Risking it All (Crossing the Line, #1)(66)

She ran toward him.





CHAPTER


TWENTY-ONE


She’s really gone.

When Connor left the club, he thought he might have had a chance to catch her.

What would he have said? Please stay?

I’m sorry I couldn’t be what you need?

He didn’t know, hadn’t been able to formulate a plan beyond seeing her one more time. But he hadn’t made it. The alley was empty, except for a few stray patches of light. Feeling the world sway beneath his feet, he started to slide down the brick wall, wondering when he’d ever get the strength to stand again once he hit the ground.

“Bowen.”

His heart lurched when Sera came into view, white light falling around her beautiful form, making him question if she was real or just a figment of his imagination.

Is this it? Insanity? If so, I could stay here.

No, she was running toward him, her mouth moving, saying his name. Standing very slowly in case sudden movements might send her away, he waited for her to get closer before he allowed himself to hope. Then she threw herself against him. His back hit the brick wall in the most welcome assurance of reality he could remember. When her mouth made contact with his, it brought everything into sharp focus. Sera is here, kissing me. Make it last.

He reversed their positions, trapping her against the wall with his hips, getting as close to her as humanly possible, groaning as her thighs wrapped around his waist where they belonged. “I thought

you’d

left

already,”

he

whispered at her lips. “I didn’t think you’d let me say good-bye. How long do I have?”

“They already came to get me.” Those perfect hands of hers slid into his hair. “I couldn’t leave you. I couldn’t go.”

“What?”

He

hadn’t

heard

her

correctly. Or maybe he was still sitting on the ground, imagining this entire scene. “What do you mean, you couldn’t leave me?”

“I’m staying, Bowen.” She licked into his mouth for a dizzying kiss, which he returned like a starving man. “I need you.”

Disbelief tried to overshadow the joy spiraling through him. How could this be happening? He didn’t want to question it; he wanted to take this twist of fate he didn’t deserve and run with it, but he couldn’t, not completely. She’d given up a chance to be safe. For him. It tempered his

happiness

with

worry.

The

responsibility to make sure she didn’t regret it. His blood heated with possessiveness, the honor he’d been given to keep her safe. She’d picked him. This amazing girl had chosen him.

Until she came to her senses, he would treasure every second.

She tugged at his hair with her fists.

“Let me clarify. I need you now.” Her hips writhed between him and the wall, hardening his cock with a swiftness that had him gasping into her delicious mouth. “Stop thinking, please.”

“Not here, baby.” He pressed higher between her thighs, negating his plea.

The needy whimper that drifted from her lips sent blood rushing to his groin. He’d left himself unfinished this afternoon and the deprivation came back to bite him now. It would take an act of God to tear him away from her at that moment, and he still would still claw his way back for more. “Ah, God, don’t let me f*ck you in an alley, Ladybug.”

“Yes. Here.” She reached down and tugged her own skirt higher on her thighs. Seeing how her desperation matched his own was a powerful realization. This wasn’t just sex for her, either, thank Christ. In his chest, his heart raced out of control. “I can’t wait,”

she moaned. “I need you so bad.”

Her begging had the effect of a drug, whizzing along his nerve endings and making him hungry to get inside her.

Protect her, a voice shouted from the back of his racing mind. Keeping her on the wall with his hips, he reached into his back pocket and ripped the single condom from his wallet. Her fingers were already on his belt, yanking leather through loops with shaky hands. It humbled him, her need. He’d never considered himself a lucky man, but right now, with Sera wanting him so bad, he didn’t think anyone luckier had ever existed in this world.

She slipped her hand into his jeans and squeezed his erection, chasing away the last rational thought in his head.

Growling into her frantic kiss, he reached between her legs and palmed her *. Mine, mine, mine.

“You still sore from your first time, baby?” He ripped her panties with a twist of his wrist. “That’s not going to stop me from hitting it hard, you understand? I’m too far gone to f*ck you easy. I might never be able to again.”

“I

understand,”

she

breathed.

“Just… please.”

He wedged the packaged condom between her teeth. “Wrap me up, then.





Get your man ready to f*ck. I want to see it.”

Challenge in her eyes, she ripped the foil with her teeth and he had to bite his bottom lip to prevent a growl. Jesus, how had he ever lived without this girl?

She made him feel so f*cking alive, he didn’t know how he withstood it. As she rolled the latex over his cock, he responded to her challenge by slipping his middle finger inside her, pushing it high and deep. It distracted her halfway through her task, her head falling forward into his shoulder with a hoarse cry.