31. Chapter Thirty-One Kieran
Chapter Thirty-One: Kieran
T he first thing I registered was warmth. Softness.
The rise and fall of her breath.
My arm was draped over her waist, my fingers curled against her stomach, the faint rhythm of her heartbeat pulsing under my palm. She was still asleep.
For a moment, I just watched her. Her lashes fanned against her cheeks, her lips parted slightly, her breath soft.
The bruises on her throat had darkened overnight, ugly reminders of what she’d been through.
What she’d survived. What I’d helped her survive.
But that wasn’t what I was thinking about now.
Now, I was thinking about how fucking beautiful she looked first thing in the morning.
I pressed my lips to the curve of her shoulder. Once. Twice.
Let my mouth trail down her back, along the dip of her spine. She shifted, mumbling something in her sleep, but she didn’t wake up.
Not yet. She would soon.
I slid lower. The sheets tangled around our legs, warm with the heat of our bodies.
She was still bare beneath them, and my palm followed the curve of her thigh, squeezing just enough to feel the way her muscles tensed under my touch. Still, she didn’t wake.
Not until I parted her legs.
Her breath hitched. I could feel the way her body responded before she even opened her eyes—the sharp inhale, the way her back arched just a little.
She was already wet.
That sent a jolt of possessiveness through me, an overwhelming desire to claim her, make her mine.
I kissed the inside of her thigh, dragging my lips slowly over her skin. She stirred, exhaling softly, still somewhere between sleep and waking.
I wanted to see the moment she realized…I wanted that sound she made when she gave in to pleasure before she even knew what was happening.
I nipped at the sensitive skin just above her knee, and she twitched.
Then—her fingers curled into the sheets. Her breath caught. And when I ran my tongue along the seam of her pussy, her whole body shuddered.
That was what woke her up.
Her hips shifted, pressing into my mouth before she even opened her eyes. All pure instinct.
“Kieran,” she mumbled, still groggy, still trying to figure out what was happening. I hummed against her, my hands gripping her thighs, spreading her wider.
Holding her there.
She gasped.
Fuck, she was sensitive like this. Sleepy and soft and melting under my tongue. I licked into her, slow and deep, savoring the taste of her, the way her body responded.
She was still half-asleep, but her legs were already wrapping around my shoulders, already tilting toward me, already soaking my mouth.
She whimpered. I wanted to hear more of that. I sucked her clit into my mouth, soft and slow, just enough pressure to send a shiver through her whole body.
Her fingers found my hair. Not pushing me away. Pulling me closer. I groaned against her, and she moaned at the vibration. She was awake now.
“Jesus,” she breathed, still dazed.
“Just me,” I said. She knotted her fingers through my hair.
I didn’t stop. Didn’t let up. Didn’t let her think about anything except this. My tongue teased her entrance, licking deep, slow, deliberate. She moaned again, arching into me, her nails digging into my scalp.
I loved how greedy she was getting. Her hips rocked against my mouth, her thighs trembling around me.
“Fuck,” she whispered, barely there, like she was already close.
Good. I grinned against her. “You miss fucking me too, huh?”
She let out a breathy laugh, cut off by a sharp gasp when I sucked her clit again.
“Kieran,” she said, half warning, half plea.
I fucking loved the way she said my name. I slid a finger into her, curling just right, and she fell apart. Her whole body tightened, shook, shattered. She bit her lip, trying to muffle the sound, but I wasn’t having it.
“It’s okay,” I said. “I want to hear you.”
I pressed a hand to her stomach, pinning her down, keeping her exactly where I wanted her as she rode out her orgasm, licking her clit while my finger teased her g-spot.
“Fuck! Oh, God.”
I had to hold back a smile. “Just like that,” I said. “Good girl.”
She shuddered under me, her entire body trembling as she reached the peak of her climax, her wetness coating my mouth.
She was so damn beautiful like this.
Flushed. Gasping.
Mine.
I kissed the inside of her thigh, letting her come down, letting her catch her breath. Her chest rose and fell fast.
She blinked at me, her gaze still hazy, her lips parted. “Are you trying to kill me?” she whispered.
I smirked, kissing higher, dragging my mouth back up her body. “I don’t know. Can you die from too many orgasms? I’m not a doctor.”
