shake, his control fray.
But it was the rush of her breath and the flush spreading across her cheeks as she worked him that almost put him over the edge.
Resentment and defiance aside, she liked jerking him off as much as he liked her doing it.
His cock thickened. His balls drew tight. He was going to come. Hells, he was about to spill in her hot little bratty palm.
Her hand stilled. “No. Not until you tell what I want to know.”
More of his own words.
“Fuck.” He let out another roar, his gaze slamming into hers, his fury and need as close to the surface as they’d ever been.
They stared at each other, a silent battle, her chest heaving in time with his, her glittering eyes as wild as the beast she was unleashing in him.
“I do want to protect you,” he snarled. “I do think that, despite enduring a lot and being very brave, there are parts of you that are still fragile as hells and that makes me crazy to keep you safe. But you’re nothing like the others to me. I’ve crossed so many lines with you already, Nayla. I don’t even remember where I started.”
“Now, this sound like truth.” Her grip tightened once more. Pre-cum leaked from the tip, a silent acknowledgment of her victory.
“What happened back in the caves was intense,” his voice was a rough rasp of lust he didn’t even bother to try and hide, “and maybe it shouldn’t have gone down like it did, but I can’t regret it. I brought us together in a way we never would have otherwise.”
He swallowed hard, his heart beating faster, his admission yet another line he willfully crossed.
It was worth it though to see the flash of vulnerability that flared in her gaze. He had his pride, yes, but what the hells was it worth if it hurt her?
“You know me now. You understand me better than anyone has in a long, long time. You have to believe I would never hurt you, Nayla. I’d rather die.”
Her thumb brushed over the thick head of his cock, smearing the pre-cum and making it even easier for her hand to slid up and down his shaft, but it was the intensity of her gaze that shook him to his core. “I believe you.”
He thickened even more beneath her hold, the weight on his chest lifting. “Good, I—ˮ
“But you hurt me all the same.”
Shit. “I’m sorry. I only want to help you.”
“Helping me won’t bring sister back.”
He jerked in her grip. What the fuck?
“This has nothing do to with that. My sister is dead and gone. Believe me, I know that better than anyone. The chance to save her is long past.” He swallowed hard. Handing over a bit of control was one thing. This…this was a line he didn’t cross. “I don’t even know how we got onto me. It isn’t relevant at all.”
Her anger flared bright once more. “You like discuss my secrets, but not your own.”
No damn way. This was about her. “You let me in, Nayla. You sat on my lap and you spread those gorgeous thighs and you begged me with those sweet fucking eyes to give you pleasure and show you the world—and that’s what I am going to do. Just don’t close me out.” Old memories roughened his voice. “I can’t help you if you shut me out.”
“No.” Her hand stilled and then she released him, backing away even as his dick bobbed toward her, pressing hard against his covering. “I protect myself. Especially from another male who only want me on his terms.”
She left, taking her softness and need and all the light.
Shit.
Standing in the spray alone, the night closing in, made three things crystal clear.
One, chemistry alone was not going to solve this.
Two, he was finally getting a sense of what she needed from him, and it scared him shitless.
Three, he was way past messy emotions into downright falling hard territory and karma was a god damn bitch.
But he was no coward. He’d do what needed to be done.
29
The moons were beginning to wane and Grif’s coverings had long since dried, but not the fever pounding through his blood.
His only consolation was that Nayla didn’t seem too comfortable, either. She fidgeted in her seat, her lips pressed tight as she jabbed the long thin rock she was using to stoke the fire. As if that alone would puncture her need and burn it to ash.
Not going to happen.
The fire crackled.
Nayla poked