Chapter 25: "Marking"

                                    

                                          
SMUT WARNING
Hank POV
I haven't been so nervous for probably forever. As I knock on the bathroom door, I hear no answer. I guess she is too scared to come out. 
Kids are sleeping today with twins under Hayden's supervision because this will happen tonight. Celia was so set up to just get it over with, but I guess that her trauma is much stronger than I thought, and that's why she is so scared to come out of the bathroom. 
Honestly, during the last weeks, I came to accept that I would never touch Celia again. She warmed up about me taking care of her, she accepted me as a father of Kathy, and I guess I made peace with the fact that's the most she would ever be able to give me. 
I understand that she said yes, but still, I can't shake off the feeling that this will again be me forcing her into something that will only bring more harm. When we first met, I was barely a man, and she was a child, and I took her childhood away from her at that very moment. What I'm going to take away from her today?
But still, I'm so horny because no matter what, Celia is like my personal drug. She will always be the only one for me.
I hear the crack noise, and my mate leaves the bathroom. She's wearing only a T-shirt and panties; in the half-light, I can see some of her scars as she slowly limps towards the bed I'm currently sitting. She sits next to me but doesn't look at me, and I can feel shaking in her body, a heart hammering in her chest. This is so awkward and so wrong. 
"I'm so ugly. I'm sorry," she whispers, barely allowing me to hear her. 
Fuck, this must be done; we can do it, I hope.
"Celia, you are the most beautiful person I've ever seen. I promise I won't hurt you. If I do something you don't like or you want me to stop, just say it, and I will stop."
I stand up and kneel in front of her. I gently, very gently start caressing her bare thighs with my fingers. At first, she tenses but, in a moment, seems calmer, but she hasn't stopped shaking yet. I lean closer, slowly closing the distance between our lips. I touch her gently, focused on every movement she can make. I coax her to join me in our first kiss, and after some time, she starts moving her lips against mine.
I step away and smile at her; she has tears in her eyes but tries to smile back at me. I take off my top and reach to take her T-shirt. She flinches slightly.
"It's alright, sweetheart, you are so beautiful, it's alright, you are safe," I say, peeling her clothes off her very slowly and pushing her delicately to lie on the bed. Her scars are now perfectly visible, and I feel anger building up in me. Anger... both at myself and at them.
I don't want to tower over her, so I lie next to her. I come closer and kiss her again. She seems less timid because she joins me in this kiss quickly. I dare to use my tongue and ask for entrance to her mouth. She allows it, and for a moment, our tongues dance together; she mimics my movements, which makes me painfully aware that nobody has ever kissed her. 
My hands start fondling her breasts as I let go of her lips. I start caressing her neck with my mouth moving slowly down. I take extra care to kiss her scars, whispering that it's alright and that nothing bad will happen. She doesn't protest when I suck the skin on her bare breasts but also doesn't make any movement. She just lies next to me.
I stop and look at her; I take one of her hands and press it to my chest.
"You can touch me, Celia, it's alright," I say, and to my surprise, she shyly moves her hand up and down my stomach and to my back. I feel no sparks and tingles, but Greyson is howling in the excitement in my mind.