Page 59 of Ruined (The Knights of Ruin)

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Cat

ITWASTHE second time that morning I’d come apart in Smoke’s arms. The second time I’d screamed his name. The second time I’d been annihilated by pleasure.

The first time I’d been scared of what was happening between us.

Now I didn’t give a fuck.

It was like he’d taken all the fear, all the doubt, all the uncertainty away, leaving me with just sensation. But then that was what Smoke did, wasn’t it? He made everything okay—he always had.

It seemed ridiculous to me, now that I was lying wrapped tight in his arms, his face pressed into my hair, that I’d been so scared before—that I’d had so much difficulty trusting him. Because I should have. Of course I should have. I mean, I trusted him with my child. What was my heart in comparison?

Your heart?

Figure of speech. I loved Smoke. He was my best friend in the world, the person I counted on most. Of course I loved him. But I’d never been ‘in love’ with him. That had been a step I’d never wanted to take, a place I’d never wanted to go—not with him. Love was shit and I didn’t want to stain our friendship with it.

Things are going to change now, though, aren’t they? You’ve kind of taken a step in that direction.

Yeah, there was no denying it. Things had changed—and it wasn’t even just the sex. He wanted us to be together the way an old lady was together with her old man—virtually married—and if I wanted Annie to stay safe, I wasn’t going to get a choice about it.

So? He’s a man who’ll never hurt you, who’ll do anything for you, who’ll protect you and Annie, and give you astounding orgasms. What more could you want?

Good point. Something in me wanted that more than anything I’d ever wanted anything in my entire life, and yet something else kept resisting. I didn’t know what it was—my daddy issues, my ex issues, or something else again—but I could feel it holding me back.

I didn’t want to get hurt again—that was the main thing—and if I gave Smoke everything, the power he’d have over me...

His big, lean body shifted, the feel of his bare skin moving over mine, making my mouth go dry and scattering every thought in my head. He lifted his head, those dark eyes staring down at me. He was pressed against every inch of me, his still-semihard cock resting against the inside of my thigh. The heat of him was incredible, and the musky scent of aroused male filled the space around us.

I wanted to arch against him, rub myself all over him, trace his ink, run my hands over those powerful shoulders, feel all the hard-cut muscle of his pecs and then down to the corrugated lines of his abs. Explore every inch of his smooth, hot skin.

I’d never felt that way about a man. Ever. Not even with Justin. Perhaps that should be a warning, and maybe a day or two ago I would have listened to it. But now...now I ignored it, looked up into his black eyes and lost myself.

‘You,’ he said, his voice all rough and sexy, ‘are fucking incredible.’

You’re fucking mine.

The possessive note in those words should have had me running for the hills—especially after Justin—but when Smoke said them it was different. It made me feel wanted, desired. It made me feel cared for. As if for the first time I wasn’t merely my father’s unwanted daughter or my mother’s little mistake. I wasn’t Justin’s punching bag. I wasn’t even Annie’s mom.

I was Smoke’s old lady. I was Cat.

I touched his face, sliding a finger down his straight nose and across one high cheekbone. Trailing it down to his jaw and along the rough stubble of his morning beard, prickling against my fingertip, I reached his mouth, traced his lower lip. It felt firm and yet soft—the only soft thing there was about him.

‘So are you.’

It didn’t encompass what I felt, but it was true all the same. He was. Absolutely fucking incredible.

He smiled, his mouth curving under my fingertip, and the sight of it made my heart stretch out inside my chest and shivers chase all over me. Hungry, sexy, dangerous.

My best friend. My lover.

Gently, he took my fingertip between his strong white teeth, nipping me, sending an intense jolt of sensation straight to my core.

‘It’s not over yet. We have the entire fucking morning. And I intend to use all of it.’

Even now, even like this, when there was nothing between us but skin, I blushed. ‘Don’t you have other stuff to do?’

‘Nope. Like I said, I’m planning on doing nothing but fucking you.’

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