Part 17 (2/2)

Silky sweet-and he was hurting her. He could see it in her eyes. Even though she was stil as hot as fire beneath him, and even though he could feel the power of her need, he was hurting her. d.a.m.n it, how could he not? She was virgin tight, and once he'd pushed the first inch inside her, he hadn't been able to stop until she had taken all of him.

It d.a.m.n near killed him, but Cullen didn't follow the needs of his body and take, take, take, taking her until they were both too breathless and tired to move. Slanting his mouth over hers, he braced his elbows on the thick leather cus.h.i.+on on either side of her head, taking some of his weight off Taige.

He eased his hips back, withdrawing until only the head of his c.o.c.k was wrapped in her warmth and then, slowly, surged forward. When he felt her tighten around him, he stopped, withdrew, working his way inside her, and slowly, she relaxed around him. Her arms slid up over his shoulders, and her mouth sought out his. When her nails started to bite into his shoulders, he started to move faster.

Taige's body bowed up to meet his. Their breathing came in short, ragged pants, and neither of them could see anything for the other. Cullen stroked a hand down her thigh and guided her knee up over his hip, then cupped the curve of her a.s.s in his hand, and held her tight against him. He felt her body clench around his.

Deliberately, he changed rhythm. Taige slid her hands down his back and clutched at his hips, squirming against him. ”d.a.m.n it, Cul en . . .”

He reached behind him, caught her hands, and forced her wrists down beside her head.

”After twelve years of dreaming of this, this is going to last longer than a few minutes.”

Not much longer, he knew, but longer. And later, he'd do it again, take her as many times in the few hours as he could. Bind her to him again. Remind her of how good they'd been together before he'd screwed it up.

Settling into a shallow, teasing pace, he nuzzled her neck and licked away a bead of sweat from her throat. Her skin glowed, and under his hands it had gone damp. Her body arched and strained against his, and the snug, wet clasp of her p.u.s.s.y around his c.o.c.k seemed to clutch at him as though she could keep him from pul ing away.

Cullen circled his hips against hers and stared at her face, watching her. Too d.a.m.n beautiful. She moaned, a soft, s.e.xy little sound that throbbed through his system like the beat of a drum. Lashes fluttered low, hiding her eyes. Dipping his head, he bit her lower lip and murmured, ”Open your eyes, Taige. Look at me.”

Slowly, the fan of her lashes lifted, and she stared at him with a blind, foggy gaze. ”Tel me that you love me,” he rasped.

”Cullen . . .”

He slanted his mouth across hers, kissing her deep and hard. Then he lifted up, tossing sweaty hair back out of his face. ”Tell me you love me,” he growled against her lips.

She s.h.i.+fted under him, tugging on her wrists and squirming. ”Let go of my hands.”

Cullen didn't want to. He didn't want to do anything but demand an answer from her, but he'd already done that twice, with no response. Slowly, he loosened his grip on her wrists. If he could have pulled away then, he might have. His heart was like ashes inside his chest, and he wanted to pull back, hard and fast. Instead, he hunkered down low over her, burying his face in her neck and cursing the need that wouldn't let him pull away.

A strong, slender palm stroked up his back. The other hand stil lay over her head, and she sought out his, entwining their fingers. Her free hand curled over the back of his neck, and then her head turned, her lips brus.h.i.+ng against his cheek. ”I love you, Cullen.

Did you actually think I could stop?”

Any control he might have had left died in that second. Turning his head, he sought out her mouth. Hooking his arm around the back of her neck, he whispered against her lips, ”You're mine, Taige. Mine.” Then he pushed his tongue into her mouth and kissed her until all rational thought faded away.

He moved higher on her body so that each deep, hard stroke had him rubbing against her c.l.i.t. Canting her hips upward, he changed the angle of his thrusts so he could hit the buried nerve bed inside her p.u.s.s.y. She lit up like the sky on the Fourth of July, screaming in his mouth, her nails raking down his shoulders, and her back arching. As she came, Taige bucked under him, hard, convulsive little jerks. Cul en banded his arm around her waist and held tight, riding her through it, chasing his own o.r.g.a.s.m with blind fury.

It erupted from him, and he spilled himself into the wet, receptive depths of her body.

Her sheath continued to spasm and clench around his c.o.c.k, milking him dry. It was as though she was pulling fire from inside his body, a pleasure that was d.a.m.n near painful in its intensity.

When it ended, he collapsed against her, burying his face between her b.r.e.a.s.t.s and sucking in badly needed air.

He couldn't think, could hardly focus on anything but the little aftershocks rolling through his system. The one coherent thought he was aware of: I'm never letting you go now, Taige.

MINUTES pa.s.sed-or maybe hours, and Taige continued to lie on her back, staring at the ceiling. She'd gone from self-disgust to acceptance to anger and all the way back again.

Right now, she was right smack in the middle of acceptance. Eventually, she'd be p.i.s.sed off again. At him. At herself. At everything. But right now, she was content to stroke a hand up and down Cullen's back and listen to him breathe.

