The sight of Chad running away was one of the more satisfying things I’d seen in a long, long time.

But even as I mused over that, my gaze was drawn back to Kane, and the look in his eyes caught me off-guard.

He looked…uneasy.

His eyes met mine, then slid away.

It only took a few seconds to figure out what the problem was. Slowly, I went to him and held out a hand.

He took it, and I walked backward, leading him to my apartment.

“Come inside,” I said softly.

He opened his mouth, but I pressed my index finger to his lips, overcome with a massive need for him, and oddly enough, tenderness. He’d protected me, this big, brooding, intimidating man, and he was now worried that…what? That I’d reject him? That I might be afraid of him?

I felt safer with him than I’d ever felt with anybody.

The idea of being afraid was almost laughable.

Still holding his hand, I turned away and undid the series of locks on the door. Once I was done, I tugged him inside and redid each lock, still holding his hand in one of mine.

Once the locks were set, I turned and nudged him back up against the door, pressing my mouth to his.

He tensed in reaction.

I traced my fingers along his cheek, felt a muscle pulse under my fingers.

“Thank you,” I said, murmuring the words against his lips. I had no idea exactly what he’d said that had made Chad freak out, but I’d seen pure terror in the man’s eyes, and I doubted Chad would be back.

It was knowledge that lightened my heart far more than I’d ever dared to imagine.

Moving my lips from his, I kissed a line down his jaw to his neck.

One of his hands came up, cupping the back of my head.

It tightened as I drew a line down, down, down, stopping when I hit the V-neck of the sweater he wore under a heavy work coat. Pulling away, I shoved the coat from his shoulders, then caught the hem of the sweater. He had to help me drag it the rest of the way off, leaning back up against the door once we let it fall to the floor.

I pressed my mouth to his chest and the muscles jerked under my lips. His breathing sped up, and against my lips, I could feel the rapid beat of his heart.

“Raye…”

The sound of my name on his lips was incredibly erotic, so guttural and rough, and I shivered against him.

He closed a hand over my hip and dragged me closer.

Against my belly, I felt the hard press of his cock, and I whimpered, wiggling against him, but when he went to pull at my clothes, I caught his hands and urged them back to his sides.

“My turn,” I said stubbornly.

He closed his hands into fists, but closed his eyes and nodded, his fisted hands pressed against the door at his back. I kissed a path down his torso, lingering over each tattoo I came across. As I went lower, I bent my knees, kneeling in front of him. When I tugged his jeans open, his entire body went rigid, and his hands moved to my shoulders, squeezing tight. “Raye…”

“Shhh…”

Leaning in, I kissed him through the heather-gray material of his boxers. His cock jumped, pulsing against my touch. I grabbed the waist of his jeans and dragged the thick denim down to mid-thigh, then tugged his boxers lower, freeing his cock. After a quick glance upward, I swayed closer and took him in my mouth.

A muttered curse escaped him.

One hand cupped the back of my neck.

He was thick, stretching my mouth as I took him inside, but I kept going until the head butted against the back of my throat. Then I stopped and slowly withdrew, running my tongue over the heavy vein, sucking on him as I pulled back.

A low noise escaped him as I started the process all over again.

By the third stroke, he was moving against my mouth, one hand cupping my face, strangely gentle, while the other held the back of my neck. He no longer leaned against the door. Instead, he hovered over me and rocked into me with each forward movement I made.

He spoke, but the words were low, almost nonsensical, a series of syllables and grunts and disjointed words that still somehow managed to turn me on even more.

“Yeah…with your…right…fuck, Raye…”

I took him as deep as I could when he swelled in my mouth, gripping his hips and holding him in place. Lodged against the back of my throat now, his cock pulsed and jerked, and I swallowed, eager for more.

“I’m going to come,” he said, trying to pull me off.

I sucked on him and began to move faster.

Between my thighs, liquid heat gathered, and I squirmed, desperate to relieve the ache building inside me, but there was no way in hell I was going to stop what I was doing.

Something salty filled my mouth, and Kane grunted.

“Last chance, Raye,” he warned me.

I slowed down and slid him a look, staring up at him over the length of his body before drawing him back into my mouth once more. Slow, teasingly.

He groaned and slid a hand between us, fisting his cock. His hand bumped up against my mouth, but as he began to pump himself, I decided I didn’t mind. He held me in place with his hand at the base of my neck, and I knew this was the most erotic thing I’d ever experienced, him fisting himself while I held the head of his cock in my mouth, kneeling still fully clothed in front of him.

A wash of fluid hit the back of my tongue. Reflexively, I swallowed, then swallowed again as another rush of it followed. Kane kept pumping. I swallowed again, and he let go of his cock to grab my head in both hands, pumping his dick in and out of my mouth.

The sheer eroticism of it was enough to stun away any wariness I might have felt at being held so tightly, and when his hands fell away, I felt off-balance, cut adrift from the things that had held me centered.

But I wasn’t adrift for long.

Kane pulled me up and spun me around, crowding me up against the door as he busily pulled at my clothes.

It seemed like it took him mere seconds to get me naked and then he was on his knees in front of me, my ass in his hands as he tilted my hips forward and pressed his mouth to me.

I gasped, then cried out, startled as he buried his tongue inside me.

His hands tightened on my ass, and he tugged me closer, groaning against me.

I was closer to the edge than it should have been possible and just a few jabs of his tongue against my clit had me hurtling dangerously closer to that precipice. Shuddering, I buried my hands in his hair.

He bit my clit.

With a cry, I bucked against him and came.

He rose up and buried himself inside me, lifting me in his arms in seemingly one smooth motion. My back to the door, he rode me hard. Seeking his mouth with mine, I fisted my hands in his hair and urged him on.

Mine…it was a thought that struck me with near giddiness, as he thrust deep inside, as if seeking the heart of me.

I clung to him with legs and arms as the thought reverberated through me. Mine.

The orgasm hit us, nearly at the same time. One second, I was straining toward it, then I was falling over. Then, with a shudder, Kane drove into me one last time and groaned, his cock pulsing as he emptied himself.

He dropped his head onto my shoulder, the two of us both trembling and panting for air.

I didn’t mean to say it. Not out loud. But as I clung to his wide shoulders with one arm, the fingers of my free hand playing through his hair, I heard myself whisper, “Mine.”

Kane heard it, too.

He lifted his head and looked down at me, eyes glittering.

“Yours, huh?”

I blushed. I could feel how bright red I must have gone, simply by the rush of heat that stung my cheeks. But I didn’t look away or try to take it back. I lifted my chin and stared into his eyes. “That a problem?”

He chuckled and lowered his head to rub his lips against mine. “If I’m yours, that makes you mine, doesn’t it?”

“Yes.” His. The thought was almost dazzling, and I sighed in satisfaction as he pulled me closer.

“Then…no. No problem.”