Page 89 of Billionaire Lumberjack's Bride

I grab his hand and tug him down onto me before he can pull away or shut down. His solid chest presses to me, his heart beating the same rapid tattoo mine does, and I loop my arms around his neck, burying my hands in his hair. “Don’t run away from me again.”

Something flashes in his gaze—guilt at being caught. “I wasn’t going to.”

“Yes, you were.” I draw him even closer until our lips are practically touching and his rough beard rubs against my skin. “What are you so afraid of, Silas?”

He palms my cheek, searching my eyes briefly before he answers. “I thought that would be obvious… For so many years, all I knew was fear living in that house. Fear of the people who were supposed to take care of me and love me unconditionally. But now a new kind of terror has replaced it—that I’m going to hurt you, that you’re going to wind up hurt in the end.”

My heart aches for the sweet, caring man Silas is underneath the rugged exterior. He’s fought for so long merely to survive up here, battling against his memories, and now he’s about to face an even greater battle and doesn’t want me dragged into it. “I’m a big girl, Silas. I can take anything life throws at me—even you.”

I shift slightly to press my hips up against his erection, and his eyes drift closed as he lowers his forehead against mine, breathing heavily.

His body tenses, and he shakes his head. “I don’t have any idea what I’m doing, Lyla.”

He doesn’t just mean in bed with me.

Silas is lost in so many ways, but I refuse to let him stay that way. Not when he deserves so much more.

I press a light kiss to his lips. “You’re doing just fine.”

He chuckles, his chest vibrating against my own. “I feel like a fumbling idiot.”

“Definitely not that.”

I reach down for the waistband of his sweatpants and snap it against him. He shifts back to shove them down his thighs, freeing his cock. Towering over me, his inked skin on full display, I feather my fingers over the word “Ruthless” across his abs.

“WhyRuthless?”

His lips curl slightly. “Because that’s what Boltons are, and I knew I would have to become that to survive.”

“And the pirates?”

“My favorite book growing up wasTreasure Island.”

“You wanted to be Jim Hawkins?”

He nods slowly. “I wanted to be anyone but me…”

The sadness in his words tugs at my heart, and I yank him back down to press my lips to his hungrily—to show him he is exactly who he’s meant to be.

He hesitates before returning the kiss and kicking his pants free. His hard cock pinned between us jerks against me, and I adjust my hips to allow his length to slide between my legs, coating it in my release.

Silas groans and lifts his head to drop kisses across my collarbone, up my neck, over my cheek, and finally back to my mouth. Goosebumps travel behind each press of his lips, my body anticipating what’s coming. “You need to tell me what you want, what you need if I’m doing something wrong.”

I grin against his mouth. “Believe me, I’ll tell you.”

He issues a little growl of satisfaction and shifts his hips, reaching between us to position his cock at my slick entrance. I lift my hips, giving him a better angle, and he slips the head inside me.

My eyes close as he slowly pushes forward, sinking in. “God, Silas.”

His hair falls over his shoulders, and I score my nails down his back, over jagged, rough scars he never wanted me to see.

A low groan rumbles through him, and with a final thrust of his hips, he buries himself fully inside me. “Fucking hell, woman. You feel so incredible.”

I squeeze around him, making his body spasm, and he pushes himself up to look down at me as he draws his hips back and eases into me again slowly.

The light from the fireplace coming from the side illuminates his honed physique, so perfectly constructed, like it’s hewn out of marble, created by some ancient artist to stand the test of time. But underneath all that and the stunning artwork covering his skin lies the scars. I can still see what made him who he is—a beautiful, broken man I’m somehow now trying to put back together.

If it’s even possible…

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