THE REASSURANCE

I don't know if you already know how
But girl, I got the feeling that you know now
You're buried in the pillow, yeah you're so loud
But I'm about to show you, baby, slow down

***

CHAPTER XXXVI

*****

MUCH LATER THAT night when we were well into the early hours of the next morning, Daniel and I found ourselves both wide awake on the sofa in our room, pressed up into each other under the dim lighting. We weren't doing much talking. In fact, Daniel was completely preoccupied with the collection of poems he had in his hand while I was too busy staring off at the wall, keeping to my own thoughts.

Of course I hadn't told Daniel about what happened earlier that day. It wasn't because I didn't want him to know but because I still wasn't completely sure what had happened myself.

It was going back to my mom's house and collecting her things that had made me realise how the place in my heart that was always going to be for her would remain permanently empty now. Before when she had only kicked me out, there was always a possiblity; hope to rekindle the relationship we once had but now there wasn't any. She was dead and I had missed my chance to forgive her.

The tears burnt at my eyes, but I pushed them back. What purpose had crying ever served me? Besides, crying wasn't going to bring her back to me anyway. And even if it did, what would I do? Lie through my teeth and say I forgive her even though my heart was still aching from the way she had treated me when I was fifteen?

The truth was that I hadn't forgiven her. I wanted to do anything to lie to myself to convince myself that I had but even after so many years I was still hurting. I still felt betrayed by her. I still found it so difficult to put my complete trust in somebody because the one person that was always supposed to have back had ended up being the person that put me out and gave up on me the fastest. It was hard to forgive that.

I found that I was also very angry at my father which surprised me. I knew he was a good man and I knew he had been in jail the whole time my mom raised me, but I still couldn't help the resentment I felt towards him. I felt abandoned by him. He was in my life up until I was three and then suddenly, he disappeared not to be heard of for years to come. Obviously, it must've been when he went to jail but how was a three year old supposed to understand that? Why didn't any one explain to me why my papa had suddenly disappeared? One day, he was with me and the next day, he wasn't.

It was so long ago yet I could still vividly remember the nights I would cry and scream myself to sleep, begging for nothing more than my dad yet all anyone ever told me was that he was gone. "Where did he go?" I'd ask. "Is he coming back?" I had never received an answer.

He could have called me. He could have visited me. When my mom put me out, he could have tried to look for me. Convinced her to bring me back. Anything. He said it himself. He had power yet he did nothing. It made me feel like I was worth nothing.

Years of them not knowing where I was. If I was dead or alive and neither of them had bothered to lift a finger to do something about it. I had to find them. What if I had succeeded in killing myself? What if I would've been murdered on the street because I was a young black girl with nowhere to go? How long would they have been waiting for me to miraculously show up at their front door years later before they realised I wouldn't?

I let out a deep sigh and snuggled more into Daniel's chest, making him wrap his arms around me and place a kiss onto the crown of my head.

I was always welcome here. It was what I wanted to believe. That he loved me and he enjoyed my company, but it was so hard.

It explained why I believed so easily that he had trafficked me. Even though the way he treated me prior to that played a huge roll, it was also because of the way everyone else in my life had treated me. My parents made me feel like everyone would abandon me at some point because I wasn't worth staying with, so when it happened it was hardly a surprise. More like it was only a matter of time.

Despite hearing his side of the story and realising that he was just as innocent as I was, I still couldn't help but feel like it was still only a matter of time. I felt like someday he would up and leave me and I wouldn't be able to do anything about it.

It would only be me, Mateo and Pablo until Pablo would find a woman and get married to her and start a life with her halfway across the country and then we'd slowly drift apart until we'd barely recognise each other on the street. Then Mateo would grow up and start his own life away from me and completely forget about me because I wasn't a good mother to him. Then I would grow old and live the rest of my days alone until death comes to collect my soul.

Then as I'm taking my dying breath, finally everyone that I knew would be there to be with, yet with a room full of people, I would still die alone.

