“I need to feel you, Willow.” He pulls away from my lips and presses his forehead against mine. “I will never take more than you can give me, but I’m ready to beg if that’s what it takes for you to let me feel the body I crave against mine.”

I feel the unforgiving hardness of each coiled muscle in his body pressing against the softness of my own. He forces my body even closer as he flexes his hips and thrusts against me. For a small second, I’m slightly nervous again, until I see just how tense his desire, for me, is making him. His whole body locked while his eyes plead with me.

“Trust me, God, trust me. Feel how much I want you.”

His hips rock again, the hard bulge of his erection hitting my stomach. My mind wanders, wondering what he feels when all his hard meets my soft. My breasts jiggle as my breathing speeds up. That panic I had been worried about slapping me in the face.

Can I do this? Can I allow myself to be stripped bare not just physically, but emotionally for this man? Let him see me completely? More importantly, do I trust myself and the fragile strength I’ve just gained? Am I ready to really, truly let him all the way in?

He holds his silence, but his hands tense against my butt, and I feel his heart speed up.

It’s as if he’s just as nervous that I’ll say no as I am that I’ll say yes.

His vulnerability meeting my own, and in a rush of clarity, it washes me clean when I see just how much my answer means to him.

Stepping back and dropping my eyes, I hear his sigh when he assumes I’m denying his request. I take one more step away from him before looking back up and locking my eyes with his. His brow, slightly furrowed, questions my movements.

But when I lift my hands and pull my jeans and panties down in one fluid movement, I hear his rushed expletive seconds before my feet are freed and then he’s right there. His hands grab my hips, roughly digging in and lifting me effortlessly up his body. I gasp, my hands coming out and grabbing his shoulders frantic to take the weight of my body from his strain. Only, he isn’t straining because of his hold … I can see it in his eyes that he’s struggling because his control has snapped, and he’s lost in a battle of need.

Need for me.

“Thank Christ,” he growls and crushes his mouth to mine.

I meet the powerful desire the roughness of his touch brings and open my mouth to kiss him deeply. My legs wrap around his hips, and when his erection nestles against my bare sex, my whole body jolts in pleasure.

We’re a mixture of harsh breathing and the dominating want we share for each other. His body moves, and I feel myself lowered until the softness of his bed is at my back. His mouth doesn’t leave mine, but his hands release me from their hold. I feel them come between our bodies and his knuckles brush over my wetness as he starts to remove his pants. I want so badly to pull away so I can witness this, but when he rumbles out a deep moan, I swallow it and press my lips harder against his. We continue to kiss as he kicks off his pants and then his hands are on my hips, lifting my body and shifting me back further onto the bed.

Only when he seems satisfied with our movements does he allow his hips to fall between my open legs and I feel every hot inch of him on top of me. When his length settles against the wetness between my legs, I feel him start to rock and our moans grow as his dick hits my oversensitive clit.

“Willow,” he gasps when I feel another rush of wetness between my legs. Lifting my hips and pulling my thighs to the side, I open myself for him to slide against, hugging his steel like flesh as he quickens his pace.

My need for him, to have him fill me, hits so violently that I feel as if I’m on the verge of breaking down in tears.

He studies my expression, not once slowing down his thrusts against my body. He’s not penetrating, but rather creating a burn in which I feel I’ll forever be scarred from. We continue to watch each other, neither of us in a hurry, but at the same time, our need to take this further is consuming us to the point of insanity.

“I need you,” I beg on a sob. “I feel like I’m going mad if I don’t, Kane. What are you doing to me?” My words hitch when he presses himself more firmly against me. The tip of him causing sparks of ecstasy to zap from my center and all over my body. Tingles firing from every direction until I’m overcome with a demand to make him understand what I need. My hand reaches down and wraps around his thickness, trying desperately to feel more of him and not to lose the feelings he’s bringing out in me.

“It’s never felt like this for me, Willow. I have to know you won’t regret this. I have to know you understand I want more from you than just a rushed fuck. I want it all. Tonight, tonight is about you, baby.”

I whimper when he lifts his hips and I lose my hold on him. His hands reach up to grab my wrists, and he pulls my hands over my head. Holding me captive as he settles back in to rock against my slickness. His eyes lock on mine as he moves.

We aren’t even having sex, and I feel as if we’re making love at this moment. He’s building me up and showing me that my needs are more important than his own are. By denying himself, he’s proving he doesn’t just want me as an easy lay. True to his words—his vow—he’s making me understand his need is for more than my body.

My legs wrap around and tighten, bringing his friction against me to a fever pitch just before I tip over and come long and loud. His rocking thrusts against my soaked flesh pick up speed. The head of his dick hits my clit with so much force as he powers against me that it sparks another orgasm just on the heel of the other. I cry out, my head flying back and my chest pushing into his.

His steady movements falter as my gaze comes back to his, those eyes of his so bright and open as he tenses against me and I feel a rush of heat burst from him as he comes on my stomach.

I’ve never felt so close to someone as I do at this moment. The honest intimacy we just shared was more powerful than words could have ever expressed. He’s managed to break down every wall, insecurity, and doubt I’ve ever had in myself in such a short time; there’s no doubt in my mind that this man is worth the trust he asks of me. The way he makes me feel, only a promise of what could be, reassures me that I have the strength I need to give myself completely to him. I give him a wobbly smile, and through the blur of tears filling my eyes, I watch his handsome face transform with the knowledge that I’ve handed myself over to him.