Page 41 of Fight

My nipples hardened, and his warm palm against the tight point sent a wave of tremors through me, tremors that magnified when he squeezed lightly.

“Ioan,” I moaned, hearing the desperate beg in my voice and not caring at all.

He squeezed again, and then began to trail down my neck, sprinkling kisses against the top of my collarbone and any other part of my skin not covered by my shirt.

Then he was gone, pulled away.

My eyes had closed completely, and I opened them to meet his, frowning in disappointment.

Disappointment that was soon gone when he reached for the hem of my shirt and pulled it up and over my head.

He looked down, and I tried to see myself through his eyes. He’d see my dark nipples pebbled through my cheap white bra, the fullness of my breasts, my not-flat stomach and how the waistband of the pants cut into it, the exaggerated curve of my hips.

None of these things had ever brought any particular feeling in me, shame or pride. My body had simply been the thing I inhabited, something I wanted to protect from those who wanted to hurt me.

But when Ioan looked at me, I considered it might be more, saw the little embers of fire in his eyes, something that even I recognized as pleasure and desire, and the passion I’d felt before he looked at me paled in comparison.

This kind, handsome man had saved me, and now he desired me.

Which made no sense. He shouldn’t have saved me, and he most certainly shouldn’t have desired me, but I didn’t care. All that mattered was what we had now. I couldn’t fight it.

Instead, I stood straighter, pulled my shoulders back, and met his eyes.

He wanted me, and I wanted him. I wasn’t brave enough to say the words, but there could be no doubt he knew I was his for the taking.

Something he seemed to appreciate.

There was the briefest flash of a smile on his face and then he reached up, tracing his rough fingertips against my stomach and up over the curve of my breast, lingering for just a moment on my puckered nipple before he moved up farther.

He reached my shoulder, slid the bra strap down until my breast was bared to him.

Under the cooler air and his intense gaze, my already hard nipple firmed that much more, and I cried out when Ioan circled the tight bud with one finger and then traced his thumb over it, the touch against my sensitive skin ripping a sigh from my throat.

He did the same with the other breast, sliding the strap down my arm and then teasing that nipple, both of his hands holding me, working at me so expertly, I thought I might go crazy with the pleasure of it.

But those sensations, wild, unlike any I had ever experienced, were nothing compared to the feeling when he kissed down my chest again, lips lingering here and there on my skin until he closed his mouth around one of my nipples.

He sucked hard, and my knees buckled.

But he was there, his strong arm around my waist holding me up.

He’ll always catch me.

I couldn’t think that, so I grabbed his shoulders, holding tight and curled my fingers in the hair at the base of his neck, unable to form words, thoughts really, simply stuck in the sensation of Ioan’s touch.

He continued sucking hard, switching from one breast to the other, and when he trailed his hand around my waist and popped open the button of my jeans, I thought I would come on the spot even though he hadn’t touched me in the place I needed him to the most. Then he dipped his hand into my panties, settled his fingers at the seat of my crotch, and had I had any awareness, I would have been embarrassed at the wetness he found there.

But there wasn’t embarrassment, only need. “Please…”

I only realized it was me speaking after the sound of the words had faded. I wasn’t even sure what I was asking for, but Ioan must have known. He scraped his tongue across my nipple and then sucked harder, as he tightened his hand, crushing the heel of his palm against my clit.

His harsh breath brushed against my skin and he squeezed me harder, touching me like he knew me. Touching me like I was his.

I should have hated that, but I didn’t, couldn’t think of anything I wanted more than to be his, have him be mine.

That thought mixed with the insistent pressure of Ioan’s hand against my sex sent the climax rocketing through me like an explosion, one that shook me down to my bones. My vision blurred at the edges, my lungs squeezing tight in my chest, Ioan’s hand, his hot, insistent tongue the only things that mattered in the world.

My body buzzed but my mind calmed by degrees, and when I finally regained some control, I met his dark, heavy-lidded eyes. He released my breast and stood up straight, eyes still on mine. The cooling prickle of my skin still wet from his mouth and the warmth of his hand touching me so intimately had me shifting back into overdrive again.

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