“But—”
“If anything feels wrong, I promise I’ll tell you immediately.” I held his gaze, willing him to understand. “Blake?”
He stilled.
“I’ve dreamed of this for years. Please. I want you to devour me. Ravage me.”
The change in his expression was electric. Uncertainty melting into relief, then blazing into raw hunger.
His lips found my jaw as his fingers teased my nipple. When he positioned himself at my entrance, his voice was rough velvet against my skin. “You’re mine, Cupcake.” He pushed forward, claiming me inch by exquisite inch.
A sharp bite of discomfort made me tense momentarily, but it melted into pleasure as he waited, letting my body adjust to him while he sank slowly into me. Claiming me. Filling me, my body stretching around him, him holding my arm captive above my head as he pushed all the way inside of me.
The look on Blake’s face made fresh heat pool in my core; it was possession and tenderness, dominance and devotion, all mixed together. He pulled out a couple of inches and thrust inside again, this time harder, this time making me gasp with the intensity of his movement.
His whiskered jaw scraped against my skin as he found his rhythm, and, holy hell, I loved submitting to him like this. My legs spread wide, arms pinned above me as he claimed me as his own, right here among the symbols of his success and power.
The glass table protested with each thrust, banging against the wall in a steady rhythm. Any thrust could shatter it, sending shards slicing into our skin, but neither of us cared. All that mattered was Blake’s mouth on my throat, his body filling me as another climax began to build.
“I’ve wanted to bury myself in you for so long.” He bit my lip, a little too hard. Like he was angry he’d been forced to wait for this.
I smiled and bit him back, rocking my hips with each of his thrusts. Which were growing more desperate, angrier even. How long I’d wanted this. Him on top of me, taking me, claiming me as his own.
When I finally crashed again, Blake released my arms to grip my hips, driving deeper as my muscles pulsed around him. Without warning, he wrapped my legs around his waist and carried me to an artful cushioned chair in the living room, never breaking our connection as he lowered us into it.
Straddling him, I kissed his jaw, his throat.
“Take control, Cupcake.”
My lips paused on his skin at his words. This was Blake. Control-freak, never-willing-to-let-himself-submit-to-anything Blake, giving me complete control over him.
Giving me the reins was the sexiest thing he’d ever done, and as an added bonus, the wraparound windows of his plush living room didn’t just offer a view of the city falling into darkness; they reflected us like a mirror. Blake’s muscular, tattooed body sprawled in the chair, my thighs straddling his waist as I began to move. Each roll of my hips pressed my most sensitive spot against him, and the sight of us in the window’s reflection had me building toward release again almost immediately.
My breasts bounced as he cupped them, my hair flowing behind me as our bodies moved together in perfect synchronization. Blake let me have this moment, surrendering control completely, perhaps sensing how much I needed this after feeling like my life had been so out of control for so long. As I found my own rhythm, I rocked and writhed until I felt his muscles beginning to tense beneath me, the tightening of his jaw and the roughening of his breathing telling me he was close.
Just before he found his release, Blake groaned out words that made my heart soar. “I love you, Tessa.”
His declaration hung in the air between us as he came undone, the raw vulnerability in his expression unleashing something warm and wild in my chest that had been caged for years. We stayed like that, pulses gradually slowing, tradingsoft kisses that felt like promises neither of us had dared make before.
When we finally stood to dress, I caught Blake watching me like I was something precious he’d found after searching his whole life.
“I’ve loved you for a long time, Cupcake.”
I stilled, one arm through my shirtsleeve, as the weight of those words settled over me. All those years we’d circled each other, both of us pushing away what we wanted most.
I knew my reasons. Some I’d never shared with another soul. But his …
“Why didn’t you tell me sooner?” The question slipped out before I could stop it. “Why didn’t you let me love you?”
Blake pulled his shirt on, the fabric settling over the tattoos that hid the scars of his past, just like he’d tried to hide from his feelings all these years. His movements were measured, deliberate. The way he got when he was trying to maintain control.
“It’s because of your parents, isn’t it?” I ventured softly, remembering the pain that would flash across his face whenever family was mentioned. Whenever the first snowfall hit with a reminder of that winter night he’d lost them both.
“No.” He stepped into his pants, one leg at a time, still not meeting my eyes. “That’s not it. Not entirely.”
Something in his tone made me pause. We’d just shared our bodies, our hearts, crossed every physical boundary between us, but I feared he’d retreat now, pulling back behind scars, where dark corners of his soul cast shadows over his life. Shadows that stretched longer and deeper than I’d imagined. Whatever had stopped him from reaching for love all these years, it was something that still had power over him, even now.
“Will you tell me?” I whispered, my heart in my throat. “Why have you always pushed love away?”
