"Conall," she breathed.
"Don't argue with me. Not now. Not about this."
"I can't let anything happen to you," she murmured, her voice strained from her worry.
I squeezed my eyes shut tightly and filed this moment away in my memory. She cared about me and not for what I could give her. For me. There was a chance her feelings may run as deep as mine and for the first time in a long time, I saw a future.
"Same goes for me, beautiful. But you leaving… that will tear me apart."
I pressed my lips under her jaw and opened my mouth to tell her how I felt. I thought I had been in love before, but I knew now it wasn't love.
This…
This was love. Raw and gut-wrenching, irrevocable, life changing… unconditional.
The need to protect her, to destroy whatever made her unhappy, to be a better man, for her. It was all I could think about.
She moaned softly, effectively scrambling my brain to anything but the feel of her in my arms. "Please."
My heart pounded furiously against my chest and my voice cracked, "Please what? Tell me what you need, Emily."
Her breaths came in quick and her soft body trembled against me, but I didn't stop my exploration of her neck. I darted my tongue out to taste her skin and her knees buckled beneath her.
"You. I need you."
I kissed up her neck again and over her jaw until my lips hovered over hers, just a breath away from taking what I wanted. "Don't you know? I'm yours."
I kissed her like a man starving, ready to consume her until every last drop was a part of me. She pressed her body into mine and the heat of her body seeped through her shirt and onto my skin. The taste of her, the feel of her, the sounds she was making… I was gone for her.
Her tongue tangled with mine and it was a fight to get closer. I moved my hands down to grip her ass and lifted her tiny body easily. Her legs wrapped around my waist as I turned and made the short trip to the bed.
Sex had always been a means to an end for me. Whenever I got horny, I'd find a way to take care of it. Even when I had been with Sarah, it was just a way to snuff out the arousal.
What I was experiencing with Emily was nothing like that. This wasn't just a desire to race to satisfaction. I wanted to consume her and be consumed by her. I wanted to watch her fall apart from my touch. Only mine.
We fell to the mattress and I tore my mouth away from hers and moved back down her neck, frantically nipping and licking along the way. I had never tasted anything like her, a feminine sweetness that had nothing to do with products she used. It was all her and I couldn't get enough.
I pulled the collar of her shirt aside and kissed the sensitive spot between her neck and shoulder. She gasped and goose bumps covered her skin so I did it again, using my teeth and tongue to pull at her skin.
"Conall…"
My name on her lips had been one of the things that drove me crazy about her these last weeks. It was enough to make my control wither away now. My hand smoothed over her shoulder and across her chest. Her nipples had hardened and when I cupped her breast over her shirt and caressed the hard tip with my thumb, she moaned and arched up into me.
I needed to see all of her, to touch all of her and make her body sing a God damned opera for me.
I curled my fingers around the hem of her shirt and lifted it slowly, revealing the expanse of her belly inch by inch. My knuckles grazed the smooth skin and those same goose bumps broke out over her skin, following my hand up her torso. She raised her shoulders off the bed and let me pull the shirt over her head. She hadn't been wearing a bra and when she was splayed out before me in nothing but a small triangle of black cloth that covered the area between her legs, beads of sweat broke out over my skin.
"You're so beautiful. Better than I imagined. I…"
Her eyes were locked on my chest, the street lights seeping through the crack in the curtains shined right over my tattoo. She reached out and traced her fingers over the symbols that were woven together with a vine of Celtic knots. Loyalty, family, honesty.
I watched her eyes roam across my chest and over my shoulder where the vine curled around it. When she looked back up at me, her emerald eyes were dark and hooded. I leaned forward and kissed her softly as I ran my hands over her heated skin.
"Do you have any idea how much I've wanted you?" I mumbled against her lips. "I've never wanted anything so much in my life. You've changed everything for me."
Her tiny hands smoothed up my arms and over my shoulders until her fingers were laced together at the nape of my neck. I had been holding myself over her so I wouldn't crush her, but she pulled me down so my weight settled on top of her. The moment our skin touched, the air left my lungs. She tilted her hips up to meet mine and the friction caused my aching erection to pulse.
"Show me."
Chapter 11
Emily
When Emily had opened her eyes to find her nose pressed against a hard chest, she had immediately known it belonged to Conall. The smell of his skin was masculine and spicy and his heat wrapped around her like a blanket, making her feel safe.
She loved him.
God, did she love him.
That was why she had decided to make an attempt to sneak out and book a flight back to Denver and confess everything.
She loved her brother, but it wasn't enough to bring him back to her. She just hoped he would forgive her eventually and understand that her heart would shatter if anything happened to Conall or his family.
She'd made good progress until she had reached into her duffel bag and found the phone she had hidden in there broken, the plastic pieces sharp enough to scratch her. She wasn't sure how it had broken, but in all the chaos earlier that evening, she wasn't surprised.
Conall's voice had washed over her and immediately set her nerves to a dull roar. Why did he have to have that effect on her? She'd tried to push it away and keep focused on the task she had set herself to. Then he'd wrapped his arms around her shaking body and lit her up like a Christmas tree.
