Page 27 of Ace (The Deuces Wild #4)

The dogs had stopped barking, howling, and baying.

No gun shots. Which meant the trespasser was long gone, and the dogs were now happily exploring Sanctuary.

Keller hadn’t argued like Savannah thought he would, but he needed to be as bare as she was.

He needed to lose control, and she meant to make sure he did.

Sliding off his lap, between his knees to the floor, she knelt, embarrassed at the explicit thoughts running through her head.

Suckle him? There? Why not? The notion sent waves of liquid heat coursing through her overheated and still tingling core.

She’d just seen fireworks. Here. In her barn, of all crazy places.

Keller needed to take that same amazing ride, only this time with her.

He’d just given her something precious. Now it was his turn.

“Savannah,” he growled as she pulled his pants down to his knees, her eyes wide at the bulge in his briefs. White briefs, now tinted with the same swamp water as his skin and dress shirt. Briefs like she suspected Sergeant Friday had worn. Oh, my.

“Yes?” she asked as innocently as she could, while, one by one, she slipped the waterlogged dress shoes off his feet. Argyle socks? Was this guy for real?

She tugged the socks off before she leaned between his legs, reaching for the waistband of those tighty-whities.

But Keller grabbed her hands before she got a good hold.

“No. Please. It’s not that I don’t want to.

..” Dark amber skated down her neck and the length of her naked body before his gaze crawled up to her face.

Even then, a sad smile quirked the corners of his mouth.

“Trust me on this, Savannah. I want you more than I’ve wanted any woman in years, but you deserve better. ”

“Than what?” she asked coyly. “Than who? You? I know who I want, Keller Boniface, and I choose you. But if you don’t choose me—”

Dark eyes glowed back at her. With a growl, he jerked her off the floor and back onto his lap. He covered her mouth, his tongue frantically delving between her lips. “It’s not that. It’s just that… that…”

He had trouble talking with his mouth full.

Well, good, he was human after all. She could work with that.

More composed now, and quite possibly in charge for the first time since he’d stepped foot inside Gran Mere’s home, Savannah placed both palms on his chest, loving that he let her handle him.

Ah, those muscles were hard and warm. She spread her fingers, soaking in the ripples and ridges of this man’s hard body .

While he consumed her tongue and lips, she let her inner sight wander into the vault of secrets this man held locked deep inside.

She already knew Keller was a man of darkness and mystery, but now she realized he was also a man of hard-won honor, truth, and more regret than she’d ever encountered.

He’d done things in his life he’d never forgiven himself for, but above all, he was noble.

He knew his sins. He just didn’t know how to forgive himself for them.

He never intended to rob her virtue. That’s what he worried about now, not about his boss or the would-be murderers on the prowl.

He thought a man like him would defile her.

He’d suspected she was a virgin from the start, and he’d wanted to make love to her.

But sexual relations meant something to him.

They were sacred. In his mind, decent women were angels sent from heaven to bless a man.

A good man. That was the problem. Keller didn’t think he was a good man. Oh, my.

“You’re right, we do need a proper bed,” she told him between kisses and licks, loving the musky, salty flavor of his mouth and chin as she blessed him in her way.

“Yes.” His shaven skin abraded her lips like the finest sandpaper when he spoke. “Room service wouldn’t hurt. Champagne.”

“But I don’t want to wait.” Threading her fingers over his head, Savannah crushed herself against him, warming his rugged hard body with her softest places. This panther might be injured, but he needed more than a band-aid. He needed forgiveness and absolution. He needed her brand of comfort.

Savannah spread her knees over his thighs and ended the kiss.

But she didn’t go far. She couldn’t, not with her ass in his capable palms. “Let me love you,” she murmured, tipping forward, brushing the tips of her breasts over the crisp hairs on his chest. Relishing how those hairs incited her tender nipples.

How her core wept for him. Watching her panther transform into a willing partner.

His eyes had grown big and black, the irises wide open with what she offered. “But I—”

“But nothing,” she told him as her hips slid closer to those Sergeant Friday briefs.

Dropping his gaze, he tracked the nest of curls at the apex of her thighs. “Are you sure?” Keller asked, his voice tight as if he were holding his breath.

“About you? I’ve never been more sure,” she whispered as she tipped forward and planted a kiss to the center of his tensely wrinkled forehead.

This man was so tightly wound that this simple act of love felt like she was torturing him.

Maybe she was. But he needed this and Savannah decided it was now or never.

“Lift up,” she ordered. “Give them to me.”

“I’ve got it,” he replied. Dropping his hands to his waist, he shucked out of his underwear.

She climbed back onto those muscular thighs.

He’d stopped her before she reached his impressive shaft. “Condom. ”

Which proved what a novice she was. Savannah hadn’t thought about protection. Not even once. Not with Keller.

But he was prepared. Tugging his pants up from the floor, he retrieved his wallet and the foil-wrapped condom within it.

He gloved himself, and wasn’t that an erotic sight?

His fingers seemed to know just how to roll the latex over himself.

He didn’t falter, not once. He knew precisely what he was doing because, well, he was a man.

A capable, experienced man of the world.

“You’ve never done this before,” he told her, his voice intimate and quiet. Sincere.

Savannah swallowed hard as she met his eyes. Because of his empathy, Keller knew precisely what a babe in the woods she was. “No, but I’m a fast learner,” she bluffed.

Her answer put a twinkle in his eyes. “Sex is the most natural thing between a man and his woman,” he said earnestly, his head ducked down so he could peer into her eyes.

