And he was all hers.
Screw it. She’d promised herself that she was done letting others dictate her actions and she didn’t want to go one more minute pretending she didn’t love him with all her heart. The possibility that Irish wasn’t ready to hear it, be damn—
“I love you, kitten.”
Her eyes blew wide. “What did you say?”
“You heard me. I love you, Kat. More than my own life.”
Stunned silent, Kat opened and closed her mouth several times like a fish out of water. To hear those words coming from anyone, much less the man she loved in return, overwhelmed her. She didn’t realize she was crying until she tasted the salty tears and Irish used his thumbs to wipe them from her cheeks.
“It’s okay, you don’t have to say it back,” he whispered. “I just needed you to know.”
“But I do. I mean, I know I don’t have to say it back, but I want to because I do. I love you so damn much.”
He smiled wide. Not the kind weighed down with the years of guilt and sadness he’d carried around. No, this smile was radiant and freeing and she planned on making it her personal goal in life to make sure he wore it as often as possible. Her man—her fighter—deserved nothing less.
Throwing her arms around his neck, Kat kissed him with all the things she wanted to tell him. He met her with equal force, their tongues colliding and sliding over the other between their fused lips. His hands roamed in erratic patterns like a butterfly indecisive on which flower to land on. Finally he settled on her breasts.
The rough skin of his masculine hands sent shivers through her as he dragged his palms over the tight peaks of her nipples. With an encouraging moan, she arched her back, thrusting her breasts forward like a decadent offering. One Irish wholeheartedly accepted.
Using his fingers, he tortured one of her nipples while the other received it from his mouth. On one side pulling, tweaking, pinching, and rubbing. On the other licking, suckling, circling, and biting. Each action caused a reaction at her center like electric currents traveling in a circuit from her breasts to her clitoris. The result was the wetness coating the inside of her thighs.
Finally, he gave her a reprieve and lifted his head. “Stand up, baby.”
The command took a second to make it through the pleasure-induced fog clouding her brain. Irish rose and helped pull her up, then turned her to face away from him. She now stood next to the back of the chaise, which came up to her belly button.
Sliding his hand down her right thigh, he said, “Place this foot up on the chair. Yeah, just like that.”
The position opened her up, the cool air stirring against her wet sex. They’d never made love this way because, although she’d gotten much better, she still worried about not being able to look into his eyes if she felt that familiar pull from her subconscious. Twisting to the right, she looked over her shoulder.
“Not that way,” he said, directing her chin to the left to face the window. “Look there.”
The recessed lighting above them illuminated their reflections almost as perfectly as a mirror. She watched him grab a condom from the floor, tear it open, and smooth it down his thick erection. Holding her gaze in the window, Irish positioned himself directly behind her, his foot braced on the chair next to hers, and nestled his erection in the slick folds of her sex.
With slow, short strokes, he rubbed her sensitive clit with the flared edge of his cock head, shooting arrows of desire straight to her core. Kat tried pulling forward an inch—just enough for him to slip inside—but he had a firm grip on her waist and held fast.
“Please, Aiden,” she managed between breaths. “I need you.”
“You want me inside you?”
“So much.”
Without hesitation, he positioned himself at her entrance and eased forward. Her inner walls were still swollen from her last orgasm, making her channel tighter and incredibly sensitive. She moaned, a shudder of desire rippling over her skin as she adjusted to his size.
A mix between an exhale and a groan rumbled from his chest as he finally seated himself completely. She tipped her head back on his shoulder. He kissed and nipped at the spot below her ear. Wrapping his arms around her rib cage, he began an achingly slow retreat, then pressed back in to the hilt and whispered, “Being inside you feels like coming home.”
Her melting heart warred for dominance with her quivering sex. Hugging his arms in front of her, Kat turned her head and found his mouth with hers. He kissed her with a sensuous reverence, worshipping her with his full lips in a soulful prayer.
