Page 62 of Protected Hearts

Another laugh bubbled up from the pit of her stomach. “I can see it now.”

“Willow wasn’t getting pregnant on my watch. I wasnotgoing to be Uncle Oaks.”

Her heart swelled at these stories. He was such a special man.

She was glad he was the man she was forced to marry.

Setting down her wine glass, she searched his gaze. “If someone had to buy me to save me from a Russian marriage, I’m glad it was you. That was a lot of cryptocurrency you shelled out for me. Someday I’ll pay you back.”

He leaned over the table, holding her stare. “Baby, I’d empty my whole vault for you.”

Andshewould do anything to save him from William. She would meet her ex and finally hand over the files, then hurry back to the Black Heart Ranch. To Oaks. Then he would be safe.

* * * * *

The springs of the guest bed squeaked lightly with every thrust of Oaks’s hips. Shiloh’s soft moans added to the sensual music they were creating.

Her thighs clamped around him tighter, and she looped her arms around his shoulders, yanking him closer. The kiss of her warm skin against his had him blazing with need.

He’d only plunged his cock inside her seconds before, and already he was about to blow. Dark wisps of need curled around the base of his spine, teasing him with a release that he knew would be more intense than ever before.

With his weight braced on his arms, he jerked his hips into hers hard. Harder.

She let out a cry of bliss and locked her ankles behind his back, digging her heels into his ass as she tried to bring him even deeper.

The new angle made him slip in another millimeter, and they shared a groan. The slippery feel of her insides clenching him from base to tip left him shaking on the verge of release.

She’d come for him once already, when he fingered her pussy up against the dining room wall. Then a second time after they made it to the guest room and he tore off all her clothes and tossed her onto the bed, where he spread her wide and went down on her.

The taste of her still flooded his head, driving him on and on toward a blinding end.

“O-hhh-ks!” His name ripped from her throat in a disjointed moan as he plunged inside her.

“Fuck, honey! I’m there. I’m…” All thought fled from his brain as his orgasm hit. Shocks zapped through his body, accompanying each hard jet of cum from his cock.

He only knew sensation and the soft croon of Shiloh’s voice as she strummed her fingers down his spine. Each gentle caresssent another shockwave through his system. The heat pulsed between them for long moments.

Leaning in, he claimed her lips. The tender brush of his mouth across hers would never be enough to show her all the things he felt right this moment.

He gathered her close, breathing in her scent. “Shiloh…honey.”

She curled her fingers into his nape, holding her close. “Don’t say anything. Don’t ruin the moment.”

He lifted his head and pierced her in his gaze. “I want to say things.”

“What things?”

“Allthe things. Like… Christ, Shiloh.” He stared at her for long heartbeats, trying to figure out how to admit to doing something that he had feared for years—falling in love. As a SEAL, there was no guarantee he’d come back from an op, and if he did, he may be very, very changed, just like the men here on the Black Heart Ranch.

He had to tell her. She had to know.

The words pushed through his vocal cords, past his lips. “I’m…in love with you.”

Her hands stilled on his spine. She held her breath. “Oh my god. Oaks. I-I’ve been feeling the same way.”

He searched her eyes for the truth and saw it glimmering back at him like two candle flames. “I’m not just spouting words, honey. I mean it. I never say this to anyone. Not siblings, and especially not women.”

Her breath hitched.

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