Part of Your World

Amethyst

I stared at Aria in the grey dawn of the morning, the way her apricot hued lashes kissed her cheeks, the way her lips puffed out with her steady breaths, the way her violet veins jumped rhythmically beneath her translucent skin. She sighed, closing her mouth and snuggling further into the comforter and pillows, her hair laying in tangled tendrils across the charcoal bedding. My heart thudded hard in my chest, remembering with a fit of fire coursing through my bloodstream how connected we'd been just a few hours ago.

She'd surrendered herself to me, she'd given me everything she had to give. I felt a selfish sinner for taking that so greedily, but I felt no other man would worship her the way I would, the way she deserved. Not that I was a good man by any means—but I would at least cherish her, would protect her and give her love she'd never known.

She never talked of her father or siblings, the memories clearly still painful. It was her mother she clung to, I could see it in the way she held her necklace, the way she inspected herself in the mirror each day when she thought I wasn't looking. To her, her family was Claire, and Em, Seb, and now me, my brothers, Nick and Ellie and Jonah. We were quite the mismatched, jumbled mess of people, but it worked, and she deserved the love and protection they'd extend to her.

I sighed, peeking behind the bed to the windows. The penthouse was encased in clouds today, the sight unnerving yet somehow a comfort. I felt sheltered, as though it were just us two, even if I'd heard Niko and Serg sneak home an hour ago. All my problems could wait. I needed to be here when she awoke, needed to see her eyes, see the truth. Did she have regrets? Did she want to run, afraid of these feelings? Had I hurt her, scared her? I'd done my damnedest to be gentle, to move slow.

I smiled, the motion soft, remembering her embarrassment as she'd sat up, our sheets bearing the brunt of what we'd done, mine and her hips slick with crimson. It was a strange sight; blood didn't frighten someone like me, not in my line of work. But to see hers, to know what it meant, it had awoken something deep within me. Something primal, something untamed. It was me who'd taken it from her, and it would always be me. And at the same moment, all I could think of was protecting her, keeping what I loved so dearly safe from anything and everything. She was mine. The notion was simple, yet somehow held such a significance that it knocked the breath from my lungs.

I'd held her close last night as her shivers had set in—something else that seemed a natural reaction to such a momentous step in her life. I'd kissed her, ran my hands up and down the smooth length of her body, tucked her up under my chin and muttered lullabies our mother had used to sing us when our father wasn't near. Love wasn't something he gave, even to his children. I'd never be that cold to something so precious.

The thought of a piece of myself mingling with a piece of her and making something entirely new fascinated me—as well as scared the shit out of me. If we ever crossed that boundary, I prayed to God above the child would be a clone of her—the world didn't need anymore hellions.

She stirred, slowly awakening. I remembered her small moans, the sounds enough to drive me over the edge in seconds, enough to make me hard just thinking about them again. Could this work, the surgery? Would she go for it, or would she be too nervous? And what if she did, and nothing changed? How would that hurt her? But what if it worked?

She stirred again, eyelids fluttering before blinking open, brows furrowing as she stared at me anew. My chest seized as those sea foam orbs pierced me. Did she hate me? Was she sad, scared? Hurt?

"Good morning," I attempted, throat raw, voice husky. In a flash, she blushed, biting her lip, reaching her little hand up to wave at me. I grinned, the tension of the unknown leaving me.

"How are you feeling, pipsqueak?"

She nodded, rustling around her legs and hips before giving me a thumbs up. I made a noise of satisfaction, pulling her near, gentle as our lower extremities met, myself half-hard already. Her eyes flicked up to me, nervous. I tucked a strand behind her ear, placing a kiss on the tip of her nose.