Vulnerable: (McIntyre Security Bodyguard Series - Book 1) (21 page)

“That’s right, baby,” he murmured as he watched her move on him. She likely had no idea how sensual she looked as she rode him. The lines of her body were exquisite, and her small breasts were sheer perfection as they gently bobbed up and down with her movements. A small smile appeared on her face as she concentrated on finding her pleasure. He desperately needed to thrust into her, to shove himself into her as deeply as he could, but he held back. There was no way he was going to ruin this for her. Tonight wasn’t for him.

This was all for her. His sole objective was to show her how good it could be between them, to show her she could trust him to make things right for her. He clenched his teeth, keeping the urge to thrust deeply into her in check, even if it felt like it was going to kill him.

Gradually he felt her muscles begin to tighten. Her thighs clamped down on his hips and he felt the tension climbing once again inside her. As she finally found what she was looking for, she whimpered.

“That’s it,” he whispered, stroking her thighs and trying to ignore the painful ache in his balls. He was desperate come. “Just relax and do what feels good.”

She must have found just the right angle because the languid pleasure on her face completely transformed her expression. She continued moving on him, right where she needed to be as she focused on that one spot.

“Shane!” she gasped, as her thighs tensed on him.

“I know,” he said, his voice low. “Let it happen.”

She worked herself on him languidly, directing her body just where it needed to be. When her climax hit, she cried out loudly, her voice a high keening whimper.

Her sex clamped down on his cock, and now it was his turn to gasp.

“That’s it,” Shane said, his voice rough. And a heartbeat later, his cock erupted in a startling hot rush. His semen scorched his cock inside the latex, and he wished they didn’t need to use a condom. He wanted to fill her with his come and stroke himself mindlessly inside her hot, slippery channel.

When her tremors ceased, she collapsed onto his chest, and his arms came around her, holding her close.

“Beth,” he whispered against her temple. He kissed the side of her head and then nuzzled her hair. “Are you okay?”

She murmured something unintelligible as she pressed her face into his throat.

“I’ll take that as a ‘yes,’” he said, smiling into her hair.

They lay like that for several long minutes, until she started shivering as the sweat on her skin began to dry in the night air.

Shane gently coaxed her to disengage from his cock and lay beside him.

He hated to leave her even for a moment, but he had to discard the condom. If it weren’t for the condom, they could have fallen asleep like this, joined together with Beth lying on him. “I’ll clean you up, and then maybe we can talk, all right?”

Beth collapsed boneless on the bed and started to drift off to sleep. When Shane returned with a warm washcloth, he gently spread her thighs and wiped her clean.

He sat down on the bed. “Beth?”

She was still reveling in the residual tremors of her climax. “Hmm?”

“Why didn’t you tell me you were a virgin?”

When she didn’t respond, he said, “There was blood on the condom and on your thighs.”

“It’s not a big deal,” she said.

“It kinda is,” he said quietly.

She opened her eyes. “Most of my friends lost their virginity in high school, and the rest of them lost it in college.”

“And you didn’t. Beth, being a virgin is nothing to be ashamed of, you know,” he said. “I just wish you’d told me.”

“Would it have made a difference?” she said.

“Yes. I would’ve been a hell of a lot more careful.”

She yawned. “You were careful. Wonderfully careful. Can we go to sleep now? I’m so wiped.”

He laughed. “Yes.” 

“Thank you,” she said, once he had finished bathing her.

Shane discarded the wet washcloth in the bathroom, then crawled into bed beside Beth. He drew the sheet and comforter over them and tucked himself up against her back, wrapping his arm loosely around her waist. When she nestled her bottom against his loins, he felt his cock twitch.

He lay there listening to Beth’s gentle breaths, reeling from the fact that she’d been a virgin. In hindsight, it shouldn’t have surprised him. She’d told him that her previous attempts at intimacy hadn’t gone well. He’d assumed – incorrectly, obviously – she meant they hadn’t been good experiences for her – not that the experiences had never actually happened.

