What he was doing with his mouth and hands erased all forms of modesty she harbored. She had never felt this. The heat his body created felt in tune with her skin. She sank back into the warmth of him. As she let her body settle onto his, they somehow fit flawlessly. Her body filled all the correct places along his hard, chiseled form.
But below his waist... She had seen him naked before, butfeelinghis fully erect size was entirely different. She imagined how imposing he would be if he was allowed inside her.
“That’s my good girl.”
She watched his eyes turn hungry as he delivered his praise, as his grip hardened under her chin. Her heart fluttered instinctively; she wanted more.
In this room, his words weren’t savage, he was not a captain, she was not a recruit. He was claiming and seductive here, and she couldn’t get enough of his voice in her ear.
“Do you know I haven’t slept since you’ve arrived? That since I found out you existed, my mind has been a cataclysmic cyclone? The only time it calms is when I’m touching you.” He kept one hand on her face, forcing her gaze upon him as he brushed the other on the delicate insides of her thighs. She squirmed in his hold, wishing his hand would migrate higher. “I have lived thousands of the same repeated years, and suddenly, now that you’re here... it’s like I’ve been reborn, like I’ve been reawakened. That’s what you do to me, Hel. You breathed new life into a stagnant existence.”
His hand drifted higher, giving her exactly what she wanted. It lasted for a single breath before he began tracking down again toward her knees. These touches were torturous, and he knew it. Before she could release another husky moan, he stopped. She was so full of need, and his hand had left her again.
“Please don’t stop again.” Her voice was breathless as she begged.
“Not until you tell me what’s going through that head of yours. I laid myself bare to you.” He gripped her waist and turned her around so she was looking right at him. She let out a small yelp from the unexpected movement. The only barrier between them was her thin cotton undergarments. “It’s your turn.”
He had started to drain the warm water, leaving her open to the chilled air. She didn’t feel the cold, not while his hands gripped her hips, pinning her to his front. She closed her eyes, allowing her center to feel that impressive length nestled beneath her. She whimpered as his slight movement created the right amount of friction, forcing a tensing deep in her core.
“Tell me what you feel when you look at me,” he whispered, his thumb pads stroking the line where her thighs met her center.
She closed her eyes, trying to think of an honest answer. He was making it so difficult with those addictive motions below her waist. “I hated you for bringing me here. I thought you were harsh and ill-tempered...”
She felt the flexing in his hands when she opened her eyes. He was not fond of her initial response. She ran her fingers through the lengths of his dark hair, inspecting him. He allowed her to do so, pausing his own exploration so she could perform hers.
“But I was withering away out there. I doubted there was anything or anyone that could make me move forward... until you. You ripped me from that cold, dead place I was in. It didn’t feel good—nothing you said or did felt good until tonight. I’m not... right still... I know that, but I feel like here... with you, I can get better. I don’t want to stay motionless anymore.”
She placed her hands atop his collarbones. He inhaled deeply, almost in relief. She had been so wholly numb since Krysta, since Adriel. She wasn’t sure she could feel anything at all the rest of her days. Then he came andmadeher feel. Forced her out, forced her to live. Everyone else had let her rot.
“I was stuck and you made me move. I don’t know whether to call it gratitude... or hope, but when I look at you, there is... the possibility for something better.”
He scanned her face, letting the back of his hand drape under her hair, making it fall down her back. His deep sigh was something of fulfillment.
“There.” She let a coy smile loose across her face. “I gave you what you asked for. Now, what else can you do with those hands?” One of her brows rose in challenge.
His jaw flexed and his stare intensified. She retreated a bit in his grasp, her bravado wavering.
“Let me show you.”
He lifted her up, allowing her legs to wrap around his thick torso. Still dripping wet, he brought her to his bed and placed her down as he draped his body atop hers.
She felt his length graze against her inner thigh, and in this position, she wondered if this could actually work, if she could achieve pleasure from the way he was built. Damn it, she wanted to try with him.
“Say the words, Helaina. Tell me I can have you.”
She licked her lips. “Yes.”
“Say it,” he growled.
“You can have me.”
At that, he let his full lips crash into hers, a powerful groan vibrating from his throat as he fully claimed her mouth. She was certain her lips would bruise from the force. She had never had a kiss like this. She could only think of one other to compare.
No, not him.
She wouldn’t let the memory of him ruin this.
Their tongues explored each other. She reached for his pectorals and allowed her fingertips to languidly drift down his flanks.
