Chapter 34

His breath caressed her cheek. "Tell me you want me." The grated, whispered demand made her heart pound harder.

"I want you."

He pulled out and thrust inside, his palm adding pressure to her clit. She cried out at the violent pleasure.

His nose brushed her ear as he tilted his head. "Tell me you need me."

"I need you." So, so, so much.

Again, he repeated his motion, and she pinched her eyes shut at the jarring satisfaction. "Then, I'm yours, baby. For as long as you'll have me." Another thrust. "You're mine."

Oh God. "Nate..."

He groaned. "I know, baby."

This time, he didn't thrust, he drove home. Swift. Brutal. With short, firm plunges, he pounded into her. Repeatedly. With each filling, his fingers slid along her folds and his palm added more and more pressure where she needed it most. She could do little more than lie there, taking him, completely submissive under his weight.

And she loved it.

He enclosed her body with his, stretched her to the point there was no room for doubt. Her breasts, crushed against the mattress, became more tender as her nipples peaked. Tension knotted her shoulders as she sought her release. His grunts fueled her on and a warning of an impending explosion clutched her midsection.

Fisting the sheets, she splintered. Light and kinetic energy blasted through her, rendered her motionless as she came on a silent scream. She trembled under him, felt the white-hot burn through her whole system. Again and again. Gasping, she opened her eyes.

He never let up. "You're not done." Harder, he pumped, and they drifted higher up the bed. His palm smacked the headboard as if to gain leverage. "Come again."

The graceful motion of his body and shift of muscle against her contradicted the carnal, fraught way he took her. Savage. Dominating.

He dipped his head and latched onto her neck, swirling his tongue over the spot that made her eyes roll back in her skull. His fingers moved from her folds and flicked her clit, then he pinched the nub and...

She buried her face in the sheets, trying to chase yet another white light. With every retreat, he rubbed her sensitive flesh, and with each plunge, he filled her anew. Rhythmic. Beautifully jarring. A mating and a promise and a declaration.

He grew rigid behind her and pulsed deep inside her. Opening his mouth wide on her shoulder, he groaned. Loud. Long. "Now, baby. Christ, please."

Knowing he was on the brink, holding out for her, and that she was the very thing standing between him and bliss, was enough to send her to the cliff with him. She whimpered and...

Something seismic ruptured inside her. She bowed and came a second time, the orgasm ripping through her. Muscle locked around bone and her cells liquefied. Unable to take it, she wailed into the mattress as quake after quake assaulted her.

He cursed a wicked streak and dropped his forehead to her nape. Froze. Shuddered. Rolled his hips. Pumped several more times. And...collapsed onto her with a grunt. He pulled out, rolling to his back beside her, chest heaving. They lay next to one another for long moments, obscenely panting.

Finally, an eternity later, he removed the condom and stared at it.

She could barely blink. "There's a trash can on the floor beside the bed."

He glanced over with a groan and discarded the condom. "Thank Christ. I don't think I can move." His brow furrowed and he gingerly bent his knee. Rubbing his thigh, he turned his head and looked at her. "Doesn't look like you can, either."

"Maybe next week. With proper motivation, that is." Lord, she felt good. Sated and exhausted and properly sore in all the right areas. "What's wrong with your leg?" He kept massaging it.

"The injury. Stiffens up sometimes. I'm fine."

He probably needed fluids. Gearing herself, she shifted to the edge of the mattress. If memory served, he had a couple sports drinks up here from her fever.

"Where are you going?"

She paused on his side of the bed. "To get you a Gatorade. Be right back."

"If you can walk, I did something wrong." He patted the sheets. "I'm fine. Come here."

Leaning over him, she smiled. "You did everything right. Now be quiet." She gave him a brief kiss and made her way to the kitchen on shaky, spent legs. Funny, she'd never moseyed around her suite naked before. She snatched a bottle from the fridge and returned to find him sitting up, leaning against the headboard. "Drink. Rejuvenate."