He tried not to dwell on the fact that he’d just
deflowered
Tyler Jamison’s little sister. That wasn’t going to go over well when Tyler found out. Speaking of Tyler, now was as good a time as any to get her to start talking about Howard Kline.

“Beth?”

“Hmm?” She yawned.

It looked like their talk would have to wait until morning. She was clearly down for the count. “Never mind, sweetheart,” he said, kissing the back of her head. “Go to sleep.”

Chapter 19

Beth may have fallen easily into a deep and restful sleep, but Shane lay wide awake, unable to switch off his brain. He was in serious trouble here. Not only had he fallen for Beth, hard, but he was deceiving her, and that didn’t sit well. He had to tell her the truth soon, but he’d wanted to build some level of trust with her before he confessed that he knew a hell of a lot more about her past than she realized.

He tightened his arm around her, drawing her close, struck by how strong his feelings had become so quickly. It wasn’t just the sex – although her tentative innocence had most definitely blown his mind. Watching her ride him had been exciting as hell. She couldn’t have faked her reaction to sex if she tried – everything she’d felt as they’d made love had been right there on her lovely face. Even with her lack of experience, she was the most naturally sensuous woman he’d ever been with. And they’d barely just scratched the surface. When he thought about all the things he could show her – teach her – about sex, he got hard again.

And it was more than just sex for him, too. He wanted to protect her. He wanted to keep her safe from Kline, or from anyone or anything in this world that threatened to hurt her. To hell with Tyler’s contract. Beth was his to protect now. She was… his.

As soon as the thought entered his head, he knew he was entering new territory. He’d never felt this way about any woman. In the past, he’d dated one woman after the next, moving on after a few dates. It was better that way. He’d learned early on that if he dated one woman for very long, she started to get long-term ideas. And he’d never been interested in settling down like that. But now… the thought of moving on from Beth was repugnant.

After double-checking that she was indeed asleep, he let himself relax and fall back to sleep.

* * *

Shane had learned years ago to be a light sleeper, back in his days in the military when his life had depended on it. He’d learned to grab sleep when and where he could, whether it was in a cot in a military barracks or behind a rock or under a bush. He’d also learned to awaken fully alert at the slightest whisper of sound or movement.

Like now. He came instantly awake.

Beth
.

He lay still, listening.

It wasn’t anything overt really, but her breathing was shallow and fast. And even in her sleep, she had a death grip on his arm, which was still wrapped around her waist. Her legs shifted restlessly against his, and a small sound escaped her, barely more than a whimper. She was having a nightmare.

Her entire body shuddered, and she cried out in her sleep, a frightened, desperate sound that broke his heart.

Shane held her loosely as she began to move in earnest, struggling against invisible bonds that confined her. He wanted to hold her closer, tight to his body, but restraining her would only make things worse. So he forced himself to remove his arm from around her waist. “Shh, sweetheart,” he murmured, stroking her arm lightly. “You’re okay.”

She continued to struggle, and when she started crying, he couldn’t take anymore.

“Beth, honey.” He shook her shoulder gently. “Wake up.”

She jerked suddenly and threw back her head, nearly hitting him in the face. She was struggling in earnest now.

“Beth!” Shane rolled her to her back and shook her enough to startle her awake.

“What!” she cried, looking around with wild eyes.

“You were having a nightmare,” he said.

“Oh. I’m sorry.”

“Christ, there’s no need to apologize,” he said, brushing back her damp hair.

“What time is it?”

He glanced at the digital clock on the nightstand. “Three-thirty.”

She groaned. “I’m sorry I woke you.”

“It’s not a problem.” Shane rested his hand on her bare belly, stroking her.

“Mmm, that feels good,” she said, turning toward him and snuggling into his chest. “You’re so warm.”

“That’s me,” he said. “I’m your own private bed warmer.”

Beth laid her hand over his heart. “Shane?”

“Yeah?”

“Thank you for last night. It was wonderful. I meant to tell you that last night, but I think I must have passed out.”

“I thought it was pretty wonderful, too,” he said. “And you did pass out on me, by the way, but that’s quite all right. I took it as a compliment.”

“It was a compliment,” she assured him, stroking his chest. “I don’t think I’ve ever felt so good in my life.”

