Elicit (Eagle Elite #4)(41)
Author: Rachel Van Dyken

“Two hours,” I repeated and crawled off his battered body and made my way towards the door. When I flipped the lock I knew there was no going back. I would love him as much as my heart was able to love.

And I would give him my heart for safekeeping knowing I would never be able to find someone who loved me as deep and as wide as Tex did. This was it.

Most people don’t get moments like the one he was offering me, usually people don’t realize they had a moment until it’s already gone then they’re left to live off the memories.

I had both.

He was giving me both.

Two hours.

I turned just as Tex leaned up on his elbows, his stormy blue eyes beckoning me like a laser beam. Maybe if he wasn’t so broken, I wouldn’t be so attracted. I’d always been a sucker for wounded animals… so it made sense I’d fall for a guy like Tex, one who never fit in, one who never saw the sheer beauty of the man that he was.

It’s why our love made sense.

I was the girl everyone protected from the ugly.

And he was the ugly.

Beauty and the Beast.

“One thing,” Tex whispered.

I took a step towards him and paused. “What?”

He closed his eyes briefly before opening them and saying in such a clear voice I swear the universe shook around me. “I love you more than life.”

“I—”

“Say it in two hours, use those words as your goodbye, Mo, they’ll mean more to both of us.”

Nodding, I took the next three steps to the bed and stared—drank him in as his eyes greedily scanned my body. “Mo?”

“Yeah?”

“Let me love you.”

My hands shook as I reached out for him. He tugged me back onto the bed, our mouths met in an explosion of emotion. Tex gripped my hair and pulled it free from its rubber band, digging his hands into its depths only to pull again as he tilted my head back and slid his tongue down my neck.

“Open for me,” he whispered as his mouth made its way back to mine, his tongue met mine, tasting like whiskey and warmth. He spent at least ten minutes kissing every corner of my face, memorizing it… saying goodbye, and with each kiss my heart both soared and shattered.

This was my last moment with a man I should have had forever with.

My hands dug into his back as I straddled his lap. With a growl Tex threw the remaining towel across the room and unhooked my bra.

“I could worship you like this.” His tongue flicked my collarbone as his mouth descended. “I could die like this.”

“I will die if you stop.”

“Two hours, Mo.” Tex chuckled warmly against my chest. “Patience.”

“Or we could just set a record? Yeah let’s do that.” I wiggled in his lap.

“Stop.” He braced my hips, exhaling a hiss before his eyes darkened. “You never did take instruction well.”

“I play by my own rules and all that.” I winked.

“Damn, you’re perfect.”

I gasped when he lifted me slightly off his lap, the air hitting my stomach briefly before he slid off my remaining underwear. I expected him to lose control, I expected him to do what Tex always did—pleasure me until I cried with need and then take his own.

But this wasn’t like other times.

It wasn’t like anything I’ve ever experienced.

His callused hands moved across my hip bone, his eyes trained on my skin. Eyelashes fanned across his cheeks as he stared, inhaling and exhaling, bidding his time.

“So beautiful,” he choked, his thumb rubbing across my hip, his fingers digging into my butt as he pulled me closer to him.

I swallowed the emotion in my throat as Tex tilted his head and moved his left hand to the other side of my hip, running his knuckles up and down my rib cage until I moaned.

“So perfect.”

“I’m ready for you,” I gasped. “I need you.”

“Let me, Mo.” Tex’s hands gripped my sides as he lightly lifted me so that I was fully straddling him and he was lying back against the pillows. “Please let me say goodbye to my favorite parts of you.”

“Parts?” I breathed as those wicked hands moved from my hips past my ribs and cupped my br**sts. With a moan his head fell back.

Tex groaned. “Yeah Mo, my favorite parts, which basically means every single part of you.”

I shivered as he released my br**sts, his mouth descended where his hands had been and with a soft sob he pulled me tight against him. The heat of his body was wreaking havoc on mine. I tried to move against him but he was too strong—so I stayed put, even though I was dying a bit inside.

“Mo.” Tex’s hot mouth cupped my ear. “I’ll never forget what you look like… when I do this.” His hands gripped my butt, jerking me abruptly against his arousal.

My head fell back.

“So beautiful.” He kissed my exposed neck. “I want to stay like this forever.”

“Funny,” I murmured. “Because I want a little more than this.”

“Patience.” He laughed softly.

Yeah, not happening, especially with the way he was kissing my neck, his tongue massaging every soft spot of my skin until my body started shaking. Every kiss brought me to the brink of release, only to be left needing, wanting, desiring, because he would stop, gather himself, and then just stare at me.

“I need you.” I cupped his face. “Now.”

“Not yet.” His thumb caressed my lower lip. “Not until you’re begging—not until your sobbing my name. Then and only then will I fill you until all I feel is Mo Abandonato—until all I breathe, is your essence.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

You will never know true happiness until you have truly loved, and you will never understand what pain really is, until you have lost it—Anonymous

Tex

MO’S BEAUTIFUL BLUE eyes blinked mischievously back at me. I would miss that look, the one that said she wasn’t going to back down from any of my challenges. Her looks were her tell. I could see the love she had for me in her eye—it was why it hurt so badly when she betrayed me, because regardless of her actions and her reasoning—she still loved me.

And I knew it every damn I time I looked at her face.

Loving Mo was my greatest and hardest accomplishment, because loving someone meant that person had the power to use your love against you, and I knew it was only a matter of time before Mo did that. It would be by accident, but it would happen.

It was why we had to say goodbye.