Her thighs ached, and deep inside, she felt raw and a little sore. Twelve years was a d.a.m.n long time, she mused again. And Cullen hadn't been gentle with her. She hadn't wanted him to be. That greedy desperation eased the ache in her heart, even though it left her body stiff.

I'm never letting you go now, Taige. Catching complete thoughts like that outside of a direct connection wasn't normal for her. It was probably just the physical contact, the very close physical contact that had let her subconscious establish a strong enough connection for her to pick up on that one, clear thought. Just the one, nothing before and nothing since. She was aware of his fatigue, and she'd felt a distant echo from him as they made love. s.e.x, Taige. Just s.e.x, she corrected herself. She'd felt the echo of his pleasure and the burn of need, but she wasn't convinced of anything other than that he wanted her.

A lot.

At least that was what she tried to tell herself. But those few words, I'm never letting you go now, Taige, had managed to undermine all the instincts that demanded she protect herself. Inside, she was in turmoil, practically at war with herself. Half of her demanded that she stop being so d.a.m.n cynical and just see what happened with Cullen. The other half came back with, Tried that route before, and he dumped me on my sorry a.s.s and stomped all over my heart, and that part wasn't at al interested in turning said broken, trampled heart back over to him.

His breathing changed. It brushed over her flesh and made her s.h.i.+ver. Stirring, he lifted his head and stared at her out of bleary eyes. ”Crus.h.i.+ng you,” he muttered, his voice thick.

Taige smiled and slid her fingers through his tousled hair. ”I'm fine.”

”Hmmmm.” Lowering his face, he trailed his tongue over her belly in an absent, erotic little pattern. ”You're not fine. You're perfect. Delicious.” Pus.h.i.+ng up on his elbow, he rolled his weight to the side, pressing up against the back of the couch. ”You're wet with me. I didn't use a rubber.” His lashes drooped over his eyes, and he said, ”Seems to be a bad habit with us.”

Taige shrugged and tried to dismiss what was clamoring for attention in her heart.

Wouldn't matter even if she did acknowledge it. Dreaming and yearning to have a baby of her own, somebody to love and cuddle and protect, was pointless, because it wasn't going to happen.

”You're too quiet,” Cullen said. His voice didn't really change, but she heard something there nonetheless.

Looking up, she met his eyes. He watched her with a soft, loving gaze that made her want to scream. Stiffening, she tried to pul away, but he wouldn't let her. ”Don't worry about it,” she said brusquely.

Heat s.h.i.+mmered through her, and she hissed when he pushed his finger inside her, stroking in and out of her p.u.s.s.y. ”I'm not really worried,” he whispered, dipping his head to flick his tongue against her c.l.i.t. ”No matter what happened, I wouldn't be worried.”

Squeezing her thighs together, she tried to pull back from his caressing hand. ”Nothing will happen.” Her throat was closing up on her; she could feel it. Eyes blurry with tears, she reached down and grabbed his wrist, trying to pull him away. ”Let me go.”

”Don't look so scared, Taige.” He nuzzled her belly and spoke in a soft, cajoling voice.

”You stil love me. I stil love you. If something happens, we'll deal with it. G.o.d knows, I'd love to see you pregnant with my baby.”

Her laugh was bitter, so harsh it hurt her ears just to hear it. ”It won't ever happen, sugar. I can't get pregnant.” This time, when she jerked away from him, he was surprised enough that she managed to pull free. She ended up on her a.s.s by the couch, and too upset to even be embarra.s.sed, all Taige did was shove to her feet and walk blindly in the direction of her room.

She didn't even make it to the doorway when he stopped her, grabbing hold of her arm and trying to turn her around to look at him. When that didn't work, he planted his body in front of her and caught her face between his hands. ”What?” he asked hoa.r.s.ely.

Blinking back the tears, Taige said, ”Just let go of me, Cullen.”

”Not until you explain that.”

This was going to choke her. She knew it. She'd force the words out, and they'd lodge in her throat and choke her. ”I got pregnant that day I came to see you when your mom died. I didn't know about it.” Forcing the words out was about as easy as it would have been to regurgitate broken gla.s.s, and she figured it was every bit as painful. ”I lost weight, was sick a lot, but figured I was just depressed. Then I collapsed at school. I was taken to the ER, and they found a tubal pregnancy, but it was too late. The tube had ruptured.”

Mechanically, she recited the details, unaware that the tears had finally won the battle, and they fel unchecked down her cheeks.

Cullen lifted a hand to touch her, and she flinched away. ”Don't,” she said harshly.

”Have to,” he said, pulling her against him.

His hand rubbed in soothing circles over her bare back, but she held herself stiff in his arms, unable to relax, hardly able to breathe. He was quiet for a long while, and then, finally, he blew out a sigh. His arms tightened around her, and he murmured, ”I'm sorry, Taige.”

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