We both shuddered, and I rolled us to my side so she could breathe. I cradled her head with one arm, and stroked down her back with long, sweeping motions with the other. That hadn’t been sex. It was something far beyond it. Something that transcended all the definitions in the world. It was beyond anything I’d ever experienced or read about in my entire life.
“You know what I’m thinking?” She asked with a sleepy laugh, tilting her head back so I could see her eyes.
“What?” Fuck, she was so beautiful.
Her grin stopped my heart. “At least I waited for marriage, right?”
I laughed. “You sure did.”
Then I cleaned us both up and started all over again. I was never going to get enough of her, and since I was never going to be allowed to keep her, I’d better savor it while it lasted.
It lasted all night.
10
Persephone
Early morning light filtered through the blinds, casting the bed in a soft glow. I couldn’t stop the smile that shaped my lips as I stretched in the bed, my mind waking up.
Cannon’s tongue working me into a tangled fury of nerves.
Cannon’s muscled arms, encasing me, guiding me, showing me.
Cannon’s lips on my skin, his kiss like a brand.
The massive size of him and the way he’d been gentle, caring, as he made love to me for the first time.
Then the way he’d let me take control again and again throughout the night.
Memories and sensations hit me in hot waves of need, so much I had to shift my legs to ease the ache. The soreness between my thighs was not at all unpleasant, and the thought of exploring more with Cannon had my heart racing.
Then my arm reached the other side of the bed, and the breath rushed my lungs.
Empty.
Too early for a morning skate.
I bolted upright, cradling the sheet around my naked breasts.
I heard the shower shut off, and soon after, Cannon walked out with nothing but a towel around his hips.
Relief uncoiled within me, my blinding panic at his absence after the night we’d had—
“Good morning,” I drawled…To his back?
He headed straight to his closet and disappeared.
The icy panic returned as he came back out fully clothed.
Suddenly, I felt more naked than I actually was.
“Cannon?” I wrapped the sheet around me and waddled over to him, putting myself in his path. “Cannon, look at me,” I demanded when he seemed hell-bent not to.
“What happened last night,” he said, the wall back over his eyes as he appraised me from head to toe. “It can’t happen again,” his words were clipped, icy.
I swallowed hard, something cold and oily snaking through my veins. My eyes found the floor. “Was I not…I mean, I don’t have the experience you’re used to—”
His fingers on my chin stopped my words, and he gently forced me to meet his eyes. “Last night…” A muscle in his jaw flexed as he silently debated something. “Was the best night of my life.” The words were a struggle for him to get out like he had to fight some inner demon to free them.
Warmth melted the freezing rejection in my blood. “Really?”
He nodded.
“Then why can’t we do it again?” I grinned at him, reaching my free hand toward his face.
He backed away a step.
Then another.
“Persephone,” he said, and I knew the use of my real name meant business. “The closer we get, the harder it will be when this all ends.” He motioned between us.
“Why not enjoy the time we have together?” I asked, completely ignoring the pain at the mention of our end-date. I knew it would come. We’d known it when we’d struck this bargain, but it didn’t mean I had to think about it just now.
He shook his head, true pain and conflict flashing in his dark eyes.
I took a step toward him.
He retreated.
Fine.
He needed a little push, I’d push him.
I advanced slowly, never taking my eyes off of him until his spine hit the wall near the bathroom door.
The most terrifying man in the NHL had been backed into a corner by little old me. Power and hunger and pure want sizzled through my veins. “Look at me, Cannon,” I said, and boldly let the sheet covering my body drop to the floor.
That muscle in his jaw ticked as a growl radiated from his chest. His eyes feasted on my naked body, trailing along every curve and dip until he met my eyes once more.
“I didn’t break,” I said, spinning slowly so he could see me entirely. I’d never been so bare, so vulnerable in my life—but I didn’t feel fear. No, I trusted this man. With everything, and perhaps in that, I should be a little afraid.
A hint of a smile on his lips.
“I’m stronger than you think,” I continued. “And it was hard to keep my hands off you before. Now?” I shook my head, running my hands over the Reaper T-shirt he wore, digging my fingertips into his strong chest. “Now that I know what you feel like inside me? Taste like?” I sucked my teeth. “I want more.”
Another growl, this one bordering on frustration.
“Unless you don’t want me,” I said and took a step back, wanting to be absolutely fair to him. I’d never force something he didn’t actually want, but from the way he’d touched me last night…
I reached toward the sheet on the floor, ready to cover myself again.
Cannon stopped me with a gentle hand on my wrist. “You know that isn’t true,” he said, his voice low, raspy. He guided my hand to his athletic pants and situated it over his very hard, very large cock. The feel of it, even beneath the fabric, sent a pool of heat between my thighs. “Clearly, I want you. That’s never been the problem.”
I looked up at him, my eyes hooded, needy. “Then what is the problem?” I squeezed him gently, and the hiss he gave me sent chills along my bare skin.
“The problem,” he said, taking my hand and putting it back on his chest. “Is that we have an expiration date. And I don’t want to get hooked on you only to have you ripped away.”
The truth, for both of us.
“Too late,” I practically purred. Another truth. I had a Cannon craving I wasn’t sure any amount of time with him would ever satisfy.
Another, wider smile.
“Why think about the future?” I asked. “When the present is so much more appealing?”
He leaned his head back against the wall, banging it slightly over and over again. “I need to think about it,” he said. “For both our sakes.”
I knew that. I had anticipated that. Cannon thought everything through, usually for other people’s benefit. Not that he’d ever tell anyone that. But I knew him. Just like I knew if he were a selfish man, he’d take and take what I offered with no regard for the state of my heart when this did eventually end. But he wasn’t doing that. Wasn’t taking what I so freely offered. He wouldn’t, not without a proper think on all the pros and cons and what-ifs.
So, knowing that, knowing him, I smiled up at him and nodded. “You do that,” I said. “And I’ll just be in the shower thinking about it.” I let my fingers graze down the center of my breasts, showing him exactly where my mind was. Thanks to him.