever.

Her legs relax at my words and she lets them fall to the sides. I lean forward and inhale her feminine scent that’s only unique to her. As I lower myself to her pussy, I become dizzied with the desire to devour her.

I’ve never been so sure of anything in my life.

“You smell so…” I trail off, trying to find the right words, “clean.”

She giggles, a sound so pure it should be banned from this ugly world and only reserved for a place like heaven. “Way to make a girl feel special, War.”

Her laughter dies in her throat the moment my lips hesitantly brush against her pubic bone. I lightly press a kiss there that has her breaths coming out in quick succession. The desire to count them is overshadowed by the craving to learn every inch of her pretty pussy.

At first, I kiss her slowly until I reach her clit that seems to be throbbing with need. Using my thumbs, I open her like a special gift I don’t believe I’ve earned, and taste her almost tentatively.

Sweet.

Sexy yet pure.

A taste like nothing else on this earth.

“War,” she moans as I drag my tongue along her slit.

The way she says my name drives me crazy—crazy in a good way and I want her to do it over and over again. I want to count how many times she chants it. And I hope it will be an uncountable number.

My tongue seems to know exactly what she wants because soon I’m sucking and lapping at her, and she is squirming like a woman possessed on the bed. Her fingers have long since threaded into my hair and she pushes and pulls me to where she wants me. I let her be the guide and use my tongue for her own sexual gratification.

“Don’t stop,” she pleads and holds my head in place.

Of course I won’t stop. I don’t think I’ll ever stop. A part of me wonders if we are each other’s cure. Some magical remedy to my afflictions in my head and a glue for the broken pieces of her heart. A way for us to be free but
together
. Because when I’m between her legs, consuming all that is her, I can’t think of anything else.

Just Baylee.

My Baylee.

Forever.

And I hope to God she’s only thinking about me.

“Oh!” she shrieks one, two, three seconds before she thrashes against the bed with an orgasm I’ve never had the joy to experience with her. An orgasm that takes hold of her soul and rattles it ruthlessly. Her moans and yelps are a chant I don’t understand but somehow feel deep down in my bones. Pure bliss and soul satisfying pleasure.

I gave that to her.

And I’ll keep giving until I take my very last breath on earth.

“That was…” she trails off.

I press one last soft kiss to her clit before I sit back up on my knees. Her heavenly body is invading my senses—taste, smell, touch. For a man who obsesses over cleanliness, I find myself wanting her scent on me at all times. A constant reminder of the love of my life—a way to get me through my day.

It’s addicting.

Distracting.

And oh so fucking delicious.

“Do you need to, um,” she questions softly, almost embarrassed, “brush your teeth?”

A warm chuckle erupts from me and I crawl between her spread legs, hovering above her. My lips brush against hers and she lets out a soft gasp.

“I quite like your taste, Bay,” I tell her truthfully. “I’d like to keep you there for a little while longer if that’s okay with you.”

She laughs, so soft and sweet, but I silence the sweet sound with my mouth. I want her to taste what I taste. To understand just how perfect she is to me. Her fingers dance along my rib cage as I kiss her and she hugs me to her. My cock is straining against my jeans and I want to yank it out so I can make love to her. But I want to tend to her needs first.

“Baylee, my strong, sweet, beautiful girl,” I praise as I pull away from her and sit up on my knees. “I’ll never get enough of you. Marry me, please.”

I can feel her smile. I don’t have to see it to feel it. With Baylee, she smiles with her soul. You can feel that shit. It isn’t something you have to see because her smile is a living, breathing entity.

“I thought you were supposed to get on one knee,” she teases.

I run my palms over her belly and stroke her reverently. “Technically I’m on two. Does that mean I’m doubly serious about my request?”

Instead of waiting for an answer, I’m eager to bring her pleasure again. My lips find her belly and I kiss with soft, gentle kisses. Then, I kiss her more firmly—I suck her sweet flesh into my mouth and taste her. After forty-nine seconds of this, she’s turned into a live wire beneath me.

“War, I need more.”

With a half-grin, I slip my finger between her legs. Pushing into her now dripping pussy with my finger, I go back to licking and sucking the skin on her abdomen. Her breaths come out short and uneven, the urge to count them gone, and my mouth soon finds her supple tits. Our bodies connect and thrive when they’re together. I don’t have to think about what I’m doing with her, it just happens exactly the way it should be.

“Yes! God, yes!” she cries out as another orgasm seizes her.

When her body stops shuddering, I chuckle and slip my finger out of her. “Is that a yes to marrying me?”

The air in front of me swishes as she swats at me. “The answer to your question, Warren, is yes multiplied by infinity. And don’t you dare start trying to calculate what that number is. Just know it’s infinite and a number that can never be counted because it’s too great. It’s never-ending.”

Crawling back over her, I find her lips again and kiss her in a gentle manner. “Thank you.”

“For what? You haven’t even gotten off yet,” she says with a laugh. “I’m the one having all the fun here.”

With my thumb, I stroke her smooth cheek which I know is slightly red, even in the dark, from her orgasm. “Thank you for loving me. I’m hard to love, Baylee. It takes a special person to love someone like me.”

Her fingers push through my hair on the sides of my head and her thumb slides along the uneven scar on my face. “It was never hard for me,” she whispers. “It was always too easy. Like breathing or talking. Loving you came second nature. You were meant for me.”

I bury my face against her neck and press kisses into the flesh below her ear. “The medicine is helping me, beautiful. I can do this—for us. Thanks for never giving up on me.”

She lets out a gasp when I suck a little too hard on her skin. “War was never over for me. I will always fight for you. Thank you for fighting for me too.”

Smiling, I trail kisses back up along her cheek until I find her mouth again. “We don’t ever have to fight again,” I assure her. “We’ve won. Love always wins, Bay.”

When she starts to cry, tears of relief, I kiss away each one. I revel in the salty release of her pent up worries, sorrows, and fears tasting each and every one as they leak out of her eyes. Soon, she won’t have to cry ever again. I’ll make sure of it.

Until the last of her tears are released, I’ll lick them all away. My Baylee tastes of sunshine, the salty Pacific, and hope.

But most importantly, she tastes like peace.