I kept rubbing my hand down her side, willing my heat into her. Slowly, her skin warmed under my touch. She shifted, her eyelids fluttering, and I breathed a sigh that carried more angst than I knew I was capable of holding.
“Sinclair?”
“Yes. I’m here.”
“What happened?”
“You’ll have to tell me. I found you in the woods. How’s your head?”
“It hurts.” Her voice was small.
I put my hands on her shoulders and turned her around so she faced me. The cut had stopped bleeding, but red still remained along the edges of her hair and in her eyebrow. I ran my hand over the bump on her head. It seemed to have shrunk a bit. I tilted her chin up so I could look into her eyes. The pupils appeared to match. No concussion. Maybe.
I shook my head and pulled her closer to me so her head fell into the crook of my neck. “You are a mess.”
“You should see the other guy.”
I laughed. I hadn’t actually laughed from pure amusement at anyone except for my brothers in so long it felt odd, but also right.
“Mmm, I don’t think I’ve ever heard you laugh. Well, maybe you do whenever you’re drowning puppies or something. I’ve just never heard it.”
I nuzzled into her wet hair. “Puppy drowning is every Thursday. You’ll just have to catch me at the right time.”
She giggled and draped an arm over me. The air between us expanded, somehow becoming bigger, fuller; maybe even a little expectant. We were lying on a rug in front of a fire while the storm raged outside. We should be drinking wine and laughing and fucking. But this wasn’t a romance or a fairy tale. She was my Acquisition.
“Stop thinking.” She lifted her lips to mine and brushed against them softly. A delicious tease.
“I don’t know if I can.”
“If I can then you can. After all, I’m the captive, the slave, the Acquisition, the one you whip and humili—”
I claimed her mouth because, fuck, I wanted to and to shut her up. Hearing her recite my long list of sins was too much truth. At that moment in front of the fire, I wanted the fairy tale. I wanted to be her knight instead of her demon. I kissed her like I meant it, like I felt something more for her than ownership. I let myself go. Just this one time.
She answered with more verve than I had any right to deserve or expect. She had surprised me so many times over the past weeks that I should have been accustomed to it. I wasn’t. When she brought her hand to my cheek and caressed it lovingly, I was caught up in her more than I could stand. I threw the rug from us and pulled her on top of me, never breaking our desperate kiss.
She straddled me, the fabric of her panties a maddening barrier between her delectable skin and mine. I unhooked her bra. She sat up and took it off, her nipples puckered and hard in the dancing firelight. I palmed her breasts, the weight of each perfect in my hands. She closed her eyes and dropped her head back as I touched and stroked and teased. I leaned up and caught one of the pearled tips in my mouth. She tasted like rain and sweat and sweetness. Perfection. I licked and sucked her in, rubbing the nub against my tongue. Her hips moved against my cock, giving me a glimpse of what awaited me beneath the fabric—hot, wet, and wanting.
I hooked my fingers in the side of her panties and ripped them. I did the same on the other side and yanked them from her. My cock jumped at the promise of euphoria her pussy offered. I knew it was tight, slick, perfect. She rubbed her needy clit over my shaft, giving herself a cheating pleasure just as she gave me the same. I wanted it all.
I gripped her hips and raised her. She wrapped her small hand around my cock. She’d gone from cold to scorching hot in moments, and her touch made me hiss.
“Fucking hell, Stella.” I could barely get the words out through my gritted teeth.
She teased me, rubbing my head against her clit as her hips rocked against me. I wasn’t waiting any more. I pulled her forward, positioning my head at her opening. When she slid down on my shaft, I groaned from the demanding need to thrust up into her. My fingertips dug into her soft hips. She gave me a sultry gaze, eyes green and partly hidden beneath her lashes. When she raised up and settled down again, pushing me as deeply as I could go, it took every ounce of willpower I had not to flip her over and fuck her hard and fast.