Rhage prowled over to her, those shoulders rolling like a lion's. 'Let me show you how beautiful you are. Nicely. Slowly. Nothing rough. I'll be a perfect gentleman, I promise.'
His lips parted and she caught a glance of the tips of his fangs. Then his mouth was on hers and, God, he was fantastic, all drugging sweeps of lips and tongue. With a moan, she wound her arms around his neck, digging her fingers into his scalp.
As he laid her down on the floor, she braced herself for his weight. Instead he stretched out next to her and smoothed her hair back.
'Slowly,' he murmured. 'Gently.'
He kissed her again, and it was a while before his long fingers went to the bottom of her T-shirt. As he pushed the thing up, she tried to concentrate on what he was doing to her mouth, forcing herself not to think about what he was revealing. But when he tugged the fabric over her head, cool air hit her breasts. She brought her hands up to cover them and closed her eyes, praying it was dark enough so he couldn't see much of her.
A fingertip brushed the base of her neck, where her tracheotomy scar was. Then it lingered on the puckered spots on her chest where catheters had been plugged in. He pulled down the waistband of her pajama bottoms until all the punch holes in her stomach from the feeding tubes were revealed. Then he found the insertion site for her bone-marrow transplant on her hip.
She couldn't stand it any longer. She sat up and grabbed for the shirt to shield herself.
'Oh, no, Mary. Don't stop this.' He captured her hands and kissed them. Then he tugged at the shirt. 'Won't you let me look at you?'
She turned her head away as he took her cover from her. Her bare breasts rose and fell as his eyes took her in.
Then Rhage kissed each and every scar.
She trembled no matter how much she tried to hold still. Her body had been pumped full of poison. Left with holes and scars and rough spots. Rendered infertile. And here was this beautiful man worshiping it as if everything she had borne was worthy of reverence.
When he looked up and smiled at her, she burst into tears. The sobs came out hard as punches, tearing at her chest and throat, squeezing her ribs. She covered her face with her hands, wishing she had the strength to go into another room.
While she cried, Rhage held her against his chest, cradling her, rocking her back and forth. She had no idea how long it took before she wore herself out, but eventually the weeping slowed and she became aware that he was talking to her. The syllables and cadence were completely unfamiliar and the words indecipherable. But the tone… the tone was lovely.
And his kindness was a temptation she shrank from.
She could not rely on him for comfort, not even in this moment. Her life depended on her keeping it together, and there was a slippery slope to tears. If she started crying now, she wasn't going to stop in the days and weeks ahead. God knew, the hard inner core of her had been the only thing that had gotten her through the last time she'd been sick. If she lost that resolve, she had no power whatsoever against the disease.
Mary wiped her eyes.
Clearing her throat, she tried to smile. 'So. How's that for a buzz kill?'
He said something in the other language and then shook his head and switched into English. 'You cry all you want.'
'I don't want to cry.' She looked at his bare chest.
No, what she wanted right now was to have sex with him. With the weeping jag finished, her body was responding to his again. And given that he'd seen the worst of her scars and didn't seem turned off, she felt more comfortable.
'Any chance you still want to kiss me after all that?' she asked.
'Yes.'
Without allowing herself to think, she grabbed onto his shoulders and pulled him down to her mouth. He held back for a moment, as if surprised by her strength, but then he kissed her deep and long, as if he understood what she needed from him. In a matter of moments he had her totally naked, pajama bottoms gone, socks gone, panties tossed aside.
He stroked her from head to thigh with his hands, and she moved with him, surging, arching, feeling the bare skin of his chest against her breasts and stomach while the smooth fabric of his expensive pants rubbed like body oil over her legs. She was aching and light-headed as he nuzzled her neck and nibbled on her collarbone, working his way down to her breasts. She lifted her head and watched as his tongue came out and ran a circle around one nipple before he took it into his mouth. As he suckled her, his hand slid up her inner thigh.
And then he was touching her core. She heaved under him, breath shooting out of her lungs in a rush.
He groaned, his chest vibrating against hers as he made the sound.
'Sweet Mary, you're just as I imagined. Soft… drenched.' His voice was rough, hard, giving her an idea how much control he was using to keep himself in lockdown. 'Open your legs wider for me. A little more. That's it, Mary. That's so… oh,
He slipped a finger and then two inside of her.
It had been a long time, but her body knew where it was headed. Panting, holding onto his shoulders with her nails, Mary watched him lick her breast as he moved his hand in and out of her body, his thumb rubbing in just the right place on the downstroke. In a flash of lightning she exploded, the force of the release pitching her headlong into a void where only pulsing and white heat existed.
When she came back down, Rhage's heavy-lidded eyes were grave, his face tight and dark. He was like a total stranger, utterly removed from her.
She reached for the throw blanket to cover up with, figuring the shirt wouldn't do but half the job. The movement made her aware that his fingers still penetrated her.
'You are so beautiful,' he said gruffly.
The B-word made her feel even more uncomfortable. 'Let me up.'
'Mary—'
'This is just too awkward.' She struggled, and the shifting of her body only made her feel more of him.
'Mary, look at me.'
She glared at him, frustrated.
In slow motion, he withdrew his hand from between her legs and brought the two glistening fingers to his mouth. His lips parted, and in a savoring draw he sucked off her slick passion. When he swallowed, he closed his glowing eyes.
'You're unbelievably beautiful.'
Her breath froze. And then redoubled as he moved down her body, putting his hands on the inside or her thighs. She tensed as he tried to open her legs.
'Don't stop me, Mary.' He kissed her navel and then her hip, spreading her wide. 'I need more of you in my mouth, down my throat.'
'Rhage, I—Oh,
His tongue was a warm stroke right up her center, reeking havoc on her nervous system. He lifted his head and looked at her. And then he dropped back down and licked her again.
'You kill me,' he said, breath brushing where she ached. He rubbed his face on her, his beard growth a soft rasp as he bathed in her core.
She closed her eyes, feeling like she was going to fly apart.
Rhage nuzzled her and then captured her hot flesh with his lips, sucking, then tugging, now flicking with his tongue. As she arched up off the floor, one of his hands went to the small of her back, and the other landed on her lower belly. He held her in place as he worked her, keeping her body from jerking away from his mouth as she thrashed.
'Look at me, Mary. Look at what I'm doing.'
When she did, she caught a glimpse of his pink tongue licking free from the top of her cleft and that was that. The release shattered her, but he just kept going. There seemed to be no end to his focus or his technique.
Finally she reached out to him, needing that thick length of his to fill her up. He resisted easily and then did
