Chapter 27: Diogo

I wake abruptly from a deep sleep with the certain feeling that something is missing.
"Taran."
I'm on my feet and throwing on my jeans within seconds. I was a fool to think that I would wake when she did, that she wouldn't take the opportunity to run. My gut twists as I realize that the only place she could've gone is the roof. There's a man outside my apartment who would've detained her and sent her back to me if she wandered out there. And she's smart enough to know that. I swear viciously as I imagine her scaling down the building again, slipping and falling. My gut burns with the thought of her twisted dead body laying on the ground far below.
I fly through the door, throwing it open so hard it hits the wall. I take the stairs three at a time and burst through second door onto the rooftop. I don't pause, I hurl myself at the ledge, clutching it hard, my throat closing as I look down the side of the building to the ground.
"Diogo." Her soft voice comes from behind me.
I turn sharply, relief punching a hole through me as I take her in, standing there safe and sound a slight frown puckering her brow. Clutched in her delicate hand is a bright red tomato.
I'm nearly driven to my knees at the sight of her. She's safe. I should've realized she wouldn't run again. Not this soon and not without a plan. She'll recover first from her last attempt and then create a strategy that will ensure more success than the last time.
Hard on the heels of relief is anger. She should not leave my side, should've waited until I was awake before wandering off. She puts herself in danger at every turn. And though I know logically that I'm not thinking reasonably, I can't help this driving need to chain her to me so nothing can ever happen to her.
Wordlessly I reach for her, taking hold of her and dragging her into my body. Startled, she drops her tomato and brings her hands up to brace herself against me. I bend to her, taking her lips in a desperate kiss. I try to moderate the anger and frustration, but I know I'm bruising the delicate tissue with my inability to hold back from her.
Needing her closer I pick her up off her feet and press her against me. She gasps into my mouth, giving me the opening I need to explore the interior, stamp my territory with lips, tongue and teeth. She clings to me. I hope it's passion she's feeling because I'm not capable of slowing down.
I shove her back against the wall next to the exterior door and lift her shirt. My shirt. Sweeping her body with my hands, I memorize every soft part of her. I reach between us and free myself from my jeans. I remember that I should've checked to see if she's wet just as I drag her leg up to my hip and slam myself home with a primal growl. I relax as I glide through her slick channel and fit myself to the hilt deep in her body. She lets out a shriek and stiffens. Even wet, this position is a lot for someone her size to take.
I drag my lips from her skin long enough to mutter against her throat, "Taran, tell me you're okay."
Her body relaxes against mine, then she reaches up and wraps her arms tight around my neck, dragging my head further into her neck. "I'm okay," she whispers back.
Thank fucking God, because if she'd said no, I don't know if I would've stopped. The last thing I want is to hurt my delicate wife, but I lose my head around her, lose my control with every touch. Even the sound of her voice is like a lightening bolt to the system. Everything in me recognizes her as my mate.
Clutching her against my chest, I wrap one arm around her waist and start thrusting up inside her, fucking her with even more intensity than the first time. Now that I've experienced paradise in her body I can't live without it. I want to spend a lifetime with her.
Her cries fill the open evening air around us, driving me insane. I love the husky guttural sounds torn from her throat as I slam into her over and over, using her wetness to lubricate the motion. Her sweetness invades my nose as I bury my face in her hair. I groan against her, feeling the edge of orgasm closing in. Too soon. I want this to last forever.
She's pushing back against my arm, arching in abandon, throwing her head back as she rides my cock. Lifting herself and dropping onto each thrust until we're moving in unison. She cries out as I pull from her body and drop to my knees in front of her. She sways unsteadily and reaches for me looking to follow me down.
I push her back against the wall with a hand wrapped around her hip then lift her leg over my shoulder giving me access to the sweet part of her I crave. I bury my nose against her and inhale deeply for just a moment before settling in to lick and suck her tiny clit. She squeals her pleasure and tightens her leg on my shoulder. Small hands bury themselves in my hair and she clutches me to her, mindless with passion.