"What are you thinking about?" Daniel asked as he usually did whenever I went long periods without talking. I suppose I was a bit of a chatterbox so when I was staying silent for longer than an hour it must mean I was back in my own head again. He knew how to recognise my overthinking by now. Just like I knew how to recognise his.

"You won't like it," I said after a moment of silence, realising that my thoughts about dying alone wasn't a common sentiment that people liked to share with each others.

"Tell me anyway," he said, putting his book down to give me his full undivided attention.

I sifted through my thoughts, finding the best way to state my doubts without it coming out too harsh or upsetting. Just because the thoughts were horrific in my head didn't mean they had to be horrific for everyone else as well. My problems were mine alone.

"What if... what if we don't work out?" I found myself finally asking, making Daniel physically tense up behind me. I could tell he wasn't expecting this topic, but why lie? This was what was going on in my head and he wanted to know, so now he knew.

"What do you mean?" he asked, making me let out a sigh and close my eyes.

"What do you think I mean?" I asked back, my voice coming out harsher than I had intended for it to. "What if in the end, we don't end up together? What if you find someone else?"

"I have every intention of marrying you," he said, his voice coming out firm, showing that he clearly didn't like the topic of which we were speaking about. "If you didn't want to be attached to me by the hip, the first thing you should've done was stay away from me," he said, grabbing my neck and forcing me to crane my neck and look up at him. "The second thing you should've done was continue to stay away. At this point, you'd have to kill me to set yourself free."

If being with him was captivity then I never wanted to experience freedom. I was his forever, but the problem was that I was struggling to believe that he was mine forever too.

"But what if you get tired of me?" I asked, getting onto my knees and turning around so I could face him properly on the sofa. Now it was just him and I, no barriers between us. "What if you don't want me anymore? What if you fall out of love with me?"

"I won't," he said confidently, but that only made one out of the two of us.

"But what if you do?" I pressed.

He went quiet again, but his eyes remained focused on mine, his gaze as delicate and as soft as I have ever seen it as he watched me. In his mind, I knew he was looking for what to say, but in my mind, I was struggling to figure if what he would say would all just be a cluster of sweet little lies to shut me up and put my heart to ease for the moment or if it would be the truth. No matter how bitter the truth was. Then I tried to figure out if I wanted the truth or if I wanted the lies.

"I know you don't trust me, amor," he said, his voice soft and delicate and yet somehow full of pain as if seeing me doubt him and our relationship hurt him. Of course it did. He had as much feelings as I did, "but understand that you're the only one that can ever get close enough to me for me to fall in love with."

"What do you mean?"

"You know what I mean, Araceli," his said, my name rolling off his tongue in the seductive way it usually did. God knows he did things to me. "People scare me. They make me uncomfortable; I don't like being around them," he said, stating the obvious, "but you... I don't know what it is about you, but you comfort me." He placed his hand on the part of me that was closest to him which had been my thigh as if making up for the time he had gone without feeling my skin on his. "I shouldn't rely on you as much as I do, I know," he confessed, letting out a low sigh, "but I can't help but do it anyway. If I were to fall out of love with you, which I wouldn't, you'd still be the only woman I'd want to ever be with. You're more than just my girlfriend. You're my only friend. Without you, I'd be lonely."

"What about Pablo?" I asked, trying to maintain my composure but my voice sounded breathless and my eyes filled with tears.

"He's like my brother, but he doesn't do what you do. I need you."

I couldn't string together words to respond to him so all I did was stare at him, my brown eyes burning holes into his as I forced myself to hold my tears in before I launched myself at him and wrapped my arms around his neck. His chest vibrated against mine as he chuckled, not hesitating to wrap his arms around my waist also and pull me tight into his body. Unable to hold them in anymore, my tears trickled from my cheek onto his shoulder as I clutched onto him for dear life. I couldn't think of anything else to do in a moment where I felt the most love from him.

