Page 40 of Her Guarded Hero

“Fuck!”

He pulled out of her.

She stared at him, not understanding. He lurched toward the nightstand and grabbed a condom and quickly sheathed himself. “Sunshine, you make me lose my mind.”

“Hurry. Please, just hurry.” She’d never felt this level of need before. Her hands stroked along his wide shoulders, her legs wound around his lean waist, she would do anything to pull him into her, to make them one.

Their eyes meshed as he thrust slowly inward. Would this man ever be anything but a caretaker? She was determined he go back to moments ago. She dug her nails into his skin, but it didn’t make a difference, he continued his careful penetration.

“Please,” she whined. Was that her voice?

“So good. You feel so good. Ahhh Sunshine, what you do to me.” His lips touched hers. The kiss was reverent. She had to blink back tears. Never had she felt so close to someone. She savored the feeling. Then Dalton looked at her and gave her a wicked smile.

“Are you ready?”

Was she? She swallowed and nodded.

He started slowly, a rhythm as old as time, smooth and languid, it started a slow burn deep inside her.

In her body.

In her heart.

In her soul.

She couldn’t look away from him, his eyes trapped hers, telling her things she couldn’t begin to understand, let alone believe.

His thumb brushed back a damp tendril of hair from her forehead as he surged again and again. How could she possibly survive this dazzling assault on her senses?

“Don’t close your eyes. Please, Aurora, I need to watch you.” Dalton’s voice was a thunderstorm of passion. She forced her eyes open and was rewarded with brilliant blue sapphires focused on her.

“Ahhh.”

She was past the point of being able to contain her sounds of pleasure. It had never been like this before. He was everywhere. His chest hair rasped against her nipples, sparking an erotic yearning that triggered even more pleasure where they were merged. She shifted against him, but it wasn’t enough, she began to undulate.

“Jesus! You’re killing me.” He rasped.

But she wasn’t, because nothing stopped his mind-numbing thrusts.

“Please Dalton,” she begged right before she lurched up and bit into his shoulder.

She thought she heard her name, but she was lost in his eyes, then all sound stopped. She couldn’t breathe, it was as if the earth fell away.

Beautiful sapphire blue fire, so much joy, all wrapped in layers of ecstasy. Her last thought was that nothing would ever be the same.

7

She was a snuggler. He would have sworn that it would have irritated him having a woman burrowing against him. Aurora slept like she loved, her hand over his heart, ensuring that he was cared for. Lacey, meanwhile, had always rolled away from him, insisting that she needed her space. Even when Reagan had snuck into their bed after a bad dream, his wife had always pushed their daughter into his arms. He knew deep in his gut that Aurora would never have done that.

As he eased out of bed, he brushed the softest of kisses against her temple and pulled the covers around her. He pulled on his jeans, then grabbed his other clothes and boots then left the bedroom. Dalton knew that the backdoor and all the windows were secure when he locked the front door behind him as he left the house. He stood on the top porch step and took a deep breath, loving how the scent of the pine and bitingly fresh air help to clear his mind. After long moments he heard a noise, not surprised to see Tate Dressler walking up the stairs toward him. There had been a question that had been niggling at him.

“You serve?” he asked Aurora’s uncle.

The man’s smile shone brightly in the night light. “Marine. Eight years.”

Dalton looked him up and down.

“Raider?”