what he was doing, my hands went to his head and I fisted his hair and lifted my hips.
“Almost.”
With one last long graze of his tongue, he lifted his head and kissed my belly, then stood to his full height.
I didn’t have time to appreciate the man standing before me. The man I’d fallen for. I’d taken one look at him and knew he was meant to be mine. The man I’d subsequently spent years falling further in love with. Brady’s eyes held mine, but his hands were busy unfastening his jeans. Seconds later, he fell forward, his palms planted on the bed next to my head, and he surged in.
“Nothing more beautiful than when I’m first inside of you.”
“Skin,” I begged. Thankfully, he understood without further prompting.
He managed to get his shirt off, all the while still thrusting. When he accomplished that task, his next was to yank down the cups of my bra, exposing my breasts. If I hadn’t been primed and ready to explode, I would’ve commented on this. But as he drove in and pulled out, each stroke bringing me closer, I was at a loss for words.
“Nothing feels better than you. Nothing, baby.”
I was certain nothing felt better than him either, but I couldn’t tell Brady that because he powered in harder. So hard, my body was jolting and his hands went to my hips, keeping me at the edge of the bed. At the same time, he yanked me down on his cock as he pitched forward. Deep. So deep, my back arched, my legs around his hips tightened, and I dangled on the precipice of a huge orgasm. So huge, I was afraid to let go.
“That’s it, Hadley,” Brady groaned. “Goddamn. So beautiful. Feels so good. Give it to me.”
“Can’t,” I panted and tightened my inner muscles, trying to keep my climax at bay.
“Jesus,” he grunted and pounded into me.
“Too much,” I stuttered out.
Brady drove in faster, harder, until I couldn’t hold back. Everything narrowed to him. To us. What he was doing between my legs, how he smelled, how he felt pressed against me, how his breath fanned over my neck, how full my heart was. Everything. It was already too much but his teeth grazed my shoulder, then moved to the sensitive skin under my jaw and I lost control.
Without me telling them to, my hips bucked, my body locked, and in a rush, I exploded.
This was not an orgasm, it was a full-body nuclear detonation. Hot and cold washed over my skin, my breath caught, my lungs burned, and my heart melted.
“Jesus Christ,” Brady moaned and slammed into me, planting as deep as he could.
Absentmindedly, I felt his cock jerk.
Time stopped.
Everything stopped.
Then Brady moved, lifting his face from my neck. His beautiful eyes came to mine and I knew something had changed. The usual sadness that lingered was absent. But there was something else in its place. Whatever it was, wasn’t good.
“Don’t let me break you, baby.”
“What?”
“Don’t let the ugliness I got inside me break you.”
Fear.
That was what I was seeing, the sight of it repugnant. Cruel and horrendous.
“You won’t break me.”
“Promise me, Hadley. Promise you won’t let me ruin you. I couldn’t live with myself if I hurt you. I know you don’t want to see it, but you have to know. Deep down, you know I’m screwed up. I want to untangle all the shit in my head, I just don’t know how. I’ll do anything to protect you from it. Swear it, baby, I’ll try to get rid of it for you. Just don’t let me break you while I’m trying.”
I felt my throat clog with emotion—mixed emotions. Some vicious in their loathing. Some gentle in their need to soothe him.
“I promise you won’t break me. But you have to promise to let me help work out what’s eating you. No man as selfless, as protective as you, should live with ugliness. I want the shadows gone, Brady. And I’ll do my part to make that happen, but you have to let me. I’m strong, honey, and for you, I can be stronger.”
I watched in rapt attention as Brady’s eyes turned glossy. I didn’t think there was anything that could make me love him more, but seeing that, knowing he trusted me so completely he’d allow himself to be so vulnerable, my love for him grew. Fierce, savage, brutal love that I would protect with my life. I’d burrow so deep there’d be no room for the