As the pace evened out, they broke apart and she bent at the waist to lie across the back of the chaise. She studied him in the window. Inked muscles bunched and flexed with every movement like living works of art. Head bent and focused on where their bodies joined, shaggy black hair hanging forward, his hips thrusting behind her, revealing glimpses of his hard shaft with every withdrawal. He was a perfect male specimen in every way.
Kat’s breathing became shallow to match his. He continued to move slow and steady. Every nuance was felt, every sensation doubly intense. The rough fabric grated deliciously on her stomach, breasts, and nipples. Once again she started the climb to another climax, but just before she reached the crest, he pulled out, leaving her empty and aching.
She protested with a pained whine, but he shushed her in soothing tones that promised the absence was only temporary. Then Irish dipped his fingers in her vagina and rubbed her juices onto her puckered rosette in a circular motion. She gasped and would have jumped ten feet in the air if he didn’t have her pinned between him and the chair. But despite the shock, she couldn’t deny the tiny thrill she got from him touching her in such an intimately taboo place.
He repeated the process, this time adding a little more pressure with the pad of his thumb, causing a small whimper to escape her lips.
Irish’s ghostly blue eyes peered at her in the window with a banked fire. “How about here, Kat? You want me inside you here?”
She tensed. “I’m not sure,” she said honestly. It was one thing to enjoy a little ass-play, but completely another to go all the way, wasn’t it? And yet…
His left arm snaked under her ribs. It made a comfortable support between her and the back of the chaise while allowing him to knead and tease her right breast. Meanwhile his other hand was still creating magic with her pussy and anus.
“You said your first time had been taken from you. But I can give you a different kind of first time. I can make it good for you.”
Irish placed a sweet kiss at her temple as though punctuating his tender offer of sharing an experience that would be theirs forever. Something no one could ever take from her.
“What do you say, sweetheart? Will you let me claim you like no one else has?”
“Yes,” she replied softly. “I’m yours.”
“Stay right like you are and let me take care of you.” He picked up a tube from the inconspicuous spot he’d gotten the condom earlier. “This’ll be a little cold at first.” She inhaled sharply when the cool gel hit her hot skin, but a second later all she focused on was how good his finger felt as he rubbed it on.
She sensed the presence of an erotic arrow nocked on a bow string, ready to be pulled tight and released to shatter all previous notions of the ultimate pleasure. The anticipation and the carnal vibrations now singing in a part of her body previously untouched made her wet all over again.
Using more of the lubrication, he placed the pad of his thumb against her puckered flesh…then pushed. She tensed at the intrusion, her body instinctively rejecting it.
“Just relax, baby. It might feel uncomfortable at first, but it’ll pass,” he promised. “When I push in I want you to exhale and push out. Understand?”
She nodded.
He tried again, and this time she did as he instructed, allowing him as far as he could go. The duality of sensations, both strange and rousing, confused her body. Like it couldn’t decide between This isn’t m
y thing and Holy hell do that again.
Kat held still and focused on breathing as Irish set a slow rhythm with his thumb, massaging more of the gel inside as he continued to open her with gentle tugs on her outer walls. At last, the pleasure overcame the foreign feeling and all she wanted was more. She tilted her hips up in a silent plea that evoked a growl of appreciation from her lover.
“Damn, you look good like this, baby,” he rasped. “Can you feel how open you are for me? So vulnerable. So trusting. I’ve never been so hard in my life.”
Ahv nevah been so hahd… God, what his accent did to her. It might not be cultured or sexy like the French or Italians, but it turned her on something fierce. As did the fact that she could indeed feel how open he’d made her. He could easily insert two fingers and scissor them inside her, the motion driving her crazy.
“Then let me feel it,” she practically begged. He turned his face to the window and locked onto her with heat flaring in his eyes. “Make love to me, Aiden. Claim me.”
“My pleasure.”
He grabbed the base of his shaft, prepared to guide himself into her at last, when she stopped him.
