Shepherd (20 page)
His head shook infinitesimally, and she stilled it between her palms, brushed her cheek against his crown, and whispered, “You can’t have this with doubts. It’ll be an illusion. One that will crumble and leave you emptier than before. Ask me.”
He’d stilled against her, only the tightening of his fingers on her body announcing his desire to refuse. He raised his head. “I love you, Esme. Be my wife. Stay with me. Choose this. Choose me.”
Her hand beneath his jaw forced his head back so he couldn’t miss her words or expression. Her fingers brushed at the bruise. A slight trace along his stubble and cheekbone riveted his gaze to her, but she held off. No quick endings here. He needed to remember this lesson and believe in her conviction. “You can manufacture documents, hide my shoes and clothes, chain me to a wall…”
He flinched at the reminder. She feathered her fingers over his forehead until he was present in the moment again.
“I chose you weeks ago, Clayton Ebris. The day you put me in the scanner—perhaps before. You’ve empowered me to heal, but I can undo locks and find my own way out of mazes. I’ve been here by my choice, not your design.”
“Say it, Esme.” He pulled her from the chair to straddle his hips. “Please, Sugar, say it.”
“You are the only man I choose as my husband. You’re mine.” She pressed a kiss to his lips and pulled away as he followed. “I love you, Clay.”
That he could punish her with a mind-numbing kiss as he stood with her wrapped around him, said everything about his strength. That her back touched the bed with her clothes gone and his cock pressed deep inside her before she could even think straight said everything about his determination.
Hot, wet, and needy, she strained beneath him as he held himself still over her. His elbows beside her head and his fingers threaded through her hair, he waited—his face a whisper away from hers. “Say it again, Esme. Let me hear it like this. When I’m so deep inside you that I can feel every part of you like it’s my skin.”
She curved her legs around his hips and tightened her muscles around his cock. Satisfied with his strained grunt and the tightening of his shoulders, she pulled his head to her, their lips touching. “I love you, Clay. Only you forever. Now fuck me before I go insane.”
“Such a mouth on you, my lovely bride.” He captured her earlobe between his teeth as he drove into her.
She bit her lip with a groan, rising to meet him as her climax crested with lightning speed. His murmurs of love broke through her bliss and spiraled her higher.
Breath barely caught, she lay cradled in his arms, physically sated from their intensity, emotionally wiped from the rollercoaster of the last few days. Twisting to face him, she pressed a kiss to the whiskers covering his jaw. His slight tension registered beneath her lips.
“What secrets are you holding back, Clay?”
He buried his face in her hair, avoiding her gaze. “Ones I never want you to know, Sugar. Ones that would send you screaming from me.”
“Never.” She rubbed at the scars on his chest and twisted to kiss along the metallic cylinder edge of his cyber eye. “I know you, Clayton Ebris. In darkness and light, I know you. I’ve always known you. I lived in hell all my life. Your only secret from me is how you walked through the fire of your past and survived to find me. If I go running, it will only be with you at my side. Deal?”
A metal chick followed a whir. The cylindrical shutters closed over the iris of deep gold and opened again as he seemed to search inside her brain with his cyber eye. Perhaps he could. She hoped he could feel her calm, sense her brainwaves of contentment, revel in her pulse still racing with passion, and know peace. The gentle rise of his mouth and the shift of both eyes to vibrant blue assured her he had done just that.
“Deal, Sugar.”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
KH LeMoyne has been writing romance ever since someone told her that she had to grow up and get a real job. Then she switched to writing romantic fantasy to keep real life from getting in the way of a good story. The love of things mystical and magical keeps her writing, with characters who fight for never-ending love against insurmountable odds. Well, that and occasionally she gets to write about elves and dragons…but that’s a different story. Edition for ebook and paperback #shepherd #phoenixbook2
You can read more about her stories at her website:
http://www.khlemoyne.com/
and blog
:
http://fantasypoweredbylove.com/
OTHER WORKS BY KH LeMoyne:
The Guardians of Eden
The Phoenix Series
XX
Shepherd
The Portals of Destiny
OTHER RECOMMENDED READS:
The Warriors For Light Series by LJ DeLeon
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