With Every Breath (Slow Burn 4)

“You’re so tight,” he ground out. “Jesus, baby. I’m not sure you can take anymore and I don’t want to hurt you. I’ll never hurt you. Do you understand that?”

She shifted, lifting her legs to curl around his waist. She arched her body, sliding downward so the angle of penetration was better. Then she lifted up, biting her lips at the decadent sensations assailing her from a dozen different directions.

“Baby, no,” he protested. “You don’t have to do that.”

She smiled. “But I do. I need all of you, Wade. Finish it. I can take you. You won’t hurt me. But please. I need all of you.”

He groaned and closed his eyes, sweat forming on his forehead. She leaned up and flicked her tongue over his flat nipple and then followed it with a nip.

He swelled even larger inside her and then cursed all over again.

“Christ what you do to me, Eliza. Never been this aroused in my life. I’m never going to make it all the way inside you at this rate.”

She smiled again and then lifted her hips, giving him no choice but to sink farther or withdraw from her completely.

One of his hands slid between them and his thumb delved between her thighs to caress her clitoris. She moaned and her breathing sped up. Her nipples tightened, her breasts swelled in anticipation, and she clenched hotly and wetly around his erection.

He issued a growl of satisfaction. “That’s it, baby. Damn you just went all hot and wet on me. That’s it. Now I can move.”

Thank God.

He withdrew and she whimpered her protest but he shushed her with his mouth in a carnal, possessive kiss that left her completely breathless. Then he plunged forward and she cried out, her arms and legs clamping down around him, holding him as if her life depended on it.

“You okay?” he whispered.

“God yes. Please don’t stop.”

She knew she was pleading, that she was so far gone that she didn’t even know half of what came out of her mouth, but she didn’t care. He was her anchor, the only solid, tangible thing in her world to hang on to. And she did. She held him close to her, absorbing his taste and feel, memorizing every inch of him.

He was moving faster and harder now, his thrusts jostling her body and moving them up and down on the bed. Through it all, his gaze remained locked with hers, his eyes searching her very soul.

She’d have to be blind not to see the utter possession his eyes screamed. The possessiveness in his touch, every caress, the way he planted himself as deeply in her body as possible as if he wanted to wipe out the memory of every other man who’d been there before.

There was only him in this moment. Only Wade. The past didn’t matter. The future didn’t matter. Only now and the utter perfection of being in his arms and being made love to by him.

He dropped his head long enough to nibble and bite at her neck. He nipped and grazed his teeth over the tender skin, marking her, branding her. Then he ran his mouth lower to capture her nipple and he sucked hard, matching the same rhythm of his thrusts.

“Hold on to me, baby,” he said. “Don’t let go. Come with me. I’m close.”

“Me too,” she whispered. “I want you to come with me.”

“I’ll be here.”

It was a quietly worded vow with a wealth of meaning. If only she could take that promise he gave and hold it to her heart. If only she could let him move in, take over and protect her as he was so determined to do.

“I’m losing you,” Wade murmured, concern firing in his eyes.

“I’m here,” she denied.

He gathered her in his arms and crushed her to him, his arms like steel bands around her. So strong and comforting. She leaned on him now when she couldn’t any other time. For just a brief moment she allowed herself the fantasy of depending on this man to keep her safe.

Her orgasm swelled, growing bigger and bigger, like an incoming wave off the ocean. She rode it, reveling in the wildness. Her head twisted back and forth against his chest as he held her tightly, his entire body drawn as tight as a bow.

Almost to breaking. Almost . . .

Then the wave broke and it was glorious. Beautiful. Wild. The most intense orgasm of her life. The most wonderful. She screamed into his neck and dug her nails into his shoulders, knowing that like he’d marked her, so too would she mark him.

Wade captured her mouth, forcing her head to still and he breathed into her as they both flew.

She was trembling violently in the aftermath as Wade held her and gently lowered himself the rest of the way down to rest atop her. Her pulse was racing and she felt completely shattered. Naked. Vulnerable. She’d never felt as bare as she did in this moment.

He rolled them to the side and she mourned the loss of his reassuring weight and the loss of him being such an intimate part of her. Then he slipped from inside her and she moaned her protest. But he got rid of the condom and to her shock, he slid back inside her, still hard and so very hot. The shock of feeling him inside her without the barrier of latex was overwhelming. She’d never felt anything to compare.

But he didn’t move. He just stayed there, deeply embedded inside her. He just wasn’t ready for the moment to be over with. And neither was she. She nuzzled against his chest and buried her face against his male flesh, inhaling sharply and savoring his scent.

Guilt flooded her as did grief and she gripped him even tighter, afraid that if she let go she would fall apart.

“Eliza?” he asked quietly.

Tears burned her eyes and she blinked furiously to keep them away.

“I’ve just marked you for death, Wade, and I can’t bear the thought of losing you,” she said, her voice thick with grief.

His voice and touch were so infinitely gentle that it made her tear up all over again. He stroked over her body and then finally his hand came to rest at her cheek before he tilted her head upward to meet his gaze.

“Don’t you think it’s time to tell me what’s going on?” he asked gently.

FIFTEEN

ELIZA stiffened and would have withdrawn, would have pulled away from Wade’s arms, but he tightened his hold on her to prevent her escape. He’d had enough of her putting distance between them and now, when she was lying in his arms after he’d made love to her, there was no way in hell he’d ever let her put any distance between them again.

Her barriers had been down when he made love to her. He could see so clearly the things in her eyes she never wanted anyone to see. Pain, vulnerability . . . fear. And so much grief that it had hurt him to look at her. His heart ached for this woman. This beautiful, brave, fearless woman.