Page 158 of Captive Audience

I met his tortured gaze and didn’t look away. “I know the hell you’ve endured, but pushing me away isn’t noble. It’s a cop-out, and you know it.” My throat thickened, but I powered through. “You’re afraid I’ll get hurt again. I can see that. But what you’re doing to me now hurts more than any bullet. Please, Rook. I need you.”

For a flicker, he looked like he might break. That hesitation was all the opening I needed.

I lifted my cami over my head and tossed it aside. The movement hurt a little, but I didn’t let it show. I wouldn’t give Rook any reason to think twice. I slipped out of my cotton shorts and panties just as fast.

His eyes flared, skimming over my breasts, my belly, then darkening when they landed on the angry scar at my side.

“No.” I clutched his shirt and shook, forcing his eyes back to mine. “Don’t look at that.Focuson me.Touchme.” I grabbed one of his big, tattooed hands and brought it to my breast.

The breath trapped in his lungs exhaled in a shudder.

His hand stayed there, but his touch was featherlight, like he thought one wrong move would bruise me. He searched the scars on my face, and his jaw locked.

“I’m better, Rook. I promise. And I’m not fragile.” I pressed his palm harder against my skin. “Don’t you dare treat me like I am.”

Before he could argue, I clasped the nape of his neck and crashed my mouth into his.

Weeks of suppressed craving ripped free all at once. I pulled Rook’s hair and bit his lip. A low groan came from his throat, and I poured every ounce of need into that kiss until his restraint unraveledcompletely.

“Christ,” he panted. “What are you doing to me?”

“You once told me not to give up on you. Well guess what? I’m no quitter, and this is me telling you to get your head out of your ass and love me back.”

That broke him.

He devoured me. His mouth trailed down my throat, biting and sucking marks into my skin as if desperate to brand me. His hands roamed rough and greedy, worshiping and claiming in equal measure, but always careful not to touch my almost-healed wounds.

When his fingers slid between my thighs, I gasped his name and arched into his touch. A sharp spike of heat stirred at my core. I needed him as naked as me, so I tugged at his shirt, fumbling with the buttons.

He stopped me with a gentle but unyielding hand at my throat and a look full of warning. His thumb stroked my throbbing pulse. “I’m not going to fuck you tonight, Wildfire, but I’ll give you what you need.”

Rook’s brow pinched as his gaze raked over my face. “You’re beautiful.” Softly, he brushed the backs of his knuckles over each of my scarred cheeks. “Every time I look at you, you steal my breath away.”

He shifted me toward the bed and lowered me onto it carefully. Slowly, he dropped to his knees, shoved my thighs apart, and speared me with his tongue.

I cried out, clutching the sheets at the sudden shock of pleasure. There was no buildup, no drawn-out torture. Just his relentless tongue working my clit with ruthless precision. His callused hands locked around my thighs and held me wide open so I couldn’t squirm away.

“Rook. Oh God?—”

“That’s it, love,” he rasped between licks. “Come for me. I need it as much as you.”

It was too much, too fast. Weeks of aching for him, of being starved of touch, coiled inside me and snapped in seconds. My orgasm slammed through me, brutal and consuming, ripping a scream from my throat. I shook beneath his mouth and clutched at his dark hair like he was the only thing anchoring me to reality.

He didn’t stop until the aftershocks had wrung me dry. Then he crawled up my body, pressing light kisses to my scar, breasts, and neck along the way. His rough beard tickled and made goose bumps rise on my skin.

I reached for the hard bulge straining to break free of his pants.

“No.” Rook caught my wrist and shifted it above my head. “Nothing more. I mean it.”

There was always tomorrow. He couldn’t resist me forever.

He pulled the blanket over us and settled behind me, holding me tight against his chest.

“Rest now, Wildfire,” he whispered into my hair. “I’ve got you.”

I exhaled a contented sigh. Wrapped in Rook’s secure embrace, his heartbeat steady against my back and his breath warm against my skin, I felt the stirrings of hope.

I closed my eyes, satisfied we’d made progress.