There was no fear.
No anxiety as she’d expected.
There was nothing but her and Kit giving in to a desire she had long been denying.
Though she was the one to kiss him, he quickly took control, his hand coming up to gently delve in her hair as he tilted her head the way he wanted to take her mouth better.
But she didn’t want gentle from him.
She could feel the tension—the restraint he was using to keep himself in check. She wanted everything he had to offer.
Pulling away just far enough that she could speak, Luna whispered, “You won’t break me, Kit.”
She had only meant that he didn’t have to hold back with her—that he could give in to the need that he was feeling—but at her words, a shudder seemed to work through him as the hand that wasn’t tangled in her hair fell to her waist and squeezed tight.
“Oh, but I want to.” He trailed kisses along her jaw as he continued, “I want to break you in the best possible way.”
To emphasize his point, he first traced a path over the pulse point in her neck with his lips, then his tongue, and finally with his teeth, the sharp sting enough to make the coiling desire in the pit of her stomach flare hotter.
“Then show me what you want to do to me,” she answered.
One minute she was still in his lap, the next he was on his feet still holding her as he walked them over to his bed.
Gingerly lowering her down, the cool brush of silk sheets beneath her was nothing compared to the furnace that was Kit as he held himself above her.
Luna tunneled her fingers through his hair, holding him in place as he reclaimed her mouth with a vengeance. She could feel him everywhere, from the very tips of her toes to the roots of her hair.
This wasn't just desire, she thought—it was need.
And the more he kissed her, inspiring sounds in her she hadn’t thought she could ever make, the more that need grew until she was nearly begging him to take her clothes off.
Dragging her hands from his hair, she fisted his shirt, pulling it up and over his head before tossing it aside.
She had seen the magnificence of his chest on more than one occasion, but there was nothing like seeing it up close and personal to remind her of just how great he really was.
What she liked more were the scars that decorated his torso—the imperfections. Even someone as strong as him had once had to survive.
The difference between her outfit and his, for her, there was all or nothing.
Luna tried to quell the fissure of anxiety she felt as his fingers slowly moved to the straps of her romper and eased them off her shoulders as he shifted the top down her body.
She was panting, the sound even louder in the silence of the room. Kit didn't seem to mind, too focused on getting her undressed.
When cool air kissed her hardened nipples, she sucked in a breath before exhaling on a moan as she felt his hands cover her breasts.
Knowing she was so exposed had her squeezing her eyes shut, but Kit wasn't having that.
“Look at me,” he ordered gently. “I want to learn what you like.”
Even he had to know that she didn't trust her own voice because his actions shifted whenever her expression did.
He gripped tighter until she was arching into him for more, and when his name fell from her lips, he dipped his head to take her nipple in his mouth, even as he plucked and toyed the other with deft fingers.
She was so sure she would never feel desire again, but the delicious ache between her thighs was telling her otherwise. Already she could feel her need for him pooling at the very heart of her, exactly where she could feel the hard ridge of his erection.
Her curiosity about that part of him was growing out of control—to the point that she reached between them with shy, tentative fingers until she could feel him through the thin material of his pants.
A part of her had feared, even as far as they had gone, that he would remain unaffected by her, but there was no denying that she affected him.
And that knowledge thrilled her.
She was sure that this was everything she wanted and more until the second she felt his hand between her legs.
Faster than she thought possible, she grabbed his wrist and held, and glanced up at him when she felt him freeze.
“I’m—”
“Don’t,” he ordered, making sure she saw just how serious he was.
Don’t apologize.
But she wanted to because she was ruining this, even if he hadn’t said so.
Kit drew in a breath and held it.
He couldn’t think of a single time in his life where he had been so hard, his cock ached, but this couldn’t be rushed—even if the only thing he could think about was getting her naked.
He knew ghosts haunted her, and knew that it wasn’t going to be as easy breaking the hold those memories had over her.
It was one of the reasons why he had never planned to act on his feelings for her. She was too fragile.
Or at least she had been.
Kit had never expected that she would waltz into his room wearing next to nothing and a mischievous smile on her face, but she had.
That confidence aroused him, made him forget that he needed to go slow with her, but now that he felt her stiffen beneath him, his head came out of the fog.
“We can stop,” he said, drawing away from her, but this time she wasn’t grabbing him to prevent him from touching her further, but rather to keep him in place.
“It’s fine.”
“There’s no rush.”
“I’m not afraid of you!” she said in a rush. “It’s just—”
“When your body is conditioned for a certain response, it’s hard to break that,” he finished for her.
“I don’t want you to stop,” she said on a whisper, the words repeating themselves over and over in his head. “I want you. You. If there’s nothing else I’m sure of, I’m sure of that.”
Maybe if he were a stronger man, he would have denied her, sent her on and put it out of his mind—after another long and cold shower—but denying her felt like denying himself, and he just couldn’t do it.
