Page 34 of Keegan's Promise

“No!”

“Then why? What are you so afraid of, baby?”

I bite my tongue, trying to battle back the truth hovering on the tip of my tongue. I’m afraid to let myself be loved. I’m afraid to need him. I’m afraid every damn minute of the day because he’s becoming vital to me…the one thing on this planet that could break me.

“Tell me,” he growls.

I shake my head desperately, denying him.

But Keegan doesn’t play fair. He doesn’t play by any predefined rules. He breaks them all and makes his own. His hands land against my stomach, his eyes locked on mine. A whimper climbs up my throat as he slowly tugs the fabric up my body, running those big, calloused hands all over me.

Just feeling his skin against mine is electric. His touch slowly erodes my defenses, sending them crumbling bit by bit.

“Lily,” I gasp, clinging to her like a shield again.

“Is already asleep,” he says, his voice softer. “Tell me.”

“I’m afraid to let myself love you!” I cry desperately, my heart tangled in knots as the truth bursts from my lips in a ragged exhale.

He groans, his hands trembling against my ribcage as he leans down, slowly, so damn slowly, and brushes his lips against mine. “It’s already too goddamn late for that, Landry baby,” he whispers. “I know you love me. I see it every time you look at me.”

I whimper because he’s right. It is too late. It was too late a year ago. And every minute since I’ve been here, I’ve just been fighting the inevitable, trying to deny a reality that won’t change. I love him. So damn much it’s terrifying.

“Kiss me,” I plead, desperate to shut my mind off and just feel. For once, I don’t want to think, or overthink, or worry. I just want the peace I find in his arms.

He crashes his lips against mine with a broken groan. I arch into him, bowing to the desire seething between us. It’s always been there, raging like a river. And now, I’ve dove off the cliff right into the depths of it.

“Fuck,” he growls when I thrust my hands into his hair, pulling him closer. My legs twine around his waist, as if I can keep him right here with me through sheer physical strength and willpower alone.

But I don’t think he intends to go anywhere, anyway.

He nips my bottom lip and then plunges his tongue back inside, pillaging my mouth. Claiming it as his. And I feel that kiss in my soul. It shakes desperation loose, makes me greedy.

“Please,” I gasp, rocking beneath him. “Please, Keegan.”

“What do you want, sweetness? You want me to make you feel good?” he asks, sliding one hand under my shirt to yank it up my body. “You want to come for me?”

“I want you!” I cry softly. It’s nothing but the truth. I don’t want his hands or his mouth or one single piece of him. I want every part of him. I need him more than air right now.

He groans again, another broken, desperate sound as he rips my shirt off over my head. I sob quietly when he falls on me this time, wrapping those perfect lips around one nipple.

“They’re so much bigger now, Landry baby. So much sweeter.” He sucks hard, and I know he can taste the milk dripping from them, but he doesn’t seem to mind it. In fact, he growls, rocking his hips against mine and sucks harder. “So fucking sweet.”

I claw down his back, trying to stay quiet so we don’t wake up Lily. But it’s so damn hard when he’s all over me.

His hand slips beneath the waistband of my leggings, his fingers sliding against my skin. I arch and mewl and beg, frantic to feel him right there again, sending me over into heaven.

He drags my pants down my legs instead, leaving me bare beneath him.

“Fuck,” he groans, those gorgeous eyes eating me up as he leans back on his heels to stare at me. “You’re so much softer now, Landry. Every fucking night, I hold you and I feel like I’m going to break in half because I’m not inside you.”

I reach for him, choking on his name. My hand closes around the bulge in his pants. My core clenches, memories from that day slamming into me. The feel of him inside me, his piercing dragging along my walls. The way he was so gentle and so rough at the same time…

“Please, Keegan,” I plead, squeezing him through his pants. “Please.”

“No.”

My gaze flies to his, shock rushing through me.

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