Page 56 of Freeing Savannah

“Because you’ve always mattered to me, Sawyer. Always.”

A sigh escaped his lips as he murmured, “Twenty years, Savi,” the words laced with regret. “Too much time.”

“True. But maybe we needed that time apart to find out for ourselves who we were.”

“Did you? Find out who you were?”

A barely audible snicker rumbled in her chest. “No. But I am now. And I owe that to you.”

He lifted his head away from hers to see her more fully. “How so?”

“You’re the first person to truly see me. And because of that, you give me strength and confidence that I didn’t know I was capable of.”

“You’re the strongest person I know, Savi,” he stated as if it was fact.

She closed her eyes at that. His words slipped past every wall she’d ever built, every layer of doubt and guarded silence she’d learned to wrap around her heart. “I don’t want to be strong all the time,” she said quietly. “Not with you.”

He didn’t answer right away. Just pressed his forehead back to hers, letting their breathing fall into the same quiet rhythm. Then his mouth brushed against hers. Gentle. Reverent. The kind of kiss that asked rather than took.

She kissed him back. Unreservedly. She opened for him and the kiss deepened. Now he was taking. Taking her on a journey toward unimaginable pleasure. Taking her to new heights. Taking what had always been his, even when they were too young to understand.

Their tongues dueled, teasing, tasting, and yes, taking. Savannah let everything go and allowed herself to just feel. She’d walled herself off for so long. A protective necessity. Otherwise, the criticisms, the harsh words, the constant barrage of verbal abuse and emotional belittling would have ended her.

But now, in this moment, she put all that away. It didn’t have a place here. Tonight, she would scale her own wall and allow herself to feel everything.

And, my oh my, what pleasures there were to feel.

Suddenly, it was as if he was everywhere. The back of her dress swooped deep, baring her back down to her waist and his hands, warm and sure, found that skin. Shock waves of sensations rippled through her at the simple touch, and she was unable to hold back the moan.

Leaving her mouth, his lips trailed a hot path down her throat and across her collarbone. He found the thin strap of her dress with his teeth and dragged it off her shoulder until it draped down her arm. Continuing the blazing trail, his lips slid across her chest to the other shoulder, where he repeated the process with the remaining strap.

With nothing left to hold it up, the material fell away from her body, landing in a pool of satin at her feet, leaving her in nothing more than her skimpy thong. While she hated to wear them, she had no choice when it came to pantie lines and her gowns.

He stepped back, and she watched as he drank her in. “Look at you, Savi,” he said, his voice thick with emotion, his gaze lingering on her. “You’re like a beacon of light. Drawing me in. Shining so bright.” His breath hitched. “My Savi Moon.”

“Sawyer . . .” She was at a loss for words. No one had ever said anything like that to her before. No one had ever looked at her like that, either. And as they stood there staring at each other, she saw something that left her breathless.

A sheen of unshed tears glistened in Sawyer’s stormy eyes.

She couldn’t prevent her own tears even if she tried. And she didn’t want to stop them. The depth of her emotions matched his completely, and she felt them with the same profound intensity.

They’d been separated for twenty years, but no one could ever tear them apart again. Especially not after tonight.

Need shot through her and she could no longer keep her hands to herself. She reached for the buttons on his tux shirt,her fingers brushing the pleats that bordered them. As she methodically worked the buttons open, one by one, their gazes remained locked on each other, unwavering. She tugged his shirt free from his trousers and proceeded to release the remaining buttons.

Her hands unerringly found his skin underneath the fabric. Her palms skimmed the hard, muscular planes of his stomach, then glided upwards until finally reaching his shoulders where, with a gentle push, she eased his shirt from his shoulders.

The cuffs caught at his wrists and while he was busy undoing the cufflinks, she was busy exploring. The man was a work of art. His skin possessed a deeper, richer tone than hers, and the contrast was striking; her pale hands resting against his darker skin created a mesmerizing visual effect.

Her fingers traced the contours of his skin, encountering a tapestry of nicks and scars that silently recounted a life marked by adversity and hard work. Then, there was the more noticeable scar on his side, a larger wound that she could only assume had been inflicted by a knife. Her eyes filled with tears once more.

“I’m okay, Savi,” he assured softly. She could only nod, her throat too tight to respond as she continued to explore the planes and valleys of his body.

But she didn’t just want to touch. She wanted to taste. Leaning in, she felt the warmth of his skin as her lips found the sweet spot where his shoulder met his neck. She was at the perfect height to continue to brush her lips across the skin, working her way around his throat, lingering at his Adam’s apple, where she paused for a taste with a quick swipe of her tongue. She felt more than heard the groan as it vibrated against her lips. The sensation caused a hot streak of lust to bolt to her core.

Finally, free of his shirt, he pounced. He slid his hands beneath her thighs, and then he lifted her, the movementsmooth and effortless. Wrapping her legs around his waist, she pressed her core against him. A gasp escaping her lips as she felt the hard, throbbing weight of him nestled against her. Her body molded to his, as he took her mouth in another soul stealing kiss.

So lost in the kiss, she hadn’t noticed he’d carried her to the bed until the coolness of the sheets met her back. She nearly whimpered when his lips left hers, but then he was trailing them down her body. He found the peak of one breast and flicked his tongue across her taut nipple. She gasped and arched, offering herself. He suckled at her as if starved while her hands grasped for something to ground her. She settled on grabbing his shoulders, digging her nails into his skin as she held on.

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