“Watch me,” he said, gently extracting his wrist from her hold.
He had to be gentle with her, tread lightly until there was enough trust between them that she could handle it all. At the moment, his usual desires were tamer.
Because God, the things he wanted to do to her …
The urges nearly commanded his every thought when she was near, but he hadn’t broken just yet. Patience was a virtue and he excelled at it.
When she offered a short, almost hesitant dip of her chin, he made sure her eyes stayed on him as he brought his hand down on her upraised knee before winding it down her thigh.
He didn’t immediately go for her sex. No, he needed to make her lose herself first—get her to stop thinking.
First, he let her get used to the feel of his fingers on her, then he kissed her again. More and more, she relaxed beneath him until her legs were parting further on her own.
Very carefully, he eased her clothes down further, keeping her distracted until he had no choice but to back off to slide the garment off the rest of the way.
A tiny waist gave way to shapely hips and tan legs. Seeing her like that, spread before him like an offering … the glistening proof of her arousal bare for him to see—he wouldn’t last.
Hooking an arm around her waist, he moved her up the bed, even as he stayed on his knees where he was.
And when he pressed her legs open further, and felt her tense, he pressed his lips to her instep.
“Just relax,” he said, keeping his tone light, even if he felt like he was about to go out of his mind.
Though she bit her lip, some of her tension eased.
By the time he made his way up to her sex, she was shaking, but he didn’t think it was from fear this time—rather anticipation.
Oh, but he could stare at her like this all ni
ght, and maybe once his need wasn’t so great and he could take his time showing her how great sex could be—he would show her just how many ways he could make her come in an hour’s time.
But for now …
Laying a hand flat on her stomach, he moved his mouth between her legs, her flavor exploding over his tongue. The shocked exhalation had heat rushing down his spine, but he focused on getting her wetter, following the cues of her body until he got what he wanted.
“Oh God,” she said in a heated rush, her fingers tunneling in his hair.
He welcomed the pain—fucking got off on it. Her clit was swollen and begging to be touched, the little bundle of nerves practically calling his name.
And the moment he drew his hand there, very carefully rolling his thumb over it, her hips came off the bed.
He teased her, tasted her, fucked her with his tongue until she was a writhing mess beneath him, his name spilling from her in increasing intervals.
He smiled as she gasped and shuddered, eyes squeezed shut as she rode a wave she had probably never experienced before.
It hit him then that he was giving her something no one else had, and he took much satisfaction in that thought.
“Kit, I—please …”
She probably didn’t even know what she was begging for, but he knew—the wonder he heard saturating her tone making him draw his thumb from her clit and replaced it with his mouth.
The second he flattened his tongue against it then sucked, she screamed.
But he didn’t want her to come like this—not when he wasn’t inside her.
Fuck, he couldn’t wait any longer.
Drawing away, he grabbed a condom, looking down at her, but there was no worry in her eyes—just the glazed look of need that told him he had her exactly where he wanted.
Shoving his own pants down his legs, he tore the foil packet open, then rolled the rubber down his cock until it was firmly in place.
When he was back between her legs, he paused once more, reading her expression. “I’ll be gentle with you,” he promised before he took his cock in hand, pumping it a few times to take the edge off.
Even if it fucking killed him, he would go easy on her.
“Ready?” he asked as he lined up with her entrance, already feeling the heat of her before he even got close.
When she gave a furtive nod, her gaze drawn down to where he had her spread, Kit eased inside of her, a curse already on his tongue as he felt just how fucking tight she was.
How it already felt like she was trying to suck him in without even trying.
Fuck, the only thing he wanted was to shove inside her and fuck her, but easy, he had to remember, even as her pussy was demanding he do anything but.
And when he finally slid home, seated so deep inside her that he could go no further, his own groan of satisfaction had her tightening around him in a way that robbed him of breath.
He wasn’t going to fucking last.
“Are you—”
“More,” she panted, eyes gone hazy again. “Give me more.”
Kit braced himself on his hands, shifting his hips back, then forward again, feeding his cock into her in gradual increments until her breathless moans sounded.
And when he felt her nails dig into the skin of his back, his control snapped.
On his next thrust, he didn’t attempt to temper it. He didn’t go easy. He slammed into her harder than he intended.
Then again.
And again.
Until he was fucking her the way he wanted.
Until he had her crying his name.
Kit was smiling as he dipped down to kiss her, flick his tongue against hers, swallowing every moan that clawed their way up her throat.
But that feeling was nothing, nothing, compared to the sudden tightening of her pussy around him. Pushing up, he shoved his hand between their bodies until he found her clit again and rubbed tight circles.
“Yes,” he groaned as she crested, “come for me—show me how good it feels.”
This time, when he felt that rush of heat run down him, he gave himself over to the sensations, coming so hard that he had to grit his teeth against the force of it.
