Chapter 6
KEVLAR
The silence between us shifted into something heavy. The only sounds were her shallow breathing and the blood roaring through my ears.
The sheets had just barely stopped rustling, and my pulse was still hammering from every innocent little shift of her hips, each unconscious brush of her thighs against mine as she tried to find a comfortable spot beside me. That was all it had taken to damn near push me past my limits.
I was known for being calm under pressure. Cool. Unshakable.
Control was my default mode. But this tiny, sweet, fiery little thing had somehow found the crack in my armor and started prying it wide open. And she hadn’t even meant to.
She was wearing my shirt. When I’d handed it to her earlier, she’d smiled like it was no big deal.
There had been no hesitation or nerves. Then she came out of the bathroom in it, soft hair clinging to her damp shoulders and bare legs beneath the hem of something that had no business looking that good on her.
I’d barely managed to walk into the bathroom without backing her up and bending her over the sink to claim what was already mine. My hands had twitched with the urge to haul her against me. My jaw had locked to keep from saying all the filthy things I’d been thinking.
Now she was next to me in my bed, wearing my shirt. Moving restlessly like some kind of sweet, sleepy temptation sent to test what little restraint I had left.
And I was failing.
Hard.
My thick cock was aching, pressed against the front of my boxers, throbbing with her every movement.
I’d tried to stay still, keep my breathing steady, and stop the tension from rolling off me in waves.
But every rustle of cotton on her skin and tiny shift of her hips beneath the sheets was another punch to my control.
Then she breathed my name. It was barely more than a whisper, but it still cracked something wide open inside me.
“Lucas.”
I fucking snapped.
One second, I was staring at the ceiling, my jaw clenched so tight it hurt.
Next, I rolled over, and my body caged hers beneath me before she could take another breath.
My hands caught hers, and I pinned them above her head.
My chest pressed against her soft curves, her legs parting just enough for me to settle between them.
Her eyes were wide, and her lips parted, but she didn’t look scared. She looked hungry. Her breath caught, her chest rose hard against mine, and her thighs tightened slightly around my hips as her body had already made a decision she hadn’t yet said out loud.
I dipped my head, my mouth brushing her cheek, then her ear. My voice came out rough, a low growl dragged straight from my soul. “Don’t move unless I tell you.”
She let out a shaky breath, and her body went still beneath mine. In surrender.
Fuck.
I pulled back just enough to see her face in the moonlight filtering through the blinds. Her cheeks were flushed, her blue eyes glassy with heat, and her lower lip caught between her teeth.
That raw, open need did something to me. Rewired every nerve ending in my body and replaced it with a primal, possessive hunger to make her feel so good she’d forget everyone but me.
“Okay.”
That soft sound flipped the last switch.
Maren was mine.
And it was time she knew it.
My mouth crushed hers with the kind of hunger that had been simmering for days. Raw, commanding, and full of the tension I’d been choking down since she walked out of the bathroom in my shirt.
The second our lips met, she gasped into my mouth, her hands twitching in my grip like her body didn’t know whether to freeze or reach for more.
But she didn’t fight me. She let me lead, as if she’d been waiting for it. As though giving up control to me was the most natural thing in the world for her.
There was also an innocence about her that made me wonder if she’d been kissed this thoroughly before. Then I put that thought right out of my head because the thought of another man anywhere near Maren made me feel savage. I wanted to rip them limb from limb.
Her mouth was warm, soft, and pliant while I kissed her with a force that left no room for misunderstanding. I wasn’t sweet. It wasn’t a gentle press of lips and some teenage fumbling. I was going to fucking own her.
My tongue swept across the seam of her lips, and I growled, “Open for me.”
She did it immediately. There was no hesitation.
The simple act of her submission sent something dark and possessive surging through my chest.
“Good girl,” I rasped, swallowing her whimper as I deepened the kiss.
The second her tongue brushed mine, I growled low in my chest. I didn’t bother hiding how much I liked that. She tasted like everything I’d ever fucking wanted but hadn’t let myself believe I could have. The kind of bliss a man didn’t recover from. Sweet, breathy, and addictive.
Fuck. I needed more. So much more.
