Page 19 of Fierce Protector

I close my eyes tight for a moment before confessing. “I haven’t so much as touched another woman since the night you kissed me at Aurora’s wedding.”

There’s an audible gasp and I push myself up, sitting back on my haunches and lowering my gaze. She follows me up and rises to her knees, but I daren’t look at her. It feels like such a strange admission. Nothing else happened between us that night, but ever since then, I’ve not been able to stand the thought of another woman’s lips on mine.

Silence hangs in the air until Katerina clears her throat. “That’s one hell of a lot of pressure to put on a girl. What if I’d been terrible in bed?”

I laugh loudly at her attempt to break the tension. “Now I’ve tasted you, I’m ruined for anyone else, Katerina.”

“You’re going to have to stop saying the right thing all the time. Otherwise, I’m going to get used to it, and you’ll have set an unreasonable bar for yourself.”

“Fair,” I say, before leaning in and stealing a kiss from her lips. “But what it means is that I’m clean since I was last tested.”

“Funny you should say that. So am I,” she replies as she trails a path up one arm and down my chest, scratching her nails through my mostly not-grey smattering of chest hair, reminding me once again where my nickname for her came from. Every flex of her fingers sends a current of electricity burning through me. “That and I have an IUD,” she adds with a smile.

The thought of fucking her bare shouldn’t turn me on as much as it does. But it’s that which has me wrapping my arms around her and rolling her back underneath me. Has me spreading her legs and guiding my cock to her core and filling her to the hilt.

Her cry is louder than mine, but not by much. I don’t move, immobilised by the vice-like grip her eager pussy has on me.

“I’m going to need you and your impressive dick to fuck me, and fuck me hard.” I smile down at her, amused that while her words are one hundred per cent Katerina Mancini, her tone is like nothing I’ve ever heard from her before. They’re strained and broken with a hint of desperation.

She’s begging me.

Not once in her life has Katerina begged for anything. But right now, she’s begging for me to fuck her, and that triggers a primal response that will not be denied. I rock my hips before setting a punishingly slow pace. Each thrust is brutal. As my orgasm builds, our moans complement each other in a symphony of bliss. My breathing becomes ragged, and my balls tighten in anticipation.

Our gazes collide as I stare down at her caged beneath me. She’s close but I don’t want close, I want devastated. I pause and she whines in protest. Still buried inside her, I kneel back, grabbing one thigh, and straddling the other while I roll her on her side. Her expression morphs back to one of sheer pleasure when the change in position hits. With her leg held tightly against my chest, I rock my hips before thrusting and fucking her deeply enough to force the air from her lungs.

“You’re going to take what I give you,micetta,” I say as I find her clit with my free hand. Her reaction is instantaneous, pushing her to new heights of pleasure and making her shriek in ecstasy. I can’t help but smile proudly as I say, “That’s my girl.”

I’m sure she thinks she’s using her words right now, but all that tumbles out of her is a string of incomprehensible nonsense as her orgasm peaks and she pulls me over the precipice with her. My cock pulses and I come harder than I ever have before. Glancing down, I pull out, causing my cum to cascade out, coating her pussy. The sight does something to me, and I can’t help but run my fingers through the mess I’ve made of her. She groanswhen I slip them inside, pushing my release back into her.

“Anyone would think you have a thing for cum play,” she teases.

“When it comes to you, there’s not much I wouldn’t try. But right now, I’m just enjoying seeing you well fucked and full.” Her eyes roll back in her head as I circle her clit with my thumb.

“You’re trying to kill me,” Katerina says softly before she’s overcome by an insistent yawn.

“I’m trying to unravel you,” I say as I lean over her, wrap my arms around her waist, and roll on to my back, pulling her with me. I settle her over my chest and in her exhaustion, she melds herself for me like a blanket. I can see that she’s struggling to keep her eyes open, so I reach for the comforter, pull it over her, and stroke back the curtain of hair that falls across her face.

She’s beginning to lose the battle with consciousness, her eyelids drooping. I run my hands down her spine and over her body in a gentle caress, memorising every dip and curve. For so long, I’ve denied myself what I’ve craved above all. Her. There’s an undeniable sense of rightness that’s settled in my chest. An intimacy, a peaceful contentedness, and it’s as if the ache and longing I’ve become so familiar with have evaporated into the ether and been replaced with hope.

I need a future where I get to experience moments like this with her. She’s a masterpiece I want to appreciate forever. Katerina mumbles a soft, contented hum against my chest that makes my heart feel full.

“Sleep now,micetta.”

“Promise you’ll be here when I wake up?” she whispers. It’s so quiet I’m not sure if she meant for me to hear her plea.

“I’ll be here, sweetheart,” I reply. When her breathing evens out and I start to hear a purr that I’ll never describe as a snore, I say, “I’m not going anywhere. Now that I’ve got you, I’m never letting you go.”

CHAPTER TEN

KATERINA

Idon’t want to open my eyes. If I do, I’m worried I’ll discover last night was a dream and that the warmth against my cheek isn’t Stefano. That I’m not curled up in a nook, with his chest for a pillow and his arm wrapped around me, gently stroking my hip.

“I can tell you’re awake,micetta.”

I crack open my eyes, trying not to smile, and failing as I try to scold him. “I don’t think I ever officially agreed to that nickname.”

“You don’t get to choose my pet name for you,” he says, with a broad smile on his unnaturally handsome face. His greying temples only amplifying his attractiveness.

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