Page 21 of Protected By Him

I lifted her chin. Her light green eyes were almost translucent. It was like she was looking into my soul. They moved back and forth, scanning my face, as if trying to read my thoughts.

"Ella is safe," I reassured her, "and I am going to make sure you are too. Do not worry about me." I bent to kiss her on the forehead, but she lifted her face, and our lips met.

She pulled back quickly, wide eyed like she’d made a mistake.

"I-I’m sorry."

I chuckled. "Please, don't be," I assured her as I leaned in for another kiss. This one longer, softer.

She wrapped her arms around my neck and melted against me. I could feel her heart racing. I hoisted her by the waist, and she squeezed her legs around me as I carried her to the bed. I knew she could feel how hard I was against her because she tightened her grip and gently rolled her hips against me, eliciting moans from both of us.

"Leo," she whimpered as she trailed kisses along my jaw toward my ear, "I want you."

Goddamn, I wanted her. So, fucking bad!

“I’ve got you, sweetheart,” I said, kissing down her neck and pulling the collar of the shirt away to bite at the spot where her neck and shoulder meet. She gasped loudly and arched into me, so I did it again. I slid my hands up the t-shirt of mine she was wearing. She wasn't wearing a bra. I pulled the shirt up and filled my mouth with her breast. She leaned her head back and moaned as she tightened her legs around my waist even harder.

“Leo, I need more,” she said as she ran her fingers through my hair and bucked against me. I could feel the heat at her core and groaned against her skin. I ran one hand up her stomach to tease a nipple as the other tugged her pants down to her thighs. She wiggled against the bed in an effort to shed the clothes faster. I lifted away from her, and she dropped her legs so I could strip her completely. My erection strained against the fly of my pants, but I ignored it. This moment was about her.

Once she was naked before me, I paused to take her in. She was the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen. I had imagined this moment for so long, but the reality far surpassed my most vivid fantasies.

“Leo?” she asked in a quiet voice, and I realized I’d been staring too long.

“I’m here, sweetheart. You’re gorgeous, you know that?”

Laura blushed and shook her head, as if to deny the compliment. I lowered myself over her once more and took her lips with mine, kissing her deeply until we were both breathless. “You are, Laura. Believe me, you are the most amazing woman, beautiful inside and out.”

I kissed her lips again before she could protest, then started to trail little kisses down her neck, across her collarbone, and down her chest. Her nipples were hard peaks, and I drew one into my mouth as I caressed her stomach and lower. I eased a hand between us, and she cried out at my touch. I pleasured her with my fingers as I kissed my way down to her hips. When I reached her center, I looked up and met her gaze.

“Please, Leo…” she said.

I lowered my head, and for the next several minutes, we were both lost in her pleasure. I gave her everything I had to bring her to ecstasy, and when it was over, we were both flat on our backs, gasping for breath. Laura looked over at me, then down at my groin where I was still obviously hard. She reached for me, but I grabbed her hand to stop her.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

“Nothing,” I said, kissing her fingers. “But this was about you, not me.” She looked confused, and maybe a little hurt, so I rolled until I was braced above her. “I don’t want to come again until I’m inside you, and we aren’t ready for that. You’re far too precious to me to rush things. We need to have a conversation first.”

I kissed her lips gently, trying to tell her with my body what I couldn’t tell her with words just yet. She was smiling when I pulled away. “And besides,” I told her as I pushed myself off the bed, then offered her a hand, “We still need to get your things out of your apartment.”

She laughed but allowed me to pull her up. She went to the ensuite bathroom to clean up and get dressed. A few minutes later, we were in my car, headed for her apartment.

Laura gasped as we stepped through her front door. Right away, I could tell it was wrecked. Her couch was not where it had been the day before, and there was a tear right in the middle of each cushion, an intentional, gapping slash.

I put a hand out to hold Laura back and walked slowly into the apartment. Her place wasn’t large, and it only took a moment to confirm that whoever had broken in was long gone. Laura walked in slowly behind me.

My jaw ached, I clenched it so hard in irritation and anger. How dare someone do this to her? Were they looking for something or just trying to scare her?

Laura started to make her way into her bedroom when I grabbed her arm. "Wait here. We don't know what they've done. We need to call the police," I said as I moved past her.

"I have to see for myself."

"Then follow closely behind me and try not to touch anything," I said as we continued towards her bedroom.

The bedroom was an even bigger mess. It was as if the whole place had been turned upside down. Not one single item was where it belonged.

"Oh God," Laura moaned under her breath. Her bed was in tatters, her pillows torn through.

"We should take pictures, and we need to call the police," I said as I quickly pulled my phone out and began to take pictures at different angles.

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