Page 57 of The Wicked

I dragged my shirt over my head and crawled back up the bed. I needed to feel her skin on mine, needed to soak in her sweat-slicked heat. She rested her head on my chest and wrapped an arm around me, and in that brief moment, everything was right with the world. I wiped her tears away with a thumb.

“Don’t cry.”

“I can’t help it. Everything’s just so…so…overwhelming.”

“Yeah, I know the feeling.”

“Do you? Nothing ever seems to faze you.”

“Maybe my mask is just fixed on tighter.” I’d promised her no lies. “This is out of character for me. I’ve never done this before.”

“Which part? The stalking? The abduction? Trespassing on private property?”

“Any of it. You’re the first woman who’s ever gotten under my skin enough for me to care.”

A long pause. “Why? I’m a nobody.”

Honestly, I struggled to put it into words. “As I said, you’re real. A regular—but beautiful—person with flaws and hang-ups and opinions. Sometimes you fight me, and other times…” I trailed a fingertip down her cheek. “Other times, you submit.”

“You could probably have any woman you wanted.”

“I know, which is why I’m in your bed right now.” I palmed myself through my jeans. “Fuck, I need to do something about this.”

Sara swallowed hard, and it looked as if she was steeling herself.

“I’m ready.”

She didn’t sound ready.

“Are you sure?” I freed her lip from her teeth with a thumb. “You’re the one with the power here.”

“I am?”

“Give me a safe word.”

“A…safe word?”

“If you say it, I’ll stop whatever I’m doing in a heartbeat.” I laid a hand on her chest. “Because that’s what I need to protect: your heart.”

She thought for a moment, then smiled. “Shark.”

“Shark?”

“Fish and sex don’t mix. You’ll really stop?”

“I promise.” Shark? I loved that even amid her uncertainty, she hadn’t lost her sense of humour. I captured her mouth for a searing kiss. “I promise.”

I didn’t bother to take my jeans off completely, just unzipped and shoved them low enough to free my painful cock. I couldn’t wait. Not any longer. There was a condom in the wallet in my back pocket, and I ripped the foil open, then rolled it on. Sara watched me carefully, and that lip was between her teeth again. She’d make a terrible poker player.

We locked gazes as I slid my cock into her, inch by desperate inch. She was so fucking tight, and the way her walls gripped me, I almost joined nineteen-second-guy in the losers’ corner. But I wanted more than a participation trophy. I gritted my teeth and held still until the urge to explode subsided.

Instead of chasing my own pleasure, I focused on her. On her silky skin, on those pink buds, on the full lips I’d never get enough of. I brushed fine hair away from her eyes with one hand and pressed a kiss to her forehead.

“Okay?”

“Yes.”

This time, she was telling the truth, and I began to move with smooth strokes, never breaking eye contact. Her eyes gave so much away. When she finally relaxed, they unfocused slightly, and despite the fading light outside, they seemed to brighten. Sara burned from the inside out. As her hips started to buck against me, I slipped a hand between us and found her clit again. She gripped my arms, her fingers digging in.

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