Page 38 of Raven's Nest
Shattered into a million pieces as heat billowed out from her core, burning away every thought but how perfectly they fit together.
How comforting his weight felt holding her down.
Time stalled, nothing registering but the beat of his heart. Her name sounding above the numbing haze as he stiffened above her, head thrown back, eyes squeezed shut as he emptied inside her. Stabbing strokes that sent her over that edge, again. Had her clinging to him as everything shifted, those old memories burning away beneath the press of his body on hers. The lingering brush of his lips across her mouth.
Saylor tightened her hold, drifting in the aftermath until Zain sighed and dropped a kiss on her neck. She pried her eyelids open, smiling up at his ridiculously handsome face.
He frowned as he brushed his thumb across her damp cheek. “You okay?”
“Better than okay.” She took a shaky breath, leaned into his touch. “Unburdened.”
“That’s my girl. Can I interest you in a shower? I have a distinct feeling Kash or Chase will enjoy finding a way to wake us just to get a reaction.”
“You did promise me one, earlier.”
“Can’t have you thinking I’m not a man of my word.” He rolled off the bed, offering her his hand once he’d stumbled to his feet. “C’mon.”
She laughed as he picked her up, stealing a kiss before covering the short distance to the ensuite. It only took a minute to gather a couple towels and heat the water before he ushered her in, gathering her in his arms as soon as he stepped in behind her.
She’d been wrong. Zain wasn’t just safe.
He was what she’d been missing. That sense of belonging she’d lost since leaving the Coast Guard.
He was what forever felt like.
Zain sighed. “I know we should make this fast, but I can’t seem to get my arms to move.”
“Good, because this is perfect.”
“You might not feel that way when we run out of warm water.”
Saylor eased back. “Then, I guess you’ll have to find another way to warm me up.”
He narrowed his eyes, all that intensity from the boat chase burning back to life. As if she’d suddenly become his next mission. “Dangerous, sweetheart, when I’ve already told you that once I commit…”
She tiptoed up — got lover close. “It’s only dangerous if I’m not on board with whatever you have in mind. And I’m pretty sure I’m a hundred percent on board with you testing to see if we can make the wall of this shower work.”
Zain held her gaze, then moved. Crowded her against the side, studying her as if searching for any indication she felt trapped. “You still okay? Trusting me on the bed is one thing. Holding you against the wall…”
She waited, breath held, all that muscled strength pressed against her. She lifted her arms and wrapped them around his neck. “I’m not naive enough to think I’m close to getting over that night. To reacting to triggers that inevitably crop up. And if it was anyone else holding me like this, I’d be knocking them on their ass. But with you…” She smiled, the weight of that night starting to ease. “I just feel safe. So, let’s see what you’ve got.”
He stood there, still scouring her face for what felt like forever before he leaned in — took her lips in a kiss so damn soft, her chest ached. Right in the center.
Drawing one finger up her side, across her shoulder, then behind her head, he held her close as he kissed his way down her neck then back. “You taste so damn good.”
He smoothed his other hand along her hip then tapped on her thigh. “Wrap this around my waist.”
Saylor wasn’t sure if she actually raised her leg, or if Zain simply placed it there, everything blurring into that red-hot need as he lifted her ass and plunged home. Noseduction. No teasing. Just his hands all over her body, then him moving deep inside her.
Her head fell against the tiles, the cold bite against her back a stark contrast to the heat burning off Zain. As if he’d lighted a fire, and it was consuming him from the inside out. Or maybe it was just him. Zain Everett. The man who’d slayed her demons.
Zain stayed close, one hand locked around her uninjured shoulder, the other holding her ass, as he set up a punishing rhythm. In, out, again and again, until her throat ached from begging him to take her over. To shred the last of her defenses — give that guarded part of her heart to him.
His breath rasped beside her ear, every rough exhalation sending her higher. Holding her captive as he grunted, every muscle tensing. “Shit, I can’t…”
His head fell to her shoulder as his pace increased, every thrust slamming her ass against the wall. She gasped, holding that breath as lights burst behind her closed eyes, her release sending her headlong into that numbing haze.
Zain shouted something in the background. Her name or maybe just, “Yes.” Either way, it pulled her under, and she relaxed against him, trusting he wouldn’t let her fall.
