Chapter 326: Hopelessly His For Life

Holly’s POV

I already have Ava's blessing.

David is mine now.

The mattress dipped under me as I rolled onto my side, hugging the pillow like it was David’s chest.

I buried my face in it and inhaled hard…desperate for any trace of him even though he’d never been in this room.

Nothing.

Just clean cotton and the faint lavender from the laundry detergent Elena still used. It wasn’t enough. It would never be enough.

I had already showered and changed into something neat, but the ache was still there.

My thighs clenched together again…uncontrollable, needy.

I could still feel him there…the stretch, the burn, the perfect ache he left behind this morning when he’d fucked me awake in that hotel bed.

Slow at first…lazy, torturous strokes that made me whine into the pillow so the walls wouldn’t hear.

Then harder. Deeper. His palm flat on my lower belly, holding me exactly where he wanted while he ground against that spot inside me that made white sparks explode behind my eyelids.

I bit my lip…hard…tasting the ghost of his lips on mine and how liberating his lips feel on mine.

God, I was ruined.

Completely, irreversibly ruined for anyone else.

Every time my heart beat it echoed his name. David. David. David.

I dragged my nails down my own arms…trying to recreate the way his palm scraped my skin when he pinned my wrists above my head. Not the same. Not even close.

My skin prickled anyway…hypersensitive, remembering.

I could picture him right now…downstairs in the guest suite shower, water sluicing over those broad shoulders, tracing the faint scars on his ribs that he never talked about. Steam rising. Dark hair plastered to his forehead. Jaw clenched against the sting of hot water on his fresh bruise. Lip still bleeding a little, turning the water pink as it swirled down the drain.

I wanted to be there.

Wanted to shove the door open, drop to my knees on the wet tile, wrap my mouth around him while the spray pounded my back. Wanted to taste the copper of his blood mixed with soap and salt and the low, broken groan he’d make when I took him deep.

I pressed my palm between my legs…over my panties…rubbing slow circles just to take the edge off. It didn’t help. If anything, it made it worse. My breath came in short, shaky bursts.

Ava said he had taken that punch without flinching or backing down.

He just stood there, taking it like it would take away the guilt he must be feeling towards my family.

My obsession wasn’t cute anymore. It was violent. Consuming.

I wanted to crawl inside his ribcage and live there. Wanted to tattoo my name on every inch of him so no one else would ever dare look. Wanted to mark him the way he’d marked me…bruises on my hips, bite marks on my throat, fingerprints I could still feel throbbing under my clothes.

I rolled onto my back again, legs falling open, hand slipping inside my panties now. Fingers slick already. I circled my clit…slow, teasing, imagining it was his tongue instead. Flat. Rough. Relentless.

A whimper escaped me.

I didn’t care if anyone heard me.

Let them hear… Let the whole damn house know what he did to me.

I heard movements by the door and before I could sit up, it opened again.

I froze, cheeks flaming in embarrassment. But thank God I was fast.

Ava stepped inside. Alone.

She paused in the doorway, eyes flicking from my flushed face to the way my chest rose and fell too fast.

She didn’t smirk. Didn’t judge. Just closed the door behind her and leaned against it…same pose as before.

“What’s wrong Holly?” she said quietly. “Were you thinking about him? Afraid we won’t let you two be together?”

I sat up fast, pulling my knees to my chest like that could hide anything.

“I’m fine,” I lied. Voice hoarse. “Just sore from the flight down here.”

Ava walked over. Sat on the edge of the bed again. Closer this time.

“You’re shaking,” she observed.

I looked down. My hands were trembling…badly.

“I can’t stop thinking about him,” I admitted…small, cracked. “About how he’s down there right now. Bleeding. Because he loves me enough to walk into this house and take a punch instead of running. I want to—” My voice broke. “I want to tear this place apart if anyone hurts him again. I want to climb inside him and never come out. I want to—”

I stopped. Swallowed. Tears burned hot.

Ava reached out…slow…and took my shaking hand in both of hers.

“I know,” she said simply. “I’ve seen that look before. On my own face. In the mirror. When Orion came back after everything that happened between us.”

She squeezed once.

“But Holly…emotions like that? It can burn you alive if you’re not careful.”

“I don’t care,” I whispered. “I’d rather burn with him than breathe without him.”

Ava exhaled…long, slow.

Then she stood.

“Dinner’s ready. I came to bring you down,” she said. “He’ll be down too and you will see him. Try… try not to jump him at the table. Orion’s already on edge.”

