“Yeah?”

“Mm. Yes.”

She ran her nails down his sides. She still had one last session to do on his back to finish up the shading and he’d be done. She was careful not to dig her nails into the muscles there, though she wanted to. Though he made a rather delightful groan when she did. He needed to be totally healed first.

Then she’d scratch her nails down his back so he’d know he was all hers.

“That smile you’re wearing strikes fear in my heart.”

She laughed, her head tipping back, exposing her throat to his hot, openmouthed kisses. “I was just thinking about how I’m going to mark your back up with my nails so no other ladies can get a taste. You’re all mine.”

He laughed, nipping the delicate skin of her neck. “I’m all yours already. Not like any other ladies will be around me with my shirt off to see anyway.”

“Oh, well done. I like that answer.”

“It’s true.” He reared up long enough to pull her pants and underwear off and kick his own free as well. When he returned he lay on her, all his weight for a short period of time. Skin to skin. Both groaned at how good it was.

“I never understood what it was to be like this with anyone. I heard people talk about the deep connection they had while they were having sex and I thought it was bullshit. Sex is great and you can feel close to your partner, sure, but this? What I feel every time I touch you? Nothing else compares.”

He kissed her long and slow again, seducing her as she let herself fall under his spell. She was safe with him. No matter how much he excited her or stoked her desire, she could trust him with the barest parts of herself.

He licked her ni**les and she sucked a breath, arching into his mouth as his hands found her hips and held her just where he wanted her to be.

He nibbled and licked as she was helpless to do anything but hold on. So she did.

“I need you a whole lot right now,” she managed to say. “I want you inside.”

He pulled back enough to look into her face. “Hands and knees.”

She rolled and got into position. Once he got behind her, she leaned into his thighs because that’s how he liked it. He thrust into her pu**y so fast she nearly choked when she sucked in a breath.

He kept a pace that pleased him. He wanted to pull out and make her suck his c**k before he let her come. He wanted to come on her tits and make her finger herself to orgasm. So much. But she’d opened herself up, told him some things that left him sure he needed to keep those things on deck for another time. That night he wanted to possess her, to let her know she was his to protect and cherish. It’s what they both needed.

She was so tight and wet around him as she thrust back in the small amount of space the position allowed. She essentially bounced back on his cock, her ass against his thighs.

“You’re so sexy.” He ran his hands all over her back and hips before he reached around to take her br**sts in his hands. Pulling and pinching those ni**les wearing the hoops he’d given her.

“Mmmm.”

He smiled as he leaned forward to kiss her shoulder. “Make yourself come around my cock,” he whispered against her skin.

She whimpered, changing her balance to slide a hand between her legs. He felt the brush of her fingertips where he thrust into her cunt. A feather of a touch before her hand moved up to her clit. She tightened around him, making him see stars for a brief moment.

He nibbled over her back. Nipping here and here. Hard enough to leave a mark where only he would see. Their secret. She arched on an indrawn breath.

“Greedy.”

She raced to climax as he tried to hold his own back. He wanted a long slow f**k but she took it to a frenzy because he needed her with such an intensity he couldn’t see straight. He sped up his thrusts and she pressed back against him, taking him even deeper.

Her inner walls began to ripple around him, her cunt squeezing, super heating, so f**king wet as she finally exploded. There was nothing he could do but go with her, follow her into climax as he whispered her name and took her to the bed, wrapping his arms around her and whispering that he loved her.

21

She hated the way the hospital smelled. It was more than the general antiseptic of a regular hospital. There was something else. It made her sad.

They had gone through two doors, acquired special visitor passes, had emptied their pockets and their belongings had been placed in a plastic bag to be kept at the nurse’s station. They’d told her the day before to leave her purse at home, so she had.

Her hands shook, but Jonah just reached out and took one. “You okay?”

Raven shook her head. “No. But I’m better off than she is.”

They went through another set of doors and were led into a room with a few pieces of furniture. There were big windows, but they were safety glass and bars held anyone several inches away from their surface.

“I’m going to go get Lena. Do you have any questions before I go?” The orderly who’d accompanied them was a pretty big guy, probably in his forties.

“Is there something I should avoid talking about? I don’t know what to say.”

He smiled. “You’re her daughter. She’s been talking about it all day long. She’s having a good day today. Just tell her about your life. Everything will be all right. I’ll be here the whole time. Over in that corner. If she gets excitable, and I don’t think she will, but if she does, I’ll step in and if we can’t get her calm again, I’ll take her back to her room.” He paused. “The medications she’s been on . . . she’ll most likely be heavier than you last remember her. She also has some tremors in her face. Namely her mouth. The older drugs had more side effects than they do now. I just wanted to let you know. She’s not in pain or anything.”