Chapter 16: Don't Make Me Gentle
The bruise on my hip was shaped like his hand.
Dark.
Tender.
Perfect.
I looked at it in the mirror that night, fingers brushing the ache like it was proof of something beautiful.
Not violence.
Not punishment.
Claim.
---
Jesse hadn't spoken since.
After he came inside me—growling that I was his—he pulled away too fast, wiped me down too softly, and left the shop without a word.
Now it was morning.
And he just showed up at my door.
---
He didn't wait for an invitation.
Just walked in.
Eyes tired. Shoulders tight.
He didn't look like the man who'd fucked me into a worktable last night.
He looked like the man who regretted it.
"Hey,Dad back'? he said quietly.
"Nope he isn't yet"
I leaned against the counter, arms crossed, shirt barely hanging off my shoulder.
"Is this the part where you tell me it shouldn't have happened?"
"No."
He stepped closer.
"I came to apologize. But not for that."
I raised an eyebrow. "Then what for?"
"For avoiding you. For making you feel unwanted. For forgetting what you need."
I scoffed. "What I need? Jesse, I don't need you to be gentle. I need you to be honest."
He blinked.
I kept going.
"I don't need soft. I don't need safe. I need you. The version that bruises and bites and makes me forget who I was before you touched me."
He stepped closer. Slowly.
"You want that?"
"I want everything."
He cupped my cheek then, rough fingers surprisingly tender.
"I'm scared of what I'd do if I let myself want you the way I really do."
"Then stop being scared."
He kissed me.
Not hard.
Not rough.
But deep.
Messy. Breathless. Desperate.
Then pulled back just enough to say:
"Tell me you're mine again."
"I'm yours."
"Say it so I believe it."
"I'm yours, Jesse," I breathed. "Always. Even when you don't know what to do with me."
He swallowed hard.
"Then get on your knees."
---
I dropped instantly.
His hand tangled in my hair as he looked down at me, eyes hungry.
"No collar tonight," he murmured. "I want to watch you fall apart as you. No rules. No names. Just you giving me everything."
I nodded.
He unzipped his jeans.
And I opened my mouth for the only apology I ever wanted from him.