Page 12 of Protected By Saint

Saint goes to turn around, but I grab his arm before he can, his skin a furnace against mine. “Wait,” I say with a tremble in my voice. “I…maybe… What if I want you to touch me?” I blurt out, my heart nearing beating its way out of my chest when I manage to get the words out.

“Jade—”

“I want to forget.” I tighten my grip on his arm, feeling the strength of his muscles under my fingertips. “Despite the shower, I still feel dirty. I feel…violated by all the filthy looks those men kept tossing my way. There were so many, and I kept shaking at the thought of any one of them touching me.”But then I saw you, and our eyes locked, and everything became static. For a solid minute, as I stood on that stage, I could hear and see nothing but the large man standing at the back of the room. During that minute, I was not scared. “Please help me forget.”

Despite all my reservations, one thing remains true about Saint. He makes me feel safe, but he also makes me forget, and I crave that. Oblivion. Something I believe that only this man can offer me.

I question if I am desperate enough to fall into the arms of a man whose real name I don’t even know just to forget the craziness of the day. But he makes that choice for me. Saint reaches out and wraps his hands around my shoulders, pulling me into his arms and holding me against him. I gasp at the contact, tension blowing off me like steam as I bury my face in his neck, breathing in that strong musky scent that clings to his skin, letting it calm me.

“I’ll kill them,” he growls, and I feel more than hear the words. He is practically vibrating with anger as he hugs me close to him “Limb by limb, I’ll tear them apart for you, precious. Every single man that was in that club will regret every laying eyes on you.”

His threat sounds realistic, but it’s clear that he’s only saying that to make me feel better. I don’t believe anyone in this city is capable of delivering such punishment, but I let his promise—however unrealistic it may be—soothe me.

“I need something different from you,” I whisper into his shoulder. “Touch me. Help me forget.”

He pulls back from the embrace to meet my eyes, and I gasp at the violence written in his. “Jade, you’re not ready for this. Not after what happened tonight,” he says roughly, and Saint looks like he’s seconds away from tearing someone apart, but for some reason, that doesn’t scare me. He’s angry for me, and it has the opposite effect. “I don’t know if I can hold myself back with you. Not tonight.”

“Please,” I plead, pushing at his defenses. “I want it. I need it… Need you.”

His nostrils flare, and I don’t need to look down to tell that he’s aroused. I felt it earlier when he pulled me into his arms, but now, he has a starved look in those blue eyes. “Fuck, baby! I need you to be sure about this,” he says raggedly, his eyes dropping to the towel that’s doing a piss poor job of covering me. “If you let me touch you, I will not stop until I am balls deep inside of you.”

I flush at his crude words, but I refuse to let them scare me. “I want this,” I whisper, and I watch as the last bit of his control snaps.

I see it coming.The kiss. There are plenty of chances to stop it. To place my hands on the man’s chest and shove him away if I don’t want to feel the press of that firm mouth against mine but…I do.

And when he slams his mouth down on mine, I do forget. I forget that tonight I was auctioned and bid on by terrifying men. That my roommate betrayed me and sold me off to be hurt. That there are monsters all around me.

I forget everything but the man kissing me.

Chapter Six

Jade

His lips are warm when he brushes them over mine. It’s my first kiss too, and I expect him to take it slow like in the movies, but the second our lips touch, things shift from zero to a hundred in a blink of an eye. A growl rumbles from the back of his throat as he flattens me to the closet door, sweeping his mouth over mine with a rough groan.

Saint’s tongue enters my mouth with such arrogance, exploring every inch like a man starved for it. He cradles my face between his hands and angles my head to give him better access, slanting his mouth over mine and kissing me like I give out air that he needs for sustenance.

I let myself get swept away in his kiss—on a man hellbent on destroying me for any other with his scorching kiss. He seems set on wiping away any memory that does not revolve around him, and I revel in that, in a feeling I have always craved but was never bold enough to look for.

I can have that now.

Have him.Or rather, let him have me.

I let him claim my first kiss over and over again, teaching me with practice, and I’m impatient for his lesson. I push up against him, whimpering when my aching tits brush against his chest, the soft material of his shirt teasing my beaded nipples, and that sets me off. I wrap my arms around his shoulders, pushing up against him and chasing that delicious feeling.

The need to feel his naked skin against mine grows, and my fingers drop to his shirt, working impatiently on the buttons. They are so tiny, and why the hell are there so many of them anyway? Who made this shirt?

“Saint!” I whimper in frustration, clawing his chest in desperation. His lips stay on mine as he reaches between us and yanks at the shirt, sending buttons flying around the room as it splits open. I sigh in pleasure when my fingers connect with his firm, taut skin, feeling the warmth that radiates from his body. Christ, he’s like a furnace, his heat warming my own skin. I trace my hand over his muscular shoulders, down to his chest, and to firm abs that move under my fingertips.

“Fuck, baby, if you keep touching me like that, we’ll be done before we can even start!” he rasps against my lips, wrapping an arm around my waist and yanking me hard against him. “You are every man’s dream, precious. I wanted to do this from the second I saw you.” Moisture pools in that secret spot, the ache growing unbearable when he slides his hand down and kneads my butt. “I wanted to kiss every inch of you and then fuck you in that room with all those bastards watching.” He trails his lips over my jaw and down to my throat. “I wanted—want to make you mine.”

I realize that I want that as well. Perhaps more than anything I have ever wanted in my life before. If I am his, then no one else can get to me, right?

“Do it,” I breathe, tipping my head back as he runs his tongue over my throat, his hands fondling my butt. “Make me yours.”

At my words, Saint easily lifts me into his arms, and I instinctively wrap my legs around his hips. His mouth slams back on mine, and we’re back to kissing as he carries me to bed. “I’ll mark you as mine and possess every inch of this body,” he rasps as he lays me down on the bed, but he doesn’t follow me. Saint backs up and shrugs off his shirt, exposing more of that firm body. My eyes fall to the massive bulge in his pants where he pops open the button and tugs down the zipper but doesn’t strip off completely as he climbs into bed with me.

There is a dark, predatory look in his eyes as he crawls toward me. I back up, and he follows me until there’s nowhere left to go. “Saint, I…” I clear my voice when it comes out a little pitched. “He wasn’t lying.”

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