The Hawk (Highland Guard #2)(81)

So close.

Don’t. He gritted his teeth against the urge to plunge inside her.

But God, he wanted to.

One last time. He couldn’t quiet the drum of the words in his ears, driving him on.

“Please, Hawk—”

“Erik,” he demanded. He wanted—needed—to hear her say his name. Their eyes met. He felt that sharp tugging in his chest. “Erik,” he said again.

“Erik,” she repeated softly. The smile that turned her mouth and filled her eyes made the pressure that had been building inside him shatter. “Please, I want this.”

His head was spinning, her innocent entreaty wreaking havoc with his mind. He knew how good it would be. How tight she would be around him. How her body would grip him.

He couldn’t think of anything but being inside her. It was the only thing that mattered. It was the only thing that was going to feel right. The only thing that was going to stop the hammering in his chest and put an end to the maddening hunger.

He put his hands on either side of her shoulders, bracing himself over her, and positioned himself between her legs. Their eyes met and held. Neither one of them said a word. They didn’t need to. He gave her one last chance. She read the question in his eyes and nodded.

He didn’t hesitate. His body was no longer listening to reason, but acting on its own, careening forward with only one purpose in mind: to make her his.

Mine. The instinct was primal and irresistible.

His body shook with anticipation as he slowly pushed inside.

Ellie knew she should tell him to stop. Despite the haze of passion that had gripped them both, she knew he would.

But she didn’t want him to.

She loved him—Erik. He’d told her his name.

She loved his brash cockiness. His incorrigible grin. The innate sense of honor and nobility that he hid behind a roguish facade. She loved his warmth, his kindness, and his thoughtfulness. She loved the sense of freedom she had when she was with him. The adventure. The excitement. But also sitting next to him on a hillside watching the waves crash against the rocks.

Joining with him seemed the perfect—the only—expression of that love.

She knew this meant something. He cared for her. He had to. When he held himself over her, the look in his eyes had taken her breath away. Fierce. Possessive. Intense. It was a primal claim that could not be denied.

She belonged to him, and he to her. Fate had brought them to this place: it was meant to be. He was her destiny.

She gripped his shoulders, feeling the silky head of his erection nudge at the sensitive folds between her legs. A fresh wave of dampness rushed through her at the incredible sensation.

She wasn’t quite sure how well this was going to work. He was much too big. But somehow she had to trust that her body would adjust to accommodate him.

Piercing blue eyes held her from behind a face more fierce than she’d ever seen it. Jaw clenched, muscles hard and taut under her fingertips, he seemed to be fighting against an invisible foe.

He pushed, opening her with the tip of his erection.

She gasped at the sensation. And then again when he pushed in a little deeper.

It felt strange and wonderful. The heat. The connection. Her body stretched tight. Him filling her.

She felt her body soften, opening around him, dampness guiding him inside.

Maybe this would work after all.

When she thought he’d gone as far as he could go, he held her gaze and gave one final push. “I’m sorry,” he grit out from between clenched teeth.

She felt a sharp pinch and cried out. Her body tensed at the unexpected twinge of pain. But he soothed her with his mouth, kissing her until her muscles relaxed and passion once again held her in its erotic embrace.

The hot, frantic feeling took over again. The feeling that she needed to move and feel him against her.

Her fingers tightened around the hard bulge of the muscles of his arms and shoulders, dragging him down on top of her, needing the contact. She moaned when her taut, aching ni**les met the hot, bronzed skin of his powerfully sculpted chest. The solid weight of him on top of her felt incredible.

His tongue slid deeper into her mouth as she started to rub against him, craving the friction that would ease the restless yearnings clamoring inside her. The fierce pounding of his heart against hers drove her on.

He started to thrust. Slowly at first. With little circles of his hips and then, when her hips rose up to meet him, with longer strokes until the force of the churning thrusts seemed to claim her entire body.

She felt the familiar pressure building. But it was different. More intense. More meaningful. The joining of their bodies into one had heightened every sensation.

He was feeling it too. His mouth moved from hers, as if the effort to control himself had robbed him of all but the ability to breathe. But he was drawn so tight, she didn’t think he was even doing that.

He was pumping faster now. Deeper. Harder. Grinding with every wicked stroke, forcing her toward the edge.

She gasped with every thrust, arching to meet the frantic pace.

Sensation coiled inside her. Tightening. Concentrating. Gathering in a hot, shimmering ball, and then …

She cried out as her body started to clench and release, as passion exploded inside her, as the sharp, hot spasms of pleasure tightened around him.

He drove into her one more time and cried out, his entire body stiffening as the force of his own release hit. He rocked against her, the hot rush of his seed mixing with the ebbing tide of her own pleasure in a warm, cascading fall.