He knew that saying he loved me wasn't enough when I was so insecure so he went the extra mile to make sure he reassured me and he didn't know how good that made me feel inside. He said something I could believe with my whole heart and I appreciated it.

"I know I've hurt you a lot in the past," he said, his voice coming out muffled yet loud and clear against my skin, "but believe me now when I say I'm trying to make everything right and change. I'm not perfect yet but I won't stop until I am."

"Thank you," I said, not knowing what else I could say to him. I pulled away briefly to meet his gaze. "I love you so much." Without warning, I brought my lips to his and kissed him as passionately as my beating heart would let me as he reciprocated the kiss.

As the kiss got more and more intense, I found myself straddling him with one leg on either side of him. He wrapped his arms around me, pulling me closer into his body as he slipped his tongue between my lips and explored my mouth, making me moan into the kiss as I fisted his unbuttoned shirt. I finally broke away from the kiss for some air, allowing him to pepper kisses along my skin but before he could venture any further like I knew he would, I grabbed a handful of his hair and tugged his head up so his gaze met mine.

A smirk fell across his face at my actions, but he remained silent and only watched me as he leaned back into his seat.

"You're mine."

He raised his eyebrows at me, his smirk turning into the most captivating grin I had ever seen on his beautiful face. "Are you trying to claim me, princesa?" he asked, while simultaneously lifting me up and moving me closer to him so I was positioned right over his dick which was already tenting his pants.

I let out a hum of pleasure, slightly moving against him as I placed a hand on his chest. "I'm not trying to do anything," I said, trying to keep my voice level and my moans at bay. "You are mine."

His eyes met mine instantly and the smirk that had come across his face had been enough to have my panties soaked with my wetness as he guided my hips against him. "Believe me, I know." He slipped his hand under my shirt and immediately cupped my boob, making me let out a shaky breath as my pussy quivered just above him. "If only you know just how much control you have over me."

He tweaked my nipple, sending a sudden jolt of pleasure down my spine as my nipple began to harden between his thumb and index finger. As if that wasn't enough stimulation, he leaned down and darted his tongue just over my clothed bud, sending a sensation I had never felt before through me. The clothes were still rough against my sensitive nipple, but having his tongue roll over it, shrouded it in warm wetness that had my breath hitching in my chest.

He dropped his other hand from my waist and casually slipped it into my pants as if it was an everyday thing. His fingers delicately pried my wet folds apart, a smile darting across his lips at my wetness before he sought out my clit and began rubbing small pleasurable circles against it. I bucked at the pleasure surging up my spine, bringing my hands to Daniel's shoulder and digging my nails into him as I squeezed my eyes shut. I bit down on my bottom lip to keep the moans at bay but Daniel was mischievous in that regard and continued his actions exactly the way he knew I liked it, adding the perfect amount of pressure and never changing his motions until I gave in to him.

"Fuck," I finally cried out, my hips moving against his until he stopped for a brief moment. Slowly, he slipped a long finger into my gushing hole, making me squeeze my eyes shut as I gripped his shoulder. "Oh fuck."

Despite getting what he wanted from me, he didn't comment on it and instead focused his attention on grabbing the hem of shirt and tugging the entire thing off.

"Raise your arms," he said, making me comply and raise my arms so he could slide my shirt off and toss it off to the side.

As soon as it was off, he slid his hand back into my shorts and pushed two fingers into me, making me let out a loud moan in response. He wrapped his hand around my neck and pulled me in so he could kiss me deeply again, his fingers still fucking me relentlessly before he broke the kiss to place wet open-mouthed kisses along my neck and collarbone. He kissed his way down until he had reached the breast he had been teasing previously and then flicked his tongue over my hard nub. His warm wet tongue coated my nipple, making it stand more erect and sensitive in the air as he continued to flick his tongue over it. His other hand teased my other nipple, rolling the hardened bud between his thumb and index finger.

