Page 29 of Protecting Her Secrets

“Because if my cock pushed inside your sweet pussy, it wouldn’t just be sex. It’d be a claiming. Not for today, not for a week. You’d be agreeing to be mine for forever this time, which means you’d have to let me in and help you get out of your situation. You’d have to trust me to take care of you.”

“It doesn’t have to mean all that. We can just have fun,” I suggest, but I already know it’s not going to happen. There’s no point in arguing because no matter how much I try to delude myself into thinking there’s a way out for me, I know there’s not.

The disappointment is visible in his expression. “That’s not how this works. Not because I can’t have casual sex—I’ve had lots of casual sex over the?—”

I cover his mouth. “I don’t need to hear about all the women you’ve casually fucked.”

He pulls my hand away. “My point is, I can’t have that with you. At the risk of sounding like a pussy, I’ll always have feelings for you and making love to you would make it even harder to let you go.”

He’s right. I know he is. If I let him have my body, I’m not sure I’d be able to walk away. And I will walk away. I care about him too much to watch him die, which is exactly what would happen if he tried to stop Klutch from taking me.

“I can’t,” I say to the ceiling. “I want you so badly; you have no idea how much. But my world isn’t like yours. The good guys don’t win—they end up in the gutter, just another unsolved murder because the bad guy has connections that run deeper than the law. And that’s not an exaggeration.”

He crawls the rest of the way up my body and lowers to his elbows. Feeling the weight of him floods my mind withmemories of sharing his breath, our bodies becoming one, and, oh, my god, the way his cock feels when he’s buried deep inside me. The slight curve meant all my spots were hit, delivering the most intense, emotional orgasms I’ve ever had.

“I’m not the same guy I used to be. Living up here has hardened me. Rowan, one of the guys you met, is a paranoid fuck. He’s retired Special Forces and has some unresolved PTSD that comes out in the form of stockpiling weapons, installing security cameras everywhere, and making sure his friends—meaning me—do the same. He taught me how to shoot, how to hunt, and how to protect myself and my property. If that pussy Klutch even thinks of stepping on my mountain, it’s all the cause I’d need to delete his miserable life from the world.”

“Even if your hypothetical situation happened, it wouldn’t stop with him. Don’t you see? There are hundreds of these assholes all over the country, and every single one would want revenge on you. We’d never be safe.”

“I’d kill every single one of those motherfuckers to protect you, and the world would be better for it.”

He’s dead ass serious, but no matter what he says, he’s not crazy like they are. They have no respect for anything except their code. It wouldn’t be fair of me to bring this to his door. And goddamn it, I’m so sick of crying, but that doesn’t stop the tears from welling.

“I love that you’d be willing to go that far for me, and even though I’d never let that happen, just knowing you care about me that much will help get me through all the hard days ahead.”

I assume he’ll get angry and we’ll fight again before silently eating our dinners and going to bed. I’m definitely not expecting Walker to lower his mouth and kiss me. He’s playful as he nips at my lips before plunging his tongue into my mouth, stroking it against mine in a way that reminds me of all the other ways he used that talented muscle.

“You’re not mad?” I ask against his lips.

He pulls away, lining his still-hard cock up against my center. What is he trying to do? Kill me? Smiling at my obvious irritation, he says, “No, I’m not mad. It just means I haven’t won you over yet. But it’s okay. I still have time.”

“I’m not going to change my mind, Walker. You have to hear me when I say that.”

“Sure thing.” He shrugs lightheartedly before shifting to my side so he can reach under my pants and cup my sex. He doesn’t stroke me or tease me, just holds me there. “Now, what do we do about this?”

“You know what I want you to do,” I say, undulating under his touch.

“If I can’t make you feel good with my cock, guess I’ll have to find another way.”

I nod in agreement. “Yes. Let’s do that.”

“You seem a little frustrated. Would it help if I did this?” This time when I feel his touch, it’s skin to skin as he strokes a finger at my slit.

“Walker,” I grind out.

“Or maybe you want this.” He pulls his hand away, and I nearly cry. But then he sits up on his knees, divesting me of his too-big sweatpants. Once they’re tossed aside, he parts my knees, his attention homing in on the apex of my thighs. I squirm as he licks his lips before lowering his face until he’s hovering over my weeping pussy. “Tell me, Sunny, is this what you want?”

“Yes,” I whine in frustration.

“I need the words.”

“No, you don’t. You’re teasing me. It’s mean.”

“I’m not. Enthusiastic consent—isn’t that what we were taught in sex ed?”

“I’m giving you consent.”

“But I don’t know what the consent is for. Maybe you want me to fuck you with my tongue, or maybe you want me to suck on your clit. You could just want me to flick?—”

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