Lizzie Blake's Best Mistake (A Brush with Love, #2)(84)

“You don’t understand what a privilege it is to know you,” he said, whispering the words into the shell of her ear. “You don’t understand how it changes a person to hear you laugh. And, God, the way you make me laugh. You’re the funniest person I’ve ever met. Even when you aren’t trying.”

His words traveled, hot and humid through her skin, an expanding cloud of bubblegum pink in her chest, until she felt like she would burst from the affection, like the kindness would rip her open at the seams.

She reached up, pressing her lips to the spot just above his pounding heart. Rake smiled down at her as her head fell back to the pillows.

Lizzie had been naked in front of countless people, but she’d never felt so bare as when he looked at her like that, like she was the answer to every question he’d ever thought to ask.

She pressed her palm to his cheek, and he kissed it, moving down her arm. Kissing her collarbone, her breasts. Licking the space between each rib. Nibbling the skin at her hips. He traced a broad hand between her thighs, and she fell open for him. He let out a smug hum of approval, pushing himself farther down her body. But instead of going straight where she wanted him, he took his time, resting his cheek on the curve of her belly, breathing her in again.

She threaded her fingers in his hair, and they stayed like that for a lingering moment. He moved with the rise and fall of her shallow breaths, his warm exhales against her skin the most delicious thing she’d ever felt.

Rake turned his head to look up at her over the planes of her body. “You’ll probably never fully grasp how wonderful it is to know a person like you exists.”

A firecracker of emotions erupted in her chest, sharp and sparkling, taking her breath away.

It was the closest she’d ever felt to a person, and the intimacy of it started to press in against her, unsettling her. She wanted to hide behind wildness, fall into the protection of the physical act.

But Rake wouldn’t let her. No, he was going to force her to experience every feeling she’d been denying. She was going to stare into the face of those scary beasts.

As he kissed and licked and nibbled his way back over her, she felt cherished. Sheltered. Like the covering of his body would keep her safe from the pain of the past. Every cruel word and misunderstanding, every moment of being an endless liability pinged off him like he was her armor.

He continued his slow mapping of her body, whispering sweet, hot words against her skin. Branding her with his touch. Only when she was quivering and whimpering, aching with need, did he line himself up at the entrance of her body, and Lizzie tilted her hips, angling to take him in.

Rake stared into her eyes as he slowly pushed into her, sparks flashing in her vision at the raw pleasure of it.

When their hips were flush, Rake stilled, taking the time to sip at her lips, caress her breasts, roll her nipples between his fingers.

Instinct and years of other bodies told her to move, but Rake held her still, gripping her hips, making her feel.

“I’m taking my time with you tonight,” he whispered against her throat. “Making you wait and wait until you’re blind with the need to come.”

“I think I might be there already,” she ground out, her body clenching around him, begging for more. Rake laughed softly, but didn’t give in.

In those immeasurable moments of exquisite stillness, Lizzie felt everything. Each pulse and jump of their joined bodies felt like an electric shock to her system, a shower of stars obscuring her vision. Sweat pricked her skin, her body trembling with need. She memorized the feel of his teeth bared against her shoulder and her nails digging into his back.

And when she thought she’d break from the primal need, the near-painful tension in the center of her being, she began to beg. With three subtle nudges of his hips, Rake sent her over the edge, the climax devastating her in endless shudders and spasms, her head pushing back into the pillows as she groaned and sobbed, Rake’s teeth clamping lightly on her neck as he growled against her.

As the sensations died away, some heavy emotion she couldn’t name tore at her chest and caused tears to well in her eyes. Before she could brush them away, Rake was there, kissing them, tasting her emotion.

He started moving in earnest, hips pumping as he hoisted her leg to wrap high on his waist. A foreign flair of possessiveness shot through Lizzie as she watched him move. She wanted to mark him, be every notch on his bedpost, be his good night and good morning.

Rake grunted loving, dirty words against her skin, building her up to that peak again, until they both tumbled over.

The pleasure was decadent, rolling through her in exquisite waves as she held him close.

When the earth stopped spinning, she pressed her face into the crook of his neck, breathing him in.

They lay there for a while, Rake on his back and Lizzie on her side, one arm and leg draped tightly over him.

“Do I remind you of a koala?” she asked, nuzzling into his chest.

A soft chuckle vibrated across her skin, and he smiled against her hair. He was quiet for a moment, lightly dragging his fingertips up and down her arm.

“You certainly remind me of home, Birdy.” He pressed his nose against her temple, breathing in deeply.

She glowed at his words. “Why do you call me Birdy?” she asked after a moment, tangling her fingers in the light hairs of his chest.

“I must have known you’d leave me henpecked,” he said, nuzzling his cheek against her temple and making her giggle at the drag of stubble.