Page 127

“I have a confession, too,” he whispers against my throat. “I lied earlier.”

My heart stutters. “Lied about what?”

“When I said I loved you.” His lips brush my pulse. “It was a fucking shackle. I want to be with you.”

My chest tightens as his words sink in. They’re so simple, so unshakable, yet they hit me like a tidal wave. I pull back just enough to see his face, my gaze searching his, desperate for any sign of doubt—but all I find is raw desire.

“Luciana. You’re not damaged goods. You’re mine.”

My heart cracks wide open. I close my eyes and let his words wash over me, but the weight of what I’ve just told him still presses heavy on my chest.

“Cade . . .” I whisper, “I’m not going to get tested. I don’t want to know.”

His lips brush the corner of mine, then the other, soft and reverent, as if he’s sealing my broken edges back together. “That’s okay. You’re still mine.”

The conviction in his voice undoes me completely. With a choked cry, I surge forward, my lips crashing into his, opening under his with a desperation I can’t contain.

I need him—his warmth, his strength, his certainty—to drown out the fear inside me.

“Cade,” I whisper, breaking away from his mouth. “Take it off. All of it.”

He doesn’t need to be told twice. He releases my hands and, with one smooth motion, fists the hem of his shirt and yanks it over his head, revealing the hard lines of his chest.

My eyes drift over him, cataloging every scar, every ridge on him that is mine. He strips off his pants, kicks them aside, and settles back between my thighs.

His lips return to my neck, brushing soft kisses over my pulse before he sucks gently on my skin, making me gasp. He moves lower and lower until his mouth closes over one rigid nipple, then the other, his tongue teasing my piercings until my back arches off the mattress.

The fire burning in my core is raging now, spreading through my limbs, making my skin too sensitive and my breath too shallow. “Cade,” I sob. “I need you inside me.”

His mouth moves back to mine as he shifts, lining himself up. The feel of his cock, thick and hot against my entrance, sends a shiver through me. I gasp as the broad head pushes in, my pussy rippling as he slides inch by agonizing inch.

“Fuck,” Cade groans. “Your cunt is so greedy.”

I can barely respond. My thighs are shaking, my breaths coming in broken gasps as he fills me, slowly. Every muscle in my body tightens as if in anticipation of something I’ve never done before. It feels new. Deeper. More intimate.

I moan, my head falling back as he bottoms out inside me, stretching me completely. I feel every inch of him, every ridge, every throb. It’s overwhelming, and my hips start to move on their own, instinctively seeking more.

“Stay still, Luciana,” Cade orders, as if he’s barely holding it together too.

“I can’t,” I gasp as I try to obey. “It’s too good, too—” My words cut off in a moan as he pulls back and thrusts, slow and deep, ending with a grind on my clit.

Sparks of pleasure spread up my spine to my scalp like crackling fireworks, dousing me in endorphins. I moan as my fingers clutch the sheets, trying to hold on to something—anything.

Cade’s fingers thread through mine and drag my arms high above my head, grounding me in the storm of sensation.

“Look at me, Luciana,” he commands.

I force my eyes open and my world narrows to this moment. To the feel of his body against mine, the sound of our breathless cries, the unspoken connection in our eyes. We’re lost in each other as sensation builds, drowning everything except what we share.

“No more secrets,” Cade growls, his hand squeezing mine as my orgasm crests. “No more lies. Say it.”

“No secrets, no lies,” I promise as I tighten around him.

“Good girl,” he grunts as he watches me unravel beneath him. “Go on, Luciana. Come on your cock.”

The world blurs as his words tip me over the edge of awareness. My body bows, and my vision goes white-hot as wave after wave of pleasure steals the air from my lungs.

When I finally come down, he’s under me, and I’m draped across his chest, his warmth wrapping around me like a shield and the sticky evidence of our orgasm slicking my thighs.