Page 51 of Defending Love
I swallowed. “You had to in the Special Forces?”
He nodded. “I’ve heard others say they don’t remember how many. I do. I wish I didn’t.”
Eli didn’t share the number, but that was all right. I could hear the remorse in his deep timbre. This mostly stoic man was capable of taking lives, yet that wasn’t his calling; saving and defending was why he put his own life on the line.
I couldn’t think about the person who purposely shot my father—he’d obviously wanted to take a life.
Lifting my hands to Eli’s broad shoulders, I pushed up on my tiptoes. “Let’s not remember. Not remember anything right now. I want to live in the present. Just you and me.”
His lips came down on mine, possessive and assured. I let myself get lost in his touch as my sweatshirt, tank top, shorts, and panties made their way to the floor. With each ensuing second, sparks came to life beneath my skin. The world was lost as Eli unbuckled his belt, the clasp clattering on the floor, the swoosh of his zipper seconds before his pants fell to his ankles. After kicking off his shoes, Eli took a step away, leaving a black puddle of expensive suit pants.
Almost nude, Eli’s muscular body was only covered by black silk boxer briefs. The bulge beneath was growing larger by the second.
“My turn,” he said as his penetrating stare scanned my naked body. He walked a complete circle around me as I had done, his warm touch tantalizing my skin. His focused stare was like a laser heating me from the inside out. Butterfly kisses tickled my shoulders and breasts. “You’re sensational, Dani.”
Framing my face, his lips came back to mine. Step by step, he moved the two of us until I was trapped between two unmovable objects, him and the wall. Eli reached for my ass and without effort lifted me until my arms were around his shoulders and my legs around his waist. He didn’t hesitate to find my folds with his long, skilled fingers.
I moaned and stretched my neck back, my head against the wall as he plunged one and then two fingers deep inside me. My body hummed like a well-tuned guitar, and Eli was the musician, the aficionado who knew exactly what strings to strum and what melody to play.
Within his grasp, my body bounced to his tempo. His scruffy cheeks abraded the soft skin on my neck and collarbone in the best of ways. It was as his thumb circled my clit that I called out. Whatever I said wasn’t articulate. I wasn’t even certain it made sense. I was completely absorbed in the dueling sensations.
As the temperature reached a fevered pitch, Eli pushed down his boxers, freeing his cock. My body stiffened at the initial invasion. Despite our foreplay that had me wet and ready, I sucked in a breath. His girth and length were more than I’d ever experienced. My fingernails carved crescent moons in his shoulders as we each worked to accommodate the other. Once he was fully buried, I laid my forehead on his shoulder and exhaled. A slight wiggle of my hips and the vise grip my core had on him loosened enough to turn discomfort into pleasure.
Pleasure.
It was a word I’d never fully comprehended until that moment. The fullness was overwhelming and rewarding.
Eli’s intense green gaze met mine. “I’ve dreamt about this.”
My cheeks rose as a smile bloomed. “About me—us?”
He nodded. “The last year, I tried, but I couldn’t get you out of my mind.”
“You too. I mean, I never forgot you.” I wiggled my hips. “I never imagined that being with you would feel this good.”
“Doctor, we’re just getting started.”
The mattress jiggled as Eli lowered me to the bed, our connection never fully severed. My body tingled from my head to my toes as Eli pushed my knees back. His stare zeroed in as he pushed in and pulled out. “My cock is fucking shiny with your cum.”
I imagined what he described.
Our rhythm was off until it wasn’t.
Together, we moved in sync, two separate people finally finding their way together. My first orgasm built from a spark to a flame and into a roaring inferno. The damage would be devastating if not for the unrelenting attention to detail coming from the man above me, the man tending the fire with care.
Eli didn’t stop as I spiraled down. It was as I was once again earthbound that he unexpectedly pulled out, the loss left my core clenching at the sudden emptiness. He flipped me to my stomach and tugged my ass upward until I was on my knees. I sucked in a breath as without hesitation, he buried himself to the hilt, regaining our connection. If the first round was his gentler version, the second round was a race to the finish.
I didn’t feel the orgasm coming. There wasn’t a warning sign or flashing light. It struck from out of the darkness, a freight train barreling down the tracks in a darkened tunnel. Words and whimpers came from my lips as my body convulsed, and fireworks exploded behind my closed eyes.
Three more thrusts and Eli stilled, the room filling with his roar as he shuddered inside me. My knees gave out as his weight held me to the mattress. I could stay as we were for the rest of the night.
Safe.
Warm.
Cared for in the cocoon of his body.
Alas, that wasn’t to be.
