Page 60 of Merciless Protector

He took my hand and kissed my fingertips. He certainly was handsy, and I loved it. “You’re worth it.”

My heart melted like ice in hot coffee. Still, I found the courage to ask the question. “What are we?” and then bit my lip, almost afraid of his answer.

“Together.”

“That’s it?” I hated to be ungrateful, but I needed a label. “Do you even know how you feel about me?”

He tugged me back over to the kitchen island, where he left the Cartier bag he’d brought back with him. He picked it up before setting it on the ground as he bent on one knee. All the air in my lungs evaporated.

“What are you doing?” I asked as he started to pull something out. “Don’t ask because my answer is still no,” I blurted. “Nothing has changed. I don’t even know how you feel about me.”

The hand that was in the bag dropped down, but then he pulled out a red leather box. Inside, the bracelet I’d tried on nestled there. “There isn’t a word big enough to describe how I feel.”

“You didn’t have to buy me that,” I said as his words rang in my ears.

“It’s a promise,” he said as he put it on my wrist and used the screwdriver to lock it in place. “I’ll forever make sure you and our child are taken care of. That’s my vow.”

The bracelet's cool metal chilled my skin, and goose bumps rose. “I don’t need this to trust you.”

“But I need you to wear it.”

Was it his way of staking his claim? Did I care? Not in this moment. I drew him to his feet and cupped his cheeks as I pressed my lips to his.

He pulled back and the heat in his gaze scorched my skin. “I had a lot of fun today. Did you?”

I was thrown off because our conversation was a bit all over the place. “Yeah, I did enjoy hanging out with you. Why?”

“As much as I want to touch you, I need you to understand there is more to us than sex.”

I couldn’t stay serious with the playful look on his face. I licked my lips and he watched. The wall of flames between us grew. I teased him with a flirty smile. “So, you just want to cuddle tonight?”

He shook his head. “You know I don’t. But I will if that’s what you want. You are important.”

What he didn’t say was to me. “My therapist says sex is important.”

“Is it now?” His smirk made me so wet.

“It is. But I do want a cuddle… Just naked,” I said and sashayed away.

He caught me half a second later and spun me around. He hooked his hands under my ass and lifted me up. I gasped, and he took the opportunity to snake his tongue across mine. I landed on the island as he hiked up my dress.

“I need to be inside you,” he whispered as if it took effort to speak. He cupped my breast as his thumbs swept over my nipples as they hardened.

I nodded vigorously, not wanting to break the moment with words.

Seconds later, he thrust inside me, stretching me as he moved his hands to part my thighs farther so he could seat himself to the hilt. We both groaned while he held still for a moment before he began to move in earnest to a pace we both desired. It didn’t take long, as the heat between us had been building all day. Soon, I was screaming his name as he groaned mine.

Panting, he lifted me up, and I wrapped my legs around him as he walked us to the bedroom we’d been using. There, he made love to me again. This time, with slow and purposeful movements. Moonlight shone on his face as he gazed at me with a tenderness that mirrored what was unspoken but still in my heart.

Even after we peaked, Shawn didn’t pull out. He pulled me closer. I jokingly said, “Is your arm going to go to sleep?”

“I sleep better with you in my arms.”

A stupid cheesy grin played on my lips because it was those words that made me hope that there was so much more between us than great sex and a baby. Knowing that I gave him as much comfort from our dark thoughts as he gave me, I was over the moon. I drifted off with our bodies curled together as if we were one. I awoke to the bed cooling beside me.

I got up, wrapping a sheet around my naked body and padded through the dark halls of the apartment on bare feet, afraid of what I might find.

When I entered the living room, moonlight streamed through the open windows, casting light across his beautiful face I could only see in profile. He sat on the sofa, staring out into the night with a picture-perfect view of the city skyline in the distance.

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