Sam

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WHY HADN’T I PUSHED him out of the way?

It was the question that rolled around in my mind as his arms pulled me closer to him. The electricity that flooded my veins shot my adrenal glands into overdrive. I could feel my body relenting to him, even as the voice at the back of my head chanted denial, demanding I keep my focus because he still needed me.

“Let yourself have me,” Derek said into my lips. “Let me show you that I can protect you, too.”

My mind kept screaming “no,” but my heart kept thumping “yes.” The Morse code hammering against my chest ricocheted louder than the violent scream aching my skull. I felt my body giving way to him. The way his arms slid around my waist, careful to miss the wound throbbing on my arm. His hands rounded the globe of my ass, picking me up against him as my legs locked around him. My right arm traveled around his neck, holding on tightly to him as he walked me back into his own personal library.

He kicked the door shut behind him before he sat on the edge of a chair.

His hands traveled up the back of my shirt, his fingers tracing delicate lines. I could feel him studying me closely, taking the time to learn me as our lips moved against one another. Our tongues were hot inside each other’s cheeks. I could taste his want for me as his cock grew between my legs. His hands splayed across my back as I wiggled, trying to move his touch so he wouldn’t feel it.

But it was already too late, and I felt his fingertips glide onto the scar tissue I had seated in the middle of my back.

I felt him freeze, his lips pulling away from mine. My eyes found his as he stared at me while his hands continued to roam, tracing the outline of my scars he’d failed to find before because of his heated lust for me. Because he wanted my body more than he wanted to know me or understand me.

To learn me.

This was different. The look in his eyes was different. As he traced the marred skin, taking in its rough contours, his lips descended to my chest. His movements were smooth and soft, wary of my injured arm as my hips rolled down onto his. He nipped at me, his fingertips drifting over my scars as his tongue danced on top of my skin. I released his name into the darkened room, cursing my growing desire for him and trying to settle the beating of my heart.

His hands slid from my body, making their way toward the button of my jeans. We began undressing one another, my hand working his belt from his loop as he worked my jeans off my body. His body was naked for me, even though my shirt was still on, and I allowed my fingertips to run along the edges of his taut, bulging muscles.

His hands guided my hips back to him, my body seated in his lap. Our foreheads pressed together, our lips kissing one another over and over again. I felt his hands rubbing my thighs, squeezing them and memorizing them as his hands drifted to their outer limits.

And he stopped once more when he happened upon more scars.

He traced them. Pressed them. Took them in and sighed over them. It was like his hands were kissing them, accepting them for what they were as his aching cock throbbed against my entrance. I was dripping onto him, my juices pouring over his skin as his lips caressed down my neck. I was pulsing for him, my body wanton and my mind at a standstill as his lips nipped at my pulse point.

“Let me feel you,” I said breathlessly. “Please.”

Never in my life had I begged anything from anyone, but it felt necessary at that moment. His hand wrapped around the base of his cock, guiding him into me as my pussy swallowed him whole. My good arm slung around his neck as his hands gripped my hips tightly, lowering me onto him as I shivered against his thighs. I sank all the way down to his hilt, his actions stalling as his hands ran along the scars on my thighs yet again.

I could’ve sworn I felt his jaw trembling.

Our lips connected, and we were catapulted into another world. Our bodies started moving, and our hips started rolling. His cock grew against my fluttering walls, and my fingernails dug into the strength of his body. I ran my hand all along his back, gripping his thighs with mine as I straddled him. He rolled deeply into my body, keeping his movements fluid to avoid jostling my arm.

Even in his unbridled state of passion, he was conscious of what I needed.

Our teeth clattered with our kisses, and our moans grew more desperate. Derek’s arms wrapped around my back, pulling me closer to his chest as our bodies rocked faster. My clit was throbbing, peeking out from underneath its fleshy hood to seek the friction it wanted so badly.

The moment his curls raked against the tip of it, I was weak to him.

“Sam. Yes. I feel you. Keep going.”

“Derek. I-I ... it’s ...”

