Chaos by Sarah Bailey

Twenty One

Prescott

When I woke up this morning, I decided enough was enough. Scarlett was going to hear me out. I couldn’t go another night with this discord between us hanging over our heads. Not when she’d kissed me so willingly last night. When she’d asked for me and told me she missed me. Who gave a fuck if she was high. The woman had said she didn’t want to fight any longer. We weren’t going to fight. We were going to have a conversation. And I was going to tell Scarlett the truth.

I loved her tenacious little soul. She was my little lamb. And she was going to accept she belonged to me.

I’d tried things her way. Waited for her to give me a fucking chance and it had got me nowhere. This time things were going to be on my terms.

It’s why when I’d gone downstairs, I picked her up and took her to my room. She complained, struggled and hit me the whole way, demanding I put her down, told me I was behaving like a caveman and I had no fucking manners, but I hadn’t paid her any mind.

I slammed my bedroom door shut and locked it before I set her down. My woman had rage burning in her hazel-green depths when she looked up at me. Her fists were clenched at her sides as if she couldn’t decide whether she wanted to pound my chest or tell me to go fuck myself.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” she demanded. “I am not a fucking ragdoll for you to toss around whenever you please.”

I kept my expression neutral as I looked down at her. Fuck, she was so small compared to me, but Scarlett was the strongest woman I knew. The boldest and most fearless. And the one who owned my heart.

“No, you’re not.”

“Then what the—”

I put my hand over her mouth and wrapped my other arm around her back, tugging her against me. She blinked, then tried to wriggle out of my grasp, but I only held on tighter. Her hands went to my chest, shoving at it.

“You can hit me all you want, sweetness, I’m not letting you go.”

The way she glared had me fighting a smile. I dropped my hand from her mouth to hold her closer.

“Why the hell are you being like this?”

“Because you haven’t given me a chance to talk to you.”

“I gave you one yesterday.”

I shook my head.

“No, you accused me of fucking another woman, and we argued. That was not a conversation.”

Her mouth snapped shut. She knew I was right.

“I want you to hear me out, okay?”

“What if I don’t want to?” she shot back.

By fuck did I want to tell her to stop being so stubborn, but I wouldn’t. She was hurt and lashing out at me because of it. I couldn’t afford to piss her off any further.

“You don’t have a choice right now, sweetness. And before you give me shit, I have a good fucking reason.”

“Oh yeah? And what’s that?”

My arms dropped from around her and my hands went to her face instead. I needed her to look at me. To really fucking see me and hear me. Her skin was so damn soft against the pads of my fingertips, reminding me of how I loved having her body against mine. How she was perfect in my eyes.

“You’re mine, little lamb. You’re mine and I’m yours. And you… you fucking well have something of mine. I don’t want it back because I expect you to keep it safe. I know you’ll keep it safe. I trust you with it.”

Her bottom lip trembled, and her expression grew softer.

“You trust me?” she whispered.

I didn’t directly answer her question with my next words, but I was determined to get all of my damn thoughts out.

“I’m sorry I didn’t show you every part of me, so you weren’t prepared that night. I’m sorry I wasn’t truthful with you about the real me. I’m not a good man, sweetness. There are things I’ve done, we’ve all done, that would make you question who you’re with. I’ve hurt, I’ve maimed, I’ve tortured and I’ve killed… and I liked it. I won’t pretend to be anything else other than the man you see standing before you. I like to cause other people harm. It fucking feeds my soul when I infect them and ruin their lives just because I can.”

Her eyes fixed on mine. I couldn’t read her thoughts, but I couldn’t stop. It all had to come out, so she’d believe me when I told her how I felt. So she’d see the damn fucking truth.

“All those things are a part of who I am. The parts you’ve not seen. And I should have trusted you with them. I fucked up, sweetness. I know that. I’m sorry for it. You deserved more than the crumbs I gave you of myself.”

Her hands slid up my chest to my neck, wrapping around it as if she needed an anchor.

“The thing is… the fucking thing is… I have never felt this way about anyone before. I’ve never looked at anyone the way I do you. You’re precious to me, so fucking precious. I never want to harm you. You mean everything to me.”

I swallowed, and my hands tightened around her face. It was now or never. Even if I couldn’t tell her how I’d known her my whole life. How I loved the parts of her she’d lost. The parts of her she’d gained. And everything in between. I had to tell her this one thing because it was killing me inside being without her.

“I didn’t think I still owned a heart, but you showed me I do… because my heart belongs to you.”

Tears welled in her eyes. She knew exactly what I was going to say. It didn’t matter. I had to say it anyway.

“I love you.” I stroked my thumb over her cheek. “Please stop fighting me… please let me love you, my precious little lamb.”

Those threatening tears spilt down her cheeks. I waited, allowing my words to sink in. Letting her process them. No matter how much it killed me to watch her in silence, I had to let her work through her emotions. I would fight for the right to be by her side. I would do anything for Scarlett. I loved her.

