The Protector (Fire's Edge #4) - Abigail Owen Page 0,92

her.

Already he knew what made her moan, but now he craved her sighs, too.

He set his mouth to the hollow at the base of her throat and her body trembled against his, so vulnerable. He moved up, nibbling the underside of her jaw, and another giggle escaped her.

“That tickles.”

“I could listen to the sound of your laugh forever, and that’s all I would need in this life.”

The amusement left, leaving only tender wonderment looking back at him.

He cupped the back of her head to stare into her eyes, and, after a long moment, a secret smile she only ever gave him had his heart clenching so hard he ached.

“I love that smile. That’s my smile.”

Her lips parted. “Your smile, huh?”

He rolled to his side, letting his hand play over the soft skin of her belly. “Mm-hmm. My smile. I know all your smiles. When you’re annoyed. When you’re brave. When you’re trying not to laugh. When you’re really and truly amused.”

He trailed his fingers into the curls at the junction of her thighs, finding her slick and hot and ready, but only brushed against her. She bucked her hips, chasing his touch. “That’s a lot of smiles.”

“You have a hundred smiles and I love every single one.” He slipped a single finger inside her, and her legs parted for him, gaze going glassy.

“Oh?”

Slowly, he pumped that one finger in and out, then leaned over and sucked lightly on a dusky nipple, his rumble of satisfaction rising up to meet her groan of pleasure.

Then he lifted his head, watching her intently. “That one is my smile. You only ever give it to me.”

Her eyes widened as she stared back at him, hips still chasing the movement of his finger inside her, but her entire focus on his face. Her lips parted, and that smile, the one he’d staked a claim on, broke through. “I love you.”

Levi grunted at the impact those three simple words had on him. A visceral, almost overwhelming combination of elation and possessiveness.

He pulled his fingers from her to gather her close and buried his face in the crook of her neck. “Fuck, woman, I’ve loved you so long and I never thought I’d hear those words from your lips.”

With her hands cupping his chin, she forced him to look at her. “I’m sorry I made you wait. That I made you doubt.”

Levi shook his head. “I know why you did. Don’t ever apologize for trying to protect me, because you can damn sure bet I never will for protecting you.”

His dragon was done with all the talking, going quietly wild inside Levi, needing to claim her even more than the human half of him.

Rolling again, he settled between her legs. “I can’t wait a second longer.”

Lyndi shook her head, her hair spilling across the pillow in a halo of black silk. “Me neither.”

In one long, slow stroke he pushed into her, and her inner walls clamped down on him so hard his control almost snapped then and there.

Instead, he held still, breathing hard and gathering himself. Lacing their fingers together, he drew her hands up beside her face on the bed. At the same time, she wrapped her legs around his hips, sinking him deeper inside her.

“Don’t look away.” A command. A demand he needed her to obey.

“I love you,” she whispered.

At those three words, he unleashed, dragon and man as one as they stared down into their mate’s eyes. He pounded his thick, hard cock into her, rutting like the animals they were. Every single move driving them gloriously, deliriously toward climax.

A tingling set up at the base of his spine, and Levi kindled the fire inside his belly, stoking the flames until the inferno burned white hot inside of him. Sweat slicked down his back as the heat gathered.

“Open your mouth for me, min eneste,” he ordered.

She met his kiss with no hesitation, no inhibitions, and Levi’s gut clenched in a sensation of the purest happiness as he poured his fire into the woman he loved more than anything in the world.

“Oh.” Her breathing hitched. “Oh, my. Oh.” Her body spasmed around his, then somehow started to glow, as though starlight had burst out from inside her.

For a heartbeat, fear surged through him. What was happening to her? “Lyndi?”

“Oh, fuck yes.” She tipped her head back, though she still kept her gaze on his. “I’m close.”

Relief rode a surge of utter, primitive satisfaction and he increased his pace to the rhythm of the moans tumbling