After so long without him, she couldn’t get enough. Grasping at his shirt, she started to tug it off when he pulled back and did it for her. She was mesmerized by the way his muscles flexed and stretched as he lifted it off and tossed it away. Simply watching his fluid movements was a turn on.

Splaying her hands over his chest, she lightly tweaked the nipple she’d pinched moments before, knowing she hadn’t actually hurt him. He gave her a mock growl.

“You probably liked it,” she murmured before leaning down to drop her own kisses on his chest. She lightly pressed her teeth around his small nipple and he shuddered. She loved it when she made him lose control and while she wasn’t even close to that point, she knew they’d get there soon enough.

“I love everything you do, baby.” He slid his hands down the exposed part of her back as she continued to tease him with her mouth and tongue. His fingers were warm against her bare skin. As she explored his chest, kissing over the muscular contours and lines, he fisted the bottom of her dress and tugged upward.

Though she hated to stop what she was doing, she leaned back so he could pull her dress completely over her head. He set it on the couch next to them but never took his eyes from her face. Even though he wasn’t looking at her body, she experienced a moment of intense vulnerability. There was something in his gaze that made her feel like she was under a microscope.

“What is it?” She attempted to cover her chest with her hands, but he moved quickly, snagging her wrists and holding them at her sides, still never taking his gaze from hers.

He cleared his throat, his pale eyes unreadable. “This thing with us…”

Oh shit. Her heart jumped in her throat and she suddenly didn’t want to hear what he had to say. She didn’t even want to guess what it was. She didn’t think he was going to end what they had going on, but that sentence had a whole lot of different possible endings and most of them weren’t good. What if he wanted to tell her that this thing between them would never be like it once had been? Or that it could never be truly serious? Not after the way she’d left him or the way his sister, and probably most of his family, hated her. What if he could never trust her again?

She couldn’t bear to hear any of those words. Not while she was naked sitting on top of him. Okay, she couldn’t bear to hear the words ever. But definitely not right now.

Moving fast, she kissed him hard, plastering her body against him as her lips intertwined with his. Vincent gave it back just as hard, just as hungry, his tongue teasing and stroking in her mouth. When he sat up, sliding to the edge of the couch, she took the opportunity to wrap her legs completely around his waist.

Before she realized what he intended, she found herself flat on her back on the plush rug in front of the couch, him kneeling between her thighs because she wasn’t letting go of him. He blindly shoved the coffee table out of the way as her hands greedily roved over his chest. She couldn’t get enough of touching him. His muscles flexed beneath her fingertips as she skated her way down to the top of his pants. As she started working the button free, his head dipped to her breast again and this time he wasn’t teasing. The pressure was perfect, the growing heat inside her building faster with each swipe of his talented tongue.

Once the button was free, she tugged on his zipper and slid her hand inside his pants. Completely commando. She grinned as she wrapped her hand around his hard length and stroked once with enough pressure that he groaned against her sensitive breast. The action sent a tingle of pleasure shooting to all her nerve endings. With one hand she shoved at his shorts, suddenly desperate to feel all of him on top of her.

Thankfully he helped her, shoving at them until he was completely naked and the only thing between them was her thong, the thin scrap of blue material that might as well not even be there.

Leaning back, he kneeled between her legs, his cock pulsing between his legs as it pointed up beautifully against his ripped abdomen. His pale eyes seemed almost darker as he stared down at her, his eyes devouring every inch of her body. “Jordan…” He trailed off, clearing his throat as if he was nervous.

“Don’t say it,” she whispered.

His gaze narrowed on hers as he pinned her in place. She couldn’t have moved even if she’d wanted to. “I’m not letting you go again. Ever.”

All the distress that had been building inside her as she imagined the bomb he would drop was sucked out of her at his words. Her eyes widened as she fought to find a response, to make her throat work.

“I bought you a ring,” he rasped out, seemingly oblivious to the struggle going on in her mind.

She pushed up on her elbows as shock slammed into her. “What?”

“Before you disappeared. I had a ring for you. I…” He trailed off, his expression so pained it was like a dagger to her chest, slicing through her.

No, no, no. She did not want to hear this. It was so different from what she’d expected him to say, but it was knowledge she didn’t need nonetheless. “Don’t tell me that,” she whispered, stricken. If she’d known that, there was no way she’d have been able to disappear into WITSEC without him.

