I couldn’t help but study him as he lay there next to me. His jaw and cheekbones were angular, and I reached out to run my fingertip over his early morning dark stubble he’d shave off before he started his day. Everything about him exuded strength and power. Even now as he slept, I felt protected with him by my side.
He stirred as my fingers stroked his short black hair he kept cropped close to his scalp. Slowly, he opened his eyes and I saw their stunning blue color. Crystal clear even first thing in the morning, they focused on me immediately.
“Morning. I didn’t mean to wake you up. I’m sorry.”
“It’s all right. Everything okay?”
That was why even though I hadn’t told him, I was already falling madly and completely in love with him. No sooner were his eyes open and he wanted to know if I was okay. Not why I’d bothered him or woke him when he still wanted to sleep. Not what I’d do for him. He wanted to know how I was.
“I’m fine, Kane.”
A slow smile spread across his lips. “Good.”
“I love it when you smile. A real smile. The kind you give at work are nice, but when you smile like this I know it’s real.”
His hand moved up my arm until it came to rest on my shoulder. Just like the first night I slept next to him, he slid his fingertips over the ends of my hair and over the back of my neck as we silently lay there on the floor together. It was a small gesture, but it meant the world to me.
It showed me I was beautiful in his eyes.
Squeezing me close to him, he pressed his lips to the top of my head and whispered, “Are you happy, Abbi?”
I lifted my head off his chest and looked at him. “Why? Aren’t you?”
His hands pushed my hair from near my eyes and he leaned forward to kiss my forehead. “I asked if you were happy, and you want to know if I am. But you didn’t answer my question.”
Fear coursed through me as I thought about what to say. I’d heard something like that from every man I’d ever been with. When I didn’t give the right answer, every one of them had become angry with me.
“I don’t know the right answer, Kane,” I said quietly, avoiding his gaze and worried I’d already upset him.
“The only right answer is the truth. If you’re not happy, you have to tell me so I can change whatever is making you unhappy, Abbi.”
“I don’t want you to get angry with me.”
Gently, he pulled my chin so I had to face him. “Look at me. I’m not going to be angry with you if you’re unhappy. I’m going to figure out how to make you happy, if that’s the case. Are you happy?”
“Yes. I just worry that I’m going to do something to make you mad at me.”
“Abbi, no matter how angry I get with you, I would never hit you. Never.”
I believed him when he said that, but my past told me the different. “I believe you, Kane. I do. It’s just that it always ends up the same with me. Some guy says he cares, and then one day I say something to make him angry and he hits me. They all say they’ll never do it, but then they always do. It must be me. I must be the reason it happens.”
“Don’t ever think that. You aren’t to blame because someone can’t control themselves.”
“Then why does it always happen to me? Other women don’t get beat up by their boyfriends. It must be me,” I sobbed.
He cradled my face in his hands, stroking my cheek with the pad of his thumb. Looking at me with such tenderness in his dark blue eyes, he said, “I don’t know, but I promise you’ll never be hurt by my hands. I’ll leave before I let my demons make me crazy. And if I ever see anyone lay a hand on you, I swear it’s the last thing they’ll ever do.”
I lay my head on his chest and closed my eyes. As he gently ran his fingers over my nape, I whispered, “Promise me something else, okay?”
“Anything.”
“Promise me you’ll never do anything for me that could hurt you. I couldn’t stand you being hurt because of me.”
“Don’t worry about me. I’m tough. I can handle a little hurt.”
Looking up at him, I shook my head. “Please promise me.”
“Okay, okay. I promise. But you don’t have to worry about me. As long as you’re safe and happy, I’m happy.”
“Can we do something today?”
He slid his palms over my back and pulled me close. “I have an idea on how I want to start the day. Other than that, I have a surprise for you.”
“A surprise? What is it?”
He smiled. “It wouldn’t be a surprise if I told you.”
“Then let’s get up so we can go see this surprise!” I said as I moved to stand, eager to see what he’d gotten for me.
Kane pulled me back down on top of him and nuzzled the spot just under my ear. “Not yet, angel. We haven’t started the day the right way.”
When he pressed his lips to that spot and whispered his nickname for me in his husky voice, I couldn’t help but practically melt in his arms. He slid his hard cock through my already wet pussy, grazing my clit with the metal barbells pierced through the head and sending waves of need through my body.
I rolled my hips and felt him nudge his cock up against my opening. Spreading my legs wide, I straddled him and slowly sat down on him, loving the fell of those metal balls gliding over the tender skin inside me. His cock stretched me until I didn’t think I could take any more, but I wanted all of him.
Kane’s hands sat at my waist guiding me as I rode him. I loved being on top so I could look at his expression as I made him happy. When we were like this—naked and open with nothing standing between us—his eyes ceased to look cold, like they often did, and the passion and need in him became clear as he stared up at me.
“You look so beautiful like this,” he groaned.
I stopped for a moment and asked, “Like what?”
Kane slid his thumb up to my clit and began to draw tiny, slow circles. “On top with me inside you.”
Tracing the thin line of dark hair that led to his cock, I said, “I love when you say things like that.”
Arching my back, I heard him say, “Oh yeah?” in that deep voice that never failed to thrill me.
Leaning forward, I settled my gaze on his beautiful face and nodded. “I love whenever you speak, but especially now.”
His thumb ceased its movement and Kane pulled me hard down onto his cock, grunting a guttural sound as he pushed his hips off the floor to bury his cock inside me. “Ride me, angel. I want to watch your body give in to me. I want to feel that snug cunt squeeze my cock when you come.”