She rubs her cheek against my short beard. “I wanted this to be perfect.”
“Sex isn’t perfect. I just want you to feel good.”
“But what about you?”
I smile down at her. “You make me feel amazing and you always have. I might cry myself in a minute.”
She pushes at my chest and grins. “Silly. Okay, but don’t be careful with me just because I shed a few tears.”
“Sorry, I’m going to be careful with you.” I pull back and pump my cock into her. “But I’m still going to fuck you.”
Ryah tips her head back and moans, her eyes tightly shut. “Ah—god. Okay. Just so we’re clear.”
Clear as goddamn day. Fuck her. Make love to her. Pound her hard into my mattress. Sweetly lick her clit. All of the above, over and over again from this day forth. I find my rhythm and fall into it. Her tears dry up and she strokes patterns onto my chest with her fingertips. My breath is coming raggedly as I feel myself edging toward my peak.
She reaches up wonderingly and touches my face. “Are you going to come, Cale?”
“Mm…yes. Fuck, you feel…” Coherent thought is being driven from my mind. I enclose one of her breasts in my scarred hand, squeezing her softness. “Can you rub your clit again? I want to see what you look like when you’re thinking about me.”
She does as I ask, licking her fingers and reaching down between us. I think I can hold on just long enough to see her come one more time. I grit my teeth and watch her gently touch herself, tiny, intimate motions on her clit that have her cheeks flushing red and her eyes growing dark and hazy.
“This is what I was doing alone in my bed,” she whispers, her eyes locked on mine. “Thinking about you. Wishing for you. Aching for you to do everything you’re doing now and needing to be as quiet as a mouse even though all I wanted to do was scream your name. Cale. Cale.”
Her eyes close and her pussy clamps around me. Watching her head tip back and her climax play over her face, I lose it. I try not to slam into her but I can’t help myself. She’s everything I’ve been craving for months and months and I selfishly, desperately pump into her as deep as I can. I burst inside her a moment later, pleasure burning through me.
When it passes off, I look down and see myself lodged balls-deep inside Ryah. My eyes travel lazily up her body, her heaving ribs, the peaks of her breasts. Her eyes slowly open and their bright blue depths meet my own.
“Are you okay?” I ask, withdrawing carefully.
Ryah nods and makes a mmm noise, still breathing hard. I lay down beside her and draw her into my arms. She turns toward me and tucks herself under my chin. My eyes close in bliss, feeling her within the circle of my arms.
For now, everything’s perfect. Nothing can stop the powerful, golden feeling spreading through my heart as I hold this girl against me. No harm can ever come to her. I won’t allow it.
I kiss the top of her head. “You do realize that every time we do our act from now on, I’m going to think of you like this?”
Chapter Twenty-Five
Ryah
“You’re going to think of me naked?” I ask Cale with a teasing smile. No longer just my ringmaster and my friend, but my lover, too.
“I’m going to be even more worried about hurting you.”
I reach up and smooth the line between his brows with a forefinger. I’m having none of this I’m so worried about you Ryah, we shouldn’t be doing our act Ryah nonsense from him again. I’m his partner and his lover, and that’s that.
“You’re not going to hurt me. You’re going to be just as careful as you always are?”
He draws me against his large, warm body. My chest against his chest. Our legs tangled together. “Just as careful? More like ten times as careful. You’re even more precious to me than you were before.”
“Good. Because it’s the best idea we ever had.”
“No, it’s not.”
I frown, confused. “It’s not?”
“No. This is.” He kisses, pulling me tight against his chest. My pussy feels tender when I clench one of his thighs between mine. The truth is he did hurt me, but it was a pain that I was glad to endure. A small offering to the man I want. The man I’ve wanted for a long, long time.
His kiss leaves me gasping, and I trace his lips with my forefinger. “The first night we tried knife-throwing, I felt like my body was full of electricity. I thought it was because of the danger, but it wasn’t. It was because I was with you.”