Page 74 of Bourbon & Blood

“Tonight? Sure, I guess,” I said.

“Gear on up, and pack an overnight bag, yeah?”

“Sure.”

“Havin’ a good ol’ fashioned Cajun cookout at my dad’s place tomorrow,” he said. “All the boys from the club, a bunch o’ hunters and such. Families from out that way and in the bayous.”

“Okay,” I said carefully, nodding.

He touched the side of my face and stared into my eyes and I felt moved. I don’t know why.

“I have to warn you, cher, my daddy, he let’s his mouth get away from him sometimes.”

“I understand,” I said.

“Well, you been warned,” he said. “Understandin’ is sort of up in the air until you see it for yourself.”

I stood on my toes and kicked the door shut behind us, twining my arms around his neck. He bowed his head and met me halfway. I kissed him, and thought to myself,nobody had better say anything mean about you. Not in front of me.

His arms went around me and he pulled me tight against his hard body, tearing his mouth from mine and whispering, “We’ll ride tomorrow. I want you tonight.”

“Mm,” I moaned softly, the raw need in his voice thrilling me down to my toes. “Okay,” I murmured and his mouth crashed down onto mine, much needier this time and I relished it.

At some point, I gave a little jump, trusting he would have me, and he did; hauling me up his body so I could twine my legs around his hips, gasping as he tore his mouth from mine once again only to attack the sweet spot on the side of my neck.

I held the back of his head, pressing his mouth closer as he somewhat blindly carried me to my bedroom. He hip-checked the corner of the back of the couch and grunted, but barely broke stride.

“Are you okay?” I asked, and he just grunted in assent that yes, he was fine, and kept right on going. He laid me down on the bed and immediately pressed his cock against me through our jeans. I moaned against his invading tongue.

He shrugged out of his leather vest and tossed it aside on the bed, following it up with a crushed box of condoms out of his back pocket.

“Oh, thank God,” I uttered against his mouth and he let out a rumbling chuckle.

“Wasn’t about to dothatagain,” he said, straightening and pulling his shirt off from over his head.

“Mmm.” I smiled and wriggled my shirt over my head, tossing it aside. I hesitated only slightly when he pulled the gun out of the back of his waistband and leaned over to set it on the bedside table.

This is the man he is… never forget it, Lina,I reminded myself, but it was oh, so easy to forget when he kissed me like that, when he held me close and let his lips roam over my skin. The way his hands were so gentle, and the way he was so careful when he put his cock inside of me.

He didn’t fuck me. There was passion there, for sure, but he didn’t get rough with me – no. If anything, when we had sex, it felt as though he was making love to me.

I couldn’t help but believe wholeheartedly that despite his fearsome appearance, somewhere deep inside that tough and frightening exterior, was a sweet and gentle man.

He’d proven it to me with every touch, every look of concern, and his gentle loving care of me.

He treated me better than any man I had ever known before him, and it was so at odds with everything else about him.

He was such an enigma, a mystery to me, but I didn’t back down. The deal was to be his, and so I figured that went for as long as he wanted. And the things I had learned about him so far? They told me that I had plenty of time to figure everything out. That once he settled on something, it was a long time or even a forever kind of a thing…

There was a certain sense of security in that. One that’d I’d craved, probably, since the day I’d been born. There was a part of my heart that’d been broken since childhood, a part of me that had longed so hard, had positively yearned to be wanted and to be loved – the unconditional and fairytale forever kind of love.

Maya had been the first to show me what unconditional love was. She loved me like a friend, and a sister. No matter how big or small the disagreement, if I would freak out? She’d bring me right back down to earth, always quick to remind me that yeah, she was pissed, but that didn’t mean shit. That didn’t mean she was giving up and abandoning ship.

Dorian and Marcus loved me like family, too… but deep down, I’d always craved what La Croix was giving me.

That romantic partnership. Not just a lover, confidant, and friend… but the promise of safety. And not just physical safety either… but emotional safety. Even if he did bring it to me in the strangest of ways.

We stripped each other naked and kissed. It felt so good to have his skin on mine, our nude bodies writhing in concert, but not penetrating; not yet. He was determined to kiss, lick, and suck on every inch of me and I enthusiastically encouraged him with the feral noises pouring from my throat.

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