Hardline

I met his eyes, wanting him to believe every word.

“And James.”

I drew in a breath, resigning myself to the choice I had to make. “He’s leaving. It’s done.”

CHAPTER TWELVE

He regarded me silently. I held myself to him, but he hadn’t touched me in any other way. Still holding back. Yet the way his muscles coiled tight under his skin, I couldn’t help but feel that could change at any moment. I’d become the hunted, and this chase would turn on its head in an instant. The anticipation had my heart racing.

“That’s what you want, isn’t it?” My voice caught when he licked his lips.

“That’s not all I want.”

Lust filled his eyes, mixing with the quiet determination I’d seen grow in him over the past several days. Heat bloomed across my skin under his traveling gaze.

“I’m giving you everything,” I whispered.

“I’d like to believe it, but you’ve done nothing but fight me. How do I know anything has changed?”

How could I show him?

Love wasn’t enough. Words, meaning every one I uttered, weren’t enough. I was here, naked and vulnerable, chest-to-chest with the man who was demanding I give him every piece of myself. I lowered back onto my heels and let my hands fall down. How much was enough? I’d finally acquiesced to his demands, and now I was scrambling with how I could prove it to him.

I twisted my fingers nervously between us. My fingertip traced the small band of diamonds above my knuckle. A thought struck me. Nerves tightened my stomach and adrenaline pulsed through me. I closed my eyes.

Fuck. I was about to give him everything. And I was petrified.

I exhaled a shaky breath, hoping the release would loosen the knot in my throat. Opening my eyes, I braced myself for what I had to do. I looked up into Blake’s eyes, a tornado of want and worry.

“Blake, I love you so much. And I trust you. I really do.” I kept my voice steady, not wanting to give him any reason to doubt me. “So please understand this for what it is…everything...everything that I have. Please don’t make me regret it.”

I closed my eyes a second and dropped slowly to my knees. The only sound in the room was metal against metal, the clink of the bracelets as I positioned my hands on my thighs.

I waited for him. To believe me, to come to me and be the one to bring us back together.

A minute that felt like forever passed. No movement, no words. Only the echo of what I’d done and the anticipation of where it would take us. Slowly he lowered in front of me. I kept my focus on the floor and then the dark fabric of his jeans stretching over his knees. He tipped my chin to meet his eyes. His lips were parted, his breath rushing out in soft pants that met my own ragged breathing.

He drew a line across my quivering lips. “This is what I want, if it’s what you want,” he finally said.

My heart hammered in my chest, a loud reminder of how much he meant to me. “I want you. I can’t promise I’ll be perfect, but I’ll try to be what you want, everything you need.”

He slid his palm over my cheek and into my hair, urging me up. I lifted to my knees and steadied myself with my palms against his chest. The hard muscles rippled under my hands. He held me that way, our lips a breath apart, his eyes scorching with emotion.

His breath whispered over my lips. “All I’ve ever wanted, since the day we met, was your trust. I want to be there for you, to help you, protect you. I can’t do any of that the way I need to when you fight me and push me back.”

“I won’t anymore, I promise.”

His eyes softened. He wrapped an arm around my waist, pulling me closer to him. “And I promise that I will never let you regret that choice.”

A warm feeling expanded in my chest, dispelling the nerves and the doubt. My love for this man shot through me, sending a tremble down every limb. Lust and desire lit up on its path, and I had to have him now. His name on my lips, I kissed him feverishly, as if I’d never have another chance. Hands in his hair, I clung to him, wanting our bodies as close as they could be. He answered the silent wish, bringing both hands to my ass. A quick thrust of his hips showed me how badly he wanted me too.

I gasped for air, breathless from the kiss and the electricity in the air. “Take me now. Take what’s yours, Blake.”

He lifted me quickly to the couch so I lay on my back. As we kissed, an all consuming kiss, he caught my wrists and held them above me. I arched my back off the couch, restless and eager to feel him against me again. He loosened his hold and I went to reach for him, only to find my wrists bound in the bracelets. They were the most expensive handcuffs I’d ever wear, and their beauty kept me captive in a way nothing else ever had.

“You’ve given me what I want, Erica. Now I’m going to give you everything you want. You’ll lack for nothing tonight, baby.”

My fingers itched to touch him, to rake through his hair, down his back. I groaned, the now hopeless desire to move and take hold of him shooting through me. “Then fuck me and don’t make me wait anymore.”

He moved down my body, kissing a wet path down my torso. A lick into my navel, a soft graze of his teeth over my hipbone.

“Blake,” I whimpered.

“I will, baby. Trust me, I will. I want a little taste of you first.”

He pushed one of my legs to the floor. Grabbing the other at the knee, he held it firmly against the back of the couch, exposing me to him completely. I lay there, full of need and on display for the man who never failed to reduce me to a shameless harlot with a few well-timed words.

Warm snaked through me. My heart thundered, sexual anticipation now rushing in over my love for him. I clenched my fists, remembering my bonds. The cool metal tight at my skin where I strained reminded me who owned this moment. I closed my eyes and sighed, going limp into the soft give of the couch.

“That’s a good girl. Lay back and I’m going to make you see stars,” he murmured.

He brushed his lips down my thigh. Every time his tongue slipped out and made contact with my skin, my eyes rolled back. My fingers curled tightly over the armrest of the couch, steadfast where he’d placed them earlier. Heat flowed through me like molten lava. I swore I’d never been so damn needy and yet so patient and trusting that he’d sate those needs.

Warm, sure hands slid from my knees to the center of my body where Blake spread me farther with his fingers. When his mouth made contact with the sensitive flesh between my legs, I began to tremble. His grip on my thighs stiffened, ready to keep me still. The soft press of the intimate kiss gave way to his tongue, drawing a full velvet lick up my clit. I cried out and my patience took a serious hit as he continued to massage the taut bundle of nerves, sucking and licking, moaning curses against it.

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