Now, she found herself pressed against him once more, only this time she fought to get closer.
He trailed hot, wet kisses down her neck to her breasts and took his time making her insane with his attention. Her nipples ached for him and when his lips wrapped around them, the sensation was such sweet agony. She buried her fingers in his hair and held him against her, not wanting him to pull away for even a second. Then he smoothed his hand over her stomach, his fingers slipped under her panties and between her legs, finding her drenched core.
He pulled his mouth away from her breasts and hovered there, his breath caressing her skin, "This is for me. Only for me."
"Yes!" she cried as he dipped a finger through her folds and inside her. Her hips bucked as his body moved down hers and she felt his soft lips circling her navel.
He pressed another finger deep inside and curled both of them up to find the spot that took her breath from her. His low growl hummed against her thighs and suddenly, her panties were being pulled down her legs and his lips were down there where she needed him most, replacing his skilled fingers and forcing the pressure inside of her to build.
He held her hips in place as he worshipped the sensitive bundle of nerves until she couldn't take it anymore. She tried to slide her body away from him, pull him closer, she just couldn't decide, but he held her steady and kept going.
"Please, I can't…"
He brought his hand around and pressed those two fingers back inside of her and the pressure topped out. He groaned as she cried out her release and didn't relent as wave after wave crashed over her. His fingers massaged and caressed her thighs, her hips, and maneuvered beneath her to grip her backside as she slowly came back down. When she had caught her breath, he moved over her body and settled his hips in the cradle of her own. His chest pressed against hers and she couldn't ignore how well they fit together.
"Beautiful," he breathed into her ear and nibbled her earlobe. "So damn perfec
t."
She felt him grind against her and realized he was still wearing his underwear. It wasn't enough. She needed more of him. All of him.
"I… I need you," she pleaded. She had been ready to tell him she loved him, but had the sense to think twice about it. She knew he cared for her, but sharing those words in the passion of the moment wasn't how she wanted him to find out. Her entire body ached for him, needed him inside her, all around her. She couldn't wait any longer. He'd been slowly tormenting her for weeks, making her want things she'd never had, making her priorities shift until there was only him.
"I don't have a condom," he stated, the disappointment evident in his voice. He swept a lock of hair behind her ear and combed through the strands tenderly. "It's okay. We can wait."
"I don't want to wait. I'm clean, on the pill, and I trust you." A blush crept over her skin when she recognized that she was actually begging him. She'd never begged before.
"Hey, what's this?" he grinned and trailed his fingers down her neck and over her chest where her blood was heating her skin to red. "Don't be self conscious, Emily. You know how much I want you. It's killing me to hold back from you."
She did know. She could feel it pressing against her. He bent to run his lips over her breasts, placing tiny reverent kisses across her skin, driving her arousal higher and higher with each one.
"Then take me, Conall. I don't want to beg, but I swear to God I will."
He pushed his upper body up off of her and shifted his hips again, forcing her to feel his need for her. "You never have to beg, I'll give you anything."
He stared down into her eyes for a moment, his lips parted and his heavy breaths stroking her sensitive skin. Something passed between them, something larger than life and she saw it in those dark sapphire eyes before he took the first breath to speak.
"I love you, Emily. From the moment I saw you, my world shifted." His eyes never left hers while his fingers never left her skin. "I'm not good with words, you know that."
Her heart stuttered and picked up again. She was floating and soaring and for the first time in her life, she saw a brightness ahead of her. She could get through whatever she had to as long as she had him.
Please forgive me.
"I-"
"No. Not yet," he pressed a finger to her lips and stroked it down her chin. "I'm going to show you first. I may not have the words, but I can show you."
Before she could even wonder what he was going to show her, he pulled away and quickly shoved his underwear off. Her eyes widened when she saw him, thick and hard, and the ache that had started up again at her core amplified.
He crawled back over her and took her lips in a passionate kiss as he wrapped an arm beneath her. She felt him slide through her folds, sending a new wave of pleasure shooting over her body. He held himself up with his other arm, the muscles flexing and pulled her hips up off the bed. A slight shift and he was at her entrance. He didn't stop kissing her until he pressed inside, then his eyes were on hers. He watched her face as he pressed deeper and it took every bit of effort to keep her eyes open. She stretched around him as he filled her and she couldn't remember ever feeling so complete.
"You're tight, baby." He exhaled long and slow before he slid in all the way and she gasped as he stilled above her. She could already feel the clenching inside her, begging for release and she wrapped her arms around his shoulders and tried to move her hips.
He growled low in his chest and his fingers dug into her backside in an attempt to stop her. "Baby, I need a moment-"
"No you don't," her voice pleaded.
Those three words were enough to snap the last threads of his control apart. He started to slide out of her and she feared she had crossed the line and he was going to end this, but at the last second, he pushed forward, slow and deep, and she was gone for him.
