Page 55 of Fighting for Lucy

Arms wrapped around him, holding on with a strength that belied Lucy’s small stature. “You came to the right place. You came to what you knew was a safe place. And you believed in me, Zander. You trusted me. You didn't think I was incapable of giving you what you needed, or that I wasn’t strong enough to hold you up. You just came here. To me. I can't tell you how happy I am that you did.”

Her words surprised him. They were so immediately accepting of the fact that he’d done the right thing, and joy that he had seen her for the strong, capable woman that she was.

Something inside him eased a little. His heart had known this was where he had to be even if his head had tried to talk him out of it.

“It might not be fair, babe, but I … need you.” The words felt foreign on his tongue. He was supposed to be a warrior, but even a warrior had a team at his back, and he was in desperate need of a team.

“You have me, Zander.” Lucy pulled back enough only to be able to look up at him, her arms remained locked around his waist. “Always. Even if things don’t work out between us, I will always be here for you. Always. No matter what. Any time, day or night, you can come here, and I’ll give you whatever you need. Thank you, for not taking you away from me.”

Those words and the accompanying tears shimmering like diamonds in her blue eyes had him clutching her to him, lifting her feet off the floor so he could just hold her. “You would miss me if I wasn’t around?” That seemed crazy since things had only progressed between them in the last couple of days, but he needed to know that despite everything he’d done, someone would care if he wasn’t around.

In answer Lucy crushed her mouth to his, kissing him with a passion that branded his heart. “Don’t ever ask me something so stupid ever again. OfcourseI would miss you. I want a chance to explore this thing between us. I'm not going to push you because I know you're dealing with a lot, but it doesn’t change what I want.”

“Even knowing what I allowed to happen?”

“Even knowing you believe you're responsible for what happened,” she replied, arching a brow to make sure he noticed how she phrased it.

As if he’d missed it.

“Even knowing there’s a darkness inside me I'm not sure I can control?”

“A man who can keep his back to a woman orgasming over and over again for over an hour, knowing that if he wanted to, she would have said yes to sex is one who has impeccable control. I'm not afraid of you, Zander. Maybe I was when I didn't know whose side you were on, but not anymore. Not ever. I'm so glad you came tonight.”

“I am, too,” he admitted. “I thought maybe it wasn’t fair to put this on you because you’ve already been through so much.”

“Yeah, I have,” she agreed. “And right now, I don’t even know which way is up, I haven’t even begun to process anything, but I know that when you're here I feel grounded. I'm not a balloon floating up into space because you're holding the string. Will you make love to me, Zander?”

There was nothing on earth he’d love more than to bury himself inside this woman and allow her light to soak into him, soothing the damaged pieces and giving him hope that maybe one day life might seem bright again.

Or maybe bright for the first time ever.

With Lucy, all things seemed possible.

Since she had her legs wrapped around his hips, he placed one hand beneath her backside while his other palmed her cheek. “Are you sure, baby?” Sex wasn’t why he’d come there tonight, and in Lucy’s own words she hadn't even begun to process what had happened to her, the last thing she needed was him taking advantage.

“If I wasn’t sure I wouldn’t have asked.” Her smile was soft and warm, and he loved the way it made him feel.

“I don’t think I have it in me for slow and sweet this time around,” he warned her. There were too many emotions raging inside him.

“Take me however you want me.”

Those words were a precious gift and one he treasured as he balanced Lucy’s weight with one hand, shoved down his pantsand boxers enough to free himself, and then pushed Lucy’s yoga pants and panties out of the way.

While he couldn’t give her slow and sweet, he was already rock hard and aching, he wasn’t going to take her without making sure she got off at least twice.

“Hold onto me, babe,” he ordered as he lifted her up and set her on his shoulders so her legs hung down his back and her center was spread open and ready for him to devour.

“Zander, you can't—” Lucy’s words cut off, turning into a moan as his hands gripped her tight backside and his tongue darted out to swipe across her already wet core.

“Yeah, I can,” he said, smiling as another moan tumbled from her lips as his tongue nudged at her opening.

Licking and nipping, he alternated between thrusting his tongue inside her tight, wet heat and playing with the bundle of nerves that quickly had her body beginning to quiver as pleasure built inside her. There was no better sound in the world than hearing his woman in the throes of making love. It was the sweetest sound and matched only by the sweet taste of her on his lips as he ate her as though he were starving.

And he was.

Starving for love that had been denied him as a child.

It was freeing to admit he wanted everything his sister had always believed in, everything he thought he could find with the woman seconds away from coming on his tongue.

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