The kiss turned more demanding, and I dragged her bottom lip between my teeth until she moaned beneath me. That soft and needy sound, muffled by my mouth, sent a bolt of lust straight to my cock.
I shifted, grinding into her just enough to let her feel what she did to me.
Her body bowed off the mattress, her soft curves fitting to mine like she was made for me.
I let go of her wrists with one hand and slid it down, roaming her side, sliding under the shirt she wore—my shirt—finding nothing beneath it but smooth, hot skin and curves that made my cock throb harder against her hip.
I didn't shove the shirt off her. Not yet. Just pushed the hem up high enough to expose the perfect tits I’d been thinking about all damn night.
I squeezed one mound then slid my hand lower to skim the dip of her waist, flare of her hips, and soft flesh at the top of her thigh.
Her skin was hot beneath the cotton, her body arching for every touch, and I couldn’t get enough. I wanted to feel her everywhere. Memorize how she trembled under my hand. I wanted her pinned beneath me, begging me to fuck her so hard she forgot every man who came before.
If there had ever been one.
My pace slowed, and I poured every filthy intention into the way my mouth moved over hers. When I finally pulled back, I was breathing hard, like I’d been the one under siege. Her eyes were closed, her lips swollen from my kiss, her breath uneven and shallow.
“Eyes on me,” I ordered, my voice absolute.
Her lashes fluttered open, those beautiful eyes meeting mine—glassy with heat, pupils blown wide, hunger shining back at me with wonder, and focused on me.
Exactly how I fucking wanted her.
I bent down and sucked one nipple deep into my mouth. She arched immediately, a broken sound escaping her throat as my tongue circled the stiff peak, then flicked it until she was writhing beneath me.
“So responsive,” I murmured against her skin. “So fucking perfect.”
She whimpered, and I groaned. My dick throbbed, aching to be inside her.
“I could spend hours right here,” I rasped. “Sucking these sweet tits while you cry out my name.”
My hand found the other breast and squeezed just hard enough to make her gasp, then I rolled the nipple between my fingers until she was panting. Her body moved in small, desperate motions under me, like she didn’t know which direction she wanted to push into—my mouth or my hand. I gave her both.
“Look at you.” My voice was rough with need. “Already shaking for me, and I haven’t even tasted your sweet pussy yet.”
The sound she made went straight to my cock.
I kissed my way down her stomach, dragging my tongue over the smooth, sensitive skin until I reached the waistband of her panties.
They were barely a barrier. Thin, damp already, and clinging to the outline of her slit like they were painted on.
I nuzzled the lace, breathing her in, the scent driving me straight past rational thought.
“Fuck, you’re soaked,” I growled as I hooked a finger under the fabric and dragged it aside. “That’s your body begging for mine. So damn needy.”
I kissed the inside of her thigh. “Don’t worry, baby. Gonna give you what you need.”
My lips brushed her skin again, a little higher, slowly circling the space around her swollen center without touching.
Her legs trembled, her breath catching every time I exhaled against her slick skin.
She was soaked. Pink, glistening, and so swollen with need, she looked like she might break from it.
“Fuck, baby,” I rasped. “Look at that pretty pussy dripping for me.”
My mouth pressed to her center again, then I felt her fingers delve into my hair, and my head snapped up.
“Hands stay where they are, Maren,” I growled. “You don’t take anything for yourself. I’ll give it when I’m ready. Is that clear?”
She bit her lip as she raised her arms again and nodded.
“Say it.”
“Yes. I understand.”
“That’s it, sweet girl. So good for me.” I licked her softly and murmured, “Keep those legs wide. I want you open for me while I drink my fill.”
She listened beautifully, relaxing her thighs as best she could.
So I finally gave her what she needed—just the tip of my tongue, flicking against her entrance before dragging it slowly through her folds.
She bucked, her hands fisting in the sheets above her head, mouth falling open in a silent moan.
I licked her again, slower this time, savoring her taste.
“Better than I imagined.”
I dragged my tongue over her clit just once, and her whole body jerked. She cried out, her hips pushing up, but I held her in place with a firm grip on her thigh.
“Easy,” I breathed, sucking her clit into my mouth and licking in firm circles until her thighs were shaking around my shoulders.
