Chapter 23
Will filled the doorway, blocking out the light from the corridor. His spicy, sweaty scent drifted into the room and confused my thoughts.
“Are you all right, baby?”
“The books are legit? This journal is original?”
I looked at the damn things, lying near the foot of the bed, tossed away like rubbish.
He responded with a nod, staying in the doorway.
Pulling my knees to my chest, I rested my chin there and stared at the mattress.
“Do you want me to leave you alone, Elle?”
I whipped my head around to find his eyes.
“What? No, I don’t want you to leave me alone.”
He stalked into the room and pinned me against the bed.
“Good. It’s too late for that anyway.”
And then he kissed me savagely.
I pushed his face away from mine.
“I fucking warned you,” he said.
Then he sat upright, pulling me onto his lap, and I locked my legs around his waist. He pushed hair away from my face.
As I rocked my pelvis, I let my head fall back and moaned softly, wanting more.
His hands grabbed on to my hips, and he made me stop.
“Don’t do that. I want to say something first.”
I nodded.
“Tell me.”
With his forehead against mine, he hesitated for a minute before going on.
“They want me dead as well. I want you to understand the full extent of our situation. Together, we’re perceived as an even greater threat.”
“How do you know this?”
“MI5’s director general informed me about a year ago.”
I hated those insane men, that sick fucking order of assholes.
“Is there anything else I should know?”
He shook his head.
“No. You have my word. I’ll never lie to you, Elle. When I give my word, you can count on it.”
I believed him.
Will wasn’t a liar. He was loyal to the point of obsession.
So I nodded and took his face between my hands.
“Why not tell me sooner there’s a target on your own back?”
“Keeping you safe is what matters. I didn’t want to upset you any further.”
“Upset me? It troubles me, yes, deeply. But do you think I’m so fragile that knowing the truth might break me?”
“No. Fuck no. I don’t believe that for a minute.”
“Then what do you believe, Will?”
He stared at me…stared into me.
“You’re strong, Elle. It’s a quiet strength, but it’s absolute, and it fuels mine. It’s the loveliest thing I’ve ever seen.”
His words and the confidence behind them stunned me. I couldn’t move my gaze from his. I’d never seen myself through someone else’s eyes like that, and no damsel in distress stared back at me. I was strong, or at the very least, I was getting strong.
But the truth was, I’d stolen glimpses into the most vulnerable part of his soul. And what I found in him encouraged me, strengthened my determination, made me stronger.
I lay my head on his broad shoulder.
“I want a life with you. Nothing more, nothing less. Don’t fight for me, Will. You fight for us.”
An unyielding, breathless kiss was his response. He pulled me firmly into our tantric-like position with his erection wedged between us, and together we intensified our kiss.
My hands moved through his hair, and his fists gripped mine.
“Elle, never leave me. Say it,” he commanded.
I whispered close to his ear after kissing his lobe.
“I’ll never leave you.”
He put my back against the mattress, and a growl vibrated in his throat as he pulled off the big t-shirt I wore as my nightgown.
“I’m going to taste you, Elle, every beautiful part of you.”
Arching my back, I pressed closer to him, so close. But close was never enough. I wanted him, all of him, to become part of him.
And I never would leave him.
Will rolled onto his side, his eyes so hot as he burned a path on my skin down to my breasts. His gaze slid over the curve of my hips and caressed the length of my legs.
“You’re so beautiful,” he said.
Dropping his head, he put a sweet kiss low on my abdomen.
“I know that I hurt you, that you don’t tell me.”
I shrugged.
“Well, maybe I like that.”
A flash of anger lit his eyes like tiny bolts of lightning.
“Will, it only hurts for a second. But when you’re fully inside me, you feel incredible. It’ll stop hurting with a little more practice. I promise.”
I grinned.
So did he, and his expression softened again. His mouth abruptly devoured mine, and he pushed two long fingers inside me, and then another finger, stretching me, luring a soft moan from my throat.
“You’re always quite wet when I touch you, baby.”
“Because I always want you.”
I grabbed his heavy erection, but he withdrew his fingers and captured my hand.
“I can’t maintain my self-control when you push me.”
“Then don’t. I want everything.”
“I must. Let me love you my way, Elle. Submit to me.”
Will was more than strong or big. Power surged through him, and it had to be managed. And his innate desire for dominance had to be controlled.
I behaved impatiently, but I had no objection to his needs, because when he touched me, kissed me, when he said my name, nothing could keep me from surrendering to him.
There was no help for it, no help for me.
“Okay,” I breathed.
Still, I would plead, beg, whatever it took. How I wanted him was deeply rooted and never faded…it only grew more intense. He’d planted the seed the first time he kissed me.
“Do it now. Touch me now. Please, Will, please.”
With a smirk on his lips, he made me wait.
The sheets tangled around our legs as he finally gave in and situated himself above me again.
He dragged his mouth over my lips, over my skin, moving it down my body. He gripped my thighs, spreading them apart, and then moved on with his original plan to taste all of me.
As I climaxed, he shot up my body and captured my mouth with his, swallowing my sound, shoving inside me with a harsh thrust before my orgasm finished.
He groaned and cursed against my neck, forcing his trembling body still.
“Christ. I’ll never get over that.”
Leaning on his elbow, that hand holding mine above my head, he gripped my ass with his free hand and pushed himself deeper into me.
I cried out, pressing against him, arching…grinding…wanting more, pushing hard with my hips to meet every thrust he made in and out.
He slowed and ordered my surrender.
“Stop it, Elle. Move with me…don’t provoke me.”
His authoritative tone forced me to see what he needed. Full control. Me giving up mine made it easier for him to take us to a beautiful place where neither of us had ever been.
Will filled me over and over, creating erogenous friction in all the right places.
I squeezed him with my thighs and my knees and cried out against his lips. He was the only man I’d ever had who could do that to me while inside me.
Though I tried to hold back, I arched my back and clawed at his shoulders.
My name exploded from his lips like both a benediction and a curse as he came.
The roof might have fallen in, or the world outside might have ended...we didn’t care.
Will pulled me on to his chest and held me tightly as we caught our breath, making it clear that no matter the odds, no matter the cost, our own world would survive.
A scream burst from my lungs.
I threw myself to the edge of the bed and sent a lamp crashing to the floor.
I kicked and writhed until reality gripped me. It was Will restraining my arms. His hands, not those of a monster.
Bad dreams had troubled me throughout the night. The old leather book with the names of my ancestors had become a living demon, and its contents haunted me.
Will let go of my arms and opened his up for me. His eyes showed a deep sense of worry.
“Come here to me, Elle.”
And I did go to him. I went back to the safety of his embrace.
“I’m so sorry,” I said.
He caressed my cheek with the back of his fingers.
“It’s a nightmare…only a nightmare, baby. No one can get to you here with me.”
Then his tone shifted, and his muscles tensed.
“I’ll kill them all first.”