Page 112 of Damaged Protector

He rubbed his hand over his mouth, fingers trailing through his black beard. “Yeah.” His mouth turned down at the corners. “Please don’t cry, baby. I hate seeing you upset.”

I realized tears were streaming down my face and swiped them away. “You’re such a good man, Tate Gentry.”

He didn’t say anything, but I could tell by the slight dipping of his eyes that he didn’t believe my words.

“I mean it. You’re telling me about something horrible that happened to you, and all you’re worried about is that I’m crying. You’re sweet down below all that hardness.”

He blinked and shifted his eyes to the side, embarrassed at my praise. “Anyway, the point of telling you all that is so you’d understand why I am like I am. I made certain choices about my life, but it doesn’t mean I have to sleep around all the time.”

“What are you saying?”

“I’m saying that as long as we’re doing… whatever this is we’re doing… I won’t be with any other women.”

Well, that was a shocker. “Why?”

“Number one, it would be disrespectful to you, and number two, I just don’t want to.”

I wished I was there so I could touch his face, press my lips against his beard, run my finger down his straight nose and over the creases in his forehead.

“Thank you,” I said softly. “I know we’re just having some fun together until I leave in August, but hearing you say that makes me feel better.”

He nodded. “I didn’t mean to get all heavy on you. I just wanted to call and put your mind at ease since you got so jealous earlier.”

There was a teasing quality to his tone, so I lifted my eyebrows. “Jealous? Need I remind you of the Xander incident?”

“Who the fuck is Xander?”

“The rock star guy?”

Hawk’s nose scrunched up. “Yeah, fuck that prick.”

I laughed for the first time in hours. “I miss not having you here tonight.”

His mouth softened into a smile. “You miss me?”

Shrugging with faux nonchalance, I said, “Meh, not really. I was just trying to be nice.”

His grin turned wicked. “I think you’re missing my mouth on your pussy. You’ve gotten addicted to coming every night this week, and now your body is craving me.”

He nailed it a hundred percent, but I deflected. “I think it’s the other way around. You called me because you were imagining where on my body you were going to come next.”

Hawk’s perfectly etched mouth parted on a groan. “Actually, I was thinking about coming inside your body, not on it.”

My thighs smashed together, seeking some much-needed friction at the images that brought to mind. “I want that, but… I’m not experienced. I don’t want you to be disappointed.”

His lips ticked up at the edges. “You could never disappoint me, Bee. I’ve had my fingers and my tongue inside your tight little cunt, and it’s perfect.” He closed his eyes and moaned as his body shifted. “Just thinking about being inside you has got me so hard I’m going to have to jerk off before I can even sleep.”

My teeth sank into my bottom lip as I caught movement from his right arm. Is he touching himself right now?

Before I could process my words, I asked, “Can I watch?”

His eyes popped open and then narrowed, a look of pure, carnal desire taking root there. “If I can watch you too.”

Hoo boy.

“Tell me what to do.”

“Go to my bedroom,” he said, and I stood without question and headed down the hallway. “Good, baby. Prop the phone up on the dresser and strip for me.”

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