It's a promise

Chapter 30

Rylee's POV

I woke up the next morning with Steve's legs knotted with mine, his sweaty body clung to my skin and I felt his breath against my temple. I was lying on his arm and a ball of rumpled sheets which was very uncomfortable but I was unable to pull the sheets from under me. I couldn't move anymore and felt the last night in every muscle. My body felt like modeling clay and I was so exhausted like I had a triathlon behind me and gave it my all.

I thought the sex was good before but last night was mind-blowing. I never expected that he was holding back that much and that he would crash my world. This man would bring me to my limits. Or already pushed me over it. I felt it with every tired, gnawed fiber of my scrubbed body.

My lips were sore and I was sure that this night had left visible marks on both of us. I shivered at the memory of how hard he grabbed me and how I scratched his back with my nails. My mind would love to repeat this night but my body needed a break. I stood up and suppressed a groan. My body definitely needed a break. I limped over to the bathroom as quietly as I could. I didn't want to wake Steve and I guessed he was as exhausted as I was.

I did my morning routine before I looked in the big mirror. My hair was a mess. I had a huge hickey on the right side of my neck and one under my collarbone. I rolled my eyes. The last time I had hickeys was at high school but I loved it even when I needed to wear a turtleneck for work. In July. I also saw some bruises on my thighs and my hips which didn't really surprise me. I touched them and they didn't even hurt, not as much as the soreness. I walked back to my room and climbed into the bed to cuddle up to Steve again.

'Good morning, Love' I loved his morning voice.

'I didn't mean to wake you.' He turned around and buried his face in the crook of my neck. I giggled a little bit because his beard was tickling. But the tickling turned into more when he started to kiss and nibble at the spot. He got up on his arms and looked down at me with a loving smile. But this smile faded when his eyes wandered over my naked body.

He let go of me immediately and jumped up from the bed. I just realized the pure horror in his face while his eyes looked at the bruises. ''I hurt you. I'm sorry. I-I...' I couldn't even say a thing before he grabbed his pants and hurried out of the room.

SHIT.

'Steve!' I wasn't as fast as him and I already heard the front door before I even found something I could put on. The cheerleader uniform was the closest thing but I didn't want to have that conversation in it. I grabbed his shirt instead and ran after Steve. My body really needed a break because how I ran down the stairs wasn't really the elegant way and I was sore everywhere.

I walked out of the front door and looked around. Where would he go? I walked around the house and looked over the fields until I saw Steve. I went over to him and I saw how defeated he looked. He let his shoulders hang and his eyes were closed while his chin rested on his chest. I put a hand on his upper arm and he flinched so I pulled back.

'I hurt you. After I promised you that I would never.' He sounded so broken and my eyes started to get teary.

'You didn't hurt me'

'Oh yeah? I saw the bruises' He looked at me and I saw he wasn't mad even though he just snapped. He was heartbroken.

'You Didn't Hurt Me!' I saw it in his eyes that he didn't believe me which was totally understandable. I placed my hand on his cheek in the hope that he wouldn't recoil from my touch again. 'Do you trust me?'

'Of course. What does trust have to do with this?'

'I don't lie when I say that it didn't hurt. You grabbed me harder. Did I like it? Yes. Do I wanna repeat that? Double Yes. Just because I have bruises after last night, doesn't mean that they hurt. Do you know how often I wake up and find bruises on my legs without knowing where they're coming from?' I saw a little smirk in Steve's face which disappeared very fast.