“Never, lovely. Not if I can ’elp it.”
His speech had lost its polish. But she liked it that way. She loved the true Rafe, rough and imperfect, hiding beneath all the handsome charm. How fortunate she was to have found this situation; she had to believe it was fated, that she had been meant to meet him. To love him.
She longed to say those words, to tell him how she felt, and yet all she dared was another fervent kiss to his chest. “Thank you for making me feel safe with you.”
He tipped up her chin, bringing her gaze to his. “Because you are, sweet. I’ll see to it for as long as I’m about.”
For as long as I’m about.
There it was, the implication he would leave. And of course he would, as would she. One day soon, they would part ways. It was as inevitable as their paths crossing had been.
Best make this count, Persephone.
She closed the distance between their lips and kissed him, their mouths fusing and melding with a newer, deeper understanding. Slowly, he rolled them until she was on her back and he was settled between her parted legs. But although he continued to kiss her, he did not pin her with his weight. Instead, he leveraged himself on his forearms, careful to keep from covering her as he had done that first night.
He lifted his head and gazed down at her. “How does this feel?”
It felt like Rafe, vibrant and warm and everything she wanted. She never wanted to let go.
“Good,” she said through a throat gone suddenly thick, instead of giving voice to the thoughts flitting through her mind.
He kissed her throat, rubbing his whiskers on her skin. “And this?”
“Also good.”
His tongue flicked over her before he kissed to the place where her neck and shoulder met. Softly, he set his teeth there, then kissed away the sting. “What of this?”
“Quite good.”
She could feel his lips stretching into a smile against her bare flesh. “I’m improving then, aye?”
He kissed down the valley of her breasts, before taking a nipple into his mouth.
“Yes,” she gasped when he shifted his weight to his left arm and used the other to reach between them, petting her lightly.
The swollen bud hidden within her folds throbbed, wanting more.
“What do you think of this, lovely?” He kissed the curve of her other breast, taking his time as he played with her.
She was about to answer when he took her pearl between his thumb and forefinger and lightly pinched. Her hips bucked, white-hot desire shooting through her and leaving her electrified. All she could manage this time was a moan.
“Quiet, sweet,” he reminded her, rubbing some more before releasing her and finding her hand. “We’ll do the rest together, love. Are you ready?”
She nodded, more ready than she could say. All she wanted was this man.
“Take my cock,” he instructed softly.
Cock.
There was the wicked word. How she liked it.
She wrapped her fingers around his length just as she had before, but when she would have stroked him, he stayed her, grasping himself atop her touch. On a slow exhalation that sent his warm breath cascading over her lips, he showed her how to align him with her entrance.
The tip of him pressed against her, in the place where she felt empty without him.
“Will you fit?” she asked as he probed a bit deeper, her worry getting the best of her.
“Ah, heaven and hell and all the saints,” he growled. “If I don’t, I shall die from wanting you.”