I smiled. “Tell your husband to leave my man alone, or I’ll kidnap you and he will be the one begging,” I joked and she laughed.

Ava’s laugh bubbled out of her…bright, surprised, the kind that made the corners of her eyes crinkle.

She clapped a hand over her mouth like she’d been caught doing something illegal, then shook her head at me.

“Kidnap me?” she repeated, still giggling. “Holly, you tiny little gremlin, you couldn’t kidnap a houseplant without it filing a complaint. Orion would just look at you with those scary calm eyes and you’d probably start apologizing and offering to bake him cookies.”

I huffed, but I couldn’t stop the grin spreading across my face. My cheeks were still burning from being caught mid-fantasy, but Ava’s teasing made the embarrassment feel… manageable. Almost cute. Like I was back in high school whispering about my dreams to her instead of me confessing I wanted to live inside David’s ribcage like a deranged chest-burster.

“I make excellent cookies,” I shot back, scooting to the edge of the bed and swinging my legs over. “Triple chocolate chunk. They’re weapons of mass seduction. I’d have Orion eating out of my hand in ten minutes flat. Then boom…hostage situation resolved. David and I ride off into the sunset while you two sort out your marriage counseling.”

Ava snorted so hard she had to lean against the bedpost for support. “Oh my God. You’ve clearly never seen Orion when he’s hangry. He once stared down a barista for twenty straight seconds because they put oat milk in his coffee instead of almond. The poor girl cried. You’d last maybe four seconds before you were the one begging.”

I clutched my imaginary pearls. “Rude. I’m very intimidating when I want to be.”

“You’re five-foot-nothing and you cried during a cat food commercial last fall,” she deadpanned, but her eyes were sparkling with that big-sister warmth that always made me feel safe, even when my whole world was on fire.

“Those kittens were orphans, Ava! It was tragic!” I whined, standing up and smoothing down my dress. My legs still felt a little wobbly, but the ache between them had settled into something softer now…less frantic, more like a secret I got to carry with me downstairs. A delicious reminder that David was real, and he was mine.

Ava stepped closer and gently tucked a stray piece of hair behind my ear. Her voice dropped, softer but still laced with humor.

“Listen, you man loving freak… I already gave you my blessing. David’s yours. But if you two start making heart-eyes at each other across the dinner table and Orion decides to throw another punch, I’m not breaking it up. I’ll just sit there eating my mashed potatoes and live-tweet the drama in my head.”

I gasped dramatically, pressing a hand to my chest. “You’d betray me for carbs? After everything we’ve been through?”

“Carbs are forever, Holly. Men are… negotiable.” She winked, then looped her arm through mine like we were heading to prom instead of a potentially explosive family dinner.

“Come on. Let’s go downstairs before Elena sends a search party. And please, for the love of all that is holy, try not to climb into David’s lap the second you see him. At least wait until dessert.”

I leaned my head against her shoulder as we walked toward the door, my heart doing that ridiculous flippy thing again at the thought of seeing him…bruised lip, damp hair, broad shoulders, all of him.

“No promises,” I murmured, half-joking, half-dead-serious. “If he looks at me…weirdly…even a little bit, I make no guarantees about public decency.”

Ava groaned, but she was smiling so wide it lit up her whole face. “You’re hopeless. Absolutely hopeless.”

“Yeah,” I said, squeezing her arm as we stepped into the hallway.

The scent of roasted garlic and fresh bread drifted up from downstairs. My pulse kicked up, but it wasn’t panic this time.

It was anticipation. Joy. The kind of butterflies that felt like they had tiny champagne bottles inside them. “But I’m his hopeless. And that’s the best thing I’ve ever been.”

Ava bumped her hip against mine playfully. “Alright, Romeo. Let’s get you fed before you start writing poetry on the dinner napkins. Just…maybe keep the ‘I want to live inside his ribcage’ energy dialed down to a solid eight. For the sake of everyone’s digestion.”

I laughed…light, free, the kind of laugh that only comes when someone sees all your crazy and loves you anyway. “Deal. But if anyone makes him bleed again, the eight becomes a twenty and I’m hiding under the table with a steak knife.”

“Atta girl,” Ava whispered, conspiratorial, and gave my arm one last affectionate squeeze as we started down the stairs together.

My heart was still pounding his name with every step.

David. David. David.

But now it didn’t feel quite so terrifying.

It felt like coming home.