Page 168 of Protective Heroes

Dark, dangerous, dominant. Every last syllable of the words she’d heard whispered through shared friends about Dyson came back. Tonight she got to see a little bit of that.

She wound her arms around his neck and let the silence cling to them as he devoured her. He groaned into her mouth, swirling his tongue around hers. His empty hand pulled her against him and the hard rod of his cock pressed into her lower abdomen.

Part of her wanted to tear away and demand answers, but fear? Curiosity? The need to feel him parting her thighs and thrusting his big cock into her aching pussy drove her to return his kiss.

Hell, all the above and more had her hands coming up to cup his face, the light stubble from the day rough against her soft palms.

“Dyson, what are we doing?” Panting like she was in heat for him like some animal, Shay pulled back far enough to peer into his eyes.

He nipped her bottom lip before answering. “I told you. I am dead serious about fucking you past wild and fun and taking you into claiming territory.”

She blinked up at him.

“Claiming?” she breathed out.

He growled and dropped the tequila bottle and glasses in the sand beside them. “I didn’t stutter. Now talk to me. What’s bothering you? And don’t try to hide it. I can see it all over your face.”

His dark gaze pierced hers and wouldn’t let her look away. Why did he have to be so perceptive and see so deeply into her? Who was she kidding? He’s always been able to read her moods and know when something bothered her.

Shay smiled and turned toward the water, digging her toes into the sand.

“Tell me, Shay.”

“There’s nothing to tell.” She offered a small grin and snagged a flyaway strand of hair between her fingers. Anything to keep her hands to herself and brain out of bed with him.

But still, the quiet demand in his voice worked over her, and for a second, tore at the need to fall into his arms and tell him every last detail until he promised to fix all her problems for her looked appealing. For all of five seconds. And then reality bitch slapped her with a two-by-four in the form of her grandmother’s old saying.

Chin up, no one wants to see a woman cry.

Her late abuela’s words echoed in her mind. She’d heard the mantra often enough, but the sting of their meaning never went away. The voice grew louder the closer she came to losing everything, and the harder it was to be strong. To make matters worse, the mother she knew as a child would be so disappointed.

“That’s okay. Keep your secrets for now, precious. It won’t be long before I’m pulling them from you.” Dyson’s body heat brushed against her bare arms and shoulders as he stepped behind her and wrapped her in his arms.

She bit her lip, fighting back the urge to lean into him. One sliver of weakness and she would cave.

Letting him close when she was so vulnerable would break her. She knew better than to take their sexcapades over the past months beyond what they’d agreed on—friends with benefits when he was in town.

Dyson was away months on end building his own career in the military. She had no right to burden him with her problems. Besides, she had to keep her head firmly rooted in reality. What they had was casual. Don’t get her wrong, it was fun, but blurring the lines would end the one enjoyable thing she had in her life right now. Besides, nothing good ever came out of letting people that close to her heart.

Her mother had with her father, and that turned into nothing but heartache and more pain than her mother could bear. Love obviously took a hell of a lot more strength than what ran in her family.

“So what did you want to show me?” She turned to look up at him changing the subject.

He knew it too with how he arched a brow as he peered down at her with a knowing look that said he read into her. Let him. Didn’t mean she had to talk.

The fabric of his casual button-down shirt clung to every inch if his well-toned chest and abs. Each ripped muscle was outlined to reveal the hardened Marine beneath. It was all she could do to not reach out and let her hands do the talking along all those delicious contours.

She’d already kissed her way down his chest more than once and knew exactly what lay at the end of that hidden treasure trail. Her mouth watered for she couldn’t help but lick her lips.

She loved how his tousled hair looked so boyish yet sexy at the same time. Only he could pull off that look.

Ugh. Damn it. There went her slutty muse with ideas of burying her fingers in that mussed hair and pulling him closer for a kiss.

He must have read her thoughts with the way a sexy smile pulled at his lips.

A pulse of heat pierced her efforts of beating back her crazy need to feel him pressed against her, his legs parting her thighs. Her pussy contracted and warm liquid wet the thin strip of her thong.

No.

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