“How did you know I was here?”
Finally, he tore his gaze away from the pages to look over at me. “I can feel you.” He waggled his eyebrows, the look so playful it broke the last restraint I possessed.
Fueled by a rush of blissful adrenaline, I hurried over to the couch, gently removing his book from his hands. I marked it before setting it on the coffee table next to the couch and took the liberty to perch atop his lap.
His thumb grazed my lips, light dancing in his eyes. “What’s that grin for, huh?”
“You,” I answered honestly. The man was responsible for so much of my happiness these days. “Can I tell you something?” My breath caught in my lungs, a slight terror creeping up my spine. Was I about to ruin this for us?
“Anything,” he said, his brow furrowing. “You should know that by now.”
I nodded, sucking in a sharp breath. Nerves took over, causing a slight tremble to shudder my body.
“Princess,” he said, smoothing his hands over my ribs and settling on my hips. “You’re shaking.”
I huffed a laugh and brushed my long blonde hair out of my face. “That’s probably because I can’t hold this back anymore,” I said. “But I don’t want things between us to change.” I tightened my thighs on either side of his hips—hey, if he couldn’t move, he couldn’t run, right?
Cannon tilted his head.
Here goes.
“I’m in love with you, Cannon.” The words burst from my lips in one big rush, my body calming at their release.
I pressed my finger against his lips, urging him not to speak.
“I know that breaks another one of your rules. And I know that you can’t say it back. I fully understand that. You’re not there. You may never be there. And I get that. After everything that has happened in your past…it’s hard to love people. Especially when you don’t know how long they’ll be around.”
Cannon’s dark eyes widened, but he made no move to speak, so I dropped my finger.
“But you needed to know. You deserve to know.” I leaned down, brushing my lips over his, my entire body reacting to the small contact. “You deserve to know that you’re a man worthy of love. A man easy to love. And a man that I’m totally, helplessly in love with.”
He swallowed hard, and I saw that internal battle raging in his eyes. His need to parrot the words back to me because that would be the solution to cause me the least harm. But I shook my head. “Don’t say it back. Please. That’s not why I told you.” I smiled at him. “You’re an incredible man. You make me so happy. And I just wanted you to know. No expectations. Just truth. Okay?”
Cannon blinked, once, twice, and then nodded.
“Whew,” I said and blew out a breath. “Now that the easy part is out of the way,” I teased, and reached in my pocket for my cell phone. “I have a very serious question for you.”
Cannon visibly swallowed.
I pulled up the Cosmo web browser I had up from earlier and flipped the screen toward him. “Can you show me how this works?” I asked in my most innocent tone. My skin flushed as I watched his eyes flare as he took in the illustration on my phone.
The seriousness in his eyes shifted to wicked delight and challenge. “I’m not sure, Princess,” he said. “I’ve never done that before.”
A thrill shot through me. Another piece of him I’d hold all to myself and hoard like the treasure he was.
“Too challenging for you?” I teased.
He studied the illustration for a few more seconds before he plucked the phone from my hand and set it atop his book. “Never,” he growled as he nipped at my neck.
I wiggled above him, laughing from the tickle in his attack.
Then the real game began as Cannon hefted me upward and spun me around until I was flat on my back on the couch. He stood, scanning the room. “Supplies,” he said and snapped his fingers. “Get naked.”
Every nerve in my body stood at attention at the command in his tone.
“You too,” I snapped back, but there was zero bite in my tone. I hurried to strip myself bare as Cannon grabbed a thick pillow from the loveseat across the room. He tossed the pillow at me so quick I barely had enough time to catch it. I giggled as I clutched it to my chest, watching him drop his clothes in a pile around him.
I breathed out, some part of me relieved at the sight of him. Would this ever end? This constant hunger? This primal need to be with him, be as close to him as humanly possible? I sure as hell hoped not.
“You sure?” I asked as Cannon met me on the couch, his lips an inch from mine.
“You don’t have to ask every time,” he said, a real grin on his lips.
“Yes, I do,” I said. “This is my silly need to try new things. You don’t have to satisfy them.”
He cocked a brow at me. “Princess,” he said, flicking his tongue over my lips. “That’s exactly what I want to do.” He settled on his knees between my legs, motioning his head at me. “Pop those hips up.”
Again, that primal command, that deep tenor of demand, set my blood on fire, and damn me if I didn’t immediately obey. He tucked the pillow underneath my hips, my spine still flat against the couch, my center now on a raised platform to do with as he pleased. The submission in this simple position made my toes curl.
Cannon sensed the shift in me, spotted the tremble and chills raised along my skin, and he chased them with his fingertips. Everywhere he touched was like the sweetest burn, and I couldn’t help but arch into each caress. Then he brought his mouth into the mix, and I became downright incoherent. He palmed my breast, sucking my peaked nipple into his mouth, nipping enough to hurt in the most delicious of ways. I lifted my hips, desperate for him, but he took his time. Kissed his way across my breasts, over the planes of my stomach, and lower.
“Cannon!” I screamed as he wasted no time in sliding his tongue between my heat.
“Mmm,” he moaned against me, the vibrations making my body clench around him. “You’re already so wet for me,” he said against my heat, his lips grazing every spot with a too light touch. “How are you this perfect?” he growled, his tongue lapping and darting in and out of me, feasting on me until I could do nothing but writhe against him. “How do you taste so fucking sweet?” He continued his feasting, and my body tightened like a coiled spring of pure flame.
“Cannon, please,” I begged, arching against him, my fingers gripping his hair like a lifeline. “God, Cannon.”
“Always in such a hurry,” he teased, replacing his tongue with his fingers as he raised up enough to look at me with a smirk. He pumped those fingers inside me, teasing that inner edge until I saw stars. “This what you want?” He curled those fingers.
I moaned but shook my head. “You,” I panted. “I want you.”
“You have me.” He lowered his face, pumping faster as he sucked that bundle of nerves into his mouth.
“Cannon!” I screamed as my orgasm hit me hard and fast, my body curling against him as the waves crashed over me again and again.
He kissed my sensitive flesh before rising above me. “Now, you’re ready,” he said, his hands gripping the backs of my knees until he’d situated one around his hip. He slid his other hand down my leg until it reached my ankle, and he placed my bare foot against his chest. And without blinking, without catching my breath, the man plunged himself inside me, the elevated angle so deep I moaned and threw my head back.