Page 56 of Won't Back Down

He scooped me up in seconds, and I yelped, even as I followed his urging to wrap my legs around his waist. “Your shoulder!” It had come a long way, but still wasn’t fully healed.

“I promise, I’m feeling no pain.”

He hustled us up the stairs, every step a delicious friction against my center that ratcheted up my need. Pausing only long enough to kick the door shut, he carried me straight to the bed we shared and followed me down. Then he simply held there, hovering over me, staring with hungry eyes.

When he said nothing, just continued to drink me in, anxiety began to curl in my gut, souring the lovely buzz of arousal.

“Please don’t change your mind.”

“Never. I’m just slowing things down a bit.”

I wasn’t exactly keen on slowing down. I was too afraid he’d come to his senses and think to ask about the one thing I didn’t want to admit, because it might make him stop.

I opened my mouth to protest, but he curled his tongue around one nipple and words evaporated into a long, “Oooh.”

“So sweet,” he murmured. “I knew you’d be sweet.”

Suddenly very on board with slow, I threaded my fingers through his hair and cradled his head, keeping him close.

His smile brushed against my bare skin. “You like that?”

“More, please.”

“So polite. Such a good girl.”

Why on earth was hearing that such a thrill?

He settled in, making himself more comfortable as he cupped the other breast, rolling the nipple between his fingers.

Every squeeze, every suckle, caused a corresponding pull low in my belly. I shifted my hips, seeking relief for the building ache. “Sawyer.”

“Mmm?” The question vibrated against my skin, causing my nipple to bud even tighter.

“I need you to touch me.”

“I am touching you.”

“Everywhere.”

He paused, his eyes glittering as they stared down at me. “That’s a lot of territory, Wren. You’re going to have to be more specific.”

Damn him, he was going to make me say it?

Of course he was. This man was never going to make assumptions where I was concerned. Not with something like this. He would never push for anything I didn’t want to give.

Well, I was a grown-ass woman. If I could admit I loved him, I could ask for this. Probably.

“I need you to touch my clit.” The words came out in a rush, barely above a whisper, but he heard them.

His eyes went impossibly darker. “Fuck. I never in my life thought I’d hear you say that.”

I bit my lip. “Too much?”

“Nothing you could want will ever be too much. I just never thought I’d be here with you.” His big hands stroked along my ribs. “I’ve wanted you for so damned long.” The admission seemed to pain him. Or maybe that was the erection straining his shorts.

But his confession distracted me from the mortification burning in my cheeks. “Really? How long?”

“Far enough back that if I’d acted on it, I’d have earned a one-way ticket straight to hell, courtesy of your brother.”