She let out a soft, breathless laugh. “Jesus. Good morning to you too.”
I laughed with her. “Morning, sweetheart. I missed you.”
Her hand found my hair, fingers curling at the nape of my neck. “You were literally inside me an hour ago.”
“Exactly,” I said. “It felt like forever.”
I brushed my lips over her hip, her ribs, the swell of her breast.She shivered. Then she flipped me onto my back, her thighs bracketing my hips.
Her fingers trailed down my chest, her nails raking over my abs. I exhaled through my nose, gripping her hips, hard. “What are you doing?” I asked.
She smirked, shifting her weight until my cock was right there, nestled between her thighs, so fucking close I almost lost it right there. “Making sure you’re awake. All of you” she said.
Fuck.
I groaned, tilting my head back.
“Jesus, Ruby.”
“Just me,” she said.
She kissed my throat. Bit it. And then she sank down onto me—slow, wet, deep.
I gritted my teeth, my fingers tightening on her hips. She took me to the hilt…and smiled.
“It really is a good morning,” she whispered.
And then she rode me.
Her hands pressed to my chest, her palms hot on my skin.
She set a relentless pace, and I didn’t know how the fuck I was supposed to keep it together.
I pulled her down, kissed her hard, biting at her lips the way she’d bitten me.
She moaned into my mouth, and the sound almost did me in.
Ruby had me right where she wanted me, her rhythm steady and demanding.
She sat back, arching her back, driving me so deep it was impossible to think, impossible to breathe.
I let her take what she wanted, but fuck, I needed her closer.
I gripped her thighs, guiding her, watching the way she moved above me, the way her breath came faster and faster.
Her hair spilled over her shoulders, wild and untamed, curling around her face like a halo.
Just like her. She was fucking beautiful.
She knew it, too. She leaned over me, bracing herself on my chest, never stopping, never letting up. She kissed me again, her lips soft and urgent.
I dragged my hands up her body, her skin flushed and hot beneath my fingers. I pulled her down, holding her against me, groaning at the feel of her. She kept going, grinding against me, not letting me have a second to catch my breath.
Fuck, she was incredible.
She lifted her head, her eyes meeting mine, and I couldn’t look away. Didn’t want to. Her gaze was bright and intent and full of everything I’d ever wanted. And she was mine. She said my name, soft and breathless, and I swore right then and there I would do anything, everything, to keep her.
She was relentless.
And I fucking loved it.
My pulse hammered beneath my skin, the rush of my blood drowning out reason and restraint, until nothing else existed but this—this moment, this heat, this merging of desire and desperation. Her nails raked down my chest, leaving trails of fire in their wake.
I groaned, not holding back, not even trying.
And still, I wanted more of her. Still, I needed more of her. I tightened my grip on her hips, driving up into her, and she cried out, her head tilting back, her hair spilling down her spine.
She was right there with me, so damn close, and I couldn’t get enough. Her breath hitched, catching in her throat as her back arched, her body twisting in the sheets.
She was wild and unrestrained and perfect. I didn’t know how much time I had. I didn’t know how long I could hold on. But I was going to make the most of every fucking second.
It would never be enough. Not for me.
I hauled her down, fusing her to me, taking everything she had and more. She shuddered, a full-body tremble, and I knew she was there, teetering on the brink, ready to fall. I gritted my teeth, holding on by a thread, so damn close I could feel the ground crumbling beneath me.
She sank her nails into my shoulders and took me over the edge. We fell together.
She was the air I breathed, the only thing keeping me from going under. I couldn’t get enough. I would never get enough. We collapsed in the sheets, my body spent and trembling.
Her heart was a wild beat against my chest, her breath a soft rush of warmth on my skin. She was still on top of me, and I held her there, savoring the feel of her.
“That,” I said, still breathless, still feeling like my whole world had shifted beneath me, “was some fucking wake-up call.”
She laughed, the sound low and content and exactly what I needed. She curled against me, tucking her head beneath my chin, and I ran my hand down her back, tracing the line of her spine, feeling the heat of her skin.
We stayed like that, quiet and close, until the morning light crept in through the blinds. I should have known better.
I should have known that nothing this good could last.