Page 75 of Protect Your Queen

“Not if I do my job right,” I said, kissing down her throat.

“Oh?”

“I’m not some teenage boy, looking to get my dick wet.” I felt her try to pull away from our intertwined fingers, but I didn’t let go. We were palm to palm, and I refused to let her out of my grasp. “I’ve done this a time or two. I know what I’m doing, baby. It won’t hurt.”

“You’re some experienced ladies man, right?” She tried to laugh, though I could hear the insecurity in her voice.

“No, little Songbird.” I nipped at her clavicle, and she tried not to moan. She was desperate to find a flaw in me. I wasn’t going to let that happen. Not now. Not when we were so close to ecstasy. “But I’m not an asshole who goes home with women he doesn’t know. Sex is best with someone you care about. With a person you communicate with. With someone you want to wake up beside in the morning.”

“Please, no man believes that…”

“What’ll it take to prove you wrong, Songbird?” I crawled back up her body, even though my mouth salivated at the thought of tasting those beautiful breasts with those dark, auburn nipples. “What’ll it take? I’m all ears. I’ll do it.”

“Don’t leave me.” A glistening tear went down her cheek. “Stay with me, no matter how fucked up I am. Don’t leave. Please?”

“Is that all? Because I will stay as long as you want me to…”

“Always,” she whispered. “I want always. Please, even if I push you away, don’t leave.”

“Songbird,” I kissed her lips, delving my tongue against hers, tasting her warmth. I tasted the breath that carried her song. “I can’t force myself on a woman when she makes it clear she doesn’t want me around.” I cupped her cheek in my palms. “But I promise I’ll make sure you’re safe. Always. Is that a compromise we can make?”

She blinked, then nodded, just a little.

I trailed my fingertip down her cheek, to her neck, to the swell of her breasts.

“I’ll protect you, Songbird.” It was an oath. My cock bobbed, as if he was agreeing with me, as my tip tried to search for the warmth he so desperately needed. “You can trust me.”

I kissed down her throat again, but this time, my mouth made it to the promise land. My tongue darting out to taste one sweet, hardened nipple. My fingers trailed down to the heat between her legs and she moaned as I slipped my middle finger in.

“That’s right, Songbird,” I whispered, between biting one nipple and then the other. “You’re almost ready for me.”

“I’m ready now, please…”

“Please, what?” I pried, wanting her to say it.

“Please… please…”

“Say it, Songbird, or I won’t think you mean it.”

“Fuck me.”

I smiled against her skin, burying my face in her throat. “If I do this, swear you won’t pull away.”

“What?”

“Swear you won’t build up your walls and look for ways this won’t work. Promise you won’t try to see me as one of the many asshole guys who have used you. Because I don’t need this. I can be satisfied with holding your hand, if that’s all you want to give…” I kissed her breast, because if she did take my offer, I just wanted the memory of these sweet, beautiful things in my mouth one last time. “We don’t need to fuck for me to care about you.”

“How can that be true? What would the point be, for you?”

“Love. Companionship. Music.” It was the honest answer. Maybe that made me some kind of push over, but it was the truth. “I want something that lasts a lifetime. There will be days, weeks, and hell, even months when sex won’t be possible. And that’ll be fine. I should love you enough to be fine with that.”

“You’ll befinewith it?”

“Okay, maybe notfine,” I laughed. “But it won’t be everything, Songbird. Do you get me?”

“I think so, yes.”

“Good.” It wasn’t the overwhelming affirmation I was looking for. But I could work with a tepid agreement. I could turn tepidness into enthusiasm, given enough time and diligence. “Now, I’m going to do everything slowly. The moment something hurts, or you want me to stop, tell me.”

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