I pick her up, placing her on the counter, where I stand between her legs, not giving her any room to run when I say what I have to say. “I need to tell you something.”

“Okay.” She nods, her hands balling into fists on her thighs.

“I had your background ran a few months ago. And again yesterday.”

“What?” she breathes, her eyes widening.

“You won’t open up to me, Sophie.”

“I cannot believe you did that!”

“You didn’t give me much choice,” I say calmly.

“I didn’t?” she asks, narrowing her eyes.

“No, you didn’t,” I growl.

“You can’t just force me to talk to you.” She pushes my chest.

“I’m not forcing you,” I argue, not budging.

“You had my background ran, you jerk. What do you call that?”

“I needed to know what I’m dealing with,” I explain.

“Don’t worry about it. You don’t need to deal with it anymore!” she yells, shoving my chest, trying to get off the counter.

“Stop.” I grab her wrists, bringing them around her back and caging her in. “No more bullshit, Sophie. Talk to me. I need you to tell me what happened,” I say, softening my voice.

“I think it’s stupid,” she says quietly, her body finally sagging against mine.

“What?” I ask surprised.

“Now that I’ve been going to my group and hearing stories from other women who have really been hurt, my story seems stupid,” she says quietly.

“It’s not stupid.” I pick her up off the counter, and her legs wrap around my hips as I carry her down the hall to my room.

“What are you doing?” she asks as I lay her on the bed then climb in next to her.

“We’re going to talk. You’re going to tell me what happened,” I state.

“You know, I really don’t like it when you completely ignore what I tell you.”

“Okay, baby. Talk to me,” I tell her, adjusting her so that we’re face to face.

“Gahhhh, you’re so annoying,” she whines.

“Talk, Soph.”

“Fine.” She sighs, closing her eyes.

I listen quietly, running my hand through her hair as she tells me everything I already learned from her police report. Hearing it from her mouth has me ready to kill someone, and by the time she’s done talking, I have mentally planned my trip to Seattle.

“So, you see, it’s really not that bad,” she says, looking up at me.

I know it could have been much worse, but I also know that what happened to her changed the course of her life even more than it had already when she lost her mother. And even if she doesn’t want to admit it, I know that the loss of her mom when she was so young has a lot to do with her avoiding any type of relationship with people.

“Sophie, what happened to you was bad,” I confirm.

“Not as bad as it could have been,” she says softly. “I always knew it could have been worse, but I never understood to what extreme. After hearing what happened to some of the women in my group, I understand now, and I’m even more thankful. I hate that I’ve been so weak.”

“You did what you had to do to protect yourself.”

“I didn’t though. I hid out in my house, afraid to meet new people or even date.”

“You moved to another state all alone,” I remind her.

“Only because I wanted to buy a house.”

“You can say you did it because you wanted to buy a house, but I think you did it because you were ready to change your life. You’re a lot stronger than you give yourself credit for.”

“I don’t know,” she mumbles, nervously playing with the pocket of my T-shirt.

“I do. Look at how you are with me.”

“You’re sweet.” She smiles, running her fingers along my jaw.

I’m glad she sees me that way; I never want her to be afraid of me “You tryin’ to ruin my street cred?”

She doesn’t answer. She just looks down at Daisy, who’s now cuddled up between us. When her eyes come up, mine narrow on her.

“What?” She smiles.

“You tryin’ to say my dog isn’t badass?”

“Um…” She starts to laugh, “I never said anything like that.”

“You said it all with your eyes.”

“I didn’t. I swear!” She laughs, and I run a finger down the center of her face, feeling my eyes go soft before leaning in to kiss her.

“You are a lot stronger than you think, and that’s why, tomorrow, we’re going to my parents’ house.”

“I can’t,” she says, and I’m done talking about this.

I roll her to her back, pinning her underneath me. Her chest begins rising and falling rapidly, and I slide to the side, keeping her hands where they are with one on mine. My eyes stay locked on hers as I slowly slide my T-shirt she’s wearing up until her tits are exposed. I have been gradually teaching her about sex. When I take her for the first time, I want her to know what to expect. I never want her to be afraid of me for any reason.

“Jesus,” I whisper, looking at her tits—large, over a handful, ni**les firm and dark pink. I lean forward, pulling first one then the other into my mouth, licking and biting. Her body starts wiggling under mine, her moans becoming louder, her nails digging into my scalp. “You want me to make you come?” I ask, biting down on her nipple while pinching her other one.

“Yes,” she moans, her head pressing back into the pillow, her body arching.

I squeeze her breast before running my palm down her stomach along the edge of her shorts and dipping under, my fingers meeting smooth skin the whole way. Knowing she is completely bare has me gritting my teeth. I slide one finger over her clit, circling as I watch her face; her eyes pop open and meet mine. She looks gorgeous like this—her face flushed, her bottom lip tucked between her teeth, her br**sts quickly rising and falling. Sliding one finger lower, I enter her slowly, studying her expression. She’s so tight and wet that my already-hard dick jumps, wanting to see for itself what she would feel like wrapped around it.

“Oh God, Nico,” she moans, her eyes closing again.

I start to move my finger a little quicker, and then I add another one, using my thumb to press and roll her clit. When I suck her nipple into my mouth, she cries out as her pu**y pulls my fingers deeper, her body grinding down on my hand before shaking and going limp.