His gaze holding hers, he reached for her shirt, drawing it over her head with slow movements. Her breath shuddered as the shirt cleared her head; all that separated her from his gaze was a thin band over her breasts.
His lips parted as he drew one finger along the top of one mound, the calluses catching on the soft flesh, rough yet gentle. Eva drew in a shuddering breath as tingles spread.
He frowned, his expression serious yet wondering as he caressed her soft skin. When she could bear the slow exploration no longer, she reached out, grasping the edge of his shirt and pulling it over his head.
Her breath caught.
Even in shadow and moonlight, his body was hard perfection. Chiseled, each muscle rigidly defined as they created a topography her fingers itched to explore.
Scars dotted his chest. Most small, but a couple long. One in particular drew her notice. She traced its edges lightly. The scar tissue was thick and a hairs breath from being directly over his heart. Whatever had made that scar had nearly claimed his life.
Her throat tightened at the visible proof of the life he'd led.
Tomorrow he'd go back to leading it. An existence where tomorrow wasn't promised and where danger and death were courted on a regular basis. A life very different than the one she'd planned to choose for herself.
His hand covered hers, the look on his face vulnerable. "It was a long time ago when I was much less experienced and dumber than I am now."
She made a small sound, but didn't comment further.
Love was a choice you made over and over again. You could close yourself off from it as Eva had for as long as she could remember, or you could embrace it.
She didn't think what they felt for each other was quite love yet. It was too soon for such things. But she had a feeling, if she let it, it could blossom into something epic.
"You didn't come to talk about old wounds." She slid him a look from under her lashes.
His smile when it came was decadent. "No, I didn't."
He moved then, picking her up as easily as if she was a feather.
Her legs wrapped around his waist, his palms on her ass as he found her lips with his. Never breaking the kiss, he stalked across the small room and lowered her onto the bed.
Each touch sent them higher until they were a naked tangle of limbs, his body heated and hard against hers.
He kissed along the curve of her neck before moving lower, his hands slow and methodical as they danced along her body. He found every sensitive spot and exploited them. The stretch of skin just over her hip bone, the spot along her ribs, and the one on the side of her breast.
Need rose fast and soon she was twisting to reach more of him, rising every time he withdrew. His chuckle was warm and dark in her ear.
Soft moans escaped her as his hands brushed along her belly and then her thighs before finding the wet heat of her. He played, his touch gentle as he continually missed the spot where she really wanted him.
Finally fed up, she reached down, her hand closing around the hard length of him. His breath caught and this time it was his turn to groan as his hips pushed him harder into her hand.
"Alea na, my heart’s breath. What you do to me," Caden groaned.
The arm next to her head flexed as his hand closed into a fist.
"Turnabout is fair play, warrior," Eva taunted.
His eyes came up to spear hers and the gentle lover was gone, taken by a man as driven to possess her as she was him.
The smile he gave her held a feral edge as he slid down her body, placing his mouth where no man had ever kissed her before. The sound she made was strangled, as sensation shot through her.
Any semblance of control vanished as his mouth drove her higher and higher. A coil tightened deep inside, each touch sending tension coursing through her.
She was an inarticulate mess when he finally crawled up her body, lining his hardness against her center. His head bowed as he slid forward, his cock sliding deep.
She caught her breath as he stretched her, leaving her feeling almost too full. Caden's eyes met hers before kisses rained down on her jaw and along her neck.
She wasn't the only one to lose herself as he plunged forward, his rhythm tightening and coiling the tension inside further.