The combined feeling of him teasing my nipples as well as him driving his fingers into me and his thumb massaging my clit had been enough to send my body into overdrive. I threw my head back as the familiar feelings that came with my orgasm washed over me, making me moan loudly and clench my teeth as I rode out the waves of my high.

Daniel didn't stop until I had finally calmed down, slipping his fingers out of me as I collapsed against him and rested my head on his shoulder. He wiped his fingers against my shorts, something I didn't mind because it wasn't like it didn't have any of my cum on it anyway. After all, I did orgasm in it.

"How did that feel?"

"Good," I answered, my voice coming out croaky and tired.

He chuckled out the sound of it, but it soon turned into a low hiss at the feeling of me moving on top of him, unknowingly grinding against his dick.

"Fuck, Lee," he groaned, grabbing a tight hold of my waist and grinding his dick into me. I let out a sharp cry, not expecting the intense pleasure that had coursed up from my already sensitive pussy through my whole body at the feel of his dick against me. "Look how hard I am for you," he said, making me look down at the large tent in his pants that I seemed to have been sitting on.

Without much thinking, I brought my hand between us and carefully palmed his erection, watching with mesmerisation as he continued to get bigger in my hands. This wasn't the first, or the second or even the third time I've stroked him, but no matter how many times I did it, I didn't think there would ever be anything that would stop me from being so mesmerised.

He let out a low groan, throwing his head back against the backrest of the sofa as I reached my hand into his pants and continued to stroke him, now skin to skin.

"I did that," I found myself muttering, my eyes trained on the precum that was seeping out of his tip and coating my fingers.

"Yes, you did this," he agreed, raising his head to look at me under hooded eyelids. He wrapped his hand around my hand and shadowed my movements as he leaned in to place a delicate kiss against my lips. "This is what you do to me, Lee."

His breathing was heavy compared to mine and his eyes was darkened completely with lust. I could feel his breath against my lips, making me suck my lips into my mouth as if to get a taste of him before releasing them where they were. Daniel's jaw clenched at the action, but he said nothing. Instead he brought his hand up and ran his thumb along my bottom lip, collecting the wetness that had come from my mouth but before he could pull away, I had wrapped my lips around his thumb and sucked it unto my mouth, swirling my tongue around it.

"Fuck it," he growled before he roughly grabbed my waist and lifted me up against him. I didn't argue as he yanked my shorts down from my hips, leaving me completely naked on his lap as he tugged his shirt off also and flung it to the side.

He wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me up so I was just hovering above his dick and at any point, if either one of us wanted it, he would be fully inside me.

He grabbed a hold of his length and positioned himself under me before meeting my eyes. "Do you want it?" he asked to make sure before he did anything. I couldn't think if a single time where I wouldn't want it but I appreciated him asking anyway.

"I do," I answered breathlessly, making him wrap his arms tighter around me. He placed his length right against my entrance and pushed into me the smallest bit to apply just a tiny amount of pressure.

Without ever shifting his eyes from my face to make sure I was always comfortable, he slowly pushed me down onto his erection, taking it inch by inch so I could accommodate to him with no pain. I was completely soaked so the pain had immediately missed me and instead shock waves of pleasure had rushed up my spine.

He dug his fingers into my waist, letting out a low hiss in pleasure before bucking his hips upward suddenly and pushing himself as far into me as he could go. I let out a small cry from the pleasure as the feeling of him inside filled my body with a deep sense of fullness. For a minute neither of us made any motions and basked in the feeling of being connected to each other again before Daniel let out a low groan, squeezed my waist and raised me on his dick only to push me back down against him again.

I let out a moan and repeated the action myself, pressing my palms against his shoulders to help leverage me up before sliding myself back down on him again.

He briefly moaned out my name, his hands unable to leave my body but my brain was too cloudy to allow me to focus on anything else that wasn't pleasure. I let my eyes flutter close as I fucked him, the voluntary inability to see only intensifying the pleasure pooling from between my two legs. I felt Daniel's hands on my chest, cupping my breasts and prompting me to place my hands over his as he squeezed them.

