24

But he shook his head, his eyes wild. “Don’t come to me like that. Don’t offer yourself for protection.” His words were a plea. “I’ll always protect you. Regardless of…” He swallowed. “Regardless of anything else.”

I reached for his hand and pressed his palm to my breast, my nipple hardening immediately beneath his touch. “And what if I just want you?”

My mouth dried at my declaration. It left me more vulnerable than I’d ever been in my life. I was a twenty-nine-year-old virgin standing in front of a vampire with more life experience than I could realistically imagine, and he made my blood rush hot through my veins and my whole body thrum with desire.

“I want you, Nic,” I whispered.

He kissed me again, moving before I even saw him, his mouth commanding, his breath hot as his tongue probed against mine. I moaned, and he started to rock his hips against me as his left hand cupped my right thigh, under my ass. His fingers kneaded my skin, and I pressed wantonly against him.

“Never before,” he whispered as he licked along my jaw and kissed down my neck. “Only you.”

His palm smoothed the skin under my T-shirt, and I held my breath as fingertips grazed my ribcage, wanting more, so much more.

“Touch me, Nic. Please touch me.” My words seemed to release whatever was holding him back, and he tugged my T-shirt off, then his own, revealing the defined muscles of his torso and the tattoo that had teased my attention before. A fleur-de-lis. A family crest, maybe, and words in Latin. Ego Solus.

I itched to trace it with my fingers, to tease each delicate line with my tongue, but his hand covered my breast, his fingers curling under the fabric of my bra and grazing my nipple and I gasped, my forehead falling against his shoulder, where I pressed fervent kisses to his skin.

My hands behaved like they were no longer under my control. Touching him anywhere they could reach and sliding along his waistband, dipping below to stroke over his bare ass, and I laughed at the unexpected discovery.

“Commando, Mr. Dupont?”

“Nic.” The word was a growl as he reached behind me, unhooking my bra, and for a moment, fear whispered through me as my total vulnerability became apparent.

As if he’d heard my errant thought, Nic took my hand and led me to the shady lawn, laying me on the mix of grass and springy moss there, and he half covered my body with his as he peppered kisses over my face, shielding me and covering me and hiding me.

“I’ve got you,” he murmured. “And we’re all alone. I won’t ever share you. Not like this.” He pressed wet kisses to my neck. “I’ll worship you.” Then to my collarbone. “Revere you.” The swell of my breast. “Respect you.” He drew my bra away. “Love you.”

He sucked my nipple into his mouth, and I cried out as I arched against him, the shower of heat in my body stealing my ability to think. My hands were in his hair again, and his right hand drew patterns on my left thigh.

I parted my legs in age-old invitation my body already knew how to make. I’d never wanted this deeply, this completely—like Nic was something I’d always been missing. Like he’d come home. We were home.

When he raised his head to look at me, his eyes glowed a dull red again. “You smell amazing. I want you so badly. Like nothing ever before.”

“Touch me,” I told him again. “Please touch me.”

My panties were gone before I could even shimmy them away, and Nic’s dark chuckle filled my ears. “You’ll be commando now, too.”

His skillful fingers delved carefully between my legs, and memories of the same touch in the back of his limo flooded my mind. I gripped his shoulders and pressed my hips up toward him as he stroked across my clit.

“Nic.” His name was mere air as it left my lips, but he responded immediately, nudging his fingertip against my entrance. “Please.” I sucked in a breath as he pressed forward, filling me, stretching me. “I want you inside me,” I mumbled, lost to the sensation of his expert touch.

“I want you ready.” His voice was strained again, and his hips rocked against me in a steady rhythm.

“Let me touch you?”

His laugh was hollow this time. “And show myself up like an inexperienced teen?”

I gasped as his thumb flicked my clit as his finger continued to stroke the inside of me.

“Who am I?” he whispered against my ear.

“Nic,” I answered without hesitation as he coaxed me closer to the edge.

“Your Nic,” he replied, his head buried at the crook of my neck, his breath hot against my skin, his fangs the merest hint of something sharp. “Always yours.”

He worked another finger inside me, and I pressed down automatically to take him, dimly aware of his hand moving at his waist, the sound of a zipper, and my arousal increased.

“Holy fuck,” he moaned. “Your scent would drive lesser men mad.”

“Lose control, Nic. Take me, claim me… I’m yours.” I pushed toward him as he stroked me one last time and my orgasm roared over me, catching me by surprise and stealing my breath.

Nic moved fast, shucking his jeans and drawing himself over me. He gazed into my eyes, the dull red of his flaring brighter. “If you want to stop, just say.”

I shook my head. “No. I want all you, everything. I want it all.” I turned my head, offering him my neck, as I pressed my fingertips there.

His intake of breath commanded my full attention. “Are you certain?”

I nodded. “I’m yours. Always yours.” I echoed his words back to him, and his eyes flared red again before he nodded.