Cataclysm (Four Horsemen #4)(66)

I reached up and cupped his face, letting a tear fall down my cheek from his words. He had no idea how proud I was of him for being able to let go of his father for good. Ezra had done nothing for him other than be his sperm donor.

“I just love you, Pres. All I’ve ever done is love you.”

He pressed his forehead against mine.

“That’s all I need you to do, sweetness. Keep loving me no matter what happens.”

I kissed him, melting into his embrace. Loving him was effortless. And I’d keep doing it until the very end.





Twenty Nine


Francis





Drake and West weren’t downstairs when the lift doors opened to reveal Prescott and Scarlett. The first thing she did was run across the room and barrel into me, almost knocking me off my feet from the impact.

“Hey, steady on there,” I said, walking a few steps back into the counter to regain my balance.

The next thing I knew, she’d climbed on me, wrapping her legs around my waist and burying her face in my neck as she clung to me.

“I missed you so much.”

She’d only been away for two days and yet our place felt empty without her. I stroked her back and breathed her in.

“I’m here. I’m right here.”

She pulled away to look into my eyes.

“Take me upstairs please.”

I raised an eyebrow, but she continued to look at me with an unreadable expression. Not wanting to deny her, I carried her towards the stairs. I caught Prescott’s eye on the way, but he merely shrugged as if to say she hadn’t told him what she wanted from me. She’d sounded perfectly okay on the phone last night when I’d spoken to her about when they were coming home.

“Don’t you want to say hello to Drake and West?”

“I will later. I need you right now.”

Her words made me move faster. There was nothing in this world that would stop me from giving Scarlett exactly what she needed when she asked for it.

When we got into my room, I set her down and shut the door. She stared up at me with an almost pleading look on her face.

“What is it, Scar?”

She reached out and took my hand, pressing it to her cheek.

“Will you bind me, please?”

I stroked her skin with the pads of my fingertips.

“Of course… in what way do you need it?”

“To feel safe.”

I nodded, knowing exactly what I needed to do. Taking her hand, I pulled her towards the bed. Scarlett came willingly and allowed me to take her clothes off, setting them aside before I encouraged her onto the bed. Going over to my wardrobe, I opened the door and selected a few lengths of rope.

“Arms behind your back,” I told her as I approached the bed again.

She did as I said. I knelt behind her and started binding her arms and chest. Then I created a harness at her back stable enough to hoist her up with. It was very similar to the way I’d bound her the first time I’d fucked her in the ropes. This time it would be to give her a sense of safety. I’d ask her why she needed it when she was settled.

She didn’t protest when I encouraged her to stand up so I could tie her ropes to the pole suspended above my bed. Nor when I bound her legs and ankles and pulled them up so she was left hanging in place, not exactly face down, but almost. I stroked her skin, making sure all the knots were perfect, and she wasn’t going anywhere.

Scarlett let out a breath when I lay beneath her on the bed so we could look each other in the eye. I reached up and touched her face, reassuring her I was right there before dropping my hand to my chest. For a few minutes, she didn’t speak as she settled into her bindings. She barely shifted in them. She couldn’t move much, anyway, but to know this helped her was everything to me. I always wanted her to feel safe.

“What’s wrong?”

She closed her eyes and sighed.

“Being away from you, Drake and West reminded me of when Mason took me. I know I had Pres, but it’s still so raw for me. I don’t feel right in myself when I don’t have you all near me.”

If she hadn’t been suspended from my ceiling by ropes, I would have wrapped myself around her. As it was, I shifted up onto my elbows and rubbed my face against hers. She opened her eyes and looked into mine.

“Am I weak for needing you all so much?”

“No, we need you too, Scar.” I kissed her cheek. “And you’ve been through so much. You don’t have to be strong all the time. We’re here to catch you when you fall.”

A tear dripped onto my face. Fuck, she was clearly more emotional about all of this than I realised. I moved, wanting to get her down, but she let out a little sound of protest when my hands went to the ropes.

“No, please, I need it. Just stay with me.”

“Are you sure?”

“Please, Frankie. I’m just overwhelmed.”

I settled back down, but it didn’t stop me from reaching out and touching her shoulder, stroking her skin with my fingertips. A part of me needed the physical connection as much as she did.

Scarlett didn’t stop crying, allowing silent tears to drip down onto me. I didn’t wipe them away. They were evidence of her feelings. Her pain. And I would wear them to show her I wanted to rip the hurt from her chest. I would make it my own, so she didn’t have to carry the burden alone. No matter how much pain it caused me to see her this way, I’d let her get her feelings out.