"Fuck, Araceli," he moaned, as he wrapped his arms around my body and pulled me tight into his broad chest. Despite the chilly temperatures outside, the heat within the room had already been enough to have the both of us sweating but clearly neither of us cared enough to do anything about it. "You feel so fucking good, Lee," he said, pulling me tight into his chest and pressing his lips to mine briefly. "You don't understand how good it feels being inside you, amor. You're so fucking warm." The sound of his low whisper directly into my ear had my toes curling and my stomach fluttering before he tugged me into him and placed his lips on mine again, this time not just for a brief kiss.

I squeezed my eyes shut as he kissed me roughly, his hands guiding me as I continued to slide up and down his length until I was teetering on the edge of losing control.

I let out multiple moans into the kiss which I suspected he liked, my body tensing and trembling against his. The pleasure flooded my brain with addictive feel-good hormones and his tip rubbed up against my G-spot with each exit and entrance, leaving me a trembling mess as I struggled to keep my shit together.

"Are you close?" he broke the kiss by a single millimetre to ask, our lips just inches away.

I nodded my head, unable to open my eyes as the pleasure began to overwhelm me. In that moment when I seemed to be the most sensitive, I could feel every sensation. The cold air against my skin despite the heat I felt from within. My sensitive nipples pressed right against Daniel's bare chest. Hell even the soft material of his sweatpants tickling my inner thigh before suddenly, the feel of his fingers massaging my clit had hit me too.

Like a truck of bricks, my climax hit me having me frozen on top of him while my pussy spasmed and creamed all over his dick. I cupped both of my boobs, moans and tiny whimpers escaping my lips as I rocked my hips against his dick in tandem with my climax.

I tried to raise myself off him to help with the sensations I was feeling, but as soon as only his tip was in me Daniel grabbed my hips and forced me back down onto his length, not hesitating to begin pistoning into me. I let out something between a high-pitched cry and a low scream as he began pistoning into me as hard as he could, every thrust upward from him jostling me into the air as my climax still coursed through me. The feelings coursing through me had my vision going black for a second before I finally began to calm down from my high and it was only the feeling of Daniel fucking me left.

He began placing small kisses all against my skin, letting his tongue trail hot, wet kisses along the base of my neck. I threaded my fingers through his hair, butterflies filling my stomach at the feel of his lips on my body. Both his hand grabbed my thigh and held them wide open so he could fuck me as he pleased which I really had no issues with.

He brought his hand up from my thighs to my boob and cupped it, squeezing it slightly before rolling my nipple between his fingers. I hissed at the sensation and opened my eyes to look at him but his eyes were fixated on what was going on between us making me join him to watch the way he slid me up and down his dick, completely coated in my juices. I was sure I had even got some on his sweatpants.

Daniel brought his hands between my legs to rub my sensitive clit, but it only made me buck my hips and pull away from him, accidentally sliding off him completely in the process. I had expected a frustrated reaction from him, but instead he only chuckled and shook his head as he stood up.

"I was wondering how much more you would take," he said, making me furrow my eyebrows as I watched him fully pull down his sweatpants.

"What are you doing?"

"Kneel," he commanded without answering the question, making me furrow my eyebrows. "I said kneel," he said again, this time his voice was much firmer. Deciding to do as he said, got on my knees yet there wasn't any praise for my obedience. Not yet. "Turn around." Again I did as I was told until I was on my knees on the sofa, facing away from him. "Now bend over. Rest your pretty head on the backrest, amor."

I smiled at the term of endearment before doing as I was told so I ended up with my ass right in the air. Daniel trailed his finger up my thigh before slipping it between my folds and rubbing my clit.

"What's your safe word?" he asked, making me hesitate for a second.

