With Every Breath (Slow Burn #4) - Maya Banks Page 0,68

whispered, for the first time not asking him to fuck her.

She winced inwardly at the crude, thoughtless words. As if she considered him some kind of emotionless machine. It had been an insult, not one she’d meant to hand him. It was herself she had been trying to convince that it was just fucking and nothing more. Nothing deeper or more personal.

Self-preservation ran deep within her. It was the only thing she’d known since leaving Calvary so many years ago.

Wade cupped her face in his hands as he rolled atop her, his hard, muscled body blanketing hers and his heat seeping deep into her bones, warming her as nothing else could. He kissed her long and lingeringly, his tongue lapping ever so slowly over hers as though he were trying to commit her taste and feel to memory. She was doing the same because after this one time, he would go. She’d never see him again. And the memory of his lovemaking would be all she had to hold on to in the coming days.

“Got to get a condom, baby,” he whispered against her lips. “Don’t move.”

She watched as he rolled away from her, leaned down and yanked a condom from the pocket of his jeans where they lay on the floor. Then he was back, sliding back over her, his knee spreading her thighs to him.

He deftly rolled the condom on and then he lifted his hips, one hand holding her hip while the other tangled in her hair holding her head so their gazes locked.

“See me, Eliza. Only me. Don’t look away. I want your eyes on mine while I make love to you.”

Her eyelids fluttered, the temptation to close her eyes strong because some truths were hard to accept and she was suddenly shy and so very uncertain. He seemed to know the conflicting emotions that ran wildly through her. His expression gentled and went soft. Her chest tightened to the point of pain to see him looking at her with such tenderness in his eyes.

She gasped when he probed at her opening, the blunt head of his penis nudging at her softness. He didn’t overpower her or just shove inside her. He very slowly, with infinite patience and care, began to inch forward.

The strain was obvious in his face, lines appearing and his jaw clenched tight. She knew what holding on to his control was costing him. But he was being unselfish and giving. This was for her and she knew it.

She feathered a hand over the rough lines of his face, the first gesture of tenderness and intimacy she’d given him. He went utterly still, staring down at her as his breaths rasped unevenly over his lips.

“Make love to me,” she whispered again. “Don’t hold back. You won’t hurt me, Wade. You’d never hurt me. Please, I need you inside me. I’m so cold. I’ve been cold for so long. I need your warmth and your strength.”

“You’ll always have it,” he vowed, lowering himself so more of his weight covered her.

He pushed forward with more determination this time and she gasped again when he stopped. Her eyes widened and she looked wildly down at him as her body fizzed in pure delight.

“Why did you stop?” she asked breathlessly. “You aren’t all the way in.”

Wade cursed and closed his eyes, dropping his head to bury it in her neck where he took several long, steadying breaths before responding. Then he lifted his head again and kissed her, taking her mouth in a wild storm of passion.

“You’re so tight,” he ground out. “Jesus, baby. I’m not sure you can take anymore and I don’t want to hurt you. I’ll never hurt you. Do you understand that?”

She shifted, lifting her legs to curl around his waist. She arched her body, sliding downward so the angle of penetration was better. Then she lifted up, biting her lips at the decadent sensations assailing her from a dozen different directions.

“Baby, no,” he protested. “You don’t have to do that.”

She smiled. “But I do. I need all of you, Wade. Finish it. I can take you. You won’t hurt me. But please. I need all of you.”

He groaned and closed his eyes, sweat forming on his forehead. She leaned up and flicked her tongue over his flat nipple and then followed it with a nip.

He swelled even larger inside her and then cursed all over again.

“Christ what you do to me, Eliza. Never been this aroused in my life. I’m never going