“What do you need from me?” Shawn asked, his voice rough and thick.
I peered up at him and dropped my hands. “You.” I shrugged. “I think all I need right now is you.”
I was in his arms before I could blink, his wrapped around me, his head buried in my neck, allowing me to press my cheek against his chest. I inhaled the spicy and mild scent of his cologne. This this was where I felt safest.
“You’re like a superhero,” Shawn growled, his lips at my throat. “I am so fucking amazed by you, Addi.”
“I didn’t do anything.” I sighed as his lips trailed the column of my throat.
He pulled back, his lips leaving my skin and leaving a chill on my flesh in their wake, trailing down as his hand settled at my chest, over my heart.
“Strength isn’t always measured in muscles and brawn, but in fortitude. And in this, with everything going on, you have shown more strength than men I know who are twice your size.”
A ripple of pleasure spread from his splayed hand at my chest, above my breasts and outward.
“Shawn…” I whispered his name and lifted my hand to brush my hand over his cheek. His stubble was thicker, like he’d forgotten to shave for several days, and while I was exhausted and worn out and probably needed three days of full sleep, I felt none of that now as he stared down at me.
Desire heated his expression, matching what I hoped showed in my own.
I wanted this man. Needed him in a way I couldn’t explain.
“Addi.” Shawn groaned and dropped his forehead to mine. “It’s been a long day. And earlier—”
“Earlier I freaked out, but I’m okay now. I need this.”
I needed the connection to him, to another living being who had been nothing but good to me. Who was honest. Who trusted me to handle what I asked for and gave it to me in ways that made everything that had happened easier to manage.
Without a doubt, I trusted Jaxon and Shawn to handle what needed to be done. They’d keep me safe and wouldn’t stop busting their asses until I was. There was no doubt in my mind as I shifted beneath Shawn so I could press my lips to the hinge of his jaw, trailing down toward his mouth.
His chest heaved and his arms shook with restraint. If he was holding himself back from me out of worry, there was no need.
I brushed my lips over his, lifting my head enough to barely get a hint of the taste of him. “I’m really okay, Shawn.”
“Fuck,” he groaned and then his mouth took mine, devouring me.
He took over the kiss so quickly I yelped in surprise as his lips covered mine, his tongue spearing into my mouth like a man who would die without this kiss.
My kiss. My touch. Me. I undid this man, and the revelation was as startling as my feelings growing for him so much faster than I ever could have imagined.
His hand at my chest shoved open the loosely clasped robe I still wore until he could press his hand beneath the shirt I had on. Heat singed the flesh at my hip, trailing north. His touch tensed, like was doing his best to hold back, and a thrill of pleasure took root inside me.
I made this man lose control, and the knowledge had heat and wetness gathering at my core, my hips already rolling and lifting, trying to find relief from the overwhelming arousal he created in me.
This. This was what I needed more than anything, the strong caress of a man who saw me as an equal. A partner.
A man who allowed me to be me, thereby only making me stronger, and it was that reason why I could give myself to him tonight, after everything I’d experienced.
It was Shawn helping me grow that made me yearn for him, made me arch my body into his while I shoved up his shirt until he was forced to remove it.
As he straddled my hips, kneeling above me, I ran my hand down the length of his chest, the curves of his pecs, the blocks of his abs, tracing my fingertip through the thin trail that started above his belly button and disappeared at the waistband of his jeans.
I stared him right in the eye and let the strength he claimed I had and that I was newly discovering shine. “I need you.”
6
Shawn
It was nearly impossible to withstand the temptation of Addi.
If she needed me, she had me, for longer than tonight. I thanked God she was safe.
For now.
I banished the warning and hungrily kissed her. Pressed my mouth to hers and caved to the need she had. The need to feel alive. The need to know she wasn’t back in a dark warehouse with guns blaring around her. I got it. I wanted to protect her and keep her safe and tuck her in a safe house permanently guarded twenty-four hours a day until this mess was settled, but I understood the need she had tonight for connection.
She arched into me, rolling her hips against my arousal and digging her hands into my hair. She pulled me so tightly to her I was losing my grip on where she ended and I began.
This wasn’t the gentle or playful sex we’d had. This was carnal, raging.
I was all in. If she needed to unleash her fears through fucking my brains out, I was more than happy to give that to her.
“Come here,” I growled, shoving my hands beneath her. With a quick twist, I flipped us over, spreading my thighs so her knees were as wide as possible, straddling me.
I slid my hands into her hair while her sounds drove me wild. There was a whisper in my head telling me to slow this down. She’d been through enough in the last few days. Hell, she’d been through enough since the first moment I met her. Maybe now wasn’t the time to unleash all my pent-up attraction to her…
She dropped her head and met my gaze.
Her cheeks were flushed, lips parted, and her green eyes were alight with a ravenous need that had my dick aching to be inside of her. Fuck the warning whispering at me. There was no way I could deny Addi anything when she was on top of me, looking down at me. She was a siren, and I was drawn to her call. Hell, I’d give her anything.
“Take whatever you need from me.”
I expected her to lean down and kiss me softly, tenderly like she usually did, almost hesitantly like she wasn’t quite so confident in her sexual appeal. Instead, she leaned back, resting on my knees. She ripped off her shirt and tossed it to the side, leaving me staring at her full breasts as she cupped and played with them while my fingers dug into her thighs.
“Addi.”
“If it’s up to me tonight, all you have to do is enjoy the ride.” She winked playfully, but I saw the terror lingering at the edges of her gaze, the tightness she was fighting through.
She licked her lips and tugged at her nipples until they were hardened, dark pink points, calling for me to put my mouth on them, to taste her flesh and make her hips jolt with pleasure from the slight sting of pain.
God. The things I wanted to do to her. The roughness in the way I wanted to take her and play in a way I doubted she’d experienced before. Lying back and taking it wasn’t typically in my skill set when it came to the women I took to bed.
For Addi, I’d do my best to give her the freedom and control she required tonight.
Instead of sliding my hands up her ribs to her breasts to take over, I pulled at her robe that had fallen to her waist. Done, I moved my hands to the waistband of my jeans, undid the button, and slid my zipper down until my fingers brushed along her covered sex.