Backing up several more steps, he started to slowly unbutton the black dress shirt he wore with his suit to T.A.’s wedding. He had only taken the time to change his pants before running out of his house when he got the text to meet her.
“Chasity couldn’t compare to you on her best day. There’s no contest where that’s concerned. You didn’t have to give me a lap dance to prove that. Not only does she not have your ass, but she’s not you either.”
His shirt unbuttoned, he laid it meticulously on the table next to Lily’s coat. Sitting down at the same table, he then removed his boots and socks. Standing, he took off his already loosened jeans to stand naked.
Walking back to her, he lifted his finger to a nipple, mercilessly twisting the nub between his fingertips. “Do you feel that?”
Her violet eyes went wide.
Watching her expression, he kept his own implacable.
“Yes.”
“Really? I must be doing something fucking wrong then for you to believe you’ve been dreaming our marriage.” He raised his other hand to her other nipple and started twisting it, too. “I’ve been too easy on you, Angel. When we walk out this door tonight, you’ll have no doubt this is no fucking dream.”
Without pity, he let a nipple go. Her gasp of relief was short-lived before his teeth were latching onto it, bringing another gasp to her lips.
Biting down, he exerted enough pressure, carefully gauging every nuance and sound to make sure he wasn’t carrying her past a threshold she couldn’t handle. He wanted to take her to a level she hadn’t been to before, but neither did he want her using the safe word that would call a halt to what he was trying to prove.
“If we live for the next fifty years or die tomorrow, we’ll do it together regardless. In a fucking dream or in real life, I can guarantee that. You can bank on it.”
“You can’t know that. You aren’t God.”
“I know I’m not God.” He gave her a mocking smile. “That’s not the first time you’ve accused me of thinking that. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see, won’t we? God might not give a damn about me, but He’ll always want to make his favorite angel happy. Who will be there for you to fly with if I’m not there?”
Lily’s luminous eyes stared up at him. “I love you so much.”
Shade released her nipple, laving the protruding nub with a soothing stroke of his tongue. “Why do you think I love you any less than you love me? Do you compare me to other men?”
She rolled her eyes at him. “There’s no comparison between you and other men.”
“Evie, Bliss wouldn’t agree. There’s just no comparison in your eyes, and I feel the same toward women. Angel, that fucked-up world you had to live in when you grew up doesn’t exist anymore. That’s the part that’s not real anymore. I can stand here until I’m blue in the face and make love to you a million times, but until you know that deep in your heart, you’re never going to be completely free of that nightmare.”
Lily lowered her gaze, unwilling to meet his.
Trying to convince Lily when she preferred to hide her fears even from herself was an exercise in futility. That was how Harvey had gained the upper hand with her. She had been hurt so badly when she was growing up that she couldn’t stand to hurt anyone, even if they deserved it. Luckily, he didn’t have the same problem.
Coming to that realization, he knew what he had to do.
Backing up, he placed a small distance between them. “Angel, look at me. There is no other woman in the fucking world I have done this for, nor would I ever even with a gun pointed at my head.”
Making sure she was watching him, he went to his knees. Bending over, he then placed his forehead on the floor.
Ignoring her protests, he stretched out his arms and hands until he was prone like the perfect submissive.
“No, Shade! This isn’t what I want!”
“Then what do you want?” Shade rose back to a sitting position to look at her. “Tell me what you want, and I’ll do it. Anything, everything, and how you want it. I will do it to make you happy because, Angel, anything other than that doesn’t work for me.”
She stared at him enamored that the only thing he wanted was her happiness. It was humbling and so unexpectedly sweet coming from Shade, his words having the same effect as if he had written her a poem. “You’ve never done that before.” It wasn’t a question; it was a statement filled with awe.
It took every bit of his willpower not to go to her and wipe the tears that were sliding down her cheeks. “Never.”
Lily held out her arms to him. “Come here, please.”
“Don’t ask. Tell me.”
“Come here.”
Shade stepped forward, feeling her arms enclose him.
“What do you want me to do now?”
“I want you to kiss me.”
It was every fucking thing he could do not to fuck her.
Lily was watching him with a longing he recognized at gut level. She wanted him to take control, yet as much as he wanted to give her what she wanted, he couldn’t.
Her fears were real in her head, and instead of decreasing the longer they were married, they had become worse.
His hand at her side clenched into a fist. The hard part was knowing he was responsible in part for exacerbating her fears.
Viper and he come to the conclusion in the last year that the stalker targeting Ginny was smarter than they anticipated. Ginny was surrounded by Mouth2Mouth security, but she remained under The Last Riders’ protection, and they weren’t about to let anyone harm the woman. He and Rider were always by her side.
The toll on their marriage had gone on so long that now he could no longer deny the repercussions. Something was going to have to change regarding Ginny’s protection. Him spending time away from his wife and kids was over. He was loyal to The Last Riders, but if given the choice, Lily had to come first.
“How? Like this?” Shade placed a small kiss on her lips. “Or like this?” The second kiss he gave her wasn’t tender. It was hard, demanding, and anything but gentle.
Molding her mouth to his, he twisted his mouth over hers to delve deeper. Inhaling the exotic scent of her perfume was restoking the fire she just put out.
“Yes,” she whimpered.
“What do you want now?”
“Touch me.”
He had intentionally made sure that only his lips were touching hers.
Arousing his wife to show a more assertive side of her personality was arousing his own instincts to conquer. He started counting his drumming heartbeats to squash the desire to fulfill the need that was apparent in her expression.
“Here?” Shade laid a gentle hand on her breast. “Or here?” He moved his hand to the apex of her thighs, making the minimum contact before returning his hand to the bar by her side.
“There.”
A muffled sob had his tongue swirling against hers.
“Which one? On your tit or your pussy?” His voice became ruthless. “Tell me.”
“My pussy.”
“Tell me.”
Becoming frustrated, she dug her fingernails into his back. “Touch my pussy!”
Biting back laughter, he immediately brought his hand to her pussy. Rubbing the silken flesh, he felt her sudden inhale as she stopped breathing.
“Is this how you want me to touch you?”
“Harder.”
“I can’t hear you.”
“Do it harder!”
He made his fingers firmer, giving her the friction she was craving.
“Is that better?”
“God, yes!” she whimpered.
With practiced fingers, he had her ass writhing on the bar top. Fucking her mouth with his tongue, he let his fingers breach the opening of her pussy. Driving a lone finger through the creamy flesh without hesitation to finger fuck her into an unrelenting desire that was taking its own toll on him.
Removing his fingers from her pussy, he rested his slick hand on her thigh.
“Don
’t stop!”
He moved his hand back to her, increasing the pace of his fingers inside of her. He could feel from her shudders that she was close to coming.
Again, he stopped.
“Don’t do that!” she yelled at him, hitting him on the back with her small fist.
He went back to her pussy, only giving her three glides of his finger before stopping.
Grabbing his wrist, she put it back where she wanted it.
This time, she was only given one glide before he halted within her.
“Shade!”
It was hard to resist her pleas, but he did, wanting nothing more than to satisfy the desire that was tearing Lily apart into little fragments of need.
“Are you hurting, Angel?”