“I want you bare.”
“Kat, we talked about this.”
She straightened, bringing their bodies flush, and looked up at him over her left shoulder. Cupping his face with her hand, she offered a wry grin and said, “Unless I missed something in health class, there’s no way to conceive this way.”
Unable to resist his mouth when it was so close to hers, she drew him down for a passionate kiss that stoked the embers until the flames of desire burned bright again.
“Please,” she managed around the kisses. “I don’t want anything between us.”
A deep sound rumbled in his chest and shimmied down her spine. “You’re killing me, you know that? Bend over.”
She eagerly followed his command while he disposed of the condom and squeezed some lube into his palm. In the window, his reflection stroked his cock a few times to coat it with the gel before fisting it and stepping close behind her.
He fitted the smooth head of his cock to her rear entrance and began to push. She bit down on her bottom lip as he stretched her hole. He was much bigger than two fingers and the slight burn had her holding her breath and wondering how in the hell he was going to fit.
“Keep breathing, baby,” he encouraged softly. Kat exhaled, remembering he’d also told her to push out. He grunted as the flare of his cock head pushed past the tight ring, and he sunk in another inch. “That’s my girl.”
As he continued the slow push forward, he reached around and rubbed her swollen clit. A rush of wetness broke free from where the tingling knot gathered strength in her belly. The fine line between pleasure and pain blurred until one no longer existed without the other.
Finally, she felt his thighs flush against her ass. He’d filled her up completely, joined with her perfectly. Not just with her body, but with her heart and soul as well. She’d been broken until the day he interjected himself into her life. There would never be another man for her. She knew it as sure as she knew her name.
He leaned over, blanketing her with his muscular torso, and spoke in a low voice next to her ear. “Now I’ve claimed you in every way possible. Only me, Kat. No one can take that from either of us. You’re mine, and I’m yours.”
Reveling in his loving proclamation, her lids drifted shut. “Always,” she promised. Tears of utter happiness escaped beneath her lashes and transferred to him when she nuzzled his cheek, the soft scratching of his beard like hundreds of tiny fingers lighting over her skin.
“Then open your eyes,” he whispered, “and watch me love you.”
…
Aiden stood tall and withdrew slowly from the hot sheath of Kat’s ass. She let out a blissful mewl and tilted her hips, seeming to now crave what she previously feared. He palmed her cheeks and spread her apart, watching her swallow his bare cock. To see her welcome him like this, to feel her body grip him like a lover’s embrace, burned him up inside. Melted the last layers of ice around his heart.
He set a slow and steady pace, sliding in and out with fluid strokes. Transcendent pleasure vibrated up his shaft and into his balls. Sweat from the effort it took not to come too soon covered every inch of him.
The sounds of their lovemaking soothed his soul like no music ever could. Strained breathing, soft moans, feral grunts, and the whispers of flesh sliding on flesh. All of it perfect.
She was perfect.
Perfect for him.
Reaching back, she covered his left hand with hers. “You feel so good. God, I’m close. So close.”
Aiden knew that already. He could tell in the way her brows furrowed. The way she bit her lip and fisted her hands. The way she kept trying to manipulate his tempo to get him to go faster, harder. But he held her firm. They’d finish this the way they started. And they’d remember every stroke, every touch.
Every moment.
Again he leaned forward to hug her back with his chest, snaking his left arm beneath her and cupping her right shoulder. His other hand reached over her raised thigh and found her dripping sex with his fingers. Instantly, her swollen channel sucked at his two fingers. He felt his cock through the thin wall of tissue as he continued the easy back and forth motion with his hips while cradling her in his arms.
Turning his head, he studied their reflection in the window. Standing where someone could see them gave the act an edge of exhibitionism. But he also felt a little like a voyeur. As though he were watching another couple making love. There was still a small part of him that didn’t believe he could ever be so fortunate.
