Page 45 of Brutal Knight

Just hearing the words brings up a hundred images unbidden, a thousand ways I’m sure the bastard probably hurt her. It’s a flood that my imagination conjures up without my consent, a rush of horror that leaves me filled with nothing but fury.

It’s all I feel when I think about Willow’s father, just the same as when I think of Dmitri.

CHAPTER17

Willow

The change in Connor is almost instantaneous. His serious expression shifts until there’s nothing but anger in his gaze, a barely-repressed flame that burns in his brown eyes. His body tenses. Everything about him broadcasts nothing but rage.

He’s really, truly furious on my behalf.

His reaction doesn’t make me want to run the way anger usually does. It doesn’t make me shut down inside. In fact, it does the opposite.

It’s been so long since anyone has defended me like this, been angryforme instead ofatme. I haven’t had anyone who cared about me. Not like this. Not in forever.

This, and everything else that happened today, is just too much. It’s too much for me to ignore, too much to resist.

Some small part of me wants to answer the siren call. It’s louder now, telling me to give up the reservations I have, the fear. It tells me to act on my gut instinct, act on what I want.

I step forward. I don’t think, just let my hands rest on his chest as I rise up onto my toes and kiss him

Our lips meet, and I don’t make it soft or careful. I just kiss him the way I want to, pressing against his lips and hoping he knows what I mean.

Connor responds immediately. He groans when he kisses me back, one hand sliding over the small of my back, the other moving to the back of my head.

He holds me in place when he kisses me, not like he’s trying to force me but like he’s trying to support me. Like he wants to hold me against his body, make sure I don’t fall.

And I could fall. God, I could fall to my knees, I feel so weak. There’s a flutter low in my belly when he kisses me, a burning heat that spreads through my body when I feel his fingers comb through my hair.

I know where this is going. Only this time, I’m not drifting. I’m right here, with Connor holding me down.

Connor kisses me, and I slide one hand between us, lower and lower until I’m pressing against the bulge covered by his black pants. He pauses for just a moment, his mouth leaving mine as he tries to reach for my hand.

“Wait. You don’t—have to.”

I know what he means. I know he’s remembering last time, when I was on my knees, dead inside as I did what I thought I had to do. What I needed to do, to survive.

“This is different,” I say, mumbling as our lips brush. I just want him to kiss me again. “I want to.”

I didn’t know it was true until I said it. When I speak the words, I know they’re reality. I do want this, do want Connor touching me. I want to show him that I’m telling the truth. To do what I know I’m good at, to make him feel what I’m feeling.

I want to. More than that, I almost crave it.

Connor’s resistance fails. His hand is loose on my wrist, then falls away as I unbutton his pants. He doesn’t try to stop me again when I take his cock out and start stroking it.

This time, when he kisses me, I almost can’t breathe. His lips crash into mine with bruising force, and I moan, shivering as I keep touching him. My legs keep feeling weaker as I touch him. I’m not sure how long I can last.

Connor’s mouth moves to my neck, sucking and biting at my skin, and I gasp into the silence between us, stars blinking behind my eyes. I can feel how hard he is in my hand as I stroke him, how hot and wet he is. My body burns when I think about him, how big he is, how much he wants this.

I can’t wait any longer. I drop to my knees. This time, Connor doesn’t stop me.

He’s hard. Because ofme.

A flutter of pride lights in my chest when I see just how flushed his cock is, how it’s leaking with precum. I take him in my hand, then part my lips and close them around the head of his cock.

Connor groans, his hands threading into my hair, tugging at my curls just a little. I can feel my eyelids flutter at the sensation. He’s holding himself so still, so tense as I start to work. I press my tongue under his shaft, moving slowly as I test my limits.

It’s been so long, and I’ve never wanted this so much.

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