I eat and drink her, getting high on her taste and her scent. She's the best meal I've ever had. Her hips jerk against my face and she screams as her orgasm overtakes her. I hold her shaking, boneless body up against the wall and eat her through another orgasm. She yells her pleasure again, gasping desperately for breath.
Standing, I gather her in my arms once more, lift her high and drag her down my body, impaling her. She slides easily onto my cock, taking me right to the hilt. Then she reaches for me, grabbing my face and dragging it to hers for a long lingering kiss. I feel drugged by her, helpless to resist her siren's lure.
I slam into her, rougher than before. I want to bend her over and fuck her from behind, driving deep and hard into her, but I don't want to break our connection. I'm about to come and I'll be fucked if I do it anywhere but inside Taran.
She takes my bruising thrusts and screams for more, clutching me against her. I crush her to my chest and bury my tongue deep into her mouth just as I bury my cock as far as it'll go inside her. Orgasm rips through me, shuddering down my spine, gripping my balls and soaring through every part of me. I come inside her, pumping semen with each thrust. Satisfaction rides me hard as I mark her.
When I finally stop, I realize she's clinging weakly to me, relying on me to hold her up. I walk toward the cot, slide myself gently from her body and lower her onto the bed. I follow her down, holding her against me with an arm wrapped around her stomach. I slide my other arm under her head, cushioning her neck.
After our breathing evens out she murmurs, "Are you mad at me for coming up here?"
"No," I say in her ear. "This is your home now, Taran. You're free to explore and make yourself comfortable."
"But you seemed angry when you saw me and grabbed me." She passes over my statement that this is her home now.
I sigh deeply, my breath moving the hair on the back of her head. "You unbalance me, Taran. I have a little trouble controlling my emotions around you."
"I'm sorry," she whispers.
"Don't be, I welcome this feeling." I harden my voice so she knows I'm serious. "Having someone I care enough to protect within these city walls will motivate me to work harder, create a home where you'll be safe."
She rolls toward me a little, looking over her shoulder, her grey eyes stormy and enigmatic. "Do you mean that?"
"Of course." I tighten my arm around her waist and drop a kiss against the back of her shoulder.
"What about my happiness, Diogo?" she murmurs. "Does that matter to you?"
I don't answer right away. Can't. We both know that she's asked a complicated question. That my needs and desires will clash with what she wants. I search within myself and find that I don't like the idea of her unhappiness. Not if there's anything I can do to remedy the situation.
I answer slowly. "In time, happiness will come to you, Taran. I'll make sure of it."
She seems to think this over, a tiny frown puckering her forehead. She nods slowly, "I don't know why I believe you, but I do."
"Because I don't speak of things I have no intention of doing."
She flashes a smile and my heart stutters in response. Her smile lights up her face, already flushed from sex, making her more beautiful in that moment than I could've imagined. Her hair is a chaotic auburn halo around her head. The impact of her wild beauty is such that I find myself memorizing every part of her and filing it away for when we're inevitably parted by work or other commitments. Though I'll likely find a way to keep her as close as possible until this intense obsession wanes a little.
"And what about your happiness, Diogo?" she asks hesitantly.
A glow spreads through me that she cares enough to ask. I could be just a captor to her, just the man that fucks her until she finds a way to leave. Instead, she's making an effort to get to know me. The man inside the Warlord.
Instead of answering I kiss her. We've barely known each other two days. I can't tell her that I truly suspect my happiness lies entirely with her. That I was the walking dead before she woke something within me, bringing it alive. Now my heart beats for her and my happiness is tied to hers.
But this emotion is too intense, too soon to burden her with. So I say, "You don't need to worry about me, Taran."
She sighs and rolls away. I suspect she's looking out at the horizon. The top of the wall is barely visible from our vantage point, but beyond that, the Santa Catalina mountain range lays long and majestic, a shimmering mirage in the dying evening light.
We lay that way for a long time, relaxed, pressed together on the small cot. When her breath becomes even, gusting against the arm propping her head up, I think she's fallen asleep. Then she speaks, her voice small and lost.
"Did you name me after your Wren? Did you always intend this? To bring me here and make me your wife?"