“Pres,” she sobbed, letting go of my neck so she could slap my chest with her palm. “Damn you… why do you have to be so fucking perfect?”

Before I could utter a word, she went up on her tiptoes and kissed me. I wrapped her up in my arms and kissed her back. It was desperate and all-consuming. All our feelings poured out. The hurt and pain. The want and need. The lust… and what I hoped was love.

I lifted her up, grasping her thighs as she wrapped her legs around my waist. I carried her over to the window and pressed her against it, keeping her pinned. Scarlett’s hands were in my hair, holding me closer. Our tongues were a tangled mess of passion and desire.

“I love you,” I whispered between kisses. “I fucking love you.”

Scarlett pulled away. Her tear-filled eyes were wild as she stared at me, holding onto my head so I couldn’t kiss her again.

“Show me.”

I propped Scarlett up against the window with my body and legs. My hands shoved the shirt she was wearing up to find she was bare underneath. I almost groaned at the sight of her. Then my fingers were at the buttons, tugging them open and exposing her stunning body to me. I ran the tips of my fingers down her chest, listening to her gasp at the physical contact.

“Please, Pres, I want you.”

Her hands went to my t-shirt. I helped her tear it off my chest and dropped it on the floor. Then she was unbuttoning my jeans, tugging them down enough to allow my cock to spring free. Scarlett guided me to her wet entrance, staring at me the whole time as I thrust inside her. I couldn’t help the groan escaping my lips.

“Fuck me like you mean it,” she sobbed, grasping my head again and pulling me closer. “Show me you love me.”

Her tears were decimating me, but I did as she asked. I held her tight and fucked her like I meant it. My cock slid in and out of her wet little pussy with rapid, sharp thrusts. I drove into my woman again and again so she’d know I meant it. Meant every single fucking word. And my tongue went to her cheeks, licking away her tears.

“Pres, more, please. Don’t stop. Never stop. Fuck!”

Her head banged against the glass as she tipped it back, but Scarlett didn’t care. She was lost in us. Lost in the pleasure and the pain. Her thighs gripped me harder, trapping me between her legs. I wasn’t going anywhere. This woman was the best part of me. The only part that even mattered.

“I belong to you, little lamb,” I ground out in her ear, listening to her panting and loving the way she clawed at me. “Do you believe me? Do you believe I love you now?”

Her nails dug into my shoulder, her body moving back against mine.

“Yes,” she cried out. “Yes, fuck, please.”

“Say it. Tell me you believe me.”

“I believe you, Pres. I know you love me. Just don’t stop. Don’t stop.”

I never wanted to leave her pliant, soft little body. Never wanted to let her go. The way she took me and begged was fucking magical. But there were things I wanted from her too. Things I needed to fucking know.

“Who do you belong to?”

“You,” she whimpered. “I’m yours. I never stopped being yours.”

She didn’t even hesitate. Fuck did I love that about her. Everything about her was perfect to me. She might be broken in half, her memory fractured, but I only saw all of her. And I would protect her with my fucking life if I had to.

“More, please, I’m so close.”

I gave it to her harder, adjusting the angle of our bodies to stimulate her better. It only made her cry out louder and dig her nails into me to the point they almost drew blood.

“Yes, like that. Just. Like. That.”

I didn’t stop. Didn’t falter. I drove her into oblivion because I wanted to see her fall to pieces. To shatter under my hands and come all over my cock. The sensation of sliding in and out of her wet pussy was driving me crazy, but I held back. Held on to make sure she got there too.

“Fuck, Pres!”

She came apart, her whole body shaking and trembling with her climax and triggering my own. I grunted, spilling inside her hot body and never wanting it to end. I couldn’t let go of her. She’d branded herself on my heart. She owned me. And I didn’t even care. I wanted her to have me.

Her fingers left my shoulders, wrapping around my body as she held me against her. Scarlett pressed her face into my neck, breathing heavily against me.

“Pres…”

“Yes, little lamb?”

Her hold on me tightened.

“Even though I can’t remember who I was and I feel like I’m not whole inside, it doesn’t change the fact I love you too because my heart knows you and that’s what matters.”

All the tension left my body.

“Your heart knows me?”

She nodded.

“I don’t know how, but it does.” She pulled back and stared into my eyes. “I love you, Prescott… so you better take care of my heart, okay?”

I pressed my forehead against hers. I shouldn’t promise her this because of everything to come, but I couldn’t help it. She needed me to reassure her. And she loved me. This woman loved me. I didn’t deserve Scarlett, but I’d do everything in my power to love her the way she deserved.

“I will, sweetness. I’ll protect it with my life.”

She kissed me again. I was lost in her. In this woman I’d known my entire life. And I hoped when Scarlett remembered me, the part of her she’d lost would love me as much as this version of her did. I couldn’t live in a world without her again. I refused to.

Don’t leave me in the dark again, little lamb. Don’t leave any of us. We need you.

The girl we’d sacrifice the world for was in my arms. I would never set her free because she was a part of all of us. And we weren’t complete without her.