Page 62 of Explosive Vengeance

He bent, smoothing his lips over the brand on her left hip. The branding process had killed the nerve endings there, but she felt the caress deep in her heart.

Then he straightened, his eyes so intent the breath backed up in her lungs. Her heart thundered in her ears, that first slow thrust inside her dragging a cry from her throat.

She gripped the sheet beneath her, forgot how to breathe when he reached around to cup her mound, two big fingers gliding over her clit while he pushed deeper. Stretching her, filling her completely.

“I need you.” Her voice cracked. She bit down on the inside of her cheek to keep from blurting out anything else, her emotions raw and volatile.

“I’m right here.Feelme,” he urged in that delicious, deep voice. “Feel me inside you.”

She didn’t have a choice. He was hard and thick and hot, stroking her in time with his fingers. Release hovered at the edge of her consciousness, explosive and terrifying. But there was no going back now, her body had taken over, rocking with him as ragged moans poured from her throat.

“Let me make you come,” he whispered, his mouth at the side of her neck, his tongue caressing another sensitive spot. “I want to feel you clench around my cock.”

The pleasure intensified, rising and rising with his smooth, controlled rhythm. Chloe writhed in his hold, helpless as the rush took her. She bucked when it hit, her cries loud in the room.

“Ahh, Chloe.” Heath’s voice dropped to a ragged groan at her ear. He went rigid against her back and shuddered, buried deep inside her as he came. His forehead dropped to her shoulder, their ragged breaths mingling in the silence.

She lowered herself to her stomach, trying to catch her breath. But as soon as the physical release faded, the emotions she’d locked inside began to bubble up. They beat at the lid of the box she’d shoved them into with increasing force, threatening to burst free. And it only got worse when Heath curved his heavy arms under her and turned them so she was tucked into the cradle of his body.

She squeezed her eyes shut and swallowed hard.No. Not like this.

It hurt. Hurt to know what her failure had cost, and hurt worse to be emotionally attached to a man she couldn’t have.

The pain ripped through her with sharp talons. Guilt. Grief. Impending loss. Of knowing she would wind up alone again soon.

A bubble of panic rose in her chest. She shoved upward, trying to twist away, a split second away from the dam bursting and not wanting him to witness that final humiliation.

“Don’t,” he said softly, pulling her to his chest this time. “You don’t need to hide it.”

She shook her head, shoving at his shoulders, frantic to prevent him from seeing her fall apart. “Let me go,” she managed between gritted teeth. Tears were already burning her eyes, scalding the back of her throat and filling her chest with fire.

He didn’t. His arms tightened and he cupped the back of her head in one hand, pulling her firmly into him.

Nooo…

Chloe’s shoulders jerked on a dry sob she struggled to contain. Damn him, he wouldn’t let go, and she didn’t have the heart to hurt him to get free. So she did the only thing she could, shoving her face into his chest as she crumpled beneath the pain.

She couldn’t remember the last time she’d cried, but this level of agony was what she remembered feeling when her mom died. There was no controlling it. No compartmentalizing it.

Hard, painful sobs ripped through her. She choked on them, her throat and chest on fire.

Through it all Heath said nothing, just held her tight. So tight, his whole body curving around her, his arms surrounding her with fierce pressure. As though he wanted to absorb her pain, take it himself to lessen her suffering. Offering her shelter and comfort. Understanding.

It broke her heart, shattering the shields she’d spent a lifetime reinforcing. And when the storm finally passed, she sagged in his arms, lying limp as her upper body jerked with the aftershocks of her tears.

She lay there, wrecked as a new clarity took hold, sweeping away the fog in her mind. Fleur was gone, and soon she would lose Heath forever as well.

Chapter Twenty

Hell.

Heath lay wide awake, his arms around Chloe. She was quiet, her little sniffles pulling on his aching heartstrings.

He’d never seen anyone cry like that. As if she’d been waging an epic battle between pain and pride, using all her strength to hold it in—until she couldn’t and she just…broke. It wrenched something deep in his chest to see someone so strong suffering like that.

What a shit-show this whole thing had been. The only good part was meeting Chloe. He hadn’t thought so at first. Now…

It was like he’d been sleepwalking, and she’d snapped him wide awake. She wasn’t his usual type, definitely not the kind of woman he had ever envisioned bringing home to meet his family one day, yet now he couldn’t imagine letting her go, because any woman after her would seem bland and lifeless by comparison.

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