Page 79 of Kane

With a growl, he ripped the side of her panties, revealing her to him completely. “Just one taste,” he gritted, before delving back between her legs. His tongue swept a path over her core up to her now-aching clit. Then he pulled the condom from her hand and covered himself with practiced ease.

Before she could dwell on how many times he’d done the same with countless other women, he plunged inside her with one stroke. As wet and wanting as she was, her body offered no resistance. She cried out with the rightness of it.

For a moment, Kane’s eyes went hooded. He stopped moving entirely, his dick seated fully inside of her. “You’re perfect,” he whispered. Then his body let loose.

His hips pistoned, and he drove inside her with an almost frenzied pace. It was unmeasured, unrefined, and his lack of control only drove her higher. His hands touched her everywhere, as if he was starving, and she was a feast. But the best part, along with his recklessness and needfulness, came reverence and worship. He never stopped telling her how beautiful she was, how good she felt, how his dreams were coming true.

The last exaltation drove her to the edge. His weren’t the only dreams coming true. Kane was here, in her bed, and though he hadn’t said the words, he loved her. She knew it in her bones. With the gift of the knowledge in her heart, and his thumb working in tandem with his dick between her legs, her body crested in a shattering release.

His orgasm followed a heartbeat behind with a roar of her name. He didn’t pull out when he was done but levered the top half of his body onto his elbows and gazed into her eyes. His stare never wavered as his heavy breaths slowed into their natural rhythm. Finally, he rolled to his back, pulling her into his arms.

There was no need to talk for a while. She lay in the comfort of his embrace, listening to his heart beat in his chest. She never wanted to move.

He spoke first. “I told myself it wasn’t as good as I remembered.” He shifted slightly so he could pet her hair. “I convinced myself I’d built you up in my head so much, no one else could ever compete. I mean, if it was really perfect with you, how could I—what chance did I have to ever be happy again?”

His words could have come from her own mouth. For years, she’d tried to lie to herself too. “It’s so good because we were always supposed to be together. Anyone else, in my life at least, was only a placeholder. For a while, I pretended they were you. Eventually, it just hurt more, so I tried to pretend you never existed.” She kissed his warm skin beneath her cheek. “Which was an even bigger failure. In the end, I was going through the motions, but really I’d just given up.”

“Is that what you were doing with the guy who hurt you? Going through the motions?” He kept his voice tightly controlled.

She didn’t want to talk about Nathan, but she had promised him honesty barely a couple of hours ago, and she’d meant what she said. “Nathan was a business arrangement with my father.” Wow, it sounded even worse when she said it out loud. “I asked my father for a loan to help out with the company. He offered me the money free and clear if I would be Nathan’s armpiece for six months.”

“Why?”

She sighed. “Because he’s politically connected, and my father wants to be governor. Because my father wanted to get an opening into Nathan’s good graces. Because I needed the money, and I didn’t care if it made me a whore. Like I said, I’d given up, at least on finding someone I could love. And with Nathan, there was really no chance I’d develop any feelings. It almost made it easier for him to be such a dick; I never felt guilty for the fact I didn’t love him. Who could love someone like him?”

From the corner of her eye, she watched him ball his fist and let it go. “Did he hurt you? When you were together?”

She shifted. “A little. Sometimes. Which is why I told my father I didn’t want anything more to do with him. My six months was up at Thanksgiving. But my dad tried to change the deal; he made me promise to give him four more weeks or he’d withhold the money. I said yes, but I never saw Nathan again until the night I broke up with him. The night you came here and kissed me.”

“He was the person on the phone.”

It wasn’t a question, but she answered him anyway. “Yes. I went there to end things for good, and he saw the beard-burns on my face. It went downhill from there.”

Kane sat up, pulling her with him. “He hurt you that night? Because of me?”

“He wanted to. But I knew it might happen, so I brought a gun.” She couldn’t hold his gaze, dropping her eyes to her lap. “I think he’s been stalking me ever since. I’m hoping the beat-down he got from Evan Ryan takes him down a notch or two.”

“Not good enough.” His eyes burned with fury. “I want to rip his fucking head off.”

She shook her head. “He’ll be waiting for it. You’ll only end up in jail, and I refuse to lose you again, especially because of him. I’m going to clean up my own mess and do it the legal way. I’m going to file a restraining order.”

His fingers found her chin and tilted her face back up. “This is not your fault.”

It was sweet of him to say so. “I don’t know if I agree with you. I opened the door. Nobody forced me. I’m ashamed I let him into my life, but I can’t blame anyone but myself.”

“Blamehim. Only a bottom-feeding pussy puts his hands on a woman in anger.”

“Oh, I do, but what I meant—”

“And your father—”

“My father is a businessman,” she said firmly, “and I’m just another one of his assets. Or at least I was. He’s as pissed as Nathan is right now.” Oh, shit. How could she have forgotten her father’s threat? “It’s the reason I texted you earlier. My dad is gunning for you. He says he’s going to ruin you.” Her words started running together as her fear for him returned. “You’ve got to be careful. He’s furious we’re together again.”

He smiled.

What the hell?

“Then it really is like old times.”