Page 74 of Glamour and Grit

Dane’s palm caresses my cheek. I gasp, eyes fluttering closed as his hand slips behind my head. I draw in a sharp intake of air as his hand knots in my hair close to my scalp.

Dane pulls my head back firmly, but not brutally, and kisses my exposed neck. A guttural groan issues forth from my very soul. My legs trap him, wrapping around his waist, ankles locking together just above his cute ass.

His shaft lays pressed against the groove of my pussy, partly enveloped by it. He draws back slightly, hand gripping his member as he slides it into my pink opening. I bite my lower lip as he glides in, stretching me and making me feel gloriously full.

Dane thrusts his hips, driving himself into me. Desperately, I claw and clutch at him, my nails raking down his shoulder. It feels so amazing I think I’m going to explode. His taut, leanly-muscled form glistens with a sheen of sweat as he rhythmically pumps his hips into mine.

“Dane,” I hiss through clenched teeth. “Dane!”

A primal groan rips from his mouth.

“Selene, I love you!”

He punctuates the declaration with more powerful thrusts. My senses reel. My heart feels lighter than air because he just told me he loves me. On the other hand, our conjoined, arching and straining bodies create their own sensations that mingle with ecstasy both physical and spiritual.

Everything whirls together into a dervish of pleasure that has me singing the song of sheer release at the top of my lungs. I squirm and writhe as supernovas explode behind my eyelids.

My whole body shivers, gone completely to rubber. No longer capable of supporting its own weight, my body starts to topple off the sink. Dane catches me easily in his powerful arms, whisking me off to the bed.

Once he lays me down, Dane curls his body around mine. I sigh, snuggling my face deep into the pillow I make of his tattooed arm.

“This is heaven,” I manage to say, once the aftershocks have died down and I’m capable of coherent thought.

“I really do love you, Selene.”

I purse my lips into a frown, then shift about until I’m laying ontop of him. Our eyes meet, and the gentle tenderness in his gaze makes me want to cry and laugh all at once.

“I love you too, Dane. But I’m afraid.”

He brushes my hair out of my eyes.

“What are you afraid of?”

“Of being hurt,” I say bluntly. “I mean, every time I think you’ve finally let me inside of your private world, you shut me out again. I’m afraid that if I really open myself up to you, I’ll always be on the outside looking in.”

He nods. “I understand. I’ve been standoffish. Or really, I’ve been a jerk.” He heaves a long sigh, and then he tells me a story. I listen, rapt with attention, as he relates his tragic tale. My heart breaks for Dane as he finishes, and I kiss him softly on the lips.

“Dane, you can’t keep blaming yourself for that. Surely you’ve done your penance by now. Besides, you might have hit the kid.”

“I’m a pretty good shot, Living Dead Girl.”

I cock an eyebrow. “Living Dead Girl?”

“Do you like it?”

“No.”

I kiss him hard, and he gives it right back.

“I love it,” I say, breathlessly. “And no matter how good you are, you’re still a human being, Dane. At the end of the day, it was Klaus who killed those people. You were hardly the one solely responsible for him, you know.”

“Yeah, I know. It’s hard not to let those deaths haunt me, though.”

“Whatever happened to Klaus?” I ask.

“He got caught in the least dramatic way possible. He was pulled over for speeding in France and detained.” Dane chuckles without mirth. “After all those years of fleeing from black ops teams, it was a traffic cop that brought him down. He got extradited to the US and was executed for his crimes.”

“Sounds like justice to me,” I say. “But the important thing to remember is you deserve forgiveness. And besides, you kept me safe and sound, and you even rescued my brother.”

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