Page 30 of Finding English

“Ready for bed?” he asked, and she nodded, wanting to be in his arms, to be held by him. “Why don’t you get ready for bed, and I’ll go make sure everything is secure one last time.”

“Thank you, Henry, for all of this.”

He stopped by his bedroom door and faced her. “You don’t have to keep thanking me, sweetheart. This,” Henry waved his hand to encompass them all, “you, Michaela, is what I want in my future, and I’m protecting what’s mine.” He dropped a kiss on her brow. “Go do whatever it is women do before bed, and I’ll be up shortly.”

As Cassie took a quick shower to cool off, she thought about all these people risking their lives to protect them, dropping everything to help. It was difficult not to feel incredibly lucky to have so many wonderful friends, both hers and Henry’s. It was as if he’d come into her life at the perfect time to save her. It was a whimsical thought, but one she couldn’t shake.

Sliding into the t-shirt Henry had given her to sleep in that first night, forgoing her own Mack had brought from her house along with clothes for both her and Michaela, she slipped into bed. The cool cotton sheets were smooth against her skin as she waited for Henry to come to bed. Her heart beat a little faster when she saw the door open, and Henry walk in, his hair wet from the shower he’d taken elsewhere.

He looked so handsome wearing only athletic shorts, his broad, muscular chest bare except for a dusting of dark hair that led enticingly toward the low v of muscle at his hips.

Crossing the room, Henry pulled the sheet back, and the bed dipped as he climbed in beside her, instantly turning toward her and lifting his arm. Cassie cuddled against his side without hesitation, wanting to feel his skin against her own.

Henry signed, and she settled into his body as he did, his fingers brushing the naked skin on her hip. She shivered, and he stopped, his hand freezing in place.

“Is this too fast for you, Cass?”

Cassie sat up, laying her hand on the warm skin of his chest, his eyes dark in the moonlight. “No, I want this. I want to be with you. It’s been a while, and I’m a little nervous.”

“We can go as far and as fast as you want, Cass. This ain’t a sprint to the finish, it’s a lifetime marathon for me.”

Cassie leaned down her lips close to his as she spoke. “I’m so glad I met you.”

“Me too, babe, me too.”

He took her lips then in a firm but gentle caress, pulling her deeper as her body began to pulse from the desire coursing through her. His hands skimmed up the side of her ribs, stopping just short of where she wanted him to touch her. A moan escaped her as his tongue swept in, tasting of mint and him, her hands roaming over the hard ridges and planes of his chest and biceps.

A groan erupted from him when she snagged her nails over his nipples. He flipped her to her back, his hips resting between her own, holding her in place with a delicious dominance that made her pussy ache for him. Still, he kept his hands at her ribs, tickling the skin with his calloused hands, his thumbs rubbing the underside of her breasts in a tease that had her losing her mind.

“I need you to touch me,” she rasped out through a ragged breath.

She felt his smile against her lips before he kissed his way down her neck, his thumbs rubbing the turgid hardness of her aching nipples. Desire shot through her, an electric pulse from her breasts to her womb, the pull of it a pleasure she’d never known.

Feeling needy she moved against him, rubbing shamelessly against his hard length pushing at her most intimate place.

“You feel so good,” Henry whispered as he kissed along her collar bone.

He lifted and took the hem of the shirt she wore, pulling it over her head and off. Her instinct was to cover herself, insecurities born of fear that he’d see the marks on her body from carrying her child.

He stayed her hand, pushing it away so she was exposed to him. His eyes moved over her naked skin in a caress that had her nipples aching with desire. What she saw in his eyes made her feel beautiful, wanted, giving her the confidence to reach for him.

His chest crushed hers as he took her mouth in a lazy kiss, his hands on her skin, making her writhe as she fisted the soft silky hair at his nape. This was everything she’d dreamed of and so much more. The connection they shared so intense it was as if she’d known this man her whole life.

As he kissed his way down and over her belly, taking care to kiss the silver lines on her abdomen that bore witness to her motherhood, she knew she’d never be able to stop the tumble as she fell in love with him a little more. It was a deep-seated knowledge that had her barriers crashing down as certainty that he was hers, and she was his, hit her. It was nonsensical, but in her heart where all her secrets lay buried, she knew he’d been sent to her and Michaela to save them.

Then she thought no more as he drew her panties down her legs, and she kicked them away. His fingers touched her inner thigh and anticipation had her heart beating faster as she gazed at him in the moonlight, his glossy hair catching the light and looking golden, like a halo. He ran a finger over her pussy lips, and she jumped at the sudden shot of pleasure before he licked a trail up to her clit, sucking it in gently and moving his head back and forth, playing her body like an instrument that only he understood the music to. When his finger crooked inside her, rubbing along the flesh of her g-spot, she almost jolted off the bed in pleasure.

He took his mouth from her, and she wanted to cry with displeasure, but then he looked up at her with eyes heavy with desire, lips shining with her need for him. “Steady, baby.”

Lowering his head again, he placed his hand on her lower belly to hold her still while he resumed his ministrations. It wasn’t long before her body began to pulse and ripple as her climax began to build. Grabbing his hand from her belly, she brought it to her lips as her body jerked, and she began to keen out her climax. Henry took the hint, covering her mouth with his hand as she fought the scream and she let her release take over, crashing through her until she thought she might pass out from it. But then it began to recede, and Henry removed his hand, stroking over her body as he kept kissing her until she became so sensitive she pushed his head away, urging him to crawl up her body which he did.

His mouth crashed down on hers, and she tasted herself on him, the beauty of what they’d shared already lighting a fire in her as her desire for him began to build again.

Henry pulled his head back, looking at her with a sexy grin that she’d never get tired of looking at. “Do you have any idea how beautiful you are?”

Cassie closed her eyes at the compliment and said nothing. The truth was, she’d never known this kind of closeness or pleasure, not like she did with him. Henry had a way of looking at her so that everything else in the room disappeared until it was just them that no man ever had before. Cassie looked for the words to show him what he’d given her, not ready to declare her love for him so soon with the threat hanging over them. In the back of her mind, it was still hard for her to believe he was real and what he’d said was true. Not because he didn’t make her and Michaela feel like he wanted them, but because fairy tales weren’t real, and this felt like a fairy tale. Complete with a villain for him to slay.

So she decided to show him what was on her mind instead. Her hands went to his shorts where she could feel the proof of his desire in the hard ridge of his cock. Henry dropped his head to her neck, groaning as she slipped her hand inside his shorts and began to stroke the length of him.