We hadn’t been together since I’d taken her anal virginity and freaked myself out in the process. But now was not the time to think of myself. I needed to think of Jade, put her needs above mine.

I wanted to put her needs above mine.

This was a new feeling for me. I’d spent so much of my life balled up in a spiral of self-pity that I never considered what others around me might need. Sure, I put in my work at the ranch, I did my duty overseas. I’d always done what was expected of me, but I never worried about benefiting anyone other than myself.

Jade had pierced my veil of self-pity, had crawled right under my wall.

But had she really crawled under? Had she cracked it open?

Or had I let her in?

No one had been able to tackle the wall until Jade—not my brothers, not my sister, not anyone. But Jade had gotten in.

I wanted her in. Would she still love me when she knew everything? She’d said as much. And she’d shown me, the last time we were together, just how much she trusted me. No one had ever offered me that level of trust before, not even my men overseas. They’d had to trust me. Their lives had depended on it. But they didn’t know me from Adam. They were forced to trust me because I had been their commanding officer.

But Jade… No one was forcing her to trust me. She had given me her trust of her own free will.

What a gift that was.

I would not let her regret it.

I tightened my arms around her, squeezing her to me, cocooning her in a hug that I hoped was powerful and comforting. Just having her this close made my dick hard, as it always was when I was around Jade.

I loosened my hold on her and tipped her chin up so her blue gaze met mine. “Are you sure, baby? It’s okay if you just want to go to bed and cry. I’ll hold you. You can cry all night if you want to.”

She shook her head. “I imagine I’ll do my share of crying. But right now I want to make love. Please, Talon, show me what’s beautiful in the world.”

Pure love filled my heart. “You are what’s beautiful in the world, Jade.”

A tear streamed down her cheek. “I wish I could believe that. So much is going on.”

“What do you mean? What’s going on besides this?”

She shook her head again. “I don’t want to talk about any of it now, Talon. Please, just take me to bed.”

I wanted to know what was bothering her other than her mother, but my dick twitched in my jeans, and I also wanted to thrust inside her wet heat.

I led her to the bed, where I undressed her slowly. She was wearing jeans and a T-shirt. She must’ve changed after work. I unclasped her bra and let it fall to the floor. Her beautiful full breasts fell gently against her chest. Her nipples were already pert and hard for me. I had to resist the urge to reach forward and pinch them the way that she loved.

I whisked her lacy underwear over her narrow hips and down her long and shapely legs. She stepped out of them and stood before me naked. Vulnerable. She reached forward and began to unbutton my shirt. When she got to my waistline, she pulled the shirt out of my jeans and then brushed it over my shoulders to the floor. She unbuckled my jeans and then unzipped them, pushing them down over my ass and hips. My cock sprang out, as hard as I’d ever been for her. She knelt and licked the tip, sucking off a drop of pre-cum. I had to stop myself from exploding right there. Then she stood and pushed me down on the bed, where she removed my boots, socks, jeans, and underwear. Then she sat down on my lap.

“Kiss my nipples, Talon.” She held out her breasts.

Her nipples were brownish-pink, already tightened into hard knobs. I flicked my tongue over one. She sighed—that breathy whisper that drove me mad. I was hard beneath her, and I longed to thrust my cock up into her. Instead, I rained tiny kisses over one areola and lightly trailed my fingers over her other nipple. She sighed again, moving her hips, sliding her wet pussy over my cock.

“You tell me what you want, baby,” I said against her soft flesh. “Anything, blue eyes. Just tell me what you need.”

She moved her hips upward and then sank down on my hard cock. “I need you, Talon. Just you.”

I let out a groan, my mouth still against the softness of her breast.

“That’s it, baby,” I said. “Just take what you need.”

I resisted the urge to thrust upward. I let her go at her own pace, her own rhythm. She closed her eyes, sighing again. I looked up. My God, she was so beautiful. Her dark lashes lay like a soft curtain against her opulent skin. Her cheeks were a beautiful raspberry color all her own. Her golden-brown hair was in disarray, falling in tousled strands around her creamy shoulders. Her breasts were swollen and flushed, the nipples still taut, still begging for my touch. I leaned forward and caught one in my mouth, sucking as she continued to undulate.

“Talon, show me. Show me what’s beautiful.”

I repeated what I’d said earlier. “You’re what’s beautiful, baby. Only you.”

One of her hands drifted down, and she began fingering her clit. I clenched my teeth, willing myself not to come prematurely. Watching her touch herself drove me crazy. She was so beautiful, so sensual.

She began moving faster. As much as I wanted to plunge up into her and explode, releasing, I held off. I wanted to give her what she needed, and I wanted her to take what she needed from me.

She had said those words to me the very first time we made love. And looking back, though I didn’t know it at the time, it had been making love. She had offered herself to me without condition, telling me to take what I needed from her.

Now I was offering the same to her. I wanted her to take what she needed from me.

She increased her tempo a bit, riding me, losing herself within me. Her pussy was so sweet over my cock, gloving me as perfectly as it always had. I slid my hands over her thighs, up her sides, and then back down and grabbed the cheeks of her ass. I couldn’t help myself. I began moving her up and down faster, faster, faster…

“Oh, yes,” she said. “Just like that. Just like that.”

I tensed, determined not to come until she’d had her release. She rubbed her clit furiously, moaning, writhing, until—

“Yes! Yes, Talon, I’m coming!”

I thrust upward into her. “Yeah, baby, come for me. Come all over me.”

She continued riding me, pushing her pussy down upon me, and I felt every convulsion on my ultra-sensitive cock.