His warm hand cupped her buttock and he drew her closer. When he leaned down to kiss her soft pink nipple, she shivered.

“How do you feel?” he said.

“Fine.” And when he sucked the taut little pebble into his mouth and leisurely bathed it with his tongue, she gasped. “More than fine.”

Shane’s head lifted. “Are you sore?”

She moved a bit, not surprised to feel a tenderness deep inside. “A little.”

“You know, there are other ways to have sex that don’t involve you being pinned down.” He rolled her over so that she was facing away from him, and he pressed up against her back.

Beth wriggled her bottom against his loins, smiling when she felt his erection prodding her.

Shane tucked her legs up a little and angled his pelvis just right. The hand that had been around her waist slipped down between her legs and he touched her, his finger skimming through her curls to her core. His finger zeroed in on her clitoris and began to tease it, and he leaned forward and pressed a trail of kisses behind her ear, down her throat, to her shoulder.

Beth squirmed in his arms. “Shane,” she moaned, rocking against his finger.

“Yes?” he said, pleased to find her already wet.

“Why are you torturing me?”

“I’m not torturing you.”

“Then what do you call that?”

“I’m stimulating you.”

She chuckled. “I think I’m already stimulated.”

“Do you want me to stop?” he said, his voice low and rough.

Beth had learned to recognize the subtle changes in his voice when he was aroused. She thrust her bottom back, pushing against his loins, thoroughly gratified when he groaned into her ear. “No, don’t stop.”

“What do you want me to do?” He pressed his face into her hair.

“I don’t know. Just don’t stop.” She could feel herself growing hotter and wetter with each stroke of his finger on her clit.

Shane’s finger slipped past her clitoris and he nudged her legs apart so he could insert his finger into her core. “So hot and wet,” he murmured, nibbling on her shoulder as his finger explored her sex.

“Shane!”

“What?”

“Do something!”

“I am doing something.”

“I mean stop teasing me and make love to me.”

“What, again?”

She laughed. “Yes, again!”

“All right.”

He reached for another condom and quickly sheathed himself. Then he shifted his hips and pressed forward, guiding his erection to her opening. He tucked the head of his cock inside her warm wetness, reveling in her tightness and slowly pushed inside. “You mean like this?”

Beth pushed back against him. “More.”

Shane smiled as he pushed into her slowly, groaning when her swollen tissues parted and accepted him. There was no sign of anxiety in her this time. She was relaxed and aroused, and he felt pretty damn good about that. When his hips met her buttocks and he was fully seated, he sighed. “How’s that?”

She rocked back against him. “Oh, God, that feels good,” she said.

Shane chuckled. “Yes, ma’am,” he said, pulling out almost all the way out, then thrusting forward in a single smooth glide that buried him balls deep inside her.

“Ummph!” she gasped, clutching his arm, which had snaked around her waist to hold her to him.

He stilled. “You okay?”

“Yes!” she said. “It’s just that you’re really deep this way.”

“Yes, I am,” he said, not bothering to hide the gloating in his voice. And then he started to move, slowly at first in long smooth movements, and then a little faster and a little deeper. The feel of her, so hot and tight around him, threatened to steal his control, but he gritted his teeth and paced himself. He wanted this to be good for her. He wanted to give her time to build to her own climax.

“God, you are so tight, sweetheart,” he said, as her channel nearly strangled him in its tight grip. He kept up the measured slow and steady thrusts. He reached around and found her clitoris and began stroking the little nub with deliberate movements designed to fuel her orgasm. When his finger and thumb lightly plucked her clitoris, she cried out.

At the sound of her cry, he increased the pace of his thrusts, unable to help himself. The snug fit of her sex as it clung to his cock was driving him crazy, and he didn’t know how much longer he could hold out. Her felt his balls tighten and draw up, aching with the need to release. His tempo picked up, and his cock started battering her channel relentlessly, rocking them both in the bed. “Okay?” he managed to get out, breathless.

“Yes!” Her own voice was little more than a croak.

“Tell me if you’re not,” he said.