Page 34 of Wild Card

His smile widened. The expression was more breathtaking than all the stars over his head. “The bastard says to spread your legs for him.”

She wanted to resist. Opening wider meant exposing her most sensitive flesh to all the wickedness he’d wield with that specialty condom. But denying him anything was like cutting out her own heart.

With a shaky frown, she parted her thighs for him.

With a consuming shudder, she accepted his first hot slide. Another. Another. Every swipe of those blue spikes against her clit was like a dagger on her control. The incisions tore deeper. She bled with lust and need. Reached, aching and agonized, for the sweetness of the death that was to come. Screamed, desperate and longing, for its perfect freedom. Thank God a bunch of cactus and a few coyotes were the only things around for miles. And Sam? He growled greedy approval at every new shriek or gasp, transforming into another creature through them. His body was magnificent, becoming every inch her lethal tiger, muscles feline and fierce, coiling and twisting, forcing him to hold back until the time was right.

Soon. Oh God oh God, please let it be soon.

“Sam.” The word was dry. She’d nearly forgotten how to breathe, let alone speak. “I can’t—I don’t know if I can hold it—”

“Then don’t.” His face locked into a thousand angles of his own tension. As he kept rocking his cock against her clit, he raised a hand to her forehead, squeezing fingers into her hairline. “Now, Jenny.” The words seethed from between his teeth. “Let me watch it. Now.”

Death rushed at her in a blaze of heat and a rush of ecstasy, crashing her blood, stopping her heart, releasing her body. She was eviscerated. A thousand pieces of ripped, raw glory, splayed beneath the desert stars, never wanting to be whole again. But that was exactly what Sam did, the very next moment. Refused her into one piece as he shunted home inside her, his massive body quaking with erotic urgency.

“God,” he groaned. “Fuck.” He plunged into her with merciless force, his shaft retreating then reentering with long, hard strokes. She had no option but to hang on, accepting his brutal passion. As her legs locked around his back, her head arched against the mattress, wanting nothing more. Needing only Sam. More of his lust. More of his domination. More of the brutal invasion that might mark her for life. God, she hoped so.

He curled his face into the curve of her neck. Suckled her there for a moment. Jen latched him there, one hand against his scalp, tangling fingers in his thick, sweaty waves. He did the same to her, wrapping her hair around his fist. Desperately, they clung to each other. Passionately, he kept fucking into her. Then suddenly, twice as hard. Jen cried out from the new, consuming force of it.

“Am I hurting you, mo luaidh?”

“Y-yes.” She refused to lie to him.

“Good.” He sank his teeth deeper into her flesh. Filled her sex with more of his passionate possession. “I want you to feel me inside you for weeks. I want to walk into your office, bid you a good mornin’, and know that the sound of my voice makes your cunt wet from rememberin’ me. I don’t even want you to sit without feelin’ the pain I’ve given you…the marks I’ve put on you…inside and out.”

Nasty words…breathed into her with the solemnity of a vow. The former fired into every inch of her body. The latter sang to every hollow of her heart. The collision destroyed so much of her will, making it impossible to hold back her whispered confession in return.

“I’ll never forget you, Sam Mackenna. Ever.”

He pulled his head up a little—just enough for her to see the effect of her words across his face. She wasn’t sure whether to feel good or bad about it. He looked like he’d just been drawn and quartered, but hadn’t been able to process the torture yet.

“I’ll never forget you, Jenny Thorne.”

As the promise left his lips, the come exploded from his body. He didn’t look away for a second, baring the apex of his passion to her. His brow crumpled. His cheekbones jutted, stark against his skin. His teeth gritted until a guttural groan spilled out.

He was the most beautiful thing she’d ever seen.

He was the ultimate dynamite to her defenses.

At first, she thought she could contain the damage to a couple of sobs—but after those tumbled out, the truth was clear. The torrent was just starting. The tears rushed out, violent and consuming, destroying everything in their path, including any self-dignity she had left.

She shouldn’t have gotten into the helicopter with him. For that matter, she shouldn’t have even let him get into the elevator with her, that handful of hours ago…now feeling like years.

God. All the stupid love songs were right. Maybe, with the right person, you really could live a lifetime in one night. And yeah, just maybe…Sam was her right person. Maybe fate really had dealt them the wild card; that this one time in a million, the hunk and the geek were perfect for each other.

But they’d only ever own it for this one night.

How could she afford to think otherwise? In two weeks’ time, he’d be five thousand miles away. But Elgin, Scotland isn’t exactly the surface of Mars, Jen.

Right. So she’d just—what? Decide to pop in casually in a few months, telling him she was “in the neighborhood” on holiday? The idea alone made her squirm, wondering if Sam already smelled the desperation on her. Behavior like that only worked for women in rom-coms and nighttime soaps. The last time she checked, her name wasn’t Bridget Jones or Cookie Lyon. Sam would give her his politest smile while taking her out for a Dundee pie and a pint—then put her on the next transport back home. The whole time, he’d hide glances that questioned if she really was from Mars.

They’d found each other in the wrong place. At the wrong time.

The truth of it torpedoed harder. Sobs erupted from deeper in her chest. She fought them hard; so damn hard. There were bigger things to grieve about. Much bigger things. But right now, nothing felt huger. Nothing felt better than giving in to the selfish pain, of caving to the knowledge that once the sun rose, her romance with Sam would be over—and there wasn’t a damn thing to be done about it.

“Sam.” She wrapped herself around him, hanging on as if her life depended on it. At the moment, it quite possibly did. “Sam.”

He rolled to his side, keeping their bodies entwined in every sense. His cock still filled her, warm and strong. His arms encircled her, protective and sure. His voice flowed over her as he brushed his mouth across her face, capturing her tears. “It’s all right. It’s all right, my sweet mouse.”

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