Page 37 of Ravaged Hearts
My eyes stung, and a thick knot lodged in my throat. I wanted to tell Vaughn that he was my safe place, too, and undeniably my person. But I was so overcome with emotion that the words stalled on my tongue.
“Vaughn…I?—”
“Shh.” He silenced me by pressing his lips to mine. “You don’t need to say anything. Just tell me you’re mine.”
I moaned when he drove into me with extra force. “I’m yours.”
“You mean it?” Vaughn’s brows pinched as he searched my eyes for any sign of uncertainty.
The vulnerable side of this domineering man made my chest tighten. He’d suffered unimaginable physical and emotional pain. Witnessing his ironclad walls come down for me was humbling and left me wanting to protect him as much as he protected me.
“Yes, Vaughn.” I took his face in my hands, stroking the dark stubble on his cheeks. “Everything I have, everything that I am, is yours. Only yours.”
He pressed his forehead to mine, closed his lids, and exhaled a ragged breath. “Fuck, baby. You don’t know how much I needed to hear that.”
Silly man. Did he really think I hadn’t fallen for him, too?
Then his mouth was on mine, delivering a breathtaking kiss while using sheer strength to lift my ass and drive in hard frombelow. If I’d thought being on top gave me control, I’d been wrong. So, so wrong.
“Fucking need you, woman,” Vaughn growled against my lips.
Both of us panted as he took me hard and fast. Just the way I liked it.
“Fucking need you more than the air in my lungs.”
Then it was all too much. Vaughn’s words. His relentless pace. The way my clit dragged against his pelvis on every thrust.
A light sweat glistened on his brow. “Say it,” he demanded, holding my gaze. “Tell me who you belong to.”
“You, Vaughn,” I cried out as my heart thundered in my rib cage.
Then I came apart in his arms. I dug my fingertips into his back as if clinging to the ledge of a skyscraper.
“That’s it, Gatita. Come on your man’s cock. Show me how much you love this.”
But I was already lost to my bliss, unable to do anything other than hang on for the most amazing ride of my life with the man who meant everything to me. Then Vaughn found his own release, roaring like a feral beast throughout his final deep thrusts.
I stroked my fingers through his tousled damp hair as unfathomable happiness swelled in my chest. I’d dreamed of having something like this all my life, never believing it would be possible. Not with my family, and definitely not with how fatal it was for a man to be in my life. But Vaughn didn’t care who my father was, and he laughed in the face of death.
Somehow, in a small fishing village in the far south of Mexico, I’d found the perfectly imperfect man for me.
15
VAUGHN
The silvery light of dawn glowed around the edges of the curtains. Dew dripped rhythmically from the roof, and a sparrow sang its early morning tune.
Waking up in my cabin had always brought me peace, but nothing like opening my eyes and finding Hope naked and wrapped in my arms. We lay on our sides, Hope’s cheek resting on my bicep, and my palm splayed on her sternum, holding her close. One of my legs was hooked over hers, and my morning wood pressed firmly against her rear. The sheets smelled of sex.
A small smile tugged on my lips. Fuck me, but if I could wake up this way for the rest of my life, I’d die a happy man.
This woman, she was mine, body and soul. And I was hers, too, for as long as she’d have me. My feelings for Hope had hit me fast, like a runaway train picking up speed as it thundered along the tracks, hurtling toward…well, our final destination remained unknown.
All I knew was I wanted to be the person Hope shared her troubles with and the person she ran to first when she received happy news. I wanted to be the person who encouraged her to be her best and picked her up when she was at her lowest. Iwanted to be the one who made her smile, made her laugh. The one she told all her dreams and fears to. I wanted to take care of her, to protect her. Not because she couldn’t do those things for herself, but because she wasmineto care for and protect. The ferocity with which I wanted these things terrified me. I still felt like the luckiest son of a bitch on earth.
My chest tightened as I gazed upon Hope sleeping soundly in my embrace. Only a few hours ago, I’d woken her in the darkness, my dick so hard it ached, needing her yet again. After rousing her with a kiss, I’d rolled her onto her back, positioned myself between her lush thighs, and entered her without a single word uttered between us. Hope’s sweet moans had filled the quiet room until her pussy had pulsed around me and I’d spilled myself inside her.
I dug my nose into her unruly hair and inhaled. She smelled like both of us, and it was fucking perfect. I had never imagined that the feel of another person’s skin against my scars could bring me such comfort. Such bone-deep contentment.