Broken(68)

He placed a lean, tanned finger against her lips. “Sweetheart, if I wanted to be with anyone else, do you think I’d be here with you right now? Even though we’ve spent these past weeks avoiding each other, you were all I could think about.” Pulling back, he put a few inches of distance between them. “Hell, it’s been seven long years and I haven’t gotten over you. Even when I tried to convince myself I hated you, I couldn’t. I’m insane with love for you, so don’t stand there and tell me who I should be with when my life isn’t worth a damn without you!”

Tears stung the backs of her eyes. Would it be selfish of her to accept what he’d offered? She couldn’t help but wonder if he was doing this out of some chivalrous need to protect her. But then again, Cade Devlin was a stubborn cuss who didn’t do anything he didn’t want to. “For what it’s worth, I never stopped loving you either. Not for a second.”

He closed the gap between them and cupped her face between his palms. “Baby, it’s worth a helluva lot.”

This time when their lips met, she returned his kiss and shyly thrust her tongue forward to meet his, circling it and savoring the taste of him.

Sweet Lord above, was that a flicker of pleasure that had just hit her? So sure she’d lost the ability to feel desire, it took her by complete surprise. Was it possible she could actually get past the night that had robbed her of her self-worth and confidence as a woman? She certainly intended to find out.

Cade broke the tight seal of their lips, panting for breath, his shirtless chest heaving. The look of naked arousal he shot her made Jocelyn tremble again, but this time, it wasn’t from uncertainty or fear. It was from the shameless need to lose herself in this beautiful man’s arms.

Gathering her courage, she boldly perused the taut contours of his chiseled frame. Heat rushed to her cheeks as she spied the thick bulge of his erection outlined by his pair of indecently tight jeans. Slowly, she ran her gaze over lean hips to the line bisecting the valleys and hollows of his washboard abdomen, then continued on to well-toned pectoral muscles lightly dusted with dark blond hair. He was all man.

And he was hers.

“Do you like what you see, baby?”

Anything she could have said in that moment would have sounded trite and insignificant, so Jocelyn simply nodded. It was almost as if this was just a beautiful dream she’d awake from any minute, and the last thing she wanted to do was ruin it.

Cade shook his head, his mouth twisted into that crooked grin of his. “Uh uh. I want to hear the words.”

Moistening her suddenly dry lips, it came to Jocelyn why he needed her verbal reassurance. Considering what she’d been through, he obviously wanted there to be no doubts between the two of them when all was said and done. And she loved him for it. It felt as if her heart would overflow with so much emotion swirling within her. Just when she thought she couldn’t love him more, he proved her wrong. “Yes. I like it very much.”

He raised one devilish brow. “Want me?”

“Yes.”

“Show me.”


Chapter Thirteen

Taking a deep breath, she placed her palms against the hard plane of his chest and pressed her lips on his collar bone. The heat generating from his body nearly scorched her lips. He stood still beneath her tentative kiss. She knew she’d have to turn things up a notch. Jocelyn licked his skin. The tangy, musky taste of him was all male and potently arousing.

Cade flinched, causing her to bring her head up to meet his gaze. “Do you like that?” she whispered.

He stroked the back of her head. “More than you could ever imagine, sweetheart. Don’t stop.”