him taking over her training and everything that would come with it.
When he thought about it, taking Noelle as a sub would make it easier to keep track of her. Yeah, that’s what he’d tell the guys. What he’d tell her was the truth—that he was crazy about her.
He stepped back and decided to give her what she wanted. He tugged his shirt off and was really glad he hadn’t given up his workout routine. His abs were one good thing that had come out of his time with McDonald. He stared at her for a moment, taking her in. “You’re fucking perfect.”
“And you are blind, but I’m okay with it. You know I’m never this comfortable with a guy. It’s weird, but I knew these scars wouldn’t scare you off.”
She had a few scars on her lower back and a couple on her legs. They showed how serious that accident had been, but he wasn’t a man who worshipped perfection. She was beautifully Noelle, and the scar across her shoulder didn’t detract from that. He reached out and touched it, brushing his fingers over the line that went from her shoulder blade to right above her breast. “Was this part of the accident, too?”
She nodded, her eyes on him. “The car flipped and there was jagged metal where I pulled myself out. It’s the one that bugs me most.”
Because it was the one she had to see in the mirror every day. He had one of those, too. He took her hand in his and brought it to the left side of his body, below his ribs. “This is the one I have to look at every day. It was a knife wound.”
“From that woman who took you?”
Her fingers moved over that ancient scar, and he had to bite back a groan. He wasn’t sure what magic this woman worked on him, but when she touched him his body came to life in a way it never had before. “No. She was actually excellent about not leaving scars. She had other methods of punishment for me. No. This is from when I was on the streets. I was sleeping in an alleyway and woke up to a guy with serious problems trying to gut me. I still dream about it from time to time, but I don’t wake up fighting or anything. You’re safe to sleep with me.”
That time seemed so long ago. A complete lifetime. He wasn’t alone now. He had a family, though they didn’t share blood. It struck him how far he was from that lonely, scared boy. He was in a warm place now, and it was made infinitely warmer by her.
“Take off my jeans.” He wanted to be skin to skin with her, wanted to get in that bed and mold his body to hers, wanted to sleep wrapped around her.
But first he wanted to know what it was like to be deep inside her.
She moved to the end of the bed, seated in front of him, and her head tilted up as she undid the fly of his jeans.
She licked her lips, but he wasn’t sure he could handle that. He would come far too soon, and he couldn’t wait another moment to fuck her. They had days and days to play. He would take her to Sanctum and start her training. He would let her explore everything, but tonight he had to have her.
He stepped back and shoved his jeans down. “I don’t trust myself to let you touch me too much.”
Her lips curled up in the sweetest grin. “Do you think you’ll like my touch?”
“Way too much.” He kicked his jeans off. His boots were in the living room, so he moved toward her completely naked and comfortable being that way with her. He put his body between her legs and dropped his head down to meld their mouths together.
He loved kissing her. Her mouth was soft and yielding, her tongue sliding along his. He let his hands sink into the silk of her hair, and he gave over to the sensation of being surrounded by her. Her hands stroked down his back to cup his ass. His cock brushed her belly and started an insistent pulse that could only end one way.
And then he remembered that he wasn’t exactly prepared. He hadn’t shoved a condom in his pocket or anything. He hadn’t started the day thinking it would end this way. He cupped her breast, feeling her nipple against his