“Aye, I’m bloody serious!”
“Because that’s unhinged. You know that, right?”
“I don’t care!”
My brows lifted, I examine his expression. Aside from being insulted that I laughed, he’s completely sincere about his threats.
It’s a strange mix of disbelief and wonder that I feel.
And worry, too. This man’s trigger finger is a little too itchy.
I say softly, “Thank you. That’s lovely. Insane, but lovely.”
He grumbles something and looks away.
Trying very hard not to laugh, I kiss his cheek. Into his ear, I whisper, “You know, for such a macho man, you’re a big softie.”
He grouses, “Don’t say the word ‘soft’ when I’m still inside you.”
I can’t help it now. I drop my head to his chest and laugh until he rolls me back over and kisses me.
Grinning down at me with shining eyes, he says, “What’s that hideous noise you’re making, lass? I’ve heard hyenas that sound better.”
“Excuse me, but at the moment, I’m stuffed to my larynx with your giant dick. My lungs have probably collapsed.”
He beams. “So you like it, do you?”
“Stop fishing for compliments.”
He drops his head and puts his lips near my ear. “You love it. Admit it.”
“I admit nothing.”
When he flexes his hips, I have to stifle a moan. “Wait, how are you still hard?”
“You’re naked. So I’m hard.”
“But you…”
“Came. Aye. Bucketloads.”
When I make a face, he chuckles. “Does that offend her ladyship’s delicate sensibilities?”
“Let’s just say my sensibilities aren’t used to this kind of sex talk.” My smile dies. Bad memories assault me, and I have to look away.
After a moment of gazing at me in silence, Quinn says softly, “He doesn’t get a place between us, lass. Keep him in his grave where he belongs.”
My throat gets tight and my chest starts to ache, and so help me God, if this bastard makes me cry, I’ll stick a knife between his ribs.
In a strangled voice, I say, “I want to give you a compliment, but I don’t want it to go to your head.”
He furrows his brows, waiting.
“I’ve downgraded the intense dislike I feel for you to a generalized mild loathing. Now hurry up and fuck me again before your ego gets too big and smothers me.”
“That’s your idea of a compliment?”
“Oh, shut up, Quinn.”
I pull his head down and kiss him hard, and within seconds, he’s forgotten all about it.
24
Spider
She thinks I’ve forgotten about it, but I haven’t.
And I won’t.
Ever.
Because I know exactly what’s behind that non-compliment, and it sets my soul on fire.
It’s like when the stray cat you’ve been trying to feed for months that’s always hissed and run away when you approached finally decides one day it will accept your pathetic offering of kibble and allow you to watch from a safe distance as it dines, glaring at you with unconcealed contempt.
It’s called progress.
I’m not stupid. I know it will take a helluva lot more than forced commitment and good sex to break down all her walls.
But it’s a start.
In the meantime, I’m going to fuck her silly.
25
Rey
He withdraws, flips me onto my belly, pulls me up onto my knees, then plunges his still-hard shaft back inside me with a grunt that sounds animalistic. Gripping my hips in both hands, he starts to thrust again.
My face buried in the duvet cover, I sigh in happiness.
His laugh is dark and knowing. “Aye, lass. I love it, too.”
I’m jarred by the mention of that four-letter word, but get distracted when he reaches around and starts to fondle my pussy as he fucks me, tweaking my clit and sliding his fingers all around the place we’re joined. I moan and close my eyes, desperately pulling at the blankets.
He says something in Gaelic, a brief, growled word, then fucks me harder.
Though I’m fully exposed, scars and all, I feel no self-consciousness. All my awareness is centered on my body and what he’s doing to it. The glorious way he’s making it feel.
Until he reaches back around and presses his wet thumb between my ass cheeks.
I jerk, stiffening. My eyes fly open wide.
“Easy, viper,” he croons gently. “Remember, you can always say no.”
“I can always use that pen on the nightstand to puncture your jugular, too.”
“Until I hear a no or you communicate what else you’d rather have me do, I’m amusing myself with this perfect arse of yours.”
Slowing the thrusts of his hips, he starts to gently stroke his thumb back and forth over the sensitive knot of flesh. Around and around, over and down, he fondles it as I try to decide if it’s amazing or if I’m going to buck and kick him under the chin.
After a few breathless moments, I go with amazing.
When he feels me relax, he growls, “Fucking hell, you’re gorgeous. My sweet girl. I’d kill an army for you. I’d burn down empires and lay all their gold at your feet.”
I shudder and squeeze my eyes shut, hiding my face in the blankets so he can’t see how much I love it when he talks like that. How deeply it affects me.
He breaches the knot of muscle and slides his thumb inside me, shushing me with softly spoken words when I gasp. It takes a moment for me to relax into it, but then I’m pushing back against his hand and he’s growling his approval.
He reaches around with his other hand and strokes my throbbing clit.
“Tell me what you want, sweetheart,” he says, his voice husky.
I answer without thinking. “More. I want more. I want all of you.”
I meant to say “it,” but “you” slipped out instead. There’s a subtle difference in meaning, and he doesn’t miss it.
“And you’re gonna get all of me, wife,” he says, fucking me harder. “Now come on my cock.”
He tugs on my clit, sending a shockwave of pleasure throughout my entire body. Panting, I groan into the blankets, my face hot from hearing the sounds we make as our bodies slap together.
Through gritted teeth, he says, “You feel like silk. Wet, hot silk. Christ. Come, baby. Come for me.”
With my hard nipples dragging against the covers and his finger and cock filling me up, I orgasm with a sob.
He moans. The motion of his hips falters. His thrusts turn slow and then stop altogether as I clench and convulse around his girth.
He whispers, “Oh, fuck, viper. I can feel that. That’s fucking amazing. You’re coming so bloody hard.”
I sob again, jerking, my body completely out of my control. I feel boneless, like the only thing holding me up is the huge throbbing member I’m convulsing around.
He moves the hand that’s gripping my hip farther up my body, sliding it under my breast so he can fondle it and pinch my nipple. I buck back against him, begging for more.
A dark laugh in his voice, he says, “You like it when I play with your nipples as I’m fucking you, don’t you? You like my cock, and you like to come for me when I tell you to, because you’re perfect and you’re gorgeous and you’re all fucking mine.”