I couldn't complete a sentence. My legs were trembling, and my head was spinning. My toes were curling, and my back was bowing. I wanted to lean away from him and cry out his name while simultaneously pulling him closer and swallowing his sounds down my throat. I planted my knees on the cushion of the chair, gaining leverage as I rolled even faster. I bounced in his lap, ignoring the pain in my arm as I chased what I so desperately wanted.

Derek’s lips collided with mine once more, his cock releasing inside me and coating me with his come.

I slipped off the tip of the iceberg and plummeted into his cool, dark waters. I found myself drowning in him, lost in a sea of endless bliss as I climaxed in his lap. His hands pressed into my lower back, my pussy pulling him deeper as I shook with ecstasy. I whimpered into his lips, biting down on his lower lip as my body trembled at his mercy.

I collapsed into him as his back collided with the chair. I panted into the crook of his neck, feeling him cradle me. I was trapped between the hewn muscles of his chest and the chiseled features of his arms. I felt him panting into the hair on my head as he peppered my skull with kisses.

I allowed myself the chance to rest. To shut down my predatory and protective instincts and simply exist.

The silence was comforting. Erotic. The air swirled with our smells, and the walls were still echoing our sounds. I didn’t want this to change. I wanted to stay in this moment forever with him when neither of us feared for our lives, our safety, or our futures.

Nothing could get us in this moment, and I wasn’t ready to give it up.

But we had to. We had to know our next moves.

Derek’s safety still depended on it.

“Where do we go from here?” I asked.

“You mean after we get dressed?” Derek asked.

“Don’t be a dick about it.”

“We still have to deal with Jacob. He’s still out there, and who the hell knows what he’s trying to pursue now? But I want to try a relationship with you. I want to build that with you. I want the chance to try.”

“I’d be lying if I said I was sure about this, because I’m not. There are still so many factors in play that could be altering your—”

His hand grabbed my chin and brought my lips to his. The kiss was deep. Rough. Passionate and meant to silence. I sank into him, feeling his heart beating against my chest as I moaned into his lips. His hand slid up to cup my cheek, his thumb tracing the outline of my cheekbone as my lips swelled under his attack.

When he pulled away from me, my body followed him. Almost like it was instinct.

I wasn’t sure how I felt about that type of instinct.

Derek helped me from his lap, and I searched for my clothes. I could feel him pouring out of me, so I used my underwear to wipe myself down. I stumbled to get my pants on, refusing Derek’s help when he tried to steady me on my feet. I got myself dressed this morning. There was no need for his help now.

Then I shoved my dirty underwear deep into my pants pocket.

I still wasn’t sure that Derek was genuinely interested in me. I still felt he was getting all spun around by this unusual situation for him. The adrenaline. The danger. The Florence Nightingale effect where someone being protected latches onto their protector. It was a phenomenon I had watched John be plagued with on more than one occasion, and I couldn’t shake the feeling it was happening now too.

Only I was giving into it instead of refusing it like I’d coached John so many times before.

But what I had to do was keep myself in check. Even if I was sleeping with him, it didn’t mean my heart had to run away from me. Even if I had to protect Derek, it didn’t mean I had to fall in love with him simply because he was a powerful man. I needed to protect myself. I needed to keep myself from being so vulnerable to this man, especially now that I knew the power he had to affect me.

A power I hadn’t encountered in years.

Derek’s wish for a relationship was no more than infatuation, an illusion built on a series of rare events that drew two people together. Two people with very specific skillsets that were very good in their respective industries. I was a powerful woman, and he was a powerful man.

That didn’t mean we were built to be powerful together.

“Coming?” Derek asked.

He stood at the door, holding it open with a smug grin on his cheeks.

No. This wasn’t real. None of this was real between Derek and me. It was a stressful job that required a stress relief two parties were willing to give one another. That wasn’t a recipe for love, and it wasn’t a recipe for a relationship.

I was right, and he was wrong. He had misjudged Jacob, I knew he was still misjudging Emma, and I know he was misjudging me.

That meant he would misjudge what we were doing. His emotional dispositions proved that.

And if there was anything I had built my life on, it was proof.