Broken

...Twenty-third Part: Krad...

The look of shock on Dark's face made me pull back in hesitation. He blinked slowly. "...Seriously...?"

I nodded, now beginning to feel more uncertain about my declaration. "I... uhm..."

Dark kissed the top of my head, threading his fingers through my hair after pulling it out of its usual ponytail style, and I gazed at him from behind thin wisps of gold. He cleared his throat momentarily. "You're not going to die, Krad..."

Was he... rejecting me... or simply restating that? Sure, I was a little unstable, and my body had been completely violated... I was never innocent; I had tried to kill him on several occasions... and... and... I could understand why he wouldn't want me after...

"What are you thinking so intently about?" Dark asked quietly, bringing me out of my extensive listing of why I was such a disgusting being.

"Dark, I –"

He cut me off again, his lips crashing against mine. I felt his hand pressing down on my thigh as he leaned closer against me.

I felt a slight smile start to tug at the corner of my lips even through the rising unease that his hand caused as it slid up my thigh and my hip. It went on still, sliding up my side and pushing my shirt up with it. Then slid back down, ever so slowly, as I leaned back to lie on the bed.

Removing his exploring fingers from me, Dark found my hand and guided it to his chest. For a moment he just stayed like that, straddling my hips, and with both of his hands pressing my palm to his chest. "First, I have to ask you..." He bent over me, and I could feel my face heating up as his warm breath washed over the side of my face and my ear. "... Do you trust me enough?"

"How could you think that I don't?" I replied quietly.

His mouth carefully touched the side of my neck. "You're shaking, Krad. That's how."

"No I'm not," I denied, even as my lip trembled slightly.

Dark looked at me skeptically. "You're still afraid..." He looked down at my hand, which he was still holding to his heart, and began absently examining my fingers, his eyebrows drawing together above disheartened eyes. I couldn't speak. "You were never afraid," he whispered. "Not of me – not of anyone, or anything! You shouldn't be afraid now."

"Maybe I was..."

"No. You weren't – ever."

Dark's uncharacteristically calm defiance was what frightened me, now, but I wasn't about to say anything. All I could do was stare up at him... helplessly...

Then, before I even knew what I was doing, I grabbed a mass of fabric near the collar of Dark's T-shirt and pulled him down to me so I could kiss him. I couldn't see his initial reaction; my eyes were closed as I ravished him, but I could hear a soft chuckle before he started to kiss me back.

His hands were all over my body: my face, my chest, my legs, and places that would've probably made me cry if I didn't want him so badly or love him so completely. And I was like putty in those powerful, beautiful hands, melting under every touch. Dark's lips parted from mine with a small smile, following my jaw and neck down to my collarbone, then his tongue traced back up my throat again and his teeth grazed my ear. I moaned. My head rolled to the side to allow him easier access to my skin, which he chose one spot just below the corner of my jaw to violate, using his teeth and tongue and lips all in turn, sucking at the tender spot in my nervous system so hard it managed to bruise and get very red. I was a mindless mess through this whole process. My eyes could barely manage to keep open, and even then my vision swam so much with the ecstasy that it wouldn't have made much of a difference if my eyes were wide.

"You sure are noisy," Dark teased, his soft voice sounding low and thick from the same passion that I could see in his eyes. Passion for me.

He slowly massaged the stiff member below my waist again, through the fabric of the jeans I was wearing. It was torture. "Dark..." I whined. My head turned to the other side as I arched up into his palm. My fingers curled into the blankets beneath me.

"I'll stop if you want me to..."

"No!" I gasped, moving my right hand over his.

He looked straight into my eyes for a while, searching for something.

Once he had apparently found what he'd been looking for, Dark slipped his hand away from mine and pulled his shirt off, tossing the wad of black cotton on the floor before focusing back on me. Slipping an arm under my back, he hauled me up to sit with my chest pressed against his. Somehow through all of this, his waist became sandwiched between my legs and I was on his lap.

Dark's lips were on mine again and our tongues flitted from one mouth to the other in a more sensual fight than either of us was used to, while his fingers fumbled with the buttons on my shirt. I rocked on top of him, grinding our hips together and managing to make him moan, for once.

I grew bolder, touching his naked chest; moving my hands across his skin. I pinched one of his nipples between my fingers, feeling the reaction in his body. Pulling my mouth away from Dark's, I kissed his chest and flicked my tongue across the hard little nub opposite the one my fingers were still occupied with. I wanted him even more. I could hardly catch my breath from his kiss, and my chest almost hurt from the gasps and panting that my frantic lugs still formed.

Dark pushed me back over again, and I lazily stretched my arms above my head, threading strands of my long hair around my fingers. My sleeves still covered my arms, but now my shirt lay splayed open, revealing my chest. And Dark worked on displaying the rest of my body, unbuckling the belt I wore and pulling my pants off, looking down at me all the while, waiting for me to protest.

I was feeling a little self-conscious, but I didn't want him to stop. My irrational fears were ebbing.

I sat up again when he was finished undressing me, and he laughed a little. "What are you blushing for?" he asked humorously, tapping the tip of my nose. "It's not like I haven't seen you naked before." Dark laughed again when my blush deepened. If he wouldn't have said anything, though, I probably would have been fine. He was standing in front of me, now, still with his own pants on, grinning as he watched my face change color.

Glowering at him for embarrassing me, I reached out and tugged him closer by the hem of his uncomfortable-looking leather pants. I would never be able to understand why he wore those things. I'd be happy with him just in ordinary denim. I tugged his pants and his underwear down, both at once because I was impatient. But then as I looked at him, eye-level, I decided that impatience was a little overwhelming.

"Dark," I whispered his name uncertainly. The unease was creeping back into me. I must have breathed on him, because he shivered. I leaned away a little.

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I'm sorry it took so long to get this chapter up! My writing-ness kind of died, there, for a while...