West (A Roam Series Novella) (8 page)

I wanted her in my bed, and I wanted my child inside of her womb.

Nothing good would come of us… but I wasn’t going to settle for just
good
.

I wanted Roam.
I wanted a miracle.             

“I am trying to be logical… but I am having a hard time fighting the… lust… I feel for you. It’s all-consuming. I just can’t stop thinking of you touching me. In really intimate places. I mean, the
bedroom
, not intimate places on my
body
… well maybe… what I mean is, even when I’m irritated with you, it’s so confusing, and I…,”

Hearing her ramble, I almost pushed her back over the sandy shore that moment. Instead, I took her chin in my hand, turning her to face me. She closed her eyes, ready for my kiss. I smiled at her willingness, at her words, instead dipping my lips to the nape of her neck.

“If you keep talking like that, I won’t make it through the week without taking you to that bedroom and doing exactly what you’ve been dreaming about.”

“
I won’t make it through the night if you don’t,
” she whispered.

I
stopped kissing and pulled away, my eyes on hers. “Do you mean that?”

“Yes,” she
admitted, more to herself than to me.

“And you won’t regret this?”

And then the fucking phone was ringing, and Logan was boarding for Moscow. I practically dragged her into the house, knowing what was coming. She looked like a frightened rabbit, cornered as I ordered her to lie down on the bed. “Stay there!” I urged.

I was going to check the freezer for ice, but it was too late.

She stayed conscious through the change this time, screaming…
God
she was screaming until I wanted to scream myself. Finally, she went limp, dropping back against the pillow.

I let her rest for a while. She was going to have to learn to control the pain on her own.

We spent the evening gathering supplies and groceries at Walmart, and we both fell into a flirtatious back and forth that made me feel hundreds of years younger. When she became jealous, thinking I was comparing her to Julie, I couldn’t help laughing.
If only she knew what Julie was like.

Guilt nagged at me. I was tempted to tell her about Julie a thousand times, finally resolving that it would make her afraid of me.

And I couldn’t have that.

We picked up a pizza and ate in a comfortable silence back at the cottage. At least, I thought it was comfortable, until I saw her wringing her hands again.

Finally, she exhaled sharply. “What I said… by the ocean… I don’t think…,”

I finally realized why she was holding her breath again.
She thought I was planning to take her to bed.

Tonight.

“Nothing is going to happen tonight, Roam. Take a shower and go to bed. I’ll come in and check on you before…,”

“No! No, I want you to sleep with me. Just beside me, I mean. Don’t leave me in the bedroom alone. I’m afraid of the nightmares.”

Sleep next to her, in the humid cottage. Knowing she’d be sleeping in nothing but her panties. Not happening.

Her green eyes pleaded, and finally, I relented. The nightmares are awful, and I finally have a chance to be there for her when they happen.
Control yourself.

“I’ll come in, then, in a little while.” I ran
my fingers through my hair, resting them at the back of my neck. “Just to sleep.”

“Okay, thank you.” She started to turn, but I caught her gently.

She looked at my hand on her elbow for a long time before lifting her eyes to mine.

I took a step toward her.
“I just want you to know, they don’t compare to you,” I spoke under my breath, as though the ghost of Annie could hear me.
There are no ghosts.

She is Annie.

She leaned closer to hear me. “No one compares to you.” I repeated.

She smiled. She fucking
beamed
. “Thank you,” she burst.

I wished I’d told her that a long time ago.

I smirked at her obvious contentment, rolling my eyes. “Now get to bed. This isn’t a vacation. I’m teaching you how to fight tomorrow- more than just self defense. You need sleep.”

Her eyes lowered once, and her expression went soft. “Yes, Mr. Perry.”

I shook my head and turned away, hating how much I loved to hear her call me that.

The shower ran for a short while, and I could smell the Dove soap we’d picked up at the store. I had a lot to do, planning for the trip to Russia, and it was well past midnight before I finally entered the bedroom.

The smothering heat was lessened just slightly by the open window, but still she’d thrown the blanket aside.

The moonlight drew a silver outline over the
curve of her hip, her arm…

And
her long, long legs.

I was right; she wore only panties and a strappy camisole. Her hair spread over the pillow, her hands clasped together, even in sleep.

My God, she was breathtaking.

I slipped out of my shorts
and left my boxers on, but pulled my tee shirt over my head. I dropped my clothes into a heap on the hardwood floor.

Sliding into the bed next to her, I did my best to keep my distance. Her small nipples budded against the thin material of her camisole, and I followed the shape of her perfect breasts as they curved, pressed together as she slept on her side.

Closing my eyes, I refused to look at another inch of her body. I was already throbbing, and if she touched me in any way I’d lose all resolve.

Somehow, I managed to sleep.

The moon was high in the
window when her screams jolted me awake.

I turned as she thrashed, trying to
grab her flailing arms. She kicked me hard in the side, and I grunted, failing to catch her wrists. Instead, I flattened my body over hers, trying to stop her from falling out of the bed or hurting herself.

When her fingernails raked over my shoulder blades,
I growled, a fresh surge of adrenaline taking control.

“
Ouch- Roam! Roam!
” I picked her completely up, pinning her arms to her sides and sitting her upright in the bed.

