Chapter 32
Briel had already decided she was going to give Tyce a chance. She was going to do what Aries had suggested and let him in, trust him. She’d been excited that his revelation, whatever it was, was going to bring them together. But standing in the conference room below Apex, she was stunned. Surprisingly, mostly by his words, which was shocking considering what she’d just witnessed.
Tyce hadn’t been “afforded the luxury” of delaying the affliction? He’d told her it couldn’t be helped, couldn’t be changed, but the way he’d said it sounded like he’d just now become resolved to the idea. But now, she was worried that he wanted it changed. It stung like a motherfucker, because she was finally ready to give them a go and here he was saying stupid shit. Her chest had actually physically ached as she’d refused him, but his instantaneous response that she had no choice only served to turn that ache into red-hot rage.
“You’re not giving me a choice? Excuse me?”
He didn’t respond. A strange look passed over his face, and when he swallowed hard, she wondered if he was going to pass out.
She lowered her hands from her hips, but wasn’t about to let him off that easy. “Listen, you don’t get to tell me who I am and am not going to be…”
One second she was giving him what-for and the next she was crushed up against him as his mouth claimed hers.
She knew she should struggle, or try to pull back and act offended. But she was tired of fighting. She was tired of always resisting, so she didn’t. She let Tyce kiss her a moment before she lifted her arms and wrapped them around his neck, opening her mouth to kiss him back.
She felt his body tense, whether from shock or something else, she didn’t know. She didn’t care. She pulled on his neck and he lowered, one arm shelving her ass as he lifted her so she could wrap her legs around him. She could feel them moving and didn’t know where they were going until her ass landed on the conference table.
Breaking the kiss, Tyce didn’t pull back but spoke against her lips. “I’m keeping you.”
She smiled against his mouth, pulling back a mere fraction. “I’m letting you.”
This close, she studied his face, his scars. He was a beautiful man, all battle hardened with proof of his survival etched into his appearance. Unable to stop herself, she leaned forward and kissed the scar on his bottom lip before pulling back and grabbing one of his hands from where it rested on her hip. She studied his palm, the nicks and scars on his fingers, the proof that he didn’t come by anything easily. She traced a stark white scar on one of his fingers before lifting it to her mouth and pressing a kiss to it. Her eyes lifted back to Tyce, and she watched with heavy-lidded eyes as she parted her lips and slid his finger into her mouth.
Tyce’s lip ticked up in a snarl. His eyes narrowed on her mouth. The sensual tension in the room ratcheted higher, and it wasn’t lost on her that Tyce’s eyes had lost all their silver and were now fully black. Hell, even his frame seemed larger, more menacing. It was heady, controlling this monster of hers.
Briel closed her lips around his finger and sucked. She had plans on seducing him further, but Tyce wasn’t having it.
With a deep growl, he pulled his hand back, and then he was shredding her clothes. It was sexy as hell!
In seconds he had her in nothing but her bra and panties, a cute matching powder blue set she’d brought with her from DC.
Tyce pulled back and started taking off his own clothes, but his eyes never left her. “Lock.”
The word made her brows dip in confusion, but seconds later the sound of the door locking had her head whipping toward it, then snapping in the opposite direction when Tyce barked, “Curtain.” A large, thick curtain slid out from one wall and a motor whirred as the curtain slid to cover the expanse of the windows.
By the time Briel’s eyes landed on Tyce, he was completely naked. Holy hell!
Her imagination hadn’t done him justice. Thick, heavily veined muscle covered his body, and there was barely an inch that wasn’t bisected by scars. Her eyes skimmed down his chest, over abs that bunched and flexed with each breath, and settled on the heavy cock between his legs. He was already dripping, and the sight flooded her with heat, gathering wetly between her thighs.
Tyce reached for her and, shyly, she looked up at the ceiling. “Lights?”
“Uh-uh,” he shook his head, dipping it predatorily. “I’m watching this. I want to see myself buried inside you. I wanna see you come apart in my arms. I want to know who I belong to.”
