Fear For Me: A Novel of the Bayou Butcher (For Me #2)(48)
Author: Cynthia Eden

But her muscles had locked. Was it by his order? Or her own desperate need? She wasn’t sure. She just couldn’t move. Couldn’t do anything but take the pleasure as his mouth took her.

The pleasure was there. It hit her, striking hard and reverberating through her on a wave of heat that melted the ice surrounding her. Then she was moving, wildly, frantically. Shudders racked her body, her sex contracted and the orgasm seemed to go on and on.

Only pleasure. Only pleasure…

“That’s a nice start.” His voice was a low, rough rumble.

She heard a faint ripping sound and saw a foil wrapper get tossed to the side.

The head of his c**k pushed against her body. Her eyes met his. Anthony. His face was savage with need, but his hands were gentle. His control hadn’t broken. Hers had.

I’m broken. So lost—

He thrust into her.

Only pleasure.

His fingers twined with hers, keeping her hands pinned to the pillow. His thrusts were slow and deep, driving all the way into her core. She lifted her legs and curled them around him. He made her feel so full. Made her whole body pulse with pleasure—

Another orgasm was already building.

He kissed her when she came. The pleasure rolled through her on hard waves. There was no more fear, no more worries—only the release that held her in its white-hot grip and wouldn’t let go.

Anthony thrust deep into her once more, then he stiffened. His mouth tore from hers as he growled her name. She looked up at him as he came and saw the flash of stark pleasure that swept over his face. His cheeks were flushed, his eyes blazing—he was so sexy that he made her lose the breath she’d finally just caught.

Slowly, so slowly, the pleasure ebbed. Her heartbeat became less like a wild drumbeat and more of a slow, steady thud.

He slid out of her, and she hated that. She wanted to stay a part of him, but he was already sliding to the side of her body, cradling her. Anthony kept his fingers entwined with her right hand. “I missed you.” His stark confession came as the sunlight poured through the blinds and fell on their bodies.

“You didn’t have to stay away.” Her words were a whisper. Her throat felt parched, as if she’d been screaming.

Had she? For the sake of any folks rooming close by, she hoped not.

“How do you know I did?”

His question had her brows pulling together. “Of course you stayed away. You left and—”

“Sometimes, I just needed to see you.” He brought her hand to his lips. Kissed her palm. “Sometimes it was too hard to let you go.”

The shock must have showed in her eyes.

“I told you,” he said, giving a slow, almost sad shake of his head. “Obsession. It’s dangerous.”

He rolled away and went to the bathroom.

The chill came back on her skin. What had she thought would happen once they had sex again?

I hadn’t been thinking.

She’d just wanted to stop feeling. She’d known sex with him would give her that delicious oblivion she needed.

Her hand fumbled and yanked the covers over her naked body just as the bathroom door opened again.

Silently, he came toward her and lifted the covers she’d just so desperately tried to arrange. He slid in bed next to her and pulled her close. “I didn’t want to hurt you.”

“You didn’t.” Were they talking about the sex or the past?

“Sometimes it’s too easy to hurt the ones who get close to you. No one has ever gotten as close to me as you.” He studied her carefully. “Did I hurt you?”

“No.” Not if they were talking about the sex.

His gaze seemed to look past her. “A few months ago, when I was working the Valentine case down in New Orleans, that bastard managed to get the drop on me.”

Her fingers clenched the covers.

“I was searching for him in the woods. There’d been an explosion at the scene a few minutes before. I was hurt, but not badly enough to stop the hunt.”

She knew he never stopped a hunt if he could help it.

“The bastard hit me from behind. When I woke up, I was tied to a chair, and there was a bomb strapped to my chest.”

The heat that had just filled her cheeks cooled instantly. She’d heard he was involved in an explosion while apprehending Valentine, but the bomb had been strapped to his chest? Dear God.

“I knew how much time I had. Valentine made sure of it. The guy f**king hated me. I’d kept his fiancée hidden from him, for years, and he wanted me to suffer.” He ran a hand through his hair. “So I suffered.”

She should say something comforting, but she couldn’t speak past the heavy fear in her throat.

Strapped to his chest.

“After awhile, it wasn’t about hours of survival. It was about minutes. I was in the middle of nowhere, and I didn’t expect a rescue.” His gaze turned back to her. He paused a beat. “Did you?”

Yes. She’d expected him to find her, too late.

“When you lose hope, you think about the things that mattered. In those last few moments, all I could do was remember.”

In those last moments when she’d been so sure that Walker was going to kill her, she’d remembered, too.

Anthony.

“You were the woman in my mind. The woman I would die thinking about—wishing I’d been able to see you one more time.”

She swallowed down the hard ball of fear.

“I thought about the things I could have done differently, what I should have done.”

Lauren pushed back her hair. Her fingers wanted to shake.

“Once I got back here to you, everything just went to hell once more.” His hands had fisted. “I want to be with you, but the last thing I ever want is for you to hurt.”

“You’re not the threat to me.” He had to see that.

His gaze raked over her body. “You were attacked. You’ve got bruises on you, stitches, a concussion, and I still want to f**k you until you can’t move.”

Her breath caught.

“Trust me”—his words were little more than an angry growl—“I’m a threat, and I’m doing my damn best to keep my control.”

The control she’d wanted to see shatter.

The phone rang, breaking the stark silence that had fallen between them. Anthony turned away to answer the call.

Lauren tried to breathe.

“What?” Anthony barked. The shock in his voice had her head jerking up. “You’re sure? Shit. Right. Yeah, I’ll be right there.”