Page 47 of Fighting for Ella

Fingers caressed her cheek before gently grasping her chin and angling her head so she was looking over her shoulder with no choice but to meet Miguel’s dark eyes.

“I like sex, Ella. I like no strings attached sex which I think is what you're trying to offer me here, but I don’t think it’s what you like. I don’t want to be something you regret in the morning. Especially when you feel like you don’t have anyone on your side right now, and I think you trust me to be there for you.”

“I do,” she whispered, unable to break eye contact now it had been established. Something about this man drew her in like a moth to the flame. Ella knew she was going to wind up getting burned yet she couldn’t seem to stop herself.

“Then we compromise. You let me make you feel good if you're certain that’s what you want but no sex.”

If she couldn’t feel the bulge in his pants, then she might have thought he wasn’t interested in her, but that clearly wasn't the case. He was attracted to her, and she hoped he was just trying to be noble and there was nothing more to it.

“Are you only agreeing to touch me because you feel sorry for me?” she asked. Normally, Ella wouldn't be so forward. She wasn't shy but wasn't overly confident in herself either.

“Hell no,” he said vehemently. “I feel bad for everything you had to go through and for what would have happened if I hadn'tfound you in the jungle. But I don’t pity you. You're too strong to deserve anyone’s pity.”

“I don’t feel strong, Miguel,” she said softly. “I feel … empty. Take me upstairs and make me feel something else, please. I need you.”

Something sparked in his eyes.

Something that looked a lot like disappointment and shame.

But he hid it quickly, and then the next thing Ella knew she was being swept up into a strong pair of arms. Despite having seen this man in action, seen him kill, seen him take blow after blow, she found a softness to him that she liked even more than his strength.

In her bathroom, Miguel set her on her feet. After pressing a tender kiss to her forehead—a kiss that almost brought her to her knees because it was every bit the sweetness and connectedness she needed right now—he grabbed the hem of her Oodie and pulled it over her head.

Next, he grabbed the waistband of her leggings and panties and eased them down her legs. When she stepped out of them, she was left completely naked before him and the embarrassment she thought she should feel was absent. All she felt around Miguel was comfortable.

Fingers fumbling in her hair, he was able to untie the band holding her hair in a bun and it tumbled free, hanging around her shoulders in long, blonde locks.

“Much better,” he murmured as he ran his fingers through her hair and then framed her face, his palms warn and rough against her cheeks. “Almost as beautiful as you are strong,” Miguel said with a wink before leaning in to brush his lips across hers.

Then he was gone, opening the glass door to her walk-in shower and leaning over to turn on the faucets before stripping out of his clothes, leaving him gloriously naked. She’d seen menwho looked like him before, worked with a whole bunch of them, but usually when she dated it tended to be fellow musicians. It never worked out because, in the end, they wound up jealous of her talent even though she gave only a handful of concerts a year and her music wasn't the center of her life.

Seeing Miguel now, his wide chest, his chiseled abs, the bulging muscles of his arms, it was like looking at one of those marble statues sprung to life. Most impressive was his length that stood rock hard and at attention.

It was so irresistible that when Miguel reached her for and guided her into the now steamy shower, Ella couldn’t resist stroking her fingertips along it.

“Babe,” Miguel groaned, making her grin as the nightmare of the last few days slipped out of her mind.

“What?” she asked innocently, stepping under the spray.

“This is about you. Me touching you, no sex.”

“I can touch you, too, that isn’t sex,” she sassed back, feeling strong and powerful in this moment with this gorgeous man beside her. She knew what he’d been about to sacrifice for her, knew what effects the drug Raul Castillo wanted to give him would have, and she wanted to show how much she appreciated everything he’d done for her.

Besides, he was the one who’d made the no sex rule, not her.

She was all for as much touching, as much pleasure as they could give one another before the clock struck twelve, and like Cinderella, she had to go back to her regular life and face all her problems all over again.

“You're all sugar on the outside and spice on the inside, aren't you?” he teased as he reached for the shower massager. Just the sight of it in his hand, as he fiddled with the settings, had her bud beginning to throb in anticipation.

It had been a while since she’d had a boyfriend, almost a year, and while she wasn't averse to a little solo play, she rarelyhad time. It had probably been six months since her last orgasm and her body felt like it was wound up so tightly it wasn't going to take much to make her snap.

“Come here,” Miguel ordered, positioned her under the spray so her palms were pressed against the tiles, then nudged her legs apart so he could drag a fingertip along her center.

When that same finger circled her entrance before slipping inside, Ella moaned, greedily pushing her hips back to seek more.

Miguel just chuckled and stroked deep, managing to angle things just right so he brushed across the spot inside her that made a tingle ripple out across her body. Then he was crowding against her back shifting the shower head so the water pulsed against her bundle of nerves as another finger joined the first inside her.

Pressed as he was against her, Ella could feel the hard ridge of his erection, and as pleasure began to build inside her she reached back and grasped his length. His giving her something and her not being able to return the favor felt wrong, it felt too much like using him. This man might be little more than a stranger, but he felt like something else, something more.

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