Page 54 of Hero's Heart

Not wanting her was the polar opposite of the truth.

Wordlessly, he stepped forward, closing the small distance between them. He cupped her cheek as he claimed her lips in asearing kiss, filled with promise and passion. She melted against him, her fingers threading through his hair, holding him close. In that moment, the last of his doubts burned away.

He deepened the kiss, wrapping his arms around her waist as her body pressed closely to his. He knew she could feel his erection, her hips wiggling against his.

He also knew if she kept doing that, this was going to be over way too fast. He wanted her first time to be as special as possible.

He trailed kisses from her lips down her neck to her collarbone. He was particularly gentle as he grazed the bruises dotting her chest, making sure he didn’t hurt her. She threaded her fingers through his hair gently at first, as if pulling him to her to continue. The lower his lips got, the tighter her pull became.

Good.

He made quick work of removing her stolen dress and bra, then laid her on the bed, a groan escaping the back of his throat as his lips finally met her breast.

Each part of her was so soft, so perfect, despite the bruises. His fists clenched into the sheets as he thought about the men who’d kidnapped her. Who’d hurt her. He’d do anything in his power to make sure they never hurt her again.

But those bastards, particularly Nikola, had no place in this bed. Not in his mind or hers. Callum listened for Sloane’s sighs, felt for when her fingers clutched. He wanted to make sure she was just as enthralled with what was going on as he was.

And he was so enthralled with her soft skin and the sound of her sexy moans as he focused on her breasts that he could barely remember his own name.

He trailed his tongue down her stomach until he came to her plain cotton underwear. “Is it okay to take these off?”

“Yes,” she managed to breathe out, her voice coming out in a hoarse pant.

Slowly, he pulled them down as if they were delicate tissue paper instead of the clearance garments provided by the safe house.

She froze as he sat there just staring at her once she was completely bare in front of him. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. There’s absolutely nothing wrong. You’re beautiful.” That was the fucking truth. “Don’t move.”

He could hardly tear his eyes away from her as he made quick work of his own clothes until he was down to nothing but his underwear. He rushed into the bathroom and grabbed condoms from the drawer, sending out a silent thought of thanks to Lincoln for getting them a fully stocked safe house.

“Is…is everything okay?” she asked as he came back into the bedroom.

“Yes.” He dropped the condoms on the small bedside table. “Condoms. But first, I want to taste you.” He moved down to her feet and began kissing up her leg. “Is that okay?”

She propped up on her elbows and looked down at him, those big blue eyes wider than he’d ever seen them. “I’ve never done that either. Is that okay?”

“More than okay.” He trailed kisses up her calf. “You don’t need to do anything butfeel, okay? There’s nothing you could possibly do that would be wrong.”

By the time he made it up to her knees, she’d collapsed back against the pillows. At her inner thighs, her fingers found their way into his hair again, clenching with each gentle nip his teeth made toward more sensitive flesh.

Good. He wanted to give her something much more pleasurable to remember than the bruises that marred her soft skin.

She whispered his name as he eased her thighs farther apart and licked her from top to bottom. God, she tasted as sweet as he’d known she would.

He slid his arms under her thighs and wrapped them back around to grip her hips, holding her exactly where he wanted her so he could do exactly what he wanted to.

Feaston her.

He used his tongue and fingers to coax pleasure out of her, listening to the sexy moans she made and when her breath hitched to know what she liked.

Long and slow, he devoured her, taking his time, enjoying the feeling of her fingers in his hair, dragging his mouth closer and wordlessly asking for more.

And he loved the sound of his name on her lips as her orgasm crashed over her.

He kissed his way up her body, her dazed eyes staring at him. “That was amazing.”

He smiled. “It’s okay if you want to stop there.” It was probably better, honestly, if they didn’t cross that final line.

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