“What?” She gripped the sheets in her hands.
He shook his head but kept his gaze on her. “I’m talking about exactly what I just said. I’m talking about wanting more than just these seven days with you.” He moved his hand over the side of her head. “I want you like I’ve never wanted another woman. I don’t deserve you, that’s for fucking sure, but I’m selfish and want you regardless.”
“Rian…”
He ran his hand over his jaw, and looked away for a second, before returning his gaze toward her. “All I know is that for the past six months you’ve infuriated me, annoyed me, pissed me off on every occasion, yet I still wanted you more than I have ever wanted another person in my goddamned life. Doesn’t that say something monumental?”
Her heart was beating fast and fierce, as if it was trying to keep up with what was going on around her. “Yes, and I feel the same way.”
“Fuck, baby, you have no idea how hard it was for me to get that out.”
Oh, she had an idea, because it had been hard for her to come to that realization, too.
“Nothing needs to be said. Not a word.” He leaned in and captured her mouth with his, grabbed the back of her neck with his hand, and kissed her senseless. “You feel that?” he murmured against her mouth, and she knew, just knew, what he was talking about. It was this feeling at the base of her spine, slowly moving through her until it stopped in her mouth and heated her from the inside out.
Her pussy tingled and became wetter the longer and more intently he kissed her. She felt like she was suffocating with pleasure and need. Her arousal and brain were raging war between each other. Her emotions were real, genuine, and Rian had just bared his soul to her.
He broke the kiss and placed his hands on either side of her, like he was caging her in for what was to happen next. This was different, his passion more isolated, controlled, and focused right on her and this moment. This felt like he was with her in the now, like this wasn’t about him having sex with her, but about him giving a piece of himself to her.
“I am, Sorcha.” He groaned against her mouth, and she knew she had said those words out loud. He loomed over her, all hard sinew and tendons straining and bunching above her and making her mouth water. He looked down at her lips, and she involuntarily licked them. Rian groaned, and this clenching need slammed into her pussy. He leaned forward so that she was braced back on the headboard, and forced to inhale the dark scents that covered him. It was a mixture of his expensive cologne, of the liquor he had drunk tonight, and then of everything else that made up Rian Hartford.
The position had her breasts thrust out. She lowered her gaze to his mouth, the need to press her lips to his again overwhelming her until she found herself rising to do just that. Her mouth was an inch away from his, and their breath mingled as their arousal increased. She could feel his need for her as if it was her own.
“Tell me again, Sorcha. Give me this one moment to surrender because you want it and not because you signed a contract.” His upper body was pressed to hers, and the feel of his hardness against her softness was alluring and tantalizing. “Tell me, baby.” His voice was low and strained, as if he were having just as hard a time as she was controlling her emotions.
She took a deep, steadying breath before she spoke. “I want you, Rian.” The smile he gave her was pure male satisfaction. Sorcha couldn’t help but give him this. It wasn’t because he had asked, or because he had said the things he had. It was because she wanted him to know. Sorcha didn’t know what would happen between them, that after the week things might go back the way they had been. She wanted to believe that this wasn’t just an “in the moment situation feeling” he had.
He slowly pulled the blankets away from her, stood to remove his pants, and then slipped under the covers so that his heat immediately enveloped her. He leaned over her, caressing the bare skin of her arm while he moved his gaze over her face. Rian’s look became even more heated, and then he kissed her again. She moaned when he placed his weight fully on her. He held the side of her face and stroked his thumb along her cheek.
She brought her arms up and rested her hands on his bulging shoulders, the sinew hard under her fingers. He moved his other hand over her hip and down her thigh, softly squeezing her flesh. Her body, her skin, and her very cells were alive with pleasure and caring about him.
He moved his hand inward, so close to her pussy that she was nearly shaking with anticipation. She desperately wanted him touching her, teasing and tantalizing her and having her forget why she shouldn’t let her emotions get in the way. Having Rian in full alpha possessive mode was what she needed, but right now he was being soft, easy, and gentle. He moved his fingers over her pussy, and unfortunately she couldn’t feel the full force of his touch because of her cotton shorts. She wanted skin to skin, wanted to feel his hardness pressing against her, in her, and consuming her.