Risking it All (36 page)

continued with, BECAUSE OF BOWEN.

It wouldn’t be enough for him, but she

simply didn’t have the words to give him

tonight. His eyes were on her and she

could feel them boring into her back.

When she couldn’t stand his silence

anymore, she turned to face him.

Just in time to be dragged to the floor.

Her gasp of shock was swallowed by

his mouth, but it turned into a moan when

he settled himself fully on top of her.

She’d never felt anything like it, the

weight of a man, pressing her body

down into the hard wood, with nowhere

to go. It felt divine, intoxicating. It made

her feel so perfectly feminine, she threw

her head back and reveled in it.

Frantic to get closer, to feel
more
, she

spread her legs and Bowen dropped into

the cradle of her thighs with a groan,

rocking into her center immediately.

When he couldn’t get close enough, he

yanked her skirt higher and melted into

her with a desperate noise.

“You’re goddamn right you were here,

Sera. You’re everywhere I look.” He

pushed two fingers past her lips, which

she sucked deep into her mouth. Her

boldness shocked him, she could tell by

his sharp curse, the flash of heat in his

eyes. “You know what happens when I

see you get all flustered? When you’re

dying for a fuck, but don’t know how to

just
ask
for it? My cock gets so hard it

hurts. Do you do it on purpose?”

With his fingers in her mouth, she

couldn’t speak, so she shook her head.

“No?” He withdrew his fingers and

gave her a firm pump of his hips. “Tell

me what you want, baby. Right now.”

“I want you in my mouth.” She said it

without thinking. Having his fingers

there had brought back the memory of

him standing above her, his face tortured

and fraught with pleasure at the same

time he slid past her lips. The way he’d

begged and shaken as he came had given

her such an incredible feeling of power,

she would have done anything at that

moment to feel it again.

Bowen held his breath as if he

couldn’t quite believe she were real,

then he hardened his jaw and slowly

dragged his cut body higher, higher,

against hers. Muscles slid over curves,

drawing panting breaths from both of

them, until he could kneel above her. His

knees were on either side of her head,

straddling her, in the most intimate

position she could have imagined.

Bowen undid his belt and unzipped his

jeans with shaky hands. “You think I’m

noble enough to say no to that? When I

know what your mouth can do?” He

freed himself from his jeans, biting his

lip on a groan, and held his swollen

flesh just above her parted lips. “If you

want it so bad, baby, lick for it. The way

you were licking those pretty lips when I

was trying to concentrate.
Now
, Sera.”

His desperation, his harsh words,

flooded her with desire, and she didn’t

hesitate to do as he asked. She swirled

her tongue around the head, then traveled

lower to lick him slowly, base to tip. All

the while, she kept her eyes trained on

him, his throaty sounds and panting

breaths ratcheting her desire up until her

hands clawed at the powerful thighs

bracketing her head.

“Ask for it, now.” He rubbed the

smooth head against the seam of her lips.

“Say, please, Bowen. I want you to own

my mouth. Make it yours.”

She repeated the words back in a rush.

Not wanting to wait another second to

drive him out of his mind, she wrapped

her hand around his arousal and guided

him into her mouth. She pulled on him

deeply, reacquainting herself with his

taste, his texture, his size. Above her

head, she heard his palms slap down on

the floor, putting him on his hands and

knees, with only his hardness making

contact, dipping into her mouth. It felt

illicit and wrong, but she raced toward

the promise of a new experience with no

fear. Fear didn’t exist with Bowen.

“I’m only going to give you what I

know you can take, baby.” His voice

sounded like gravel. “Tell me you trust

me.”

He lifted himself away long enough

for her to answer. “I trust you, Bowen.”

Slowly, he lowered his body again,

his rigid length pushing through her lips.

“Fuck,
fuck
. I shouldn’t be doing this.

Not with my girl.” He pumped himself

into her mouth with shallow thrusts, so

much restraint behind them she knew

what an effort he made to hold back.

“Oh, God. Make me stop.”

Instead, she tightened her lips around

him and urged him deeper with a hand

on his ass. Her eyes teared a little when

he reached the back of her throat, but she

took a deep breath through her nose as

he withdrew, and focused on Bowen’s

reactions to what she was doing.

Beneath her hands, his muscles flexed;

filthy curses fell from his lips every time

she sucked him deeper. It only served to

drive her need to please higher until

she’d taken all of him and he was able to

enter her throat fully.

His inner thighs spasmed against her

ears as he pushed deep and held. “Oh

fuck, oh fuck, oh
fuck
. You’ve got all of

me in that perfect mouth. I can’t…I’m

dying.” He drew back and slid himself

into her throat again with a choked

curse. Then again. And again, until it

turned rhythmic. “Eyes on your man

while you take it, baby. Show me you

want it. Show me you want to be as

ruined as I am.”

Ruined. Yes, she wanted to be ruined.

With him. Forever. Keeping their gazes

locked, she dug her nails into his thighs

and swallowed around his rigid flesh.