“But understand that I will stop if you change your mind. Trust me. I’ll stop whenever you tell me to, but if you want to continue—”

Her curiosity strayed to that fascinating organ standing at attention between them. Beautifully lined with veins, it made her mouth water thinking about him sliding that magnificent part of himself into her. Yeah. There was no way she was letting him get away.

“Eyes up here, Savannah,” he teased, his head tipped sideways.

Flushed with an all-over naked kind of heat, she jerked her chin up, reconnecting with his handsome face.

“I’m sorry. It’s just that you’re so big,” she told him honestly, her eyes now opened to the truth.

After all the biology in action she’d witnessed here at Sanctuary, this was a first. She’d thought her body would easily accommodate his.

It worked with animals. But now she wasn’t as sure.

Keller was a big man. He was hard and hot.

Wide. Thick. She was so much smaller and inexperienced.

But she was no quitter and she wanted this. Savannah stared into the warm depth of Keller’s gaze as she lowered herself onto him again.

There was a tenderness in his eyes this time. “Just take it slow,” he murmured as his eyes drifted down to where their bodies were about to join.

She licked her lips, knowing this man now knew her more intimately than anyone else in the world. That he’d seen parts of her body no one else had. She centered him at the heat of her core. Liquid fire dripped between them.

“Easy,” he whispered, the black in his eyes swallowing the gold. “There’s no rush, baby. Take your time.”

She pushed harder, consuming the blunt tip of him. Easing her body down. Ouch. That pinched. A lot. And she’d barely begun. “You might be right,” she admitted begrudgingly. “I’m not sure I can do this. I’m too small for, umm, you. Darn it.”

One big hand now held her there at the cusp of their joining, keeping her from her original plan of charging full steam ahead. Of not holding back. Masterfully, he reached down and took hold, easing himself in and out, centimeter by centimeter.

“No, you’re not too small, and tight is a good thing.” He licked his lips when he said that. “Your body was made to accommodate mine. You will adjust. But I’m not going to lie to you, the first time might hurt. We can stop if you want.”

“Uh uh,” she told him, sure that he was the perfect one and this was the perfect place.

“But I don’t want to hurt you.” His words came out strangled, his breathing ragged.

And I don’t want to lose you, she thought, but she said, “I know we’ve just met, but time waits for no one, Keller, and honestly, I’m afraid I might never get the chance to love you again. You might leave.”

A tender smile breached the hard line of Keller’s firm, I’m-in-control, federal agent lips.

If Savannah hadn’t known better, she’d think he’d heard her unspoken cry for him to let her inside his heart.

Threading his free hand into her hair, he pulled her mouth to his and he kissed her with the heart-sealing passion of a hungry man about to eat his first meal. So gently. So sweetly.

Savannah got lost in the sublime sensation and heavenly taste of his mouth as...

Slowly.

Carefully.

He arched his back just enough that he eased all the way into her and…

Holy Mother... Keller was finally tucked inside her body where it felt like he’d always belonged.

They were one. It was a tight fit, but the sizzling sensations of this first-time intimate invasion were beyond description.

She squeezed her eyes shut, relishing every last tingling quiver.

The exquisite pain. The fullness. The heat. This was what she’d wanted—all of him.

Still latched to his mouth, she bucked gently, needing more motion to soothe the delicious inferno raging between her legs.

A rumbly groan breathed out of him as he eased deeper inside, then withdrew just far enough to soothe. Pleasing her with his ridges and warmth. Holding her as if she were fragile and delicate. As if he cared.

“Don’t stop now,” she mumbled around his lips. I love you begged to be spoken out loud, but now was too soon, and Keller was so much like that fierce Pitbull she’d rescued. Still wary. Still not trusting this was real. That it might last. That she wouldn’t break his heart.

Smoothing a hand up his spine to the back of his head, Savannah flexed her most intimate muscles around him.

Her body clenched, and she thrilled to the rich timbre of another rumbling masculine groan.

Happy beyond words that she, a mere woman, held any power over this magnificent beast, she squeezed again. “You like that, don’t you?”

“You have no idea,” he muttered as he quickened the pace. In and out. Fast, then faster. Pumping. Sweating. Panting.

Savannah tossed her hair out of her eyes as she held onto the man she now knew she could never stop loving.

It took less than a minute before a sexy rumble ground out of him.

One more thrust, and he gripped her hips.

The heat of his coming filled her. Instinctively, she contracted around him. He pushed deeper inside and… and…

She lost her mind and the rest of her heart. “More,” she breathed. There was no pain. Only need. Only lust. Only… “More!” she ordered her king of the jungle.

Keller complied. His grip on her hips tightened, holding her in place as he reached deeper. Pushed harder. And—

Oh. Oh, oh, oh! This coming far surpassed the first in intensity.

It stormed like a sizzling wet firecracker through Savannah.

It blossomed deep inside her core like crazy, wild, wonderful fireworks.

She couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t think. Could only hold on for the best ride of her life.

Her blood pressure soared along with her heart as she, a mere mortal, flew for the first time ever.

She had wings! She was an angel. What a thrill!

The only things holding her to earth were Keller’s long fingers on her hips, his breath in her ear, and the steady thrum of his heart pounding. This was perfect. It was wonderful. It was—love. Her gift to him. Her one-time blessing for a man who deserved so much more, that joy sprang to her eyes.

I do love you, Keller, she thought. So much that it hurts. Even if you never love me in return, I’ll love you forever. I want you to stay.

“You okay?” he asked, breathing hard, his lips pressed to the side of her head.

She nodded, afraid to talk. Just as afraid to let go.