Page 55 of Mortal Heart

And of course, because everything with Ronan was a competition, he used his tongue in a quite different place than she’d expected, eliciting a muffled cry of surprise.

“Can’t take it?” he asked from behind her, his tone mocking.

She grazed him lightly with her teeth to make him writhe before she replied. “I can take anything you can dish out,” she told him when her mouth was free.

It was, she reflected some hazy time later, maybe not the wisest thing to have said to a man like Ronan, because he took her at her word.

His size presented a real challenge. She liked challenges as a general rule, but even after plenty of prep, at a key moment she found herself covered in sweat and trembling.

With his arm around her waist from behind, he kissed her ear. “You trust me,” he said softly.

It wasn’t a question, but she nodded. “Yes.”

“Then relax. We’ll take our time.”

She eased back against him and gasped. He stayed still with his arm around her waist, his other hand stroking her gently but purposefully. Everything he did, he did with careful attention to maximizing her pleasure as well as his own. And though it had to take Herculean effort, he didn’t so much as twitch until she’d slid all the way back against him and told him she was okay.

She was stunned when the moment he moved, she came with a cry.

“There you go,” he murmured, his hands on her hips as he thrust gently. His movements turned her cry into screams of pleasure. She bent over on her knees to make it easier for him, her bound hands gripping the comforter.

As difficult as the process had been, she’d never felt anything as good as how he filled her so completely. She had no doubt it felt every bit as good to him too. His breathing turned ragged almost immediately, and he had to stop every few strokes to stay in control.

“You don’t have to hold back,” she said, her cheek pressed to the bed as he groaned and slowed his movements again. “Come for me.”

“Isn’t that my line?” He kissed her back. “I think you have a few more to go.”

“I really don’t. You’ve wrung me dry.” She tugged her hands free of her panties and ran her fingertips up and down his hard thighs. “Come all over me, baby. I want you to.”

He kept stroking in and out of her with infuriating slowness. “I’m sure you don’t mean that.”

“I’m sure Ido.” She dug her nails into his thighs. “Otherwise, I wouldn’t have said so.”

His voice sounded a little strained when he said, “Then turn around.”

She eased away from him and turned to face him, sitting back on her heels. He stroked himself, his gaze locked on hers. “My Valkyrie,” he rasped.

She smiled and licked her lips. “My fallen angel.”

He groaned, shuddered, and came. She waited until the first spurts splashed across her face and chest, and then she caught the last few on her tongue.

When he finally fell back, she smiled at him. He was breathing hard, his broad chest rising and falling in a way she found rather hypnotizing. “I enjoyed that immensely, Miss Woodall.”

She winked. “I could tell.”

A few minutes later, once they’d recovered somewhat, she rose from the bed and tugged on his hand. “Join me in the shower?”

“With pleasure.” He followed her into the bathroom and watched as she turned on the spray in the large glass custom shower. “This is a much nicer bathroom than I’d imagined, given the size of your house.”

“The bathroom is my one indulgence.” She chuckled. “I like having a small house, but I’m a tall gal. I need a great big shower. It especially comes in handy when I want to shower with an oversized bounty hunter.”

His eyes sparkled. “I thought you rather approved of my size, Miss Woodall. You said so several times.”

“I guess I probably did.” She stood under the sprayer and closed her eyes as the water streamed over her head and down her body.

She hadn’t heard him approach, but when she wiped the water out of her eyes and stepped out of the spray, he was in front of her. His expression had turned serious. He seemed to be bracing himself. The man who’d claimed to fear almost nothing seemed to fear even now that she might reject him.

“Long, long ago, my name was Remiel,” he said. “I’ve lived among humans as Ronan for nearly six hundred human years.”

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