Chapter 44:

Bane and Nova ended up leaving before we even got into the dressing room, saying that they were going to spend the night out in the field outside the inn. I didn't question it too much, not considering that they also needed some time to themselves. Plus, I was with Xavier, so it's not like I was unguarded, as Nova would say. Hell, I was honestly probably safer with him than even having her around my shoulders. She really wasn't much of a fighter when it came down to it. 

I made quick work of changing, considering I just threw a sleep dress and a pair of underwear on before we headed back to the room. Xavier had only thrown on a pair of sleep pants, not even bothering with a shirt, but I wasn't about to complain about that one. He was quiet as we walked back to the room, but I could feel his gaze on me. I couldn't place it, but it felt... heated, but what really surprised me was the fact that I was enjoying it. The way he was looking at me made me feel like I was on top of the whole world. The simple fact that a man as downright, sinfully handsome as him only looked at me like this, with so much heat in that emerald gaze that I could feel it searing straight through the thin material of my sleep dress. I chanced a glance up at him and couldn't help the shiver that raced down my spine at the intensity I had caught in those beautiful eyes. 

He hadn't even so much as batted an eye at the other two girls that were out there, even though they were both gorgeous. No, he only looked at me like this. My mind started replaying the way his hand had felt against the bare skin of my back... my thigh, and another shiver ran down my spine. God, I would have stayed there for the rest of my life if I could have. 

Taking a deep breath as I waited for him to open the door, I attempted to steady myself slightly, but the heated, antsy feeling that coursed through my whole body had other ideas. I've never felt like this before, and I really didn't know how to handle it. 

He pulled the door open, holding it for me to enter the room, but my eyes caught on the defined muscle that made up the sculpted perfection of his chest and abs as I walked by. My breath caught in my chest as I all but ran into the room, attempting to hide from the pure wanton need that assaulted my whole body as my mind conjured up a breathtaking image of what that sculpted chest would look like above me as I was laid out under him, writhing in pure bliss. 

I bit my lip, attempting to rein in my quickly straying thoughts. Wanting someone like this was so foreign to me that I didn't know what to do about it. My body very obviously knew what it wanted, but my mind was screaming at me. It had hurt so badly before. What if it felt like that again? Xavier was far stronger and larger in every sense of the term than Jaxon was, and could easily do far more damage to me than Jaxon ever could, but at the same time, he's also never hurt me, not once. He's only ever taken care of me, and I doubt that would change just because we took things a step further. 

I looked up at him just as he entered the room. That sharp gaze snapped to mine, and I saw his nostrils flare slightly as those normally bright eyes darkened. He closed the distance between us in two long strides as my mind quickly lost the battle, and I wrapped my arms up around his neck, gripping onto him as our lips collided. I all but melted into his hold, barely even noticing when my feet suddenly left the ground, and there was something solid at my back. The only reason I even realized that we had moved was the fact that the new angle gave him far more access to absolutely devour me. 

My back arched against the wall as my legs locked around his waist, pulling his whole body flush against mine, and it was obvious that I wasn't the only one who felt this way. The low, sexy as hell, groan he let out as my hips ground against his was something that I could have played on repeat about a million times over and still would have needed more. 

His hands slowly ran down my sides before one circled my waist, holding me flush against his chest as the other pulled the tie out of my hair that had been holding it back, letting the long locks down from the bun I had put it in earlier. His hand tangled in the long locks as he used it to tip my head back, tangling his tongue with mine as I whimpered, gripping onto his shoulders for leverage as I met him with a ferocity that I didn't know I had. 

Slowly, he let go of my waist, trailing his hand down my side to the edge of my sleep dress, where it had ridden up to my hips before slipping under it. He slowly traced over the soft skin of my hip and side, slowly moving up inch by agonizing inch. When his thumb gently grazed the underside of my breast, he pulled back from me, gently resting his forehead against mine. "Say the word, princess, and everything stops. The last thing I want is to hurt you or scare you, but I do want you. Fuck, I need you, Ari." He whispered to me, looking me straight in the eyes as he paused everything else, once more giving me a choice. I could either stop him, or I could trust him and let this keep going, to see where this might lead us. 

The way he was looking at me, looking through me, seeing the debate in my eyes, I could feel him already slowly starting to pull away, and I took a breath. The last thing I wanted right now was for him to pull away from me. "Please... please don't stop, Xavier. I want this. I want you, and I want to know what it's supposed to be like when I choose who I'm with. I can't say that I'm not nervous, because I am. I've never had a good experience in this regard, but I trust you, and I want you to change that." He gave me a soft smile before pressing another soft kiss to my lips. 

"If that changes at any point, tell me. I wouldn't ever be able to forgive myself if I hurt you, even if it was by accident." That made me smile. This time, I was the one who leaned up and fully claimed his lips, far more confident now as I fully relaxed into his hold. It felt so good to actually be able to let go of even just a fraction of that fear, all because I actually felt safe with him. I knew that if I so much as muttered that word, he would listen. No questions asked. No backhanded punishments. Nothing. That was the part that I appreciated more than anything else. 

His hand moved up further before his calloused thumb brushed over my pebbled nipple. I gasped at the pleasure such a little action brought to my body and felt him grin against me as he nipped my bottom lip, pulling at it slightly before pressing a kiss to the corner of my mouth. I instantly tipped my head to the side, giving him more access as he started kissing and nipping over my jaw. His hand gently cupped and massaged my breast, rolling my nipple between his fingers, and I couldn't stop the moan that slipped from my lips, even if I had wanted to. He let out a low hum of approval against the side of my neck before finding that perfect spot right under my ear and sucking against it. I was panting with my pleasure as my legs locked more firmly around his waist, and I was sure I was leaving marks across his shoulders with how hard I was gripping onto him. I couldn't help it, though, not when I had never felt so much pure, absolute pleasure in my whole life, and I was damn well going to enjoy every single second of it. 

His hand moved to my other breast, treating it with the same soft, slow caresses as he continued kissing down the side of my neck. Once he reached my collar, he skimmed back up to my ear. "Hands up, princess," he ordered in a low, husky tone that had me instantly obeying. He chuckled at me, a sound that I could only describe as pure sin wrapped in the softest silk, before he nipped my earlobe. "That's my good girl." 

He pulled back from me just long enough for my sleep dress to hit the floor before his hand was back on my breast as his other gripped my hip, fully pinning me to the wall as his hips slowly ground against me. I whimpered at the pleasure that coursed through my veins as my thin underwear did absolutely nothing to shield me against the long, hard length of him straining against his sleep pants.