“Lucas, please,” she whined, her voice desperate.
“I know, baby. You need more.” I pushed one thick finger into her slick heat, groaning when she clenched around me like a fucking vise. “So tight. So hot.”
She made a strangled sound as I pumped my finger inside her, curling it just right, dragging against the spot that made her hips twitch.
As I sank the digit in deeper, it hit a barrier, and I froze. A beat later, I had to fight the urge to shout and beat my chest like a fucking caveman.
“Maren?”
That was when I realized she had also gone as still as a statue. Her eyes were wide as she stared at me, unsure and worried.
“Baby, are you a virgin?”
She exhaled slowly, then whispered, “Yes.”
“Thank fuck,” I muttered, running my nose over the soft skin of her thigh and breathing in her vanilla scent.
When I finally looked back up, she was still staring at me uncertainly.
“I’d want you either way, Maren. But you being a virgin means I don’t have to kill anyone.
” The corners of her lips tipped up, assuming I was joking, but I wasn’t.
“It also means I get to be the one to give you all your firsts. To be the only one who will give you passion. It’s sexy as hell. ”
Out of patience, I sealed my mouth over her clit again and sucked harder, my tongue pressing in rhythm with my thrusts.
She got loud then—cries and gasps tumbling from her lips, the bed creaking softly beneath her writhing body.
I groaned. “That’s right, baby. Let me hear what I do to you.”
Her hands clenched the sheets tight, and her heels dug into the mattress as her hips tried to pump up to meet my thrusts.
“Fuck,” I growled against her clit, my voice harsh with need. “You come without permission, and I’ll start over. Slowly.”
She let out a high and frantic cry, but she held back. Trembling, she pulsed around my fingers with the effort of trying not to come.
“My sweet, good girl,” I praised, curling my finger deeper and letting her ride the edge. “Holding on for me. You want to be good for me, don’t you?”
“Yes. But—please—I need it,” she begged, her voice ragged.
“You’ll get it when I say you can.”
She whimpered, her eyes wide and locked on mine like she didn’t dare look away.
Her face was flushed, sweat beading at her hairline, her chest heaving as her body tensed and bucked beneath me.
I added a second finger, stretching her open, curling both as I sucked hard on her clit, flicking it with the flat of my tongue.
Her body convulsed, and I saw what I was waiting for. She was strung so tight she was going to come hard as fuck.
“Let go,” I commanded.
Maren gasped, then screamed as she shattered.
It ripped through the room as her spine arched off the bed and her pussy clenched tight around my fingers, flooding them with wet heat.
Her hips jerked as the orgasm rolled through her—long, powerful, and nearly violent.
She cried out again, softer this time, her legs twitching as I licked her through every aftershock, my tongue teasing her until she couldn’t take any more.
By the time I pulled back, she was boneless, her chest heaving and lips parted as her eyelids fluttered.
I slid up her body and kissed her hard, letting her taste herself on my tongue. Then I eased her head onto the pillow and brushed the damp hair from her temple, my fingers lingering longer than they needed to—because I wasn’t ready to stop touching her.
My mouth dropped to her neck, and I brushed a kiss over a sensitive spot. My voice was a low rasp, more growl than whisper, in her ear. “Next time, baby…not gonna be just my mouth.”
A soft sound caught in her throat as she trembled beneath me, like she might beg for that next time right fucking now.
But her body was spent, her skin flushed and sensitive. As much as I wanted to bury myself inside her and fuck her until the sun came up, she wasn’t ready. And she needed rest.
“You need sleep.” My lips brushed her jaw as I slid my arm around her waist and pulled her flush against my chest. “Now, close those pretty eyes and give me what I want.”
She exhaled, her breath shaky but warm, like she was still quaking with aftershocks. But the tension finally melted from her frame as she cuddled against me without hesitation, giving me that same blind trust she’d handed over to me when she surrendered her body.
I kept my grip firm, one hand splayed over her hip, and the other resting flat between her shoulder blades, holding her to my chest, my lips gently brushing her temple as her breathing evened out against my skin.
She was gone within minutes, completely relaxed in my hold, wrapped in me like I was the safest place in the world.
Fully possessed.
Not yet claimed.
But it was only a matter of time.