She blinked and panted in fear, searching the darkened bedroom.
“
West?
”

“You’re okay, I’m here…
it’s 2012,” I consoled, bending to her kiss the tears away from her eyes.

“
Logan…
,”

“No, Logan’s not here,” I answered, sighing.
Of course she wants Logan.

“No… Logan, he…,” she took a deep breath, and I knew she was trying her damndest not to cry again. “
He raped me.
”

“
What?
” I growled, nearly bruising her upper arms with my angry hold.
I will fucking kill that kid.
“When?” I demanded.

“I don’t know… 1533? Right after I got this,” she
slid the thin strap of the white, lace-edged camisole off her shoulder, revealing the birthmark shaped like a cross.

“Oh… oh,” I murmured.
Not Logan… the Alter. 1533.
“And I was there.”

“It was horrible- my heart broke for you, West, just trapped and unable to help me… her,” she corrected.

Horrible… for me?

“Log
an had you first, and then Troy,” I answered, testing, unable to fathom the level of selfless sympathy in her gaze.

“Her,” she
insisted, tears brimming.

I nodded.
“I spent three days sitting in that cell with you on the floor, dying. Alone.”

“
I’m sorry,
” she sat up, kneeling on the bed next to where I sat.

And suddenly, she was kissing my back.

Her mouth was moving over the scratches she’d dug into my skin, serrated cuts that were already healing. When her tongue traced a line over the wound, I groaned and turned.

I had her on her back and pressed to the pillow in seconds. I starved for her, ached for her body, her heart, her mind. I wrapped my hand under her knee,
my touch sliding torturously slow up her leg until I could trace the outline of her panties. She gripped the sheets, her breath hitched in her throat.

“
I’m scared,
” she cried.

My eyes never leaving hers, I slipped my thumb under the string band of her panties, stroking lightly at the soft curls.
I spread her legs wider with my hands, almost lowering my mouth before realizing I wouldn’t be able to make sure she was breathing- not with my tongue deep inside of her.

“
There are other things to be afraid of. This isn’t one of them.
” My mouth claimed hers as I skirted her panties, teasing, waiting until she was writhing before pushing two fingers deep inside. I probed, hard, slow, knowing exactly where to touch her and make her cry my name.

Her back arched, and the moment I found the very center of her pleasure point, she moaned, rocking against my hand. “
West,
” she managed, her tiny cries stealing my sanity.

Her eyes widened as she came close to
the edge, and I continued the rhythmic pulsing, dripping wild kisses to her mouth and throat. When I slid my hand under her camisole and cupped her breast, I drew her into my mouth through the thin cotton. She whispered something incoherent, something that sounded like my name and God. I circled my tongue over the hardened bud, all the while pushing my fingers in and out of her tight passage.

My mouth returned to hers, but she broke away in a mix of shock and confusion.

“
Do what feels right,
” I hushed, drawing kisses down her neck. She gripped my shoulders, back bowed, following my every thrust with her own need. When my mouth found her breast again, she screamed a cry, her eyes rolling back before her lids closed. Moistened lashes fanned over her cheeks as she gasped at the building inferno within her body. 

I could feel her tightening around my fingers, relishing in her abandon as I took her over the
boundaries of everything that she had ever known. “
That’s it,
” I comforted softly, my lips returning to her neck.

At that moment, she
burst, screaming, and I felt the clenching pleasure deep inside of her with my relentless touch. She was holding her breath now, and I quickly moved my lips to her ear.

“
This is what we are,
” I whispered as she struggled with consciousness. “
If we do this, Roam, I will never let you go. Do you understand?
” I lifted myself over her, poised just over her body. “
Do you want this?
”

She remembered to breathe, tears of shameless satisfaction sliding down from the corners of her eyes to her dark hair.

And then she nodded.

I’d already shed my boxers, poised just outside her moistened opening.
There was no way to make this easier; the damage was inevitable. I pushed inside, slowly. Her cry was different from only moments before; breathless and filled with pain.

“
It will pass,
” I promised, not moving, groaning from deep within my throat at her perfection, her warmth, and the tightness of her body.

The waiting was torturous. Finally, she took a breath, just when I thought she was going to pass out. I pulled out just slightly, and then
drove forward again, watching her face for signs of hurting. Eyes narrowed but determined, she reached for my face, her fingertips tracing my jaw. When a low moan escaped from deep within her throat, I lost my patience.

I
plunged, holding her tightly, the hot depths of her body eliminating all of my thoughts. She gripped my shoulders while fighting her cries. Over and over I thrust, feeling her join my desperate need. As soon as she lifted her hips and wrapped her legs around my waist, matching my rhythm, I watched her fall apart in my arms.

“
West… my god, West, please,
” she cried, desperate, until she couldn’t speak anymore. My name.
Mine
.

She was mine.

I was undone. The violent spasms wrecked me, and I poured my soul into her, claiming her as mine.

Forever
.

“
Roam
,” I begged, lowering my mouth to hers.

Of the thousands of times I’d made love to her, I’d never been so destroyed.

Maybe it was the tension, the need, the forbidden role she played in my life… I opened my eyes, drowning in her adoring gaze.

The awareness hit me with a thousand volts.

I love her.

I love her more than I have ever loved
any of them.
More than Lysbette, or Amina, or Isa…