“I love you so much, Aiden.”
Except there was that.
It was his name on her lips. Kat knew exactly who he was, and she still dared to love him. She was stronger than she knew. Stronger than even him.
Tears fell from the corners of her eyes and her voice sounded watery with emotion. He held her tighter. Moved a hair faster. A touch harder. His actions intensifying as his love did the same.
“Feel how much I love you, Kat.”
He watched her reach out to their mirrored images. She trailed her fingers lightly down the side of his face, across his jawline, and over his lips. He swore he felt the gentle touch as though his reflection and he were tangibly connected.
Moisture gathered in his eyes, causing his vision to blur. Blinking it back, he spoke in a voice gruff with emotion. “Come with me, baby.”
He had about half a dozen thrusts before he lost control of his own climax. His balls drew up tight and fire gathered in the base of his spine. He glanced his fingers over her engorged bud, already so sensitive, and felt her come undone in his arms.
She cried his name as her orgasm took her, and his body followed her into the ether, where desire consumed them in wave after wave, and he emptied himself into her for the second time in as many hours.
An eternity of seconds passed before he had the energy to move, but he finally kissed her shoulder and raised himself up. Her breaths were deep and even, her eyes closed peacefully. With little effort, he cradled her in his arms and carried her to the four-poster California king bed. After cleaning her gently with a warm cloth, he pulled the silky sheet over her and slid in beside her.
Instinctively, she curled around him, tucking her head into the place between his shoulder and chest that cradled her perfectly. Then, holding her close, he placed a last kiss on her forehead and drifted off to sleep, hoping he’d get to do it all over again in his dreams.
Chapter Twenty
Wearing her outfit from yesterday—minus the undies that were somewhere in pieces in Xander’s car—Kat followed the heavenly scent of salty bacon and sugary syrup through the main lobby. As exhausted as she was from the night of lovemaking Irish had treated her to, her stomach woke her up bright and early, demanding its own satiation.
She’d opened her eyes to the beautiful colors of his tattooed arms wrapped firmly around her
and exhaled in contentment. Never had she felt so safe, so loved than in the arms of a fighter. She’d almost woken him to ask if he’d like to join her, but she couldn’t bring herself to do it. Life had etched itself on his face, often causing him to appear older than his thirty-odd years. But sleep seemed to bring him peace and his features softened. For as rugged as he was, Irish was equally beautiful.
Kat choked back a laugh. She was pretty sure he’d put her in a headlock for even thinking it, so she’d keep that little nugget of opinion to herself. No reason to emasculate the man.
At last, she found breakfast heaven. A buffet line overflowed with scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, pancakes, fruit, and at least a dozen other items that made her mouth water and stomach growl. She placed her hands over her middle to muffle the sound and walked to the start of the line. She’d eat quickly and then load a plate to take up to her Sleeping Beauty.
Twenty minutes later, she sat back in her chair with an inward groan. Her eyes had been bigger than her stomach, but it somehow found room for the eggs, bacon, sausage, hash browns, and the biggest damn waffle she’d ever seen. Which she’d proudly made herself in the gigantic waffle-iron-flipper-thing.
Glancing down her body, Kat smoothed her hands over her full belly. “Damn, I’ve got a food baby in there.” She let out a soft gasp. Baby…I could be pregnant. “With Irish’s baby,” she whispered as the thought lifted the corners of her mouth. She’d never wanted children before. Never wanted to bring them into the life she led. Children deserved a stable home with parents who loved them. She knew she would—unconditionally—and do whatever it took to keep them safe, but she never imagined being with anyone who would feel the same.
But Irish would. He’d protect and love his children with the ferocity of a lion.
Kat stood, anxious to get back to their room and the man she wanted to be with, always. She’d bring him up a tray of food and let him eat before attacking his sexy, naked body. Maybe she’d even hide the condoms. The more she thought about it, the more she warmed to the idea of having his baby.