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His jaw tensed. ‘But I’m not sure I am capable of that…’ he murmured, but behind the doubt she could hear the terror.
Tears prickled at the back of her eyes, because she could see the broken boy so clearly now, behind the man.
‘Oh, Santiago. Of course you are.’
He lifted his head, his gaze tortured, and so vulnerable… He let out a ragged breath. ‘How can you know that?’
She nodded, tears falling down her cheeks, suddenly realising it had always been so simple. That by loving him, being open and honest about her feelings—and forcing him to be open and honest about his own feelings too—she could make him see that he deserved love, just as she did.
‘You’re just scared,’ she said. ‘Because your father made you feel responsible for his failings. Just like my dad made me think that somehow, I was responsible for my mum running out on him. But the truth is neither of us deserved to be judged for what they did.’
He shuddered, as if the last of the barriers he had put around his heart were crashing down before her very eyes. She knew it hurt. Because it hurt her too, to see him so scared and so unsure.
‘But you have to open your heart to me, Santiago,’ she said, letting the last of the fear go. ‘You have to make yourself vulnerable to love again. You have to be honest with me about your feelings.Allyour feelings. Or we’ll never really have any more than they did.’ She sent him a watery smile, her desperate need for him to let her in the rest of the way all that mattered now. ‘And look how that turned out.’
He brushed a tear away with his thumb.
‘I do have feelings for you, Cerys. So many feelings I do not recognise. Feelings I have been terrified of admitting, even to myself,’ he said.
She pressed her hand to his cheek, letting her heart lead when his eyes flared with emotions he had never let her see before.
‘Ditto,’ she whispered. ‘Do they still scare you?’ she asked, her breath trapped in her lungs, the anticipation more than she could bear.
He pressed his forehead to hers, let out a long sigh. ‘Sí, but losing you scares me more…’
She clasped his head, drew him back so he could see everything she felt, everything she needed. ‘They terrify me too, Santiago, but the good news is, being scared together is so much better than being scared apart.’
He let out a harsh laugh, his eyes darkening not just with desire now, but also with longing. And love.
‘You are so brave, Cerys,’ he said, making her heart swell against her chest. ‘You make me feel brave too.’
She grinned back at him. ‘Brave enough to give those feelings a chance?’ she asked, but she could already see the answer in his eyes.
‘I am not sure I ever had a choice,’ he said ruefully. But then he dragged her into his arms and placed a gentle kiss on her lips, full of emotion and desire. ‘But yes, brave enough to try…’
Tears of gratitude spilled over her lids and she sniffed, the emotion so immense she could feel her heart shattering all over again. But in a good way this time. ‘Then I guess we’re still married,’ she whispered.
He laughed, the sound deep and husky with relief. But then he yanked her the rest of the way into his embrace, urgency surging between them. ‘Will you let me have you now, Cerys? My wife. My love.’
She nodded—because her hunger was vicious and desperate too.
‘Gracias a Dios.’ He grasped her waist and lifted her into his arms. But as he carried her into the bedroom, it wasn’t just her sex which was throbbing so hard she felt giddy with need and longing, it was her heart, too.
They had barely got through the bedroom door before he was stripping her dress from her, palming her bottom, sucking her turgid nipples through the thin lace of her bra, his hand sinking into her panties to find her wet and needy.
They tore off each other’s clothing and he positioned her on the bed on all fours. She choked out a sob, the need a rush of pheromones and emotions.
‘I cannot wait… Can you take me?’ he asked, his voice gruff with desperation.
‘Yes…’ The word was dragged from the depths of her soul. Even though a part of her knew she was giving up an essential part of herself, she knew now it would be safe in his keeping.
But then she couldn’t think any more as he drove deep into her yearning flesh. She gasped, the thick intrusion as immense as always as he impaled her in one all-consuming thrust.
She sobbed, taken, possessed, the orgasm already building—so fast, so furious, so devastating. He pumped his hips, forcing her to take more, to take all of him, until he hit the spot only he had ever found.
She cried out as the first orgasm crested. His hands captured her swinging breasts to anchor them both, so he could pump harder and faster—another orgasm built, fusing with the first, turning torturous pleasure to exquisite pain.
The delirious climax shattered in endless waves, leaving her raw, spent, exhausted, as he shouted out his own release and collapsed on top of her.