"Cloud," I answered obediently, realising he wasn't in the mood to play games. Which honestly just seemed like the best time to play games with him but I figured he deserved this so I kept my quips to myself.

I felt his hand on my back, his fingers gentle against my skin as he trailed them down from my upper back to my lower back. Softly, he pushed down on my body, making me arch my back the way he wanted before positioning himself at my entrance.

"Are you ready?" he asked, but before I could respond, he slipped himself into me, pushing in as deep as he could go and completely filling me up. I let out a moan and relaxed against the sofa as he let out a deep sigh and remained still for a minute. "I won't ever get used to this, amor," he said, yet his deep voice, clouded with lust didn't seem like it was directed to me at all.

He gripped my waist hard, his fingers digging into my skin as I slowly began to wiggle my ass against me. A small moan had escaped my lips as the tiny shock waves of pleasure from having his dick in me riveted through me like electrical currents. Almost as if he was passing his energy onto me.

One hand left my hips and wrapped around my neck as Daniel leaned over me to whisper into my ear. "Do you know how good you feel around me, Lee?" he asked, his voice barely above a whisper as he finally began thrusting into me, very slowly at first. Every move of his hips against mine was calculated; intense, having me gritting me teeth in pleasure as I gripped the backrest of the sofa. "Do you know how much self-control I need when I'm around you?"

"Daniel, please." His hand moved to cover my mouth as my moans started getting louder, my pussy dripping and pulsating against him as I begged for more.

"Shut up," he groaned, thrusting hard into me causing me to let out a cry of pleasure. "You don't know how difficult it is for me to not fuck you senseless right now," he said before halting for a second as if a thought just came into his head. Then he spoke again. "Give me permission to fuck you senseless."

"Huh?" I tried to say, but my voice came out muffled behind his rough palm as my eyes watered.

He kneaded my ass and chuckled, now not making a single move at all. "I said give me permission to fuck you senseless, Araceli."

"O-okay," I stuttered, making him drop his hand from my mouth so he could hear me better. "Fuck me senseless then."

Daniel didn't say anything after that, but I could feel the energy he was radiating and all I could say was that I liked it. I wasn't sure what he had planned, but I knew it would leave me sore the next day and honestly, that was my only goal.

His hand wrapped around my neck again, his other hand on my hips as he pulled out until only his tip was in me before slamming hard into me again. I jolted forward, but before I could recover he was already thrusting back into me as hard as the last time with zero patience for me to bounce back. His hand on my hip pulled me back against him, leaving me a moaning mess as he pounded mercilessly into me.

"You're pretty little moans always drive me crazy, amor, you know that?" he asked as he continued fucking me, only making me moan louder for him. He increased his speed, fucking me relentlessly from the back and probably making my ass go red from how hard he was pounding into me, but the only thing I could focus on was how his dick was rubbing against my sweet spot, making me see literal stars.

My breath hitched behind me throat and tears escaped my eyes and trailed down my cheeks as I tried to take him as best I could, but it was soon becoming overwhelming. I wasn't sure how much more I could take from him before I came all around him, but the problem was more rather would he continue to fuck me through my orgasm? Because I might just faint from the stimulation.

"Daniel," I moaned, not expecting an answer from him yet he responded with a small hum off acknowledgement under his breath, sending a warm feeling to my stomach that ended up not being his cum. "Daniel, I can't."

I heard him chuckle at my words, as if he was expecting me to say that as he leaned down over me. "You can't what, sweetheart?" he asked, his voice coming out taunting as he prompted me to expand on what I was trying to say. I bet he knew full and well what I was on about though. "What can't you do, Araceli?"

"Oh my God," I moaned, my eyes squeezing shut as he pushed himself as deep into me as I could let him, sending vibrations of warm pleasure through my body. "Oh my God, please, Daniel."

"Please what, mi amor?" he taunted, continuing to do the exact thing that had my body tensing and my breath hitching underneath him. "You know I'd do anything you'd want me to," he said, his thumb caressing my bottom lip which was now completely coated with my own saliva and swollen. "Just tell me what you want."