He dropped her hips back to the bed and pressed his weight down on her chest, staying seated deep inside of her. He cupped the side of her neck and stroked his thumb over her jaw before crushing his lips to hers. Then he started to move. He thrust in and out, slow and steady, worshipping her body as he explored her mouth.
His rhythm never faltered and she slid her hands down his back, digging her nails in, asking for more. He thrust harder, but kept the same slow and steady pace and she dug her heels into the bed to meet him thrust for thrust. Her hands moved down to his muscular ass and pulled him harder, begging him to push her over the edge. It didn't take her long to reach the point of no return and her muscles tightened as the pressure built inside her.
He slid a hand beneath her and lifted her hips once more. "Yes. I can feel you there, baby. Let it go for me."
Closer. She was so close. Reaching for it yet not quite grasping it.
"I'm right there with you, Emily. Come for me."
He shifted a fraction and the next thrust tipped her over the edge.
"Conall!" Her body convulsed and her eyes closed, welcoming the pleasure sliding over her. Emotion filled her heart and tears leaked out of the corners of her eyes.
The love she felt for him in that moment surpassed anything and everything. Nothing in this world could make her feel this whole, this complete. Nothing but him.
He buried his face in her neck and groaned when his body went rigid above her. He thrust twice more and collapsed on top of her. She welcomed his weight and kept her arms around him while they both tried to catch their breath.
I love you, she thought and was desperate to speak the words, but her voice wouldn't let her. Would he forgive her for lying to protect her brother? For ignorantly putting his family in danger?
"I'm crushing you," he whispered after a few minutes and kissed her neck.
"Never," she whispered back and held him tighter.
He chuckled and continued to kiss her wherever he could reach. "Good."
I'm crushing you.
She needed to find a way to fix this. In the morning, she would call Rayce and tell him it was over.
***
Her body was sizzling.
She must have been dreaming about a fire, because heat surrounded her, but she needed more of it.
Her eyes fluttered open and her sore muscles begged for the attention she was getting down below. A moan slipped from her lips before her breath caught in her throat at the sight of Conall kissing every inch of her and his hands mastering her body.
"Good morning, love," he mumbled against her skin.
He had woken her once more in the middle of the night to make love to her. After the first time, she had slowly drifted off to sleep after he rolled them to their sides and pulled her against his chest. She'd spent a long time tracing his tattoo with her fingers and lips, hovering over the symbol for honesty.
She'd been close to losing any hope that he would forgive her for what she had done, but then her eyes focused on that symbol for family and a part of her thought there was a chance. She knew without a doubt he would do anything for his family. Even if it meant lying. She just hoped he'd understand.
"Good morning," she muttered and pushed her heavy thoughts away for now. She wanted to enjoy this moment. Soak in as much of him as she could before her fate was decided. She loved him so much her chest hurt with the need to be with him. He would protect her with his life, he would take care of her, and she would take care of him. Being with him also meant gaining a family who she would cherish forever.
He was her future and she hoped he'd give her a chance to be his.
When he woke her the first time, it was to have her hard and fast. He'd pulled her legs around his hips and she gave herself over to him, loving every hard stroke and bruising kiss. Now, she didn't think it had been more than a couple hours since and she was ready for more.
He slid up her body and kissed her fully. "I need you just one more time before we have to go back to reality," he mumbled against her lips.
"Mmmm…" She didn't want to go back to reality. She wanted to spend every minute with Conall and let him show her
how much he loved her. She started to wrap her arms around him, but before she could lock him in tight, he was gone. It was a second later that her entire body was flipped over until she was sprawled out on her stomach.
He ran his tongue down her spine and snaked his hands beneath her until her ass was pointed in the air and her head was pressed into the pillows. Then he was pushing inside her and covering her with his hard body. One hand held her hips in place and the other smoothed up her stomach and between her breasts before he pulled her torso upright. She was on her knees practically sitting on his lap and her back was plastered against his chest as he drove into her.
He wrapped his fingers gently around her throat and nipped her neck.
"You feel so fucking good, I can't get enough of you," his voice growled in her ear and sent a shiver through her. "This body is mine and I'm never letting you go."
His hand slid away from her throat and down over her breasts, massaging each one thoroughly before sliding down to her core. "I love the feel of you coming around me, love the noises you make when I'm inside you," he whispered in her ear, his hot breath caressing her sensitive skin. "Give it to me one more time."
She moaned as his fingers found her swollen nub and circled it slowly, drawing out the pleasure before finally pressing against it and helping her find her release.
"You're mine, Emily," he breathed as her body detonated around him. "And I'm yours."
He shouted her name as he came, his arms locking around her as he spilled himself inside of her.
She could barely hold back the tears as he gently lowered her to her stomach and stretched out behind her, keeping their connection. He whispered things to her as he kissed her neck and shoulder and held her close. Things she'd never heard whispered to her once in her life. Things she could only hope he wouldn't take back when he discovered the truth.
***
Conall
I waited until Emily turned on the shower before I stepped out of the room and called Captain Miller. It was nine in the morning in Denver and I hoped he'd had enough time to make all the necessary arrangements for me and Emily.
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