He smiled and took the bottle. "Thanks."

She climbed back in and covered them with blankets. He downed half the drink before recapping it and setting it on the nightstand, then laid on his side to face her.

His gaze swept over her as he propped his head in his hand. "You're goddamn beautiful after you come. All the time, actually, but especially after sex."

The air seeped from her lungs. "That's much better than I'm sorry."

His brows pinched as his throat worked a swallow. "Would it be redundant to apologize for saying sorry? My intention wasn't to hurt you. The opposite." He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, gaze following the movement. "I don't know what the hell I'm doing, Olivia. Literally and metaphorically."

The point being, he was trying. That's all that mattered. He wanted to evolve and move on. "In the past, what did you do when faced with something uncertain?"

"Fight blind." He twisted his lips in thought. "Or run. Depends."

"Well, you're not alone, so fight with another set of eyes. And I'll catch you if you run." She grinned. "I'm very fast."

Amusement shone in his eyes. "Olivia Cattenach, are you telling me you'd chase me?"

She suspected she would, to the ends of the earth and back. He'd lit a spark inside her, and not just lust. His dark side called to hers as if reaching out for a mutual healing. Somehow, he was filling a need she didn't know she had. Companionship. Strength. Safety.

"Are you thinking about leaving?" It hadn't occurred to her, but there wasn't anything tying him here.

Gradually, he sobered. After the longest pause, he cleared his throat. "If there was the slightest chance I was capable of leaving you, there's a greater one I never will." He closed his eyes as if frustrated. "I don't understand how you get my thoughts out of captivity and sprung from my mouth." He looked at her with a frown. "What I mean is, I plan on sticking around until you ask me to leave."

"Because you promised Justin?"

"Yes." But he absently shook his head in denial like he wasn't aware he was doing it. "He said something once. We were talking about old girlfriends and I asked why he didn't have a current one. He gave me that cheesy grin of his and replied, if you're with someone who makes you a better person, hold onto them. I haven't met her yet." He huffed a laugh and rubbed his eyes. "Totally forgot about that."

And he chose now, right this second, to remember. Because he thought she made him a better man. The compliment wove around her jugular and squeezed. "You're a good person, Nate."

He slapped his hand between them on the bed with a weary sigh. "I think you're the first person to ever think such a thing. Definitely the only one to say it." His brows rose as if solidifying his argument.

"Justin knew. He wouldn't have sent you here, otherwise. Aunt Mae wants to adopt you, plus you have the respect of my ranch hands. You even managed to win over Amy and Nakos. No small feat with those two." She rubbed her thumb across his lower lip. "I do believe you're outnumbered."

His hesitant gaze trailed a path over her face like he was trying to memorize her features. "I should get back to my room." He leaned in and kissed her forehead.

"Why?"

He paused, blinking as if he genuinely had no clue how to respond. "Isn't that what you want? Besides, the others will know something's going on tomorrow morning if I'm up here."

One step forward, two steps back. "First, you've been crashing on my couch for more than a week. Second, if they haven't figured out what we're up to, they're blind. Third, I'm not ashamed to be with you. And lastly, no, I don't want you to go." She took his hand in hers. "How am I supposed to wake you up doing naughty things if you're downstairs?"

His mouth opened and closed on a frown. "Are you sure?"

"Turn off the light. Yes, I'm sure."

After a pause, he whistled for Bones, then reached over and switched off the lamp, flooding the room in moonlight. Once Bones jumped onto the bed and settled, Nate eased closer to her and reclaimed her hand, threading his fingers through hers.

She snuggled up to him, tangling their legs and burying her face in his chest. Hard and impenetrable as he was, he made a good pillow.

He sighed and kissed her hand. "Perhaps you could explain these naughty things you mentioned. To prepare myself."

She smiled against his hot, scented skin. "Where's the fun in that?"