"I can't," I cried in frustration, but he only seemed to laugh at me. I placed my hand on his stomach, trying to push him away, but with one swift movement, he grabbed both my wrist and pinned them against my back with one hand, leaving me struggling to get them free.

"Are you close?" he asked to which I nodded my head, my own fingernails digging into my palms. Getting his confirmation, he began to increase his speed, pounding into me brutally hard again making me struggle to breathe as desperate gasps for air were blocked by the sudden onslaught of moans escaping my mouth in rapid succession, getting louder and higher pitched the closer I was to finishing.

"What's your name?" he asked as he fucked me as hard as he could, my hands now free. What was the point anyway when no matter how hard I tried to push him away, we both knew I wouldn't succeed? I had more power over him with my words than I had with my strength and that was all that mattered. "Hmm?" he hummed, reminding me of the question he had asked me and making me realise how my mind had gone completely numb. He chuckled at my silence, but decided to ask me another question which he seemed to have deemed much easier. "Who do you belong to you, Lee?" he asked this time, reminding me of my name in the process.

"You," I answered without much hesitation, my breath coming out in short pants.

"And who am I?"

"Daniel."

"Daniel what?" He demanded as he dug his fingers deeper into my skin, not caring if he left bruises on me as he neared his climax. As weird as it sounded, I hoped he did.

"Daniel Reyes," I answered obediently, "I belong to Daniel Reyes."

"So then what is your name?" he growled out, his breath coming out in short bursts as well.

"Araceli Reyes!"

"Good girl," he said, letting out a guttural groan as I finally released all around him. Long, drawn out high pitched moans escaping my lips as my pussy spasmed around him with the intense amount of pleasure that coursed through my entire body, sending my head into a fog and temporarily blinding me.

Unable to resist being milked the way I was milking him, Daniel pushed himself as deep as he could possibly go into me, effectively pushing me right up against the sofa as he grabbed my hips hard and released completely into me. Spurts of his warm cum coated my walls, sending feelings of pleasure and accomplishment through my body before all finally came to a well-deserved halt.

For a few minutes, none of us moved out of the positions we were in. Me still with my head rested on the backrest of the sofa and Daniel still with his dick buried balls deep inside me. The focus was only starting to return to my head as the aches coming from each part of my body suddenly became noticeable. I let out a small groan, trying to wiggle away from him but Daniel hissed lowly and placed his hand on my lower back to halt me.

"Wait," he said before slipping out of me in a way that didn't over-stimulate him. Now feeling very empty, I allowed myself to collapse onto the sofa, letting the exhaustion from earlier finally get to me, but to my surprise, a pair of strong arms had delicately picked me up and carried me in the direction of the bathroom.

"You need to pee first," he said, making me look up to him from his arms with a small smile on my face. It didn't surprise me anymore that he cared so much, but I still appreciated it. I always did. "I'll put you in the bath and-what?" he asked, cutting himself off once he finally noticed how I was staring up at him.

"I love you."

His lips stretched into a smile as they seemed to always do whenever I told him I loved him when he wasn't expecting it, filling my heart with joy as he held me closer to his chest. He took my hand and placed it directly over his rapidly beating heart, as if trying to tell me that it was beating like that for me.

"I love you too."

*****

So, I've got an idea of how this is going to end finally. Prize for whoever guesses right at the end of the book! Or closest really because you'd have to be a psychic to guess everything right at this stage.

Anyways, yall my English teacher literally said I'm gifted! Like I still get excited and giddy when I remember this like that's something I'm never going to forget, but anyways let's move on from that.

Things seem to be going good rn but can I say the same for the next chapter? Maybe yes, maybe no. We'll just have to find out.

But if you want to know, this next chapter is a Pablo chapter so stay tuned. Anyways, I've got nothing else to say so goodbye.