His entire body jerked, shuddered. One

strong hand slipped on the hardwood

floor, forcing him to catch his weight on

an elbow, hips never ceasing in their

movements.

“Touch yourself, baby,” he said, voice

cracking. “Get ready for me, because I

am about to fuck you out of your mind.”

Anticipation went wild in her belly,

and she didn’t hesitate to follow his

command. Her hand slipped down

between her thighs and tugged aside her

panties. Dampness greeted her, but she

didn’t feel an ounce of surprise. Her

body flamed, crying out for relief from

the heat that continued to build like an

inferno. Bowen pushed into her mouth

one final time, and then withdrew with a

hissed breath, his erection in his fist.

He dragged himself down her body,

removing his shirt as he went to reveal a

wall of mouthwatering muscle. Sera had

no time to prepare herself before he

flipped her over onto her stomach and

yanked her hips up, putting them level

with his own. She heard the metallic rip

of the condom wrapper and a grunt as he

rolled on their protection. “Hang on.

This is going to be rough.”

“Yes, I want it.
Please
.”

In one dizzying movement, he yanked

aside her panties and rammed himself

deep. He tested the angle once, twice,

then drove deep once more. She felt his

hands at her knees, yanking her legs

wider. “You want it hard? Give me

some room to work then, baby.”

A calloused hand gripped the back of

her neck, urging her cheek down onto the

floor. The position pushed her bottom

high in the air, leaving her open to

receive his savage thrusts. “Look at you,

skirt up around your waist, still wearing

your cock-teasing panties while I satisfy

that pussy.”

“Oh, God,” she gasped. Pressure built

in her stomach, between her thighs.

Close. So close. “Bowen,
please
.”

“You like it rough, Sera?” He

anchored a fist in her hair and quickened

his pace. “Did you think I could give it

to you any other way after you let me

fuck your mouth?”

“No. Yes.” Release screamed closer.

“Don’t stop,
don’t stop
.”

He increased his pace with a growl

that told her he was close, too. Knowing

his edge loomed sent her spiraling,

sobbing into the hard floor as pleasure

overtook her. He sank deep one final

time, shaking against her as he came, a

litany of curses echoing through the

room.

When she expected him to collapse

onto her back, he surprised her by

turning her around and gathering her

close, so close she could hardly breathe.

His mouth moved in her hair, hands

stroking along every inch of her skin.

Twice, she sensed him start to speak,

then stop. Finally, he picked her up and

settled her into his bed without losing

contact. After he disposed of their

protection in the bedside wastebasket,

they lay there in a sweaty tangle of

limbs, regaining their bearings for a

time. It wasn’t long before she fell

asleep, lulled by the sound of Bowen’s

heartbeat knocking in his chest.

CHAPTER

TWENTY-THREE

Seraphina.

Bowen sprang awake in bed, his lungs

seizing with the need for oxygen.

Breathe, breathe
. No, he wouldn’t

allow himself a breath until he touched

Sera. His hands tore through the tangle

of sheets, searching for her mass of

brown hair. No matter that he could feel

warm, naked skin pressed against him,

after the things he’d dreamed, he needed

to get eyes on her.

There. She was there. Air infiltrated

his chest, twining with something far

more drastic than relief.
I love her. I

love her too much
. The realization

didn’t come as a surprise. He’d seen this

coming since the first night. Maybe he

hadn’t allowed himself to acknowledge

it because she’d always planned on

leaving. Now that she didn’t want to

leave, the emotions he’d kept at bay

came flooding in until his heart bobbed

among them like a buoy.

She practically glowed in the predawn

light filtering in through his single

window. Her mouth, that
unbelievable

mouth, grew stubborn when she slept,

lips pursed as if ready to argue. Damn,

he liked that. He wanted to kiss her

mouth until it softened for him, but then

he’d lose this chance to savor waking up

with her in his bed for the first time.

Hair he’d abused with his hands all

night, directing her up, down, sideways,

lay in a tumble on his pillow. He’d been

rough as hell with her, but at some point

during the night, he’d stopped feeling

like a corrupter of innocence. It might

have had something to do with Sera’s

confidence growing every time he took

her. She’d learned quickly how to turn

him into a begging mess. As if he hadn’t

been one for her all along.

Is this how you like me to touch you,

Bowen?

Faster?

Like this?

You feel so good. So hard.

Can I please put you in my mouth

again?

Apparently he’d done
something
right

in his life. As an added bonus, this

beautiful, caring, intelligent girl whom

he’d walk through fire for also
loved

giving him head. Go fucking figure.

Loath to wake her but physically

incapable of not touching her, he ran his

thumb over her arched eyebrow and

watched the stubbornness fade from her

mouth. One gorgeous brown eye popped

open, followed by the other. She woke

up one eye at a time. He loved knowing

that about her. Wanted to know

everything. He
would
know everything,

starting today.

No more secrets, no more pretending

the obstacles between them didn’t exist.

Every moment they spent tiptoeing

through this minefield surrounding them,