His words left her stunned, but it was only momentary as his hands shot out and ripped off her bra and panties. She was naked on the conference table, her knees raised and locked together as she considered using her arms to cover her breasts. She didn’t get the chance.
Tyce forced his large frame between her legs and cupped the back of her neck to gently lower her to the table.
***
Tyce had to do this right, and he knew it. He didn’t want to just take her like some rutting beast on his damn conference table, but there was no way she was leaving this room without his seed spilling out of her and down her inner thighs. Still, he wanted to give her something. He had to give her something that would cement her belief that he was man enough to protect her and Fena both. He gave her the only thing he had. He gave her himself.
Eyes still holding Briel's, he bent until his large frame hovered over her, his nose just inches from his. “I, Tyce Declan Steele, take you, Briel Solomon, to be my friend, my lover, the mother of my children, my wife, my mate…my Angel.”
Briel gasped.
“I will be your strength in times of weakness, your want in times of need, your joy in times of sorrow. I will sacrifice my health, my triumph, my hopes, and my desires to put yours and Fena’s needs ahead of my own.”
Briel’s eyes filled with tears that slipped free to slide down her cheeks. “Tyce…”
He kept going. “I promise to cherish and respect you both, to care for you, and protect your lives and the lives of our children, with my very own. I vow to comfort and encourage you, to guard and keep you, and to love you until my time on this earth ends.”
When he finished, Briel simply stared at him, lifting a hand to place it on his bare chest, right over his heart.
“I love you,” he declared. “I want you, Briel. I need you. I choose you.”
Unable to speak, she nodded.
Warm bodies pressed up against each other, Tyce tensed and used one strong arm to scoot Briel’s body closer. Their eyes remained locked as he slowly pushed inside of her. His hands read the goosebumps that erupted along her thighs as deftly as a blind man reading Braille. The bumps told of Briel’s passion, her need, and he had every intention of filling that need.
His hips started working against hers and Briel cried out, her head tilting back as her eyes fluttered closed. Her nails clawed at his shoulders, and he prayed they left marks. The only scars he’d welcome. He was deep inside of her now, sliding in and out, over and over, his thrusts rocking her body as his hands roamed every sacred inch of her.
As he tunneled into his mate he had to concentrate on not exploding inside her too soon. She felt so damn good, so right.
She lifted her head. Eyes opening, the whiskey color caught the low light and, in their depths, he read a thousand words.
Harder now he thrust, and when Briel’s eyes widened, her mouth parted in an ‘O’, he knew her orgasm had snuck up on her.
Wildly, he bucked into her, drawing it out and trying to tamp down his own feral need. But her pussy was milking him too hotly, too tightly, and in a few more thrusts, he was shooting his seed deep inside of his Angel.
***
After he’d emptied himself deep inside of her, Tyce had collapsed and hadn’t stirred. Briel had been worried at first, but his chest rose and fell steadily, so she chalked it up to the end of his affliction. Not only had he not been able to eat or drink, he’d been drugged to sleep each night as well. She looked at him tenderly realizing that this was his first real sleep since they’d met.
Watching Tyce sleep, she couldn’t stop touching him. Her hand trembled as she smoothed the hair back from his sweat-dampened face. Mine. It’s the first time she’d had the thought, and it settled something deep in her bones.
Her mind kept replaying the words he’d said to her. He’d called her his friend, his lover, even though they hadn’t gone that far. He’d also called her the mother of his children, his wife, his mate, his Angel. The words had been shocking, and yet something about them felt right. He felt right. He’d vowed to sacrifice his health, triumph, hopes, and desires to put her and Fena’s needs ahead of his own. It’s all she’d ever wanted. He was all she’d ever hoped for. Emotion clogged her throat and blurred her vision as she realized she was in love with him. It had happened so quickly, so unexpectedly, but there was no denying it. I love, Tyce Steele!