Page 184 of The Grand Ruin: Lance & Scarlet-Part One

Satisfied I’m ready for him, he lines himself up and slowly sinks into me until I’ve taken every inch of him.

He stills and eases back, hooking his fingers into my silk dress straps and letting them slink down my arms, freeing my breasts to his hungry gaze.

“I do,” I pant. “I do, you know.”

“You do what?” He smiles down at me as his lips take mine in a tender kiss, thumb brushing my sensitive nipple.

I pull back and swallow. “Love you,” I say. “I’ve known it for a long time now.” I shrug, not knowing what else to do as my cheeks heat at my spoken words. “I just didn’t feel safe saying it when you could disappear on me again so easily.”

There’s a moment of silence, panic rising in my chest when I swear Lance’s face pales.

“Say that again.”

I take a steadying breath. “I love you, Lance.”

His chest expands on a shaky inhale, and then his mouth crashes to mine. He cups my face, slowing the kiss as he leans impossibly closer, still hard inside of me, his torso bare and trousers only unzipped and opened enough to free his cock.

I feel his body rippling under my palms, and his own hands roam me, spanning across my exposed back and up to my neck as he simply kisses me as if it’s the first and last time.

An ache forms in my lower abdomen, the feeling of being so full of him making my insides clench. I whimper, rolling my hips to gain some friction.

But Lance isn’t ready, and the second my hips lift, a deep groan reverberates from his chest.

“Scar.”

“Yes,” I pant, catching my breath. “Please, Lance.”

His hungry mouth falls to my neck, and my pulse quickens. Still, Lance doesn’t move, his hips firm at my pelvis.

And I’m desperate for it, for that slow drag of his hips before the harsh thrust deep back inside. I need it. Need him to give it to me.

As his lips work down my throat, his hips shift, but it’s not enough, not when he fights against the movement.

I lower myself back onto one elbow, my other hand smoothing through his hair and down the centre of his muscled back. He palms my full heavy breast, splayed fingers grazing my taut nipple as he squeezes.

“Scarlet, tell me you love me,” he rasps.

His mouth covers my nipple, tongue flattening first, followed by the harsh suction of his soft lips. My back arches, hips rolling as I moan.

He chuckles—a breathy laugh that tickles the damp spot left from his mouth.

As he eases off me, I see the heaviness in his eyes. The need and want. Untamed.

“I love you,” I whisper, the air crackling between us.

He stares down at me, a slight shake of his head. “You know, the last person to tell me they loved me was my dad. I was fifteen.” My heart splinters as I see what it means to him. See just how badly he needed those words. “I never thought it could feel like this. Never knew it even existed.”

I reach for him, my lips barely brushing his when his hips roll, putting him so deep my body rears back, my mouth dropping open. He pulls back, then thrusts so hard, so deep, I grunt.

“Again.”

I ripple around him, my body heating all over. “Lance—”

“Say it, Baby Lowell.”

“I love you.”

“Yes!”

---