He was jealous of every day Burghly had spent in her presence—every smile she had given him, every sigh, every morning he had risen to spend with her at his side. He should not feel so possessive of her, and he knew it. He had not the right. Indeed, he had never had the right. She was as good for him as poison.
“Say it,” he demanded, curling his fingers and working them in steady, rhythmic pulses. Here he was at the heart of her, where she was so soft and warm, and he had not forgotten how to touch her in all this time. What made her weak. What made her spend.
“I am yours.” She gasped when he found the most sensitive part of her, teasing her in exquisite torture for the both of them.
“Again.” He thrust into her harder, faster.
“I am…oh…”
She was on the verge of coming, but he could not resist making her wait. Prolonging the pleasure. He removed his fingers. “Say it,” he commanded into her ear.
“I am yours.” Her every breath was labored, her pulse pounding against his lips as he kissed back down her throat.
“Yes.” The lone word escaped him, a hiss of triumph. She was his,damn it. Had been his first. Would forever behis, and he knew it somehow with an unassailable certainty. “You are mine, Ara. You will always be mine. Never forget it.”
Damn her for tearing them apart. For turning her back on him. For making him bleed. For taking his son and marrying another man. For everything. She had brought him to his knees, had devastated him. Her betrayal had left him broken. Now he would break her the only way he knew how, with his body. By giving them both what they wanted and needed.
It was long overdue.
Years overdue.
Necessary.
“I need you, Clay,” she whispered.
“Are you sure?” he gritted, needing to be certain she wanted him as much as he wanted her.
That this wild passion between them, even eight years on, remained mutual.
“Yes, Clay.” His name was a whimper on her lips. One filled with hunger and need and rampant desire. “I need you inside me, please.”
Fuck, he liked the way she begged. But he still wanted more. He wanted everything. He wanted her on her knees.
He skimmed the curve of her waist and hip before moving toward what he truly wanted. His hand trailed over her thigh, gliding inward in search of her mound. Her legs parted. He located the slit in her drawers from the front, and then there she was, his for the taking.
He cupped her, found her pearl. She was swollen with need. So wet and plump. He wanted to lick her, to suck her bud into his mouth until she came, to lap her creamy spending like the finest dessert. To make her scream with nothing but his lips and tongue.
But his need for her was a fire in his blood. If he waited much longer, he would spend in his trousers like a callow youth. Without even sinking his cock into her body, and he needed to be inside her so badly he ached with it.
Only she could slake his hunger.
His anger was another matter.
It could not be appeased. Nothing and no one would tame it, but he could subdue it for now. For this moment. For the chance to have Ara once more.
To lose himself inside her.
Wet. She was so wet.
He worked her clitoris, stimulating her with rhythmic surges of his forefinger, applying greater pressure when she seemed within reach of her release. And then she was coming, shaking, tremoring against him. He rubbed her, his fingers bathed in her wetness. Her hips rolled against his hand, asking for more. Begging for more as she reached her peak. She cried out, collapsing upon the bed, her entire body stiffening as sweet release washed over her.
Her desire gushed over him.Damn it. Damn her.He ground his jaw down, trying to temper his need. He wanted inside her. So badly he could scarcely think.
“Last chance to change your mind,” he forced himself to say.
“Mmm.” She rocked against his hand, still enjoying the aftershocks of her spend.
He stroked her, letting her ride the waves of her climax. His fingers dipped into her cunny. She was so damn tight, tremoring around his fingers, sucking him deeper still. His other hand released the fastening of his trousers, allowing his rampant cock to spring forth.
