Page 116 of Trigger Happy Ending

A pressure building behind my ribs gives way, and suddenly my throat is tight, too tight, and I don’t understand why.

Until a tear slips down my cheek.

Soren sees it immediately. His expression shifts as he pulls me closer, his hand warm on the back of my neck, guiding me in.

Then his mouth is on my skin. He drags his tongue slowly up my cheek, licking the tear away.

Another spills.

He chases that one too.

Another.

And he takes that one.

Again. And again. And again.

All while still moving inside me, his slow, steady thrusts feel like they’re stitching me back together with every roll of his hips. By the time the last tear slips free, my chest is heaving. I fear whatever is left of my heart might explode.

Soren angles my face toward his, fingers gentle on my jaw, and kisses me. But this isn’t anything like the past. He kisses me like I'm his life force. Like he’s begging me to live.

He presses his forehead to mine, breath hot on my lips, his hands steady on my hips like he’s wanting me to arrive at the same place he is. Soren Blackwood is my darkness, my violence, my ruin; all of that remains true. But he’s also my salvation, he told me so. He is my bright, impossible something. The thought of him—of us—rebuilds something long broken inside of me.

I ride him faster. Faster, faster, faster, until I grind down on him so hard it feels like I might split apart. It’s like my body is trying to merge with his, trying to fuse with him molecule by molecule. Every drag of friction lights me up, every slide of his cock hits something starved and desperate inside me. I’m right there, teetering on the edge, strung so tight I might shatter into a million pieces.

“Let it go, Raine.”

Three simple words; a thousand different meanings.

Let go of the hurt, the mistakes I’ve made.

The rage.

The bone-deep ache that’s been rotting in my chest for years.

Let go of the revenge I’ve chased like a lion hunting its prey.

The rules that caged me.

The lies that shaped me.

Let go of Cherry’s last breath.

Let go of my mother’s blood on the floor.

Let go of my mother.

Let go. Let go. Let go.

And for the first time in my entire fucked-up life—I do.

I break open like a coconut splitting right down the middle.

Soren surges up and kisses me, like he’s trying to drink the pain straight from my mouth. His hands grip my hips, as I come apart, the orgasm ripping through me so violently my legs tremble and my hearing blurs into static. My breath catches on a sob I don’t even recognize as mine.

I break the kiss, our noses brushing, our breaths mixing, his chest rising against mine. My forehead drops to his, my breath panting into his mouth. For a long, tender moment, nothing exists except our shared breath, our shaking bodies, and the wild, terrifying truth of what just happened.

I let go.