Her muscles protested, drawing a groan from her.
Saint’s head popped up. He kissed her quickly, then asked, “You okay?” Before she had the chance to answer, he began massaging the crease between her leg and her pelvis, where she’d been stretched to capacity. “Was I too rough?”
Why was he being so tender? The concern in his gaze and the gentle way he kneaded her leg set off a swell of intense emotion in her core. Men didn’t do this. They took what they wanted and rolled over. They didn’t check in, didn’t massage away the ache they’d caused. Her eyes began to prickle, and she blinked hard.
Crying was not an option.
“I’m wonderful. You were perfect.”
There was that word again, small and powerful, but she couldn’t deny its veracity.
Oh shit.
Had she really begged him to kiss her while she came like some love-struck fairy-tale character?
How humiliating.
Lucky for her, the afterglow was strong enough to overpower the embarrassment over her neediness.
Later, though, she’d want to crawl into a hole.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
CHRIST, SAINT HADN’T fucked like that in, well, maybe ever, with such a frenzied need to consume his partner. He’d have absorbed Beth into his body if he could. He’d also stay there, buried deep inside her for the rest of the night if he could. Unfortunately, he had to deal with the condom. And she probably wanted to take a deep breath without a two-hundred-plus-pound male crushing her into the mattress.
With a grunt of effort to help his sated muscles work, he pushed up off her. As he lifted, his dick slipped from her warmth.
Beth whimpered from the loss, as though she hated to sever the connection.
Me, too, baby. Me too.
Sleepy, satisfied eyes stared up at him with a hint of wariness. Made sense. He’d made some fairly strong, possessive statements while fucking her. Statements he fully meant and didn’t regret, but could understand how they might be too much for her at that moment.
“Be right back,” he whispered before kissing her swollen lips.
“Okay.”
He rushed to the bathroom, dealt with the condom, then gave his hands a quick wash. When he returned to the bedroom, he found Beth lying on her side, facing the bathroom. She watched him with unabashed interest, which he fucking loved.
“You going?” she asked, doing a shitty job of hiding the vulnerability in her voice.
“You want me to go?”
She worked her lower lip between her teeth. “No.”
“What do you want?”
Her cheeks turned pink, and she shrugged. “You first.”
“I want to crawl back into the bed, wrap my arms around you, and fall asleep. Then later I want to wake you up with my hands all over you and fuck you back to sleep.”
He thought for sure she’d tell him it was a terrible idea and send him on his way, so when she scooted over and said, “Yes. Please,” his heart went wild, and his spent dick tried to rally.
He slipped into the bed, beneath the covers she held open for him. As soon as he settled on his side, facing her, she snuggled up against him, all warm and soft.
This is where she belonged, right there in his arms, safe, happy, and protected.
He hiked a leg over her hip, trapping her against him. She didn’t seem to mind if her hum of satisfaction was any indication.