He started to respond, but she grabbed him by the shoulders and pulled him back down on her. They could talk later. She already felt ripped open and could tell he did too by his admission. They needed to lose themselves in each other because she didn’t trust her voice anymore. Leaving him had been hard, that word such a pathetically weak description for the truth of her emotions, but she hadn’t had a clue what he intended for their future. Or if they’d even had one. Yes, they’d loved each other but their relationship had been fresh and new and he’d never said a word about her moving to Miami with him.

That had been one factor that had made her decision easier. Now for him to confess that he’d had a ring, she wanted to punch him for telling her. To pretend she’d never heard it. But she couldn’t go back in time and un-hear those words.

As his mouth met hers again, she could feel the untamed energy humming through him. Arching her back, she rubbed her breasts against his chest, the friction exactly what she needed but still not enough.

Her inner walls clenched, needing to be filled by him. She was so wet for him she knew it wouldn’t take much to climax. So many years of pleasuring herself alone and all Vincent had to do was look at her and she’d combust. But it wasn’t just that. His admission had set something free inside her even as it ripped her open. She was so primed for him, so ready.

She wanted him to take her. And she didn’t want foreplay. She just wanted him pumping deep inside her.

One of his hands slipped into her hair, cupping the back of her head in a dominating grip, as if he was afraid she’d leave. Hell no. She wasn’t leaving or running. Never again.

She slid one hand around his big body, digging her fingers into the hard flesh of his back as he reached between them. She felt the soft snap of her panties break free. The material was so thin it didn’t surprise her. What did surprise her was the tremble that rolled through Vincent as he pulled back.

“I can’t be gentle now.” His voice shook, mirroring the tremble in his hand as he cupped her mound. He slid a finger inside her, his eyes closing as he felt how wet she was. She was so soaked it was almost embarrassing, but she loved that he could feel how much she wanted him.

Rolling her hips against him, she shuddered and clenched around him. “I don’t want that.”

At her words, his eyes opened and for the first time since she’d walked back into his life she felt as if she was seeing every part of him. She’d hurt him but he still wanted to claim every part of her. He hadn’t said those actual words, but she knew what he meant. He wouldn’t have told her about the ring otherwise. The fact that he could forgive her and welcome her back into his life after she’d cut him so deep…maybe she didn’t deserve him, but she would fight for him.

Suddenly his finger was gone and he was pushing his cock deep inside her. All the air rushed from her lungs as he filled her. Everything else, her worries and fears, disappeared as he started thrusting inside her. She felt completely consumed by him.

Her inner walls tightened around him and she rose up to meet him stroke for stroke. His thick length filled her, making coherent thought damn near impossible. And when his mouth crushed over hers in a frenzy of kisses, she dug her fingers harder into his skin.

Moving her hands down the length of his body, she gripped his ass tight as he pumped into her. With each stroke inside her, his thrusts grew more and more unsteady. She could feel the need for release building inside him because she felt the same thing. Each time he slammed into her he hit that sweet spot, pushing her closer to the edge. Her inner walls grew tighter and tighter, molding around his perfect length.

When he reached between them and tweaked her clit, she lost it, her orgasm flooding through her like a tidal wave. It surged out to all her nerve endings as her back arched and she ripped her mouth from his, letting her head fall back. The ecstasy continued thrumming through her, her climax intensifying instead of ebbing as he continued thrusting.

She knew the moment right before he let go. His entire body tightened, the muscles in his arms and neck pulling taut before finally he buried his face in her neck and groaned against her, as if he couldn’t get close enough. It was something he’d always done and something she’d never tire of.

His breath was warm against her skin as he lightly nipped her earlobe, his body shuddering through the last of his release until finally he stilled on top of her. She wasn’t sure how long they laid there, but it felt like an eternity. She didn’t mind. With her legs and arms wrapped tightly around him, she could have stayed in his warm, protective embrace all day.

Eventually he pulled back a fraction so he could look at her, his blue eyes piercing. “Mine.”

A shiver rolled through her at that word. Yeah. She was his. Always had been.

Chapter 12

Vincent tugged his black cargo pants on, then his boots. He didn’t care that it was one of the hottest months of the year. He was wearing dark clothes that covered as much of his body as possible because however tonight played out, he had a feeling he’d need to blend into the shadows.