Page 158 of Unexpected Hero

I need her.

She brings something to life in me I never knew existed. With Lettie, I’m no longer a hollow shell of a man.

I’m more.

All my patience spent, I pick her up with the sole purpose of expediting our trek through my house. She wraps her soft thighs around my waist, and I swear to fuck, nothing has ever felt more natural than that.

When I break the kiss to fill my lungs, she trails kisses along my jawline and neck before licking the outer shell of my ear.My cock stiffens impossibly harder, digging the head into the back of my zipper.

“Dammit, Lettie. Fuck,” I rumble, the husky sound coming from deep in my throat.

Skin on skin, my palms cushion the swell of her ass as I bolt across the room.Damn these fucking skirts she’s always wearing. I’ve dreamed of having my hands under one far too many times. Before setting her on my bed, I grope her cheeks indulgently, reveling in the perfection of those plump mounds filling the large spread of my hands.

Once she’s on my bed — where I’ve always wanted her — she attempts to scoot toward the center, but I halt her progress with a caveman grunt. Words are getting harder to find as my desire for her crescendos. Grabbing her by the ankles, I drag her roughly back to the edge of the mattress, spread her legs, and kneel between her thighs.

“Oh. Uh. Okay,” she mutters comically. Or is that nervousness?

The sudden way her eyes doubled in size and how she studies our positioning leaves me questioning her comfort level.

My greedy hands skim up her legs and pulse around her supple thighs, but I wait for her to focus on my face before reassuring her. “Relax, sugar bear. I’m gonna take care of you.”

As my promise cascades over her, she visibly relaxes. A sigh dances from her sweet mouth to my ears. “I know you will.”She ambushes me with a dazzling smile that spreads up to her hypnotic blue eyes. “You always take care of me, don’t you?”

“Yes. And I always will.”

The tenderness shining in her eyes and woven into her face threatens to break me.

I know you will, that look says. I trust you, it says.

With definitive confidence, she believes my intentions — caring for and protecting her.

I swallow back the fear that simple statement brings forth. If she knew how much I’ve been taking care of her, she probably wouldn’t be here in my bed.

Or would she understand it’s my way of showing her how I feel?

Until this moment, I didn’t know how badly I needed her reassurance. She might not mean it the way I’m taking it, but I don’t care. For now, I’ll let myself believe she understands and accepts the way I care for her. The way I look over her, protecting her always.

Tonight, I’m okay fooling myself.

I knead her thighs, licking my lips as I contemplate my next move. So many tempting options.

In all things, not just sexually, I prefer to employ a deliberate strategy. Not this time, though.

Instead, all I have is a goal — pleasure. Tonight, I’ll satisfy this ache that’s been building since we met and for me, long before that.

Bending from the waist, she reaches for me. “Kiss me, please.”

Her words, so polite and demure, while also direct, remind me of my true nature — a man who craves her submission and never takes orders. Not in here.

I rise from my knees, hovering over her. “Soon, I’ll fuck those manners out of you. You’ll still be begging, but not all sweet like that.”

She grins coyly at me. “You don’t want me to ask nicely?”

“I want to see you go wild, baby. I’m planning to bring out the nasty, wanton animal inside you. The one you didn’t know was there.”

“Good luck with that. My manners are hard-coded into my brain,” she teases with a flirty eye roll. “So is that a no on the kiss then? Because I still want one of those.”

I cluck my tongue at her. “From manners to sassy in two sentences, huh? I can fuck that out of you too.”

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