Page 54 of Hero's Prize

He knew she was skeptical, and there was nothing he would like more than to prove that he was more than capable of doing exactly what he threatened. As a matter of fact, he would definitely be proving that to her—first, that whatever she thought her weight problem was, it wasn’t a factor, and also, that he was more than capable of handling every ounce of her.

Lying, sitting, standing…he’d take her all the ways he could get her.

But tonight, he really wanted her in a bed. So, when she pointed down a small hallway, he headed in that direction.

“I should have never taken a nap that night. Shame on me.” He laid her on the bed.

“I actually liked that you needed a nap. It was just when I thought the other was true that I…”

“In case I haven’t made it abundantly clear, that night, this night, every night we have together… None of them will ever be out of pity.” He unbuttoned her blouse. “Unless it’s you taking pity on me.”

He moved his lips across her jaw and down her throat, paying attention to where her breath hitched. Interesting how his sweet little Ella liked pressure that almost bordered on pain. Liked it when he grazed his teeth against her neck. Liked it when he made quick work of her bra and sucked hard on one breast and then the other. She gripped his hair, pulling him closer to her.

“I want you inside me.”

“Don’t worry, I’m going to be. But I want to taste you first.”

He unzipped her jeans and slid them over her hips and down her legs, leaving her gloriously naked, laid out on the bed.

“I made way too many tactical errors last time.”

Concern fell over her pretty face. She shook her head. “No. No, it was amazing for me.”

“I’m glad, although it couldn’t possibly have been as good for you as it was for me. But what I mean is that I didn’t take my time and appreciate you the way I should have. I assumed we had all night, when I should not have taken that for granted.”

“I’m sorry I left without giving you a chance to talk things out with me.”

He reached over and trailed his fingers gently down her cheek. “I’m mostly sorry that those thoughts went through your head at all, Butterscotch.”

He was going to do his damnedest to make sure that never happened again.

He made short work of his own clothes then reached down and ran a hand up her leg, starting at her ankle. She was shy, trying to close herself off to him.

His mouth began to follow the same trail his hand had taken. “Too late to get shy on me now, Butterscotch. I want to see you. I want to taste you.”

He eased her thighs open, wishing he could make her understand how beautiful she was to him in every possible way. All he could do was show her.

And that was exactly what he did.

CHAPTER

TWENTY

Colton couldn’t get his eyes to close. He wasn’t sure if it was a result of the two bouts of amazing sex they’d had, still processing that Ella had actually thought he’d considered her a pity fuck, or the residual stress that had led him to her shop in the first place.

“You’re not sleeping,” Ella said, softly snuggled up against him long minutes later.

He tightened his arm around her then trailed his fingers up and down her spine. “Maybe I’m making sure you don’t sneak out again.”

She chuckled. He loved the sound. “If I promise no sneaking out, will you go to sleep?”

He probably wouldn’t, if previous nights when panic attacks had woken him up were any indication, but there was no reason to keep her awake also. “Yes, since I don’t have to keep watch on any little runaways. Go to sleep.” He kissed the top of her head.

He lay there in silence, staring up at the ceiling. Having Ella here was better all the way around. No, maybe he wouldn’t get sleep, but at least he had her close by.

He didn’t tend to be very woo-woo, but it felt like somewhere her peaceful aura was combining with his—lending some of her gentle strength.

“You’re still not sleeping, are you?” she asked after a long time.

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