Page 56 of Ruined (The Knights of Ruin)

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Smoke

I WASSO hard I was in agony, but I didn’t fucking care. The pain was worth it for the pleasure of holding a naked Cat in my arms as she came, screaming against my chest. I didn’t let go, holding her as she shuddered, riding out the climax.

As her tremors faded I stroked her back, loving the feel of her satiny damp skin under my palm. She’d gone heavy and still, resting her forehead on my chest, her breathing ragged and loud in the silence of the room.

I bent to nuzzle her hair, the sweet smell of her shampoo almost drowned by the salt and musk of feminine arousal. I nearly growled, wanting that scent all over me—on my skin, in my mouth, every-fucking-where. I wanted to eat her alive, taste every inch of her, explore every part of her with my tongue and my fingers and my cock.

For too many years that had been an empty, hollow dream.

Not any more.

Now she was mine.

Now I could indulge every fantasy I’d ever had and that reality—after years and goddamn years of trying to resist—was almost overwhelming.

But we had the whole day. There was no rush, no hurry. Even so, I was a greedy bastard, and there was no way I was going to waste time doing nothing when I could be doing something.

And right now that ‘something’ was getting inside of Cat.

I eased her off my lap, handling her with care. ‘I’ll be two seconds,’ I murmured. ‘Stay right here. Don’t fucking move.’

I didn’t wait for a reply, getting up and going down the hallway and into her small bathroom.

I soaked a washcloth in hot water, then went back to the living room. She’d curled herself up at one end of the couch, her face turned away, her cheek pressing against her arm. She was hugging herself as if she was cold, and that made my chest get tight.

I knew I’d been hard on her—knew that I’d pushed her. Maybe I’d pushed too hard.

Yeah, but that’s what you do, isn’t it? You always push too fucking hard.

Ignoring the voice in my head, I moved over to the couch, sitting down and then pulling Cat back into my lap. There was only a moment’s tension before she relaxed, resting her cheek against my chest.

Gently, I coaxed her legs apart, checking the vulnerable flesh between them. As I’d thought, her little pussy had been rubbed raw against the denim of my jeans, and her skin was an angry red.

Fuck. I shouldn’t have held her down so hard. Pissed with myself, I stroked the washcloth lightly between her thighs, hoping the heat would help. Her head fell back against my arm, and there was a flash of green as she looked up at me from beneath her silky black lashes.

I met her gaze, the tightness in my chest easing. Something glowed in the depths of her eyes and it wasn’t devastation, or fear, or any of the other things I realised I’d been half expecting. It was something warmer, fiercer.

‘You bastard...’ she murmured. ‘I think you’ve broken me.’

But she wasn’t broken—I could see that. I’d pushed her—and pushed her hard—but she was strong. Christ, she was probably stronger than I was when it came down to it. Women always were. Certainly my mother had been.

‘Liar.’ I moved the washcloth gently, watching her shiver in response. ‘Broken is the last thing you are.’

Her mouth was swollen from the kisses I’d given her, and now it curved in a smile. I bent, brushing my lips over hers, the tip of my tongue dipping in to taste her purely because I could. Because I wanted to.

She didn’t resist, opening her mouth beneath mine as if she’d been waiting for the moment.

Sogood. Fuck, she went straight to my head—sweet and hot like the best bourbon money could buy.

I could control myself. I wasn’t a teenage boy. Yet one kiss from Cat and I almost came in my jeans.

Carefully I pushed her out of my lap, dropping the cloth, my hands shaking as I got to my feet and started ripping off my clothes. So much for not being in a rush.

On the coffee table was a plastic bag with the box of condoms I’d got from the drugstore and I reached for it, unable to get the damn thing open fast enough.

Cat watched me from the couch, her eyes wide, staring as I ripped open a packet and got out the condom, rolling the latex down over my painfully hard dick. Her eyes widened even further as I came over to the couch, her gaze roaming over me like she’d never seen me before in all her life.

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