Page 62 of Heart of a Rebel

I grab onto his hand and move it down as I did before, pausing when his palm rests over my heart, letting it tell him all the things my lips have been too scared to admit for all these years.

“I trust you, Adrian.” My other hand finds the side of his face and he leans into my touch. “And I want you to show me what it’s like tofeelagain. It’s been—”

But I can’t finish that statement because I refuse to bring any darkness into this space.

He lifts his hand from my chest and pushes my hair off my face, holding onto the back of my head and tipping my face up to meet him.

“You’re the only good I feel anymore,” he says against my mouth.

There’s enough sadness in his eyes that I believe him. While most people don’t think much of Adrian’s silence, I know he buries a lot in it. Pain. Heartache. A whole life he lived before I met him. And I realize I’m not the only one here searching for love. He needs me as much as I need him.

Bringing my mouth to his, I press against him, and we roll until he’s beneath me and I’m seated on top of him, feeling his hard length begging between us.

I lift up and plant my hands on his bare chest, relishing the look in his eyes as he stares up at me. For the years I spent feeling weak and powerless, he lays there and draws out a strength I forgot I had. And I need to show him, help him understand what that means to me. That he sees me for everything I try to hide, and everything I want to reveal to him and him only.

He makes me feel like myself again.

I reach for the hem of the oversized T-shirt I’m wearing and peel it off. Adrian’s grip tightens on my thighs as his eyes work their way down my body, where I’m in nothing but a thin scrap of underwear that doesn’t hide anything.

Under his gaze, I feel my power surge through me. I feel appreciated, cared for,valued.

“Fuck, Eloise.” Adrian’s fingers dig into my thighs, and I swear he gets harder between my legs.

Slowly raking my hands down his chest, I drag until I find the button of his jeans again. This time, he doesn’t stop me as I pop it.

He’s letting me control the situation, and I know for a man who rarely hands that over, it’s his way of showing me I can trust him.

Stripping him of his pants and underwear, I swallow hard. He’s fully exposed and propped up on his elbows on the bed, watching me stand in front of him at the base of it. And I can’t drag my eyes away from his dick, hard and twitching as he stares at me.

It’s been years, but they’ve never felt like so many until this moment with him fully exposed in front of me. And I want him more than anything, but it’s also been so long I can’t help the nerves that skitter to the surface.

Adrian sits up and reaches for my hips. “What are you thinking?”

I look into his eyes and notice the bridge of his nose is pinched.

“It’s been…” I pause, trying not to reveal my secrets but failing. “I’m just out of practice.”

Adrian chuckles, and it breaks the tension, which I appreciate.

“El.” He tugs my hips to draw my body against him. “You have nothing to worry about. You were meant for me.”

My heart thunders and I can’t help but gravitate toward those words—toward him.

His thumbs hook in the sides of my underwear and he peels them off slowly, dragging them all the way down my legs and then slowly trailing his fingers all the way back up again. His gaze darkens and with both of us naked I feel his restraint breaking.

Adrian leans forward and presses a kiss to my stomach, but I feel it all the way between my legs. The stubble on his chin grazing my soft skin.

“You—” he kisses lower “—are—” his lips are at the apex of my thighs “—perfection.”

He lands an open-mouth kiss on my clit, and I buckle over him, catching myself on his shoulder as it takes the strength from my legs. Adrian smiles at me and pulls me onto his lap so that we’re chest to chest, and I’m straddling him.

He drifts his hand down to continue the work his tongue started at the same time as his mouth finds mine. I swear I feel him on every inch of my skin. His body searches for my love and I want to peel myself open and help him find it.

His thumb runs in circles on my clit, and the tension is thick as I get slicker, sliding back and forth over his dick. Just as the pressure starts to build, Adrian pushes a finger inside me, and I feel my entire body clench around him.

“Eloise.”

I open my eyes and see he’s pulled his face back.

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