Page 84 of The Fallen One

He went so still, so quiet, if not for the feel of his body heat and his hands locked with mine, I’d have believed he’d left me. Then came the order, “Look at me, Diana,” that had me arching into him. “Are you sure you want my mouth on yours?”

Lids parted now, I watched as he searched my face for a sign of doubt, one he’d never find. Not even after today’s events.

“I need to know if what I’m feeling is real, or if I’m imagining it. Please. Help me understand,” I begged, my voice saturated with thirteen years of guilt and longing for this man.

“Of course it’s real.” The tight strain of his jaw became more prominent. “It’s so real I’m going to do something I haven’t done in a very long time.”

“What’s that?” I asked, breathless.

He angled his head while tightening his hold of my hands, and the words came out slow, firm, and deliberate: “Lose my control.”

34

CARTER

My mouth crashed over hers. I took it. Claimed it. Fucking owned it.

Swallowing her moan, our tongues met, and she let me lead but gave back as much as I gave her.

I kept my hold of her, keeping her pinned between my body and the wall, not prepared to let go. She was mine. Fuck was she ever. This kiss confirmed it, lighting up every one of my senses.

Tasting her. Smelling her. Feeling her. I’d never been lightheaded from a woman’s mouth before, not even . . .

I nearly growled out my anger, furious with my mind for taking a detour from an experience with heaven. Or as close to it as my dark soul would ever get.

“Carter,” she cried into my mouth.

I captured her bottom lip and sucked it. Then trailed my mouth to her jawline and over to her ear. “What do you want?”

“To touch you,” she begged. “Please.”

I’d already lost control. Snapped. Why not let the train of my denial keep running a bit longer?

Breathing hard, my dick straining against the heavy weight of the cargo pants as she shimmied against me, I released her hands, uncertain what she planned to do but curious to find out.

I wasn’t accustomed to letting someone touch me while I . . .

But wait, we weren’t . . . Shit, I had to end this.

She tore a hand through my hair and grabbed hold of my back with the other while rubbing up against me, and I?—

Just one more minute. I’d give myself just one more.

I held her hip with one hand and hooked my other under her knee, drawing her thigh to my side so she could better feel my cock.

I stole my name falling from her lips with a kiss, not wanting anyone to hear her. Not any of her moans, either, which were meant for me and no one else.

Using the wall for support, I kept her back to it so I could work my calloused palms to her ass, hating the denim getting in my way of feeling her flesh. I couldn’t mark her skin with my hand, this woman was too precious and sweet for that, but it didn’t stop me from thinking about doing it.

A tight band of pressure journeyed from my abdomen into my chest as I swallowed another one of her breathy sighs.

When she began kissing my jawline, still fisting my hair and burying her fingers into my back, I about unzipped my pants and plunged my cock into her.

“Diana . . .” Fuuuuck. “You need to stop grinding against me.”

This was only supposed to be a kiss. Just the one-and-done kind. What was happening between us now was utter chaos, and I didn’t know what to do with that. I didn’t have a damn clue how to handle this woman.

“I’m sorry,” she panted. “I’ve just never felt . . .” Her tongue skimmed along the seam of her lips, and I leaned in and caught it. Sucked it.

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