Sweat dripped from his skin, an ease he hadn’t felt in a while settling over him, and when he looked down at Luna, there was no regret in her eyes.
No anxiety at what they had done.
She looked like she wanted more.
Chapter 12
Everything had changed.
Not that Kit was complaining.
From the moment she had invited herself up to his room, she made a regular habit of it, and he found that he rather enjoyed showing her how good it could be.
He was fucking insatiable for her—to the point that even when he was in the middle of business, his thoughts still drifted to her and the nights they spent together.
Before, he had been able to come and go with little problem. Now, he was finding it harder and harder to leave her.
The crescent moon hung heavy in the night sky when Kit ventured from his bedroom in the wee hours of the night for the basement where his pool was located.
There were trios of lights that were inlaid within the pool, but he rather liked the dark stillness, almost like he was willingly falling into the abyss.
The pool itself was a rather cavernous affair, one that he had spent a fortune getting installed, but he hadn’t minded the expense considering how much time he spent down here.
Circling around to one end, Kit tossed his shirt aside and dove in, drawing in a breath before the heated water engulfed him.
From one end to the next and back once more, he pushed himself as he always did when his thoughts were cluttered, pushing himself to exhaustion, if only until the chaos in his head quieted.
But as he reached the end, his feet landing on the wall before pushing himself off again, Kit just caught sight of Luna at the edge of his vision as she came down and ventured over to one of the poolside chairs.
“That was thirty-two, I think,” she said once he finally came to a stop, that silky brown hair of hers spilling over her shoulder as she leaned toward him. “Pretty good.”
“It was nothing.”
“Maybe for you, but since I don’t know how to swim, anything more than one is impressive to me.”
His head tilted to one side, he brushed water out of his eyes as he asked, “You don’t know how to swim?”
“I could say that I never got the chance, but I’ve never been thrilled about swimming in water where I can’t touch the floor with my feet.”
Kit laughed. “Would you like to learn?”
“I’m not really dressed for it,” she said with a wave of her hand down to the clothes she wore, or what little there was.
There was a natural sensuality to her—the way she held herself, and the curves he doubted he would ever get tired of—because he was sure there was nothing about her sleepwear that should have held his attention for as long as they did.
It was the woman inside them.
“You can always take that off.”
Her lips parted in surprise, her gaze shooting over to the staircase that led up to the main house.
“Don’t worry,” he said, “no one is going to come down here.”
Fang was undoubtedly busy with Aidra, and the others were gone into the city to do whatever they pleased.
With careful fingers, Luna tugged at the strings of her shorts until they were loosened enough that she could slide them down her legs before letting them fall at her feet. The top was next, the material pulled over her head in one fluid move and dropped.
Dragging his gaze up, he took his time as he followed the curves of her hips, the indent at her waist, and high breasts he was already picturing without the sports bra she wore.
“The water is heated,” he told her as he gestured for her to climb in.
But she didn’t dive in, instead sat at the edge before dipping her toes in. “I’m not jumping into anything whe
re I can’t see the bottom.”
Fair enough.
Kit almost smiled as she gingerly lowered herself into the water, hesitant until she realized her feet could touch the floor.
“Why do you have the lights off?” she asked coming over to him, not realizing that with each step she took forward, he took one back until they ventured further into the deeper end of the pool.
“I think better in darkness.”
Realizing what he was doing, she reached for him, hands curling around his shoulders as she latched on, preventing him from moving further. “Right, ’cause that doesn’t sound ominous at all. But, ya know, whatever works.”
“I won’t let you drown,” he reassured as he drew her in, encouraging her to wrap her legs around his waist.
Luna’s smile was shy, her gaze dropping as she tucked the now wet strands of her hair behind her ear. “I thought you were teaching me how to swim?”
“We’re getting to that.”
When they were only a few steps from where the pool’s floor gave way, he pulled away, albeit reluctantly.
“It’s all about balance,” he said as he kept one hand at her waist, the other underneath her legs as he kept her afloat.
Luna’s laugh was strained. “Mind over matter then?”
“You’re too tense.”
“I can’t float.”
“I’m right here,” he reminded her. “You have nothing to worry about. Now, close your eyes and try to let your thoughts go blank.”
There was uncertainty in her eyes as she looked up at him, dark lashes spiked by the water. She told him everything with that look. Her fear. Her trust.
He didn’t want to break it.
Gradually, as she began to relax, he was able to slowly draw his hands away. It only took a few seconds for her to lose her balance, bobbing in the water as she tried to catch her footing.
“You can’t just trust me,” he said with a slight smile. “You have to trust yourself.”
She waded back over to him, plump lips parting as she said, “Let’s try again.”
All she needed was a little push—incentive.
During their first training session, he had thought she would balk, and she did, but he hadn’t expected her to return as soon as she did.
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