Chapter 96 Promises in the dark
Melissa’s POV
Gavin carried me to his bed and set me down gently on the soft sheets. Then he climbed in beside me, pulling me against his side and tucking me close like I was something precious that needed protecting.
We lay there in silence for a while. Just breathing and existing together in the darkness.
His hand moved slowly up and down my spine. In a soothing way.
“Is something the matter?” he asked finally, his vouce was low in the dark room.
I nodded against his chest. Yes. Everything. Nothing. I didn’t know how to explain the dream, the fear, the guilt that never really left me.
“Do you want to tell me?”
I turned fast and buried my face deeper into his neck, pressing myself as close as I could get. Like if I could just disappear into him, the nightmares couldn’t find me anymore.
I don’t know if it’s something about his voice but I started crying even harder than when I was alone. An ugly crying that made my whole body shake.
Gavin didn’t tell me to stop. He didn’t ask me to explain. He just held me tighter and started speaking in Italian. Soft words I couldn’t understand but felt anyway. Sweet nothings that wrapped around me like a blanket, making me feel safe even while I fell apart.
He rubbed his hands round my back in gentle circles reminding me he was here. He was real and he wasn’t going anywhere.
Eventually, the crying subsided into hiccups. My breathing evened out and tears stopped flowing. But I felt really empty. Wrung out. But lighter somehow.
“I want water,” I said softly against his neck.
He stood immediately, untangling himself from me with care. I watched him cross to the bathroom, his bare back moving in the dim light. He came back with a glass of water and handed it to me.I took a sip. Then another. The cool liquid soothed my raw throat.
Then I set the glass aside and immediately attached myself back to his neck like a barnacle.
He chuckled.“What else do you need, my lady?” he asked, sitting back down on the bed and resuming those gentle circles on my back.
“A car,” I said.
“What brand?”
“Bugatti Chiron. The black one.”
I felt him smile against my hair. “We’ll get it tomorrow.”
I pulled back to look at him, shocked. “Wait, what? I was joking…”
“I know.”
“Gavin, that’s like three million dollars…”
“And?”
I stared at him. Then tested further. “A plane.”
He smiled, genuinely amused now. “No planes until you’re twenty-five.”
“Why twenty-five?”
“Because I said so.”
I huffed and hugged him again, pressing my face back into that safe spot at his neck. “You.”
“What about me?”
“I want you. Just you.”
His arms tightened around me. “I’m all yours, Melissa.”
The words settled something inside me. Something that had been fractured and scared since the nightmare.I tilted my head up and kissed him. It was soft and gentle at first.
Then I pulled back just enough to look him in the eyes.
“I love you so much, my Gavin,” I whispered. “My strong, beautiful Gavin.”
His ears turned pink.
“I know a lot of dangerous things are going to happen soon,” I continued, keeping my eyes locked on his. “I know you’re not telling me everything. But I’m ready to face it with you. I’ll protect you too, you know. However I can.”
The pink in his ears deepened to red.It was so adorable. This powerful, dangerous man was blushing because I told him I loved him.
I couldn’t help it. I kissed his ear. The left one that was burning red.
He moaned. In a low voice that I felt everywhere. Heat flooded through me instantly, pooling low in my belly.
The sound of Gavin moaning made me embarrassingly wet. I feel like I’m going to be obsessed with this man.
I looked at his ear again…it was still red, and warm against my lips…and something primal took over me.
I popped it into my mouth and started sucking.
Gavin’s entire body went rigid beneath me. His hands on my back tightened, fingers digging in my back.
I sucked harder, my tongue tracing the shell of his ear, I used my teeth to graze the sensitive skin.
“Melissa…” His voice was strained. Was that a warning or was he pleading with me?. I wasn’t sure which.
I didn’t care.
I switched to his other ear, giving it the same attention. Sucking. Licking. Learning what made his breathing hitch, what made his grip on me tighten even more.
“Fuck,” he breathed, the curse sounding like a prayer.
His hands moved to my hips, holding me in place…or maybe holding himself back. I couldn’t tell.
All I knew was that I wanted more. Wanted to hear that sound again. Wanted to make this controlled, powerful man completely come undone.
I bit down gently on his earlobe.
He actually growled. The sound vibrated through his chest into mine.
Then suddenly I was on my back, with Gavin hovering over me, his eyes dark and intense in the dim light. Like the bottomless ocean.
“You,” he said, his voice rough, “are playing a very dangerous game right now.”
“Maybe I like danger,” I whispered back.
His eyes searched mine. Looking lost for a moment.
“Melissa…”
“I’m sure,” I interrupted. “Tell me to stop,” he said, even as his hand slid up my thigh. “Tell me to stop and I will.”
“Don’t stop,” I breathed. “Don’t ever stop.”
That was all the permission he needed.
His mouth crashed onto mine, swallowing whatever I was going to say next. The kiss was different from before. It was hungrier and even more desperate.
His hands were everywhere. In my hair. On my waist. Sliding under my shirt to feel bare skin.
I arched into his touch, needing more.
“Gavin,” I gasped against his mouth.
“I know,” he murmured back. “I know, piccola. I’ve got you.”
And he did. HFhe had me completely. Mind, body, and soul.
His mouth moved from my lips to my jaw. Down my neck. Finding that spot that made me gasp.