Page 120 of Mercenary

“I love it.”

“Good.”

Crickets. But this time around, the silence speaks. There’s this vulnerability to him that tugs at my heartstrings. I’m the one in the driver’s seat now. I have the power to hurt him.

So I do what I excel at. Digging deep, I shake off my fears, my worries, my pain. And I dive right in, headfirst.

I wrap my arms around his shoulders and arch up into him. His lips are powerful, his tongue entwining with mine until my worries are replaced by hope. A rush of sensation sweeps over me. Lust. Need. Love.

He pulls back. “I’ll be gone in a few days. Back to the Ranch, then God knows where. I don’t have a choice. It’s make amends with Hayden or pay the consequences.”

“Why bring me here?”

There he goes, giving me that awkward, heartbreakingly vulnerable look before he leans in and presses his lips to mine in a gentle kiss. “The moment I saw you, I knew you belonged here. In this pretty house, a picture of pureness, sweetness, a home that represents all that I never had and everything I’m not. You belong here. With me.”

My throat hitches. I’m speechless. From the moment I saw you . . . he’s loved me all this time?

I slide out of his arms to stand. Slowly, I unbutton the buttons on my blouse until it falls open. Reaching behind me, I unhook my bra and, wiggling my shoulders, allow both to fall around my ankles.

Declan hisses.

I grin. “I’m going to make love to you once more. Gently. Sweetly. Until you’re begging me for more. Now take off your pants.”

His eyebrows arch at my firm order. But he stands and does as directed, his erection springing free.

I kick off my sandals and wiggle free of my shorts and underwear.

He tears his shirt up and over his head.

Gentle and sweet? Well, he’ll learn with time. I take his hand and lead him into the bedroom. “Lie down on your side, facing me,” I say.

He does as I ask. I grin, knowing how hard it is for him to give me full control.

I crawl into bed and snuggle up beside him. My thighs touching his, my chest pressed against his own. Then I touch him, caressing his cheeks with my fingers, his forehead, nose, and lips. Over his earlobes and down along his neck.

I finger his nipples, laughing as they pebble up.

All the while, he watches me, his face expressionless.

What did I expect? The man’s a hard nut to crack.

I take his hand and press it against my left breast. “Touch me. Feel me.”

Something flashes across his eyes. Like a jolt of lightning, forceful and breathtaking, then gone in a blink.

I lean in and kiss him. Probing his mouth with my tongue. Softly. With tenderness and compassion. It’s a wet kiss that goes on and on. Until he rolls, pushing me down into the mattress and deepening the kiss. Softly. With tenderness and love.

I move beneath him and part my thighs. Then wrap my fingers around his hot erection and guide him home.

When his thick tip parts my folds, I break away enough to whisper. “Slide inside me slowly so I can feel every inch of you. I’ll take over afterward.”

“Fuck, Madelyn,” he murmurs against my lips. I cut off whatever else he’s about to say with another kiss.

Patiently, I wait. Until I feel him move, the delicious girth of him filling my channel inch by blessed inch.

He groans. His arms shake. He demands more with his tongue, which plunges and twirls inside my mouth, mating with my tongue, taking whatever he needs.

It feels like eternity until he’s fully seated inside me.